Enjoying cozy

The snow is still here, which means so are my outdoor Christmas lights. Way too cold to deal with that right now. The neighbors across the street still have theirs up, so I'm feeling okay about it. I got my wish last week and we finally had snow days on Thursday and Friday. I didn't leave the house for a couple of days, preferring to putter and nest and nap and watch a lot of TV. Ryan has had our pellet stove running this winter, and it's such a cozy feeling to snuggle down on the couch with Booker T. and tune in the flat screen. We've stayed cozy, toasty, snug and warm.

But alas, we finally emerged. Last night we had dinner at La Puente with the Rhoads then Macauley and I made a Marshall's run (nothing much to note there) and an impulse shop at Borders. Today he was invited to his cousin's birthday party at the community center pool in Ozark, so I dropped him and Ryan off there and browsed at Riverview for a while on my own.

I don't know if I captured its dimunitive size with this picture, but this adorable little camera is just tiny. I bought the ironstone soap dish behind it, too.

I am not a bit musical, and I should probably gift this old (empty) violin case to my dear friend Barb, but I'm sure liking the height it adds to this bench in my entryway.

The tag on this round black piece said "foundry mold." It might end up all sorts of places, but for now I added some burlap ribbon and put it up as a wreath on my front door. I never know quite how to decorate the entry for winter...Christmas is over so those wreaths come down... This is kind of stark and plain and there's nothing else out there, but I think I like it. Better than nothing.

And I found a chippy white architectural piece that I couldn't pass up. I never can.

I bought a couple of magazines at Borders, and the Country Gardens came today. I plant flowerbeds, but I really have no business having a subscription to a gardening magazine. I do think my subdivision yard could be so, so much more, but I can't even wrap my brain around most of the plots featured in CG. I am always a sucker for the "featured selection" right in the front of the store at Borders. You know--the "staff recommends" and so forth. I don't know a single person who works at our Borders, but I picked up their recommendation after a quick sweep of the blurb on the back. I'll let you know. I'm still ensconced in the Knitting Club book at the moment.

I did manage to make a few pages for the scrapbook. Not sure it's my best work, but it's something. (Don't worry, ScrapBuddy Nicole--I am capable of so much more and will put more heart and soul into your Valentine! :) ).

I've taken to saving interesting tags that come off clothes I buy for a while now. I used a couple on these pages. The "original" tag is from a pair of Macauley's GAP jeans.

The "fishy face" tag is from a shirt I bought recently at Fossil.

A lot of what I did was pretty simple, like the "love sick" page. Poor Macauley got really sick last Valentine's Day night and was burning up with fever. The "love you" page features a picture from last Labor Day weekend, I think, at the Branson Landing, the day Macauley bought Bolt and Mittens from the Disney Store.

I always think I'll get more done when I'm home for several days, but the relaxation often sets in and I figure life's too short to always be busy, so I take the chance to lounge when I can. One more day then it's back to school for a 4-day finals week, then a long weekend, then a new semester and new classes for me. And it's supposed to finally warm back up to decent temperatures. We'll see...