I've had an interesting dinner.

Which led to a very interesting dessert of Orange and Nuttela Cinnamon Rolls.

Breakfast, a snack, and soda city market

Pork fries with seasoning

Sneak Peak

Here's a little sneak at one of my Christmas projects.  Felted woodland creature ornaments, made on the couch during a variety of programming.

These are my two favorite so far.  I also have an acorn and an owl done, and there is a turtle in the works.  Any suggestions of what to do next?  These will look so great on our living Christmas tree, who this year, may finally be big enough for lights!

Feeling Inspired

John gives his final recital for his Doctorate today.  I'm so glad all of this stress will finally pay off for him, but in the meantime, my stress relief has been organizing my pinterest boards.  When I finally clicked to see all of my pins in one place, it told a pretty cool story.  

These are just a few that got my creativity going today.

I don't yet know how to do this, but when I figure it out, they will be hanging all over my house and balcony.  I seriously love Terrain.

A recent trip to the mountains has left me wanting more.  This time last year we were hiking through the German Rhon.

I absolutely love this.  And I've heard waldeinsamkeit in use.

Frilly pillows are lovely.  I need to pick up crochet . . .
[decor8]

I personally can't stand the smell of No. 5, but I love illustration and watercolor, and this is well done.

Whimsical and lovely all at once. Buy it from Amazon here.

John already makes a good cheesecake.  This one from project foodie is stunning.

This may be a little too high maintenance for me at this moment.  Plus, the kitty might use it as her personal water bowl.  Either way, it is adorable. [craft gossip]

I love how the white background completely disappears.  And it is probably delicious. [paula deen]

Last, but not least, if you don't know designlovefest, go check it out.  It's what I want to be when I grow up.

And check me out on pinterest to see so much more!

Roundup : Pictoral Tutorials

I want to know how to make this, but I want to know how to make it in the 30 sec attention span that I have for internet DIY pins.  

Thus minded, I give you this:

I actually did a few spooky castles for my masquerade party.  They were cute.

I haven't tried these yet, but how hard could that be?  And the blog it came from is visually lovely.

Easy Christmas.

I absolutely adore this one. [here]

Find these pins and more on my pinterest board.

Asheville, NC in Two Days

As the weather started to dip into something cool, we got the opportunity to drive up to Asheville and visit the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Though I've been to Asheville before, this is the first time I've gotten to explore the city and experience its beer culture.  The last trip was a high school choir trip to sing at the Biltmore Mansion, so we opted to leave that out this time.

The first evening was all about getting in some craft beer and some delicious food in the heart of downtown.  John and I seem to always have the bad luck of killing kegs, but we were able to taste a few good brews.  John being a brewer himself, we hunted down a local beer supply store the next morning to get some freshly milled barley and malts for a new brew he was planning.  Near the beer supply store is the UNC Asheville botanical gardens, where we got out to romp around with the native species.

One of our foodie highlights was Early Girl Eatery, a local hotspot for sustainably grown and local food.  I had a fantastic "Early girl benny" with fried grit cakes, poached eggs, wilted spinach, avocados, and a tomato relish on top.  John had a good looking "porky breakfast bowl" as well with pulled pork.  All of that goodness got us ready to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway for some fantastic overlooks!

We finished our trip with a walk down to the Wicked Weed brew pub.  Their menu, like many others in the region, are very IPA and hop heavy, which we don't really like, but they had so many options we were able to choose some great beers.  I had their Transcendence, which is one of the few bacteria beers out there.  I know it sounds gross, but just think of a more lemonade taste woven into the beer's profile.  The food was also great, but the service, not so much.

Again soon, please!