Happy New Year's Eve!

I have had a rather nice day today. I woke up at the crack of dawn to get in line at the DMV to change the last name on my drivers licence since I am married, and have been for the last 2 months. Figured it was about time. Yep, I am now a Lucas. You know...there is a semi identity crisis that comes along with changing your name but I got over it pretty quickly!

Then, when I got back home after the hustle and bustle of the DMV, I made a crack at vegan baking! I wanted to make something for a friend that is Vegan. Since I eat meat, I know not a whole lot about Vegan baking, but I do know that the Spiral Diner is pretty fantastic! 

I found a great recipe for cookies over at Veg Fort Worth. This is a great recipe. The cookies turned out fantastic! You would never know they were Vegan. You know, this girl over at Veg Fort Worth just may turn me Vegan! You must try this recipe. I did not have vegan white choc so I just used semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Cheers and Happy New Year! 

Blog Hop Wednesday And Crock Potting!

Crock pots are awesome. Just toss everything in the night before, store in the fridge, plug in when you wake up the next morning, come home to a fantastic smelling house!

I just kind of made this little crock pot dinner up. I have not been to the store in a week or so but thought that I might have enough to make something tasty. So here is what I did.

I chopped a bell pepper and an onion and sauteed for about 5 -10 minutes on a low to medium heat.

I added the onions an peppers in the crock with a can of rotel, a can of strained black beans, and a can of corn (well actually I used creamed corn that I drained because I did not have regular corn). Then I added a teaspoon and a half of cumin and a teaspoon of oregano.

 Mixed it all together and added some chicken breasts.

Cranked that sucker on and it got to cooking!

Then after it was done I took 2 forks and shredded the chicken. 

Cooked it for about 30 more minutes and then we had shredded chicken tacos!

Cheers and Happy Blog Hop Wednesday!

Day After Christmas

There is something about the day after Christmas. I typically always feel refreshed and very crafty! So, I decided to make a roast in the crock pot and spin some yarn!

The roast turned out very nice. I love how the aroma of the roast slowly cooking in the crock pot fills the house. I put in beef broth, red wine, fresh cut rosemary, thyme, and sage.

 Then, while my roast was roasting, I worked on spinning some yarn.  I spun this for a friend.  Her mother died a few months ago. I cannot imagine loosing my mother, especially so close to the holidays. So, I hope this yarn will give her the opportunity on focusing on doing something fun for herself! 

I had so much fun spinning it and I love the way it turned out!

Cheers! 

Merry Christmas!

It is hard to believe that yet again, Christmas is here. It has been a nice day for me so far. Santa has been awfully nice too!  And, it is actually cold here in Texas! Thank goodness! Jeff and I got up this morning, checked out our stockings (which is my favorite Christmas thing to do), exchanged gifts and then went over to my parents house for brunch.  

At the parents house we started things off with a bit of Christmas Sangria! 

It was good!  My mom made a simple syrup that had a bit of a nutty spice to it which made it a fantastic winter sangria.  I juiced some oranges for the sangria and then Jeff mixed it all together.

My Mom always sets such a nice table for us when we come over, especially on Christmas. Jeff and my Dad started a nice cozy fire in the fire place. I love the smell of a fire place! I especially love the smell of pinon wood. :-) 

On the menu we had: Mexican Brunch Casserole.  Now, this is a tradition in my family. We have this casserole every Christmas and it is so yummy! I look forward to it every year!  We also had something new, Baked Pear Vanilla French Toast with Mama's Pecan Maple Syrup.  Oh man, food coma.

After brunch we settled into the den to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  We laughed hysterically through the whole movie! It is a great one.  This movie is definitely on my list of Christmas movies to watch over and over and over!

After the movie we exchanged gifts. Every year my mom puts together a little "care package" full of a random assortment of wonderful things.  In my care package this year was:

This cute little knitted head wrap.

Some Fiestaware salt and pepper shakers.

A pomegranate foaming bath power which I can't wait to use!

And, these cute vintage salt and pepper shakers.

My aunt also gave us some of my Grandmother's vintage linen napkins and had an "L" embroidered on them. That is the first letter of my new last name!  So very thoughtful I can't wait to have a dinner party and use them!

Yet another very Merry Christmas.

Cheers Everyone! 

A Little Bit of Christmas Preparation

These last few days are fun for me. Even though every year I say I am going to have everything done so I don't have to scramble...I kinda like the scrambling but in moderation.  Today I got off work early.  I did a bit of last minute shopping and then made my annual Christmas marshmallows for my family.  These are the second annual Christmas marshmallows to be exact.

I also finished up my Navajo ply yarn. I used Navajo-Churro wool that I picked up a few years back.  It is pretty funny, I procrastinated with learning how to Navajo ply. It just looked so absolutely complicated! But, with the help from The Joy of Handspinning I discovered that it is so very simple! I have waited all this time for nothing!  I really like the way the wool looks when it is Navajo plied. It reminds me of some of the things that I have seen in Chimayo.

We spent this past weekend celebrating the Holiday with Jeff's family.  I made peppermint brownies to take.

I also spent about 4 hours wrapping gifts.  Who knew it took that long?  You know, I think in years past I would wrap as I bought. This year I obviously did not do that. Note to self: you could be spinning yarn during that gift wrapping marathon.  Next time, wrap as you purchase. 

Jeff's little brother stayed with us from out of town.  After my 4 hour Christmas prep marathon I finally took a break and played Dance Central on his Kinect. Taye was my favorite Avatar. I had a blast dancing to King of the Dance Hall by Beenie Man. 

Now, I am off to go see The Fighter with a very dear and longtime friend! 

Cheers! 

Have You Ever Heard About The Grilled Cheesus?

Well, I did not exactly wake up to a grilled cheesus but...when I went to put my make up this morning this is what I found....

Yep, just waiting there to make me laugh and boy did I ever! This was so fantastic for a Tuesday morning. I have never seen anything like it. A perfect smiley face in my eye make-up concealer. Just hanging out waiting to say "what's up and good morning."

My Victoria Yarn Is Complete

I finished spinning my Victoria roving a few weeks ago but I just did not get around to finishing it. So, yesterday was a nice day out so I decided to go ahead and give it a bath and hang it out to dry. When I woke up this morning the temp drastically changed and the whole darn thing was frozen! Ah, but it thawed out and turned out perfectly.

I can't wait to knit with it!

Cheers! 

Yarn Wreath Done!!

Ah, Saturday. The antibiotics are kicking in. The elated feeling of receiving hand cards and locks on Friday is everlasting. Oh, and I finished my yarn wreath today. I have been working on and off on it but I figured now was the time to actually bring this little project to a close. I am pleased with how it turned out! 

Happy yarn wreathing!

Cheers! 

Friday Turns From Drab To Fab!

Well, I have been off the radar a bit because I have been under the weather all week! I finally broke down and went to the doc today because I have had coughing spells that last an hour or so. Ugh. Frustrating. But, they fixed me all up with some antibiotics.  I went to Target to pick up my prescription and also picked up a gingerbread house to construct.  I figured I would come home with nothing better to do so constructing a gingerbread house was in the cards for me tonight!  Last year I was sick too and I was not terribly pleased with the way my gingerbread house turned out. But, it was still all in good fun! 

When I came home from the doc, I found something much more fabulous than a gingerbread house. My friend from Taos Sunflower send me a Christmas package! OMG!! Now, if there were no such thing as antibiotics I think a package like this would cure any bacterial infection! She gifted me hand cards but she also sent tons of locks to card! I can't wait to get started. I have been wanting carders for such a long time! This was such a wonderful surprise and the best Christmas gift ever! Thank you so much! I literally shrieked when I opened the package. My little critters looked at me like I was crazy. Ha! 

Yep, now you know why I shrieked! 

Cheers!

Weekend Cocktail Party

We had some friends over this weekend which presented me with the perfect opportunity to use my new wedding gifts! 

I set up a bar that was self serve for those that so desired a little cocktail hour.

I also had a buffet set up with lots of munchie food. I love munchie food.

After our cocktail hour we went to Lola's to see The Orbans.  I love these guys. If you are ever in the Fort Worth area and want to have a good time, check them out. Plus, the keyboardist is a friend from 6th grade! Ha! It is amazing to have know a person for that long.

On Friday night we saw Birds and Batteries. A friend recommend them to us. This was a great show! They are from San Fransisco and are awesome. 

Well, anyhoo, thanks to everyone for the wonderful wedding gifts! I am putting them to good use!

Cheers!