Handbag Goodness

I had made a bunch of these handbags for Christmas for some friends and family. This one is for my mom - hopefully she gets the package before she sees this post! The tutorial is courtesy of Tiny Happy http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2006/06/shoulder_bag_tu.html

It's a great site to check out and you can see what projects she is working on. I apologize for the photo - I took it in my office this morning.

Summer Music - Indigo Girls

Seeing concerts in the summer is great, especially when they are free and you are with good company. LL Bean hosts free concerts almost every weekend and this past Saturday night it was the Indigo Girls. I've been to these concerts before and never have I seen it like this: shuttle buses, tons of people, and opening act Brandi Carlile (who has a great voice). The atmosphere was alive...and cold. I met Valori up in Freeport and we were not prepared for the weather (which just meant a little shopping at Beans). The Indigo Girls were fantastic. I had never seen them in concert before and was not disappointed. They sounded amazing and played all the songs I wanted to hear! It was a nice evening to enjoy the music and spend some time with Val.

Wednesday Musings

Things have been very busy for us this past week - we've been doing a lot of work on the house (well Chris has) as well as spending time with family and trying to decide what things we should do before more parents come to visit in September. Our back steps are almost finished - Chris did the railing last weekend and we'll need to paint and weather proof.

I made this card last night for a girl I work with - simple and I used what I had around the house. I promise more crafting pictures soon, but the projects I've been working on are for my mom when she comes next month - I'd love to share, but don't want to ruin the surprise in case she peeks in on the blog.

The last photo is just of some gladiolas I picked up at the farmers market last Saturday. They are just so pretty I had to take a photo. My next update will cover the Beach to Beacon highlights as well as the running future!

Turning 30

So I celebrated turning 30 starting last week. I say starting because of the wonderful people in my life my birthday started a day early with ice cream cake. I had a great birthday day (work included), donated blood, spent some time with girlfriends and went home to a wonderful boyfriend who was cooking lobsters for dinner. The basement has been off limits to me for a couple of weeks now while Chris has been working on a project for my birthday. My birthday was filled with wonderful home made gifts, which are by far better than anything someone can buy. My parents put together a cookbook with pictures of family included that contains special recipes to our family and ones we just plain love. Chris's hard work resulted in these:

Are you jealous? These were not bought at a store - hard labor resulted in these wonderful chairs which we are enjoying immensly. So continuing with a backyard them he also bought a hammock for us to lay on and read, embroider or just look at the stars. The birthday goodness continued Saturday when after running the Beach to Beacon and going out to a lovely birthday lunch at Mims in Portland with my good friend Deena discovering Chris had planned a surprise birthday bbq. I really had no idea and was surprised by all the people in the backyard. It was wonderful. The time and effort it takes to plan a party, let alone a surprise party is so great. I feel very loved and special. Chris's dad also made a house for our bird friends - complete with tin roof!

Over all I feel very positive about being in my thirties mostly because of the people I love in my life.

Starting off....

Welcome! I'm new to the blogging scene and have really decided to start blogging because of the many wonderful ones I read every week. This is also a great way for our friends and family to keep up on what we've been up to and a great way to show our many projects. I'll be posting later about turning 30 and the wonderful handmade gifts I received. Look for changes and additions in the next few days. Again, welcome and I hope you check back often!