Signs of things to come

This past Saturday it was sunny & warm (for January, that is-- it was in the 50's). After a trip to the Takoma library (LOVE it!) to pick up some more books, I sat on the back stoop for a while, reading & soaking up some vitamin D.

I took a look around my yard, and lo' and behold, I found some of the bulbs I planted last fall starting to emerge. Here are some crocus (and Bonnie's paw)....

...and some daffodils.

And the other sign that spring can't be far away? Kittie cats rolling in the catnip!

Me & the Mayor

I came home tonight to find the Mayor of Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty, campaigning door-to-door in our neighborhood. I got the chance to talk to him for a few minutes (and yes, Fina, I told him we want the vote!)... he was quite charming in person.

I called Ricardo while he was next door, and he insisted that I get a photo with him. Thanks, hon'... it came out pretty good. I'll add it to my growing collection of photos taken with politicians.

Christmas decorating '09

Here are some photos of my Christmas decorations this year. I tried to be thrifty, but I can't resist trying new things every year... how did I do?

I've always wanted to make one of these cranberry trees. It wasn't that difficult, and only took about 2 and a half hours to make. The styrofoam cone was only about $4, but I had to use three bags of cranberries. I would make it again -- it still looked good even after two weeks.

I made these pinecone wreath thingies from the pinecones that I had glittered last year. I made four of them for the windows downstairs. My only cost was the ribbon I bought on sale... not bad for less than an hour of work and about $3.

I always make clove-studded oranges. I already had the cloves, and the oranges were a few dollars.

I like to have a few decorations in the kitchen (since I spend so much time there!)... so I decorared my dried spices with a few ribbons.

I made this kitchen wreath with the branches that we cut off the bottom of the tree. I added gold pinecones from last year, and recycled a bow. After the holiday I cut all the branches off the wreath form to reuse another time, so this cost me nothing.

I bought this wreath at the Christmas tree farm, and added my own bows. It costs about $22.

I decorated the corner of our living room with this old tree. I bought some little glittery snowflakes for about $4 to decorate the tree.

Even though I have a gazillion ornaments, I always make a few new ones each year. I had all the supplies on-hand for these glittered doves, but I broke down and bought some fancy Martha Stewart glitter (but I had a coupon!)... so they cost a dollar or so.

I also made these ice skates... I couldn't resist... I thought they were too adorable.

The end result? A tree with so man decorations that you can barely see the tree!

Capital Crippler

In December we got a freak snowstorm... 22 inches! In my nine years of living in the District I've never seen a storm with more than 6 inches, so this was pretty darn exciting.

I left work early the day before the storm to go to the grocery store, but the lines were crazy-long anyway. My cashier told me: "I hope you got everything you need, cause I won't be here tomorrow!"

The day after the storm you couldn't even see our car!

And here's our view of our street... a true winter wonderland.

After all the shoveling, there was nothing left to do but make a snow angel.