My Weekend.

What a really nice trip I had. It was an all-day-Saturday, very tiring, emotional event. My brother & sister & I traveled in the morning by the light of the moonlight. (Yes. THAT early.) At the top of Snoqualmie Pass we made a stop---as is our family tradition whenever we travel this way. Mostly we have to pee anyway, but even if we don't, we get out to ooh & aah & enjoy the beauty. (The top picture was created using Tiltshift Maker. It makes "miniatures" out of your pictures. Thanks Rachel at One Pretty Thing for sharing this!)

My sis & I had to pee so bad, but when we walked into the women's bathroom & heard a MAN coughing-- we RAN (!) out of there as fast as we could. HAHA! After the man walked past us, we BURST into giggles. Look at the view from the bathroom!

In the parking lot, beside us was this HILARIOUS sight. It's a car rack shaped like a giant foot wearing a giant flip-flop. On the side it reads "My Bunion is Burning". And, sure enough, I noticed the large painful protruding bunion. HAHA!Seeing my dad in the hospital was quite hard. But it gave me such relief to be with him. He was quite loopy from all the drugs. We did have a lot of laughs! And I can't wait to tell my dad all the funny stuff he said when he gets all better. The hardest part was leaving my parents. My mom is able to stay at the Fisher House there. What a NEAT home for families of veterans & those in the military. I'm VERY impressed & happy that she has an extremely comfortable place to stay. I was hoping the snow would fall so hard that the mountain passes would close & we'd be trapped in Seattle. But that's not what happened. Bummer.

On our way home we stopped at the Alpental Ski Lodge at the top of Snoqualmie Pass. We played in the snow & had a GREAT time! I didn't want to leave. This is the bridge that leads to the lodge & all the skiing. We didn't ski or snowboard, but had fun anyway. I only wish we'd packed a sled!

On top of the bridge we saw the most beautiful view of snowy trees, & a stream running underneath. Giant snowflakes were falling from the white, white sky. It was so magical & wonderful & lovely & magnificent. And, of course, my simple point-n-shoot camera can't explain it well enough either.

A fire-pit was set up outside. What a cool place this was. I loved watching all the tiny skiers bundled in turtlenecks, puffy winter pants, stomping clumsily around in their ski boots. Reminded me of winters with my family when I was a kid.

I was given this link by Nic & thought I'd share it with you: A project called Spirit Jump connects a person battling cancer with a gift giver. A small act of kindness to lift someone's spirit. It could be a card, something handmade, anything really. I think this is so amazingly neato. Click the 'Spirit Jump' link to read more about this super cool idea!

Sugar Cookies & a Snowy Day!

Yesterday I baked my traditional holiday sugar cookies. I, along with my little brother & big sis, used to help our mom make & decorate these cookies every Christmas. And now I do it with my girls. It's really an all day thing. Quite a job. And now I understand why mom so generously handed down the task to me. I love it though! I make a big production & celebration of it every year.

I must admit that while gathering the ingredients & preparing for the measuring, mixing, sifting & stirring, I noticed the family playing outdoors. In my snowboots & apron, I joined in on the snowy fun!

Mr. WhiMSy love was trying to build a snowman for the wee WhiMSy kidlets, but the snow was too powdery this time around. Not so swell for snowman building. Or snowball fights. But, he had a plan! He built a foundation using some boxes he got from work...

...& then somehow the snowman ate the boxes because it ended up looking like this. This is the weirdest snowman I have ever seen. Poor fella. He is kinda cute though, & the girls ADORE him!

Vintage button eyes....of course! And a red ribbon smile.

After our chilly fun, it was time for hot cocoa & then back to work on the cookies!

My 6 year old is proudly wearing her cupcake apron from Jeanetta of splendid designs. She baked with grandma the day before, so that apron is working over-time!

Sshhh! I snuck some dough.

Now it's frosting time!!

This year the cookies will have a psychedelic theme. I went kinda dark & crazy with the NEON food coloring.

This is my favorite cookie of the day. Compliments of my 4 year old.

This morning we put goodie plates together & will be delivering them to family & friends. (I'm also tucking some away in the freezer to save for Christmas afternoon at grandma's house!)

And I might as well mention now that WhiMSy love is officially closed for the holidays. I'll be honest & say it was kinda hard to do. I've never closed my shop before. So, if you see double or triple blog posts in ONE day, just know that this is my outlet while the shop takes a break!

Now the wee WhiMSy elves & I are off to deliver some tasty treats...

My latest EXCITING news!

This is where I did NOT go yesterday! The crowded parking lot scene doesn't look that bad, only because I grabbed my camera too late as we were passing by the mall. The sea of cars is actually lost behind the OTHER sea of cars. Believe me, there were lots of cars. Hubby & I shopped elsewhere, ate breakfast & realized that we didn't even have as many gifts to purchase as we originally thought. Mostly stocking stuffers, which is my FAVORITE part of every Christmas. I don't care if there's nothing under the tree for me. As long as my stocking is full of goodies!

OH! And whilst shopping, I scored an early present from Mr. WhiMSy love--- a digital photo frame! I'm thinking it will be lots of fun!

Last night some friends came over & brought us treats from Dairy Queen. I know. Doesn't make much sense as the scene outside resembled the Oreo cookie blizzard I was eating. It was yummy anyway! Before my blizzard-bearing guests arrived, I went outside to take some night pictures of my pink tree. Kinda fuzzy, but it's still fun to see the tree from the outside. Oooh, a holiday night light drive MUST be put on the 'to-do' list! It's one of those traditions I've had since being a wee WhiMSy kid.

My little gnome friend is adorable in the snow! He's all chipped & cracked up from being knocked around by the lawnmower this Fall. He may need replacing by next Spring. The picture was dark on my camera, but I lightened it on the computer & I love the speckled effect.

Ok, I'm finally ready to share with you my exciting news. Remember I was telling you that it has to do with my book art?? WELL......Next year my book art, Writing on the Wall, will be featured in the shop of the Bellevue Arts Museum!!! Isn't that so cool? It will coordinate with an altered book exhibit they have planned next year. I may have to take a little road trip...

Today I'll be doing my annual sugar cookie baking & decorating. The girls love it & we make a wonderful mess! Tomorrow I'm almost positive I'll have an extremely long post filled with way too many pictures of frosting & sprinkles! But, you wouldn't have it any other way, right? Right?!

Have a warm & cozy Sunday, my friends!

A Snowy Weekend!

What a fun-filled weekend I had!! First our family was invited to a surprise birthday celebration of a good friend. And it was only our comfortable gathering of 14 on board the 65 foot boat! Sweet.

It was SUPER cold but I braved the chilly weather with my girls & niece to have a few moments of fun out on the deck.

Zoey said she felt like she was flying. Kinda reminds me of a scene from another "boat" movie.

After our very relaxing birthday lunch celebration aboard Columbia Voyager, Mr. WhiMSy love & I took an hour road trip to our next destination---a holiday work party in Walla Walla. Before checking into our hotel, we stopped at a little shop we've visited in the past. I found the most zany sunglasses EVERS. And, no, I didn't purchase them. I'm zany, but not THAT zany!

I got to see my first snow of the winter! (Even though it's not officially winter yet.) This is the view from our hotel room.

I enjoyed a few moments of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before heading off to the party. Yes, I actually watched TV after not touching a remote control in about 3 months. It was weird. And I realized how much I don't miss it.

YAY for snow! Although our car doors were frozen shut after the party & it took several tries to actually get INTO the vehicle. And although I couldn't even get some decent snow shots on our way home because our windows, too, were frozen shut. And, although I totally wasn't even THINKING or planning for snow on our trip & my Converse got soaked every time I stepped out of the car...YAY for snow!

When we got home today the girls were BEYOND anxious to get outside & play in it! We didn't play long because it was SOOOOOO cold!!

These are the grapes in our backyard. The birds & squirrels have been enjoying them.

I snuck inside to heat up some hot caramel apple cider...
...while a snowball ambush ensued! Thankfully I was on THIS side of the window!

After the cold, we enjoyed Gardhetto's, chips-n-dip, powdered donuts & our cider (totally healthy snack, right?), while doing paint-by-numbers. I'm really excited to hang with my girls now that MOST of the busy-ness of the holidays is partly behind me. I mean, it's still busy, but just in different ways.

When I came home today I was SO HAPPY to find out that my Vintage-Button-Ring-of-the-Month club has been featured on CRAFT:blog!!! What a fab way to end a great weekend!