An Anniversary Celebration

Over the weekend, Travis (my husband) and I had the pleasure of helping his parents celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary. They were married in Las Vegas at the Silver Wedding Bell Chapel in 1972....I wish I had a photo from their wedding day to share with you - they have a fabulous wedding photo. To the right is a photo of the happy couple taken at our wedding in 2000.

We decided to have a nice afternoon lunch at our house and my husband would fire up the grill. He barbecued the meats and I made all the fixings....and because my father-in-law is a "chocoholic", we stopped by the local bakery for a beautiful German chocolate cake. With red ruby as the classic gift material for the 40th anniversary, I found some incredible hand blown ruby red wine glasses for a gift (silly me, I didn't take a photo) - we also picked up a bottle of chocolate wine for the man who can never have enough chocolate. It truly was a lovely afternoon as we reminisced about the last forty years while enjoying (for the most part) a home cooked meal.

Wishing my mother-in-law and father-in-law many more years of happiness...may your marriage continue to be blessed with love, joy, and memorable occasions!

A Season of Surprises

One of the things I love most about the cold winter months is curling up inside with my needle and thread. With the abundance of stitching I have to complete, it has become my evening and nightly ritual to light a fire in the fireplace, make a nice hot beverage, and enjoy time with my needlework. I am hoping to have another new design model finished soon, so look forward to a new photo in the next several days.

I spent a little time this afternoon working on one last Christmas gift...a fun patchwork table runner and matching kitchen towels. I finished all the piecing today and hope to do the quilting and binding tomorrow morning....then my Christmas list of handmade gifts will be complete. I have found much joy in my sewing studio these past several weeks...and lucky me, I have two baby quilts to do for expecting friends, so I have plenty of after-holiday quilting to keep me busy!

Now I am off to my stitching nest to work on the model for my upcoming bookmark sampler (it still needs a name)...it is about half done and I would really like to finish it up this week. But before I get my needle moving again, I plan to make a cup of Christmas Tea in my fun new Longaberger Top Hat Snowman Mug! This super special mug arrived in the mail today from my dear friend Robin - she is so very thoughtful - and she knows how much I love my Longaberger (I'm addicted, it's a sickness) and hot tea, so this was the perfect surprise. Robin you truly brightened my day - THANK YOU!

It's that time of year when we find joy in unexpected places - a season of surprises...take a few moments see the beauty and joy that surround you....

Hope & Inspiration

Yesterday afternoon I attended the annual local Horizon of Hope Luncheon benefiting local breast cancer charities. It is a lovely event held each year by local Longaberger consultants - a wonderful lunch, an auction, a guest speaker, and a preview of the new Longaberger holiday line. The event this year was held at Bravo! Italian Restaurant (yummy)....and an abundance of baskets filled with goodies were auctioned off for the John Stoddard Cancer Center. When I purchased the luncheon ticket, it also included the 2010 Horizon of Hope Basket...which was foofed at my place setting (too cute!). It was an afternoon filled with friendship, food, and fun....all raising money for a terrific cause - I can't think of a better way to spend my Sunday.

During the live auction, I purchased a bottle of "INSPIRE #3" wine - produced and bottled at the Madison County Winery in St. Charles, Iowa. The wine label recognizes nearly 200 Iowa breast cancer survivors by incorporating their names into the design of the label...and the winery donates $9.00 for each case sold to the Susan G. Koman - For The Cure Des Moines Affiliate - even more special, several attendees at the luncheon had their name listed on the bottle. Madison County Winery combines the passion to find a cure with a passion for wine - they have found a special way to recognize just some of the many brave Iowans who have so valiantly fought breast cancer and survived....truly inspiring!

Remember, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, please educate yourself ~ more and more people we know are being challenged by this life-threatening disease ~ cherish the time you have with family, friends, and loved ones....PLEASE do your monthly breast self-exams and your yearly mammogram - early detection is key!

Las Vegas Vacation - Part One

Hello friends and followers...and for those here in the US, happy Labor Day!

I have returned from a MARVELOUS (and very much needed) Las Vegas vacation and once I catch up on sleep and get back on Iowa time, I will feel very refreshed. We had a lovely time and did all sorts of fun things! We stayed at the brand new Vdara Hotel and Spa, pretty much in the center of the strip (right next to the Bellagio)...our room was quite something - everything was run by remote (even the window treatments) and we had a 39th story view of the fountains at the Bellagio - it was extremely quiet without a casino, and I thoroughly enjoyed the clean, crisp, contemporary/modern decor. The sculptures and artwork were quite something - including the tree of canoes in front of the hotel (seen below). We did spend quite a bit of time next door at Vdara's sister the Aria Hotel and Casino (also brand new) where my husband could play cards and do a little gambling.

We rented a car - and not just any car, a 2010 black Chevy Camaro - and if you saw any of my tweets, you know we did quite a bit of sightseeing in the area. Our first full day of seeing the sights, we drove to the amazing Mt. Charleston Lodge, tucked away in the Spring Mountains - oh my goodness, was this drive beautiful - and although it was 103 degrees in Las Vegas, it was 68 degrees in the mountains - we sat outside at the lodge and had a delicious lunch (the photo below is the view from our outside dining table). Besides the smell of pine, one of the neatest things about sitting outside...hummingbirds were flying everywhere - they were zipping around our table for the entire meal - it was like being in a storybook.

We then drove to red Rock Canyon - and another super cool thing happened - just as I was making fun of the "Burro Crossing" signs, we came upon (guess what?)....a burro crossing the road to get a bite to eat...he was adorable and I wanted so badly to get out and pet him (but refrained) - I guess the burro and wild horse crossing signs are no joke! Red Rock Canyon was awe inspiring...so very beautiful and so very quiet...the drive through the park was amazing and we stopped at all of the scenic overviews to get photos and walk some of the short trails.

Then it was back to the city for another fabulous dinner and some gambling, followed by seeing Blue Man Group at the Venetian - we had special Allegiant Air tickets, right in the center, right in the front - it was a fantastic show - then we got to go to the Blue Lounge for a meet and greet (with two other couples)...which was totally cool, as one of the members actually spoke and let us ask lots of questions (check out my tweets for a photo of me with a member of Blue Man Group!)...and then each of the members signed our tickets by placing their blue fingerprints on them - a totally unique experience. And I almost forgot to mention - earlier in the day, when we stopped at the Venetian to pick up our tickets, we went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum - what a hoot this was! - if you haven't been there, all of the stars are posed, so you can have your photos taken with them - we had so much fun walking through each room and "seeing" all sorts of famous people - and they do look SO VERY real! If you read my tweets, then you saw a funny photo of me between Johnny Depp and Justin Timberlake (talk about a dream)...the museum was great for a bunch of laughs and giggling and I would definitely go back.

The next day found us making a trip to Stitcher's Paradise, Quiltique (thank you Kathryn for the GREAT suggestion), and the Hoover Dam and Bypass Bridge. Stitcher's Paradise was phenomenal - truly heaven for a needleworker - and although I didn't buy much stash (as we all know, I have enough to last a lifetime), I truly enjoyed my visit. Quiltique - well let's just say, I think this is my favorite quilt shop I have ever visited - I was seriously speechless when I walked in the door - and I did buy some stash, in fact, probably more than I should have - my husband even left for a bit, so I could do some serious shopping - it is a FANTASTIC quilt shop! We then made out way to the Hoover Dam and Bypass Bridge - we had visited there in February and wanted to see if the bridge was completed - but they are still working on it. We saw so many neat things - I will be back with more photos soon....

Today, we celebrated Labor Day with my husband Travis's parents - we had a lovely late lunch - Travis barbecued pork loins....and I made a bunch of sides, including that great green bean salad I shared with you last month....dessert was cheese cake...mmmm, yummy....we all had PLENTY to eat (and there are lots of leftovers)! If you are in the United States, I hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend...

A PINK Post

This afternoon was the annual local Horizon of Hope Luncheon benefiting local breast cancer charities. It is a lovely event held each year by local Longaberger consultants - a wonderful lunch, an auction, a guest speaker, and a preview of the new Longaberger holiday line. The event this year was held at Bravo! Italian Restaurant (yummy)....and an abundance of baskets filled with goodies were auctioned off for the John Stoddard Cancer Center and Susan G. Koman - For The Cure Des Moines Affiliate. I was thrilled to have the high bid on a gorgeous Mail & Bill Basket filled with note cards, a pen, a sticker maker, pink scissors, an address book, a candle, and a Longaberger pink travel mug - what an awesome basket! When I purchased the luncheon ticket, it also included the 2009 Horizon of Hope Note Basket and the Horizon of Hope Tote....so I had a pile of "good things" to bring home from the event. It was an afternoon filled with friendship, food, and fun....all raising money for a terrific cause - I can't think of a better way to spend my Sunday.

Remember, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, please educate yourself ~ more and more people we know are being challenged by this life-threatening disease ~ cherish the time you have with family, friends, and loved ones....and ladies, PLEASE do your monthly breast self-exams and your yearly mammogram - early detection is key!