Thanskgiving

I love all the fire places in these beautiful photos!

The day before Thanksgiving, or as my supervisor says, "Thanksgiving Eve." Our CEO announced on Monday that he's giving us a casual dress Wednesday, so I'm decked out in jeans and comfy shoes. It makes me think, what else am I thankful for?

1. Sparkly bracelets
2. Beautiful neighborhoods to go walking in
3. A little baby neice on her way (4 months to go)
4. Healthy family
5. Inexpensive gas that allows me to travel to Minnesota without crying
6. My blog family (you know who you are)
7. Self Portrait project that allows me to "see" you all in a different light--thank you
8. Turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie with Uncle Harry
9. Eggnog lattes
10. Andrew's patience and hugs in the morning

What are you thankful for today? I'll be in Minnesota till Sunday, so I'm taking a Thanksgiving blog break. I wish you all a wonderful, delicious, relaxing Thanksgiving holiday! Sending you all heaps of love!

images from Marge Casey

Self Portrait Tuesday

Good morning! Just another day and a half till Thanksgiving vacation--I'm counting down the hours, I can't wait. Andrew and I are traveling over to Minnesota to be with my family during the holiday. Pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes... there are so many things to be excited about!

I want to take a quick moment to introduce our Self Portrait today! Amy from The Peach Tree is one of my oldest Etsy friends and continues to inspire me with her posts on her blog and her beautiful creations in her shop. She is lovely, a true beautiful soul and infectiously adorable spirit!

The only thing I'd say about the picture as a description is what people don't see of the sequence of events following the photo. About 10 sec after the point and shoot, that entire mug off tea emptied over my desk and keyboard..... that's definitely a part of me too....

Snow

I woke up this morning to a beautiful, white landscape, all glorious and sparkly. I was thrilled it was a heavy, wet kind of snow, the sort that slumps off your car like a soggy blanket. We put up our Christmas tree on Saturday and hung garlands over the windows. The ornaments have been upwrapped and hung on the tree's bendable limbs *grins* That is one of the perks of a fake tree, you can move the limbs however you wish and they don't complain or protest! What did you guys do this weekend? Anyone else get snowed on?

Tomorrow I will have another Self Portrait to show you! Also, I plan on posting my portrait this week. We finally got some sunshine!

Image from Kadacat's flickr page

Friday Favorites

I had the hardest time waking up this morning. I sat on my couch, drinking my chai, with a glazed over zombie look! I wish I could say that I eventually moved into a more coherent state, but I'm still walking around, bumping into things, kind of drooling. A weekend of recouping and rejuvinating will be greatly appreciated!

This weekend Andrew and I are putting up our Christmas tree! Yes, we're kind of jumping the gun, but the week after Thanksgiving, when we would normally put up the tree, is jam packed. We'll turn on the Christmas music, stir up some hot cidar, and pull out the ornaments and berry garlands. We have a "law school" Christmas tree. It's about four feet tall, papery plastic, with branches you pull apart and "fluff." Yeah, it's a fake. But it's cute, and it'll due till we can get the real thing. What do you have planned for the weekend? Anything fun?

1. Bone votives by sarapaloma
2. Reversible hobo bag from retrofied
3. Black wrap skirt by larimeloom
4. Red corral branch from drinkabutter

Congratulations

I want to soak up each of these images! I love the work spaces and the rooms with the bright white walls especially. I have a folder full of studio pictures that I use for dreaming up my ideal studio space. I think it'll have dark wood, white walls, big windows, and lots of red and gold accent colors. *sighs* Someday! My work situation seems to calming down, thank you all for your encouragment and understanding. It's always a bit of a balancing act when dealing with difficult personalities rather than a black and white situation. Does that make sense?

I want to annouce that Caroline from the charming blog of Absolutely Unique won the 200th post give-away! Congratulations! You've been such an incredible support and encouragement to me at Red Otter. Thank you, thank you! I'll be contacting you for contact information ASAP :)

images from sandboxstudio

Self Portrait Tuesday

Good morning! I feel like it's becoming a pattern for me to be MIA on Mondays. Sorry about that. Without going into too much detail, yesterday I was trying to figure out whether or not I should quit my job and become a barrista at a local coffee shop. Sometimes the work situation can be that intense. I'm sure there are those of you out there who can empathize!

The self portraits are coming in, I'm quite delighted to say! I have another to show you today from the beautiful woman behind two ellie. Enjoy!

I feel as if this portrait sums me up quite nicely. The piece of pottery is one I made back in college. It was during a time I was trying to figure out who exactly I was, the process gave me time to think. The flowers represent my love of gardening. The pitcher that the flowers are in are from a set of dishes that my grandfather gave me after my grandmother moved on. He too has since past, but I will always have pieces of them. The bible was the first gift my husband gave me as husband and wife. He had my new name engraved upon the book that we have based our marriage on. The cake stand and dessert show my love for hosting gatherings and if you ever come for a visit you will be met with something yummy to eat. The spools of thread represent my love of sewing, something I will continue to do no matter where I am in life. The boots and all stars represent my son and daughter. They are a part of my husband and I, I would not be me without them.

Friday Favorites

It's Friday, blessed Friday. I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to today--for a whole variety of reasons! First off, I get to showcase another set of yummy Friday Favorites. Also, I get to do a Give Away! I love give aways! It's my 200th post today and I want to celebrate. I want to celebrate YOU. For you are the reason I write on here almost every day. You are the reason I like finding beautiful images to share and enjoy. You are the reason I'm not afraid to be myself. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the support and the love. So many of you have become dear, dear friends. Some I've even had the thrill of meeting in person (want to do more of that)! Today is a day of celebrating the joy of friendship and sisterhood! Anyone who leaves a comment on my post today will be entered into a drawing for my Cherry Caliope Journal. I will draw a name on Wednesday, the 19th and contact that person!

I wish you all a wonderful, relaxing weekend~

one: Frolic by TIGimagery
two: Harvest Gold Earrings by jdeandrade

three: Chunky scarf from morelle

four: Vintage Cherry Bench from sprucehome

Good day for chocolate

Happy Thursday! I thought it was a good day for chocolate. Don't you agree? Of course when isn't there a good day for chocolate? These delectable delights come to you via Creature Comforts and Cannelle Vanille.

I was catching up on your blogs yesterday and someone mentioned that we are a mere 6 weeks away from Christmas. *gasp* Those weeks will pass in a flash, I just know it. The next thing you know I'll be trundling over to Minnesota, wrapped packages stuffed into our little bug, dodging crazy winter drivers. I'm taking a deep breath, I need to get through Thanksgiving first, right?

Tomorrow's post will be my 200th post. Just to give you a heads up, I'll be doing a fabulous give-away! Stay tuned!

Quaint Handmade

Good morning! It's a perfectly drizzly day, full of dark purple clouds and drafty winds. Situations at work have been interesting of late (and yes, that's the midwest definition of "interesting!"), and my web access has been unpredictable, but I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs and catching up with you this afternoon! I've missed you!

The Self Portrait project is officially in full swing! This morning I have the priviledge of presenting you with our first Self Portrait from Quaint Handmade. This artist is both incredibly beautiful and talented. I find her blog an inspiration, her thoughts on music, relationships and photography is genius! Without further ado:

This Self Portrait is about my love for pink roses in any shape or form : fresh flowers, fabric, china, books, and my most cherished sterling silver and enamel collection. The enamel pieces also reveal the importance of sewing in the needle case, illustration in the pencil, fragrance in the bottles, and love in the hearts. This project was so much fun, I think I'll do a few more to capture some of the other things I enjoy.

*I will be posting my own Self Portrait as soon as I have sunshine to work with

Papa Stour

Hello dear ones! I'm running a little short of web time today, but I'm in the process of rememdying that. I just wanted to share these beautiful images from Papa Stour with you (found via another one of your lovely blogs--Please Sir)! I had really nice weekend, it was full of books, tea, wintery walks and more books. I'm sewing journals like mad for the Craftacular Event that I'm participating in here in Madison on December 6 (yup, you just heard my pitch). Come if you're able to, it would be a treat to meet you!

Quick note about the Self Portrait project: I'm in the process of developing a schedule for all of you. I'm tickled pink there are so many willing to participate--I think it will be a lot of fun! If you're still interested (there's still room) make sure to email me, I'm not always good about following up on the blog comments!

Friday Favorites

1. Cardamon Marshmallows from whimsyandspice
2. Shadows bracelet by theGlassOnion
3. Felted wool bowls from papaververt
4. Basset Hound Puppy from SharonMontrose

These Friday Favorites make me so happy. I can't get over the puppy--this is when I wish on all my lucky stars that some day I find myself in a location that would allow for such a distraction!

So, I was thinking yesterday, after reading your comments on the self portrait idea, would you be interested in sharing your portraits with me here at Red Otter? If you are, just shoot me a quick email* and I'll give you some of the details. Basically, if I get any sort of response, I'll post one entry every week and share a little about the artist, based upon what they would like to share or not. I feel so strongly about the idea (gathering the things that are indicative of you and snapping a photograph of them), I can't tell you how neat it would be to get to know you more! I will share my self portrait next week to start us out.

In the mean time, I wish you all a marvelous weekend!

XOXO

* you'll find my email address below my profile picture to the right

Self portrait

If you were to pull together five to ten of your favorite items in your home, what would be included, which items would you choose? What is indicative of you? What have you carried with you everywhere you've traveled or lived? I was flipping through the Men's Vogue issue and saw a spread for one of the most curious art directors. Gathered on this spread were black and white photographs, a brass belt buckle, a travel book, diary, and camera, a horse's whip and a plaid riding cap. They were all photographed together, layered on a mahogany desk. It was sophisticated and attractive and a very intimate look into the things he holds dear. I could tell he loved to travel, he loved antiques and horses. I could tell he was an explorer with a sense of curiosity. I'm thinking that before the sun starts to disappear this weekend, I should gather some of my favorite items together and photograph them. A sort of self portrait! These images from Thuss Farrell are going to be used for inspiration. What would your self portrait contain?

A new day

I stayed up way too late last night, but golly, it was worth it! It'll be a wee little post today--as I'm sort of squinting in my sleep-deprived state and finding it hard to act/think coherently. I thought these images were fresh and bright and worthy of the new day!

Images from Irina Graewe

Tea Rituals

Last week a blogger buddy sent me this article on tea rituals. The concept of creating a ritual from having tea is not only ancient, a practice developed in scores of cultures throughout time, but beautiful too. The act of offering a cup of tea as a sign of appreciation and gratitude is disarmingly simple. It's the thoughtfulness of preparing the tea. Intention. I like to think that a tea ritual can be enjoyed between two people or with just yourself. If I can seize a moment or two of contemplation as I dip my spoon of honey into my mug of tea then I receive two blessings--tea and appreciation. Both are willful acts, in a way.

If you lived closer, I would invite you over for tea this afternoon and maybe a plate of butter cookies as in the top photo. I would make the pot of tea with the intention of expressing my gratitude for you and your beautiful creativity and the friendship forming here.

PS. don't forget to vote today!

A beautiful thing

There are little details in each of these images that I love. The bright pink and green pillows, the giant chalk board and the mossy green ottoman and chair. Little details that draw me in and make me go "ooh" and "ahh!"

The holiday weekend was a lot of fun! I unfortunately didn't get a chance to snap photos of us in our outfits--our camera gets grumpy taking images in anything but full daylight. Saturday found Andrew and I with our friends drinking spiked cider and eating Dutch Apple Pie. After the goodies were gobbled went down town Madison for Freakfest. Just the name weirded me out, not to mention that this night in previous years has been known to bring out the wild and crazy in the university students (think mob behavior and pepper spray). But the night, this year, was a hoot! There were so many fun, creative costumes walking the streets, along with smashing bands and a really friend horse patrol unit--I was nibbled on by one of the horses who thought my hair tasted yummy. Of course recovering from all the excitement over the weekend we were thrilled for the extra hour this morning! Daylights saving time is a beautiful thing.

Oh, and on a side note: guess who just bought her Nutcracker tickets!

images from Eric Roth