Hi...Ho...Hi...Ho...

it's back to work I go...

after two lovely weeks off...

it can't be good when the Sunday night blues start on Friday...

Santa...

...is that you?

I'll Be Home For Christmas...

Christmas traditions...

in our little family...

just like Little House on the Prairie...

Merry Christmas to All...

from my crazy and wonderful family...

And the Stockings Were Hung...

Tomorrow We Shop...

...is this not the best Christmas card ever?

courtesy of my two angels in NYC...

O Tannenbaum 2010...

Today the tree was lit... trimmed...

and obnoxiously blinged

until it was finally ready for its close-up.

We Are Santa's Elves...

Two of Santa's sweetest elves...

arrived bright and early this frosty morning...

spent the entire day with me in my kitchen...

and look what they left behind... more sweeties.

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

It's postively freezing out there...

along with a light dusting of snow...

makes it a perfect day to stay indoors...
and get a start in decking these old halls...

And Many More...

Pencil It In...

Next week at this time it's up to the tree farm

in search of the perfect blue spruce...

The 25 Days of Christmas...

I am hopelessly, helplessly drawn to the television for the Christmas movie marathon... while the house remains undecorated... the cookies unbaked... the fudge non-existent... Hallmark... Lifetime... Family Channel...
enough already!!

Eat Santa Eat...

We haven't stopped feasting since Thanksgiving...

Santa is now the skinniest individual in the house...

Happy December!!

This sweet little vintage guy has been patiently waiting

since last year

to put in an appearance...

Bah...Humbug...

I saw Disney's A Christmas Carol last night. I have to admit I wasn't expecting too much... I own, I think, every version ever made of that great Dickens' tale... and while I had no problem with either George C. Scott or Patrick Stewart as Scrooge... the idea of Jim Carrey... and an animated Jim Carrey at that... left me slightly flummoxed... The movie turned out to be amazing though... make it a "must see" this Holiday season... you won't be disappointed.

It's A...

I bought these at an estate sale this morning... I have no idea what they are... the sellers had no idea what they were... they thought perhaps cocktail plates... possibly coasters... I think they're too fragile to be either... so they remain a mystery... but it was the second day of the sale and they were twenty-five percent off... only buy mysterious items if they're on sale...

Is She Done Yet??

The grueling shopping marathon continues...it is...for the most part...a dusty, thankless job...

the feet have decided to revolt...

One For You...Two For Me...

I kept seeing these miniature trees everywhere...

I finally started taking their pictures...
they must be Thanksgiving topiaries...yes?

Road Trip...

A perfectly gorgeous day...

for a road trip...
and some Holiday shopping...

Ho...Ho...Ho...

A Bird In The Hand...

I'll admit to having more than a bird or two tucked into the odd nook and cranny inside my house...and I'm okay with that...
it brings a bit of the outdoors in...
in an abstract sort of calming way...
unlike having a live bird swoop my cart yesterday in the grocery...
it was unnerving...
and I'm fairly sure the rotisserie chicken
I had tucked in my basket felt much the same...

It's That Time Again...

Spring forward...now fall back...
put that extra hour...

to good use...

TGIF...

My first week back at the office...

after a gloriously lazy week's worth of vacation...

and all I can say after one mighty looooong week is...

Flower Power...

My Niece took me for a spin in her first car...

it's stylish, chic; a sassy little black hat...

had I known about that sweet vase option earlier...

I'd have bought a Bug too...

...sigh...

Happy Halloween...

from our family to yours...

Happy Halloween Eve...

Holy Cats!!!

Lucy Sue to the Rescue...

I just spoke to my (Halloween obsessed) little Brother... he's been so busy he hasn't even started to carve his great pumpkin for this year's festivities...

guess we know what that means...

That Was Then...

Just in the Nick of Time...

Halloween decorations are all up... whew!!

just fibbing...

my Halloween decor remains more like...

just wanted to give my little Brother a competitive scare...

(refer to last October's archives for his story)

Jack O the Electric Lantern...

Christmas is up for weeks (months) in this house...

all other Holidays are lucky to have a week in the limelight...

just now getting to Halloween...

the first decoration actually... hopefully not the last...

A Mix of Old and New...

I just started Fall housecleaning... using some methods passed down through generations... along with some newer techniques...

case in point... cleaning my overflow collection of pots, platters and pitchers... which normally reside on top of my cupboards until called into duty during a bout of entertaining...
has just recently become quick and quite painless... once it dawned on me to photograph them in their original habitat...
before removing, cleaning and then spending the bulk of the time trying to pull their original positions from memory...

Working 9 to 5...

Today was busy...a Monday disguised as a Tuesday...

Sharing the Bounty...

It was a gorgeous Autumn day...

perfect for a quick trip to the country to visit my Sister...

who sent me home with a pumpkin for the porch...

a pumpkin just to perch...
...and a blue egg??

Can You Read This?

...no? Me either... it's a soup recipe... I think... from a Swedish blog I linked to enmammasdag ...through another Swedish blog I love chezlarsson ...who had a picture of a bowl of delicious-looking soup she made from a recipe of a blogger friend... where I ended up to get the recipe myself... which I did... ...I think.