Brendan & Tiffany Sullivan http://www.sullivanrealm.net Apparently we're nomads. OH, IL, TN, now UP Michigan... Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 Winter Wonderland http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/03/winter-wonderland/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/03/winter-wonderland/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:02 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3380 The day after our snow was so beautiful. The sky was a bright blue and the trees were dressed in white.

Love.

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/03/winter-wonderland/feed/ 2 Snowy Weather http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/02/snowy-weather/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/02/snowy-weather/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:00:53 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3376 Brendan changed out the windshield wipers on my Escape in response to the wintry weather we experienced a few weeks ago.

BLS, 12/17/11

He takes good care of me.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2012/01/02/snowy-weather/feed/ 1 Train Layout http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/31/train-layout/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/31/train-layout/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:02:28 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3386 One of the local banks has an annual train display. Brendan and I stopped by to see it on the 21st.

It was pretty neat and even had switches that you could use to run some of the trains.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/31/train-layout/feed/ 1 Christmas Tree http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/15/christmas-tree/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/15/christmas-tree/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:17:21 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3368

We went with red and white lights and hung a variety of ornaments. I realized I could do multiple (smaller) tree themes: trains/cars/planes, shoes, birds, carousel horses, Star Wars, or Rudolph. I like them all together though, at least for this year. I bought several silver bells at the dollar store and hung them on the tips of the boughs.

Brendan set up the LGB train from his childhood.

It looks so cute going around the tree.

The tree skirt is one that I made this year in about a week. I realized before we bought the tree that we didn’t have a skirt. The options in the stores were either ugly or cost a fortune. Using just fabric in my stash and a quilt pattern in one of my magazines, I made a lap quilt. I then cut the top into a circle, quilted it, cut out a slit and center hole for the trunk, and bound the edges using purchased bias binding.

I also love how the train track fits perfectly around the edge. That was a happy coincidence.

I love my beautiful Christmas tree. It smells so lovely and I adore gazing at its beauty.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/15/christmas-tree/feed/ 1 Christmas Tree Shopping http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/12/christmas-tree-shopping/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/12/christmas-tree-shopping/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:00:58 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3347 Brendan and I chose a bitterly cold (16*) morning to get our Christmas tree. We took the F250 for easy hauling of our tannenbaum.

We went to Richardson farm and chose a Canaan fir tree.

lol, we didn't get one of these

You are taken through the farm on a flatbed trailer behind a John Deere tractor and dropped off in the section where your choice of tree can be found.

Once you find your chosen one

you cut it down

and the tractor picks up you and your tree.

We loaded it in the truck after getting some hot cocoa

and took it over to Mom and Dad Sullivan’s to saw off a few of the lower branches and straighten the trunk cut.

It’s going to be lovely in our front window. Thank you Brendan!

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/12/christmas-tree-shopping/feed/ 1 Gingerbread House http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/11/gingerbread-house-2/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/11/gingerbread-house-2/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:00:08 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3336 This Saturday Lee and I made a gingerbread house.

I bought candy and baked the gingerbread on Friday.

Lee came over on Saturday and together we made royal icing and decorated our house.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/11/gingerbread-house-2/feed/ 2 Living Room http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/10/living-room/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/10/living-room/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:00:32 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3315 Our living room is still a work in progress, but here is what we have so far:

The curtains and sheers are from Ikea, as are the white shelves. I have light sensitive candles in the window. I want to get more for the front windows upstairs and in the basement.

We bought the two wooden side tables at an antique mall in Woodstock.

notice the Christmas presents

We plan on putting the Christmas tree in front of the window. We still need more seating and we should put some stuff on the walls, but it’s a decent start.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/10/living-room/feed/ 0 Tables http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/09/tables/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/09/tables/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:00:52 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3321 Brendan and I purchased two side tables from the Woodstock Antique Mall.

One has a drawer:

$17

And the other has great drop leaves and can be a decent size:

$24

They are both real wood and in pretty good shape. Slowly but surely we are getting furniture for our house.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/09/tables/feed/ 0 Homemade Christmas: Stockings http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/08/homemade-christmas-stockings/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/08/homemade-christmas-stockings/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:24 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3311 Brendan and I had large stockings that I made for our first Christmas together that were definitely sewn while I was a novice (i.e. they aren’t lined and not very nice looking).  I’ve wanted to sew some new ones for a while, and Brendan and I wanted to go with smaller stockings since we usually fill our stockings with candy and we don’t need sacks full of candy. So I drafted a pattern and sewed these:

I love them! The gingerbread house one is mine and Brendan has the cute dog. They are so cute and perfect for small gifts.

The gingerbread and red fabric came from Wal-Mart and the polkadot print and dog came from Material Girl in Crystal Lake, one of my local quilt shops.

Love,

Tiff

]]> http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/08/homemade-christmas-stockings/feed/ 1 Our Sad Library http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/07/our-sad-library/ http://www.sullivanrealm.net/2011/12/07/our-sad-library/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:00:20 +0000 tiffany http://www.sullivanrealm.net/?p=3330 Brendan and I got two bookshelves at Ikea last week. I was very happy to unpack my beloved tomes.

In Tennessee we had three bookshelves that were full of books, but after our purge to move to the U.P., our library is sadly depleted. Oh well, that just means that I get to buy more books!

Love,

Tiff

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