Tea time.

The N-boy and I have a tea problem. We drink it pretty much every night, especially when it's cold outside. The problem isn't the tea drinking, but more of the chaos of our tea cupboard (yes we have a whole shelf dedicated to tea and hot chocolate. I think the moment of truth came with the N-boy opened the door and boxes fell on his head.

His solution to the problem was to toss some stuff that was REALLY old and to put a moratorium on buying more tea until we reduce the stash. My solution was to take some of it to work to drink there, since I need to stop drinking so much Starbucks. And because I'm not a fan of the tea in Keurig in the office kitchen. And so we can then buy more tea.

I think this little guy appeared in my stocking last year. Under the duck is a mesh tea strainer, and then it sits in the little blue cup when your tea has steeped.

It's super cute. And I get a kick out of back from the kitchen with a duck floating in my cup. And I'm drinking yummy tea instead of Starbucks. Ok well there's still been some Starbucks. But it's a start, yes? 

Christmas Festiveness.

As mentioned previously, this was Christmas decorating weekend in our household. Really, everything on Sunday was part of the "get Laura more into the Christmas spirit" movement. Some progress was made, but the 65 degree weather is definitely not helping me feel very Christmassy. 

A view of the Christmas tree and the marriage tree. We receive this sculpture for our wedding and it was possibly our favorite gift ever. We tend to decorate it with simple decorations for each holiday or season.

This poor little guy was in the box of ornaments. I think the rest of the ornament was originally a spaceship. But it's ok, Marvin's head is on the tree. The N-boy seemed to find this creepy but acquiesced to the inclusion of Marvin. Or at least Marvin's head. 

The brother-in-law and sister-in-law-in-law got these super awesome Christmas Carol rubber duckies for me a couple of years ago. The N-boy set them up on top of the TV (we'll see how long that lasts with the cats) and didn't even realize that Scrooge duck is facing the opposite way as all the others. But really it seems appropriate so we've left it as is.

Our friends gave me this drink container last year and had it filled with Christmas ornaments. I loved the idea so we decided to repeat it for this year's festivities. 

We've got a couple of other decorations up, but nothing too crazy. I have a bag full of obnoxious red bows that I'll probably hang up around the house over the course of the week as the mood strikes me. 

Weekend Recap.

Craft show, with the N-boy in tow. He's such a good sport. 

I finished the test of a revised pattern for a heart shaped bowl (I really want to call this pattern "Heart Shaped Box" but i'm also pretty sure that the Momcat wouldn't get the reference. Daddo would, however, so maybe it's worth a shot?) Let's just say that this pattern is without a doubt my arch nemesis. This is my THIRD attempt at making this blankity blank heart bowl and I finally got it to work. The pattern is significantly more complicated than the other shapes I've worked on, and the pattern needed some serious tweaking for us more novice crafters. At last, however, victory is mine! 

The N-boy purchased Russian food from a somewhat questionable van in a definitely questionable car repair shop. However, the then turned said purchase into these Сырники (sirniki). Basically pan fried farmer's cheese with jelly on top. Yum. Sketchy groceries for the win. 

We decorated for Christmas. More on that later-Christmas decorations definitely deserve a post unto themselves in my book. Let's just say that one of my new goals in life is to have an ENTIRE tree decorated only with flamingo ornaments. Yes, I'm serious. I do have flamingo Christmas lights already in my office, so I'm well on my way. The N-boy was less than impressed by this life goal.  

We escaped the football games on TV and went to a coffee shop to work for a while. The N-boy worked on his dissertation (ok well I assume he was working on his dissertation. Sometimes I don't ask too many questions because then he wafts poetic about cholera in provincial Russia while I'm trying to consume a tasty beverage). Is it weird that I think the foam on cappuccinos taste like the crispy part on a perfectly toasted marshmallow?  Pretty sure that must be a weird thing. 

 And that was our weekend!

Happy December.

Oh December. I'm pretty happy you're here. For the most part. Not that part that realized I turned 30 in exactly 70 days. But since I am a huge fan of Christmas cookies and eggnog, we'll give that a pass for the moment.

Today was a busy day with my one and only craft fair for the season. It wasn't great. Luckly the N-boy came along with me and we talked a lot about what kind of venue (if any) is right for the kind of thing that the Momcat and I are focusing on. Don't worry, Momcat, lots of notes and ideas to discuss with you!

Of course, I did put him to work. You don't just get to sit at my pretty table without hauling boxes and praising my wares to strangers. (Somehow that sounds indecent...I swear it wasn't).

I did let him out for a short break where he ventured out to find the super secret Russian market that appears in Elkhart one Saturday a month. In the bay of a car repair shop. By people who drive a van full of Russian food from New Jersey to Indiana. The sketchiness of this adventure was possibly the highlight of his week.

The N-boy returned with some of his favorite Russian foods including these yummy desserts which are similar to cheesecake bites. And are amazing. I LOVED these when I lived in Russia and was super pumped to eat one.

On the way back from a rather long day we hit the grocery store before returning to the house where we promptly crashed on fluffy furniture. Chinese comfort food take out for dinner, and then the N-boy fell asleep on the couch with CatCat.

I thought this picture was hilarious, but apparently the whole time he was sleeping (or trying to sleep) it was an epic battle with the cat about who got to occupy more space on the couch. CatCat has a tendency to win these battles with her pointy claws.

Tomorrow we're planning on decorating the house for Christmas. I haven't been feeling very festive, so I'm hoping that a day full of festivity-however forced-will help get me into the holiday spirit.