Drumroll, Please: 2012 Theme Recap

When the Nelson Sisters get together to celebrate a birthday - my turn this time - you know there's bound to be quite a bit of merriment, adventure and fun! This time, one of us ended up getting kissed by a random man in a restaurant (our waiter, in fact) and one of us ended up walking into the men's restroom by accident.

(I am not telling you any more than this regarding this.)

Above: a gift from Emily's mom pretty much captured the two of us as peas in two pods toting my Pink behind us which I had to publish with this post. Thank you, Laurie!!! But, I digress.

We took the train into Chicago and our first stop was to the movie theatre to see a 10:20 AM pre matinee of THE ARTIST.

That's the earliest we'd ever gone to a theatre and it was a surprise to see how many others had this early bird idea.

This movie is good!

Seeing as we do theme gifts, I was really wondering how the movie fit into the overall plan.

Then, Diann suggested I take this picture below as my next clue for the guessing the theme. Apparently we were going to the building behind the Wrigley Building for lunch. Because I don't want weird comments, I am not going to write down the name here, but will give you the clue that "The Donald" started it and it rhymes with "bump."

And read the next sign if you still haven't a clue: This restaurant was amazing! Not over-the-top-glitzy as you might expect, but contemporary and cozy on the 16th floor with a spectacular view from our by-the-window seats.

The food was delicious and beautifully presented.

Our waiter, Geoffrey, was most accommodating and even sang "Happy Birthday" to me in French.

My chocolate birthday confection was personalized!

After dining in the restaurant named "Sixteen" we headed back to her place to uncover that the theme title for 2012 was....

STORIES!

Diann had gone through Dad's old slides and included stories from my life growing up that I might not have known about. Stories about houses we lived in, trips we took, toys I had,

fashions I wore. Stories. Sweet stories, funny stories, tug-your-heartstrings kind of stories.

Including the picture of my first little suitcase - incidentally pink - with an elephant on it and which my father rescued from a Colorado mountain stream when I was a girl about 5 years old.

Plus the story of my Grandma Ethel's grocery store china with a pitcher found on EBay so that I have a daily reminder of that ancestor. Grandma baked the best orange-glazed rolls and took us to swim at an indoor pool nearby.

Perhaps you are wondering how the movie The Artist and the restaurant (Sixteen) fit into the theme?

Diann found pictures of me in the slide boxes from when I was 16 myself. Sitting at the beach with a green swimsuit on, sitting on a tree stump while taking a break from a mountain hike...these really brought up memories of the me from long ago.

She also recalled that, at an early age, I showed signs of being a budding artist with all the pictures I drew for her, and again on my college graduation day as I received my diploma with an Art Major to boot.

I received an album full of pictures and stories that will forever fill my heart with the person I was becoming the person I am some five decades later.

I am blessed beyond belief.

Thanks, sis, for being there my whole life through! You've been the best theme of all times!

A "Bad" Zippy Project

Back in November, nephew Jackson (age 7) visited us and, knowing that I like to sew, drew me a picture of "Bad" SpongeBob with the request that I make a custom one for him. After he made his drawing, we discussed the color scheme and details. Because it was the holiday season, Jackson had to wait a bit for the fruition of his design to be turned into reality.

Now that "Bad" is done and the recipient has taken ownership, I can publish the pictures of this fun project!

I used felted wool from shrunken sweaters to complete this project. Both machine and hand-sewing were employed.

"Bad" has a removable hat.

The socks were made from actual socks that were cut to size.

And, due to this being my year of zip, I put a zipper down the back of "Bad"

with an inserted pillow that can be removed and the inside can be used as a secret storage place

for Jackson's treasures.

I hope the two pals have a long, happy relationship

together!

Our Little Miss Turns Two!

Today is Ellie's second birthday!

We had so much fun at her party and here you see her personality in full force: she was wearing pink wings found in a dress-up closet, a yellow apron given as a gift along with a peach tutu skirt given (by us) as a gift. All on top of her birthday party outfit. A pink boa-wrapped headband was also a part of her self-adorned ensemble, but ditched somewhere along the way.

She apparently is following along with her MeMo's love for parties!!

These past two years as Grandparents have been sweeter than honey.

Grandparenthood is everything and more than you can imagine.

To those of our friends who have reached this milestone, you know exactly what I'm talking about. To those who anticipate it someday, it is well worth the wait!

We know we are blessed and we are truly grateful!

H A P P Y

S E C O N D

B I R T H D A Y

to you,

dear Ellie!

With love, Papa and MeMo

Our Kitchen Got a Unibrow!

Before

New Year = New Look for the kitchen! We did a simple update after the leaky "throne" upstairs decided to drip down below to the kitchen ceiling and soffit. And why not add a little zip to the small, galley kitchen in the repair process?

It's very nice to have a handy-man husband. He replaced the toilet, patched the kitchen ceiling and soffit and then he got a surprise from me: Yes, I really wanted a "unibrow" in orangey red for our newly refreshed soffit. That was a bit out of his comfort zone.

But, he's quite a good sport, thank goodness!

After

Here's the new look. It makes me happy.

Resolution Word for 2012

First of all, here's to a Very Happy New Year for all readers of this blog! Thank you for checking in on this little spot every now and then - I do so appreciate your companionship and comments along the way! Now that the holidays are past, and the new year is here it is time to reveal my Resolution Word for 2012.

I have been pondering this word for some time now.

Instead of coming up with a list of things to try to accomplish in the year ahead, I choose one word to inspire my thoughts and actions to make me a hopefully better "being" as the year unfolds. The word of last year was Turnover and it was meant to turn(me)over with my eating and exercising habits. Throughout the course of the year, this inspired me to lose over 20 pounds, so I'd say the word was a powerful one! (And a true challenge, to boot.)

Being one who likes to create things with my hands, I knew that my word had to include a reminder to stitch, sew and seam. It's been a long, dry spell for making garments requiring buttonholes and zippers, and I now have a very special little girl in my life to serve as my model.

Another definition of my word includes being active and involved as I zip through daily activities and keep up to motivation to sty fit and healthy.

Still a third definition involves an action of closed lips. Remember as a kid when your teacher or Mom made an action of index finger and thumb touching and silently made a pass across the lips as if signalling, "Zip it up?" That's a goal for me to achieve as I might be thinking unkind thoughts to keep them to myself.

Without further ado, my word for 2012 is zip.

That's right. ZIP!

And I might even make some zipper flower pins along the way! I do have quite a few colorful zippers in my stash...

Have you thought or your own Resolution Word yet? I'd love to hear about it.