Happy Holiday's!

Happy Holiday's lovelies! I've neglected my bloggy duties for such a long time, that I actually had to read the tutorials on how to post! Many things have changed in the past few years, the little girls  are now big girls, we lost our sweet Rylee to lymphoma, we've remodeled, traveled to Israel a few times, lost and gained the same 20 pounds (ugh), and celebrated several mile stones. Through out all the time that has passed though, I've still tried to keep up with all of your blogs, instagram photo's, and sweet emails. We all get busy, wrapped up in the chaos of daily life. In the coming year I really want to make a conscience effort to slow down. Give more. Appreciate more. Feel more. Time just passes way too fast, my friends. Go hug your babies, no matter how big. Eat that extra cookie, take that belly dancing class, just go! Do it! Live life to the fullest. Happy holiday's. I'm going to go eat a cookie now ; )

I Might've Got Lost, Somewhere Down The Line!

Halloooo? Remember me??? I'm still here! Just took a wee break. OK, kind of a big break, but all is well! Still cookin', travelin', and junkin'! Let's catch up soon, OK?

XO

Gaia

EAT!

 So, as much as i LOVE Pinterest, i realized it really has become just one more way for me to collect stuff. And, i lurve collecting stuff {just ask sweet man} Nuff said.
This girl is gonna use that virtual stuff.
 On my board "Gettin' Crafty", i found this cute idea on how to give paper mache letters a vintage industrial look.

I picked up the EAT letters at Hobby Lobby, spray painted them with a couple coats of chrome spray paint. There are a great selection of metallic paints out there, but this is what was in my cupboard : )

 Once dry, lightly sand, concentrating a bit more on the edges. The letter on the left has been sanded, and the letter on the right has not.

 Then hang em up! They're so light, i was able to hang them with command strips.

I decided to browse my "Noms" board for Thanksgiving inspiration, and found a recipe for crock pot cinnamon sugar almonds. I needed sugared pecans for a pumpkin pie recipe, so i threw in pecans. I'll let you know how they turn out! {fyi, if they don't turn out, the cinnamon mixture is SO dee-lish, that you might find me in a sugar coma on the kitchen floor}

We are headed up to our Northern Nest for a Thanksgiving food fest. I'm really looking forward to spending time with my girls and sweet man. I'm so thankful to have this time to catch up, and re-connect with each other, and what better way to do that than over a great meal.
What are you thankful for?

 I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

Gaia

Sweet Sixteen

This 'lil dumplin' turns sixteen today! Yikes! Where did the time go?
 Happy Birthday, Ms. B. You are a blessing every day. XO

Happy Haunting!

Here are a couple recipes to warm your bones on this cold Halloween. I found this Chipotle Black Bean Chili in the October issue of Midwest Living. 

And this little number is for all the "mummies" out there...get it? Mummies? {so sorry} It's a Pumpkin Spice Martini from Shecan2cook at Allrecipes.com

It's sure to keep you nice and toasty!

Happy Haunting!

Gaia

It's 5:00 Somewhere and a Surprise

Today is one of those perfect fall days. Sunny, breezy, 70ish. The perfect day for an Autumn beer. Yes, i know it'd the middle of the day, but it's a perfect beer day!

This is my lunch companion- Mr. Samuel Adams and his Octoberfest nectar

 These are my other lunch companions-waiting for a hand out {yeah, they all got a bit of pretzel}

The trees are just starting to come into their full Autumn splendor

                  Have you tried hard cider? It's delightful- great with something spicy like the black bean chill I'm making tonight!

This was the lovely surprise i came home to today! Nice, right? Yup, this morning this was a cute little fluffy owl minding it's business, perched sweetly on the staircase- now? Im not so sure. Can't quite put my finger on it, but something not quite the same. Hmmm...

Happy Wednesday!

Gaia

On A Roll

I'm on a roll. No, literally, i'm rolling everything. Martha says rolled towels take up less space, and if Martha says it, it's probably true! It drove me crazy when my dish towels would bunch up in the drawer or worse, disappear behind the drawer!

So, i rolled 'em up. And.They.Stay.Put! Love it! I rolled the bath towels, the hand towels and the dog towels. I'm on a bit of a cleaning frenzy. No ones safe when i'm in this mood!

Do you know the Fly Lady? Hop on over to www.flylady.net and get caught up in the clean {well, we're not catching up, we're jumping in!} I bought her duster {i feel so Downton Abby, dancing around with my duster!} and her purple rags, and i just have to say, amazing!
Do you get the cleaning bug?

Happy Tuesday!

Gaia