The Christmas We Almost Didn't Escape

It was a Westbrook Christmas year in 2015, so Eddy and I enjoyed a great trip to Chicago (in addition to all of the family festivities). We can't got to Chicago without visiting the zoo!

They had their Xmas decorations up while we were there.

So we mocked them.

Or maybe it was just me.

No, it was Eddy too. To be clear, this is an actual zoo exhibit. Not sure which is worse.

We always stay on the Magnificent Mile and we did the usual dorky stuff there.

We also somehow managed to learn about Ceci's history project from grade school (?!)

So that's a thing that happened.

The most alarming thing, though, was that on the day we were set to leave Chicago actual wintry weather happened and we *almost* did not make it back to sunny CA!

If our flight had not departed O'Hare that night, we were sure to be stuck there for at least a week! (We know many who were.) So here's to a great Christmas trip and here's to just barely escaping Chicago in time.

10 Years, 80 Pages, 3 Tattoos

So if you don't know from following us on Facebook or from knowing us (gasp!) IRL, Eddy and I celebrated 10 years together in 2015!  We were really excited and we did tons of amazing stuff to celebrate, but probably the first thing that happened was that I started work on a photo book for Eddy to chronicle our lives together so far.  It turned out pretty great if I do say so myself (which I totally do) so I thought I would share it here.

Click here to view this photo book larger

I'm not going to lie.  This book is 80 pages long, so not for the feint of heart.

I figured there was no way he could possibly top this great photo book, but his gift totally beat mine out, I'd say.  He got a tattoo that matches mine from our wedding tattoo sessions!

Team Sunshine Fuzzy Bunny forever!

Nicci's Got a Brand New Bag

Ugh. I tried hard not to make that pun, but, you know...

In addition to my usual lust for quilting, I have been dabbling a bit in other sewing projects lately, namely, bag making. I took a class on Craftsy (which is basically my new favorite thing to do) and I've been working away ever since.

This was my first effort:

Basic stuff, but with adorable octopus fabric. Then I got a little more complex and made a quilted makeup bag using this tutorial.

Next I decided to get schmancy and make a couple of pink sparkle clutches (which I did already feature on the blog, if you're curious). One is pink sparkle vinyl.

And the other is fabric and is made using this tutorial.

Then I decided to make a matching set of bags for me, my mom, and my grandma.

And a similar bag to carry our travel journals for our big trip to Japan!

Thanks to my mom for all of those color pens! We made good use of them while we were away.

And finally, my most complicated bag project to date, my travel bag for Japan! (pattern here)

I have plans to make more bags in the future, but I have a feeling quilts are going to keep me quite busy for some time.

Merry Much-Belated Christmas to All!

Eddy's mom, Carol, got a new camera this year for Christmas.

That means there was more than the usual amount of photo taking on our Christmas trip to Chicago this year. Here are just a few shots from the festivities, some taken by Carol, some taken by Gene.

That's got to be one of my all-time favorite pictures of Ceci.

Did I mention there was a new camera around?

Merry belated Xmas to all! I'll get around to blogging the rest of our Chicago trip soon, but there is much catching up to do on Blog Sunshine Fuzzy Bunny in 2016!