Gifts I made

 I always enjoyed crocheting. Around the holidays it becomes stressful though. The pressure is on for gift giving and your body engine light is on for rest and unwind. But the doctor said I needed to make time to slow down and meditate and do something I enjoy, so off I went into the quest of doing something I loved but was also useful and productive because my brain cannot simply accept the idea of doing things just for fun.

I started with these lovely Christmas stars to give out to students as they brought me sweet Christmas gifts and literally made tons of them, so I started to use them as gift toppers as well. I wish I could remember where I got the pattern from, but it doesn't look like I saved it, which makes me sad as I want to make more even though I have plenty of them left. they were very well received, but if I had to do make them again, I'd probably double them and sew 2 of them together to give them a sturdier look. They also came out slightly bigger that I'd like.

Then I found this lovely tree potholder pattern, and I just fell in love with the simple both high end look. So here is a picture of a very happy friend that enjoyed her gift very much!

Halfway through making those, I realized I was running out of time and still have a few to make, so I switched to candy canes potholders.

These went way faster, and they were just as enjoyable and really helped me to get in the holiday spirit. I still have a few leftovers as I ended up making way too many as usual.

I love that everything I made was red, green and white, the traditional Christmas colors and made with eco-friendly cotton. Very different from the cupcakes I have been known for years back.

For the stars I went crazy and instead experimented with a lot of different colors and materials because why not?

But don't be fooled, these are not the only things I made and gifted. Some things are still in the making, and some others are still traveling, so I will definitely be posting more.

What about you? Are you a crafter of some kind? What did you make? Care to share? Go ahead and entertain me!

Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's day last Friday. I surely did! The day began with sweet gifts: 

One of my student gifted me the rose, hubby gave me the chocolate red rose and the kids made the "Love" art at school. 

Me and my daughter enjoyed a Valentine dance at her school, it was fun! 

At night, me and hubby went to dinner, a real date without kids....YAY! 

Well, just because we had no children with us, it didn't mean that we couldn't act like it, right? 

What about you?

 

The wedding

This post is so late that it's not even funny. 

But here you go, pictures and memories of my brother's big day! 

But let's back up a little and share some horrendous pictures of the preparations of the day before. 

Do I need to comment on this one?? I think not! 

What do you see here is me, my sister and my mom with ridiculous stuff on their heads, while my brother and my dad just look pretty! 

But all was worth it because the next day I was able to sport with hair-do: 

I think my mom and my sister looked very spiffy as well!! 

What do you think??? Was the night before torture.....err prep, worth it?? I think, yes! 

You know, we don't get to dress up a lot so I was trying to get some cute and romantic pictures of me and hubby together...... 

Well, I guess my husband had other plans! LOL 

The kids were amazing. Can you imagine being little and going to a foreign country were you don't know anybody and don't speak the language?? Nonetheless, they were precious, well mannered and managed to make new friends! 

And finally, the moment that everyone is waiting for, the picture with the groom and the bride! 

I love, love, LOVE, my family!!!

Oath ceremony: February 22nd 2013

If you follow my blog, you already know that I was working towards my citizenship this past months and after some bumps on the road (like this!), finally the day came: February 22nd I officially became an American citizen!! 

 And I promised to share, so here are the pictures. Please be kind, I look rough! That's what happened when you drive for 2 hours in pouring rain freaking out about not making it in time for the big day!!

  

The first shot is when they passed the mic around and asked me my name and where I was coming from. Let me tell you: MOST.EMBARRASSING.MOMENT.EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate talking in front a big mass of people and the place was packed. Plus I hate talking in the mic. UGH! 

  Unfortunately I don't have a clear shot of me actually reciting the oath of allegiance, but after the ceremony (that lasted about 4-5 hours!!!), I took a shot with the judges presiding while I'm holding the so coveted certificate of citizenship. 

 I must admit I'm really proud of myself for finally made the decision and go through the process. Wasn't easy task, but was worth it and I think it gave me some more confidence in doing more things more myself (but that's for another blog posts!) 

I also want to take the time and thank 2 very special online friends that supported me in this process. I talked about my friend Kayla at The Eclectic Element very often, she's very near and dear to me and she sent me the sweetest little package. But I want you to go look for yourself, in this lovely blog post the she dedicated to me: I'm American 

I love love love the scarf, I put it on to go at work the next day!!! Here it is!  

And the bracelet is simply adorable! I like especially the symbolism in it: it of course have red,white and blue beads to symbolize the American flag, plus some black beads for the Black history in the country (Martin Luther King Junior), a cross charm for our freedom of religion (some country are not so lucky, you know?) and a red heart for the love that moves everything in the universe. And, of course, it has "I'm American" hand stamped on it and I love it even more knowing that it's one of the first hand stamped pieced of Kayla. What an honor!!! LOVE.IT!  

My pictures really don't do justice to this lovely gifts, so please, visit Kayla's blog for some eye candy! 

 Another friend, Gail, also warmed my heart with this lovely necklace!!  

How can I NOT wearing it proudly? I have America in my heart!

 

Sick again!

No matter what I do, it seems that I can't catch a break. 

I go to sleep Friday night looking forward to the long weekend, just to wake up in the morning all swollen and stuffy!!! Another cold! 

Enough is enough already! All my weekend plans fell through, I decided to stop everything and take care of this cold once and for all! 

 One thing that makes me feel better when I have a cold is so drink hot beverages, specially tea and chamomile with a teaspoon of honey......aaahhhh! It's good when I need to go to sleep and I feel either too stuffy or my nose won't stop running.....instant bliss! 

 But during the day I feel restless and I can't stop thinking of things to do, the kids need this and that......what is a mom to do?? 

One thing that I found soothing is eating a good bowl of green or red curry at my favorite Thai restaurant. BUT.....I'm cheap and going to the restaurant every time I have a cold at this pace is really not doable, plus today the restaurant was closed!!! 

So I scoured the local grocery store and found the ingredient to make my own curry!! 

It's pretty easy actually! All you need is this:

  

Coconut milk, green or red curry paste and my secret ingredient, tabasco. 

Lately I seem to prefer green curry, but it's really a phase, I like them both. 

The tabasco, I like it as it gives it a spicy kick and trust me, if you have a cold you want something like this: hot, creamy and spicy.....clears your sinuses right up! 

I have to thank my friend Eva for introducing me to Thai food that by the way is gluten free and way healthier that any other food out there. 

Also, thanks to my friend Aggie that directed me to the appropriate aisle of the grocery store so I could do curry in my own kitchen. 

What I usually do is during the weekend I boil a can of coconut milk, stir in 2 tablespoons of the curry paste, a little bit of tabasco and voila', the curry is made. 

Then throw in whatever left overs I have, usually veggies, pieces of chicken or shrimp, boil some rice and pour it over. 

 But I also tried it over left over spaghetti noodles today and once I sprinkled a spoon of the sauce over my blend boiled tilapia and it was delicious! 

Well, I guess you got the gist, I love this stuff everywhere and wanted to share XO

Happy Valentine's day!

Not sure why this post didn't post as scheduled on the 14th. Hope you will enjoy it even a few days late!

This is the season of love and I hope you're celebrating surrounded by loved ones!

We have been busy eating chocolates and making Valentines!

We made little brown cards that say "You're so sweet!!!", trimmed the edges with a fancy scissor to make them look as cookies.

Then personalized with names and attached a little heart candy to the back. 

Looking good! 

Here a picture of the kids all intent in their work!

Shhhh! Don't disturb the geniuses LOL

I've been featured!

Few days ago, I received an email in my inbox from Jill's stuff telling me that I was featured on her blog! 

She posted about her favorite Christmas ornaments and included my strawberry ornament in the list. 

I would appreciate if you go and take a pick to the list and show some love! 

 

 I don't know if the feature has anything to do with it, but it just so happened that after being notified of it I sold one of those strawberry ornaments to a sweet lady that wanted to give a little Christmas present to her grand daughter but couldn't afford much, but was so happy that she found a little strawberry for $5. I was so touched that she decided to spend those hard earned money with me, I know lots of folks are really struggling with money year around, let alone around the holidays. 

So Santa Clause delivered 2 strawberries instead of one....ooooops!

Have you voted?

ELECTION DAY

Curated By: SECONDHANDNEL

ArtFire.com

Handmade Jewelry

Hope you did you due diligence and went to vote yesterday. 

Next time I will be able to do it too, because guess what??? 

I started the process for getting an American citizenship! 

Wish me good luck!

My latest obsession: anklets

The title said it all, my latest obsession for this summer 2012 was definitely anklets. 

I used to wear bracelets in my teen years, but you know with young kids and my hands always doing some chores, it's really not practical to wear them anymore, but that doesn't mean that I cannot dress my ankles, right? 

 So, this summer months I went on to the quest for the best anklet. 

I wasn't very sure of what style I wanted, so I initially bought a couple of very thin and cheap anklets, very cute with little shells and stars charms, but they broke immediately the first time I went swimming :( 

Then I found this precious, sparkly gem in Cindy's shop, Sea Breeze Jewels and what can I say, I love blue and fell in love head over heels for this baby......wouldn't you???  

Although I love it dearly, I must confess that I was afraid to sleep with it, I didn't wanna crash the precious beads or risk to loose it....it will brake my heart!! 

So, on I went on my quest for something equally cute, practical and not to difficult to match with my clothing and I found this beauty from Kathy Jo Kreations 

  

 I really love the softness of the hemp rather than having a chain, plus it still has blue beads, accentuated my the bright red ones that match my toe nails....what else could I ask???

Well, now that I think about it, maybe I should have gotten the black one too.......