Thanksgiving Rambles

I'm writing this on Thanksgiving eve as my sweet potatoes bubble away on the stove so I can pre-make sweet potato casserole for tomorrow's big event. While I have a scant few minutes of down time, I thought I'd pop in with a rambling, pondering, things I've found lately pos.

First,

Now for the ramblings/pomderings
**I'm so tired of seeing commercials for shops that AREN'T going to be open on Thanksgiving. Like it's some big, special thing. It wasn't until last year (as I remember. . .could be fuzzy) a few shops decided to be open on Thanksgiving. And now these other shops are all, "Hey, look at us! We're going to do the same thing we've ALWAYS done, but now we want you to be proud of us for it." WTH!? It just bothers me.

** I was talking to my niece about 80s music and I realized that I know we call the 1920s the 20s and the 1970s the 70s, and so on. . .but what to we call the 2000s? The naughts? The zeros? The nothings? What about the 2010s? The tens? The teens? I'm baffled. anybody got a good answer?

** So, I'm hosting Thanksgiving at my house - for the first time EVER tomorrow. I'm so excited but shocked by the prospect that I think I've been in denial. I keep thinking it's not really going to happen and thus I haven't really been busting my butt to get anything done (I didn't start cleaning the house in earnest until today. I haven't made any decorations. And, I'm not super stressed about the food. . .well, not until I realized that I hadn't planned any munchies/relish tray/appetizers. Pat calmed me down and we came up with a plan) Anyway, in this whole semi-getting-ready process I've unpacked my good china (inherited)  that I've never eaten from and some stemware (also inherited) but then realized that Pat and I only have a single set of flatware. . .enough for four. We never inherited any flatware, we had to go shopping! And now that I feel like I'm starting to get everything handled, I kinda wanted to plan something insane and memorable just in case I never get to host again but am afraid that may be the cause of me never hosting again. This is going to be quite the experience. I kinda want everyone to wear pilgrim hats then go spread smallpox to the neighbors (since we're new to the neighborhood and all.) Anyway, wish me luck!

**I stumbled on this video the other day and just had to share. #4 is my favorite one for sure - Pat and I quote it all the time.


**My family has its own share of funny Thanksgiving moments. My favorite is probably the time my aunt went to give grace and said the Pledge of Allegiance instead. We tease her about it to this day.

** Finally, I have so very much to be thankful for. My heart overflows with love from my family and friends, a dream house over my head, and plenty of food in my kitchen. I wish for all of you the very best. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Currently I'm. . .

Bookmarking || I love this perspective from Elizabeth at Delightfully Tacky in her Learning = Sucking post. My favorite quote from her in the whole thing, "Allow yourself to be bad at things in the pursuit of getting better at them." Seriously, go read her post. I'm sure it will touch a chord.

Creating || Lots and lots of simple bracelets. I was on a kick. I'm not sure any of these are even very good, but it got my hands moving while I focused on other thoughts.

Enjoying || My husband's super intelligence and ability to figure out my computer issues this morning while I simply freaked out.

Feeling || Awful, I’m still suffering from this darn sinus headache. I think it's either getting better or I'm getting used to it.

Listing || This necklace from back in January is now finally in the shop.

Trust Necklace

Making || A big ole mess on my desk.

Marveling || Over the fact that another month has passed us by and we are already into August.

Needing || To go out and do some shopping for a birthday present.

Playing || Too many dang games on my phone

Reading || Wool by Hugh Howey

Wanting || To win Lorelei’s giveaway for today. It’s awesome y’all!

Lorelei's Friday Schmorgasborg Giveaway

Wasting || Time, I always feel like I'm wasting time.

Wishing || Someone else would come and clean the floors for me today. I just want to hide away in my craft room.

Wondering || If we’ll get everything ready for our upcoming camping trip.

Working || On getting my Pinning with Purpose post ready for Sunday.

So what are you up to today?

Today I'm. . .

Bookmarking tons of inspiring jewelry pieces on my Pinterest Jewelry board.

Cooking tacos for our stay-at-home Valentine's Day.

Creating a mess experimenting with all kinds of ideas. Below is my newest experiment with resin and solder. (I’d love to know what you think of it as I'm still not sure.)

Enjoying my second cup of coffee for the morning.

Knowing I am loved.

Liking how my contribution to the clay face challenge is coming along (the reveal will be at the end of the month)

Looking forward to the three-day weekend ahead. It’s supposed to be beautiful down here so we’re hoping to get to the beach once or twice in the next couple of days.

Needing to get off my but and get some chores done. The floors are atrocious and the trash in the craft room overfloweth.

Re-listing this super simple bracelet

Natural Neutral Bracelet

Reading “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café” by Fannie Flagg and loving her writing. However, I just can’t seem to lose myself in the story.

Thinking of doing some shopping, but not until those chores are done!

Wearing my hair in a ponytail. . .meaning it’s time to get my hair cut.

Wishing y’all a very HAPPY Valentine’s Day. Even if you don't have someone to share the day with, I do hope you make sure to love yourself with some pampering, some chocolate, a nice workout, or whatever makes you happiest! Enjoy yourself.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

I saw this blog post format on Jayesel's blog and liked it enough to try it (at least once). Who doesn't love a bullet-list post? Let's take this baby for a whirl!

Yesterday I. . .

• discovered I was featured in this Shades of Gray Treasury on Etsy. The whole list of items showcases Etsy members from the Deep South.   

  

  Shades of Gray

• shipped out an order!
• had lunch with my long-time friend, Kate, at Lap's Grocery and Grill. We had a great time chatting it up and licking our chops over this glorious food. 

  

  My Cobb Salad that included smoked chicken and grilled shrimp!

  

  Kate's low country boil was super messy, but she really seemed to enjoy it!

• pushed myself to get some items checked off the to-do list before I headed out to see Kater.
• went grocery shopping
• changed up the menu some as I wasn't sure the tilapia was any good after I discovered a hole in the freezer bag. We had some pre-marnated turkey breast chops by Butterball instead and really enjoyed them.
• watched "Captain Phillips." Tom Hanks is an amazing actor.
• Finished reading "Little House on the Prairie."  I learned so much from this children's book and think that every kid should read it or have it read to them.

Today I. . .

• took too long to get out of bed after staying up late reading.
• tried PB2 for the first time in our smoothies and found that we both REALLY liked it.
• got this new necklace listed in the shop 

  

  Bright Fringe Necklace

• plan on making our lunch today after eating out yesterday. Of course, that completely depends on what Mr. Man wants.
• hope to get to do a little thrifting before I head to Mobile.
• will drive over to Mobile to hang out with/help out my family. I pray that everyone is in a good mood.

Tomorrow I. . . 

• will have a tougher time getting out of bed as I always visit with the family too long.
• would like to get up and exercise in some form or fashion. (ha. . .we'll see how that goes.)
• want to finish up my contribution for the AJE Component of the Month.
• plan on starting to read my next book for the month, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe."
• hope to get another item listed in the Etsy shop.
• might just make a Treasury (you know, since I was just in one and all!)
• know that I'm forgetting something I need/want to do, but this list already seems over-ambitious!

How's your week going?

Today I'm. . .

Trying out something new.

Currently, I'm. . .
Bookmarking: Recipes. I’m ALWAYS finding new recipes. This one for a Pecan Cobbler is probably the latest find.

Creating: Space. I’ve got this pile of beads and love the palette, but have become completely stuck on what to make of it. At this point, I just want it off my desk but I don't want to just stuff it away. Sigh.

Enjoying: The weather. The temperatures have started to go down a little here in the Deep South and it’s almost bearable to be outside.

Feeling: Better. The cold I had a few weeks ago is finally coming to an end. I hope.

Giggling: At myself. I'm still really tickled by my anniversary pun from yesterday.

Listening: To the quiet. Mornings are really quiet here. All I really hear is the running of the fishtank and the white noise of my laptop.

Listing:  A new necklace. Here's what's newest in the Etsy Shop.

Dawn Necklace

Needing: Coffee. My cup is low again dangit.

Noticing: The mess. Well, I’m not just now noticing it, but the disastrous clutter in the craft room is getting to me. It may be time for another overhaul.

Reading: Sedaris. I really prefer to listen to David Sedaris read from his books, he’s so funny. But I picked up his newest book, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, from the library a few weeks ago and have finally cracked it open.

Watching: Star Trek (seriously).  During lunch, Pat and I watch an episode of a show on Netflix. We've worked through all the episodes in several shows this way. We started on Star Trek: The Next Generation last week and are really getting a kick out of it.

Wearing: Comfort. Today is all about comfort so I threw on jeans, a t-shirt, and a cardigan. Also, bare feet.There will be flip-flops in my future (it's not that cool yet) and probably a necklace before leaving the house.

Wishing: To go thrifting. I think I might hit up a favorite antique store or two when I head into Mobile later today.

Wondering: What you think. How do you like this type of post from me?

Breaking out the Bullet Post and a Meal Plan

I'm sure y'all are plenty tired of pictures from my vacation. Here's just one more (for now) of what my view was most days there.

Ahhhhhh!

After a week of Spring Breaking it, I've got tons to catch back up on online, business-related, and around the house. There's all kinds of tidbits to share so this will be a bit of a scattered post. (Caution, lots of exclamation points ahead.)

~ First a funny. Pat put the location of the house we rented for the week in the GPS as "Spring Break 2012." So when we arrived there she said, "Now arriving at your destination; Spring Break 2012." It was awesome! (I'm easily amused.)
~ Before leaving for the week, I submitted my Hunger Games Necklace post to a few sites and the kind jewelry editor over at Craft Gossip actually featured it as Jewelry Inspired by The Hunger Games!! Woot!

~ While at the beach, I had some time to catch up on my blog reading (somewhat) and discovered that I had won the Art Bead Scene weekly giveaway of some Gaea beads. Hurray!
~ Jenna over at Honey Bijou named me as one of her March 2012 Hive Five. I'm on the list with some pretty impressive individuals and am blown away by this honor! Thanks so much Jenna!!

~ The Button Swap partner list has been announced and my partner is none other than the amazing Brenda Salzano of the Salzanos blog and Salzanos Etsy shop. Now to figure out what to send an awesome artist that she doesn't already have! Any ideas?
~ GIVEAWAY ALERT!! Davinia at Deez News is giving away some of the beads she picked up on her recent trip to Bali. Entering is as simple as leaving a comment on her blog!

~ Even though we're all still recovering from Sally's Colors of Spring Blog Hop, she's already announced another one; The One Color Crayon Challenge. She's only accepting 60 participants in this blog hop and sign ups are open until the 5th. Hop on board!

~ To top it all off, today's Menu Plan Monday! Here's my plan.

Breakfasts: Cereal/oatmeal, breakfast burritos, whole wheat waffles, peanut butter toast, potato bacon casserole

Lunches: ham sandwiches, pizza (from freezer), pesto chicken panini, pizza quesidillas, leftovers, soup w/grilled cheese

Dinners: 

Chicken Marsala w/broccoli & pasta

Turkey cutlets w/mushroom rice & mashed sweet potatoes

Shrimp and rice pea bowl

Gouda stovetop mac-n-cheese w/mixed veggies

As always, there's more Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

~Before leaving on vacation, I failed to mention these new earrings in the shop.

Beach Weather Earrings

~ I recognize another month has come and gone. I'm hoping to organize a monthly goals roundup post in the next little while (that could be hours or days, we'll see!) so stay tuned for that excitement! ;)

Sorry to be all bullets, but I've got a ton of unpacking to do and you should smell these dirty clothes after being damp all week (the beach will ensure you stay damp all week, we're not nasty or anything.) So, I'm off for now. Here's hoping you are enjoying your Monday!

Sunday Somethings

I'm still searching for that balance I mentioned at the beginning of the week. And, while I'm not quite a master of it yet, I've definitely started to get the hang of it.

For this lazy Sunday morning I'm having I just wanted to share a few things with you:

• If you haven't noticed, I sold a few items in the shop. [What do you mean you haven't noticed? Why don't you head on over and check it out (when you're done reading this of course). Just use the Etsy widget on the right ---> and click where it says CraftyHope to be taken to the shop. (That's NEW!! Go ahead and touch it, you won't break it!!)
• I'm so happy that the ladies who have purchased the pieces have given me some feedback on the items they received. I know what course of action I need to take. I think.
• Oldest Niece spent the night Friday night. She was desperate to make some jewelry and for some reason wanted to closely replicate a necklace I wear fairly often (and had JUST worn to see her on Wednesday.) When she was done with that (as well as painting a picture for her sister), she asked that I take a picture of them to put up on the internetz. Here are her masterpieces:
  
  

  

  This is both the necklace and picture in full form.

  

  Here's a better view of her necklace.

  
  

  
  

• I had a bad case of lack of inspiration on Thursday so I drug myself up to the bookstore, bought a caffeine fix, and gathered a STACK of books and magazines. After about an hour and a half of flipping pages, I felt like myself again.It's amazing what some coffee and glossy paper will do!!

So that's it. I just wanted to pop in and not feel the pressure to put out anything super insightful. Just wanted to make an appearance. I have. Now, I'm out to enjoy the rest of my weekend! You do the same!