Portabellopixie

All is Well

What can I say? Thank you thank you for the kind kind comments you have sent our way. I and my family are touched. I'm doing fabulously-I don't think I could possibly be doing any better right now. Water is going down fine and I've been able to keep down some soft foods. Pain is manageable and I'm surrounded by my family. Pretty good if I do say so myself. Thank you again for all the support-I'm so touched. I'll keep you informed. xo Sandi

Big Things Ahead

OH I hope you all had lovely Holidays! My apologies for not wishing you well during the festivities. My life has been involved lately. I was very much enjoying the season with my family and gearing up for big events in my life and decided to take a little break from blogging. It was restful and we celebrated quietly and joyfully. I've been meaning to share something with you and hopping back from "too much info" to "easier to be open". When somebody puts any part of their life out in the open for the general community to have access too, it can be difficult (at least for me) to decide what is to remain private and what to openly discuss. For the most part I feel like I am only writing to a couple of people and if you know me in real life, I am very open and have no trouble expressing myself. But I know that I am writing to more than a few people and it puts a bit of a spotlight on my family life. ANYwho- I mentioned about a month ago that I was on my way to Las Vegas for a doctors appointment. I have struggled with my weight for the better part of my life (tell me I'm not the only one out there!) and have decided to have gastric bypass. This decision has not been made lightly, quickly, or unintelligibly. I have the full support of my family, doctors and most of all, I feel it is the right decision to help me become a healthy person and mommy. I don't know myself if I believe obesity is genetic, but it certainly runs in my family. My dad had the surgery done 3 years ago by the same surgeon I am going to. He's a doctor and knows who the good doctors are. :) So Dustin and I are here in Las Vegas again-I go in tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. By the time most of you read this, I'll probably be out of surgery and recovering. Somebody-be it Dustin or I, will hop on tomorrow to let everyone know how I am doing. Our kiddos are with grandpa's and grandma's and my dad, step mom and little sister will be coming to spend the post op week with us here. We've rented a beautiful house and I'm actually looking forward to the week down. We return on January the 5th. I would love to hear your happy, supportive comments. This is not an easy way out, it requires a huge amount of work, both mental and physical, to be truly successful. Many people lose the weight, but gain it back because they haven't made a true lifestyle change. This is simply a tool to help correct the problem. I would just ask to please refrain from any sort of negativity as I think I'm going to be a little sensitive tomorrow and would love to read your happy, positive comments in recovery! All of you out there have just made my blogging experience so happy. Thank you. This year is going to be another big one! When I return home, I'm going to be putting the final touches on my next fabric collection, and starting the next round of patterns. New projects (and designer!!) coming along with Hullabaloo, the gift company I am working with. Speaking of which, my apologies for not announcing the winners of my giveaway yet-just as soon as I get home, I promise! See you soon, Sandi PS-If you know me in person and haven't heard this news yet, it was not intentional-I haven't been keeping it a secret from anyone, it probably just hasn't come up!

Birds of a Feather

I love ornaments! I've come to realize (should this really have been a surprise?) that I really like handmade ornaments. During the pulling out of ornaments and decorations each year-the ones I enjoy the most are those that I remember creating. There is a walnut painted as a strawberry from my years in kindergarten that I loved. It survived the test of time until this year when it met it's match via Ethan. Sad day for me-we may have to do some more walnut strawberries this year! I mentioned a few posts ago I was working on a free pattern, which I did finish but as often happens-it spun a web of ideas in my head and will now become part of one of my next printed patterns. You'll like it. So I needed to come up with a new free pattern! The idea web started spinning again and I thought it would be fun to do a free ornament pattern each year. A little tradition in the making. So here is Year One - Birds of a Feather. This little project has completely addicted me to playing with felt. Again, spinning ideas for a new pattern. (Are you starting to see how my brain works and why it is so hard to get anything done? Honestly-it can be exhausting to be creative.) I digress.. This little birdie is so great because it is put together entirely by hand sewing which makes it the perfect couch project. I did 4 of them in the space of 2-ish movies. I'd say 1 bird takes about an hour to make if you have your supplies in front of you. Enjoy! And speaking of ornaments-we went to the local Festival of Trees last week and saw some pretty amazing creations! Take a look.. The "Wii Tree" All of the trees were up for auction to benefit the hospital. Some really amazing Origami ornaments!

Eliza really loved this one.. Then there was a peppermint tree that I especially liked..

Here's a crazy angle that I am declaring the "whoa" angel because that's what I said when I saw it. And this one definitely made us chuckle- the Twilight Tree. Again-I hope you all are enjoying this special season with your loved ones! I'll be back soon to announce the winners of the little contest we had.

Treats

Yesterday two of my lovely girlfriends came over and we chatted, giggled and baked all night.  White Christmas was on in the background, the boys were off playing a little Guitar Hero (which totally confuses me-I'm not a game person) and we had sparkling cider.  It was quite heavenly and peaceful.

So anyhow-here's what was made:
 

Links to recipes:

Basic Marshmallows

I made the base recipe for both of my batches without playing with any of the ingredients.  For the peppermint ones, I finely ground about a cup and a half of candy canes and mixed it into the fluffy mixture along with about a half teaspoon of peppermint extract and a few drops of red food dye.  After I cut them into squares, I rolled them in a mixture of powdered sugar and leftover crushed candy cane.

For the coconut ones (which are SO good but no way do I have a bag of them sitting next to me-uh uh nope-not me) I added a teaspoon of coconut flavoring and about 3/4 cup shredded coconut to the fluffy mixture before pouring it into the pan.  I finely chopped more coconut to mix with the powdered sugar to roll them around in.

White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies

The cookies are a tiny piece of heaven.  Ahhh... this is the second year I've made them and just TRUST me.  'Nuf said. 

Look at these cute little treat holders that I found 4 for a buck in those dollar bins at Target:

The fun boxes are from Martha Stewart's craft line.  I got these ones on clearance a few months ago, but she's got a really cute Holiday line out now too.

Wish you all were in my neck of the woods so I could drop by with some goodies and chat for a bit.  Thank you for all being here and reading my ramblings.  It means a lot more than I could explain.

I hope you're enjoying your celebrations!

Thrifty Toys

I haven't been to a thrift store in ages. AGES! Ok, more like 3 months, but for me-that's ages. I went last week and scored bigtime! Here are the first couple things-

This fabulous vintage metal, doll sized chest.  It was this glorious color of aqua.  The top had a kitty holding flowers on it.  I realize that sounds like it might be nice, but trust me-it's better off with a little of Amy's latest fabric on it.  Now all those doll clothes have a home.  This set me back a whopping $2, and about a buck for the fabric.

This next one I love love love.  Perfectly aged rocking horse, $5.  Ethan was with me at the time of purchase and refused to get on the thing.  Mental dilemma-to get or not to get even though intended won't touch it.  ??  What would you do?  Well, it made it home with us and it took about .2 seconds of his sister showing interest in it for him to claim it as his own and he hasn't really left it since.  Woo hoo!

Thank you for all the interest in the new items!  Everyone's input has probably saved the red Henna Garden from hitting the cutting room floor.  Not because I WANTED to cut it-but something had to go and it was the one I was suggesting to do away with.  But you guys want it, so you're going to get it.  Feel free to keep casting your vote-I'm going to leave it open for a few more days and then we'll announce the winners!