Post-Christmas peek

Now that it's after Christmas, I can show off what I made for my family and friends!

For my lovely friends at school, I made personalized half-sized notebooks.

Very simple but useful!

For my family, I silkscreened canvas bags with my Soldier of the Soil screen I made this summer. I like the black on olive, it looks very militaristic. This way my family will have another bag to use and use and use for groceries, books, lunch- whatever they think is most useful and re-useful.

Back, and more to come!

My mom calls me her "little Chickadee", and here is one on our tree!

Oh my. What a holiday season! SO much fun, so much food. Saw family, went on plenty of adventures, and received some SPECTACULAR gifts, almost all homemade. Our family has been doing homemade/local/artisan Christmas for a few years, and I will be sharing some of the joy I found under the tree in the coming days!

I am back in Connecticut from the Bit of Earth in Vermont, where I was without internet for the Christmasy times. I survived :) Tomorrow I head back to Illinois for winter term. Doing laundry, packing, and fondling all my lovely gifts.

Silly Mascots

While visiting my sister in Ohio, we went to a Wheeling Nailers hockey game. I had never really watched a hockey game before, and it was a lot of fun!!! The mascots were also pretty hilarious.

Sliding along the ice

Rough housing for the kiddies

Hitching a ride on the goal

In these days leading up to Christmas, take a deep breath, and remember that the best things in life aren't things!

Foggy weather and a great read

I read Abraham Verghese's novel Cutting For Stone this weekend. It was fantastic. Engrossing. I literally wouldn't put it down, which put my parents a little on edge as we were hosting several visitors up at the Bit of Earth. READ THIS BOOK.

"Ghosh sighed. 'I hope one day you see this as clearly as I did in Kerchele. The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny."

Young Farmers Conference... AND MORE!!!

Oh my, so many adventures I haven't blogged in over a week cause I've been so overwhelmed by all the awesome stuff I've been doing! First was last Thursday and Friday- the Young Farmers Conference at Stone Barns!!! An older crowd than myself (the 25-35 range...) which was fun because I got to meet a bunch of people who are a few years ahead of me in the game. The first morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed- EVERYONE seemed to know EVERYONE! But then I found Dina, who runs The Hickories, where I interned my senior year of high school. We had even signed up for the same first workshop. Relief! She introduced me to a bunch of people and it was fun to catch up with her.

Young Farmers socializing in the hay barn!

I went to a bunch of awesome workshops, ranging from specialty crop production to farm-to-school initiatives. It got me so pumped about all the possibilities of farming! Got lots of good resources and ideas!

The greenhouse is GREEN!

The greenhouse was in full swing, with greens and chard and all sorts of green things! Beautiful to see!

Packing up christmas trees with Dad over the weekend at the Bit of Earth

Then on to Vermont to cut down a bunch of balsams. Good hard work!

Adventures!

The first, into this complete gem of a book! Pretty much the same caliber as Jane Austen, only with FARMERS. I know, right!?!? I hardly put this book down until I finished it. I almost succumbed to car sickness on the drive home from Vermont, but it was WORTH IT! My mom's friends gave this to us for Christmas, and delivered it to us this weekend because they knew we would buy it for ourselves ASAP if they didn't!

Read more about "The Dirty Life" here.

The next adventure was to IKEA! Found some measuring cups for baking adventures back at school, some linen fabrics, a 49 cent dishtowel, and some 99 cent simple wrapping paper. All in all, I spent less than $15, for a whole bundle of stuff that will become craftiness, bakiness, and wrappingness!

Updates from Thanksgiving and a weekend in Vermont!

Thanksgiving was lovely! Got to see family, eat delicious food, and see the cranberry bog! My sister and I came up with our own rendition of "I'm on a Boat"... "I'm on a Bog!" I think it will be the next hit SNL digital short... anyone know how to contact Andy Samberg?

Then up to Vermont for a weekend of relaxing and fun... went to Montpelier with Marm to see a fiber arts exhibit, ate the "garlique chic" crepe at The Skinny Pancake, went antiquing, and experienced some SNOW!

Then Sunday me and the "parental units" went back to Montpelier to catch the 1:30 showing of Harry Potter! Even better the second time.