THE HAPPINESS OF THE HOLIDAYS

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, as in cold. It has been in the teens for the last 3 days. Right now it is 15 degrees. I will say that we Midwestern folks are tough. We check the weather every morning, turn up that heat and dress in layers. And of course we complain. Just a little.
We have no Christmas tree yet...it is just too soon to bring a fresh tree in the house and have it last throughout all of the holidays. I've learned this the hard way. And since the rooms in my home are rather on the small side, I will have 3~4 weeks of enjoying all the festiveness before I tire of it. I will of course, be going back to the same place for my tree. The place where I met the most charming elf that helped me pick out Fir Elton John last year. I wish I could lead you directly to that post, but if you want to read or re~read it, it is in my archives under 12/7/09. I spotted the elf a few times over the summer tending to flowers and shrubs, so I believe I will see him again.
Things have been quiet around here since our weekend in Lake Geneva. I have been stocking up on my baking supplies with the intention to bake some things ahead of time. I know...I said that before Thanksgiving and threw together a pie 20 minutes before guests arrived for dessert. That's me, always flying by the seat of my pants. But Christmas is different. I love to make gift bags for the special people in my life and I found the neatest little bags made of fabric to pack all the sweet goodies in. I'll show you them in my next post, remind me. I also have some plastic molds to make miniature cakes in the shapes of Christmas trees, bells, and snowmen. And I found a recipe for a sugar cookie icing that looks so yummy. So...I am going to spend my days baking and freezing. I mean it.
I know it's possible to 'deck the halls' without a Christmas tree, but I've always done the tree first. This makes a lot of sense since we have to move furniture around. I have however, been living vicariously through the blogs I visit. I never would have imagined before blogging that I would see hundreds of pictures of homes dressed up for Christmas. They are truly magazine worthy. And truly a reflection of the sweet ladies that know how to decorate a room.
Well, that's my post for today. I have plenty to keep me busy. UPS is still dropping by everyday and I have a pile of gifts to wrap and even more shopping. Friday night we have a birthday party for Papa and on Saturday we have a wedding to go to. Of course I have nothing to wear so I need to take a little shopping trip for that...

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful season. Have fun with your decorating, your baking, your Christmas card writing {oops, forgot I have that to do as well}, and visiting those you love. And stay warm! :-)

~MAKING MERRY~

Blondie and The Husband at the Annual Lake Geneva Christmas Parade.
On Saturday The Husband and I drove to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to meet fellow blogger Cindy, of Applestone Cottage, and her husband Dan for a weekend of holiday fun. And fun it was. This is the 2nd time we have met up, last year was in Galena, Illinois. We try to meet as halfway as possible as we live on the south side of Chicago and Cindy and Dan live in Northwest Wisconsin. And we try to pick small towns with shopping and ambiance. Lake Geneva was perfect and we even had the snow to make it more festive for the holiday shopping we planned to do. This is a picture of Cindy...look at her pretty smile.

Other than a few snow flurries during the week, we hadn't gotten much snow in Chicago, but Saturday morning we woke up to about 3 inches. I took this picture out the window of the restaurant that we met at. In the background you can see Lake Geneva. This time of year it is filled with holiday shoppers but in the summer it is a resort town with plenty of water sports and vacationers. I have been here a gazillion times at all times of the year and always have a ball. And we did Saturday, too.
Shopping was big on the agenda. Shop owners provided refreshments and holiday music filled the air. I don't remember the name of this shop, but I do remember my promise not to buy any more dishes. And they were all stunning. I really love this holiday set.
Look at this precious Santa face. There is something to be said for restraint.
Don't you love this old world Father Christmas? I believe he has a face somewhere behind his beard.
And this is a table runner Cindy is holding up that we both fell in love with. The store also had place mats, napkins tablecloths and aprons. Paradise.
We were offered peppermint hot chocolate while we browsed.
After shopping we met up with the guys at this place where they were enjoying their own refreshments. A trip to Lake Geneva wouldn't be complete without a stop in Hogs & Kisses.
At 5:00 p.m. we rushed out to catch the Annual Lake Geneva Christmas parade. Although it was only about 30 degrees and we couldn't see over every one's heads, it was so festive and fun. People lined the streets to see the holiday floats, the Fire Department and marching bands. There was even a dog parade. After the parade we had a wonderful, relaxing and WARM dinner at a place called Scuttlebutts. The food was outstanding. Afterward, we went back to our hotel and settled in for some nice conversation.

Hopefully, the next time we meet up it will be summer. And I know for sure we will visit each other again. I have learned that pretty much what you see in a person on a blog is what you get in person. Cindy is warm, generous and fun. Oh, I almost forgot, she gave me a gift bag filled with ornaments and holly and berries, and the cutest white pitcher. I am so sorry that I forgot to take a picture.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I am truly in the Christmas spirit now. Today I am meeting with my old pal, Earl the elf to get my Christmas tree. Now I need a few extra elves to help me decorate it! See you soon! :-)

~WISH~

This will be a short post as I'm busy, every one's busy..busy, busy, busy. The exciting news here is that we are finally getting some snow. Yay! It may not amount to much, it's blowing up, down and sideways and not really covering the ground, but I LOVE snow before Christmas. It makes me feel the spirit of it all. The temperature is not so great, 23 degrees, but I am used to winter weather like this.

I have really been enjoying making the rounds of Blogland these past few days. I am getting so many wonderful ideas for holiday decorating. Some of you may have been in the big mantel party over at The Lettered Cottage. I wasn't, but I took a peek at some of the mantels and I thought they were all magazine worthy. Wow, what a lot of creativity and originality out there. And I learned a few things. Simple, natural and fresh is just as stunning as over the top, all out decorating. I learned that we are using our own REAL evergreen in a thousand ways. We are jazzing up dollar store finds with paint and glitter and proudly putting them on pedestals. And I learned that hot pink, lime and aqua are the big colors this year. It all makes me wish I had a couple of fireplaces instead of one. What has sparked your creativity this season?

You are probably wondering where I am at in the midst of all this inspiration. Well...let's just say the house is being cleaned from top to bottom today and all my surfaces are going to be cleared off, all of my fall things and all of my everyday bits and pieces. The mantel is going to be cleared off except for the mirror that hangs above it. I am going to try to coerce a tall person in this house to hand me down my Christmas boxes and then I am going to get to work. Of course I will have Future Interior Design Daughter, FIDD as you might remember her, to help me. Emily is really good at coming up with good ideas and she is fast and organized. Abigail is not good for much except eating the candy canes off the tree. And speaking of trees, next week I will go out and get one of those. Decorating the tree is my favorite part. Seeing those ornaments that have been tucked away for a year always brings back warm memories. And I am so excited, last year after Christmas I bought a little green feather tree. I'm thinking of hanging just vintage ornaments on it, or maybe miniature bulbs in just one color {lime?}. Does anyone have one of these? Any suggestions! I think I'll put it in my kitchen.

Well, that is about all I have today. I have to brave the cold and go out to buy groceries. I have made turkey leftovers a thousand different ways and I don't want to eat anything with wings for a long time. I am linking up with Courtney for Feather Your Nest Friday. I hope you visit some of the ladies...there are a lot of ideas out there. And finally, I wish you a wonderful week! :-)

~LET'S PAUSE~

I wish I could say this was a poinsettia plant, but...Christmas has not arrived at Blondie's house as of yet. Chaos existed prior to Thanksgiving. The kitchen overflowed with food to prepare, housecleaning took a backseat to food preparation and some days I didn't get in the shower. But as the story always go, the holiday went off without a hitch, everyone loved the dinner and we had a fun and relaxed get together with family for dessert. I didn't even have to venture out into the cold. We had the dessert contest as I mentioned in my last post, the guys judged the ladies desserts, and one little lady, my 9 year old niece, Maggie, won for making darling little turkey top hat candies {of which I have no picture} that took a lot of creativity, charm and cleverness and all that a 9 year old could muster for a contest. And when she was voted winner, everyone applauded and she beamed and took home a little prize. It was magical and will definitely be a holiday tradition for us!

Yesterday I cleaned and did load after load of dishes...the sort I don't like to put in the dishwasher, and sampled leftover desserts. Oh yes, in spite of buying all the ingredients for a chocolate trifle {and I thank all those that sent me recipes for their version}, I ended up making a simple Paula Deen apple pie. The glitch was, I had only 4 apples and the recipe called for 7, so instead of a mounded pie, it was more concave. But pretty. And delicious. The recipe is a keeper, look for it on the FoodNetwork.

Today I caught up on some post~holiday blogging, went to dinner with The Husband and did a little shopping at Macy's. I also shopped online on Black Friday where a lot of places had great sales and free shipping. Do not forget Cyber Monday...great deals again. Tomorrow we have a Holiday Open House to go to and I believe I will finally get to some Christmas decorating early next week. I am liking having the house just NORMAL for a little while. Does anyone feel that way?
I have also started wrapping presents and stacking them high. I have to wrap right away or the two daughters will be peeking. No, they are not five years old but they act like it sometimes. Besides wrapping boxes the traditional way, I also like to stock up on plain brown or white bags from the Dollar Store and jazz them up with holiday stamps or just leave plain and tie with a simple ribbon or jute. They are perfect for bringing to a friend or neighbors home filled with treats or a small gift.
So this post was just a bit of randomness for a Saturday. We are cold here but no snow yet. Sort of odd, everyone seems to be getting it and Chicago is known for it's blizzards. I should knock on wood. Next weekend we are meeting Cindy from Applestone Cottage and her husband Dan in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a weekend of fun. We met last December in Galena, Illinois, a quaint little town about halfway between our homes. This year will be just as nice and I am jumping up and down, I am so excited to see her again. I have special memories of Lake Geneva in December as The Husband and I have often spent our anniversary there. It's a beautiful little resort town.

Finally, I have this book on my wish list. Have you ever read My French Life? If you haven't, do so. This is Vicki Archer's new book and it looks SO good! I love to order my books through Amazon and you can find it there, in case you didn't know it was out. I am nearing a follower milestone and may just have a giveaway with it. Shhhhhh...

Have a happy rest of the weekend and I will see you next week, hopefully with some Christmas bling and a few poinsettias! :-)

~BUSY DAYS~

Happy Tuesday everyone. It has been a busy few days around here and only to get busier as we get ready for Thanksgiving. I have to run to the store for some last minute items and then tomorrow I can start cooking. I still have not figured out what I am going to make for dessert. I think I may try to do a trifle; I have a dish that was given to me as a gift years ago that I have never used. Something chocolate would be heavenly. Now to go through some cookbooks or shop the Food Network. I can't believe I put off making something because I had big plans to make and freeze some things. Oh well, there is always Christmas.


I set up a little tea this morning and I am joining Lady Katherine for the first time. You can visit her at Lady Katherine Tea Parlour for the party she hosts every Tuesday. Like the rest of you {most likely}, I've had some silver to polish for the holidays. Last year my son got up from the table and pulled out some flatware for himself because the silver was so tarnished. I was using a creamy type polish and it just wasn't cutting it, so I bought some liquid stuff that you have to use with gloves ...it sounds nasty. So I am not looking forward to this. Why I didn't do this sooner, I think I thrive on stress. But I digress. Last summer my friend Snow saw at lot of my silver up at the lakehouse on my hutch and said, "If you like silver, I have a ton of it and I hate to polish." That's all she had to say. A few days later she brought some pieces over and it included this tea set.
This has to polished up but let's just say it has a patina. I have two other tea sets but they aren't as large as this. I had fun setting up this little vignette in my living room. I should have made a fire; it's only 32 degrees here in Chicago.
My tea cup and saucer are part of a set of china called Marquis that I found at an estate sale about 2 years ago. The silver spoon is part of a mismatched bunch. The thingie on the right is actually a mercury glass squash that I am using with my fall decor. It's hard to tell just what it is.

Yesterday I was fiddling around and trying to be crafty with some empty jars I have been saving. I took some sheet music and made a little candle holder which is in my first picture and the one above. I just wrapped it around a clean salsa jar and used some glue. Then I tied a little piece of jute around it and plopped a tea light in it. It pretty much cost me pennies. I'm looking forward to some extra time to make some more. I think they would look good grouped together or lined up in a row. I have been seeing similar {if not the same} candles around Blogland for quite some time. I was really inspired.

Saturday The Husband and I went to the Holiday Market in Morris, Illinois, and really had a good time. Everything I bought was for Christmas, so you will have to wait {with bated breath I'm sure} to see everything. I was amazed at the talent I saw there. If I were a craftier person or one who could sew, I would have walked away with some inspiration. But I'm neither. I didn't take pictures because it was so crowded and I wasn't really sure if the vendors would like it. And though I was aware that there were other bloggers there, I didn't recognize any...of course. How could I? I did see Anne Marie from Na Da Farm With Anne Marie and was bold enough to approach her. We had a nice time talking and I want to say she is as nice and pretty as you see on her blog. She has a barn sale every spring and fall, so if you live in the Chicago area, try to make it. I am putting it on my calendar, I'm not missing it.

Well, I didn't mean to make such a wordy post...I have SO much to do. Visit Lady Katherine and also Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday, to which I am also linking. I'm also wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving. Save some room for dessert! :-)

~THANKSGIVING LIGHTS~

It a quiet night here and I love that. The cold weather seems to bring that on. And it is a chilly 44 degrees here in the upper Midwest. I love it! But please don't ask me how I feel when it is in the single digits! I'm not a happy camper. Lights like these above make me happy. Candles can't keep us warm, but they make our hearts warm and our faces glow. Everything is softer and more gentle with candlelight. I like to burn a big old Yankee candles during the day to fill my home with amazing scent. In the evening...when I know we are staying in, I burn a lot of tea lights and votives just for ambiance. I like the tiny little light and flicker they give...alone or in groups.
I did a little more holiday shopping online this week and I am making a good size dent in my shopping and that always takes a lot of holiday stress off me. So many bloggers are saying that they like to have their homes decorated and shopping done so they can enjoy the whole holiday season without pressure and you know...that is smart advice!! I'm doing a lot to make this advice work for me but first, I wanted to talk about holiday shopping online a little briefly because I consider myself a little {ahem} experienced in this area. Actually, it is about mistakes you can make when you think you are getting a deal that would never have happened if you were in the store.
Never buy a candle online. That involves sniffing and maybe someday we will be able to that through a device on our computers. Who would ever think that Pomegranate Tea would smell so awful, but I ordered a huge pillar from Kohl's and I thought it smelled horrible. Think: Couldn't sell, big markdown. Ironically, I also bought a big hurricane for it and plopped the candle in. It melted all over and there is no way to get the wax out. That's the end of both of those deals.
I consider these above a good mistake. I was expecting something much smaller...described for tea light candles, they are quite generously sized. I can also fit a votive in these. I bought some for the lakehouse, too, as they are on clearance. 99.9% of what I order online is on sale or clearance. But in any event...always check dimensions and size.
I packed up a lot of my fall pieces today and kept most surfaces down to a bare minimum with company coming {including babies} on Thanksgiving. I am liking the editing...it gets to be too much considering this has all been out since mid~October. Is anyone else ready to get the shovel? lol!! Getting Christmas ready will be a lot easier without as much packing up the fall.

Tomorrow I am off to the Holiday Market in Morris, Illinois. I am hoping to meet some bloggers I have never met before and do a little more shopping. I'm hoping they have a lot of hot chocolate {maybe mixed with a little Bailey's ;-D}. I'll have my camera so look for a great post next week! Hope you are having a snuggly Friday night! :-)

Bottles and candles are from Wisteria.

~THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS~

Good morning ladies. It's a beautiful day in Chicago. A perfect day to get out and do some Christmas shopping, which I think I will. Since I have sworn off decorating for Christmas so soon, and I had to stop buying fall things on clearance {I already have waaaaay too many things}, getting into the Christmas spirit by buying gifts sounds just like the perfect day to me. Look out.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping and picked up this bunch of spray roses, which were marked down. I love the blush color and they are so pretty to look at aside from all the browns and reds and golds of fall. I made a little vignette with some silver dessert cups that remind me that I have a ton of silver to finish polishing. Other than that, I think I am ready for Thanksgiving. I picked up my turkey yesterday {I have a big freezer downstairs}, and all of the trimmings. I also picked up ingredients for some baking, which I will start on and freeze. Each year we have a baking contest...the ladies bake and the men are the judges. No prize, just a lot of compliments. I haven't decided what to make, but over the years I have found that men love chocolate just as much as women and if it's combined with peanut butter, it's an even bigger hit. I'll let you know what I make.
I had daughter Emily and her boyfriend Mike over for dinner last night. This is no small feat since Emily is a vegan and I follow a low carb diet which includes a lot of lean meat. I made chicken {again}, which Emily skipped, a salad, potato pancakes, steamed broccoli, corn and dinner rolls. It turned out pretty well and I am happy to be entertaining a bit more these days.
I didn't take pictures like a traditional tablescape, but I wanted to show you the new dishes I recently bought from Ballard Design. I know I promised no more dishes, but I bought a complete set, service for 8, rather than bits and pieces that I frequently find at Homegoods or TJ Maxx. I needed a whole set of everyday dishes.
It is called Antique Beaded Dinnerware. Each piece is hand finished and has a light glaze. I love the footed bowls and the beading around the edges. I have hinted that I want the serving bowl and platter for Christmas. Hey, a little hinting doesn't hurt.
We have plans to go on a little jaunt Saturday morning to this Holiday Market, about 50 minutes away. I read about it on a blog. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Doesn't it look fun? I hope to do some serious Christmas shopping at this event, too.

So that is all I have today. I have to get moving if I am going to get out and shop. Have you seen the Salvation Army volunteers outside the stores yet? They always put me in the Christmas spirit. And Christmas carols on the radio. I love it!

I am linking with Marty from A Stroll Through Life for Table Top Tuesday. Have a wonderful week! :-)