'TIS THE SEASON!

Hi everybody!  I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!  It's just two weeks until Christmas and believe it or not...I'm actually calm.  I finally sat down and made a list of all the gifts I have to buy, all the recipes I want to bake, all the things I need for Christmas dinner, and all the parties we have to go to.  Do I feel better?  Yes, there is something very satisfying about a list (although I'm prone to losing them!).  Even more satifying to cross things off!  I'm doing pretty good.  Remember that Banana Nut Pound Cake recipe I showed you last week?  This is it.  Note the little measuring spoons that say kisses, hugs, joy, etc.

It doesn't look as pretty as the one in the picture because they used a bundt pan and I couldn't find mine.  It may have been tossed out when we redid the kitchen last year.  I used a spring form pan and it came out perfect and delicious.  I've made some cookie dough to stash in the freezer and next I want to make salt dough ornaments...I've never tried that but they are SO darling.  Anywho, if you want to try this cake you can find it on BHG.com. under December recipes.  By the way, I received my January issue of BHG and it as dismal as the month sounds.  Very thin, as if they are even having problems finding anything of interest in January to write about.  Oh, except for organizing.  I have spent the last few weeks organizing in getting ready for the holidays.  Why would I wait...especially if I have guests that might decide to take a peek in the medicine cabinet?

No decorating yet, but I did pack up the fall stuff and saw this hurricane in my laundry room and brought it up.  It's about the only festive thing I have out right now.  Emily left for Aruba last night and I realized how I've come to depend on her to help me decorate (she's an interior designer).   She always has new and fresh ideas and she works fast and efficiently, while I sort of stand there and ponder where I'll put what.  She emailed me from the airport...I'm homesick already!

Well, I promised I would show you my orange garland.  This is how I strung the slices so they wouldn't turn sideways.

I just eyeballed how far apart I wanted them.

I hung a stand in the kitchen window.  I think I am going to attach an evergreen garland behind it to jazz it up and make it better able to see.  I really liked doing this.  It smells delicious and I thought limes might be nice, too, keeping with Christmas colors!

And here's a peek of it in the morning.  It's cute.

The Husband and I got up very early this morning and found our Christmas tree.  No elves there this year, maybe they only come out at night.  This is a Douglas FIRbanks, Jr.   I skipped AWhreatha Franklin because they were $30.00, half the price of the tree!  I have seen enough tutorials on how to make a wreath and now I am more determined than ever.  We're letting the branches drop before we put on the lights and ornaments.  Then I will spiff up the house in all my holiday colors.

And on the wedding front, Emily found her wedding shoes.  They are beautiful!  It's hard to see how these crystals really sparkle.  Her dress is in and she's going to go for the fitting in January.  She has her jewelry and recently registered at Macy's and Crate & Barrel.  I had a blast helping her!

On a serious note, The Husband is having his surgery tomorrow.  He'll be in the hospital for at least a week.  I really thought I was ready for this but yesterday I was really down...worried, scared, depressed and anxious all at once.  It really hit me that I was going to see him in pain for the first time in our lives.  That I would be with him all day and come home at night alone.  Life is so filled with curve balls.  Today I resolved to be strong, positive and purposeful.  He has been fasting for 24 hours already and the surgery isn't until noon tomorrow.  I feel so bad for him.  Yesterday I made a huge Sunday dinner for him and baked cookies.  Your prayers would be so appreciated.

Well, I have to go now.  I might bring my laptop to the hospital if possible but if I don't you know why I haven't visited.  I can keep track of comments and emails on my phone.  I've loaded up my Nook with new books and magazines and when he has visitors I can sneak off to Michigan Ave. 2 blocks away to Christmas shop.  Now, be good elves and enjoy the spirit of Christmas!  :)

SEE JANE RUN

I have been gone a long time!  So long in fact that I can't remember exactly what I have been doing with myself!  A little of this, that and the other, I guess.  I am totally wrapped up in Christmas if you call looking in magazines and at blogs for inspiration as part of holiday preparation!  Have you seen any of the Christmas Home Tours yet?  I have been following along with Jennifer Rizzo's blog, she features 3-4 blogs a day and I can't even begin to say how original and festive and pretty these homes look dressed up for Christmas.  Have a look when you have time.  So now you know what I've been doing!!

It wouldn't be a complete post from me if I didn't show you what is going on with the lakehouse plants here for the winter.  The rose tree is blooming like mad!  It didn't bloom this much in the summer!

Very pretty and a nice pick me up every morning when I see it.  If these plants didn't take up so much space I would leave them here year round!

I've had a few projects going on and a few more I want to do so I started with this one yesterday.  I believe it is a Martha Stewart project but I don't remember the blogger who featured it.  Please let me know if it was you and I'll make a link.  Anyway, I sliced up two naval oranges very thinly...

...put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and sprinkled them generously with powdered sugar.  Then bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 3 hours.  Flip them once halfway.  I didn't flip mine so I am letting them just sit out to dry another day or two.  Then, you string them up like a garland on ribbon, jute string, baker's twine, or whatever your heart desires.  I will finish up today and post a picture.  I have been so behind on posting, I just thought I'd give you a sneak peek.

I have been tearing out page after page of recipes from magazines and this one is a Banana Nut Pound Cake from BHG.  As you can see, the banana's are VERY ripe and begging for me to mix them up with some flour and sugar!  Like yesterday!  So that's on the agenda for today.  I'm also mixing up some dough for cookies, according to Ina Garten, you can freeze the dough, but don't freeze the cookies.  In one of my magazines I found recipes for three different kinds of dough; sugar cookie, shortbread and oatmeal.  And then there were about ten different cookie recipes with a few additions to each base.  I thought that was very clever!

We are having Christmas dinner here at our home this year.  I can't remember the last time we did that, it's always been at a relatives home and to be honest, I miss doing it here.  So...I am going to order a standing beef rib roast from my butcher and add some special side dishes with hope that they will become new traditions.  Thanksgiving Day was right out of a Woody Allen movie here.  All the men were up in arms when they found out we were putting sour cream in the potatoes (we always have), and onion in the dressing (we always have).  And after 26 years of marriage, The Husband announced to me, "I really don't like those little green balls."  Meaning Brussels sprouts.  I make them every year and he is just now telling me!

As for the title of my post...if you don't mind me tooting my horn a little, you know that I have been going to the gym, I'm on my fifth week.  I do 20 minutes of strength training and then I walk 2 miles around the indoor track.  I really enjoy the walking, even though it's not outside.  There are no distractions and my mind just wanders.  I'm not solving the problems of the world, but I get a lot of heavy thinking done.  Well, I've been wanting to get stronger so that I could start running.  So last week I was walking and I thought, now or never.  I looked behind me and there was no one there so I took off!  Yes, I'm running!  This middle aged lady is running like she is fourteen again!  And I love it!  Now...I'm not doing miles, not even a full lap, just running a few minutes and then walking, then repeating.  I feel so...ALIVE!!  I don't know if running is considered a sport, but there is a quote written on the wall of the gym that says, "Sports not only build character...they reveal it".  I love that.

We are getting our Christmas tree next week and we will get it up and put the lights on.  Then I like to let the branches fall for a few days before adding the ornaments.  Emily set up the Christmas Village in the family room and we stacked all the boxes of ornaments and decorations at the bottom of the stairs to bring up when we are ready.  She will be in Aruba with her fiance all next week and I love having her help, she is so creative!  Abby has her school finals and Kevin has his last week of work since it's seasonal at the golf club.  They can all help.  I have started doing a bit of online shopping and will hit the stores downtown next week.  Chicago is so pretty at Christmas time!

Now, I have a zillion things to do today and you can bet I'll be stringing up those oranges!  I hope all of you are having a great week.  Keep posting those pretty Christmas decorations! :-)

I'm joining Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for her Favorite Things Party!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

What a crazy and fun past five days this has been!  The house is SO quiet, I can hear the dogs snoring!  Everyone is at work or school so I downloaded all 157 photos from Thanksgiving and our weekend away and I'm having such a good time looking at them as I sip my coffee and ignore the remains of breakfast around me!  So...on with the show.  This is my thanksgiving tablescape, and these are the flowers that The Husband bought.

They made a perfect centerpiece in the wicker basket I showed you last week.  I just stuffed some craft paper down in it to support the vase.  I added some mercury glass candles and some pine cones and we were ready for the feast!

After all my fuss about keeping traditions, Emily and I ended up brining the turkey on Wednesday.  A friend had all the leftover ingredients to use so that helped.  And I really think it was a success.  Emily also made three side dishes and we had a great time cooking in the kitchen together.  New traditions, new memories!  It really was a wonderful dinner.

Family came for dessert, we girls gathered together where all the appetizers and nibbles were while the guys hung out in the family room watching football (as usual).  It really was a fun day and I was exhausted by the time everyone left!

The next day we were up early to head to Cedarburg, Wisconsin for our anniversary weekend!  It was about a two hour drive and very scenic once we hit the rolling hills of Wisconsin.  Our B&B was really more like an inn...well, it was an inn.  This is the lobby and to the right is a large dining room where we had breakfast. 

This was our room on the third floor with a wonderful view of the main street.  It was just perfect in size and The Husband thought it was the best place we had ever stayed.

A bottle of Champagne was chilling along with a box of chocolates.  We were in our room so rarely, we ended up bringing it home with us!

We were out sightseeing and shopping as soon as we dropped our bags. 

The town was so charming, I was snapping pictures like mad!

I loved this little alley next to a shop that specialized in all things for gardening lovers.  I wanted to go back for some things that I fell in love with but somehow with the sensory overload, we forgot.

This rustic birdhouse was on my list.  Boo hoo!

This little guy dressed like Santa sold every kind of popcorn imaginable!

Back at the inn, they served wine and cheese and we got to know some of the other guests.  One very nice lady took a picture of me and The Husband!

The next day we went on a tour of a winery.  While we waited I took some pics.

This shop sold all the accessories but not the dishes...pretty tablescape!

Aren't they darling?

During the wine tour we learned about how the grapes are grown and things like fermentation.  And there was a little wine tasting.  I was surprised at how many different kinds I actually liked because I usually stick with white.  Upstairs you could buy all their different wines but we ended up getting some gourmet cheeses and mustard.  After the tour we went to dinner at a really nice place called The Farmstead.  I didn't bring my camera but it was just awesome, A real barn at one time with all the original wood and floors.

We are so looking forward to going back again, perhaps in the summer (hear that, Cindy?).  Friday was windy and freezing, about 25 degrees, but Saturday was sunny and you just had to walk on the right side of the street.  The shops has complimentary hot chocolate and cider to keep us warm.  It really was a magical weekend.

So, it's back to Monday and cleaning up, putting the fall things away and getting ready for that Christmas tree to come and take up all the available space in my living room!  I think I'll just enjoy it for how it is right now and get started on my Christmas list.  Abby has sent me emails with wish lists from all her favorite stores.  I think she adds more every day.  We picked up a few gifts over the weekend, too.  So at least I've started!  I hope I didn't overload you with pictures!  How did you recover over the weekend?  I wanted to watch some Christmas movies last night but I couldn't hold my eyes open!  I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I want to hear all about it! :)

I'm joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday!   

HOLIDAY HAPPINESS

Is everyone ready for the big day?  Or did that send a chill up your spine?  I have had the most fun the past few days blogging and seeing every one's beautiful tables and reading delicious recipes, even some Christmas decor posts!  I just love the holiday season...it's the most wonderful time of the year!  I've seen a few Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel and we have a radio station that is already playing carols!  Last year at this time I already had a lot of Christmas shopping done but I'm not feeling the need to break my neck trying to stay on top of everything.  I thought if I had everything done early, I could sit back and enjoy the holiday.  Well, I was wrong!  I was still running around at the last minute and everything came out alright.  I think the key might be to just relax and enjoy the whole process.

I had another slow weekend which has been pretty typical around here lately.  Papa came to visit on Sunday and I baked some cupcakes.  Remember the box of Hot Chocolate cupcakes I posted about last week?  Well, I made those.

They were really good but I can't say they  tasted like hot chocolate.  They had little marshmallows in them and the frosting was out of sight.  I would definitely make them again.  I think they are by Betty Crocker.

Today I was browsing the holiday aisle at Walgreen's and I came upon these darling little ornaments.  Aren't these creatures just the cutest?  That porcupine is just too too!  I need more ornaments like I need a hole in the head.  Last year I didn't even decorate the back of the tree, but I do remember we bought the tree The Husband liked and it was HUGE!  I used a lot of ornaments, but this year I am going to get  one a lot smaller, my living room is not big at all so I try to get something proportional.  And, since we get a live tree, it won't be until mid December, long after everyone has been to all the blog parties.  But you know of course, I will post pictures.

I wish I could say that this is my Thanksgiving table this year, all set and ready to go.  But it's actually last year and if you are thinking it looks like Christmas, you're right!  I had just gotten my Winterberry holiday dishes and since we weren't having Christmas dinner here, I decided to use them for Thanksgiving!

Here's a close up.  I am going to bring them out and use them during December.  Or who knows...maybe we will have Christmas dinner here if The Husband is not up to having dinner at a relative's home.  Thank you all for your well wishes, you guys are the best.  We haven't gotten a surgery date yet, but I wish we would soon.  Emily and her fiance are going to Aruba in mid December for a week (she won the trip through her job) and Abby has a big Christmas dance at her boyfriend's university in Michigan at some time during the month.  I want us all to be together. It'll work out.

Back to Thanksgiving tables, I am going to use the Anthropologie white dishes that I have had for awhile that were intended for a wall display.  I now know  I'm not going to hang them so we can use them.  I don't know why I felt that if we ate off them that I couldn't hang them! lol!  And for the centerpiece...I'm still working on it.  I have looked at 1000 while blogging and in magazines (thankfully I don't do Pinterest or I wouldn't even have time to write this post).  The ones that really caught my eye were done with fruit and vegetables, beautiful earthy pears and apples and artichokes, and kale that looks like purple flowers.  As luck would have it, I was going out to the store yesterday to buy my turkey and The Husband tagged along.  And he promised not to whine.  He was so good I bought him candy at the check out line!  I was standing in the middle of the produce section, my mind going a mile a minute and when he asked me what I was doing, he just didn't get it.  Then he found a big bouquet of fall colored flowers and insisted we get them.  I was surprised because he's not a big spender and these were $12.99.  I think he really just wants a normal table.  So...as pictured above, I have the bouquet and I found this wicker basket when I was shopping the house.  This is as far as I've got.  Maybe I'll place the basket on a bed of kale.

I made a few changes in our bedroom to "fall" things up from all the neutral colors I had going on.  This is really colorful for me but I fell in love with the curtains on the Target website and then went to Pottery Barn for the throw and pillow.

It's a really gloomy day here so the pictures aren't so bright.  And yes, we have ivy growing over all of our windows!  The painting on the wall has never been moved in over 20 years (except to paint of course).  I found it early on in our marriage and it was $200.00.  I scrimped and saved, used coupons and didn't shop for shoes (!) and finally I was able to buy it.  It's Andrew Wyeth's Master Bedroom.

Well, tomorrow I am going to make ahead whatever I can make ahead.  Emily is making the stuffing from scratch, as in with stale bread.  I've always used Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (an ode to my late sister, Leslie, who worked for Pepperidge Farm for 25 years).  But Emily wants to do it the old fashioned way and actually, I'm curious.  Her recipe is very different from mine.  She also wanted to brine the turkey and I put my foot down...that's rather involved and she has never made so much as a chicken before.  But she's a big help and if Abby doesn't help, we'll make her clean the bathroom.  And, one last thing...thanks for all of the recipes and tips for roasted sweet potatoes!  They were all really good, but the Oscar goes to...The Summer Kitchen Girls who gave me a recipe for a sweet potato souffle!  Whoa!  They said it's like eating dessert!  I'll let you know how it turns out and post the recipe in case you'd like to try it for Christmas.

Friday morning we leave for Cedarburg, Wisconsin for our 3 day anniversary trip.  The B&B is booked, I ordered a bottle of champagne and box of chocolates as a surprise for The Husband and in return I want him to take me for a carriage ride!  Can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and I'm sending much love.  I am so thankful for your friendship and so much more.  See all of you next week! :)

A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

This is my favorite chair for reading in the family room.  I spent a lot of time here last weekend as we did absolutely nothing, which was nice!  The Husband busied himself watching the Bears and Notre Dame and I pretty much behaved like a cat...reading, stretching, yawning, napping and sniffing around for food!  The temps reached a high of 65 but it rained the whole time.  Sigh.

My plants are blooming like crazy.  I think they like it here.  Maybe I won't take them back to the lake in the spring!

I do baby them a lot and they probably thank The Husband for keeping the heat cranked up high.  Every time we walk by the thermostat, he turns it up and I turn it down.  I sneak and open windows and he closes them  He clearly does not understand a menopausal woman!

Tuesday he had to have some tests done downtown and I went with him.  It takes about 20 minutes for us to get to downtown Chicago.

It was sunny but cold but I had dug out my winter coat and I had mittens. 

I ended up sitting in the waiting room for 3 hours.  I am really a very patient person, I brought the newspaper and a book and of course, there is always people watching.  Don't let them see you staring though, Midwesterners LOVE to talk.  One lady next to me was crocheting on a plastic round contraption and I was entranced.  Anyone know what these things are called?  Someone else was talking endlessly on their cell.  Normally I wish people like this would step out into the hall, but I'm nosy by nature and totally got into her conversation.  Just killing time.

By the time we left the hospital it was dark and we were hungry so we walked a few blocks and had dinner here...The Elephant & Castle.  It's an Irish restaurant that I have been to a few times before.  They serve a lot of lamb, fish and chips, bangers and mash and shepherds pie.

We sat by the fireplace which was very nice and cozy.

I had the shepherds pie which was out of this world, and The Husband had a steak.  A glass of wine each and we were feeling a little sleepy so we didn't hit any shops.

His tests went well but he has to have surgery some time after Thanksgiving.  I can't really go into any more detail out of respect for him...it's him, not me.  Heaven knows if it were me I'd be posting away in a morphine induced fog!  But I will certainly let you know how he does.

After my lazy weekend I hit the ground running on Monday; cleaning, laundry, errands, grocery shopping, dinner and the gym.  I'm like a one stop convenience store...I like everything done at once.  Today is the first time I've been able to sit and post.  I truly want to get back into the habit of posting more than once a week.but I have so very little going on most of the time and I don't want to bore you.  And I lack a lot of privacy.  Most days all of my kids are in and out and it's like a zoo with the TV blasting sports and them raiding the refrigerator, messing up my bathroom with showers and such, and I just can't concentrate.

When I was  at the grocery store I picked up everything I needed for Thanksgiving except for the turkey (I like to wait and get the best price from all the stores I shop at), and my veggies which I like fresh.  I was thinking of making roasted sweet potatoes as a side dish.  Does anyone know how to make these or have a recipe (no marshmallows please)?  I usually just peel and boil them and then pour hot butter and brown sugar over, but I'd like to try something different.  If you have a good recipe and don't mind, can you email me it?

I also found this cupcake mix at the store.  Doesn't it sound delicious?  I don't usually use mixes unless I'm in a hurry but I couldn't pass this up and I'm sure everyone will love them.  I'll be sure to share with you (pictures and my opinion, not a real cupcake).

Well, I have four little projects to take care of today.  If you follow Marty and Kathy, you will see that they did a super duper job organizing their bathroom vanity cabinets.  So I'm going to tackle that, my vanity, the top of The Husbands armoire and my kitchen junk drawer.  Everyone has a kitchen junk drawer, don't they?  Maybe I'll take before and afters, it might just make you fall off your chair!

Have a good rest of the week everyone.  I'm partying with Claudia over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage for her Favorite Things Party.  Join in, it's fun! :)

A HOLIDAY PERSPECTIVE

Is everyone getting in on the frenzy in getting ready for Thanksgiving?  We've made our plans, dinner here with the kids and then dessert as well with the extended family.  Once again we are having our Most Creative Dessert Contest and I've heard my little niece Maggie has been planning hers for weeks!  Psssst...one of the children always wins and we have little gifts for all of them.  They take it SO seriously!

In my head I have been setting my table, choosing napkins, glasses and pondering centerpieces.  I've seen a few tables where the center is decorated with a weathered wood plank topped with greenery, candles, flowers, whatever you can dream of.  I like that idea.  We've come a long way since just having a vase of flowers!

Although the days seem to be flying by, I think I've had a good perspective about not getting caught up in the rush of the holidays.  First of all, I know I'm easily influenced by others getting ready and the bombardment of TV commercials, magazines articles and just listening to people talk about their plans, and then having those fleeting feelings of anxiety that I'm behind the eight ball.  Well, I'm not letting that happen to me this year...well, I'm going to try really hard!  Thanksgiving is easy for me, Christmas just gets chaotic and I don't need to spell out why.  Even when I have a head start, those last minute details crop up.  By the time the celebrations start, I feel very exhausted.  So, I'm going to try, really, really hard to relax, not fuss a great deal and try to let the season just unfold at an easy pace.  Famous last words!

I've had a slow week, but interesting as always.  When I woke up Monday morning, I thought, wow, I really have nothing on the agenda all week.  It felt great.  I saw a lot of lazy days just getting caught up on a few projects and some organizing, doing a little baking and making some more involved meals.  Then mid week I came down with the stomach flu out of nowhere.  I'm grateful there was nowhere I had to be and I could just weather it out.  I'm back to having more than toast and tea and my legs feel a little less wobbly!  Boy, it really hit hard.  

So...I really didn't do much all week.  The Husband and I did get out for a nice dinner last Saturday which I was really hoping for.  We tried a new Italian restaurant a few blocks away and had a great time.  I forgot to mention that the weekend before, my sister in law had the whole family over for a casual dinner; chicken casserole, pulled pork sandwiches, baked mashed potatoes (my contribution), salad and pumpkin pie for dessert.  It was a nice get-together, the wine flowed and we talked about our holiday plans.  Good times.

I finally hit on a place for The Husband and I to get away to.  So much time has passed since we started talking about it, it has now become our anniversary get away that we always take in December (26 years on the 14th!).  This is a picture of downtown Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  I came across an article about it in Midwest Living and then Cindy from Applestone Cottage recommended it to me.  It's a quaint little town just north of Milwaukee.  Every Friday night between Thanksgiving and Christmas there is a festival.  With over 75 specialty shops, 25 restaurants, sleigh and carriage rides and historical sites, I think we are going to have a great 3 day weekend.  We leave the day after Thanksgiving.  I promise to take lots of pictures!

I leave you with a picture of the new shoes I found at Marshall's.  Yep, that trip put a little hold on my Christmas shopping.  I vow I will not gift myself with anything else until long after the holidays!  But aren't they the cutest?!  They sort of shimmer.  Ooh la la!

Well, I am going to relax a little and see if I feel a little less queasy to go to the gym with The Husband tonight.  He is SO good, he goes every night.  I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

I'm joining Claudia's Favorite Things party at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.