Cozyegg Designs ~ Cozystyle

Fashion, Art, Design, Beauty

October 2020 in Photos

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October is my favorite month. I always seem to come alive in the fall, and this year was no exception (even though this whole year has been an exception). One of the best things to happen in October was that I rekindled my love of reading. Up until October, I’d basically read two books. Such a sad, sad state of affairs. But, Eric ordered Midnight Sun for me and I was saving it to start on October 1st.

I am unapologetically a Twilight fan, and I was so excited to finally get to read Edward’s POV. I really enjoyed this book and love Eric for buying it for me. But after the dry spell my reading life had been experiencing, this book was exactly what I needed to spark that interest again.

So, so good. And I just can’t tell you how good it felt to want to pick this book up at every opportunity and read.

Still carrying crystals in my pocket everyday too. I select them intuitively, as I feel the need to choose something different. Mid-month I was carrying bloodstone and serpentine. Bloodstone to heighten intuition and increase creativity, and serpentine for freedom from self-imposed limitations and connecting you with your true purpose in life.

Ramses had to spend a bit of time in a fashionable cone, unfortunately. He somehow managed to rip out three of his back claws. He was most unhappy with that cone. Luckily, he healed well and his claws have started to grow back in.

October was also a month of some much-needed focus on self-care. This month, that looked like painting my nails and trying to get more sleep.

OPI’s Jade is the New Black is one of my favorite colors ever. And combined with my Bloodstone and Serpentine, clearly I was having a green obsession.

Orly’s Fowl Play is what I chose for my Halloween mani. I love those orange flecks in there.

I was having some restless nights, and one night after only two hours of sleep I remembered I had this oil blend. I placed a couple drops on my forearms and that definitely seemed to help. I posted more about this blend over on my Cozylife blog.

October is also Eric’s birthday month, so I made him a twist on his favorite cassata cake. Usually I make it with pound cake, but instead I made it with chocolate cake. Basically, I layer the cake with cannoli filling, the frosting is whipped cream frosting, and then I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on top.

It was so good.

September 2020 in Photos

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September brings with it the beginning of my favorite season, and we actually had some stormy, cooler days that actually made it feel like fall had finally arrived.  As I’m typing this though, we’re back to the 90 degree days but I hope they are short-lived.  We are still staying home as much as possible and aside from sharing a plethora of “autumn aesthetic” posts on my stories, even my Instagram posts are suffering from a state of ennui.  I spent most of the month working on some secret projects with deadlines on the weekends, so I had very little I could share.  Ironically, when the weather turns cooler and the leaves change (sort of, we’re in Texas), I start to feel more alive, inspired, and creative.  I start thinking about plans and projects and what I want to accomplish in the remaining few months of the year.  Sadly, the state of the world tends to put the brakes on my plans.

Even the boys couldn’t be bothered to do much more than nap these days.  Thut has chosen a new napping spot though.  And my deadline projects had to be mailed, so I gathered up all of the things that have been sitting around awaiting a trip to the post office and got those ready to go as well.  Luckily, I was able to go after hours and use the self-service kiosk to limit having any interactions with other people.  And honestly, it feels really good to get these things off my to do list.

★ After finishing up our rewatch of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, we decided to watch Star Trek Voyager and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it too.

★ We took advantage of one of the cooler days and Eric made chili and I made some mini loaves of cornbread.  It’s been forever since I had cornbread so I was so happy for that little treat.

★ The only other thing of note in September was that I finally finally finished reading Frankenstein.  I did enjoy it and I will do a separate post about it, but I was glad to turn the last page and start on something new.

Here’s hoping for a more eventful October and dreaming of some cooler, rainy days…

August 2020 in Photos

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Hard to believe it’s September already and we’re into our seventh month of staying home due to the pandemic.  I am still only venturing out for doctor’s appointments, although I am going to have to brave the post office soon because I have a stack of packages I need to mail.  Things are starting to open up more, but since there are so many people that refuse to wear masks or maintain social distancing, I’m staying home.  Of course, with August being my birthday month, it was a bit of a let down to not be able to go out for a birthday dinner or get together with friends.  But Eric brought me tacos from Rosa’s (drive-through) at my request and he baked me a delicious lemon cake with lemon icing.

Not much else going on here last month.  I did take a few days off from work around my birthday, which was much needed.  It was a reminder how much I value being able to spend my days on my own projects and not having to spend so much of my life at a job I don’t love in order to pay bills.  With the pandemic and staying at home, it seems the only difference between the weekdays and the weekends is that I don’t log into work.  Not much to look forward to, and nothing to break up the monotony.  What a gift it would be to be able to spend my days doing something I am passionate about.

★ I’m still working my way through reading Frankenstein for the first time.  I’ve had this going since January when I finished The Bear & the Nightingale.  I’m enjoying it, and the language is really lush and detailed.  I just don’t find myself picking it up to read frequently or for any long stretch of time.

★ For my birthday, Eric ordered Midnight Sun for me.  It was on backorder, so it hasn’t arrived yet.  I’m hoping to get Frankenstein finished up so that I can dive in.

★ With there not being much on tv, we did a free trial of CBS All Access so we could watch Picard and Star Trek Discovery back in June.  Both were excellent and rekindled my love of Star Trek.  So, when we ran out of things to watch we decided to watch Deep Space Nine on Prime.  We finished up the final season (season 7) around the end of August, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I don’t think I ever watched the last couple of seasons when it was on tv originally, so those were new to me.  But it was nice to watch something that was out of time and a bit of escapism.  Plus, Star Trek is kind of like comfort tv for me, which fit my needs perfectly right now.

★ I did do a little bit of sewing in August.  I was supposed to go on one of my in town quilting retreat weekends back at the end of March, which of course never happened.  So, it’s probably been since late 2019 since I’ve done any sewing really.  I have a donation quilt I am making and I needed to get started on it.  Of course, I had Ramses helping me sew which is part of the reason I rarely sew at home.

I’m looking forward to fall weather and the end of the oppressive heat of summer.  That should raise my mood significantly.

July 2020 in Photos

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July marks the fourth month of being at home due to the pandemic.  I still only go out for doctor’s appointments, although with our cases continuing to rise I’m starting to question the wisdom of that even.  I’m really missing being able to go out to a restaurant for dinner and sit and talk and enjoy the food.  I miss seeing my friends in person.  I miss being able to run out to the post office or a shop to get something.  I hate having to leave the mail in the garage in quarantine for a few days before opening it.  I don’t love having to wear a mask when I go out or having to wipe everything down with alcohol when I come home.  I’m also really missing having time alone.  But, we continue to make the best of it and take the precautions we have to in order to stay safe and healthy.

So, let’s take a look back at July, shall we?

★ I took a few days off work at the beginning of the month and combined with our holiday for fourth of July gave me five full days away from “the office” (still working at home), which was much needed.  I spent some of vacation working on my haunted dollhouse project and planning out the rooms and what furniture could be reused from the pieces my grandmother made.  I’m excited to start looking at wallpaper and flooring options for my rooms now.

★ I also spent some time during the month doing some organization of my craft closet and it feels so good to get that more in order.

★ We continued, and finally finished, the deep cleaning of the house this month and I’m so glad we did.  I always appreciate how much better the house feels with the energy stirred up, but man it’s exhausting.  Maybe next year we’ll actually do our spring cleaning during spring when it’s not so hot.  And just so there’s no confusion, the photos above of the furniture mess is dollhouse furniture and not related to the deep cleaning lol.

★ We invested in some LED lightbulbs for a few different spaces in the house, one of which was our bathroom.  The light fixture (which we don’t love) has eight bulbs in it so that many bulbs makes it super hot in there.  By moving to LEDs we could lower the heat factor and update the look a little bit too.

★ Early in the month I was also feeling the effects of the full moon and penumbral lunar eclipse – I was feeling a lot of change, a shift in energy, and a simultaneous restlessness and expansion.  My intuitive selection during this time has been Blue Apatite for creativity, motivation, and personal power, and Serpentine for purpose, healing, and transformation.

★ Eric made lemon cake for the 4th, which was so so good and he got some hard apple cider to go with our burgers and hot dogs we had over the holiday weekend.

★ I’ve been thinking a lot about clearing out things that no longer serve me and focusing on aligning my daily actions with where I want to be.  I actually created a vision board for myself, which I haven’t done in several years, and I’ve been focusing on creating and moving closer to those goals.  More on that to come.

★ Near the end of the month, we tried to get a glimpse of comet Neowise, but alas weren’t able to see it.  I’ve loved seeing photos of it, like this one over Stonehenge.

★ The month ended with a bang, literally.  I had to go out for a doctor’s appointment and on my way home had a blowout of one of my tires on the highway.  Luckily I was able to pull off safely and get someone to come put the spare on, but it was definitely not something I want to do again.  Eric took the car the next day to get a new tire and you can see by the photo, this one was in really bad shape.

June 2020 in Photos

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My monthly marker for June is a photo of the Eagle Nebula.  I honestly can’t get enough of space photos.  June, of course, marked our third month of staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic.  I continued to only go out for doctor appointments (twice) and otherwise I was at home.  I really miss going out to eat at a restaurant, and I miss getting to stitch with friends in person and going to my guild meetings.  But, it’s not worth it to me to go out for anything non-essential, even though Texas started opening things back up to almost full capacity.  Masks aren’t mandatory and people are out doing stupid things, so I just stay home.  So, let’s look back at June.

★ I continue to take comfort in my cross-stitching and the friends I’ve made because of it

★ We started our “spring” deep cleaning in the house and managed to get the upstairs done, the dining room, entry, and the kitchen

★ Our kitchen cleaning included going through our bar area and taking stock of what we have and what we may need to drink sooner rather than later – we decided that Sangria and Pina Coladas were high on the list.  And let me tell you, that Sangria was good!

★ I have taken to having a cocktail after work, which I never do, but I’m kind of in that place of whatever it takes to deal with everything going on is ok

★ I’ve been spending a lot more time on Zoom with friends and my guilds are now all meeting virtually.  Thutmose attends all those meetings with me for moral support.

★ The Black Lives Matter movement is showing me that I have a lot of work to do in this area and white privilege and bias are so pervasive that unless I am actively learning and listening and reflecting, I don’t even know they are there.  I’m hopeful we can work towards necessary change and social justice.

★ One of the places where I’m really taking a hard look at bias is in the cross-stitch community.  Not too long ago it was brought to my attention that all the people in mainstream cross-stitch patterns are white.  For that matter, all the mainstream designers are white.  I took part in a diversity and inclusion stitch along because representation matters, and I chose to change the skin and hair color in one of my pieces to be more inclusive.

★ I’m getting back to my self-care routines.  With everything happening, I have been seriously slacking off in this area.  Intuitive selection: Believe essential oil for clarity of thought and spiritual grounding; Iolite for enhancing inner wisdom and self-awareness in order to break negative patterns and make positive shifts; and Opalite for removing energy blockages of the chakras and assisting during transitions.

June 2019 in Photos

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For June I chose Septarian.  I have a Septarian palm stone that I absolutely love.  Also known as Dragon’s Stone, it’s an amazing stone for healers, a phenomenal stone for connecting you with your guides. Septarian expands the waking consciousness of the third eye and crown chakras and enables the throat chakra to assist you in delivering your healing guidance.

After the past few hard months, June seems like it was a flurry of productive activity.  Most of the month was spent deep cleaning the house.  We planned to focus on one room/area each weekend.  We started with the master bathroom and then moved to the master bedroom, dining room, and kitchen.  And it’s amazing what a difference it made.  The energy of the house was revitalized and no longer stagnant.  It makes me want to get back to my Feng Shui practices.

★ I decided to finally try my hand at making my own laundry detergent.  So far I’ve really been happy with it.  You can find info here on the recipe I used.

★ I’m continuing to work on getting my Day 1 journal entries filled in with missing photos and up to date, which is a huge project, but worth it.  I also started a new journal in Day 1 to record my creative pursuits – like what I worked on each day, inspiration, changes, challenges, and progress photos.

★ Along with working on deep cleaning the house, I also worked a good bit on trying to go through and organize my stitching and quilting WIPs.  I’m letting go of anything I’m no longer in love with.

★ We finished our rewatch of Game of Thrones seasons 1-7 and then watched the final season.  Gutted.  I was ok with the ending, to be honest.  I’m glad we rewatched though, because I felt like the momentum of it really allowed me to be immersed in that world.  But seriously, gutted.

★ Celebrating the summer solstice with a full tarot spread, Transformation essential oil, Sunstone, and Fire Agate

★ Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire