Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Top 14 of 2014

I really like lists so today I bestow upon you my 14 favorite things that I have discovered in 2014.  And by favorite things I mean material items, cause I don't want to be all sentimental, and people like stuff.  Also these are in no particular order.  Just the way things pop into my mind. 

14)  Black Milk Clothing - Seriously people nylon leggings and dresses that cover my large bust.  I will take one of each please. ( I only have one piece cause these bad boys aren't cheep) 

13) Honeysuckle sea scrub -  I bought this for a ridiculous price thinking it might help Emma's ezema, but as it turns out, the dry air up here has pretty much cleared her skin.  I am 99% sure that the ingredients in this are essential oil, coconut oil, epsom salts, and paraffin wax.  This has kept me from being itchy and having to don the dreaded lotion. 

12) Crinkle cut turkey pepperoni-  Its like eating a slim jim, but slightly healthier. 

11) Fleece Cuddle duds - I love these so much I thought about sending them to all my friends for Christmas, before I realized that they don't really need them.  I wear them for every reason always (and this explains why my pants are always full of pants) 

10) Beats by Dre - So this is my newest love, I always 'wanted' a pair of these.  Like in that way that you want things that are way too expensive and you know you will never get so you tell yourself they can't be worth all that money. I mean a $20 set of headphones and a $200 set of headphones can't possibly be that different.  But they are, and thanks to a black Friday deal and RJ's goal of finding them for me as a Christmas gift, I can now noise cancel out my children and jam out. (seriously people I can't hear the kids talking when I wear these, so unfortunately I wear them one eared most of the time, but sometimes you just need a minute.) 

9)  Little Muffins Snickerdoodle flavor-  What I think clouds in heaven taste like. 

8) Maple everything -  melted wax scents, donuts, syrup, soda, fudge, rum.  MAPLE!!!! 

7) Cuisinart cookware - This was a promotion by our grocery store for free cookware, and unlike my lifetime warranty ones we got for our wedding, these can be washed in a dishwasher (not that I have one) AND you can use metal utensils on them and not scrape off the non stick. 

6) Popcorn in a pop- up bowl.  (See #3 on not having a dishwasher)

5) Green Mountain Coffee Vermont Country Blend - oh yes. So so so yummy. 

4) The Rinnai in my living room.  It heats this place up fast and hot and also has a humidifier in it. 

3) Hoodie Allen -  His songs have a great beat and the lyrics are pretty funny. Bonus, you can totally youtube his songs so you don't have to buy anything.  His songs are NOT kid friendly so this is one of those times when the beats are necessary. 

2) Disney Infinity -  This is more for the kids but they love it, I love it, fun times for all. 

1) Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore -  While I have read a lot of books this year, this was probably my favorite of the 'grown up' variety.  It is a comprehensive history of Jerusalem.  Somehow it was easy to read, informative, and entertaining.  Its hard to find a good non-fiction book with those qualities. 


So there we are, Happy New Year everyone. 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

December Update

There is a lot of work going on at our house these days.  We have been reorganizing the apartment, putting up a tiny tree, buying and making gifts, and sampling lots of Vermont goodies so that we can make sure that they are good to send to people as gifts.  Wink wink.  I have made over a hundred Harry Potter Christmas ornaments and Gwiny and I are in the process of creating tons of soaps to donate to the school craft fair.  Even though there are lots of things happening not too many of these have stories to go along (Just the one where I told the girls not to eat other peoples Christmas presents, and then I ate them.) So I think our updates will be told with pictures today.

We had professional pictures taken by my friend John at 802 photography.  He is awesome and this was his first experience photographing children.  He had a ton of great ideas and he wasn't even mad when he had to chase Izzy down to try to get her picture.  


We all know Gwiny likes the arts, But I was seriously impressed with this little sketch. 


I went to lunch at the girls school at the end of November and got yelled at by a lunch lady for throwing my food in the trash instead of the compost.  Seriously, who does this?! 


It snowed, we got a sled. RJ pulled the kids up and down the road until it got dark. The next day we found a parent approved hill by the house (i.e. one that didn't end in the street). Problem solved. 



I just love the cuteness of these girls in their snow pants.



Snow Storm #1 gave us 6ish inches of snow. 



We tried our hand at perfume making, it was our original idea of a gift for everyone.  We had a successful first batch.  Batch 2 was a huge failure, and then we (the adults) drank the rest of the vodka that I needed to make a third round.  Maybe we will try again with ever clear, we probably won't drink that. 


Snow Angels! 


Playin' in the snow. 


Oh and this is the prettiest hamburger I ever made. Cause you know, it's the little things.