January | 2018 | Cindy Rice Designs

A lucky girl was I this past weekend. My nephew got married . . . in Naples, Florida! I went from this sunrise at O’Hare Airport (Chicago skyline 18 miles away in the background) on Friday morning . . .

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. . . to this sunset on a Naples beach Friday night.

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It was pretty chilly (sweater weather) when we arrived, but compared to the temperature we left behind I was not complaining one bit. By the time we left on Sunday it felt like beach weather. 😮

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The wedding reception was held at The Naples Beach Hotel. Before the reception we had hors d’oeuvres on the lawn, which was right next to the beach. Yes, the view was amazing! We had a view of the Gulf of Mexico during the indoor reception, too, but I must admit I didn’t notice; the reception was that much fun. We stayed until the very end; all the guests that were still around sent the bride and groom off through a pathway of glittering sparklers.

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We didn’t spend much time in the hotel room, but this was the view we had.

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This was early Sunday morning on the beach; it was still cool.

We arrived back home on Sunday night. Weather delayed our flight so I didn’t get to bed until after 1:00 am on Monday morning. Yesterday was a day of recovering from all of the excitement, and catching up on lost sleep. (At my age, it takes extra time.)

Another week of holiday break with my college student, then everyone is back to work.

FYI, we’ve warmed up here in northern Illinois. I got a brisk walk in yesterday, and will get another one in today. The temperature is already above freezing and the sun is shining. Yay!

Have a wonderful day, my friends. ❤

I am . . . as long as I am staying inside. It’s still very cold here in northern Illinois, but it has warmed up a bitty bit from the negative minus twenty-something wind chills. I still haven’t been able to get outside for a walk though—same old story as last time. Oh well… maybe soon, I hope.

I forgot to wish you all a very happy 2018, so Happy New Year!!! I hope it’s a great year for everyone; we all need one of those.

Have you noticed the moon lately? One night we watched the full moon rise in the east and the next morning saw it setting in the west at daybreak. For some reason it seemed quite wonderful to me; I’ve never noticed it before like that.

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The sunset that evening was pretty ~~noteworthy~~ pictureworthy too!

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I am still knitting socks. This is my third sock… and it’s not a mere test sock; it will have a mate. This one got finished yesterday—it fits my daughter, and the second sock was started today. Yay. This was made from Susan B. Anderson’s Crafty class, “My First Toe-Up Socks”. I used Knit Picks Stroll Tweed Sock yarn in Garnet Heather. I am still perfecting the fit for the next pair. I think the size large would fit my daughter even better with the foot about a 1/4″ longer. These fit me perfectly though, so this will be my pattern when I get to knitting a pair for me. 🙂

My Little Darlings have been calling to me. I think they want new sweater coats with cute li’l pockets for their tiny snow people to snuggle in. Here are Gina and Lucy wearing sweater coats from last winter. They really do look toasty warm, don’t they? I need to get my needles busy.

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