breakfast

breakfast, originally uploaded by allisonthemeep.

One of my favorite meals, no matter what time of day. I decided to make some felt food for Julian and his cousins this year because a) it's cheaper than buying things b) I don't trust toys made in China and c) crafting is like therapy.

These were super easy to make and I'll definitely be expanding my line of felt foods in the future. My favorite so far was making the bacon. Probably because I love bacon so much. It's the candy of meats. There are a few things that are always on my mind, and bacon is one of them. Also, if I want to be Willie Nelson-ish, you were always on my mind.

Who wouldn't want to eat these? They're tempting. But don't do it. That could cause some serious intestinal blockage, man, and I can't claim any responsibility for hospital bills.

christmas card rejects

Tomorrow, we're all going to wake up super early (not an easy task for me) and get in the car for the long drive to Florida to visit my family.  It's been 7 years since I've been home for Christmas! This hasn't been an intentional snub to my family, but just the snub of practicality. When we lived in L.A., flying to Tampa over Christmas was just way too expensive. So we always kept things local and celebrated with Wade's family. But this year, we're on our own in a new town. So it's about time I go home to see my peeps. 

A few days ago, we got all fancied up for a holiday party and decided that maybe we should send out Christmas cards. For the first time ever.  What is wrong with me? Everyone I know gets so spirited with their paper goods and manages to send out their cards in a timely manner. Every year, I have the best of intentions to do the same, but it never works out for me.  I'm too much of a procrastinator.  I'll explain why later. (heh) Anyway, we stood in front of a large shrubbery that borders our neighbor's yard and took our family photo. We tried about 30 different times, and most of them were crazy looking.  And by crazy looking, I mean that I was blinking in all of them because I'm incapable of looking like a normal person in pictures.  I look like I'm Sloth's sister, and I escaped from that underground tunnel that the Goonies found. 

This picture is one of our rejects, but now I'm wondering if I should have made it the official Christmas card, because it perfectly showcases what a nut Julian is.  

Did you know that Santa came early to our house? He did.  I called him on his cell phone to explain that we wouldn't be home in North Carolina for Christmas, and instead of hauling all those toys to Florida, wouldn't it just be easier to have an early Christmas?  Santa agreed with my brilliant plan, and Julian made out like a bandit with Star Wars toys. 

For the car ride, I made a huge CD compilation of Christmas songs.  Out of those, Julian's favorite is "Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives.  Except that he refuses to sing the real words, and insists that it's "Have a holiday jolliday Christmas!" He's also a big fan of "Run Run Rudolph" by Chuck Berry.  I'm personally fond of "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon, and I always make sure to sing the Yoko parts extra loud.  I'm a Yoko enthusiast. People always want to tear her to pieces and say that she broke up the Beatles, but I really think they were on their way to a split anyway.  Don't hate Yoko.  She's a good girl.  Yay for tangents. 

cold weather makes me more crafty

Oh man.  A lot of stuff has gone on recently.  First, I keep getting sick over and over again.  My theory is that I'm being exposed to a ton of new germs by living in a new place, therefore being a revolving door of gross sickness all the time. Also, I got a flu shot this year, which I've never done before.  The conspiracy theorist in me is telling me that the flu shot is what caused all my illness, and to never get one again.  

This weekend, some new friends of ours invited us to go to the Christmas parade downtown with them, followed by the lighting of the town's Christmas tree.  This place is so Stars Hollow I could eat it with a spoon.  So to be festive, Julian and I made some gluten-free sugar cookies with a cream cheese frosting.  This is my first time making sugar cookies since going gluten-free over a year ago, so I was expecting them to taste like Elmer's glue.  But they were flipping amazing! I had to resist every temptation to gobble them all up, because I'm trying to do some muffin top control.   But damn, they were tasty.  

This weekend we also went to a friend's birthday/Christmas party.  For her gift, I made a record bowl, threw in a bunch of recycled paper shreds, a handful of marble magnets, and a small bird ornament filled with lavender.  It was only after the entire project was assembled that I realized how much it resembles a bird nest.  My obsession with birds subconsciously slipped into a gift idea!

These next photos are actually from a few weeks ago, when we had our first snow of the season, and also the first snow we've experienced since living in North Carolina.  I've seen snow a handful of times, but it's never been in a place I've lived and where I could step outside my front door and play in it.  This was only a very light dusting, maybe half an inch, but we were ridiculously excited about the wintery feeling that comes along with snow.  Here's Julian looking super cute and angelic:

In this next one he's all, "I made a snow angel!" which is just hilarious because of the serious lack of snow that lasted on the ground. 

Cute times like these make it a little easier for me to forgive him when he does things like carving up an antique chair with a lemon zester.  I'm still pretty miffed about that one though, and I'm considering putting a call in to Santa.