It's that time of year, after the feast of Thanksgiving, when things turn red, green, merry and light.
My final 2015 Calendar gift to you - wrapped up in festive red and green.
To download the December 2015 calendar for free at Box.com, click on the link:
Free December 2015 Calendar - Amaryllis
Wishing you a wonderful December and hoping you find peace, joy and happiness this holiday season.
I admit to being a procrastinator, especially when it comes to the busy holidays. For example, I only last weekend (that would be a mere two weeks before Christmas) designed and ordered this year's Holiday card. So folks, don't expect an on time card from our family!
So, for those last minute shoppers who don't want to brave the mall this weekend, I'm suggesting you get out to a local market place for some unique, handmade gifts. Small artisan shops and vendors can be found even our small midwestern town - you might have to use social media or contact consignment shops to find them.
Some handmade treasures I've come across locally:
Beaded Wrap Bracelets
A friend of mine makes these and they can be found through etsy stores. The bracelet is flexible and wraps around the wrist four times for an instant layered look. The mixture of stones and crystals compliments casual and formal attire - I even wear mine to yoga practice.
Personalized charm necklaces
I found these simple necklaces at the local farmer's market. I'm not a "chunky" jewelry wearer (I rarely accessorize to begin with) and I love that the charms are small, interchangeable and personalized to the wearer. I gave the necklace above to a friend who moved away, bought a horse charmed one for my daughter and this one for me:
Handmade Soap, Specialty Syrup and Vintage Stuff
I love handmade soap - they come in all sorts of fragrances from earthy to floral and are a great luxury to use. Real.Soaps are handmade in Chicago and also available via etsy. Your local natural store may also carry handmade soaps.
Sages Specialty Syrups are made in Indiana and the business owners frequent local farmer's markets. The syrup jazzes up the standard cocktail (mango ginger martini anyone?) or sparkling water or tea. I bought some spiced pumpkin syrup to mix into my fall coffee. You can find similar specialty syrups at your local foodie store.
Vintage camera - perfect for that sentimental photographer. I now own three vintage cameras - two of them, including the Kodak Duaflex pictured above still take film and one of these days I'm going to try make it work. For now, it's a nice conversation piece, along with my Brownie Hawkeye.
Local Designer Clothing - Chicago designer Kate VanAsten makes beautiful clothing at Wulfka. I found her at a local artisan fair and bought the beautiful Isis Dress. She also has skirts and shrugs available.
We're in the final stretch before Christmas, so good luck with the final days of shopping!
aka, what we encountered last weekend!
[OK, I'm kidding about the bears - it just sounded catchy]
Coming into the start of July with no definitive plans for the 4th of July holiday weekend, I was expecting a low key, slightly boring long weekend. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to schlep out to see the local fireworks (sometimes I don't like battling the throngs of people).
Enter in friend Jill - we made last minute plans for each day and it turned out to be a great holiday.
On the 4th of July, we went to the city pool. We had expected the place to be swarming with people, but it wasn't crowded at all. The air temperatures in the mid 70's might have kept people away, so we enjoyed lounging (and not overheating) on the pool deck. In the evening, we stumbled upon the best vantage point for viewing fireworks, close to the launch pads, on a great expanse of lawn that wasn't teeming with people. It was sweatshirt weather, just perfect.
For those viewing on apple devices, the following is a flash video snippet of the fireworks (sorry). You can also view from my flickr stream.
We started Saturday with an outdoor Yoga Session - right on the prairie. I attended the same session two weeks ago and loved it. Jill and Amy joined me and I think we'll be back next Saturday.
After yoga, we drove to the Farmer's market and picked up some great produce - zucchini, kale, herbs, peaches. It was my first trip this year and I love that the market continues to grow with vendors, musicians and food trucks. I stumbled upon a jewelry stand and was smitten with the artist's simple, personalized pieces. Those who know me know I'm not really into jewelry - I wear my wedding rings and maybe a simple necklace - that's it. Here is what I bought:
For Sunday, we went kayaking on the Middle Fork River:
Even though our group included six boys, I was still able to find some solitude along the way. That is the beauty of kayaking - you can always linger behind or go ahead of the group.
One of the boys found a baby turtle which catalyzed river wide treasure hunt for more turtles. All and all, they found three turtles and this trip will always be remembered as "kayaking with the turtles"
So while we didn't encounter any bears this weekend, we enjoyed the company of friends, enjoyed the glorious weather and created memories to fondly remember.
I posted this photo of the popovers I made at Christmastime and friend Tina inquired about it.
A popover is a delicate, hollow roll made out of an egg-milk-flour-butter batter. I've blogged about popovers before - we first enjoyed them with tea and jam last summer while visiting Jordan Pond in Bar Harbor, Maine. These are the same popovers, except they were served as a savory compliment to our Christmas meal of prime rib. In the savory preparation, they are also called English Yorkshire Pudding [which really doesn't make sense, since when I think of a "pudding", I think of something sweet - oh the weird world we live in!].
Here is the Recipe - it is quite simple and easy. Recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks - a Year of Holidays
Oven at 450 degF
5 eggs
1 Cup half and half
1 Cup Flour
2 tsp salt
drippings from meat (savory) or melted butter (sweet)
Combine the eggs and half and half in a bowl.
Wisk until combined
Wisk in the flour and salt until the batter is smooth
If preparing the savory version, pour a small amount of the meat drippings into each cup of a standard muffin pan - just to coat the bottom of the muffin cup.
If preparing the sweet version, pour a small amount of melted butter into each cup of a standard muffin pan - just to coat the bottom of the muffin cup.
Fill the muffin cup with the egg batter, 1/2 to 2/3 full.
Bake at 450 degF oven for 12-14 minutes. They will POP up in the muffin tins.
Serve with roasted meat (savory) or with melted chocolate and jam (sweet).
Popovers are best enjoyed hot out of the oven, so prepare them last! Enjoy!
Oh, the single problem with Halloween falling on the last day of October - it feels like a Halloween post on November 4th is just so late. We should be talking about Thanksgiving and Turkey now.
Ahem, NOT that Christmas stuff....
I couldn't believe my eyes as I went to the WalMart to buy Halloween candy on October 30 (yes, I wait until the last minute) and the normal Halloween Candy aisle had been transformed into red and green "winter wonderland". Seriously? And one of the neighbors put up their icicle lights this past weekend!
So I'm going back in time to post some Halloween photos instead.
As usual, my friend, Jill, and her family out did themselves. Due to heavy rains, they didn't transform their front yard into a full cemetery, but made up for that with a Creepy Circus theme.
Here is their house from several years ago:
This year, the house was lit up similarly, the addition of some scary characters.
Then this guy emerged from the house:
The nine foot tall scary clown who terrorized adults and children alike:
Even good friends, M and L were scared to come to the front door.
The creepy clown walked up and down the street, eliciting screams from young and old. I think it was an effective costume and it will be hard to top next year, but I am sure they will come up with something equally entertaining.
Like maybe a cat dressed up as a bunny....
OK, maybe not....
Just a few glimpses into our Christmas this year.
The kid-decorated gingerbread house. Each kid gets half the house to decorate. There was a mis-understanding this year - each kid thought I was making them their own house! Next year, I'm just going to purchase two kits - it will be much easier for me...
The front:
The "party backyard", complete with pond for the penguin and campfire for the gingerbread men.
We bought gifts for the cats and I could not resist this plaid outfit, even if it was designed for a dog. Louie endured 15 minutes of humiliation while we cooed and declared how cute he looked in it.
See, it even comes with a hood...
The kids stayed up late, trying to guess what was in each package. There were a lot of guesses for "shoes". That's because we used old shoe boxes to house the gifts!
Needless to say, we had a great Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I've posted before about our Lego Christmas Village - it all started three Christmases ago, when we bought Santa's Workshop. Last year we added The Bakery. My son was so excited about the prospect of creating a winter scape that he designed "Main Street" - the base for all the shoppes and holiday revelers to gather. Lego had a custom design site where you built your virtual, custom Lego creation - then you could buy all the pieces and create the actual thing at home. So the boy measured out how big our village was going to be, designed a road (complete with a bend in it) and ordered the pieces required to build it. The buildings are Lego Sets you can buy - my son only designed the road that runs through Main Street. And he sets up where everything goes (which takes a lot of planning on his part!).
Here's our busy Main Street - the horse carriages are popular this year.
Coming right at the horses - the modern snow plow - this came with our new Winter Cottage.
We're able to spread all the little elements out - the carolers have their own little city square this year:
The Toy Shoppe:
Is next to the Bakery:
The skiers are coming into town:
There's an ice rink in town:
Even a photographer to capture all the action:
I don't have a picture of the completed Winter Cottage because it just got set up yesterday and these pictures were taken the previous week - I hope to get it done this week along with addressing Christmas cards, making cookies and the list goes on and on!
Linked to Mosaic Monday.
I take and post similar photos every year, but it's hard to mess with tradition. And it's so fun to see the changes year over year.
The pre-Thanksgiving Feast photo with the cats - I'm setting up the interval timer on the camera here:
And like magic, I've joined the photo:
Some differences this year - the boy has surpassed his sister and me in height and the Siamese cat is Louie instead of Sam (sniff).
Another holiday tradition - picking out the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Since this is Louie's first Christmas, he doesn't know what to think.
I guess instinct takes over in times like this.
I hope he doesn't try to climb the real tree!
My friend, Jill, has the best Halloween House in the neighborhood. I've taken pictures in the past, but each year, she adds more stuff (she's blaming it on the post-Halloween sales - 50% off Halloween decorations, starting today!).
For example - from 2010 (and compared to today, this looks sparse):
One of this year's new additions - the large, suspended grim reaper, keeping an eye over the kids as they set up the coffin
In past years, the kids hid in the coffin and jumped out to scare unsuspecting trick or treaters. This year would be a little different - yes, they would jump out, but then explode into dance - to PSY's Gangnam Style.
See G in the coffin? He's PSY...
We had a blast with the throngs of Trick or Treat seekers - many joined in to dance with the boys. I attempted a video, but it turned out really dark.... but believe me, it was a great Halloween. I can't wait for next year....
And so you don't go away without some "Gangnam Style", here's a video put together by some creative folks from my alma mater. It not only features some of the lecture halls, corridors, and places at MIT, but it includes some a cappella singing from MIT's oldest all male a cappella group, the Logarythms (their cameo starts at 2:13):
At first cock-crow the ghosts must go
Back to their quiet graves below. -Theodosia Garrison
Ten years ago, we moved from Indiana to Illinois. It was a move we never saw coming, but ten years later, we can't imagine being anywhere else.
Funny how things tend to work out.
Ten years ago, we were housed in an apartment on Halloween, but had placed an offer on our current house. We opted to trick or treat in our soon-to-be neighborhood, meeting our soon-to-be neighbors, many of which are now our best friends. I love how that happens.
Our daughter dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. It was cold and we had to force her to wear a sweat shirt under the sheer top - to this day, I remember the drama and struggle that ensued, but as we trick-or-treated, she soon forgot about it all. Our son was a cute Scooby Doo and he claimed "Err-ta pulled my tail" all night long.
See, I even have proof of that night's adventure....
Ten years later, the kids no longer trick or treat, opting instead to head out to haunted houses with their friends. Scott and I, along with the cats, will answer the door and comment how cute the little kids are in their costumes. Maybe we'll have leftover candy to enjoy (hopefully not too much!).
I wish you a safe Halloween, full of memories.
Edited to add - and make sure you take photos of your little ones in costume. Because 10 years from now, you'll want to look back on them....
As predicted, not a white Christmas (unless you count the white frost on the grass - the kids didn't and declared "it didn't seem like Christmas".
But it was a very nice Christmas indeed - we are truly blessed and so fortunate in our lives.
Some of the goodies -
Another pair of Uggs for my daughter. I stick with the knock offs to offset the cost.
I am often asked questions and comments about my photography - what location, what camera, what settings, etc. The camera question aside (i...
A chemical engineer working in IT, Wife to Scott, Mom to two great kids + two cats, one horse and numerous fish. Photographer, marathoner, musician, yogi and gourmet cook. I don't think there is time for more, but I'm sure I missed something!
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