our christmas

Beulah and I had a good little holiday. We're all rested up now (her more so than me) and last night I even found the energy to take down the Christmas decorations. Note: I now have a table again!!! Yay!

Without further ado:

We started out with a Christmas tree and pretty wrapped gifts.


I loved them all , but hated to unwrap the shiny boxes!!


However, as soon as I did, Beulah got a little mileage out of the wrapping. Now I feel like we got at least twice the pleasure from the wrapping. Even better than recycling!!


Before we knew it we were in North Carolina (one of my favorite states) and lo and behold... there was snow. Lots of snow. Weirdly. My Christmas wish came true.


Then the snow was followed by the only thing better; a pig-picking in the snow!! Man, it was good. And all I had to do was consume a few adult beverages with the chefs and pick the pork right off the grill.


Beulah even got a special treat (I try not to be too grossed out, but she sure enjoyed it!).

Boy, did we have a good time! It was such a welcome break from the every day and we made the most of it!

home again

Good morning! After a great holiday weekend and an adventurous trip home, Beulah and I are back to real life. We had a good time doing all the things you do when you get a break from the daily grind.


And now we're both knackered!

I hope you had a great holiday! Just a few more days and another year will begin!

christmas countdown

I can hardly believe Christmas is two days away. Seems time has just crept up on me and every time I turn around it's another holiday, another season, another year. When did this start happening? Somewhere around.... 2003ish. Hoo boy. Time to play catch-up.

My goal this Christmas was to look for the deeper meaning in this season and to experience it without stressing over un-important things. That being said, there are a few things that need to be accomplished before launching out on Christmas morning. Luckily, they are all fun!!

Christmas Countdown

• Bake and decorate cookies for gift tins
• Whip up a batch of home-made marshmallows for said tins
• Bring Beulah to work on Christmas Eve (her first office trip)
• Meet up with Esther and Charlie for Christmas fun
• "Pig Pickin" this weekend in North Carolina

And the best part is, I hear there may be a chance of snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so it begins

The Christmas baking marathon has officially begun! I have purposely held off this year, with the idea that I didn't want to burn out too soon. It wasn't easy not baking, but really, how many times can you bring cookies to work?? However, that's all behind me now. Plans for Christmas Day are coming fast and furious (two households to bake for as of right now) and I can't forget the poor dears who will be sitting in the office with me half-day on Christmas Eve.

Today's photos are from the first batch of cookies this year. I used a recipe from my favorite cookbook, the Southern Living one my father gave me several years ago. (On a side note, if you have to have one cookbook I highly recommend one from Southern Living one. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe.) It's easy and fast and fun. In the interest of simplicity, I stuck with star, snowman and tree shapes. No more of the more fragile candy canes for me! No siree. Next batch I'm leaving out the snowman too. Stars and trees all the way.

More to follow in the series :)

It's beginning to look an awful lot like Christmas around here.

Now, if only it would snow!

holiday thoughts

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming and I can't wait! What a fun time of year! However, in the interest of not getting all crazy buying things to decorate with or too many Christmas-themed cookie-dough cutters, I have made a few promises to myself.

1. Decorate for Christmas much the way I would decorate the house anyhow. Make it all go together and that way I don't necessarily have to take it all down! As I think more and more about my future cabin I want to own, I realize I like stuff like this tree above. I want to bring nature into the home and not shut it out so much.

2. Really think ahead of time about gifts for folks and buy/make them something special instead of a bunch of junk to fill the box!

3. Make more food gifts, like cookies and candies, instead of giving "stuff."

4. Start up a Gluhwein pot and keep it going throughout the season!

5. This year I'm going to purchase a smallish Christmas tree, put it on the "dining room" table (away from little doggies who like to eat weird things) and decorate it up with what I have. Then, I think I'll keep it alive and use it next year and the year after. When I buy that cabin I can plant it nearby.

6. I think I'll have to catsit at ERG's place for Christmas..... darn it! Who wants to sit by a fire, with four cats, a puppy and a mug of Gluhwein for Christmas?? :)

i need a 12-step

Oh man! I saw this vintage yarn advertisement here. How neat is that??

Which leads me to confess. Last night on the way home I stopped at the local yarn store located in Old Town Alexandria. I just needed one skein for Christmas-related activities. And well.... they had sparkly yarn!!! How could I resist? That's right. I couldn't. Did I also mention that they had jingle bell stitch markers?? Oh yeah, some of those came home with me too.

I also got the skein of yarn I went there to get.

I confess. I'm addicted. Restraint goes out the window in the yarn store...