Fashionably Late ...

I am fashionably late (okay, so I'm just plain late, but doesn't fashionably late sound SO much better?!) but I'm here ... and it's time to party!

I joined in the fun last year, and had a blast. I even ended up adding like 200 blogs to my blogroll because of last year's party! =)

For those coming for the first time, welcome to my blog! I'm Brandie. I live in a chilly suburb of Chicago. It is lightly snowing out right now, but a hint of spring is in the air! I'm married to the best guy in the whole world. Proof - as I types this he is helping my baby sister with a school project, which he had to interrupt cleaning the blinds in order to help her and he started to clean the blinds while I was still in bed sleeping because most weekends he allows me to sleep in). See I told you, I am married to the best guy ever! I stay at home with 3 kids (2 girls aged 8 and 5 and a son who is 2). In my former life I went to school to become a teacher, got my degree and decided to stay home with the kiddos! But we also homeschool, so I kind of put that degree to use =) One of the projects my 8 year old and I started was Book Reviews For Kids By Kids. I am so excited to be helping her do this, but we really do need a few more kids so that we can add posts more regularly (so go check it out, and if you have someone who might be able to help us, please please let us know! and even if you don't know someone, go check it out LOL!) Right now, I am blessed enough to be involved with things over at The Motherhood - which is another fabulous site I'll encourage you to go visit!

This blog is where I attempt to chronicle all the fun things I like to make! I have too many hobbies, which include, but are not limited to: sewing, knitting, scrapbooking, making cards, cross stitching and reading. Okay, I can't make anything from reading, but I really do love books and they are a big part of my life so they get thrown on here as well. If your lucky, I'll even talk about life at my house. ;-)

To welcome you to the party, I have prepared a VERY yummy dinner for you. (Confession time: we really made this Friday, but I really intended to write this Friday, so we'll just pretend it's Friday LOL). Tonight we'll be having:

Beef stew with carrots and potatoes
Mixed green salad
Homemade Hearty Nut Bread

Look how yummy it all looks:

Now grab a chair, here's your plate:

We left you a spot at the end of the table ... the kids are saying "Come on over! Party Time!"

This meal was quite a cause for celebration in our house because it was our first attempt to have a completely local meal. Although we didn't succeed 100% - the meat, romaine lettuce, carrots, potatoes and butter were all from local farmers and growers. And the although the bread ingredients were not found locally, it was technically baked in my kitchen, so we'll count that as mostly local as well! This is a big deal because we are trying to make changes at our house - and buying food locally is one of the changes we are trying to implement! We were so excited when we discovered last weekend we had an indoor farmer's market not far from here! I've just started another blog to write about what we are doing and why we are doing it and you can check it out here. What did you ask? Am I addicted to blogging? Well, maybe just a bit! LOL

I hope you enjoyed your stay here. And if you liked it, please come back and visit us again =)

For more Parties to visit, hop on over to Five Minutes for Mom and look at all the fun you can have here!

PS - tomorrow I'll be at the Oprah show - so come back and read all about it. My Oprah journey began here, when I went the first time!

Edited to add: I didn't even realize there are PRIZES to be won! Great things people! Go here to see the prizes yourself.
My favorites, in no particular order, are:
8 — 50 Nights of Family Fun, 15 — $50 gift certificate to Kids Magical Wonder, 18 — Wrap-N-Mat and Chico shopping bag, 24 — Blog Design, 32 — Living The Dream Mom T-Shirt, 39 — $20 Gift Certificate, 45 — Custom Blog Design, 58 — Customized 6 Week Fitness Plan, 59 — $25 Cash, 60 — $25 Gift Certificate, 63 — $50 Gift Certificate, 67 — Blog Makeover, 72 — Webcam, 117 — $25 Gift Certificate, 128 — Book and DVD: Yoga For Christians, 129 — $15 Gift Certificate, 136 — Knitting Goody Bag, 140 — $20 Gift Certificate, 143 — Inspirational Novels

If I had to limit the list to 3, I'm nto sure what I would pick! I think 15, 72, and any of the blog makeovers. But, really, ALL the prizes are great - so go look and see what you can see!