our first snow day with sweet pea...

the timing couldn't have been more perfect for a snow day.  cold man winter picked tony's day off to give myself and my fellow hard working educators and students a well deserved friday off.  it was only an inch of snow, but here in san antonio it was more than enough. we took it and enjoyed every minute.

cheers...

the new year began with several firsts: hosting the new year's eve family party in sweet pea, making menudo with my mother and grandmother (yum!), and enjoying the fireworks at dignowity and lockwood parks which overlook the city. we walked to the park to see the city's annual downtown fireworks.  however, when we got there we were stunned to find out that we could also see fireworks being popped across san antonio. in neighborhoods stretched across the city, a rainbow of fireworks popped in and out of the distant horizon. and for once, the celebration of the new year was not one of just close friends and family but of community as well. cheers...

castro elves at work...

i remember growing up with neighbors sending a little sweet treat our way for the xmas holidays. i always thought it was a sweet gesture and of course couldn't wait to do the same. tony and i have yet to officially meet a couple of neighbors on our block and figured this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. i love peppermint bark and have always wanted to make some, so i did.  tony found an amazing recipe from a coworker called brickle that he wanted to "kick up a notch", so he did.  mom castro told tony about a haystack recipe that he wanted to try, so he did that too. and voila!


peppermint bark, yummy



brickle, a perfect salty and sweet treat

haystack, butterscotch flavored crunchiness

adorable labels from amy pluck with a little castro touch

head elf
i thought it would be perfect to dress up tokyo as a reindeer and bring along...
but it didn't fly with tony.  maybe next year...

an island and lots of tamales...

our island is finally in and we loooove it.  we worked with celia at monterrey rustic and more to design a custom island and we couldn't be happier.  it took what seemed forever but oh well, it's here now. it's hot and smells great too...


this past weekend we also went to tamales! at pearl.  it was a gorgeous evening and the tamales were yuuuuuum.  our personal favorites were the juicy and plump pork tamales that were packed with tasty, divine fattiness from mi casa tamales. i'd really love to learn how to make tamales. an awesome latin band, whose name i need to find because i'd love to hear them again, provided great entertainment.  the band was staged by the pearl train and children and people were dancing and having such a grand time.  they even had fireworks! what fun. i can't wait to do it again next year...

tis the season to get crafty with my bad self...

since this is our first christmas in sweet pea and our first christmas tree ever, i wanted to find the perfect christmas tree skirt.  consequently, after searching several local stores this turned out to be more difficult then i thought until i saw the loveliest tree skirt online. oh so beautiful...just what i was looking for: simple, vintagy, and crafty.  the one hundred ninety-eight dollar price tag was oh so not what i was looking for. the good news was that this lovely tree skirt from garnet hill not only caught my eye but many other crafty bloggers out there and the feeling about the price tag was mutual thus leading to many diy tutorials {like this} on how to create your own replica. then i saw this gorgeous felt wreath that i instantly fell in love with and i knew i had to try to combine their loveliness somehow. and somehow did i! it turned out beautiful and perfect! here are some pics...

the oh so lovely poinsettia tree skirt from garnet hill



the oh so lovely felt flower wreath from purl bee



ta daaaaaaa...

oh so...

LOVELY