Random Snaps From My Life {3}

Well I have moved boringly into the New Year, without any more fuss than what is usual.

Just another date on a printed page for me. 

But keeping busy as always~ really been enjoying not working... it is nice to not have that stress for a while & just be able to work on other projects. 

I can see my office floor again & my desk looks good too.

Been doing extra cleaning in it, so that's always a wonderful feeling.

Christmas has been here & gone, but with it, has brought some new lovely things into my life...

Like this mint green, Artisan Kitchen Aid Mixer!!
I was so pleased Dad got this for me & really surprised since we never spend this kind of money on gifts! 

I can't wait to start using it~ going to save me so much wrist pain!

Other gifts I got were: a box of After 8 Mints (of course), 2 pretty coloring books & a pair of gloves.

We had 3 of my cousins over to make gingerbread houses, which is something we haven't done in quite a few years, so that was fun!

And messy. And sweet. 

This is the front of my house.

And the back!

With the ever changing temperatures around here, the skies remain as lovely as ever. 

These were taken on 2 different nights.

I received SO much mail this past month!

Here are few of snaps of some of the Christmas cards that arrived...

I also got this lovely miniature Eiffel Tower from a lovely lady who visited Paris this year & brought this back for me!

Wasn't that sweet of her?! 

It has a marble base so is nice & solid.

Rather sentimental gifts from Bunnie, one of my dear besties, who always puts so much thought into her gifts & often they tell a story...

Another delightful package.

Those chocolates, were divine! 

I thought this was going to be all of my Christmas cards, but wouldn't you know it, just after I took this snap, around 6 more came in, so the other bookshelf is completely covered with cards as well!

I can't believe it, honestly!

Of course with so much mail arriving every day, that means my "To Reply To" pile grew higher & higher & over-took my desk very quickly.

I took this photo, but I really should have waited another week, because I received about 12 more pieces of mail. 

I have been working very hard to reply to it all & hopefully tomorrow, I will send out a giant pile!

See how long I hold up the line at the post office. heehee

One particularly unique & special piece of mail was this letter from Buckingham Palace!

I sent a Christmas card to The Queen this year, & received this lovely note from Her Majesty's Lady In Waiting. 

Another Royalist friend of mine suggested I frame it & I am thinking I just might...

After I started sorting my office out more, I gave it a good cleaning & got in all the corners.

I used the Lemon oil from Young Living to kill all the bugs....

However I think I worked up a lot of dust into the air as I have been dealing with allergy symptoms after doing so much cleaning. 

Your's truly this past week.

No filters or editing. 

Just me!

An Instagram friend & penpal had requested a photo of my row(s) of antique books, so I was quite happy to oblige with a snap of them.

I, too, always want to see others book collections!

I couldn't resist pulling out a pretty ribbon & another teacup & doing a little styled photo!

Back in October, one of my dear Gang of Four friends, Beaver, sent me this charming little Lego kit, to build a train engine.

I finally got around to it & am delighted with how classy the train is!

Reminded me of the movies "Miss Potter" & "Cranford", so it will hold a place of honor on my bookshelf, neatly perched on Beatrix's little stories. 

I have had some absolutely lovely craft hauls lately & at very good prices too!

After Christmas is always the time to shop as stores are cleaning out winter products & preparing to bring in Valentines & Spring collections. 

At our local craft store, I found these lovely papers, a role of purple chevron washi tape, & some tiny metal bits~ note the crab!

I had an excellent day at Michaels, digging through the Christmas clearance (and a few fall items too, as you can see).

My total that day would have come to $260. Instead I spent $46. 

Of note, that giant 180 page scrapbook paper stack was regular $34.99 & I paid $8.99!

My other very exciting find that day was washi tape~ these rolls were regular $3.49 each & I paid 34 cents a piece! 

What a deal!

So of course, I stocked up! 40 rolls in all.

This week I am trying to get back into cooking a little, and made a fancy salad today. 

But I also noticed I need to sort recipes penpals have sent me & type out the ones I wish to keep, so I can keep them neatly in my sparkly binder!

So started working on that a little today. 

Tomorrow it will be off to do errands~ mostly fun ones, but will still be glad to check some things off my list!

The Post Office: to mail a huge pile of letters & cards.

The Thrift Store: they are having a bag sale!

The Library: hopefully the shipment has come in & I have new reading material. (not that I need it, but you know *winks)

The Grocery Store: to pick up some supplies to make a new soup.

And then perhaps off to take care of some other random errands. 

Will be a busy day!