More Traditions.

 Every year, I consider doing a "theme" tree.  I love seeing trees done in all blue, pink, red...or with ornaments related to a theme like movies, a favorite book, or a destination.  At the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago, you can get tons of inspiration via their "Christmas Around the World" exhibit, which showcases trees that either reflect the typical tree decor or pay homage to the country itself.  Someone came by my house the other night and said that my tree looked like one from one of the Scandinavian countries. Cool!  That's about the closest I'm going to get unless I decide to go all-out with a second tree.  When I had the space, I did put up two, even three trees, but no real theme.  Just more room for the assortment of ornaments I've amassed over the past 30+ years.  

 Working in the field of Early Childhood Education for most of those years, a common gift from my families was a Christmas ornament.  This turned out to be not just an affordable gift, but a thoughtful and smart one to give.  As I later learned when my own children had multiple teachers and staff members at school that I wanted to remember, an ornament for everyone was pretty affordable, especially once I learned that the Christmas shop at Macy's is 90% off the week after Christmas.  Next year's gift buying was done by January 10.  This made it super affordable to give a really nice gift and also made it easy.  That alone makes it a smart gift, but the fact that I remember certain children EVERY TIME I unpack these makes it timeless.  I also have an array of other ornaments that I've purchased myself, or for my children, or received as gifts from friends and family.  I've never met a Christmas ornament that I didn't like, even the slightly scary Christopher Radko-esque clown that I still put up (on the back of the tree...).

 Not from a child, but from that time I won the ugliest ornament contest.  As the winner, I got take home the ugly ornament of my choice.  I worked with a group of Directors for the better part of 15 years, and the faces didn't change much.  The 14 of us got together every year for lunch and....well....I do miss them!  This sumo wrestler isn't ugly at all to me and reminds me of some really great times.  I found him missing a leg when I unpacked him this year, the result of one too many moves.  But, silicone glue (my new best friend) had him fixed up in seconds.  Seriously, the stuff is amazing. 

 A little girl named Brittany gave me this ornament in 1984.  The pillow inside is scented.  Still.  Very scented.  Hallmark...what can I say?

 Belvedeer the Reindeer from Avon.  Not from a child, but from myself when I helped my mom sell Avon while I was in high school.  Geez, I really do keep everything!

 From Katie, c. 1986.  She was in my 3-year old class.  She was rambunctious.  She also leaned too close to her birthday cake and caught her hair on fire.  Just a few strands singed.  No harm done.  

 From Kaylin, Kylie and Russsell.  Mom was a professional by day, and a serious crafter by night.  (Not that she couldn't be a professional crafter, but she wasn't).  She made awesome ornaments every year.  This soldier is made from a clothespin. 

 This was given to me by my brother's mother-in-law.  Sweet lady!  She gave this to me the first year I was married, 24 years ago.  

 With all of the ornaments I have from other kids, I love this one that my daughter's teachers helped her make when she was just over a year old.  Awwwwwww.......................................................

And then there's this family ornament that I still hang, with all of our names on it, including my ex-husband's.  Everything, I mean everything and everyone that has been a part of my life figure deeply into who, what and where I am today.  No regrets. 

 Besides, the reindeer are just too cute not to hang.  

#traditions

And The Winner Is...

I posted a giveaway last week, this time offering up a big mason jar full of my Christmas Blend hot chocolate.  The winner was just announced, and I'm looking for the perfect box...

I'm coming up on my last weekend at the Pop-Up, but we're probably going to put in some hours next week anyway.  I was pretty much convinced that I was not going to spend any time there during Christmas week because that's family time.  We'll see, but Christmas Eve is definitely out.  I hosted a private party yesterday with a few friends and family and sales were good.  I'm going to start bringing things home (some that I never really wanted to sell anyway, lol) and hopefully continue the online selling onslaught that's occurred over the past two weeks.  Overall, the sales were not great, but certainly not a waste of my time.  I made money, and that's a good thing.  More importantly, I connected with a few customers who I know will be repeats and a few business people that will likely provide opportunities that I hadn't expected.  Also, there is the experience of being in a brick and mortar (great) and the experience of working with a group of women who are at their core, good people, albeit a few have some deep seated "issues" that even they may not be aware of.  It's even worse than I thought now that I've learned that I have been the "go to" blame carrier for everything from the low inventory of cookies to the backed-up toilet.  I can't even get mad at this ridiculousness.  It just goes to show me that for some people, high school was the pinnacle and they just can't leave it.  I seem to get an extra dose of attention from one lady in particular, and I'm concerned about her motives.  You know how little kids will do anything for attention, even if it's negative?  Yep.  She comments on everything I do.  Even picks on me a little, which is hard for me to say.  But, it's true.  I do know how to get her off my back, but I'm all about peace and tranquility these days, and not expending my energy unless I really want to.  I don't.  But it is a little creepy...

In the meantime, I have seriously curbed my shopping, but still found some amazing things in the past two weeks.  Case in point:

Yes, I found these absolutely gorgeous sequinned dresses.  My daughter obliged me by trying them on, but there's no way she's wearing them.  That means they're up for sale, or maybe a lucky person will find one under the Christmas tree.  I don't generally give second-hand gifts, but seriously, who would complain?  No clothes loving girl that I know. 

And now I must go because my KIDS (ages 17 and 23) are bugging me about making cookies.  Some things never change.

And I hope they never do!

Traditions!

We have quite a few and I am so happy that we got started early!

We took advantage of a mild 30+ degree night and took the train downtown Chicago to do the "Macy's Thing".  This constitutes a very small amount of shopping, if any.  Our primary reason for being there is to see the big tree, check out the window displays, and grab a bite to eat in the food court.  This time we took a friend of mine and her nine year old daughter.  Good times.

 She snapped this cellphone pic of the three of us.  I jokingly posted it on Facebook as my official Christmas card.  I think I may do a little better in terms of the card sending, but I love this picture!  None of us was dressed for a Christmas pic, but it turned out great.  Bad color and all.  The tree this year wasn't as spectacular as some that I've seen before, but it was made dramatic by changing lights which changed the color of the entire tree and decorations every few minutes.  It's so cool (and humbling) that my adult and teenage children still want to hang out with me.  Down Washington Street, just a block from Macy's is the Christkindl Market.  It was more crowded last night than I've ever seen it, so we just browsed and kept it moving.  A pound of toasted almonds kept us happy until we got back to Macy's to eat, after which we took a tiny little side trip to Magnolia Bakery to sample the banana pudding and take home a few treats.  

Next up, per my son's request, I bought all the makings for our white chocolate/cranberry dipped pretzels.  I brought him the first few and he threw a hissy fit that I didn't wait for him.  Silly me, I thought he just wanted to eat them!  Between the three of us, we made about two dozen with enough left over to make another two.  I added just a little coconut oil to keep the chocolate loose enough to get the job done.  After cooling a little, I just add chopped "craisins" and let them cool completely.  Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Good!  A glass of sparking juice and the required toast, and we were set for our first official Christmas kitchen tradition.  

Next up?  Hot chocolate, Christmas Blend.  I'll fill a few jars to give as gifts, and keep a lot for us.  The sweet, savory and spicy combo keeps my taste buds happy and coming back for more.  Then there are Christmas movies to watch, a gingerbread house to build and decorate, and rides around town looking at the light displays.  Yes, we still do that "boring" stuff and I'm so blessed that Christmas is still all about being together.  

Something old, Something new.

I can't recreate the look of my house.  I don't mean the one I live in now, but rather the first house I bought with my then-husband, the house we raised our two children in.  It was a pretty big house, built in the 50's, but large and modern, even by today's standards.  Since I love mid-century style, the raised hearth, flat roof and slate tile was extremely appealing to me, even though the house in general came to need a lot of work/money invested in it to really make it great.  I did what I could, painting, rearranging and working hard on that half-acre plot of land.  Much of it I did by myself, or with the help of my sister.  I kind of loved that house, especially at Christmas.  




























I decorated EVERY room.  I had my staff over at Christmas a few times, and they said it was pretty much sensory overload.  Collections were everywhere:  Trees, Santas, snowmen, nutcrackers and more recently, cardinals.  The bathroom, bedrooms, kitchen, even the basement, got some love.  Lights, wreaths...I had a closet in the basement dedicated to all things Christmas.  About 10 bins in all, plus the large items that wouldn't fit.  Two trees, sometimes three.  Yep.  Seeing these pictures reminds me of things I had to let go, things I forgot about, and things I had to give away when the second storage unit couldn't hold any more.  It also reminds me that I had a crappy camera back then. 

I moved into a beautiful apartment for one year, and was able to decorate it in such a way that it really took my breath away every time I entered it.  I have some great pictures to show for it since there really wasn't a way to take a bad picture of this room:  

I refer back to this picture a lot, but I think I'll retire it after this year.  Overall, living there wasn't a good experience and by the end of that year, I was more than ready to move.  Not finding a place right away, I spent about six months living with my mom and sister, and while being all together had it's good points my little family needed our own home.  We spent Christmas there and in the spring we found a small three bedroom house and we're settled in and loving it.  Trying to recreate the look and feel of my previous homes is futile.  This is a completely different style, different feel, and different people live in it.  My chubby-faced ten year old is now a senior in high school.  My sixteen year old is a career girl working on a Masters' degree.  It's still very important to me that they have a spectacular Christmas, limited funds notwithstanding.  As of yet there are no gifts under the tree, but the cabinets are full of the makings for cookies, white chocolate coated pretzels, a gingerbread house and my "famous" hot chocolate.  No matter how old they get (so far) we all still look forward to going downtown on the train, eating roasted chestnuts at the Christkindlmarket, reading the entire story in the windows at Macy's and taking pictures by the big tree.  

And we do a little decorating too:

Bigger tree!

No fireplace so we're faking it.

The one new piece of furniture I bought after I moved into the apartment. 

I framed this greeting card many years ago.

I got this from a little girl a long time ago.  It looks exactly the same
no matter where I hang it.

I have had this basket of Christmas junk on the kitchen counter
for years.  Ornament hangers, candles, socks, stickers...
stuff I might need.  I'm a junk drawer junkie.

Kicking myself over the big snowman I left at the apartment.
I still don't know why I decided to leave it.

I regret giving away so many things when I was super emotional and nearly despondent about being "homeless".  I regret that my children ended up being from a "broken" home which I tried hard for 18 years to avoid.  I sometimes regret the choice of "Olive Oil Yellow" for my kitchen walls.  But I'll never regret one extra trip up that ladder to rearrange the penguins and snowmen on top of the cabinets or another little turn of  a nutcracker to angle him just so on the shelf.  I'm far from satisfied with it right now but it will come together.  In the meantime, we're perfectly happy to carry on our old traditions in a new space and nothing more needs to be done for that to happen.    

New Recipe Alert!

My first sponsored post!  I'm so excited!  Why?  Well, not because it's a sponsored post, but because this noodles and cheese side dish turned out really well and I have added a new dish to my repertoire.

 I received a sample pack of some new Campbell's products in the mail.  I don't often try new recipes, since I have tons that I already love, plus I tend to do a lot of "winging it" in the kitchen.  I received a recipe booklet in the box and everything looked really good, so since the ingredients were right in my kitchen, why not?  I'm always checking out new recipes in magazines and on Pinterest, but most of the time I say "I'm going to try that one day", but rarely get around to it.  Not this time though!  This looked so good and I needed a side dish for dinner one night so I decided to make this creamy mac-n-cheese recipe.  I didn't have elbows on hand, so I substituted flat noodles, which I happen to like better anyway.   

 The Creamy Poblano and Queso condensed soup came with my sample box.  It was super easy from there.

 Onions, tomato, red bell pepper cilantro and ginger.  I like the grated ginger in the jar.  It tastes good and the hard work is already done. 

 In went the noodles. 

 Melted butter.  Looks so good it deserves two pictures!  Actually, I used a heart healthy spread. 

 I went a little heavy on the onion, but I love them so!  

 I added the tomato and ginger to the onions once they were tender. 

 Kinda pretty, don't you think?

 Add milk.  Working my way up to creamy goodness!

 And a hearty helping of grated cheese.

 The pot's too big.  I do realize this.  Add the sauce to the noodles.  

Pretty!  I served it with turkey patties and salad.  This was a great dinner!  We'll definitely be repeating this. 

Here's a link to the original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-poblano-mac--cheese/

#DiscoverCampbells
#CampbellsTasters

The Vortex is Back!

Yes, that means that we're experiencing colder than usual temps, even for Chicago.  It was 5 degrees (with the wind chill) yesterday and the day before, and the wind was blowing hard pretty much all day.  I braved it and did my errands run on Monday, hitting two post offices, the bank, the grocery store, the library and the gas station.  It was grueling, but I made sure to get it done.  Back at home with a full fridge, it felt good to get so much accomplished.  It was a much better feeling than what I started out with that morning.  For the first time EVER, I ran out of gas.  This happened to my son a few days before and I was sure that he just didn't pay attention to the gauge, but no, my gas gauge, like so many other things on my 10 year old car, has gone AWOL.  I have nearly 180,000 miles on this car, so it's served me well.  Even with the vandalism (think sugar in the gas tank) it's held up amazingly and has taken me and my kids on tons of road trips, both short and long.  If you're still stuck on the sugar in the gas tank thing, my insurance company took care of everything since it was an act of vandalism.  I never knew I had vandalism coverage until I was stalked by a vandal.  But more about that later.  No, never mind that.  No weapon formed against me is worth talking about...it's all good.  

Back to the cold.  We got a reprieve today, in the form of a 32 degree heatwave.  It felt so much better!  We're expecting 50 degrees by Saturday, which means that the yard work I procrastinated on will get done.  Cue the teenage son.  When he gets up at noon, he has plans, whether he knows it or not.  

I'm in the shop three days a week, with at least another one just working on merchandise and displays.  This is so much fun and I know that it's something I want to pursue on a more permanent basis.  I also know that I want to choose my "roommates" because there's some interesting personalities working in there that I really don't have time for.  Some people seem to thrive on discontent, which is probably the by-product of discontentment.  Me?  What Sweet said:


Determined not to let this crappy weather get the best of me (or my kids) I started in with the home remedies.  My kids have been drinking warm tea since they were toddlers so there's always plenty of it in the house, but I decided to make my own.  The tea bag "blanks" have been so handy!  I've been using dried sage, but at the grocery store I picked up some fresh mint (my favorite) and rosemary.  I recently read that sniffing rosemary helps your memory.  'Nuff said.  I put a few sprigs into a teabag and tied it up for a pillow sachet.  I'm used to rosemary having that evergreen-y scent, so while I don't find it unpleasant, it's not anything I'm attached to.  While lying down and relaxing for the first time all day, I breathed it in as I fell asleep.  Warm notes?  I never noticed that before.  Almost vanilla-y.  Yes, if you add a "y" to any word it becomes an adjective.  My rule.  Anyhoo, the tea was great and I'm brewing more as I write.  

Mint, rosemary, sage, lemon and honey.  Mmmm, Mmmmm, good!  I love this lucite cup.  Great for steeping, then the lid becomes a coaster.  Thrift find...but you probably knew that.  

I also found this sequinned dress which I've had for awhile, but couldn't find.  Moving and all that jazz.  A friend asked me to keep an eye out for one, and I told her about this dress.  It took me nearly six months to find. it.  Luckily, she still wants it with holiday parties on the horizon. 'Tis the season!

And who doesn't need a great set of matching glasses?  This vintage set is in mint condition and I'm tempted to get rid of all my mix and match stuff and just go with this gorgeous cobalt, green and gold set.  But first, let's try selling it.  I have gifts to buy.  'Tis the season for that too.

Man, I love these!  

Here's hoping that the selling picks up.  Waiting for better weather is a waste of time.  Just get out there and buy stuff!  That 50 degree thing is still looking good though.  Feels like selling weather to me.

Mission Accomplished!

The pop-up shop is keeping me busy!  Even though we're only open three days out of each week, I spend the other four rearranging, tagging, and searching for new things.  At least now I have a legitimate reason for shopping and hoarding.  In an effort to not let my inner do-it yourselfer get too lost, I decided that this week I would make a real effort to get my house in order.   First, the toilet in my bathroom was broken, causing me to have to take the tank lid off and lift the plunger to flush.  After a few days of this, the whole handle just fell off.  One day of reaching into that cold water was enough.  I remembered that my handyman had left a bag of "toilet parts" behind, telling me to return them and get my money.  I'm terrible about returning things, so I ignored his advice and figured that I'd give it to someone or sell it at a yard sale.  Amazingly enough, I had exactly what I needed in that bag.  Now this is an incredibly easy task but still, I'd never done it.  I felt like Rosie the Riveter with my newly functioning toilet.

In fact, I was so full of myself that I dragged out the step ladder and tackled the living room drapes.  A couple of well-placed cup hooks and suddenly, no more sagging curtain rod.  No more dragging drapes.  No more duct tape, my sister's solution to EVERYTHING. 

In true "Rosie" fashion, I took it a step further by hanging a vintage Scandinavian curio shelf that had been literally lying around for over a year.  

After going to the shop tonight and moving some furniture, I returned to a lethargic teenager who is really getting nervous about leaving for school next year.  I made him some tea, his favorite comfort food/drink, which he's been drinking since he was a toddler.  Since he wasn't feeling well, I added fresh lemon and sage to hot green tea.  

I just love herbs.  This looks, smells and tastes really "herby".

As I was making a cup for myself, I remembered the empty tea bags I bought awhile back.  Previously only used to create my homemade pest repellant, I realized that they'd likely make a mean cup of tea.  See why it's so important to keep random things around? 

Dried sage.  Just hanging around!
  Look closely and you'll see that my sister and her duct tape have been at it again.

Those tea bags!  Fifty cents well spent.

If I stay this productive, I expect to clean house, grocery shop, make ornaments, run errands, pay bills, take and post some vintage dresses online. After I finish all that work, I'll work.  Being single for six years now has taught me that I can really take care of everything, even if sometimes I don't want to.