Merry Christmas!!! ♥

Well Friends, the time has come! It's here! The eve of Christmas eve. 

I'll be spending today in my little kitchen cooking and baking, singing Christmas songs, and making a big beautiful holiday mess : ) 

I'll be making pies, thumbprint cookies, and chocolate bark.  To get a jump on Sunday I'll roast butternut squash, peel potatoes, organize dishes & linens, and get the Christmas crackers ready for the table.  The turkey is thawing and my mom is in charge of the stuffing. We are busy bees over here, but I will still take time to relax later and have a cup of my Christmas tea by the tree.  

It's what I was meant to do and I love it ♥

From my family to yours, I'm wishing you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

Have a wonderful holiday and a happy & healthy new year! 

Love and blessings to you all!! ♥

Stay safe, warm, and of course....cozy! 

xoxox

Random Photo Monday ♥

Good Monday Morning Friends! It's Christmas week! ♥

I took last week off from this little space of mine to get everything I needed to get done so I could have this week to relax and get ready for the big day.  I set myself that goal every year.  Sometime it works and sometimes it doesn't.  

Thankfully, this time....it worked.  I'm all shopped & wrapped, cards are mailed, and halls are decked.  All that's left is to make a food list and go to the grocery store at the end of the week.  The cooking and baking are my favorite part of the holidays so I'm very much looking forward to an all day baking session on Friday.  

My goal for the beginning of the week is to take care of myself.  Rest, eat good food, and enjoy these precious days leading up to Christmas.  Quiet mornings by the tree and movie nights with my family, snuggled up under blankets & drinking hot drinks.  How many times can we watch Elf is the question?  I think we're up to 3 or 4 times already! ♥

We had a bit of snow last week, but it turned to rain.  The skies are clear now (as are the roads) so that's a good thing.  It's coooold though.  Every morning I step out back to look at the river and take a deep breath of air.  It feels good to go back inside after that and have a hot coffee with breakfast.  I've made some comfort food this past week: beef stew, roast chicken (in a cast iron skillet!), homemade pizza, and last night I make lentil soup.  I love serving a hot, hearty meal this time of year.  Lots of salads, veggies, and soups to keep us strong and healthy. 

99% of my wardrobe last week was pajamas.  I shower, get ready, and put on a fresh pair.  I'm cozy and comfy, and surprisingly productive given how comfortable I am! However I could lapse into a nap at any given moment.  And if I do...well, that's ok ♥

Rob make us espresso Sunday morning after Church and it was delightful.  

I forgot how much I loved it.  He must do that more often ♥

A gift basket that I had to photograph before I dove into it.  

I just love a gift basket! ♥

 

If you stopped by this is how you would probably find me. 

Pj's & glasses, but always lipstick : ) 

 

Wishing you all a very merry week.  I hope you give yourself some grace this week.  Take time for yourself and rest, rest, rest. Everything will get done as it should.  Tonight I plan on giving myself a manicure while watching Holiday Baking Championship on the Food Network.  That's my "self care" for the evening.  ♥

Stay cozy my friends! It's almost Christmas!! Thank you for stopping by today.  I'll be around to visit your blogs too! : ) 

xoxo

Happy Snowy Monday ♥

Good Monday Morning Friends! ♥

We had our first proper snow last night.  Just enough to make everything look like it has a coating of powdered sugar!  It's hard believe that only a few short weeks ago this view was a sea of yellow, orange, and gold.  Winter is upon us.  

I love the first snow of the year.  I stepped outside to snap these pictures and the air felt so fresh and clean. It's peaceful as can be.  All I could here was our windchimes.  Only 26 degrees today.  Back inside I go where it's cozy and the coffee it hot.  

I

I love working from home.  Especially in the winter.  

 

No commute and you can't beat the dress code.  Let's just say I'm very comfy today : ) 

Yesterday we visited The Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture.  If you're not from Massachusetts you've probably never heard of it.  Jordan's is a big beautiful furniture store that acquired and restored the original Christmas display that The Jordan Marsh department store used to set up in downtown Boston in the 1960's & 1970's.  Every year at Christmas time they set it up and you can walk through it and get all the vintage Christmassy feels. Music plays and when Bing Crosby sings "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" it snows! ♥

Love, love, love! 

It's all free, the only catch is you have to walk through the entire furniture store to exit.  That's good marketing I guess.  I don't mind because I actually LOVE furniture stores.  I get so many good decorating ideas. 

Once upon a time Rob and I bought all our furniture for our first house at this store. We would come here on Friday nights and pay our "lay away" bills.  Remember "lay away?"

 I don't think it exists anymore ♥

And on the way out I was sure to grab a box of the famous Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins, only available at Christmastime.  

They are so yummy! ♥

A heated muffin with melty butter made for a yummy breakfast this morning as I admired the snow.  

And do you know what the best part of the weekend was?

You guessed it!  ♥

Look who finished all her wrapping!! (and the angels rejoiced!) 

Yipppeeeeee! ♥

I feel like a weight lifted as I enter into a new week.  Sending you all the coziest vibes and hopes for a lovely Monday.  Time to pour another coffee peppermint mocha and start my day. 

13 day to go! Eeeek!  

xoxox 

I Hate Wrapping But Love All the Pretty Things!

Hello cozy Friends! ♥

How are you?  Can you believe we are only 17 days away from Christmas?! 

Wow! 

Are you ready?  I'm getting there.  This weekend I'm going to wrap gifts and then I'll be in great shape!  Have I mentioned how much I hate wrapping?  Well, it's my most hated chore.  It's because I stink at it. I always leave it to the bitter end, but once I'm done I breathe a GREAT sigh of relief : ) 

My plan is to watch It's a Wonderful Life, make hot chocolate, and get it done.  Rob will give me an occasional "thumbs up" or "good work" from his place on the couch as he watches me.  I can't complain though.  He'll say he leaves it to me because I do a better job than him.  This is true. And from what I just told you, that's not saying much! LOL 

Don't you just love all the pretty things this time of year?  Candles, books, plants, sparkly lights, and sentimental ornaments.  Even candy canes are pretty!   

Here is a quick tour of some pretty things in my house. 

♥

My tree reflecting in the mirror is pretty! 

I dried oranges this week for a garland ♥

 

...and did a simmering pot with the leftover orange slices, lemons, rosemary, cranberries, and cinnamon sticks.  My house smelled like Williams Sonoma : ) 

~love~

I'm trying to be more minimal these days with my decorations. 

I actually like it a lot better the less I have.  It makes what I do put out more meaningful.  

Plants always. 

 I keep trying not to kill them.

 (fingers crossed with this Christmas cactus!)

My favorite holiday hand lotion.  It smells like a winter forest. 

I have it on my desk and use it all day while I'm working.  I love the packaging too.

 Pretty ornaments that catch my eye make me smile.  

This is an oldie (but goodie!). 

A new lip gloss to make my lips feel pretty.  Once again the packaging got me! 

And this.  

The one new piece of décor I treated myself to this year.  Because I am Mrs. Clause! ♥

I only wish I had elves to help me wrap! 

Happy December Days my friends! I hope all is well and you are enjoying your pretty things! 

(If you are done with your wrapping, I'm jealous!)  

Stay cozy!! xoxo 

December is here! ♥

Hello Friends! Happy December! ♥

It's such a nice feeling waking up to a Christmas tree in the house.  The first thing I do in the morning is switch it on so it glows and lights up the room.  I think my favorite time of day in December is early morning with the tree, when it's still quiet and the sun hasn't risen yet.  It's nice to spend some peaceful moments watching it sparkle.  December days can be so busy and hectic.  My to do list is overwhelming sometimes so it's important for me to ease into the day.  Everything will get done eventually.  For now it's just me and the tree.  Even though all the decorations are up and we've been watching Home Alone and Elf on repeat, I'm still amazed it's already December.  As a child time stood still this time of year.  It took FORVER for Christmas to come. As an adult, time slips away so quickly.  I feel like in a blink it will be New Years.   

I'm excited it's finally December so I can start my Advent calendar!! We got two this year and I've had them tucked away for weeks, just dying to crack into them.  John has a chocolate one and I got myself (Merry Christmas to me!) this cute English Tea Shop one.  I'm obsessed with their teas lately and this calendar has some flavors I haven't tried yet.  

 

I got it off Amazon (here).  

It's so darling! ♥

 

Yesterday's selection was a cozy winter chai.  So good! I've already peeked (of course I did) and today's tea will be "festive spice" which by the smell I think will be a cinnamon based tea. It's lovely to have a treat to look forward to everyday.  It's the little things, right?! 

            

John said his chocolate yesterday was just "ok" so I'm hoping today's will be a little tastier for him.  Speaking of tasty, I wanted to share with you a quick meal I made this week, which by the way is my lunch today.  Chicken broccoli and ziti. It's such an easy pasta dish!  I top it with toasted breadcrumbs like my mother always does and had a salad on the side.  I made a homemade vinaigrette for the first time and that went over very will too : ) 

Tomorrow there is a Christmas Bizarre at John's school that we are going to.  I love seeing all the homemade items.  Years ago my mother did craft shows at Christmas time.  She would spend months painting and sewing various things to be sold.  She loved it, but I know how much work went into it.  It was a labor of love, that's for sure.  Last year I picked up a few painted ornaments and some fudge.  If luck is on my side, the fudge lady will be back this year.  Fingers crossed! 

Have a wonderful and festive weekend, friends!  ♥

Stay cozy! xoox 

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping ♥

Hello Friends! Happy Wednesday! ♥

Here's a question.  What do you do with half a can of pumpkin??  That was my dilemma this weekend.  Don't you hate it when recipes only call for half a can of something? Like, let's use the whole can, shall we?! Not always. 

 My mother had some leftover pumpkin from a dessert she made for Thanksgiving.  She gave me the can and said that she was sure I would be able to use it (i.e. she was graciously unloading it on me:).  My first thought was of course pumpkin pancakes, because that is my go-to for leftover pumpkin.  But since I've been having 4:00 tea time I need to have something to go with it.  Tea and cake.  It's a thing.  So pumpkin coffee cake it is!  I got the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.  Every recipe from her site is amazing so I knew it would be good. Right down to the crumb topping and drizzled icing on top.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin.  Beautiful, because that's exactly what I had. 

So yummy and moist and perfect with a cup of tea.  

I've also been picking at it for breakfast with my coffee.  That's why I love coffee cakes.  

They can be breakfast, snack, or dessert! 

I've linked the recipe (here) if you have half a can of pumpkin that you need to use or you just want a treat. Or both ♥

Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st?  I'm excited to start my advent calendars tomorrow.  I've been looking at them for a month now! LOL  

Have a wonderful day, friends!  It's about to start pouring rain here.  

Stay cozy!!! xoox 

Happy Thanksgiving and a festive weekend! ♥

Good Morning lovely friends! ♥

 I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  I for one, am still full!  We spent a fun day at my brother in laws on Thursday.  It was a beautiful sunny fall day here and everything I wanted Thanksgiving to be. We ate, drank, told stories, laughed, and ate some more. I can imagine all of you sitting around your family tables doing the same thing.  That is certainly something to be thankful for and brings me such joy to envision. 

One of the best parts of my day was taking a walk around the neighborhood between dinner and dessert to digest and literally make room for pie.  I always overdo it on holidays....but hey, who doesn't?  Why do I love dessert some much??? Help me. 

I did not brave any stores this weekend (not up for that chaos!) but I will admit to buying a few things online this morning : )  The holiday season is officially here, so why not get a deal or two!  I'm almost done with my shopping and that brings me a huge sense of relief!  I'm looking forward to enjoying December as peacefully as I can without worrying about standing in line at some crowded store at the mall.  Thank you to whomever invented Amazon.  It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? 

Our table ~ 

My plate.  I love turkey dinner! ♥

We spent the rest of the weekend putting up the tree, decorating the house, and eating leftover pumpkin pie.  As you can see from this photo I'm eating half slices, so there's that...: ) 

    

We also watched this movie.  It's a sequel to A Christmas Story.  Ralphie is all gown up!  I loved it.  It's was so cute and heartwarming. It's on HBO Max.  

There is something magical about waking up to a Christmas tree in the house.  

And all our little treasures that come out for only a few precious weeks a year.  

And so it begins.  Thursday is December 1st.  The countdown is on. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and are getting off off to a good start this week.  I'm sitting here quietly in my office, surrounded by Christmas lights and drinking a peppermint mocha.  I can't escape it, so why not embrace it.  This week I have several appointments and things that need to be done, but I'm adamant about starting my days slow and steady and keeping calm.  I will also have my 4:00 afternoon cup of tea everyday no matter what. Time to put on some nice music and get to work.  Love you all! 

Stay cozy!!! xoox