CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS

This is how I feel!  Well, no, not all the time, but a good part of the time.  First of all, Mother Nature played a bad trick on us and we hit 6 degrees at it's warmest today.  The busiest time of the year.  Maybe, just maybe, people like The Husband will learn to shop earlier in the month, because you just never know.  I know we are all busy and no one has the time to read one of my long rambling posts, so I'll try to keep it short. Things are moving along fine in Blondieville.  Yes, we have our problems here, but not anything in comparison to the problems in our world.  And that's why we wish everyone Peace at this time of year more than any other...this is a time of goodwill. Random acts of kindness.  Less stress and more joy.  But there are always those little aggravations...

We have flies.  Why?  And we have squirrels in the garage (as you already know), that now sit quite confidently on The Husband's sleek 2 seater sports car.  I think that they are laughing at me when I catch them, they pause, take another bite out of whatever they're eating from MY GARBAGE CANS, and then scurry out.  And with The Husband using my car in the winter as he always does since his car is not made for driving in snow, sleet and rain...I depend on my children to get me from point A to Z.   They call it, "Driving Miss Daisy".  And I broke my glasses as well as a $50.00 platter that was a gift.  I lost my internet for a few days and it turned out to be the router coming unplugged in the office.  Just stupid s***, (now that you know I use that word a lot).

Okay, I painted these letters from Michael's and they are above my kitchen cabinets.  I have little lights in front of them and they look wonderful at night.  Maybe I will glitter or distress them one day, but for now I just like them red and cheery.  'Cuz I need that.

Friday afternoon...3 dozen cookies.  The best I took to a family party Saturday night.  It was hit or miss with some of those sprinkles!

Just a few more little arrangements of Christmas happiness on every available surface I could find :) I have these ducks (I have decided to call them ducks even though they may be geese) that I love.  This coming from a girl who has lived on a lake for 22 years.  And more greenery.  My Katie, who does my hair, told me she has an artificial tree because she is a germophobic.  "Just think of all those spiders and bugs you bring in your house with those live trees." She said.  Gulp.  Maybe that's where I've gotten the flies.

I have a little collection of snowmen and I have them on the kitchen window sill this year.  Not many, I'm not big on collections.  My house is too small.  I started a collection of Old World Santa's awhile ago and then decided they looked too somber. Then I started on snowmen and I'm beginning to think they all look the same...I mean how many ways can you decorate three white balls?  I'm so fickle.

And now, just an end table, albeit large so I fiddled forever. Everything seems to be floating.  Not sure...maybe I'll come up with a better idea next year.  Note:  I was just proofreading this and I decided to stick a small, red, dessert size plate under that little tree and it looks terrific.  Sometimes seeing things in pictures really helps!

The first party of the year was Saturday night with one side of the family.  I won't bore you.  Maybe I will.  L to R:  Abigail (daughter), Karen (SIL), Emily (daughter), Megan (SIL and hostess), and Gwen (SIL)

Deirdre, (son Jeff's girlfriend...so Irish and beautiful dimples!), Megan and Abby.  Wonderful creamy rum for little shots here and there. :)

Son Kevin and wife Mary Clare (we call her MC).

MC and her sister Nora.  Could they not be twins?

Abigail and her boyfriend of 4 years, Tom.  He is also studying education and hopes to coach football.  I KNOW they will get married one day.  We just love him.

And these are the ladies (I am on the right, 2nd from the front). The guys have the living room and the kids have the family room. We have a ball at holidays and get togethers.  We're like sisters.  I love my own sisters and it's an added plus to have more.  Lots of food, gift exchanges and laughter.  How good can it get?

I'm signing off now.  I know all of you have so many things to do, or maybe you are just sitting in front of your Christmas tree, enjoying the beauty of the lights and pretty ornaments.  I hope it's been a peaceful season for you so that you've been able to concentrate on "The reason for the season".

Merry Christmas to all of you, my friends! :)

XO,

Jane

MORE CHRISTMAS & SOME MEMORIES

Am I NOT posting often (as Chandler Bing might have said on Friends)?  And it's great that I am putting aside the time...things are so busy now but this IS my journal!!  And I'm loving it.  So, do you remember the amaryllis I found at Home Depot back in early November?  Well, I took a gamble on when to plant it and it bloomed big time the other day.  From my experience with others I have potted, I'm guessing this one will last until Christmas, maybe not looking as gorgeous, but awesome.

Isn't it an extraordinary flower?  I've had them almost every Christmas in so many colors (and they usually bloomed in January as I tried to get them on sale later in the season ;-), I just love this one.  I have it in my bedroom near the window.  

Also on my dresser I have these little choir girls.  Do you remember these?  I sure do, and years ago I found reproductions in the Vermont Country Store catalog.  I remember these as a child; where my mother had them displayed, I'm not sure.  But I remember them vividly.  I had five and The Husband broke the head off one the other day.  I tried to melt the wax with a match and it just turned black.  So sad.  These are on my dresser as well and the sun was shining in so perfectly.  I would never light the wick...who wants to see their little heads burning off! :(

Just a snap of the tree.  I have such a varied bunch of ornaments.  I always seem to pick up a few each year.  And with the four kids, we have all of their "Baby's First Year" and the ones with their first grade pictures in a frame made with shredded wheat and glue! lol!  We have every dog we've ever owned in some sort of frame or inscribed on a ceramic dog bone.  And I have the awful attempts at hand crafted ornaments that have to take center stage...only because I tried SO hard!!

And that Abigail...she really helped me out by wrappng gifts again this year.  But she also hung this little list up a few days ago and this is her to a "T".  She seems to favor Milo and her brother Kevin (The Mild and Meek...is that from the Wizard of Oz??)  And the rest of us?  Not on her "nice" list.  Oh, and I am Devil Woman...always.  That is how she refers to me.  Always.  Okay, now you are seeing another side to me that I can't completely deny!! 

On a sad note, and I am only mentioning it because I have so many ornaments that I was so lucky to pick out a few years ago...this is the three year anniversary that my father died.  You know, at the time, on my blog, I didn't say much because he was a very quiet man and the hurt and confusion and all those emotions you feel when someone you love passes were just so hard to filter and write about.  So I felt it was best not to share.  And I get a lot not right because he was so private; his years growing up with three brothers and a mother and father that died before I knew them as grandparents.  His years in the navy where he received his high school diploma.   All those things I should have asked him more about.  Too late.  He was a wonderful provider of 7 kids, and sometimes worked 2 jobs at a time.  He was really a strong man when the love of his life, my mother, was succumbing to cancer in 2001.  But my heart was so totally fulfilled with my love for him when he broke down the fences and let the tears flow when the priest was comforting us at her side.  This is very hard to write about and I just don't know if any of you are really interested in hearing this...but it's so good to pay homage to a wonderful father and man...Lenny. as his friends called him.  Just plain ol' dad to us.  God, we were lucky.

Ha!!!!!  Again I end with Rusty, my grandog!!  Emily, my daughter, just seems to get the best pictures of him!!  He's wearing a sweater that I gave her/him that was Milo's...Milo hates clothes and I understand...he just doesn't  have that personality.  Layla has the same sweater and at 8 pounds, she's always quivering from the cold in the  winter and loves it.  But look at this guy by the Christmas tree with the snow falling...either waiting for his dad or Santa!!  Oh...God help me when they have kids!!!

I am so not organized (as Chandler would say).  I don't mean to complain but I will anyway.  I sleep so poorly...in bed at 10:00...toss and turn til 1:00...get up and look at emails, go back to bed and toss and turn til 4:00 a.m. and then sleep pretty well til 9.  Okay. big deal.  I make my plans for the day, especially for the holidays, like today...wrap gifts and make cookie dough.  Oh yeah, more like laundry, running to the pharmacy and vacuuming up tree needles!!  Thank goodness we can order pizza!

So I'm off to bed.  Tomorrow is another day to wrap and say Hello to that guy in BROWN, if you know what I mean!!!! :)  And then wrap some more.  But oh...so ever grateful for the abundance and blessings we have!

Happy Holidays to all of you, my friends! :)

XO,

 Jane

MAKING CHRISTMAS HAPPEN

I guess since my childhood, Christmas always seemed to happen once that tree was up.  My Dad would come through the back door with it and the familiar box of ornaments would come out.  My Mom was not much for vignettes or anything of that sort, but she always had a candy dish filled with peppermints and a bowl of walnuts complete with the cracker and picks.  My Dad loved those.  And that's pretty much what Christmas is for me...when we start decorating the tree.  I've told all of you a zillion times...it seems like it takes forever to get the blasted tree so that it lives til Christmas day!  And try as I might, I can't bear to bring up those boxes of pretty decorations that fill up tabletops and shelves and the hearth until that tree is lit and the pretty baubles are on.  I don't think I can ever change that ritual.

So here is the pretty tree for 2013!  Packed to the gills with so many of our memories of 28 years.  Whispering:  I can say that because tomorrow is our Anniversary!!  And that's the new tree skirt that Sonya made for me that I showed you a few weeks ago.  I love it.  Ignore that goofy quilt on the chair...that's "Milo's chair", and I have to fold it because he jumps on the arms to look out the window and they are getting a bit worn.  Dogs!  In a future post I will get some close ups of my favorite ornaments.

This is the hearth.  It's extra special this year.  Over the summer you might remember me telling you all about the storm that downed our two birch trees at the lakehouse.  It was so sad, they were my favorite trees and looked so beautiful down near the shore, so simple and of course, absolutely stunning in the winter months.  Our next door neighbor was nice enough to cut it up in pieces for us and we brought some logs home to Illinois with us.  I have strict orders not to burn these!

On the other side of the hearth is this moose guy.  I think it's a moose at least.  Deer have pointy muzzles.  When the kids were small they used to chase whatever dog we had at the time around the living room as if this were a real animal.  And yeah, the goofy dog(s) ran away!  So Mr. Moose has been around forever.  And then I added some pieces of evergreen to the pitcher behind the forlorn moose.  Nobody trots him around the room anymore.  

The mantel.  My nemesis.  But not so bad when you have some bins to choose things from.  No, I can't brag I didn't buy anything new (sheet), but sometimes a girls gotta splurge. My wooly trees that I showed you, the star from Sonya who made the tree skirt and some candles from Homegoods.  I kept my vintage white window up there and tried to give a loosely draped looks to the ivy, but believe me, there are a zillion thumb tacks holding that stuff up. And some snowflakes from The Dollar Tree.

I have some cute things in the kitchen.  This is a vintage bowl I found years ago somewhere.  I filled it with more evergreen branches, pine cones and a lone sparkly ornament.  I am priding myself on my restraint.  I have wreaths... faux and real, small and large, all over the house.  It's surprising I didn't do a number on this poor bowl.

Another thing I discovered and used is the color red.  I'm not a red person at all although I love to see it in others homes.  And I mean that (especially you, Brenda!).  But not only do I not look good in it, (totally washes me out ghost-like),  but I really don't have a lot primary colors in my home. I guess I'm just not that sort of bold person.  Pastels are hesitant, introverted and non committal.  But I digress, as we all do, I made the leap and threw red into the mix.  Poinsettia's, tartan bows, bright red candles and candy in the  dishes.  I have more to show you...just not now...this is just enough.  But I feel sort of liberated!  And inspired,  (those Home Tours are quite inspiring if I say so myself! :)  Still don't know how to get on one! lol!

More greenery on my wrought iron light fixture above the dining table.  And some cute wooden candy canes.  Can you believe I ran out of the greenery I bought and saved from the trimming of the tree?  A good 25 years ago we had a HUGE evergreen tree in the backyard.  Before it was a big deal (but not so much with country folks). I used to snip branches to use in the house.  Maybe it was the L.L. Bean catalogs I used to get, but I did that.  I was a  true pioneer and a piece of work to The Husband, I'm sure.

  

Finally, a small touch in the bedroom, new to me.  And after almost three decades, I'm blessed to have an abundance of beautiful, memorable Christmas treasures.  Some years I use very little of what I have.  Last year at this time, The Husband was in the hospital having major surgery.  Decorating was at the bare minimum and I did it to keep things as traditional as possible and to add some normalcy to the holiday season for the family.  Three years ago my father passed away the week before Christmas.  After the funeral while I was taking a much needed nap, The Husband and the girls brought up all the decorations and transformed the house.  So this year I enjoyed myself and went into the bathrooms, the den and family room with a few subtle touches and I emptied those bins.  Clean up in a few weeks...ugh!

I feel that Christmas spirit as real as the candles I'm burning right now that smell of pine.  Emily came and decorated much of the tree and we drank red wine (sometimes it takes a village!).  Abby worked on her Christmas list.  I've done a little online shopping and I'm looking forward to some wrapping tomorrow.  I want to make the dough for my cookies and I'm hoping...just hoping that maybe The Husband will take me out for our anniversary.  To think...28 year ago we were getting married and on our way to Hawaii.  Christmas didn't seem to exist there (except for Elvis singing Blue Christmas in almost every bar, restaurant and store we went into). But all of that's okay...we still have each other and more...and like the new candles on the mantel and spreading Christmas cheer throughout the house...life changes and becomes more abundant...not with material things, but with the memories and the makings of new memories. :)

Feeling the love this holiday season,

XO,

Jane

Joining the party at Dwellings-The Heart of your Home for Amaze Me Monday!!

THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS AROUND US

These are two cute little ornaments that Emily saw at Macy's and picked up for me. She is so sweet.  Sometimes when we are alone shopping, we will pick up two of the same thing for each other because we like the same stuff!  It seems like years ago that I was lugging mulch around in the backyard and watering my new plants.  Once January comes and winter really settles in, my mind will turn to those warm memories in the sun... digging and planting and imagining the day when my garden will be lush and full of color.  Well, that looks like a Christmas tree in this wheelbarrow so I better get back on the page here.

Saturday we were off on our adventure to the Christmas Tree Farm.  Yep, just looking for that Christmas spirit!!  It was about a 45 minute drive south of here.  Lots of farmland and little subdivisions popping up here and there.  We really had high expectations for a fun afternoon.

Here's The Husband standing by one of the strange carts that you pull the tree on once it's cut down, almost like a stretcher you would see in a hospital.  That should have been our first clue that this grove of evergreens stretched for miles!

There were a few pretty horses to admire and a "Warming House" to go in and I guess 'get warm'.  I didn't see anyone going in or out, the place actually seemed a little quiet.  Oh well.

Evergreen trees stretched as far as you could see on both sides of this frozen, barren path.  The sun was deceiving and although I had on a warm coat and boots, I forgot a scarf and gloves and I was shivering right away.  I would say it was about 20 degrees (we have since gone down as low as 4 degrees so this was a heat wave).

A tall elf appeared to help us in case we didn't want to wield that dangerous hack saw and he pointed out the different trees as we walked along.  There were many and I started to get excited every time we'd see a fir, but it would be a Norwegian fir, or Australian fir and they have much longer needles which makes them not so ideal to decorate as a Frasier or Douglas is.  I was finally so frozen and dejected, I headed back to the car.  The elf had on nothing more than a hoodie but I'm sure he's used to these temps up in the 'Pole'.  At least one of us had the spirit.

 

Sadly we left empty handed after giving the elf kid a nice tip and as we headed home we came upon a big local nursery just outside of this town.  The trees were kept inside a pole barn type of place and they were suspended by the ceiling with rope.  I just can't get the image out of my head of all of these trees swaying eerily, their trunks not touching the ground.  I told The Husband to pick one out and then let's get the heck going!  Next year I think we'll just go to the lot up the block.

So here's Douglas Firbanks, Jr., just sitting in the middle of my living room, soaking up sugar water and gently letting his branches down before we add lights and ornaments.  

They saved the lower branches of the tree when they trimmed it and I cut some pieces up and I have them in this big roaster so that I can mist them periodically.  And then I stopped in Home Depot yesterday and picked up garland, 25 feet to be exact.  I'll have plenty for my mantel and above my kitchen cabinets and I'll make swags for here and there.  It smells heavenly in my house!

To make it even more like Christmas, Emily and I were off and shopping yesterday.  As cold as it has been, I really wanted to do more shopping out in the big world than online.  I've been a real avid online consumer over the past few years and I think I have really muddled up the concept of buying a gift and true gift giving.  Don't pay any attention to me...I just miss the good old days of being around people, the crabby and the cheery, all at once, weighted down by bags and the sights and smells of Christmas.  The mall we went to wasn't crowded at all and we rarely had to wait in line anywhere.  As usual, Emily is great at putting together ideas...if you get someone cute jammies, get them a scented candle, too.  If you find the perfect book for someone, how about a cute mug for their tea?  I crossed a lot of people off my list.  We shopped from 1:00 to 5:00 and I could have kept going!

Remember Pauly the Personality from my last post?  Yes, the master carpenter that put my hall closet doors on.  He was back again bright and early to install my new light over the sink and add the wood panel with the hooks to the closet.  Does he not look just as I described him?  He never stops talking and once you get used to the never ending dialogue, it seems pretty normal.  He's quite fascinating.  Today I found out his son is a professional motorcycle racer and his daughter is an award winning competitive equestrian jumper.  They have several horses on a farm in an area they own acreage in and plan to move to one day.  I was taking my mantel apart, actually the whole house it seems, to decorate and he jumped right in with ideas for the mantel.  And they were fantastic!  Later he showed me some pictures on his phone of homes he has worked on, remodeling/renovation type of work.  My mouth was hanging open.  He did $1.2 million dollars of work on a beer baron's 5K home up near Milwaukee.  The staircase alone looked like it belonged in Liberace's home.  Yes, as you get to know people, you can unearth some interesting things.  I thought my morning was going to be spent listening to him talk and perhaps even rap a little more today for us, but instead I was asking him question after question  He really is an amazing guy that loves life, loves his life and after you get used to him constantly moving, talking and laughing (and using a power drill I might add), he's great!

This is the light I picked out for over the sink.  We uset to have a recessed light just behind the apron that I never used.  It's hard to tell but this is seeded glass.  I just fell in love with it.  He also finished off the closet, adding a 7 foot board I painted white with the hooks on it.  Project done!  Now I have to put my curtain valance back up and hang those coats.  And you know, he didn't charge me anything.  "Merry Christmas." He said. Ah, there's that spirit again! :)

Seems I am always ending a post with good old Rusty!!  Actually, it's my son in law Mike's birthday and I wanted to share this.  What a great guy he is.  He puts up with a lot taking care of my little Emily.  She tortures him by taking his golf clubs or the remote for the TV to work with her, she comes up with hair brained decorating ideas that leaves him scratching his head, but the two are so meant for each other.  Tonight they are going to see the play Elf at the Cadillac Theater downtown.  Brrrr.  Happy Birthday, Mikey!!

Now, I assume you all know what I have ahead of me to do, my house is in total disarray.  But I made the mistake of opening this book the day before yesterday and it has me rushing through everything to pick it up again.  Do any of you follow the alphabet series?  It's hard to believe I read A is for Alibi a good 20 years ago.  I truly savor these mysteries, I have to wait almost two years for the next one.  And I'm sure we fans are wishing there were more letters in the alphabet than 26!!

Stay warm and dry.  I will have some pretty pictures for you the next time I pop in! :)

XO,

Jane

HOLIDAYS: GETTING EVERYWHERE BUT THERE

I love making these pretzels.  It was a big thing for me back in the day when I was very active in volunteering every very last single minute of my waking hours at Abby's school and for her activities as recent as five years ago..  But that's another post.  These are simple, don't require a lot of ingredients and are easy to store and transport.  I actually find it very relaxing to make them but then again anything that takes very little effort is a real pleasure for me.  Actually, Emily is having a group of her friends over (the Wild Eleven as they are called), her school friends that also were bridesmaids at her wedding, and I offered to make these since I had 3000 pounds of almond bark here.  Now that is the key: almond bark.  It sounds worse than it is. White chocolate always seems to burn on me, so almond bark it is.

I heat it very, very low in a pot on the stove.  I've also made a "double boiler" of sorts since I don't have a real one...just a small pot on top of a larger pot with water in it heating slow.  Just melt about 2 packages of almond bark and use about 2 1/2 packages of pretzel rods (any other shape is really difficult and is best left to the pros).  Have your station set up...parchment or wax paper to lie them on, an assortment of sprinkles.   Hold the pretzel rod over the pot of melted almond bark and with a large spoon, just dribble it on, about 3/4 of the way down.  That just gently shake the extra off.  I'm really lucky that my sink is right next to the stove, but you can use paper towels or newspaper...shake your sprinkles on the sticky almond bark nice and evenly and then lie them on the parchment paper to harden...about 20 minutes.  

There are all sorts of ways to jazz them up.  I put mine is a vase with a twiny tie.  You can tie up bundles of them with ribbon or even store a few in mini stockings.  Display them on trays or in a mason jar.  It's endless.  And believe me, they are fun to make!

I made this little holiday sign last week.  I wasn't going to show it to all of you...a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, said it was pretty bad.  I sort of like it.  In the spirit of all saintly DIY'ers, I used a piece of extra wood from Jeff's new floor at his new home.  I had the paint from the living room and of course stencils and little paint bottles and brushes lying about (I'm so very crafty, you know). I even used some newspaper from 1986 that I had in my big stash of scraps.  Okay, is it really bad?  I added the little snowflakes from the Dollar Tree and you can't see, but they sparkle.   Should I continue?  I was thinking of, "Let It Snow", and "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.".  

If you can't tell, I'm using my new IPhone for these pictures.  I really have a hard time getting night or dimly lit pictures with my big fancy camera (but then again I've never read the manual or the "Dummy" book I received last Christmas, probably from the same idiot that didn't like my sign).   And by the way, this is our den. Say hello to Milo, my constant companion!  Rarely photographed or shared because it is a mismatch of books, dishes, baskets of out of season shoes, Nina the parrot and her humongously big cage for a little parrot (and a lot of seed on the floor), and a very bad choice of The Husband and I of buying really fancy, formal white furniture that we won't let anyone sit on.  ANYWAY...the red basket holds my stash of wrapping paper, bows and bags.  Tonight I picked up more gift wrapping paper at CVS...I'm obsessed with it.  Every year I say I am going to go with a certain color and make it look like a  menagerie of gifts under the tree for a magazine.  So I started with red plaid and then saw some silver and blue paper, and then tonight saw sweet white snowflakes on red.  Happens every year.  The old 27 personalities thing.  And some ribbon and tinsel and blah, blah, blah.   SO...I was at the checkout.and  "Andre" nonchalantly asked, "Getting ready to do a little decorating tonight?"  I laughed, "No.  I don't even have a tree yet."  Silence.  "So" Andre said, "You gonna do a little wrapping tonight?"  "Nope, no gifts yet."  We stared at each other for a second and then burst out laughing!  "What the hell" he said, "You ARE ready for everything!!"

Now, I'm going to show you a little trick that I leaned when I first started blogging and I can't remember who shared it.  I also bet many of you ladies know it but I'm going to tell you all about it because it saved me a lot of grief and mess.

See the gift wrap above and the empty roll?  Pretend the rolls are unwrapped and you've used some.  The edge is flying away and you use a sticky piece of tape to hold it closed and then it rips your paper the next time you want to use it.

Save those empty rolls and cut them in pieces of your own desire as I have with the one on the left.

Wrap it around a roll of paper you've been using that needs to be secured.  Wow, what a simple and useful idea.  You can also use a paper towel or toilet paper cardboard roll.  Genius!

I had to leave you with this funny picture of Emily and Rusty lying on the kitchen floor together.   What I really like about my IPhone is that I can download text pictures.  Ha!  I wonder if she knows it!!  Not only does my Rusty Baby look squeezable, Emily is wearing her glasses and looks just as she did when she was twelve and had yet to discover the freedom of contacts.

So...we had the cute plumbers on Monday.  Sigh.  The cost was not sighable.  I went to my doctor appointments.  I have a lump on one of my lymph nodes that was also there last summer.  I am a super positive person health wise and  I am taking antibiotics for 10 days to see if it is an infection.  I'll keep you informed.  I'm sure everything is fine.  Pauly and his personality showed up Thursday.  It took him 20 minutes to do an excellent job on popping that double closet door in, but he stuck his head around the corner every five minutes to participate in Abby and my conversation.  It really came to a head when Abby and I were in the living room watching a performance of Flo Rida on  The View and Pauly bounced out and started rapping and dancing to the song.  Oh, Heaven.  How do I get people like this?  Why is my life so insane?  Need I add that I can't even watch one more Hallmark Christmas movie because they are all about orphans or widowers who have children and can't marry the perfect girl because of these children (even though they very oviously love said girl to the point of licking her feet?)

Okay.  Tomorrow...off to get tree/or cut it down.  Hopefully the former.  And hopefully Abby will do the lights with The Husband as he alwats gets super irritable doing the lights.  Abby has promised to help me carry up the decorating bins and then hopefully I can spend tomorrow night in my very own mental winter wonderland, hanging ornaments and making House Tour worthy vignettes (and hey, how do you get your house on one of those tours?  Besides of course having a stag head over your fireplace?)

Happy  December 6th!!  :)

XO,

Jane

HAPPY HOLIDAY HAPPINESS AND HORRENDOUS HAPHAZARD HAPPENINGS

Happy December 1st!  There's something about this date, something crisp and clean and promising, like the first fallen snow.  So many possibilities, so much anticipated joy. But...

 I have a running joke with my family, it goes like this, "Now, I'm not one to complain..." and this gets a big laugh because I love to complain.  Well, we talk about holiday stress and then something happens and we REALLY know what stress is.  First, I have the ongoing problems with my laptop.  The Husband went and picked a new one out for me (I know...what is she complaining about?).  Well this one I have is almost dead and very slow.  I have to grab The Husband's when he's not using it.  Nothing of mine on his is bookmarked and I can't seem to send emails.  To muck up matters worse, the new computer won't be shipped until the 13th.  Sigh.

Major, major plumbing problems.  Yesterday while using the washing machine, water backed up into a sewer drain in the garage, and I mean this was sewer, 'in the ground' water.  Pee Ewww!  Then today I used the washer and the same thing happened only in the sewer drain in the backyard outside one of the bathrooms.  The Husband thinks that the length of pipes stopped up will equal big money to have cleaned out.  I'm trying to think positively and the only thing I can count on is that the cute, sexy Irish plumbers will be paying a visit tomorrow.  They are the kind of plumbers you like to see in that crouching position most associated with and disliked when it comes to plumbers.  Oh my, did I just say that?  Blush.

Finally, I have a guy coming to do the closet door.  I rely on Home Adviser if I can't get someone by word of mouth and that's how I came upon Pauly from Pauly's Punch List.  I really really like him a lot but he loves to talk!  We have to have the track replaced on the door and with the hardware and labor, it was not what I expected.  And then of course when I find a good handyman, The Husband finds a few other hundred jobs for the guy.  So he's going to be here two days this week.  Even though you are getting problems solved, don't you hate having a stranger in your house?  He's very nice but when he left, The Husband asked, "Where did you find this character?!!"  He's very sweet though, he called Friday to ask how our Thanksgiving went.  And we chatted over an hour.

Wednesday marked the sixth year anniversary since my sister Leslie passed away.  I don't usually talk much about her on this blog but her daughter posted this picture of her on Facebook and I just couldn't help myself...this was SO HER!!  She had a big grin and loud, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..." laugh that went on forever.  She's at work here and we have no clue why she's dressed like this nor what she's doing.  Anyway, I love this picture, you can see her personality, her goofiness. Can you hear her laughing?  Miss you, Lux.

Okay, Thanksgiving 2013.  I brined that 18 pound baby and  it spent the night in my car.  I popped it in the oven promptly at 8:00 a.m. Thanksgiving morning while the rest of the gang went to a nearby park to play football.  This is a much loved occasion for my daughters Emily and Abby to beat the s*** out of each other, a true pent up yearning.  Meanwhile I slept, content that three people had calculated and confirmed that the bird would take 6 hours.  I got up, took a shower, cleaned up the house and I was just starting to put on my make up around noon when I smelled something oddly funny.  The smell of turkey.  Cooked turkey.  Done turkey.  I ran to the kitchen and like the nurse I always wanted to be, I took it's temperature.  180 degrees!!!  Okay, I'm using the s*** word again.  What was I going to do with a cooked turkey when we weren't planning on eating until 4:00?  Sort of ironic when we think of all the people horrified by overcooking or burning a dinner.  And can I fess up?  I wasn't even going to mention this on my blog, I was really mortified and wanted to uphold this persona of a good cook.  Truth is, I calculated 20 minutes per pound and for an unstuffed bird, it's more like 10 to 15 minutes tops.  Anywho...I kept the bird covered very tightly. Everyone loved the appetizers and wine (maybe that helped!) and were pretty okay that dinner was actually on time (I wonder how?!!!)

I made a sweet potato casserole for the first time rather than just boiled and tossed with brown sugar and butter...

...and this dessert was out of sight.   Cheesecake over chocolate chip cookies, a bar cookie thing.  I will give you all the recipe in another post because this was a big winner, served so many and was make ahead.  A trifecta!

The table.  I set it the night before.  I knew I had had my fill of rustic.  I wanted elegant again.  People feeling spoiled, their faces lit up by candlelight.  The clinking of glasses and the good manners.  I was wandering the aisles of Target Tuesday night and saw this gold thingie...I actually think it's to hold a candle.  And I knew I wanted white roses and sparkle.  Since I was squeezing 8 people around a table meant for 4 (yes, I break the rules big time), I kept the centerpiece small and had the silver in a sparkling vase so it didn't compete for room next to the plates.

I don't think the coziness mattered.  We told our favorite Thanksgiving of Past stories and had some good laughs.  The food was good and all went well.  And I think my two Irish nephews felt right at home at how 'normal' we are, if not a little Griswold-est!

Finally, the ladies loving dessert (and their wine, of course) later in the evening!

I have nothing remotely speaking of Christmas here in Blondieville, so we are moving on to Emily's Journal.  This is how she arranged her little city porch with that fabulous old sled she found for $25.00.  Plaid blankets that aren't cheap and that will be left out in the elements were traded for inexpensive scarves.  Good tip.   I wish I had gotten a picture of the tree and candle in the lantern lit.  

Emily made this wreath last summer and just changes out flowers for berries and for whatever.  I think it's so cute and simple.

Don't let not having a fireplace keep you from hanging those stockings...they're a fire hazard if you ask me. She had these made very inexpensively by a girl with an Etsy shop.  On the right you can see the bone for Rusty, the flower for her and the tag for Mike.  

And her beautiful tree.  It's done in silver with white lights and burlap and natural ornaments.  Look closely and you will see the animal print ribbon.  She showed me how she twisted the wireless ribbon from the top and secured it at intervals with florist wire.  She found the sweet tree skirt at Hobby Lobby.  So far the Rustmeister seems to almost be a little leary of the tree.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

Emily started buying Christmas decorations and ornaments before she got married last year, hitting the after season sales.  At that time she rattled on to me about how she was going to do her tree.  I'm sorry, it went in one ear and out the other.  I know I change my mind 20 times a day.  I have a mind like a pinball machine.  But this year it was exactly as she told me a year ago.  She said, "As a designer, I have a vision.  I have a gift and the knowledge to see what others can't and I can pass that on."  I hear so many say that they don't need an interior designer to do what they want to do in their own homes.  Oh goodness, it is nothing further from the truth.  Emily goes to homes and looks at what the people already have.  Then she discusses not only what they would like, but their dislikes, taste, family loves, requirements, and space issues.  She sits and has coffee with these people and gets a good handle on their personalities.  Then the fun part comes and she did this with me.  She has access to hundreds of furniture and accessory manufacturers that we aren't privy to. She will put together endless ideas for you that fit your personality and lifestyle until you're happy.  And this is how an interior decorator works.  I have been wanting to clear the air on this because they are hard working individuals that work and work to make clients happy.  They do not sweep in and tell you that you need leopard rugs and fur pillows!!

Oh my, how did I get off on that tangent? 

This is as close as I am to a Christmas tree.  Found in the lot at CVS.  I really fell for the felt star! :)  The Husband and I have opposing views on how early to get the live tree.  We are pretty good at compromising this late in the game (marriage, not holiday time) and decided on a tree farm nearby next weekend.  That's fine by me, I have the Sexy Irish Plumbers tomorrow, and Pauly the Personality Thursday.  Two doctor appointments (nothing serious), and oh, did I mention my ice maker quit?  1-800-For-Sears.

Holiday Hugs! :)

XO,

Jane