The ground was clear when we went to bed lastnight.

When we got up, we were covered in white stuff.
The black & white was still set on my camera, so I went with it.

Our snowman isn’t catching any flakes, but looks cool in B/W.

I liked the homey feeling of this shot. Nice big pine tree with branches weighted down by the snow, the dusting on the picket fence. I’m not one to be out in it, but it is beautiful and always has such a nostalgic feel to it when it’s freshly fallen and hasn’t been disrupted by man.

The holiday weekend is almost over, and then the Christmas rush begins. If all goes as planned, I’ll be finishing several projects this week!

I’ve also done pretty well on my Buy Handmade pledge, I went to the annual craft fair yesterday and found quite a few treasures, and I’m excited for my Handmade Gift Exchange to commence so I can send my partner their goodies. (Of course, it will include something hand made by me, too!)

Today is a day that reminds us that we have much to be thankful for every other day of the year. We stuff ourselves with food and surround ourselves with family and friends, we smile, laugh, and enjoy each other in a way that causes us to look inside ourselves and aspire to be appreciative and thankful more often.

We take note of the wonderful lives we have, and the blessings that have been bestowed upon us that we might not have realized without this day. We’re reminded of the millions upon millions of people who have so much less, and are still thankful for what they do have.

Some of us even turn our heads upwards and we show our gratitude to a good, gracious God that provides us with all that we need, and everyone we love.

However you are spending your day, I hope you enjoy it. I pray it brings you warmth, love, and a satisfied appetite.

Much love to you today,

Me.

(mostly fat free.)

2 c. unsifted flour
1 1/2 c. oats
3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. brown sugar (for cranberry mixture)
1 c. butter (softened to room temp)
1 – 8oz. pkg fat free cream cheese, softened
1 – 14oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c. Lemon Juice (from concentrate)
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 – 16 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, combine flour, oats, 3/4 c. sugar and butter – mix until crumbly.

Reserve 1-1/2 c. crumb mixture for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture firmly on bottom of greased (cooking spray) 13×9 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth; stir in lemon juice.

In another small bowl, combine 1 tbsp. brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in cranberry sauce. Mix well.

Spread cheese mixture evenly over crust. Spread Cranberry mixture over the cheese layer, and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden. Cool, chill. Best served chilled.

Some of you may already know about my fascination with Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. I even did a tribute to his painting a few years ago. There’s just something about the pose, the girl, the lighting, and the story that draws me into the painting.

Several weeks ago, I came upon a fortunate find – studio lighting. The good stuff. And a backdrop (that I used yesterday in my Girl and her Puppy photo shoot). I was able to pick it all up at an UNBELIEVABLE price, and by that I mean half the price of one brand new light, stand, and umbrella. I was finally able to set it up and try it out this weekend, and though I have a long way to go to get things perfect, I sure am having a lot of fun in the process already.

My cousin Emily was over yesterday, we had a bit of a bakeathon. We made an unhealthy assortment of goodies over the span of 7 hours, and when we were finished we played “dress up and pose”. Of course I really wanted to play with the dramatic side of things, so I posed her similarly to the Girl With a Pear Earring and the results were just gorgeous. Her eyes light up the same way, the same shade of green. The light bounced off of her earring just enough to notice – perfect. I had to share.

Then we had some play time, where I stood up on a chair over her and shot from overhead. This shot is among the favorites, as well:

She’s just adorable, and fun to shoot – and she’s offered to come over any time I want to try out new equipment. What more could a girl ask for?

I have a real live doll to dress up and photograph!

Today, we celebrate the one year birthday (that’s 7 in dog years) of our Chiapoo, Copper. He joined our family last February, his little nose was smaller than a dime back then. My sweet little Chickeymonkey claimed him one Sunday afternoon while we were at our local garden and pet center. Her big eyes filled with tears, she had to have him, and Daddy wasn’t going to leave that store with our little monkey looking so pitiful.

He’s spent the last several months napping. I think he’s nocturnal, but when I go to check on him in the middle of the night, he’s still sleeping. If he’s not sleeping, he’s our own personal little Roomba, with his nose to the floor and his tongue at the ready.

This, this is our beloved little lap dog. He melded perfectly into our family, and he’s irresistible to boot.

This is how Copper and his mom get along. They have a play or I’ll kiss you silly kind of relationship, which keeps her giggling, and keeps him active. He is a blur of fur, when he’s with her.

Chickeymonkey wished her pup a Happy Birthday as soon as her eyes opened this morning, as he slept on her lap through the night last night.

She gave him his first present, a purple fuzzy tug toy, which he really didn’t pay much attention to. I think he knew what was coming…

You betchya. The bone. The BACON bone. MmmMMmm….. he quickly got to work.

Gimme the bone back. Gimme the bone back. Gimme the bone back.

Please gimme the bone back. Please gimme the bone back. Please. Please? Pleeeease?

Aaaaah. A little prince and his bone. Happy Birthday, Copperhead.

I completed Lola’s portrait very late yesterday, and without the natural sunlight I opted to wait until today to publish it here for you to see. Just a few colors on my palette for this painting; white, indigo, olive, raw umber, magenta, french ultramarine and yellow ochre. I enhanced her fur a bit more in her portrait than her photo really dictated because she’s got a really pretty coat and I wanted to show that off a bit.

Click here to view the work in progress, if you’d like to see it all together.

I’ve taken a side photo of the panel so you can see the dimension as well.

I just got my internet connection (cable) back about an hour ago, apparently it’s been down all night (thank God I was sleeping, I may have very well chewed off my fingernails waiting for it to come back up!!) I did manage to get a couple of other projects underway while I was waiting this morning.

Hope you’re having a good week!

If you could just hold off on the laughter for a moment (yes, I can hear you way over here), I’ll explain why I’m sharing this ridiculous photo of me modeling a pair of Lee Jeans that I have photoshopped SO much you would NEVER be able to pick me out in a crowd. (haha. I kid. No, I don’t kid about the thinify tool, but about most other things, I kid.)

Hahaha! Okay stop laughing, I said.

Last year, I lost a whopping 20’ish pounds strictly eating core foods from the WW core food list. Of course, in standard girly girl fashion, I went shopping. I tried on a pair of Lee Jeans. I loved ’em. I even wrote about them.

Fast forward to this year. It’s jean season again, and I’m just a smidge frustrated that uh, well, my jeans from last fall don’t fit so good.

I would say that’s cool, cause I get to go shopping again, but honestly? I’d rather save my money for a personal trainer and a fridge full of core food.

Heaven must have heard that.

I woke up one morning to an e-mail with an offer to try out a pair of Lee Jeans. All I needed to do was pick out a style and a size. Seriously? How often does this happen? Not often enough, I say! Here’s the cool thing – now it can happen to you!

I’ve been given 10 pair – yes TEN PAIR of jeans to give away. The style I chose is a little hip because I wanted to try something different. The wrap waist, button pockets and low rise might not suit everyone, but I really dig them. The style I’m wearing is “Cristina” if you’re out and about and want to pick them up.

In an effort to be a little more conservative with the jeans I chose to put up for grabs, however, I’ve selected a more traditional style for ten lucky winners:

FOR THE GALS:
The One True Fit premium bootcut comes in four different washes: Union Blue, Blackdigo, Shadow Blue, and Galaxy blue. Union and Blackdigo are darker and Shadow and Galaxy are more of what you think of when you think “blue jeans.” These are available in sizes from 2-16, short, medium or long. The plus size scale ranges from 16w to 26w, available in short or medium. For this jean, there is also a petite scale from 2-16.

UPDATE!

Lee Jeans is happy to accommodate the guys, as well. Here are the jeans that you boys will get if you should be drawn as a winner:

FOR THE GUYS:
Lee’s custom fit for men – relaxed seat & thigh, straight leg jean. Colors available are Medium Stone (denim color), Vintage Dark, and Shadow (black).

These are the jeans I’ve chosen for ten of you.

Want to enter to win a pair? Leave a comment. Want to increase your chances? Here are a few ways to do that:

1. One extra entry: Subscribe to my blog via e-mail or via RSS. (if you’re already subscribed, THANK YOU! You will need to choose another method to earn extra entries.)
2. One extra entry: Share it on twitter, facebook or another social networking site. (leaving comments on other blogs is great, but will not result in additional entries.)
3. Two extra entries: Mention it on your blog and link back here.

Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry, as I’ll draw using random numbers from comments.

Drawing will be held December 1st. Good luck!!