in with a bang!

2011 is off to a great start!

We had a fantastic New Year's Eve Party, my shop exploded (that's a good thing!) on the first day of the year, and the Caps won the Winter Classic - all in the first 24 hours of 2011! I can't seem to wipe the gigantic smile off my face.

We had our usual group of friends (minus a few who drove up early to the Winter Classic) over for an international wine/cheese/dinner party on the 31st. It was delicious. So, SO delicious. Our friends really went above and beyond - bringing fantastic cheeses (Gravy snatched a hunk of expensive Australian bleu), cooking several dishes each, and tackling such things as homemade petit fours and flan!


I chose Germany (a country not known for its wine or cheese...or cuisine, in my opinion). I think I wanted to do Germany just so I could make foods with names like jagerschnitzel (hunter's schnitzel - pork cutlets with a mushroom-wine sauce) and fingernudeln (finger shaped potato noodles - also, called schoppala)! Seriously, how fun are those words? Jagerschnitzel! Fingernudeln!

Both the jagerschnitzel and fingernudeln turned out delicious, though I certainly didn't win any awards for plating. I guess that is what happens when you try to tend three pans on the stove simultaneously, after you've guzzled wine from New Zealand, Spain, Germany, and Austria. I did manage to singe all the hair off my arms in the process, though.

Among our guests was the cutest rookie ever...



And a two year old who reminded us to dance our way into the new year.

At midnight, we ate skewers of grapes for good luck - each grape representing a month in the new year per Spanish tradition.

Grapes...on a stick! (Not to be confused with jalapeno...on a stick!)

So glad I have these guys to celebrate the new year with...9 years in a row, and counting!

I woke up the next morning to find that Etsy had featured my EMBRACE MESSY HAIR print on Facebook and Twitter as a new year's resolution! Many many thanks to Etsy and to the 2,000 (!!!) people who visited my shop on New Year's Day. I spent the day packaging up orders and grinning from ear to ear - so excited and inspired to focus on my shop in 2011.

I also have some potential commissions in the works and was invited to apply to the Ballston Arts & Crafts Market - which is perfect, because one of my goals for the year for Funnelcloud Studio was to sell at another art fair - and the opportunity just fell into my lap on January 2nd. If I'm accepted, you'll see me in Ballston in the spring.

And the icing on the cake for the day? The Caps kicking the Penguins' butts at the Winter Classic! Larry got a last minute ticket to the game and drove up to Pittsburgh (unfortunately, he forgot to bring his beard head), but I was more than happy to watch the game from my warm, dry, couch in front of the fireplace.

A fight!

And a win!

Go Caps!

Bang! 2011, we're off! Hope everyone's year started as well as mine did!

P.S. Jagerschnitzel! Fingernudeln!