GETTING CRAFTY

one rather pivotal thing happened when we moved to new york. i discovered pinterest. 

i've always loved crafts. i remember spending most of my childhood making things. i think the best bit was the sense of accomplishment after crafting something with my own hands. unfortunately i used to be so impatient that i would look forward to the finished project rather than the process of making and so most of my crafts never turned out as expected! i'd neglect to plan and then miss vital steps in an attempt to finish as quickly as possible, ending up with a malfunctioning pencil pot, a wonky blanket or a cushion cover with no opening to get the cushion in! 

but then i became an adult, life got busy, i had studying to do, a social life and my craftiness fizzled. isn't it funny how creativity is so easily sacrificed when we get busy?

so i ended up in new york, with a lot of time and a tonne of pinspiration, and suddenly it was like i was catching up on lost years of crafting. i would churn out several craft projects a day, bean bags, table mats, napkins, cushions, scarves....... poor nick would arrive home and he would have to 'ooo' and 'ahhhh' at my days work. but then life got busy again and yet again my creativity fell by the wayside.

i'm finally finding a balance, taking time out to be inspired and channel my craftiness. 

and so here is one of my most recent projects. a teepee for our church sunday school. it was not a project for the faint hearted! as usual i veered away from instructions pretty early on and kind of just figured it out as i went along! anyway, many blisters later and its finally finished. i'm pretty pleased with the results. so was oli!

THE PRICE TO PAY

i mentioned earlier last year that i seem to have lost all sense of how much things cost. it used to feel like nyc was super expensive...that was until my friend came to visit the end of january. 

you see she taught me a clever little trick to convert dollars to pounds, and it turns out that things aren't half as expensive as i think! 

before, when converting to sterling, i would half the amount and add a bit....ever so scientific and accurate i'm sure you'll agree! BUT my friend showed me a fail proof method.

divide the amount by ten and then times by six. easy. 

i'm really enjoying this new found freedom in my spending! in fact just this morning i went for coffee with a friend. i bought a hot chocolate and coffee for $5 total, which is an incredible £3. bargain!

*also how cute is this picture of nick. taken in wiliamsburg in the fall (hence the lack of extra bulk we seem to have to adorn daily at the moment)*

SUPER BOWL FRENZY

yesterday we celebrated the superbowl with friends at a superbowl party. i didn't actually end up watching much of the game as i was nattering away! but i did learn a thing or two. apparently the commercials that run during the super bowl are meant to be a highlight as its a pretty big deal to score some airing space during the game as you can imagine. so they pull out all the stops to make sure theirs is the most memorable. you can actually watch a run down of the top ten commercials here. 

i have to say that nyc pulled out all the stops for this superbowl. as i mentioned in this post, on saturday evening nick and i left the house and headed to times square. it. was. mental. i struggled with the crowds, but i'm glad we went to see what it was all about. there was a large toboggan run which i was dying to go on, but with the cold and the queues i was quite easily swayed not to. there were freebies, a tonne of news crews, gospel concerts and food carts. 

now you can sit from the comfort of your own home and look at our pictures, of which i went to great crowdal danger to get!

oh...and the seahawks won! whoop whoop!

this nyc souvenir shop basically covered their sign for the week and became a 'super bowl fan store'! what a joke!

this was an incredible gospel choir. amazing sounds.

the toboggan. just look at those crowds. there were queues all round the back and up the stairs to the slide!

kick a ball for fun

GEARING UP FOR THE SUPER BOWL

today its the super bowl. and its a pretty big deal, not just because its football (of the american kind, of course) but because its the first year its being held in new york, the home stadium of the new york giants. which technically is in new jersey, a whole other state, but new york have claimed it as theirs!

theres a lot of excitement about this and new york have pulled out all the stops. broadway has been pedestrianised and theres all sorts of attractions, including a toboggan run! more of that in a later post.

before christmas i got to go to my first football game! not only was it to watch the giants play, but also in their stadium, the one where the super bowl is being played today. because we got tickets through nick's work we got to experience the game in style, in a booth, with food and drink all laid out for us. i'm not that much into football, its quite a slow game, constantly stopping and starting, plus i dont really understand the rules....but, i LOVED the atmosphere! the hype, the cheers, the advertisments, the food it was so much fun!  

unfortunately the giants were annhilated by the sea hawks, but seeing as the seahawks made it to the super bowl i guess its ok...so thats who i'll be gunning for today, just to justify the giants loss!