The future in-laws and the Thanksgiving mess

Happy Holidays! Now, is it January yet? 

Let me preface this by saying I adore by boyfriend's family. Its the first family I've really felt comfortable around. However we've not been together that long and its really his family. I love them, but when we're there, its all about him. Just how I like it. I'm not a fan of being of the center of attention, anywhere, let alone somewhere I feel I don't need to be.

Last Thanksgiving we did with his family was easy, he took me around and introduced me, then I grabbed a glass of wine and watched Peyton play. While he was the chatty entertaining one they focused on, just the way I like it. At the end of the day he's quite a few things, my security blanket, my favorite distraction and my designated driver. So why the boyfriend/future in-law/family based ramble?

His parents asked us to Thanksgiving in late July, yes 4 months ago. We thought that would be great, agreed to go and had planned ever since. Until Sunday, on Sunday he found out he has to work on Thursday from 3-6. Guess when dinner is? yep 3pm. So here is my dilemma, his family still extended an invitation. And they're not "oh we feel like we should still invite you" they're more the "no really you should be here because you said you were coming" types.

To be completely honest, I'd be more comfortable with my parents, who are also hosting, and could probably use an extra hand. I would get more time with my cousin and her new baby. I would be able to sip wine all afternoon and not worry about leaving. I'd just be more comfortable. But how do I tell them that? I don't want to be rude, and I'm sure I could be just fine...

Is the holiday more about putting your own feelings aside for the comfort of your family or in-laws as a whole? Or do I stop by the in-law's, drop a bottle of wine, and go play with the new baby?
What do you all think?

And you thought cooking was messy! Ha

Bad Sick Mommy

I'm currently in bed, I've been run-down at the end of every work day, by the time I'm home at 6pm I'm weepy, sore, and ready to collapse. All the signs of fighting off some sort of bug. Normal people (from what I'm told) take action. They stock up the medicine cabinet and consume nothing but tea and soup for a few days. Apparently I'm not normal, I despise cold medicine and the lagging wonky feeling it tends to cause. Which is funny based on some past decisions of ingestion I've made in the past. hrmmm

Regardless here I am banished to rest, yes this is my version of rest. After a few hours of crocheting => while watching Netflix this is the next least exhaustive thing I can do. Really I'm bad at this. I don't
know how to not make use of my time. I'm not saying I don't love diving into the couch and wearing out my DVR, but I rarely just watch. I watch while blogging, I watch while working in my art journal, I watch while painting my nails, I watch by doing our laundry, or I watch while organizing bills.

So in order to keep from going batshitcrazy feeling like I was wasting time I decided to do a little research instead. Here are my some of my finds from the bed ridden:

SHOP:
My sister-in-law always seems to have the greatest little shrugs, which are ideal for this crazy California weather. She passed on MissFitClothing's Etsy Shop which has tons of them. I think I know what I'm getting myself for Christmas.

EAT:
I'm a complete sucker for Hot and Sour Soup but never looking into making it, it seemed complicated somehow... but leave it to The Daily Meal to make it easy. This is definitely on my list of meals this winter!

CREATE:
I'm a very intermittent crocheter, fairly decent at it when I do it. I'm in the middle of a beautiful large blanket but found these great pattern for wrist-warmers from Lulu Loves who always has a wonderful project inspiration. but I actually need to finish a project to make use of new inspiration...Here's what I've been working for a few *cough 8* months

READ:
Here are a few blogs that have kept me entertained during my confinement:

Two blogs about beautiful lives and fantastic fashion from great Mommas:

http://livwithroses.wordpress.com/

http://29andnona.blogspot.com/ 

Two hilarious ladies dedicated to fit lifestyle:

http://fit-personality.com/

http://www.hungryrunnergirl.com/

And two beautiful blogs that celebrate general loveliness:

http://www.happinessisblog.com/happiness-is/

http://www.mypeacetree.com/

How do you recover when you're not feeling well?
What's your best Netflix recommendation?

Californian: Let's go to the Beach in October!

As of October 22, my honey and I have been together for 2 years officially. It doesn't sound too long, but it's the longest relationship I've ever had, and the least difficult (which is probably what attributes to its going so well). Regardless our adorable obnoxious success I came in here to express one of the most glorious perks of being a Californian: Nearly year round beach trips! We snuck off to Sea Ranch which is on the Sonoma County Coast, just south of the Mendocino County Line.

Found it!

We had a wonderful relaxing few days and I just have to share so I can brag about the beauty of our coast:

Stopped on the road just for this great shot.

Shell Beach in Sea Ranch

I love tide pools - so much going on!

What's an anniversary without bubbles?

Stunning place for a panoramic

Celebrating the wonder

Thank you for indulging me while bragging about sharing our recent get-away.

Whats your favorite get away spot?

When was the last time you put your feet in the Ocean? 

Which ocean?

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Hooping Love - Fitspiration

My hooping was mentioned in my piece about the collection of fairly random classes . However I guess I didn't quite expand on hooping and how it has become part of my life.
Hooping has created a safe and quiet space in my workout that creates a ray of light even on my roughest days. There is something so meditative about being stuck in a circle and creating expression through movement. A sense of prideful accomplishment with new tricks and a larger drive to keep
trying when it didn't pan out. There's always something new to learn and what's more exciting is someone new to learn from.

There is a super rad "love note"  from a hoop blogger Anah, my favorite excerpt:

"I felt with anyone holding a simple plastic circle. This person could be old or young, any race, any political affiliation and of any gender. If they had a hoop, they were family… period. Just like any family, some felt closer than others, but the love was always there" 

Princess Birthday Success - Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn!

I don't like grocery-store cupcakes. That may sound snobby and maybe it is, but they're oily and the frosting is always way too sweet and overall flavorless. So, if I'm splurging on a cupcake, it better be a damn good one. That being said if you are ever close enough (or willing to pay shipping) do yourself a favor and check out Sift Cupcakes, they're divine and totally worth the calories.

But I digress... My cupcake rant was started from pretty girl's birthday request. She wanted the cute pink cupcakes from Safeway for her class birthday and I made a face, which she giggled at. I'm too stubborn to send her with the same hum-drum cupcakes her friends had, which was combined with my distaste for bad cupcakes I hoped would lead to a little creativity. As her birthday drew near, I felt stuck.

A friend recommended one of the great Snack Mixes posted by Little Baby Garvin, which was great but that meant another trip to the store, which in my post birthday party haze, I wasn't exactly prepared for. Instead I decided to improvise a bit with what I knew I could dig out of my cupboards: came up with popcorn, an assortment of chocolate chips, and sprinkles and here is what happened next:

Air popped popcorn (about 3 cups un-popped), with just a hint of salt. Spread out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper:

Melt milk and white chocolate

Then drizzle, drizzle, sprinkle:

I put handfuls of the mix into sandwich bags for easy serving in class - what are some of your boring treat alternatives?