Thankful

Today I'm thankful my new oven arrived in time for Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful that Julie sent me this book for my birthday so I could give my oven a test drive.

Naturally, I went with the Maple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream.

The first thing I ever cooked in my oven!

I think Nick's coworkers were thankful he went to work yesterday.

Mmmmmm, cupcakes. So many things to be thankful for, have a safe and happy turkey day!

Too Many Magazines

Normally, I'm not a magazine reader. (Scratch that, I'm never a magazine reader. I'd say I'm more of a magazine looker-atter.) I like to look through them and pour over the wonderful crafts & pictures, but I don't know that I've ever read an article. I don't even buy them that often. That being said, I find that lately I've acquired a few more magazines than usual so I have to share a few of them with you. (At least I'm getting some use out of them this way.)

The first is "Sew Hip", a new sewing magazine from the UK. It just arrive the other day and it's quite nice. There's an interview with our sewing hero, Amy Butler. Tons of great patterns and lots of nice photos too. I pre-ordered my issue from the Sew Hip website. If you go to this page, you can order a copy for yourself.

What's cool: There's a whole page dedicated to Etsy sellers! It's a nice magazine, but I simply can't afford the international pricetag. Perhaps they'll carry it at my local ginormous book stores. I will definitely pick one up when I'm in the UK again.

Magazine #2 "Holiday Crafts", an impulse buy at the checkstand. Perfect! This one is from Better Homes and Gardens and it's just crammed with adorable craft ideas for the holidays.

I find it hard to resist a cute snowman project. What else could I put a cozy on? hmmm I'm thinking Gadget Snowmen for next year.

If I received a gift with one of these guys on it, I'm not sure I'd even want to open it. What could be better? haha Anyway, I highly recommend this magazine if you're looking for some crafty ideas. It's really great.

Last on my list today is Martha Stewart's holiday isuue. It's all about making a handmade Christmas. I'm not known for being a big fan of Martha, but I do love her "stuff". Or the stuff in her books & magazines, that is. However, I'll admit I was disappointed in the projects in this magazine. It's just not my cup of tea and I wish I'd taken the time to look through it before I bought it. You might love it though. To each his own, right?

I'm not saying there's nothing in it for me, just not enough that I'll ever look through it again. I do like the idea of snowflake shaped marshmallows. My guess is that Martha expects me to make my own darned marshmallows and then cut them into cute shapes. In my spare time. Right. Don't count your snowflakes till they've fallen.

There are tons of great magazines on the racks this time of year, tell me which ones you've found.

Day Off

After having two weeks off, I decided to join Nick & our visiting friends on a trip to the city yesterday. I'll get back to work today, I think. We've lived here for almost 5 months now and have spent very little time in San Francisco. Nick goes there every day to work, but promptly gets on the ferry and returns home. And what better attraction to experience than Alcatraz? That's right, we visited an old prison. Have any of you been there? I'm guessing you have if you've been to San Francisco. Alcatraz is right up there with the Golden Gate Bridge, Trolley cars (which we also did) and sourdough bread. I've been to Alcatraz before, but not for a long time, maybe over 15 years. Can you say creepy? The audio tour was good, but made it even more unsettling I think.

I'm pretty sure the highlight of my day was walking past Macy's in Union Square, the place is covered in Martha Stewart. Aqua rugs, aqua signs, logos, window displays. I might have to go back to SF next week for some bridal registry ideas. Gotta preview before I drag Nick along. sigh