wordless wednesday

gifties

Another friend turned 40 on the weekend(it's a great club!). I wanted to make her something and I tried really hard to get it made before we went away but it just didn't happen. Her party was on Saturday night, I completed the top Thursday night.. And she got it unfinished lol.

I did stop by the quilt store to pick up some backing for the quilt and this followed me home.

I've already pulled some of the fat quarters for a project and fingers crossed I can squeak two more projects out of the remainder. I'll keep you posted.

quilt monday

Seems like a very long time since we've had one of these *grin*. I was getting all the Christmas stuff out and realized I hadn't blogged my finished fall quilt yet.

I really like how this quilt turned out. So much so that I just might make it again in some Christmas fabrics. There's still time right? lol

quilted with Blowing in the Wind

I did a fun scrappy backing using up bits of fall themed fabrics.

Now, the winner of my quilt giveaway! And the winner is...

Linda T!! 

Linda, please email me your mailing info and I will get your quilt off to you.

Thanks to those that entered!!

card friday

sea legs and jet lag

Hello again! We arrived home Sunday night and been trying to get back into the swing of  'real' life; the jet lag is killing us lol. I wanted to blog last night(Tuesday) but after I came home from work, made dinner and went to watch TV with the boys, I was asleep by 8pm and slept right through until this morning. Today I fueled up with some Starbucks on my way home from work and it's after 8pm now so fingers crossed I don't konk out in the next half hour lol.

I have a few pictures to show you. I took just over 3000 so it was hard to narrow them down!

We flew from Vancouver into London. We ended up sitting for 90minutes on the tarmac in Vancouver; the plane fuel was put into the wrong tank apparently(eek!) The flight was long(9.5hours) and for the first time ever, I flew without having to medicate lol. It was awesome. And flying into the sunrise? Amazing!

We flew from London into Istanbul, Turkey and talk about a culture shock. There was next to no English; we had no idea where we were going and we were exhausted. After some stressful moments, we ended up finding where our hotel shuttle was and we were on our way.

I woke up the next morning with the 5am prayer call in Istanbul. The sun was just coming up and was stunning.

Now time to get to our ship!

And what a beauty she is.

Our first day was exploring Istanbul.

First day at sea on day two.

Day three, Ephesus.

Standing where the apostle Paul preached? Surreal.

I took so many pictures of our ship. This was in Bodrum, Turkey on day four.

Day five, the rock tombs in Marmaris, Turkey.

And swimming in the Mediterranean Ocean.

Day 6 brought us to Rhodes, Greece.

Santorini, Greece on Day 7.

I loved this town so very, very much! 

The blue roofs; stunning.

It was also the only tendered stop on our cruise; so neat.

Off to Athens on Day 8.

We got into port and were greeted with a thunder and lightening storm. And wow, did it ever rain!

Day 9, Mykonos 

And the windmills. Loved the windmills.

Day ten was our second and last day at sea.

Day eleven, we landed in Naples Italy to another storm. And a storm it was.

That it is hail. Cars were literally stopping on the freeway; they don't get snow in Italy this close to sea level lol.

Pompeii

See the water spots on my lens? It was POURING. So hard that at one point, our guide pulled us all into a roofed house for protection. And the lightening; crazy!

Once leaving Pompeii, we went on a drive up the Italian coast; the Amalfi coast. 

Stunning.

Our #dreamtrip ended in Rome. Sadly there was no time to see the city; we were off the ship before the sun to make our flights home.

As I said earlier, we had a fantastic time. The trip was so much more than either of us imagined it being. And the cruise? Already planning our next one!

Don't forget, I have a giveaway going right now; I'll draw the winner on Saturday. You can still enter here.

surprises

We've had an exciting year here this year. Our oldest graduated from high school and turned 18. I turned 40 last week(woo hoo!) and next month Jim and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.

This year we wanted to do something big; but we weren't sure what. We were living in California when we had our 5th anniversary. Went to NewYork City for our 10th and for our 15th it was off to Honolulu. 

We debated different places; knew we wanted to go somewhere warm but we aren't sit on the beach peoples. One night Jim mentioned the idea of a cruise. Next thing I knew, he did this.

A 12 night Mediterranean cruise! We fly into Istanbul, Turkey(!!!!!), spend a few days there then board the ship. We have 3 more ports in Turkey before heading to the Greek Islands, Naples and ending in Rome.

This is seriously a dream come true; I've only ever wanted to go to Turkey and Greece in Europe and we get to hit them both with one shot.

A few weeks ago it was my bloversary that I totally missed. And I want to share some love with you. So I am giving away this quilt

The quilt measures roughly 56x56. It was pieced and quilted by me.

The pattern is a freebie from Moda Bake Shop.

So leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a winner when I get home(on the 25th).

 This giveaway is open internationally :)

snack saturday

Banana Upside Down Cake 

2 sticks unsalted butter, soften

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3 ripe firm bananas, sliced

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

 

Preheat over to 350F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Melt one stick of butter and the brown sugar, mixing constantly until it incorporates and turns into liquid caramel.

Pour caramel into the cake pan, distribute the caramel evenly all over the bottom and side of the pan. Arrange banana slices over the caramel mixture.

In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, mix the remaining butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, beat until smooth.

In another bowl, sift flour, baker powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients and milk alternate to butter mixture.

Pour the batter carefully over the banana layer. Distributing evenly.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake rest for a bit so that it cools slightly and the caramel sets to some extent, but try to invert the cake onto a cake plate while it’s still warm.

card friday