Playing CatchUp and Waiting for Midnight

Hello All!!!

Sorry for my absence as of late... I have been busy fully indulging myself in all things Christmas. Now it has come and gone and I am staring 2009 in the face. Before we start looking ahead, I just want to show you some of the products of my festivities...

I made three varieties of cookies this year; from left to right: Snickerdoodles, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Martha Stewart's cookie of the month for December called Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. For my fellow Girl-Scout cookie junkies I highly recommend this recipe which, although labor intensive, will satisfy your Thin Mint craving.

This is an outstanding meal my husband made me. He was recreating a dish we tasted at Bonefish Grill called Saucy Shrimp. It is a creamy garlic lime tomato sauce with kalamata olives and feta cheese. Making it at home is great because you can completely overdose on the Feta. Amazing. I am such a lucky woman to have a man that can cook. My uncle told me that if I can find a man that can cook and dance, hang on tight. I did.

Lastly, these are the results of my adventures in Chestnut roasting this year. I had no idea Chestnuts sweeten so drastically when cooked.

And just for fun, here is a pic of an outfit I loved, but never posted.

And a glance into the new year...
In 2009 I plan to:

- Get all my muscles and tone back! I feel so physically weak and out of shape!
- Wear more red lipstick.
- Finally, finally, finally learn the piano... or start to at least.
- Infuse creativity into my daily wardrobe.

I know it's not much, but it's a start in the right direction. I'm sure I'll think of a hundred more ways to self-iomprove before the week is through.

Now for a long awaited daily tidbit of Useless Trivia:
AULD LANG SYNEThe song, "Auld Lang Syne," playing in the background, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, it was first published in 1796 after Burns' death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition. An old Scotch tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days." Have a safe and happy New Years Eve and relaxing January 1!!

Hallelujah, Holy $hit, Where's the Tylenol?

After my week long vacation, I thouroughly misgauged the amount of work to which I would be returning. Seriously. A week later I am just getting my head above water, and it is really adding a sense of stress to my holiday season. Hence I quote a Christmas movie classic Christmas Vacation, "Hallelujah, Holy Shit, Where's the Tylenol?" 15 days left!

I know my outfit isn't particularly Christmassy today, but it fits the weather. This is a tricky look because of the white-after-labor-day misconception paired with black tights... it requires just the right weather for wearing. Thank my husband for the splash of red. See if you can find my humble little tattoo.

Today's Useless Trivia:

There are approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year. One of them happily resides in my home.

Christmassing

I spent most of my weekend making tids and bits, but most fun of all was Christmassing on Sunday. But first, let's deal with Saturday.

Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a friends baby shower. She is having a boy and requested that each guest bring one of their favorite child hood books for the new baby. I had no problem picking a book, Where the Wild Things Are seemed like the perfect choice, but the rest was a little tricky. I tend to avoid registries, which I hate as a gift-receiver, but love as a gift-giver. I decided to do something a little more fun: tie-dye. Now, what's more fun than that? Well, lot's of things, but tie-dye is pretty darn fun. Even more so when it's baby clothes. Here are the results:

And my favorite onesie:

And the lovely gift basket that I called the finished product.

Hopefully the Mother-to-Be enjoyed receiving her basket as much as I loved creating it!

On Sunday I spent the day Christmassing all over the house. But is it Christmassy enough? I'll let you be the judge. I love the way my tree came out this year... although I never met a Christmas tree I didn't like!

Problem: Display holiday cards in a easy way that shows them all off.
Solution: Garland + Clothespin + Creativity=

Today's Useless Trivia:

According to a 2002 survey approximately 28 million American dog-owners will give a Christmas gift to their poochie pal.

On a side note, you are in for a treat this Christmas, my dog LOVES opening presents!

Olive Thrift

I have been so busy the last couple of days. Vacation is over and reality has taken its place. Yuk. I miss carefree mornings with coffee and palm trees. The only good thing about the end of Thanksgiving is the begining of Christmas. Well, my Christmas count down started in August, but for the rest of you the season usually begins now. Being back in the office is kicking my butt and I hardly have time to breathe during the day, much less blog. After 8 days of relaxation, I guess I had it coming. Another thing coming was my outfit today. After 8 days of comfy pants and jeans I needed to fancy it up a little.

Blouse: Thrifted

Sweater: Thrifted

Skirt: Thrifted

Shoes: Target

Today's Useless Trivia:

Perhaps the best known Christmas carol is Silent Night, written in 1818 by an Austrian assistant priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be repaired in time for Christmas Day. Saddened, he sat down to write three stanzas that could be sung by choir to guitar music. "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" was heard for the first time at that Midnight Mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria. The congregation listened as the voices of the Fr. Joseph Mohr and the choir director, Franz Xaver Gruber, rang through the church to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr's guitar. Today, Silent Night, Holy Night is sung in more than 180 languages by millions of people.