I win!

Look at these goodies I snagged off eBay....

The set of a queen-size headboard, long dresser & mirror and the chest/dresser for a whopping $449! That's over $1100 cheaper than the set we were looking at last weekend at a furniture store in town. AND this set is real, heavy wood, as in not the cheapo MDF like ChrisChris's last bedroom suite that now features lovely broken drawers.

I was so excited I won the auction. So what if I was the only bidder! Hah!

I'm in love. We're going to pick it up tonight! I didn't expect to find a little treasure like this on eBay, but I'm one happy camper!

Race for the Cure

Save the TaTa's!!

(PS I have this shirt, and I always get a whole SLEW of comments when I wear it! You can purchase similar ones here)

I signed up to do Indianapolis' Race for the Cure this year! I'm really excited about it.... it will be my first major "race" and while it's only a 5k, and I do not plan on running it, I am still excited for the meaning behind it.This is very out of my element. While I did track in high school, I mainly did sprints & long jump, I'm by no means a distance runner! I hope I don't disappoint any of you by saying that I will be walking, not running, in this event!


Watching my grandma battle cancer was one of the hardest things I ever had to witness, although she was throwing her punches against Leukemia, breast cancer is just as scary of a battle! I decided to join in the fight this year in honor of all the brave women who are fighting it, and to all the families who have lost women they loved due to this terrible bully!

If you want to check out more or even be SUPER awesome and make a donation to help find a cure, you can check out my own personal page.

To learn more about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in general, you can visit this site.

Insurance and benefits!

Can I get a big WOOHOO!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that things were getting rough because ChrisChris' hours at the state were running out (He is an intermittent employee, and they are only given a set number of hours - I want to say 2500 maybe? - and then they are laid off).

Well yesterday, as he was walking past his bosses desk, his boss asked him to come sit down and that he needed to talk to him. Chris thought his boss was going to tell him his hours had ran up and to basically go home and have a nice life.

BUT his boss told him he was hiring him on full time! That means his hours are not only NOT running out, but he will also now have insurance AND paid holidays/vacation days!

Thank you guys for all your kind thoughts and comments about this over the past few months... it really has helped us keep our spirits up and I just knew something good was bound to happen!

As for the picture above - well, I'm sure our maturity astounds you ;)

Top 2 Tuesday: Random Things About Myself

I honestly look forward to this every week! I love reading everyones answers! I am putting mine up tonight because we are so so busy at work and I don't know if I'll get time to tomorrow!

So here we go....

1. I turn my tv on, put it on HGTV, set the sleep timer to 15minutes, turn the volume off, and then roll over and go to sleep. I've done this every night for as long as I can remember. If there's sound, I can't fall asleep, and if there's other lights on besides a tv it keeps me up.... I have a hard time falling asleep when I stay at Chris' condo because his tv doesn't have a sleep timer.

2. I have a very entrepreneurial (possibly a real word?!) mindset. I often ruin hobbies for myself because I try to figure out how to make money off of it. When I worked at the scrapbook store I was always trying to figure out classes I could teach or if I could make scrapbooks for others.... whenever I bake I wonder "Hmm I would love to own a bakery one day".... when I sew I am always thinking about "Maybe I will sell this next quilt I make". 

I'm off to check out those who have already played along and then hittin the sheets! I'll be peeking in on the rest of you tomorrow so come play along!

Not a spork, but a fork.

I'm at a spork in the road. Hehe ok it's more of a fork, but that's not nearly as fun!
You see, I started this blog as part of my senior design portfolio in order to graduate. It once acted as a website for myself as a designer. And then I never used it because, well to be honest, because I already had a job. And I didn't have a reason to keep a constantly updated portfolio (besides, I keep pieces from my current job on my House of Booze site anyways!)
So, I began using it as a site for my sewing, crafty and quilt things. The name, Cream & Cotton, carried over because well honestly, it just fit. But lately over the past few months it's become less of a creative-purpose blog and more of just a general "this is my life!" blog.

While I love blogging like this, I missing having a space to share my creative pieces and projects, and although I know I could just smoosh it all together on here I just don't think that works out. I know some of you don't want to hear about the new fabric I bought, and those of you who come here to see my latest projects get tired of hearing about my Top 2 Tuesdays!

So bear with me as I'm in the process of trying to figure out how I want to move forward at this point!

Have any of you dealt with something similar? How did you handle it? I've contemplated making tabs and keeping everything within Cream & Cotton and also about moving this to a new name and saving C&C for my Craft Creations... decisions decisions

One of a kind!

A few months ago I was in the Coach store and saw this ring

and I sort of fell in love with it.... except, well, I didn't want to be a walking Coach billboard so I stored it in the back of my mind and carried on with my life.

Only thing is, I couldn't get it off my mind! So a few weeks ago I put an ad on Etsy's alchemy feature asking for someone to recreate this ring for me but put Chelsea instead of Coach. I had an awesome response and finally decided on someone to create my ring, and... (drum roll please)

Um... basically I love it! Bram with SilverRoots created it and I'm sure he could hook you up with something similar if you wanted! Once I decided on him and forked over the money, I had my ring created & back to me in less than a week! He kept me updated on the whole process and it was a great first Etsy Alchemy experience!

Wouldn't this be super cute with your little one's name (or names!) on it? Maybe your hubby's name, or your new initials if you're a newlywed?! The possibilities are endless seriously!

UPDATE: Here's my attempt to take a picture of it on my hand! A little blurry - apologies!

I promise you this is not your bag..

Do you all hate baggage claim as much as I do? I mean really.... you stand there waiting and watching, watching and waiting. Hoping that your bag is the next through those dirty plastic curtain-y things (what is, after all, the point of those by the way?) all while secretly you are DEAD sure your bag was lost in transit. Am I the only one that panics after only 3 bags have come out that, yep, no doubt about it, my bag was the lost bag on this flight!?

And then you get excited every time you see a hot pink bag come through. Because, buying that hot pink bag was THE best idea, that was, the best idea until everyone else decided to get hot pink luggage.

Well, my friends, my vacation solution I came up with a few years ago.

I can truly say, THATS MY BAG! And rush towards it and push my way through the crowd and grab that sucker off the giant size, roller-coaster shaped grocery store conveyor belt.

I simply got out my acrylic paint (the kind that Joann fabrics sells for $1.00 a bottle) and went to town. Is it a Van Gogh? Certainly not, but does it brighten my evening at midnight when I'm grouchy because I just landed in 32degree Indiana weather after a week in paradise? Why yes, my friends, yes it does!

(Note: no, that's not an accent over the "n" in my initials, it is the metal luggage tag!)

I need help!

Hey geniuses (boy, if that doesn't sound like me being a smart ass, I don't know what does! I am being honest though haha promise)

I need help. You  know how you can make "pages" within blogger now - ie different tabs at the top or side, with static pages such as About Me or what not?
I want one of my pages to have all of my quilt/crafty posts on it, as in every post that I have labeled "quilt". Is this (easily) feasible?  
Does anyone know if there is a way to do this?
I know it's possible becauseKnock Off Wood has it on hers, if you click on one of her categories they take you to a site titled "www__.blogspot.com/search/label/____"

I am semi-fluent in html, but I can't seem to find a tutorial or coding anywhere for this!

Girl I'm checkin you out like a library book....

I'm a total bookworm. Ever since I was young, I could go to the library and pick out a handful only to have them read within a week. Honestly, I read so fast that when I go on vacation I usually have to take 4 or 5 books to keep me entertained while I'm laying out! (And yes, it does make for a heavy suitcase)

That being said, I've been in the mood for a good chick lit lately.... nothing too serious or sad, something fun and girly and an easy read...

I need some recommendations please! These are some that I've read and enjoyed in the past

 (Source)

I've read almost all of Emily Giffin's books, a handful of Sophie Kinsella, and a few Jen Lanscaster and a few others here and there that I find appealing covers on. Yes, I definitely pick out books by their cover... with cheesy, loveydovey chick lit you can't really go TOO wrong! I plowed through Gossip Girl series when I was in about high school, and have also taken on A-Listers series and The Au Pairs series.
So please help! What are some of your favorites?? With the weather warming up I long to sit on my porch with a big ol glass of sweet tea & a good book!

Top 2 Tuesday : Top 2 Things You Can't Live Without

It's that time again!Another week, another Top 2 with Tay over at The Undomestic Mama

This one was EASY! I decided to go with inanimate objects for this, there are a handful of people and/or basic necessities I could have named! But I barely had to think...

1) Google. Honestly I couldn't go a day without google. Between gmail and my obsession with knowing the answers to everything, I am on google atleast 5-10x a day! When I bought my iPhone a few years ago this only added fuel to the fire!

2) Burt's Bees chapstick. Is there a need to explain? I've honestly gone through like 6 tubes of this stuff!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

This past Friday we went to an Indiana Ice hockey game with a group of friends. It was my first hockey game, and even though our team is like... nowhere near pro, I had a blast!

I'd be lying if I said I went into the arena without the slightest hope of seeing a fight. I mean, really, if you go to a hockey game and don't want to see a fight, you're more of a saint than me!

My wishes were granted and we got to see not one, but two! They were just a few exchanged punches before the refs broke it up but man... the crowd got loud! Me and the girls couldn't help but laugh and we joked that we were cougars since, according to the roster, there were no players born before 1990!

On Saturday, I was supposed to meet up with some girls from Indy MQG but it was waay too pretty and the sunshine talked me out of that (sorry girls!!!) Chrischris was finishing a job painting a house, and after he got finished and showered we went to the canal. I love love love the canal, it's one of my favorite spots downtown. I used to always skip class and just go sit and people watch! Stupid me, wore flats though and after we walked the whole length of the canal and back I had blisters on my poor lil toes! We stopped at this relatively new cafe along the canal to get a drink and a snack, Creation Cafe, and I fell in love with the inside decor... it's a fun little place I want to go back and sit out on their deck that overlooks the canal!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you... I snagged my little bit of Liberty of London at Target! Won't this look AWESOME full of cakeballs?! I got on target.com to grab the picture and noticed it was sold out, almost all of the LL stuff is sold out...crazy! I'm glad I snagged this, it was the last one at our store! Chrischris laughed at me because I was so smitten with it I didn't want to put it in the cart, I carried it all around the store with me!

Sunday, my lil lovebug of a niece came over with her daddy for a visit. The little stinker had on the BabyLegs I got her for her baby shower and seeing her little chubby legs peeking out at the top of them made me die!

I spent the rest of the day finishing up and quilting my LoveyDovey quilt I had started for.ever.ago!  I haven't had a ton of time to sew lately, and it makes me kinda sad. It felt so good to finally finish another one up though! I have to toss it in the wash so I can get it all crinkly and perfect but I'll try to post pictures soon!


Phew, are you still reading? Did I wear you out?! Our gorgeous sunny Saturday turned into a windy, dreary Sunday followed by a pouring down gloomy Monday. I'm hoping when I leave my windowless office at 4 there's atleast a bit of sunshine peaking out!

Naner no-no

Hey all,
It was brought  to my attention by an anonymous comment that my last post may be offensive to some. I just wanted to drop a quick line to apologize about this. I didn't intend for it to be taken that way- the banana reference is to "banana hammocks" or what men's Speedo swimwear is sometimes referred to and I said the African-American audience because that is the target consumer for many of the rappers brands' I referred to at the beginning of the post/conversation.

I now understand how that could have been taken WAY wrong, and I just wanted to clear that up!

I do, however, wish the anonymous commenter wouldn't have been anonymous so I could personally apologize. Has anyone else had issues with the "infamous anonymous"?

Banana Bottoms

Maybe I'm only laughing because I was the one who said it... and I find myself pretty funny on occasion.

Earlier, my boss and I were talking about all the rappers who have clothing lines, like Beyonce's House of Derion, Nelly's Apple Bottoms, Jay-Z's whatever his is called, Master P, etc...

Boss: "I think everyone has a clothing line nowadays"
Me: "Yea... I designed one, but they shot me down"
Boss: "Oh yea? What was yours?"
Me: "Banana Bottoms... a men's swimwear line aimed towards the afro-american population... sadly, they just weren't having it"

Thoughtless Thursday

I pulled out my good ol MacBook when I got home from work today -- truth is, ever since I got my iPhone a few years ago and then graduated college last year this thing doesn't get used much... well aside from online shopping ;)

Needless to say I'm a habitual dragger. IE I find photos of outfits, shoes, fabric, quilts, food, whatever that I like and I drag them to my desktop. My desktop was literally FULL. Like, I couldn't even see my wallpaper so I did a little spring cleaning. Now she's a little cleaner and looks like this...

(I took this photo while in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic a few years ago on Spring Break. That's a real shipwrecked ship... pretty gorgeous huh?!)

Wait, what was I getting at again? Oh yea, I saw over on Katie's blog a fun feature called Thoughtless Thursday and decided to join in with some photos I found on my desktop in a folder cleverly titled "SORT THROUGH" (I have the best of intentions, honest)

So here we go... I helped my mom put together a black & white photo wall for the living room and these are some of the pictures we used...

The family in Navarre Beach, FL a few summers back, we rented a big pink house on the beach and had a blast! (My dad, my momma, my aunt Patty, me, my cousin Alicia and my Uncle Mike in the back, my good ol Grandpa in the front!)

My sister-in-love, Courtney & I on my 21st birthday

My momma & I at my brother, Brandin & Courtney's wedding

My mom & dad at a delicious restaurant we stumbled upon while in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

My uncle Leo & I tailgating before a Colts game this past year

Myself, my brother Brandin & Courtney last summer at a street party before the Indy 500

My daddy & I at B&Court's wedding

Mom & Gramps before another Colts' game

My brother & sister-in-love at a Derby party last year

Brandin & Justin after the Colts beat the Patriots to go to the Superbowl!

Well, that's all I've got... I hope I didn't bore ya'll, I love black & white photos though, and when I came across these I wanted to share!

If you wanna play along to Thoughtless Thursdays visit Life in the Fulmer Lane and mclinky on up!

Thank. Goodness. It's. OVER!

Bye bye little green leprechauns, shamrocks. See yah Irish whiskey. Au revoir "St. Practice Day". Adios Irish car bombs and green beer. Hope you enjoyed taking over my March not to mention the tailend of February!

I have nothing against Irish people, honest. I mean how could I hate this...

(photo property of www.mimmnow.com)

It's just that I'm tired of it! In my industry, holidays come around about 4 weeks early, and linger until their glory day. It's not that bad, it's just that Halloween, St. Patty's Day and Cinco de Mayo all lose their hype!
Between my boss and I (we are the only two in the design department here) we did well over 150 design jobs for that green goblin. I promise you, when your 8-4's are covered in green, you learn to dislike it a little more!

End rant. To celebrate the holiday we went out for Mexican. I hope that doesn't mean I have to spend Cinco at an Irish pub! Although I do love a good cold Snakebite (Harp + cider, ever had one? Yum)!

PS. St Practice Day was any party held before yesterday. We had a lot of events this past weekend they marketed at St. Practice Days... ie getting you ready for the real thing!

In The Kitchen: Fruit Pizza

Hey, remember when the new year started and I decided I would make & feature at least one recipe a week... hah told you I don't stick things out very well. (You can check out my meals from week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4 and week 5)

Anyways, I had a few of you ask me about my fruit pizza recipe I referred to in my post Monday. It's a simple recipe that I've been making for years that is always a hit at parties and get togethers!

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients
12" pizza pan
1 pkg. refrigerator sugar cookie dough
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1/ 3	cup sugar
1/2	teaspoon vanilla

Several fresh or canned fruits of your choice (canned pineapple chunks, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, they all work!)


Directions
Cut the sugar cookie dough into thin slices and press down onto your pizza pan forming a "crust". Bake as directed on the dough package. While this is baking/cooling, you can cut up all your fruits into bite size pieces (you can leave pineapple chunks and berries as they are). Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixer, then spread onto dough. Add your fruits on top, in whatever pattern is appealing to you!
Cut with a pizza cutter and serve!

Note: my cookie dough usually seems rock hard after I let it cool, no worries - the cream cheese mixture will soften it right up once you spread it on there!

Have you ever made this before? Don't you love it? What are your favorite fruits to use? Yum! I suppose you could make it a little healthier by using Greek yogurt instead of the cream cheese mixture possibly?

Merger- yay or nay?

If you've been following along here for any bit of time, you've probably picked up that I work for a liquor distributor. We are a local distributor, serving mainly Indiana. About a year ago word starting brewing that a nation-wide distributor was wanting to break into the market in Indiana, this wasn't something to celebrate for us, because all-in-all they would force us out of business.

There had been rumors swirling that we were trying to merge with another nation-wide distributor, and as I learned through the local online newspaper this morning.... we merged.

Yep, I learned of it from the internet. I'm not the happiest of campers right now. I love my job, but they are so bass-ackwards on some things... I just can't believe they wouldn't let ALL of the employees know before it hit the tv's & newspapers! (Our sales reps got an email yesterday, but us designers were left clueless!)

There's no word yet as far as.... well,  basically, as far as if we'll still have jobs after this is all said and done, but they're saying that we shouldn't be worried.

Hey maybe I can score a raise and/or extra vacation time after this!

UPDATE: About 10 minutes after I posted this, we got an email with the news brief in it. Everyone around the office is REALLY upbeat and talking about what a good thing it is, so that makes me really happy!