Whirlwind.

That's the only way to describe this past week. For those of you who live in the northwest, you know what I mean. Seattle + Snow = Totaldisaster. Now, I super heart snow...and really anything that gets me out of going to work. (Wait, was I not supposed to admit that?) But, I had to go to work on Monday - there were deadline emergencies to deal with. I was frantically trying to finish something and keeping an eye on the snow, which was lightly falling, but not sticking. And then, at 3pm, it hit...snow, snow, SNOW! I left work (and by "left" I mean RAN) just before 4pm, met up with the fiance a few blocks away, hopped into his work car - luckily a Jeep with 4WD - and we hoped for the best. However, we didn't expect the worst, which is exactly what happened. (Ok, it wasn't the *worst*, but it was super irritating, and an expensive night.) In four and a half hours, we drove less than two miles. There are only a couple of ways to get to West Seattle, and they all involve a bridge. Conveniently, all of the bridges are a fairly steep arch, and although never formally closed, every bridge was covered in a layer of ice (and car accidents) and therefore impassable. We tried to wait it out. We really did try. We amused ourselves by watching people driving waaay too fast spin out and slam into a chain link fence - one after the other - and then speed away, still too fast for the road conditions. Some people don't learn, apparently. Four and a half hours was all we had in us. We learned later that many people trying to get to West Seattle had an 11 hour commute. Um, we live 12 minutes from downtown.

We turned around and headed downtown and decided to call our wedding venue, the Alexis Hotel, and pray for a room. We were stupid happy when we got into the lobby, because it meant warmth and a bed! Oooh - and a bathroom!! (PS - These photos are from the Alexis Hotel's website - I'm not that good of a photographer.)


After hearing about our "harrowing experience" (ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating) and our "we're getting married here next year so we wanted to stay here" story they upgraded us to a suite. The suite was amazing - it has a bathtub the size of my bathroom. No, really:


The tub was just what the doctor ordered. Well, after foraging for some dinner anyway, since it was almost 10pm. It really would have been a fantastic evening had we not sat in traffic until we were exhausted and starving. Oh, and if we had had a change of clothes for the next morning. The hotel was great, though. They gave us toothbrushes and toothpaste. They even brought me a hair straightener as I tried to pretty myself up the next morning with none of my usual tools. (It takes a lot of tools. In fact, I've put a sample sized mascara in my purse now, just in case. I always feel better with mascara.) Needless to say, we like the Alexis even more now.

We made it home safely the following day. My office was closed so we had a nice snow day! (You'd think I would've taken a photo of the snow, but by then I wasn't a fan.) I made some awful soup, which we threw out, and we went out to dinner with the neighbors. I was also able to finish Chris' daughter's and nieces' Christmas presents!

I posted about these a while back, but I hadn't yet added the hearts. I made heartfelt bags a la Martha Stewart. Mine didn't turn out quite as well as hers, but they'll do.


I made four bags, although I only needed three. The first was kind of a "whoops, that's NOT how to do it" test, but it still turned out cute enough, so I plan to give it to a friend's daughter.

I love that even the handles form hearts.


I also added a heart to the back to hide the ugliness where I sewed on the handle.


I used two different fabrics for the interior.


I ran out of heart fabric, and I happened to have some coordinating bird fabric lying around, so two of the bags have bird interiors. I realize that this makes no sense, but the kids are three and I figure the "making sense" gene doesn't kick in until at least 35. And, even though I do know that it's nonsensical, I kind of like the birdies better anyway. (I'm not yet 35.)


I filled the three bags with Webkinz - a cat, a horse, and a bulldog/pug/?. Since two of the girls live in Wisconsin and one here in Seattle, I thought it would be cute for them to all have Webkinz that can live in the same place online. But mostly I bought them for a good price at Costco and kids love stuffed animals. :) I put some Christmas card making supplies in the bags as well, and I added Christmas critter slippers from the target dollar section after the photo shoot.


I'm happy to have one project and three Christmas gifts completed! Now to make tutus for other friends little girls! I have an abundance of tulle. Who doesn't have a bolt of tulle in their closet?

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I stayed up until 3am. I made almost vegan mashed potatoes (I used lactaid milk at the end). Then I made homemade potato rolls (here's the recipe I used). There was nothing nutritious about them, but they were YUMMY! Again, I used lactaid milk and I subbed Earth Balance for the butter so I could eat these without wanting to die. Yay!


Then, I made vegan green bean casserole. It was goooooood. It was healthy until I added the fried onions. And, I forgot to take a photo. I also made cranberry sauce. Duh.

Because I was on a roll, and it was only 1am, I stayed up to make Chris an apple pie. He hearts apple pie, and he so rarely asks for dessert so I get excited when he does. Again, I used earth balance in the crust so I could eat some dessert on thanksgiving. That made it almost vegan until I did a nice egg yolk wash over the top (I'm not good at being vegan) and sprinkled it with sugar. The sugar was a special request from Chris. I like to be accommodating. And I never shy away from the opportunity to sprinkle sugar on something.

Before baking:


And after:


Mmm...pie. How much do I love miniature holly cookie cutters!?


Sometimes when you make pie, this happens to your pants:


It was actually much worse than the picture shows, but that's really neither here nor there. (And, yes, I was wearing a down vest while cooking - there are no heat vents in my kitchen. It's cold.) I was tired when we got home at midnight on Thanksgiving. So tired I forgot to put the leftovers in the fridge. I almost cried the next morning when I realized what I had done...and that it meant I would have to make dinner that night. (But, we ended up going out to eat while braving the crowds on black friday.) Only the rolls and the pie survived the night. Sigh.