no excuses

No excuses. I have no real reason why I haven't blogged this year, but here we go! Better late than never, right?

What I've been doing since the holidays:

• Painting, a lot actually. Paper, cardboard, and whenever I can get my hands on canvas.
• Cleaning. There is only so much my apartment can hold. I have loaded up 5 trash bags of clothes to donate... some are from my freshman and sophomore year of college. Why I even brought them up to New York, who know? 
• Working. At least half a dozen clients keeping me busy. Not a lot of free time, but I'm definitely not booked to the max.
• Did I mention painting? 

mini wrapping party

Christmas presents beginning to get wrapped. Everything made it to New York that I need before heading to the south this weekend. Most of the wrapping paper that I made will be in my suitcase since I can't wrap and carry on large boxes, especially since my mom's gift is over three fee tall. 

First present wrapped to go under the tree --- Merry Christmas to the Willett's! Happy Wrapping!

what i love at christmas time

Baby, it's cold outside! Well, except in New York, its nearly 60 degrees today!

Yummy noggin time! My family makes granny's (my great grandmother) eggnog every year on the eve of Christmas Eve. I pour in the cream and Mickey pours in the half and half and we all watch to see if Dad can split the egg yoke and whites on over a dozen eggs without messing up (pretty much my favorite part of the evening). 

My two favorite Christmas movies! 

wrapping paper

I haven't blogged in a few days due to my duty as an elf, and a resourceful elf at that. I have been designing a web site for a client which has taken up most of my time, but after I finished the first round of design concepts I needed to chill out a bit. This past June I bought a roll of butcher paper to make envelopes for invitations to my sister's bachelorette party. I only used about three or four feet but I had to buy the whole roll. So to repurpose the rest of the roll, I've been creating my own wrapping paper for Christmas. Below are a couple things I have done so far, but there are more designs in the works. 

Thought I would give you guys a sneak peek. Hope your weekend has been as enjoyable as mine has. Nothing beats Christmas movies and painting. Cheers! 

The first and third images are not this bright, and I personally like it better in real life rather than digitized. 

love is in the mittens

Last year I fell in love with these...

Which Santa kindly placed in my stocking...

And this year, I've fallen head over heels with these...

 

Hey Santa, can ya hear me? 

bible nights

Have you read the chapter Jeremiah? This month I'm reading/studying Jeremiah and today reincorporated what my parents told me (and my bro-in-law wrote in calligraphy in my sketch book) --

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you home and a future." -- Jeremiah 29:11

Words of wisdom from Him.

christmas time

T-minus 8 days, it will be CHRISTMAS TIME! I love Christmas time. Wearing coats, bustling around the city with packages and sharing as much Christmas cheer as possible, ah, love.

Since I moved to New York, plane tickets are (lets say "inflated") higher around the holidays, I tried to compromise and only go home for Thanksgiving every other year. So technically, this year is my year to stay in the city, but then my sister chimes in. "What about my tree? You have to come home because you have to decorate my Christmas tree." Five years ago this would have annoyed the hell out of me, but now, it's the only real holiday decorating I get to do. 

So... as much as my sister loves to watch me put all the ornaments and whatnots on her tree, it actually is one of my favorite things we do together all year. Cory, Mickey and I go pick out a tree then Cory attempts to put lights on it (he'll get better as the year goes by), then Mickey unpacks each ornament and has stories with most of them, which she of course tells every year. And then I (add more lights) and decorate the tree. My treat in the end... Mickey gets me cheese dip. Don't call me the fat kid, I haven't lived anywhere in the past seven years that has queso EVERYWHERE! Just another reason I come back and visit Arkansas. 

It takes me about 15 minutes to decorate my apartment. A strand of colored Christmas lights around my window and three ceramic trees are my decor and I switch to my Christmas kitchen towels. Under 200 square feet doesn't give a lot of room for Christmas decor. 

But this year, I've made it a mission to make Mickey's tree better than last year. And (not to toot my own horn, but) last years was FAB! Cheers to making this years tree better than the last!

Do these two ornaments say Mickey and Cory or what?