Giving Thanks

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and was able to take some time away from the craziness of work or school to relax and enjoy life.
As is tradition in my family we spent thanksgiving in Syracuse with my Dad's side of the family. This is one of the few times a year when most of that family can be all together. It also was bitter sweet, the first holiday season without my grandpa. I also got to see my new baby cousin Molly. What a little cutie!

Then it was back home to have dinner with my brother, my sister in law, my family and Mike. That was really nice too. My brother and sister in law live down in NC, at least for now while he finishes training for the Marines. I definitely wish they were closer because I'd like to see their little family developing (Them, Toque the big goofy boxer, and two Chamelions, Chomper and Ducky... I can wait a few more years for nieces and/or nephews!).

Thanksgiving is about being thankful, so I wanted to briefly post a few things that I'm thankful for right now (not an all inclusive list or in any particular order)

1. It being almost the end of the last semester of college classes ever- Whee!
2. Having a family in which there is never a dull moment.
3. Getting the creative juices flowing- especially on designing stuff for Holly's wedding!
4. Having an amazing boyfriend out there in Syracuse who is working in a great real person job, taking care of a rented house that was damaged by years of old lady trying to fix things and working on his thesis at the same time! (if you're reading this- Get back to work!)
5. Having an amazing boyfriend who doesn't get too mad at me about bugging him to work on his thesis....
6. Google reader- informative and wonderful procrastination tool all at the same time! Plus great for helping me out with #3! (did i mention that I'm a teensy bit of a hypocrite when it comes to procrastination?)
7. One of the little kiddos I'm working with remembering the order of the alphabet all the way to N for two days in a row! Woo! Simple pleasures of being a teacher!
8. The count down to my Utah trip is down to less than a month! (more about this later!)

What are you thankful for?

Nostalgia

I'm nostalgic for the 30s and 40s..... a romanticized version of course. Recently, I watched Kit Kitterage, an American girl movie with my mom and sister. I wasn't sure I would be interested at first, but it ended up being a really good movie. It takes place during the depression. There were many heart wrenching moments showing the struggles people had during the depression and I was moved by those, but I have to say I was most interested in the life style. Firstly, I love the clothing that was worn. Women's clothes were very femine and flowy, yet practical. Then men were tailored and classic. The young girls clothes were pretty, but could stand playing outside. There were even some very stylish clothes made from chicken feed bags! I could totaly see myself wearing alot of the clothing that was worn, and I see my wardrobe moving in that direction. Not to mention my new love of vintage jewelery!
Here are some examples:


From the movie, aren't these girls outfits adorable! I would even wear them.




This is Kit and her Mom. I love the dresses!

Aside from the clothing, there were lots of other great things from this time period that I would love to incorporate into my life in the future: having a kitchen garden, doing lots of cooking, and sewing and crafty things inexpensively, and having genuine connections with neighbors, community and family that can be drawn upon in times of need.
Now I understand that there were a lot of awful things that happened during this time period, and this Thanksgiving I intend to ask my grandmother, who lived during the depression, to tell me about what it was really like. At this time though, I think I can say that this is my favorite American time period. What's yours?

These are a few of my favorite things....

There are a lot a great websites out there for me to stare at when I don't want to do work and don't want to go to bed yet. One favorite is Etsy. I don't remember how I first found it, probably another blog about pretty things, but there certainly is a lot there for me to drool over and be distracted by.
Etsy is a website that is all about things that are handmade. Sure, there are the expected things like art, knitted things, knick nacks, but there are some other amazing things that you wouldn't expect! For now, i've just been favortiting all the things I love, and some day, when I have the money maybe I can get some of these pretty things:)
Here are a few examples of the great stuff I've found!
Beautiful Vintage Jewelery from Sweet Vintage


Cool Vinyl decals for putting everywhere from Tasty Suite

Beautiful, PLANTABLE cards from Grace Graphics (I actually bought some of these :) )


Fun and funky pins from Button Empire (though I can't quite buy these ones yet...)




There is tons more great stuff on the website, and everything is continually changing. They also have this great feature called Alchemy where you can request something be custom made for you. You include the details and a suggested price and sellers can bid on making it for you. With such a huge community of creative and truely skilled people you can end up with something really great for a cheaper price than you might find else where. I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard of it being used for all sorts of things, from wedding dresses to toys.
Now that I've gotten the idea of putting images into my blog (yay!) I'll try to occasionally post some of the cool stuff I'm finding in my internet wanderings. Maybe I can get someone hooked on these things like others have done to me!