Los Porchs

Here's a quicky for your hump day: I had a bunch of clear glass jars sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing that were okay but kinda boring.  After the holidays, I had a bunch of twine hanging around the house and put two & two together... and got this! Great for hiding kitchen treasures! Be careful!  Your fingers will cry if you aren't paying attention..... How?  You guessed it -- start at the top and work your way down!  A dab of hot glue every now and then on the way will hold your work in place.  Of course you basically end up with what you started with, but it's much fancier.  I have one by the sink to hold the scrapper thingy and whatnot whatnot -- which is nice because now everyone can't see them!

I admit:  I've been hoarding these pictures for a while now, but the holidays came and went in a whirlwind & I didn't want to post the pictures before the gifts were given.  Makes sense, right?  It does in my head too! Easiest little project known to man.  Porch & I headed to Home Depot (not so hard to convince him to join me in that adventure) and I picked up 4 ceramic tiles & felt floor protector thingys.  Yes, thingys.  I also grabbed some clear spray paint (but I had to get this in Wisconsin as you cannot purchase spray paint in the city of Chicago). Step 1 Pick something to put on the tile -- a picture or scrapbook paper, something -- and glue that bad boy down onto the tile.  I recommend the Zig Memory Glue (as seen here ).  Let it dry.  Step 2 Apply several coats of clear spray paint over time, allowing it to dry. Step 3 Stick those felt floor protector thingys on all four corners (see Exhibit A). Exhibit A Step 4 Wrap in a cute box.

I don't know about you guys, but my love for my Cricut is pretty fierce.  The only thing that drives me crazy is replacing the tacky mats that help me get things done efficiently.  Throwing down $15 each time doesn't hurt, but it sure does add up... so I was lurking hanging out on Pinterest (Unfamiliar?  Get familiar.) the other day & found a neat idea to make the mats "re-sticky."  With nothing to lose, I headed out to JoAnn Fabrics to make it happen. I had a mat in the closet that was prime for this experiment!  Other materials included 3 minutes of my time and Zig Memory Glue.  I'd seen it before on adventures in JoAnn's but had never picked it up before... now?  It's a must have!! I washed off the mat (you know, those little pieces of paper just get stuck and make it crappy?) and let it dry before I primed this glue much like a paint pen.  It's blue so you can see exactly where you're putting the glue.  Idiot-proof.  No se

Day 1 ♥  Wednesday, February 22 I am so blessed to be surrounded by amazing coworkers who support the mission of the agency & as a result, support our many families. Jeanette, Roxanne, Naima, Kim, Lisa, and all of the rest -- you're the best! Day 2 ♥ Thursday, February 23 I am blessed to have a job that challenges me each and every day.  It feels good to know that there is still room to grow. Day 3 ♥ Friday, February 24 I am blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy to study early care and education.  There are not words to describe my excitement. Day 4   ♥ Saturday, February 25 I am blessed to have a daredevil father who will take me out on the snowmobile trails and open it up to 50mph with me!  What a rush! Day 5 ♥ Sunday, February 26 I am blessed to work with an amazing & insightful teacher who gives each day and her children 100%.  Shawntay, you are truly inspirational to me. Day 6 ♥ Monday, February 27 I am blessed to have a

After this weekend, I can consider my cake quota met for the entire year month.  Birthday cake on Saturday to celebrate Baby B's 2nd and again on Sunday for P's baptism?  Amazeballs.  We left Chicago early (ish) on Saturday and were excited to have made the trip in only 4 hours as Google Maps lied and said 5 hours.  I'll admit, it's been quite some time since I've attended the kids party portion of a birthday party, especially for a toddler.  I can only imagine how overwhelmed the kids felt because there were so many people there!  What an amazing turnout!  I got to share the gift I had made for Baby B -- can I still call him that, even though he is officially 2 now?  Oh well, I'm going to anyway -- a blanket I crocheted for him!  When his mom held it up, I immediately wanted to go back to JoAnn Fabrics and get more yarn to make another one as I remembered how warm & snuggly it was to make! Seriously B?  Could you be any cuter?  I contend that you could

We aren't a fancy people, that's for sure, but tonight Porch pulled out all the stops to create a fabulous evening.  Of course, most of the fabulous-ness is centered around the food.  Hey, fat kid's gotta eat!! I'm not much of a Valentine's Day gal; in fact, my strongest feelings about it are more about correcting the people who refer to it as "Valentimes Day."  But in the spirit of not showing up empty-handed, I got a card for Porch and made a white chocolate mousse with raspberries for dessert to accompany his "plan." Cue Porch, arms full.  He unloads the contents of his grocery trip onto the counter and I try to help as much as I can... in the end?  This is what he produced: Doesn't suck, I can tell you that much!  A delicious dinner of steak and lobster with asparagus.  And wine.  Lots of wine!  We sat at the dining room table talking for about 3 hours with the television off.  I liked it.  A lot.  :) With the news of an upco

At least, not that I'm aware of; because if they did, we'd already have 2.5 and our nearest & dearest would stop asking "when are you guys gonna have a baby?"  That's just plain mean.  I mean, seriously, Barnabe can hear you. Let the record show that Los Porchs currently are without tiny humans not because we're soul-less demon people who think that babies are evil; but because babies take a certain amount of magic.  Let's be serious -- there's like a 15% chance of getting knocked up when you try and everything is in line.  So factor in our work hours and stress levels and you can bet we're not in the best place for that magic.  Alas, when there is something to brag about, I promise to tell family & friends... I'm not keeping a big secret so kindly stop asking. Oh, and yes, I realize that some of my younger cousins and friends have already started their families.  That's amazing and I couldn't be happier for them.  They ar

I love to host gatherings at our place.  Naturally, both of us are people-people and enjoy spending time with friends and family in a social setting.  I love making good food for those I love and welcoming them into our home... especially when fun drinks are involved! Also?  I love that the house gets cleaned.  I know that most people dread parties because of the clean-up afterwards, but cleaning up after the Superbowl last night was incredibly easy & the house still looks amazing.  Perhaps a dinner party every week would be beneficial? Any takers?