our weekend

you know those weekends that are filled with barely anything?
well that's basically what our past weekend was, and it was glorious.
saturday we slept in, dennis got up to go work on our car with my dad, and i continued to sleep in.
i eventually got up, read a bit.
and then the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon completely escapes me.

later that night dennis and i went out on a little date to go see the new sherlock homes movie. i didn't really like it, i just can't get into them. i feel like they tend to be in this weird limbo between an action movie, and a thinker. i get how some people might like those two combined, but i prefer them to be kept in their own categories.

but there were a few spots, like the "urban camouflage" that i really enjoyed.

oh but the end? awesome. so maybe i will go see the next one, and there will be another because, well, the ending just sreams a third installment. 

                              

then we made a quick jont over to the nearest superstore to pick something up for sunday.

evidence of how cold it was that night? i reached out to turn up the fan and my nail cracked in half like an egg on the counter. 

sunday, we had church in the morning, and oh boy was it ever a dramatic day in 8th ward.

later that afternoon we went over to shani and mile's, to celebrate shani's 28th birthday. 

happy tuesday from us!

oh, and friday afternoon? feel free to come as quickly as possible. thanks

Christmas in... January?

yesterday was a terribly exciting day in our house for many reasons, but the majors on the list were:

1. pick n' pull saved us hundreds of dollars!

AND

b. dennis received his new backpack in the mail. 

(get it? home alone anyone?)

his old bpack was starting to wear on the strap, in the weirdest place too, not even close to a buckle or anything else for it to rub on. we took it into spareparts where he bought it to get a copy of the receipt, so it can be sent in under warranty to be repaired, we had a few struggles in the beginning trying to get the correct documentation that we needed (you know how when you buy something from there they record all sorts of information right down the the name of your first born? i guess that didn't happen that day). it was turning into a long, and slightly painful process, so i just repaired his strap with my handy dandy repairing skills i gained sewing trampolines one summer. and when i was done with it that baby wasn't going to fray no mo. 

but after what has seemed like foooooooooreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrr dakine finally got back to us, and just decided to send him a fresh new one. 

so that is the story of the backpack, and here is the story of a man falling in love with said backpack. 

he was so happy he even made me some hot chocolate! that is the third major exciting event of the day. 

indeed, a very good day

it's been a while

literally less then ten steps down the hall from our apartment is this

our landlord told us about it when we moved in, and she did warn us about the condition of the equipment. but we still decided to check it out,and she wasn't kidding. it seriously looked like you would come out with ripped limbs instead of ripped muscles. it was pretty scary. so we avoided it for obvious reasons. a few months later for some reason we popped our heads in again and found it completely stripped bare hmm... remolding? i hope so. but doubtful. 

low and behold that is exactly what they were doing. 

i wish i had taken a picture of what it looked like before, to compare with what it is now. because holy man does it look great! brand spankin' new equipment, and yes, they even had that "new" smell.  

loved my view

how many people can walk to and from their workout in their socks? this girl can!

after sweating more then i have in a very long time, i decided that i deserved a treat, and a treat i got. 

all dressed chips, my fave!

what did i learn today? i need to get my butt back in there tomorrow. 

oh, and i'm going to sleep like baby tonight, and that i'm most definitely going to be sore tomorrow. yes, very sore. 

photos by esme

last month my good friend esmerelda mathews contacted me about letting her take some photos of dennis and i, and of course i was all over that! we had such a fun time with her and her husband playing in the snow ( my boots were completely soaked through, even my toes were pruny!) sliding down icy back wood paths and just hangingout with them. hopefully we can do it again sometime.

here are a few that she put up on her blog for me to see, i was so excited! i have been dying with anticipation these past few weeks. 

thanks again esme!

please note that it was really bright that day, and with all the snow around it didn't matter where you looked, you were going to be blinded. 

if you're interested in booking a session with her, you can contact her on her blog here, or ask me and i can hook you up. 

hot tool covers

i have had this particular project at the top of my must do list for a while now.

I would have done it a lot sooner if i wasn't so picky. for a while i used to try and justify myself by saying that i just have high standard that i choose not waiver from, but who am i kidding, i't just picky, probably the most picky person you will ever meet. i still think i have high standards that i choose not to waiver from though.

so this project, after leaving my straightener sitting in the carpet for way too long, how long? you will never know. i decided that something needed to change, not that i needed to pay more attention while i am letting it heat up, or cool down. but something that will allow me a little buffer room while i am being absent minded.

so i went on the prowl for some cute oven pads at the local dollar stores. now like i said, i'm picky, and most of the ones i found just weren't cutting it for me. i mean i don't even drink cappuccinos why would i want to have to look at one every time i reach for my curling iron? see? weird. but then last friday after work while we were waiting to get the car out of the shop (long annoying story) we stopped into dollarama and there i beheld these beauties.

see how cute those are? now what if i had bought those ugly cups of brown addiction? 

next I folded the oven pad in half, pinned along the bottom, and the side leaving the top open.

and then sewed it up. 

*i used a denim needle because when the pads are folded in half they are very thick, and very tough, so a regular needle won't be able to quite do the trick, unless the trick is them breaking. also it is going to be a tight squeeze under the pressure foot, unless you have an adjustable one (i wish!) so you're really going to have to help feed it through. 

i didn't sew all the way up the side because i wanted to leave it a bit open to make it easier getting things in about out, and it also lets the clamp on a curling iron have a bit of breathing room, therefore letting it sit farther down into the cover. which is the point anyway right?

and there you have it!

easy peasy. 

moral of the story? being picky pays off in the end. 

a letter of thanks

dear 2012,

you have already been so good to our little family. unlike those nasty first days 2011 decided to spring on us. i just don't think my pour nerves would have survived, if i had to wake up, look out the window, and to my utter horror find my car stolen right out of our parking lot again! it was so nice to not worry about where in this big city she could be, what kind of awfulness had taken place, and if against her will forced to commit some kind of a crime.

this year, i think we are going to be good friends, i can just feel it.
looking forward, with some hesitation, to what else you have in store. if i may ask just one thing, don't go too crazy on us.

and for that 2012, we thank you.

the ellisons