Merry Christmas...and move

Merry Christmas to all!!!

The last two challenges were to post some Christmas photos and to answer the question of what I would give if money were no object.

The latter is easier for me than the former (just lack of access more than anything). If money were no object I would take my family on an around the world trip (preferably over the course of a year or so) and have our friends join us at their favorite places. I would also get my dad a nice sail boat for his retirement and my mom would get the fun travel books for the planning part of our trip (something she loves to do). For my lil brother I would get him a trip to the wine sommelier school and a small wine case filled for his delight. I think the first stop would have to be Maccu Picchu since its been on our list for years. There are probably lots of other little things too, but I could go on with those for too long.

Here are some photos from Christmas day. One with me and my granny and then one with me and my pawpaw :)


Other than that, now that Christmas has come and gone, the best present I have is the present. And I'm heading back to the beautiful PNW where there are many friends and good times to be had :)

Christmas Recipes

At Christmas we always make pecan sandies...the most amazing buttery pecany goodness you'll ever put in your mouth :) The key, is to use fresh pecans (we even shell them at home) and to use real butter.

Pecan Sandies

1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans

cream butter and sugar; add 2 teaspoons water and vanilla; mix well. Blend in flour and nuts; chill 4 hours. Shape in balls or fingers. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from pan; cool slightly; roll in confectioners sugar. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Then there is my granny's pecan pie. It comes out for lots of special occasions, but always always Christmas and Thanksgiving. We even have the recipe framed in our kitchen.

DIY Christmas

Only for this very fun blog challenge would I risk my friends and family seeing their gifts online ( I just wont say who gets what)

First is my favorite new pair of earrings that I made myself.

Second is some of the other fun pairs I made.

And necklace and earring combo.

Then another necklace.

You can see that I'm having fun with the jewelry this winter.

Merry Christmas!!

A christmas collage

swiftly put together before i head off to dream of sugar plum fairies

I'm not sure how well it showed up but i thought it would be fun to have christmas carol lyrics on the sides and some of my favorite holiday things and pictures.

cheers!

crazy christmas pic

hmmm, a crazy christmas picture...

i took this one while we were putting up the tree and i was hugging the tree while my dad was sawing off the bottom to even it up

now the tree looks like this

work is crazy in the retail biz... I can't wait for Christmas day (my day off).

My wish list

Its so hard for me to put together what I want after having such an amazing year.

I guess I would love....

1) A million dollars and a good looking man ;-)
(no really, that would be grand! hehehe)
2) I could spend New Years in Sydney with a few of my favorite people
(or just go back to Oz in general)

3) A pair of cute brown boots like these
4) iPad because they're sooo darn cool
5) Running shoes
(with inserts that would actually let me run without my knees hurting)

Happy Holidays!!!!

PS- I've been bored at Ann Taylor Loft, come visit us for some great gifts :)

Random Christmas Gifts

Today's challenge is a tough one, what is the most random or odd gift you have ever received?

Now I'm not a huge gift person but the white elephant / dirty santa parties are always a blast! This year I put together a mini travel kit to take to the party I went to. It contained a dining kit (that could turn into chopsticks, spoon, fork or knife), a neon luggage tag and a collapsible cup. The other gifts included a crazy big old lamp (the classic white elephant gift), finger lights (amazing little LEDs to put on a finger to help you read in the dark), a Santa hat with mistletoe (came with Altoids and gum for your breath), a craft picture frame kit and a few other lovely random gifts. I went home that night with two new shot glasses and a small bottle of rather suspect tequila (would you drink something called white tiger??? me either).

I also remember a year when the gift that got stolen the most was a bright blue Snuggie! Another year I think there were some cookies and cocoa that were a big hit :)
There are some fun gifts out there, and its always a blast to watch people to open gifts and see the surprise on their faces!

Happy Holidays! I hope that all of your gifts light up your eyes and make you happy!

Favorite Holiday Movie

My number one favorite holiday movie is definitely The Polar Express! This probably comes from memories of reading the story when I was younger and how much I love the music in the movie, Josh Groban's Believe is probably another favorite song of mine :) It also reminds me of being an RA at Purdue and anxiously awaiting the movie to come out with one of the girls on my floor. I still think of her every time I see the movie or hear the song.

if you just believe.... (from the song)

Another holiday favorite is Love Actually, not sure its totally a holiday movie but I love it anytime of year and it takes place during Christmas. Come on, how can you not a love a movie where Hugh Grant dances and sings around his house?!

Nine days left til Christmas!!! I still have some holiday shopping/crafting to do...

Hugs & love!

A Christmas Limerick

Today's challenge, a Christmas Limerick...boy was it tough!

The Christmas tree is glowing,
The sky starts snowing,Carols being sung,
And stockings are hung.
Oh how we love that Christmas is coming!

Christmas Traditions

I can't believe I missed day one of the Hello Ladies Christmas challenge, so I may just do a two in one....but first today. Today's challenge is to talk about our family traditions.

My family has a wonderful tradition of celebrating Christmas Eve with a Norwegian cold table. We put out lots of cheeses, meats, crackers and much more then celebrate being together by passing it all around the table for a nice light dinner. After dinner we go to a late night Christmas Eve church service. My favorite part is singing Silent Night and lighting candles at the very end knowing that its now 'technically' Christmas day :) After we get home, we're allowed to open our Christmas Eve gift, specially labeled by mom and containing new Christmas pjs! It may not be a surprise, but its always fun :)

Christmas day is a whole other story and isn't as much about tradition, but about visiting with family and loving on each other :) My bother and I take turns being the 'elf' )which sometimes involves a hat) and passing out rounds of Christmas gifts to the whole family. Its always loads of fun!!!

Yesterdays challenge was to list our top five Christmas songs...so mine are (in no particular order)
#1 - Grandma got run over by a reindeer (always listen to it when putting up our tree)
#2 - the whole Nutcracker suite (when I was younger my dad and I would go see it, just the two of us)
#3 - Silent Night (my favorite is singing it a capella in church on Christmas Eve)
#4 - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree (don't know why, but I love it and it makes me think of Home Alone and being a kid)
#5 - Sleigh Ride (the one with a whip that sounds like your on a horse drawn sleigh through a snow covered forest, I played it with the band in high school and have always loved it!)

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas season!!

Love & Hugs!

Christmas Season and a Challenge!

Ok, so I may not be traveling at the moment, but one of my favorite groups is doing a Christmas challenge so for the next 12 days I'll be posting in response to their challenge :)

The group is called Hello Ladies and they make the most adorable onesies and other goodies! If you want to join in on the challenge their blog is http://thehelloladies.blogspot.com/

yay for Christmas!