Countdown to Christmas— Day 26

I was lucky enough to have my best friend, Amy, over for a visit on Saturday. She and her family flew down from New Jersey for Thanksgiving to visit family and they stopped by to see little ole' me for the afternoon.

I LOVE winter. Too bad I live in Florida! Since I probably won't be able to wear cute and cozy sweaters very often this winter (unless I turn the A/C way down) I thought it would be fun to mess around with my yarn stash. So... Amy's daughter, Maddie and I made these adorable wreaths for the holidays! Amy, a self-professed non-crafter, enjoyed watching and chatting with us while worked.

Thanks for stopping by Amy!

Let the fun begin!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a small gathering around the table this year, but our one and only guest was a very special one—my grandmother. We call her "Mamaw". She turned 93 last month and although she moves a little slower these days, she still wants to help me out wherever she can. She lives  just a few minutes away. We picked her up at 11am this morning and the two of us spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen together. We cooked up some Pole beans—an old family recipe—and a delicious sweet potato casserole. Plus, we made my favorite cranberry apricot sauce along with the rest of the traditional holiday fixin's. She also made sure I cleaned, dried and put away all my pots and cooking utensils BEFORE dinner (something I usually leave to clean up the next day). Then she made sure the kitchen was spic and span before we took her home. Needless to say, I'm exhausted but still so very thankful for my grandmother. 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Girls' Weekend— The St. Petersburg Women's Half Marathon

A First— Today my sister Melissa and our friend Kimber completed their first running race ever— a Half Marathon! Woohooo! And they picked a good one too! The St. Pete Women's Half ranks high in my book of races! The weather was perfect, in the 60's. The route was gorgeous and FLAT. Great medal and love the necklace charm that's attached. It was sponsored by Publix so we got all kinds of yummy goodies at the finish this morning and the pre-race Expo was great too! Cool goodie bag and lots of expo vendors— including 13.1 Pandora bracelet charms (which Melissa purchased)! We loved everything!

The Holiday Inn Sunspree we stayed at? Not so much. But no bed bugs (that we could see anyway). Note to self: scout our hotel out a little more thoroughly next time.

Can't forget to mention my other running buddies: my friend Melissa PR'd. Can I get a Woop! Woop!, Becky probably won another medal for her age group and Susan concluded that she'll never run another race without training for it. That makes two of us.

Great job everybody! Let's do it again soon!

Something for over the couch.

"Florida Fall"

acrylic on 40" x 40" stretch canvas

A belated birthday gift for my friend, Shona. I promised I would paint her a picture for over her couch because I couldn't stand the thought of her ordering one from a catalog. I painted this with various palette knives and my hands. No brushes necessary.