'the real deal' tag and a freshly-planted amaryllis

And what surrounded it when I took the first picture.

1. My $2.99 Value Village leather bag, which I use for work. It has handy pencil slots and everything. It doesn't usually end up on the table, but needed to be cleaned out. And it was. It is probably my all-time #1 favourite thrifted find.
2. Photo albums. Adam was putting together some of his wedding pictures for his site, and had them out.
3. A gorgeous handmade Japanese Cherry wooden bowl, which I bought at this weekend's craft fair. It's going to be a gift, so I will say no more.
4. A new book, which has unbelievable amounts of pink in it, but some nice sewing patterns I'm hoping to try.
5. The packaging which my Christmas present to myself came in! I adore it. I love wearing a beautiful little reminder of my little guy.

Amber (who consistently cracks me up) over at Amber's Ambry tagged me, which is the reason for this post.

Here are the rules:

"Here's the low down.... take a picture the way you would normally do to post on your blog, preferably crop it to showcase the subject. Then show us the "real deal"... the nitty gritty daily clutter that we sometimes try to avoid posting. Talk about the messes you cut out in the cropped picture. We'll still love you!!! Then tag at least two people and link back to your post. OK? Sound fun? Can't wait to be invited into everyone's real life."

Consider yourself tagged! I'm terrible at choosing people. Happy Wednesday! (We remembered to put out the recycling tonight!)