Courage

When I started blogging a little over a year ago it was after MUCH reading of other blogs and saying to myself "I could do THAT". I saw this community of people (mostly women) who seemed so together and so talented and I wanted so desperately to join in. So after a few years of thinking about it, I did.

A few weekends ago as part of my choosing the word Happiness as my word for 2012, I was thinking about why I'm blogging, what I want to get out of it and why I bother when it seems like no one is reading it but me most days (weeks, months) - is it really bringing me happiness? Then by chance I came across this class on building a blog you love, serendipitous to say the least. So I signed up, nervous but also excited.

Right from the first minute I was hooked. The teacher Liv Lane spoke with a voice that was authentic and powerful, honest but also uplifting. The lessons and questions excited and terrified me. WHY am I blogging, what AM I getting out of it and what does my blog give back? Instantly I'm at the brick wall..what does my blog give back? How could my blog, my plain-jane little blog without much focus or pizazz possibly give anyone anything?

I instantly started comparing my blog to others that I read daily and love: my blog isn't full of brilliant completed projects that inspire, my blog isn't full of gorgeous well-shot photography, my blog isn't telling the story of a particularly unusual or accomplished life...I was finding myself and my blog coming up lacking in every possible way. And I don't want to say I was having anxiety over finding my blogging purpose but I was waking up in the night thinking about it - why am I doing this? Why? WHY? Oh and I also felt like my blog needed about a million changes and improvements, immediately of course. Good times.

But as is often the case if we're willing to be open and honest and continue to show up and try to do the work even when we're unsure things started to fall in place. One lesson held an eye-opening TED talk by Brene Brown. I watched it and cried. I realized I'd had her book The Gifts of Imperfection on my nightstand pile (literally) for months. I went and got it and stayed up late reading it and cried some more. These tears were the tears of recognition - seeing myself in her stories and hearing that I was far from alone. These words in particular resonated with me: Life-paralysis refers to all the opportunities we miss because we're too afraid to put anything out into the world that could be imperfect. It's also all the dreams we don't follow because of our deep fear of failing; making mistakes and disappointing others. It's terrifying to risk when you're a perfectionist; your self worth is on the line. I could instantly see all the fear that has been holding me back. The thought that I don't want to do something that isn't the quality I want it to be has kept me paralyzed for so long. Too long. Perfectionism is such a losing game. Fear of making things that are not good enough means mostly what I make are plans. I'd like to get busy actually making things (blog included) and start to learn that: Good enough is GOOD ENOUGH. Good enough might actually be great if means more things getting done!

So today I'm trying to have the courage to say that I am good enough. The things I write, photograph, bake, sew and make are good enough. My life is worthy of being put out into the world. I often think does the world really need another mom writing about the stuff she making, baking and her kid? In the past few weeks I've realized the answer is YES. I love reading about all those things, finding connections with other moms and makers and I would be truly sad if any of the women I follow and admire decided to stop blogging. I realized there is a place for us ALL and I am included. I don't totally know my purpose or how my blog is going to give and inspire but I also know that's okay. I am going to keep showing up, keep doing the work of learning and growing and sharing and I'll figure it out. I am going to keep telling myself that I am already enough until it sinks in. I have no doubt more things will be falling into place if I let them and I'm excited to see where this path will lead me!

Progress not perfection, right? Thanks for hanging with me through my wordiest post yet and if you're so inclined I'd love to hear how you deal with feelings of insecurity.

Thanks to Liv Lane for all the great lessons so far and for hosting this blog party on courage, a great kick in the mental pants :-)

One of my favorite pizza dough recipes

This is just one of three favorite pizza doughs that come to mind and yes, we eat a lot of homemade pizza around here. It makes us happy. Well, most of us anyway. Apparently when you're two little appeals to your very limited palate. Said the mother who is trying EXTRA hard to not be the mom who cooks two dinner every night.

This pizza dough is pretty easy and I think could be made ahead and frozen if you're that ambitious.

The cool thing about this dough is that you bake it in a pizza pan on a heated pizza stone. You add a generous layer of oil to the pan and then the heat of the stone almost fries the dough right in the pan and it gets all brown and crispy and delicious.

This recipe was ever-so-slightly adapted from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3.

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza
(don't judge until you've tried please!)
(no wait, judge away, I already know how delicious it is ;-)

3 C. bread flour (yes, it needs to be bread flour)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I use the instant yeast from the jar that says good for bread machines)
1 1/4 tsp salt

Mix all these ingredients in a large mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer) and then add:
1 1/3 C. warm water - NOT hot, directions on the yeast said 80 degrees was optimal

You can mix with the paddle and then switch to the dough hook or just go for it with the dough hook like I do. I mixed it for 3 -4 minutes after it came together in a ball. Then tuck into a ball and place into a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, to rise. I actually set the covered bowl in the microwave with the door close to hold in the heat because our kitchen has proven chilly for rising dough.

Let rise 2-3 hours.

I use a large (14") deep dish pan from Kitchen Kapers or you could make two smaller pizza using 9" cake pans. (I think this pan from Sur La Table seems like mine). Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. GENEROUSLY grease your pan(s) and spread your dough in, then top with whatever floats your boat. This was BBQ sauce, mozzarella and grated smoked gouda. With one quarter left sauce-less for you-know-who. Bake for 10-12 minutes and if you've done it right (and I know you will!) the crust will slide around in the pan when it's done and be oh so easy to get out. Mmmmm.

Even sauce-less and called cheese bread instead of pizza she still didn't eat it. But you already knew that didn't you?

:-)

Two awesome recipes (NOT to eat)

Because I know this looks really appetizing. Ha!

But seriously if you have little people at your house this is an amazing (cheap and easy) home made play doh recipe. We are in LOVE with play doh around here and this makes a monster sized ball big enough to thoroughly delight your little person.

I left this batch white (plain, it wasn't truly white-white but more of a beige floury color) and kneaded in plain old glitter as it cooled to make "snow play doh" for snowman day at school yesterday.

My tester hard at work at home.

The Most Awesome Play Dough

2 Tbsp oil (I used canola)
1 C water
(food coloring if desired)

1 C flour
1/2 tsp salt (not kosher)
2 tsp cream of tartar

Heat the oil in your pot until it's warm and shimmery. Remove from heat and add water (and food coloring if you want it).

Mix in all other ingredients. Return to low heat and cook until stirring constantly until mixture thickens/gets firm. Original recipe said 4-5 minutes I think mine took barely 3 so just watch it. Remove from heat and set on plate/waxed paper/cutting board to cool.

I kneaded the glitter in once it cooled (you could probably mix in food coloring the same way). This keeps in a ziploc bag (or other air tight container) indefinitely. Seriously, the first batch I made several weeks ago looks freakishly the exact same - smooth, no smell, no mold - weird but great. I made three batch for school it made 8 generous portions. I made them all at once which worked fine but my shoulder was sore from stirring that giant blob all at once. Just warning you.

Now on to the MIRACLE cream.

Seriously. I am not a gusher or a hugger really or a OOH THIS IS SOOO GREAT kind of girl. Was an art student not a cheerleader. You get the idea. So you can believe my honesty when I say, BEST LOTION EVER.

EVER people.

This comes from an art teacher who has tried many, many lotions for driest dry skin cracked from clay and constantly washing paint brushes. My feet also get cracked and sand-papery in the winter (sorry if that's TMI) and nothing seemed to help them either. Enter the miracle lotion (as it shall now be called).

You take the 3 ingredients you see in the first photo - 16oz (or 15.5 - whatever is close) bottle of baby lotion, 8oz (7.5 oz) vaseline and a 4oz tub of vitamin E cream and you whip (with an electric mixer) all of them together and you get 2 tubs about this size of the most good-smelling, best working lotion. My hands don't hurt, my feet are noticeably smoother and my art teacher BFF says her clay cracked hands are on the mend! I think you could use generic brands for all these and still get great results. I found the vitamin E cream in a 2-pack at Walmart with the lotions, I did have to try a couple of stores before I found it. LOVE THIS LOTION. Thanks to Pinterest (of course) for both these recipes.

We've made it through 2 whole weeks of daddy being gone, just 1 more to go - YAY! Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder and I don't know which of us will be happier to see him home next weekend :-)

Hope everyone has a great weekend and if you're in the Atlanta area please feel free to come join us tomorrow morning 9AM till noon at Whipstitch for the Atlanta Modern Sewing Guild meeting! Japanese craft books is our topic this month and I can't wait to get get my sew on - and a HUGE thanks to Nanny (Grandma) for the H sitting!

Oreo Brownies

Pinterest is a funny thing because you pin things based on their appearances, literally judging the book by it's cover every time. So then when you go actually look at what you pinned sometimes you aren't getting exactly what you expected.

That was the case with the Oreo brownies I pinned a while back - they look delicious but they were a bit fussier than I was looking for on a day when the kid was politely refusing to nap (no THANK YOU mommy - as if that makes it better. geez.).



So before you think all I cook (ok, bake) around here is sweets, let me tell you that this was a baking request and when you've been invited to dinner on a school night by wonderful friends who know how hard it is to entertain a 2 year old by yourself for many days, you bake.

So this was the version of Oreo Brownies that I was looking for but couldn't find. Necessity is the mother of invention right?

So I lined my 9x13 pan with foil, greased it and layered 20 double stuff oreos in it.

Then I mixed up a box of brownie mix (that's right, I'm a dedicated baker like that) and poured right over those brownies. Actually I spooned it over them so they wouldn't slide all around. Then I baked them for about 30 minutes and cooled them.

Then, and this is where the magic happens folks, I made from scratch cream cheese frosting to put on top. You could put this frosting on almost anything and people would love it. LOVE. It.

BEST cream cheese frosting:
1 8oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until smooth - if it's too thick add a little splash of milk to thin it out a little. That's it. I know it seems like not enough to be magical but trust me on this. It is magical. Spread on top of cooled brownies.

So then my pint sized helper sprinkled the chopped oreos on top and we headed off for dinner and playing.

I could have taken a better, more "professional" looking photo but honestly we were much too busy shoving these in our mouths while the kids weren't looking to do much of anything else ;-)

Good times!

Rain, rain...

We've had a gray, rainy, stormy weekend around these parts but we would have been inside anyway, fighting off the colds we both caught last week.

Everyone said her first year at school she'd catch everything and boy they weren't kidding. Nothing serious (thankfully) but after a while the perpetual nose drip and cough gets old. This weekend we were a little punier than even a "normal" cold. And daddy is still gone for two more weeks.


I have a renewed respect for people who single parent all the time. I know how lucky I am to be able to stay home right now and on the hard days I'm extra thankful to not have to worry about getting her to daycare and being at work by 7AM. If that was what needed to happen in order for me to be a parent I would have done it without a second thought, she's worth it. But I'm glad we don't have to right now.

Especially on the rainy days.

Gourmet pretzel wannabes

Don't be fooled by these unassuming looking pretzels - they are sassy and delicious! And if you make a batch while your husband is out of the country you may very well eat them all yourself -- be careful, you won't realize you're addicted until it's waaaaay too late.

My mom produced this recipe that I emailed her in oh 2005 (!) when apparently I was on a mission to reproduce those pricey gourmet pretzels at home. I mean those little bags can get REALLY expensive. For pretzels. So anyway, these are quite spicy but you can always cut back on the pepper if you don't like as much heat.

Spicy Gourmet-ish Pretzels

1 package ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1 1/2 tsp. garlic salt (you could also substitute onion or celery salt)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (yep, a whole tsp. - but use less if you like. I've also substituted a tsp. of aleppo pepper and they were not as spicy but still tasty)
3/4 C. vegetable oil

Mix all this in a large ziploc bag. Then add a 15oz (ish) bag of pretzels. Smoosh the bag around to coat the pretzels. Turn it over a couple of times. I made mine at bedtime and let them sit over night - turning them over a few times before I went to sleep. In the morning - delicious, zippy pretzels. My bag had a layer of the coating stuck to it to I just scraped that off with a spatula when I took the pretzels out.

So. So. Good.

Happy Friday!

Well we've survived our first full week of Daddy being gone, only two more to go (which feels like an eternity right about now). H has had some sad moments (mostly when she's already tired) but the miracle of facetime has made us feel MUCH better :-) Talking to someone via a live video still seems like Jetsons technology to me when I stop and think about it. I love it!

So I've been trying to squeeze in a few "fun for mom" moments this week - you know they come during nap time of after bedtime - but I have found some, that's the important thing. So check me out, I made a light box! Nutty looking right? But it took about 30 minutes and mostly stuff I already had around the house - easy, peasy.

Look at how much better those colors look - LOVE this project! The down side was that I made it from a too-small box - that's why it's too bright at the top. The good news is that it's pretty easy to find a bigger box and whip up another one. Oh and the first one can always be recycled - bonus points!

I think on the next one I'm also going to line it with white fabric - I just smacked some white paper in this one to see how it would look and I hate seeing the seem at the bottom corner - ugh. One continuous sheet of fabric or paper will take care of that! So I'm definitely going to make a bigger one and keep around for photographing small projects, I found the directions (via Pinterest) on the (never home) maker blog.

In other news I think I'm finally going to break down and learn to knit - I know how to crochet pretty well but I've resisted learning to knit for years. I figured the last thing I needed was another set of projects to distract me but I've been seeing so many lovely cowls around blogland lately that I think I'm going to give in. Knitting here I come!

I'll leave you with a peek at what Miss H is working on this morning: she grabbed a new pad of post-it notes from our "junk" drawer and a pencil (I've already learned that the scissors and permanent markers had to go live somewhere else) and is busy putting an H on each and every sheet of paper. Oh and she'll get to them all - she is nothing if not thorough.

Two seems to be all about making your mark :-)

Happy Friday!

Tasty Tuesday : Buckeye Bars

If you're from the states you're probably familiar with those yummy little chocolate covered peanut butter balls that show up around the holidays - story has it that they originated in Ohio, the Buckeye state, hence the name. They're delicious but fairly time consuming to make and knowing Miss H's LOVE of play-doh and squishing it into a zillion teeny tiny pieces I haven't had the time or courage to make them lately. But then I came across this recipe in a cookbook around Christmas and the light bulb went off - these I could actually pull off! Sadly, as soon as my husband goes out of town my (already weak) will to cook dinner disappears almost entirely and I end up making and eating something like this for dinner. The worst part? I'm not even sorry!




Buckeye Bars

(from Better Homes and Gardens Very Merry Cookies)



one 19.5 ounce brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 C. oil (I used Canola)
1 C. chopped peanuts (I used salted dry roasted)

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C peanut butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and lightly grease the foil (or spray with cooking oil like PAM or Baker's Joy).

Combine brownie mix, eggs and oil in a large bowl - mix well with electric mixer. Stir in peanuts. Spread 1/2 of the brownie mixture in your prepared pan. (I think I ended up using more like 2/3 of the mixture in the bottom of the pan because it was tricky to spread - still turned out fine).

In a separate bowl whisk together peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk. Pour over brownie mixture in pan.

Take spoonful (or pinches) of the remaining dough and flatten, then place on top of peanut butter mixture in pan.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes (top should be set and edges lightly brown). Cool in pan completely. Use foil to lift out and cut into bars. Store between layers of waxed paper in airtight container.

These are very rich, so small sized bars are probably your friend. They may also make a delicious breakfast a la Bill Cosby - chocolate cake? Cake has eggs, milk, flour..sure, have cake! And then I hear the song in my head, "Dad is great, give us the chocolate cake..." but I digress. Teehee. Hope your Tuesday treats you well!

The photos that inspired me to make a light box.

This past week was mainly about getting my dear husband ready for his Australia trip - he left Friday for three weeks down under (working for almost all of the time, a little traveling for fun at the end). H and I would have loved to join him but it would have been about five THOUSAND dollars in plane tickets. Ouch. We're weren't really sure we wanted to spend that kind of $$ for a trip she wouldn't even remember (lets pretend we actually have that kind of $$ in our budget anyway), so we decided we'll go back as a family someday when we can all participate, enjoy and remember it. Keep me in your thoughts/prayers as I single parent for the next three weeks.

So I did manage to finish three more of these drawstring project bags from Jeni's Drawstring Bag Pattern - they go together so quickly they're kind of addictive! They're just the right size for holding art supplies, a knitting or crochet project or (if you're two) every puzzle piece in the house, a million matchbox cars or your entire magnet collection (good times). I can't decide which of these fabric combinations I love more but I can tell you what I love least - trying to get the exposure right so the colors are true. The top photo was with natural light and the bottom one was with the flash and neither is right. So I think I'm going to use one of the many DIY light box tutorials I've been seeing on Pinterest and build one for myself. Seems like a cheap and relatively easy project that my helper and I can tackle. I'll keep you posted :-) Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Bulletin Board - first finish of 2012

You know what made me SUPER happy today? Recovering my old, faded bulletin board with woven burlap to make an awesome new spot to pin my little bits and pieces. Then my very helpful husband was kind enough to hang said bulletin board and some other art work that I've had sitting in the corner for oh, the past year.

I was looking for ideas to re-cover or paint bulletin boards this week and I came across this tutorial on Jones Design Company (which I had never seen before but is a really cool blog) showing how to use burlap strips to weave a new cover for an old bulletin board. I loved the texture and then was lucky enough to find this chocolate brown burlap at my local Hancock's. The only thing I did differently was to use hot glue instead of a staple gun and it worked out beautifully. The burlap didn't fray nearly as much as I feared it would (it did shed little "hairs" all over but they were easily wiped up) and the whole thing was done in ONE nap time - sweet.

I feel like I've already seen about two dozen quilts already finished in the new year and I'm not sure how people are getting so much done so quickly - no toddlers? More sleep? More caffeine? If anyone wants to share their tips for getting more accomplished I'm all ears! But for now I am thrilled with how my little sewing corner is shaping up and I'm looking forward to all the action this spot is going to see this year.

It is making me feel very happy indeed! Hope your weekend is finding you happy as well -

2012 Finish-a-Long

And y'all I desperately need to get some things FINISHED! Talk about Happiness - few things would make me happier than getting that WIP progress list whittled down or dare I say, cleared out. THAT seems like such a dream to me that it almost makes me giggle! But I was thrilled to read Jan's post about the Finish-a-Long that Quilter in the Gap is hosting this year because it seems like just the kick I need to get moving. I know the other part is to not start anything new until some/all of these projects are done so I'm going to do my best to STOP planning new things for now. I doubt I'll be able to stop completely but maybe I can at least stem the tide. I'm also trying to take the long view and plan for the entire year and not just burn myself out trying to get it all done in the first month! I did take photos of ALL my WIP's just to motivate myself but here are the things I'm pretty sure I can (and want) to get done before the end of March. These aren't all quilting projects but they do all need to get finished!

First up: four Noodlehead Gathered Clutches - these were started last summer (late spring?) some time. The crazy thing is that these are so close to being done. What I learned from this project what that I don't like making things assembly line style. Or maybe I would if I hadn't tried to match the thread to each different fabric every step of the way. These were for fun and a couple of gifts and they'll still work (a year late).







Not one but TWO Christmas table runners. I think I might want to lengthen one to better fit our current table. These were started which Christmas, 2008? Yeah, time to get them done. They'll be really cute for next Christmas and I'll pretend I'm ahead of the game.




Another pair of pajama pants. I loved the first pair so much and wear them all the time, so I know I need at least one more pair. Cut these out at Thanksgiving so these are a relatively new addition to the WIP game.





Finally a birthday quilt for my Gram who is turning 80(!) on February 29th. I'd love to have something lovely to give her and I know she'll use this during those upstate NY winters (and springs and summers ;-). I have a layer cake and a couple extra fabrics that I thought would look good in her living room. I just need to pick a pattern and get to it.

I'm excited to get busy and cross some things off the list! Check back with me at the end of the first quarter and see how I did. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

My word for 2012 is...

Happiness! I was struggling with this choice and I kept thinking about words like progress, accomplishment and success, trying them on and shrugging them off one by one. None of them felt quite right. I was actually making myself a little crazy about it, making a huge list of possible words, thinking, considering, debating. Let me just tell you it wasn't good.

But then I saw the quote above on Pinterest and it just hit me - that's what I want. I want to do more of what makes me happy. Real, authentic happiness, that makes you feel all warm and tingly - that's what I need in my days and my year. When I'm sitting in this same seat a year from now I want to look back with satisfaction on all I accomplished, all my successes and my growth. But what I most want to do is look back and feel the glow from all the happiness I created and experienced in 2012. I think especially when you work inside the home it's easy to let the need to do's and the should do's take precedence over the do because it makes you happy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up doing the dishes or the laundry or the vacuuming and I'm still a 24/7/365 Mom but I'd like to include more of the things big and small that connect me to myself and make me feel happy about getting done. I also like the word and concept of happiness because it's something I have control over and when you stop to really notice it you suddenly become so aware and grateful for all the places you find it in your life. So my word for 2012 is happiness, it fits, it feels right and I'm excited about it!

So as I thought about what would bring more happiness into my life, the answer came, space. I would feel thrilled to have less clutter and more space. So my first happiness project is to let go of some (hopefully a LOT) of the clutter in our home. I feel like that would help open the creative gates and create a space for work to happen. I'd also love to clear out some of my many works-in-progress!

If you're at all interested in the idea of a word of the year you can find more info from the One Little Word series over at Ali Edwards - the post where she asked people to share their 2012 words had 850+ responses and made for inspiring reading. So here's to intention rather than resolutions, I'm ready to see where it takes me :-)

Tasty Tuesday

What to make friends and influence people in 2012? Maybe just keep the friends you've got extra happy? I have just the ticket!

To be completely honest with you this brownie is nothing special, but the frosting, the frosting is the kind of frosting I imagine they put on brownies in heaven. You could could slather it on an old shoe and people would proclaim you the best and most innovative baker ever and beg for more. Seriously.


Chocolate Pan Frosting
(from The Cake Doctor Returns)

1/2 C butter (1 stick)
1/3 C milk
4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3 1/2 C powdered sugar, sifted (unless you don't mind the possibility of a few tiny lumps and I can say we really don't care around here, but if you do by all means sift away)

Melt butter over low heat, then add milk and cocoa powder stirring until mixture thickens and just comes to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar. Mix well and don't take too long because it sets up fairly quickly. This will cover anything in a 9"x13" pan generously, with a little left over to scrape out of the bowl as your little treat for all that hard work you just did!

I'm linking up with Debbie's Tuesday at the Table over at A Quilter's Table - go check out her fun combination of food and sewing or sewing and food or whatever you want to call her yummy goodness!

Hello 2012!

Hi there! How are you? As ready to get back to your "normal"life and routine as I am? It turns out a little celebrating and vacationing actually goes a L-O-N-G way and I'm ready to get to my regular day-to-day life. My holidays were lovely but it's kind of like wanting a little salt to balance out all the sweet.

I've been thinking a lot about my goals for this year, what I want to accomplish and learn, how I want to grow as a person and what I want to be able to look back on with happiness and satisfaction at the end of the year.

I've been inspired by Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" blog posts and class. The idea is to choose one word to focus on, meditate on and basically let influence your life for the next year. I think it'll be interesting to see how that one word could influence your 2012 journey. I've really wanted a word that spoke to me so I'm still thinking about it(or over-thinking as the case may be). But I'm getting it narrowed down and I'll write more about that later this week. My husband chose "focus" as his word instantly and it seems like a great fit for him. I think my challenge is that I have many areas/habits I would like to change this year, so picking one word has been hard. But I think that's also the point, to challenge yourself and push through the indecision and difficulty. I know that 'm also trying to get past my notion of the "perfect" word. Very often my idea of the "perfect" anything just gets me stuck and frustrated, another thing I'm working on. How about you, what would your word for 2012 be?

I'm delighted to be able to say that this is my 100th blog post! Yay! I'm planning on some changes and upgrades around here this year that I'm excited to share. I think I've come a long way in a year and hope to make even more progress in 2012! I'm looking forward to more sewing, crafting and cooking than ever before and I hope you'll join me :-)

Image on my January banner and this post were found through my Pinterest love - banner photo came from this awesome post over at Wave Avenue and that great resolutions poster was from this post at A Spoonful of Sugar (originally from Idea Obscura).