Las Vegas strip collage

I rode up to North Vegas last week with my husband.  I was bored on the way home so I snapped a series of photos through the passenger's seat window of the strip, then assembled them in the janky way you see here.

Would you like a tour?  

Starting from the far left you can see the Bellagio which has a large fountain that is choreographed to spray to such tunes as Viva Las Vegas.  Next is the Aria and Vdara and many other shiny new silver buildings- these are part of City Center, a huge project that kept many a man busy working.  Then there is a pretty orange parking garage and an odd edit (ignore that).  
Now for some older guys!  Right in the middle of the collage sits the Monte Carlo (with some of the best odds on the strip, though if you really want to walk with some money, you need to go off strip).  The Monte Carlo caught on fire a few years ago, poor thing!  
And last, you can barely make out the pointy top of the Empire state building of New York, New York, the red and blue pointed tops of the castle Excalibur, and the very pointy  Luxor.  

Random afternoon out

My husband took me out to lunch and the antique store last week.  We had a lot of fun!  Going to flea markets has been a favorite past time of ours since we were dating, and it is fun to think how our tastes have changed over the years.  

The cupcakes are from a local bakery called The Cupcakery.

I wish I had bought this lovely vintage embroidery.  I love the treatment of the woman's headband, and all that stem stitching!

Block of the Month, block 3

Block of the month, block 3
Shoo fly quilt pattern

The holidays hit me hard this year!  December went by in a frantic flash and before I knew it I was celebrating the new year!...  

By baking of course!  German New's Year's pretzel anyone?

German New Year's pretzel!
Soft, slightly sweet, brushed with glaze mmm
Don't let the photo fool you, this thing was a foot wide

I baked two of these (huge) pretzels from my recipe book Cook's Country, Lost Recipes.  I also learned what mace is: the outside fuzz of a nutmeg berry (thanks wikipedia).  The pretzel is supposed to bring good luck for the new year.




But in all the rush of the holidays, my mom and I realized we forgot to do our December block!  So this week we got together and stitched up block 3! 

Mom's block

My block

This quilt pattern is called 'shoo fly'.  It came together very easily, and we both enjoyed making it.  I think the white dots in my block form an optical illusion that makes it hard to focus on the pattern though!


You can read about our block of the month project here.