NumberNineteen

Precious Ornaments

Over the past few years, I've collected a lot of vintage ornaments for our tree.  I'm always on the lookout for unique ones at a good price.  My sister took me to her "secret source" last spring & I loaded up! You may remember from this post that she has a phenomenal collection of vintage ornaments (see her January 2010 blog archives for photos).  In addition to clueing me in, she also has given me quite a few ornaments over the years. Here are some of my favorites:

This green one is particularly special to me because it once belonged to my great grandmother.  Aunt Kay, thank you so very much for giving this to me!

I absolutely love every vintage ornament that I own, but the most precious ornament on my tree is one that I received just yesterday:

My baby girl's handprint, decorated as snowmen, made in school with love.

2010 Holiday Party

Our home was aglow Saturday night with candles,

abundant in food,

filled with dressed up children snatching cookies when mom & dad weren't looking,

and warm with good friends.

Such a good night.

Gifts for Teachers & Friends

Every year, I come up with a little gift to give to teachers, hostesses, and other friends to whom I want to give a little something.  You may recall last year's pretzel bark and 2008's bavarian mint coffee mix.  This year, I made english toffee.  I was experimenting with it in the fall & was shocked at how easy it is to make.

I used this recipe from an old Southern Living magazine:

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1/4 cup water

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Bring sugar, butter & water to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook until mixture is golden brown & a candy thermometer reads 290 to 310 F.  Pour mixture onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Let stand about 30 seconds & spread melted chocolate over the top.  Sprinkle with chopped pecans.  Chill & break into bite sized pieces.

I have made this many times & experimented with the basic recipe (half white sugar, half brown) & it has turned out perfectly every time.

I printed up lables on the computer, put the candy in bags, tied them up with cute ribbon & I'm done!  I find that little gifts like this make the perfect hostess gift for all of those activities that fill December.  And, I give a bag with a book store gift card to each of Hope's teachers.

Christmas Cookies

It has been a cookie baking factory at my house over the last few weeks.  I've been madly prepping for our annual Christmas party, the highlight of which is a table groaning with hundreds of cookies.  This year I made  sugar cut outs (some with icing, some not), peanut butter kisses, oatmeal scotchies, rice krispie treats, mini pecan tarts, sandies, chocolate peppermint balls and pretzel bark.   It sounds like a lot, but it's been so much fun to be baking all of the time. 

We are expecting well over 60 people this year & I'm hoping that we have enough room for everyone -- our home is cozy and might be even cozier on Saturday night!

 

Annual Ladies' Tea

Every year, my friend Margot hosts a ladies' holiday tea at a fine hotel in DC.  It is a treasured time for all of us to get together & have girl's time in the midst of the craziness of the holidays.

Today was the day & it was so much fun.  Lots of sweets & caffeine made us one giddy group.  That & it is the day of the Kennedy Center Honors & the location of the tea (the Madarin Oriental Hotel) is a hub for many of the attendees.  We were on the look out for celebrities and were not disappointed!

We saw:

Alec Baldwin...he looks in person just like he does on tv...my friend claims that I was so excited to see him that my nudge to her was more like a jab, but I think that she exaggerates... ;)

John Lithgow...he was immediately recognizable...again, looks in person just as he does on television.

John Travolta...OK, I admit it, I only saw the back of his head.  I was taking the photo at the top of this blog entry when he was walking by.  The girls assured me that it was indeed him.

Merle Haggard...he is one of tonight's honorees at the Kennedy Center.  I admit, I didn't recognize him, but I was told that I was looking at him.

Forrest Whitaker...saw him just as we were leaving...his wife was in a stunning gown.

I was slightly disappointed, as I'd hoped to see more female celebrities..Oprah is being honored & we hoped that we'd catch a glimpse.  But, truly, the best part was enjoying time with my girlfriends.

*****

All photos of celebrities were found on the internet:
#1- connect.in.com, #2- anthonycovino.blogspot.com, #3- thelmagazine.com, #4- metroactive.com (photo by Piper Ferguson), #5- people.com (photo by Michael Buckner)

Advent Calendar

For the first time, we are going to have an advent calendar.  I had one when I was a kid & loved the anticipation of opening a door each night.  Over the summer, I bought a kit to make this calendar, thinking that it would be nice to have one that we could use for years to come.  What I didn't know when I purchased the kit is that when they say "some assembly required", they mean "we haven't assembled anything for you.  even those little drawers".  Once I got the thing put together, it was fun to decorate. 

Since Hope gets so many sweets as it is, we opted to fill about half of the drawers with tiny gifts (erasers, mini lip glosses, etc) & the rest with small candies.  Also, that way, she never knows what that day's drawer will hold.  She was so excited to open today's drawer that she ran downstairs  as soon as she got up.  I think that Christmas with a 5 year old is going to be really fun.