2012 Roundup Part 2

Hi Friends,

Part 2 of playing 2012 catch up.  In the next few posts, I'll be focusing on birthdays and celebrations.  We had some big ones this year, and the year isn't even over!

First up, Brother Birthday. My little brother turned the big 25 this year, and his birthday just happened to fall right on Mariners opening day at Safeco.  Turned out, Sounders were in town too, so we turned the weekend into sports-a-palooza.  While we didn't get many photos, we had a great time! Some good old fashioned brother/sister bonding.  Here are some of the shots we did get:

Started off the festivities at Elysian Fields for a beer, the chocolate stout was like a chocolate cake in a glass!

Then, off to the see the Mariners: 

The next morning, we were right back down at the fields, watching the Sounders!

A month and a half later, it was my turn.  The birthday of another friend from work fell right around mine, so our fabulous coworkers who threw us a Pinterest Party.  What, might you ask, is a Pinterest Party?! Oh the greatest work birthday surprise ever!  My beloved friends and coworkers had gathered many of the various recipes we had pinned over the last few months (we're both hot in the Pinterest scene), banded together, and turned our foodie dreams into real life.  I have to say, it was pretty great trying all those different recipes without actually having to go through the effort of making each one. Take a look...

From top left to right, I've linked as many as I can find the recipes for!

Creamy Avocado Yogurt Dip

Avocado & Feta Salsa

Individual Seven Layer Dips

Asparagus and Gruyere Tart

Onion and Garlic Dips

Honey Mustard Pretzels 

...and some sweet treats... 

Orange Cookies with Sweet Orange Glaze

Raspberry Ganache Cake

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Samoas Bars

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Fruit topped Cheesecake

It was a day of deliciousness and less work than should have happened, a great way to spend a birthday!  After work, Emily and I headed down to Portland for more birthday celebrations... stay tuned!

-shauna

christmastime crafts.

Although this wasn't a big crafting season, I was able to finish a few projects.  For my work holiday party, my good friends Reetu and Laura helped me put together these centerpieces.  Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!  I took wine and beer bottles (labels on or off, it doesn't really matter), spray painted them with white primer, and let them dry for several hours.  Then applied Modge Podge to the bottles and rolled them in Epsom salt mixed with silver and gold glitter.  Platters and ornaments are from the dollar store.  Quick and easy, and looked great on red table cloths! 

You'll see a theme in my craft endeavors this year, most came from Pinteresting.  For a few friends, I decided to make lightweight infinity scarves, something that would work both in our cold Pacific Northwest winters and cool summer nights.  I used a brown linnen fabric, and a border of blue or white poms.  There were some tricks and turns to be overcome during this project, but in the end I was happy with how they turned out!

I've been wanting to make body scrub for a while now.  It's always shocking to me that a tub of this stuff runs $10 - $15 at body shops.  That's a lot for body scrub! So I used a few different recipes, added and took away, and came up with a Lemon-Brown Sugar Body Scrub.  Ingredients are as follows: Lemon peal, lemon juice, brown sugar, regular sugar, and safflower oil.  I just mixed all ingredients, adding a little here and a little there, until i seemed to have the right consistency.  I suppose you could use any oil you want, I chose safflower for a less potent smell than, say, olive or vegetable.  Of course, I had to sample the product before I gifted the jars.  Although you have to give it a quick mix before each use (easily done by hand in the shower), in my opinion, this stuff works great! Try it out!

I did make my momma something for Christmas too, but as usual, I gifted it before I got photos of it!  I'll have to get ahold of it again and snap some photos, so be on the look out for those!

-shauna