My family and I are moving north in five short months! Our living space is going to be cut in half and we have so much stuff. I will no longer have an entire room for my studio so I have started condensing as much as possible and packing up.

 See all of those glass jars? They housed these beads....

Great! This should be easy then... right?

I just have a few more odds and ends to pack up...

A few more shelves to clear ...

A few stacks of books to sort through again.

My stress level directly reflects the level of this chaos. 

How did I get so established here in just five years? Did I mention the pictures and toys I have painted and glued to the walls that will have to be removed so the walls can be repaired and repainted?

I hope I can undo it in just five months!

Super Bowl of Food Day!

The Super Bowl is 2 weeks over but I wanted to share with you how I watch the game anyway.

http://party-world-blog.blogspot.com/2010/12/super-bowl-party-supplies.html

 I know that there is no way that I am the only person out there that does not watch a single game of football of any sort right up until the Super Bowl. I do not follow the sport, do not understand the sport, and do not have the desire to know anything about the teams or players. So why would I bother to watch the one game? Okay, the half time show is one obvious and true answer, but it is so much more than that. It is about something far more exciting. It is about food. I don't mean chicken wings and pizza and chips. People, this is a very serious holiday for my family. Okay - my daughter does like televised sports and is the one who tells us which teams will be competing in the Super Bowl - and she semi-watches the game with a slight interest in who wins. Why, you might ask, is knowing which teams are competing important if you don't care about the teams? Well here it is... it is important to know what region of the country the participating teams represent because that determines the menu. So there you have it - we have developed our own holiday out of a game that is apparently very important to a great many.  

Now if you want to participate in this holiday you must be prepared to consume enormous amounts of food in one evening. I believe we may eat more on this day than we do on Thanksgiving. Here was this years line up.

#1 Starters - not always regional to the teams but a very important step

 Here we have rice crackers, New York style garlic crackers (Giants), potato chips, homemade beer cheese, white wine cheese, vegetable tray, french onion dip, and amazing bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos (recipe from  The Pioneer Woman ).

#2 New York Style Hot Dogs in support of the Giants

 New York style hot dogs are topped with dijon mustard; onions that are cooked down in balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar,and corn starch; and sauerkraut. Ridiculous but delicious.

#3 New England Clam Chowder in support of the Patriots

 This was amazing. Homemade by my partner, it is the best clam chowder I have ever had.

 #4 I don''t want to forget to mention the beer.

 Pretty obvious choices but it is important. 
Do you think you could handle this onslaught of food?