Lady in Red

Last night was hubby's work Christmas party. I had decided since it was so cold out I'd wear the black trousers I was working on along with my McCall's blouse. After mentioning it to him, he comment how he thought a dress was more appropriate for the party, so I dashed in my sewing room like a crazy lady and made up this red dress! I didn't even have the pattern cut out when I went in there and my father-in-law was due to arrive in about 2.5 hours, so it was truly a race against the clock. I even had a few challenges along the way (all my own fault), but I got the dress done just in the nick of time! The only bad thing is I didn't even end up taking my coat off at the party because the room it was in was so stinkin' cold. Oh well, I have a pretty red dress that I will be able to take on our upcoming cruise in January. Of course I posted a review on PR with more details if you're so inclined. Oh and the boots are probably a big "no-no" with the dress, but I had no black dress pumps in my closet, just black sandals ~ talk about unprepared!

On Friday we went to a party at my friend's house. She was making pizza and requested the guests bring something sweet. While I love to bake cakes, pies, and other desserts for the holidays, I decided that a finger food would be a better choice since it can just be nibbled on. Last week I got a catalog from Dale & Thomas Popcorn in the mail, but after I finished drooling all over the pictures, I saw the pricetag - ouch, that is some spendy stuff. While I am sure it's yummy, I am pretty good with baking, so I decided to make my own version. I googled around the net and found a super easy carmel corn recipe and kicked it up a bit. Below is the result (and it was a huge hit at the party and with my family!).

The recipe is super easy and is all done in the microwave even using microwave popcorn, tho I have a Stir Crazy Popcorn popper and opted to use that. I honestly was a bit skeptical becuase the recipe has you put the popped popcorn in a paper bag and then into the microwave with the carmel on top. Amazingly enough, it works like a charm! The recipe calls for nuts, but since I didn't have any on hand, I added a few handfuls of pretzels instead. Honestly you could add whatever you like and dress it up to suit your tastes. I melted both chocolate chips and white almond bark for my version ~ really the possibilites are endless. Here is recipe if you'd like to try it. I know I'll be making this a few more times before Christmas!

Lastly, here is a picture of hubby & the kids before he drug the tree all the way over the edge. It's much easier to see the magnitude of how big that tree was when my 6'4" hubby is standing in front of it.

With any luck, I'll have my pants done tomorrow. I just need to finish sewing the waistband down on the inside (hand sewing), add the buttons, and hem them. I think they are going to be great pants and can't wait to get them all finished.