Magnificent Mondays: Magnificent Blogs 42

Char is a stay at home mom who is FULL of great ideas and tutorials that could be used to pretty up your house or as a great gift idea for a friend.  I just recently went to her blog and was blown away (and quickly bookmarked) 2 of her most recent projects!

This pillow is one of those eye catching projects she completed.  I'm for sure making this!

This is a great project for all my photography friends out there who need a cute strap to match that new camera!

This is a great gift to make for those laptop friends of yours who could use a stylin' case for their computers!

Head over to Char's place and check out the "crap" (awesome crap if you ask me!) at Crap I've Made that she's made!

Happy Blogging!

Sleepy Sue

We had fun visitors in town for the weekend.  Stephen's younger sister, Cali and her husband, Tony came in on Friday evening and just left about an hour ago.  We had a fun filled adventure that I wish didn't have to come to an end, but alas, like all things, that time is over and now onto school work- wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaah!!!

Here's a little recap - with some pictures to accompany -

They arrived just in time for us to head over to Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo and then off to the Basil Leaf (YUMMY!) for some of our favorite Italian cuisine with some good friends, Drew and Shea.  What a great start to a great weekend!

Here's Stephen enjoying a special treat from the "make your own marshmallow snowman" table in the gorilla house!

On Saturday we woke up early to enjoy some yummy pumpkin bread and pumpkin coffee (if you know anything about us, you know we LOVE pumpkin flavored ANYTHING) before heading off on our adventures.  We went to the Kris Kindel Market to enjoy some fun little shops, but most specifically, their yummy roasted nuts (we went for the cinnamon-sugar pecans - SO GOOD!) and then off to State Street and a little Michigan Avenue action.  Before we headed back to the apartment for the night, we made sure to fulfill Cali's wish of eating at the Walnut Room inside the old Marshall Fields (now Macys).  After dinner we hit up Garretts popcorn and then went back home to light a fire and play Settlers of Catan for the night (it was a first for Tony and Cali - they're hooked like we are!).   

This morning we woke up and went to church and then headed off to the infamous Giradano's Pizza to pick up our large special to take back and enjoy before Cali and Tony headed back home.  Right now Stephen and I are sitting on the couch with all the lights out except for the Christmas Tree and the garland around our mantel watching the Colts play the Cowboys as I sit as a Sleepy Sue wanting nothing more than to take a nap.  However, I'm tortured by the reality of a huge paper due on Tuesday that I have barely even started...it's going to be a long start to my week.  Good thing I'm coming off a fun weekend!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend as well!

(If you're headed to the Windy City for this Holiday Season, be sure you check out my post from last year that talks about fun holiday festivities you can partake in here in the city!)

Bon Appetit: Thanksgiving Dessert

My Aunt Deloris is one phenomenal cook!  She knows her way around her kitchen (or yours for that matter) like the back of her hand.  She's been knocking the socks off my taste buds for my entire life!  This year, I felt like maybe I should try to help her out and contribute to the dessert portion of the menu (remember who I'm married to - Stephen a.k.a. "Granulated Sugar MaGee").  As soon as I saw the recipe for this amazing pumpkin cake, I was sold!

Due to travel purposes I made the actual cake part of the dessert on Wednesday evening before we split town for the holiday.  I then put the whole thing together on Thursday afternoon when we were ready to dive into it.  Here she is, in all her glory:

If you're looking for a good, easy and DELICIOUS dessert recipe, I recommend this one!  Yum! Yum! Yum!

Christmas Pillow Extravaganza II

This past year I stumbled upon this tutorial and I knew I wanted to make my own version of these awesome Christmas pillows.  When my sweet husband found out that paper was an appropriate gift for your first wedding anniversary he knocked my socks off by purchasing me a Silhouette!  With the handiness of this awesome machine, these pillows became a MUST!  If you're interested in making them yourself, follow the tutorial that I did and don't be afraid to give them your own personal touch :).

Remember my Ribbon Pillow?  There she is with her new friend!

Check out how awesome my friend, Amy's pillows turned out!

The difficulty level on this project is EASY!  You can make these and I can't wait to see yours!

Happy Sewing!