Wore: What's Black and White with a Red Bottom?

The Answer:  ME!

And not in the naughty way, cheeky monkey.  I'm talking about my outfit and shoes. ;-)

It's actually been chilly here in Atlanta the past week or so, so I've been wearing one of my favorite scarves quite a bit.  Actually, strike that.  It's been cold.  It was 18°F / -8°C when we left for work this morning.  I am so glad I got a new winter coat!

I am so glad the hustle and bustle of the last 2 months is behind me.  I am still so tired, though!  It never occurred to me how much work it would be to put together a wedding, family reunion weekend and Christmas/Yule celebration all at the same time.  But we got it done and I was even able to still make a few of my holiday gifts this year.  The theme/project for this year was cross stitch.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures before I gave them away so all I have is the one I made for Andy.

It's his favorite quote from "The Departed" :)

I also made my Mom one that says "F*ck the dumb shit" but I'm not 100% convinced she liked it.

I am not one to make New year's resolutions but I've decided that instead of playing random games on my phone or tablet while we unwind in front of Netflix at night, I'm going to design and make some cross stitch pieces.  That way I'm at least being kind of productive when I should be doing chores. :D

Also in the works for this year: opening an Etsy shop to sell my Bearly Dreadfuls.  I don't have any left since they were all used as centerpieces for the wedding so I'll be working up a small inventory first.

Question for you: if you saw the Bearly Dreadfuls  online, what price would you think is reasonable?  I don't want to overprice them but I don't want to undersell, either.  Each one takes about 2-3 hours to complete.


Hope you have a fabulous 2018!  I know I plan to. :)

After they've been up for months, Sidia finally discovered the shelves I put up in the bathroom.
She spent a long time trying to figure out the screws that hold this into the wall.
Thank goodness she does not have opposable thumbs.  Or a screwdriver. 

Wore: It's ME!

My knee is getting worse, to the point where driving almost brings me to tears and it wakes me up at night.  Unfortunately, I can't get in to see an orthopedist for over 3 weeks.  But because I am not sleeping well, I am drinking a lot more caffeine during the day.

Caffeine (and sugar) affect me the way it would a 5-year-old.  When I pick Andy up from work, he can tell when I've had more than usual (or if someone had cake or donuts at work that day).  I think this pic sort of illustrates this:

Dress: SWAK Design
Leggings: New Look
Shoes: Hot Chocolate Designs
Necklaces: gifts from Andy

This was the only picture I took where I wasn't blurry.  LOL

Here's a close up of my beloved Nightmare Before Christmas necklaces that Andy got me for Yule:

The bottom one is actually 2 halves that are meant to be BFF necklaces but I put them together on one long chain instead.  I almost always wear the 2 necklaces together.  I've read that some people think Nightmare Before Christmas is overrated and overdone but I don't care.  It's still one of my favorite movies. :)

Because of the knee pain being overwhelming, we've been using a free trial of Fresh Cart on Amazon Prime to have groceries delivered to us which has been SO NICE!  They don't have everything we need so Andy still has to run in to get a few of his essentials but it's better than putting the whole grocery trip on him while I sit out in the minivan.

We also got really behind on laundry since we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment.  We decided that we could afford to use a laundry service to get caught up so I found a good one that also had free pick up.  And it really was free.  Most other places I looked at charged more per pound to cover their "free" service.  Pfft.  I can math!

It felt weird sending my clothes out with some stranger.  Especially because it was such a large chunk of my wardrobe.  What if they ruined it?  What if they stole it?  What if it ended up on the black market??  Andy told me to calm my imagination down.  :)  

We had them pick up the clothes on Thursday afternoon (Andy's day off) and drop them back off Saturday when we were home.  All the clothes came back and they were folded so nicely.  Even my bras and underwear.  I never fold my undergarments.

Sidia wasted no time and jumped on everything as soon as we laid it on the bed.  Every time I open a drawer, I am still amazed at how neatly everything is folded.  All the things that are different sizes are folded to be the same size and quite compact without folds or wrinkles.  I'm really not sure how they did that!  It just showed me how much I am lacking when it comes to domestic skills. :)

Just so he doesn't get jealous, here's a picture of Rustle in a rare moment of stillness.  (That's why his name is a verb and not a noun.)

Lastly, Andy bought me a Baby Groot doll who has quickly become best friends with Claude van Dumm.  They are pretty much inseparable at this point.  Their conversations crack me up, though!  They basically go like this:

(*singing*) "My name is Claude van Dumm Dumm Dumm!"

"I am Groot!"

"My name is Claude"

"I am Groot?"

(*singing*)  "van Dumm Dumm Dumm!"

"I am Groot."

"And my name is Claude."

"I am... Groot."

"Your name is Groot?"

"I am Groot!"

(*singing*) "My name is Claude van Dumm Dumm Dumm!"

"I am Groot."

(*singing*) "Van Groot Groot Groot!"