Christmas Vaca: To Do Lists

My long-awaited Christmas vacation is finally here. Technically, it started on last Thursday. Thursday and Friday don't really count, though. I don't have a good reason for that. I just don't feel like they count.

So, I don't go back to work until January 3. There are some times this week that are already spoken for. I'm taking my mom to Chicago on Thursday night to have dinner, see White Christmas, and enjoy the city. I will stay at my parents' for NYE. That will take up Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning.

The rest of the week is mine.

What I Should Do:

• Organize my basement and take some things to Goodwill as a last-minute tax deduction
• Laundry
• Clean out the dishwasher in hopes of eliminating the stench that comes from it every time I run it
• Get new tires
• Pay bills
• Back-up my laptop
• Wash my car
• Take down my Christmas decorations
• Clean my bedroom
• Change the sheets; wash the quilt
• Organize my acrylic stamps

What I Want to Do:

• Start the new year with an empty DVR
• Finish the Hunger Games series which I have been hoarding since August
• Write some meaningful notes for a happy new year to some of my favorite people
• Make a resolution for 2011 (and choose a word to represent my year)
• Finish my December Daily
• Have lunch and scrapbook with Stephanie
• Make Noble Pig's Three-Day Marinara and Meatballs
• Try Martha Stewart's bacon ginger cookies
• Finish Color of Water for January book club
• Scrapbook just for fun
• See Tangled with Natalie and Katelyn
• Visit AJ with a special Christmas gift
• ETA: Try Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls

I will check back at the end of the week to let you know what I actually accomplished.

Above picture (I know. . . it's not a good picture) taken with my fun, new Polaroid camera. Thanks, Mom.

Happy Happy

May your Christmas be merry and bright.

Bake-a-palooza (in review)

5 women.
14 hours.
18 recipes.
Bake-a-palooza 2010.

Here is what we made:
Triple Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Eggnog Baby Bundt Cakes

Pretzel Kiss M&M Candy
Reindeer Bark
Fudge (Mama Sue's secret recipe)
Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt

7-Layer Bars
Praline Strips (Mama Sue's recipe)
Red Velvet Bars
Toffee Squares
Candy Bar Bars (Mama Sue's recipe)

PB Chocolate Ritz Cookies (Em's recipe)
PB Cookies with Chocolate Kisses
Hot Chocolate Mocha Cookies
Egg Nog Snickerdoodles
Pecan Fingers (Mama Sue's recipe)
Candy Cane Kiss Brownie Bites (made by Stephanie)
Spritz Cookies (made by Mama Sue)

And, my thoughts on what we made. (I hope I remember to come back to this post next year as I'm planning recipes.)

• The biscotti was just okay. It took a long time to bake, cool, and bake again. And, it was difficult to slice it thinly enough to make it seem, look, and taste like biscotti.
• Eggnog baby bundt cakes. This recipe was actually for an eggnog pound cake. Note to self: pound cake does rise. Only fill the pans about half full. And, the recipe was just enough for 12 baby bundts. The final product was adorable, and the glaze made with granulated sugar looked like snow. I would change the glaze a little in the future - double it and omit the rum.
• Pretzel kiss candies. I am convinced that Hershey's changed the recipe for their Kisses to make them unmeltable. Next year, I will make these again but only using Hugs. 
• Reindeer Bark. I wasn't a fan of this. It did add some nice color to the trays, but the red Oreos were impossible to find and it was really difficult to get the bark to stay together.
• Fudge. Keep this every year - although, it sure does take a lot of stirring.
• Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt. Keep this recipe, too. But, remember to make it toward the beginning of the line-up because the truffles need to sit for about 2 hours after being scooped and before being coated with chocolate.
• 7-Layer bars. I'm not so sure about this one. I think I might be able to find a recipe that is less crumbly. These just didn't stay together very well after baking and cutting.
• Praline strips. Although these cause quite the pronunciation controversy, they will stay on the list for every single year. Super easy to make and totally delicious.
• Red Velvet Bars. Keep. And, make several pans just to hoard for myself. Delicious.
• Toffee Squares. Yuck. Either find a new recipe or replace with something else in the future.
• Candy Bar Bars. Love these and must remember to make throughout the year. . . not just at Christmas.
• PB Ritz Cookies. Yum, but what a total pain to make. Luckily, Debbie did all the dipping.
• PB Cookies with Kisses. Next year, I want to try a recipe with shortening instead of butter. My mom insists on using butter, and the cookies end up totally flat and strange looking.
• Hot Chocolate Mocha Cookies. Note to self: a single batch of these makes about 36 cookies. There is, therefore, no need to triple the recipe. And, these tasted much better hot than cooled.
• Egg Nog Snickerdoodles. While great, in theory, I wasn't a fan of these. They got really flat and really crispy.
• Pecan Fingers. Family recipe. Will always stay on the list.
• Candy Cane Kiss Brownie Bites. Delicious and oh-so-cute. Need to be kept separate from other treats, though, because of their minty-ness.
• Spritz Cookies. Apparently, there are several secrets to these. 1. Soften the butter. 2. Have a good cookie press. 3. Ask your mom to make them for you.

And, some recipes I still want to try:
Oreo Truffles
Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies
Pistachio Biscotti
Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies
Almond Roca
Hot Chocolate Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Christmas Crunch
Smoky Bacon Ginger Cookies
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Orange Icing
Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
Candy Cane Macarons
Butter Toffee

Holiday Madness

Blurry Christmas light photos seemed like the best way to capture the blurry holiday mood I'm in today.

I started with just some regular holiday bokeh from this tutorial.

Then, Em sent me this cool photography tutorial. My first attempt was with a Fiskars medium-sized star punch. The punch was too large to get the effect I wanted. I tried a Stampin' Up tiny heart punch instead. That got me closer to what I was trying for.

Today I am thinking about all of the holiday preparations I still need to make: two more days of work to survive, gifts to be purchased, gifts to be wrapped, a few more cards to be written, menus to be planned, cookies to be delivered, visits to be planned, Santa letters to be answered.

Today I am trying to think more about the December celebrations yet to come: a dinner date with Luke and Dottie on Wednesday, a quiet Christmas Eve with my parents, Christmas Day fondue with Brad's family, a visit with Stephanie during my time off next week, White Christmas in Chicago with my mom, celebrating New Years Eve in a different way than ever before.

I am trying so hard to focus on the fun instead of the stress.

Snow.

What to say about today? There was lots of snow.

There was snow flying in directions that I just don't think snow was meant to fly. There was snow flying in directions that led to drifts of nearly 20".

There was too much snow for Memphis.

Brad was a good sport about it, though. He cleaned it all up and humored me with a few pictures.

I holed up in the house scrapbooking and baking while Brad operated the snow blower.

Recipe for gingerbread bread found here.

If only this could have happened during the week.

The Holiday Stress

Today the stress of the season hunted me down, tackled me, stomped all over me, and then sat on my head. Really. There was no catalyst for the attack of the holiday stress. It just happened. On my way to work this morning, my shoulders tightened, my head started aching, and my gas light went on.

It wasn't until almost 12 hours later - as I sprinted through the grocery store to buy some buns to replace the ones I forgot to take out of the freezer before leaving for work this morning - that I realized that I need to be in control of the holiday stress.

So, I bought myself some flowers and decided to concentrate only on what I could control and dwell only on healthy thoughts.

I thought about the advice of a friend - if letting go is too difficult instead focus on loosening your grip. I thought about nice things I have done lately for people I care about, little ways I have brightened the lives of others. I loved opening my first Christmas card of the season. I made a list of the gifts I have bought so far; it was longer than I expected it to be. Brad and I ate dinner with only the Christmas tree lights on.

It was strange, but even just buying the flowers made me feel better.

I am going to be okay. I am going to enjoy this December.

Monday with Natalie

Natalie and I rang bells for the Salvation Army today. More about that later. Tonight, though, let me just tell you about why Natalie is so awesome.

Reason 1.
She reported that she would like a Barbie Doll for Christmas. You can imagine my excitement about this! I asked her what kind of Barbie she wanted. Her reply? "I want a Barb Barbie." That's right. She wants a Barbie that looks like me. Awesome.

Reason 2.
She has inherited my love of the word "seriously." Overheard, "For serious" and "Are you seriously?" She is still - clearly - learning how to use the word properly. It was seriously adorable.

(Digital) Paper and Scissors - November pages

 I went to a crop with Stephanie today and hung out with my laptop. How lame is that? I actually packed my trunk full of pictures and paper and goodies and just decided to use the laptop instead. So, here's what I did with some of my favorite pictures from November.

Supplies:
Cathy Zielske templates from Designer Digitals
"It's a Hoot" kit from Two Peas
"Just the Backs" in cream from Two Peas

Supplies:
Ali Edwards Calendar Template from Designer Digitals
Ali Edwards Months and Days Words from Designer Digitals
Ali Edwards Sentiment Tabs from Designer Digitals
"It's a Hoot" kit from Two Peas
"Just the Backs" in cream from Two Peas

Birthday and Christmas List

In no particular order, a few things I'm coveting.

Kitchen Stuff:

 

Kitchen Tongs with plastic ends

Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons

New Cookie Sheets

would prefer Volrath Co. Cookie Sheet

Kitchenaid Immersion Blender (in red)

Le Creuset 3.5 qt Round Dutch Oven (in Cherry)

Photography Stuff:

Camera remote

Camera Strap Cover

Books and Reading Stuff:

Nook (color with Wifi)

Ina Garten's new cookbook

Scrapbooking Stuff:

New Trimmer

Gift certificates for:
Barnes & Noble
Starbucks
Studio Calico

And, what's a Christmas list without a few totally outrageous requests? I have been a very good girl.

Watch

Ring

 

 

 New Bag

Mac Book

Thank You: In Review

I thanked 30 people this month, writing each one a personal note.

Here are the people I ended up with:
1. Emily
2. Aunt Amy
3. Mrs. Lundgren
4. Memphis
5. Mom and Dad
6. Friend
7. Brad
8. Charlene
9. Angie
10. the Vaters
11. Chris
12. Katrina
13. Grandma
14. Sue
15. Stephanie
16. Rob
17. Uncle Gordon
18. My Professional Mentors
19. Erin and Anna
20. Laura
21. Mrs. Davis
22. High School Forensics Team
23. Dad
24. Natalie
25. Grandpa
26. Mike, Angie, Luke, & Dottie
27. Mom
28. Nicky
29. Nikki
30. Grandpa

I started out the month by making a list of many possible people to thank. Throughout the month, I narrowed it down based on who I saw, who had birthdays, and who just seemed logical to fit in at other places during the month. The list grew and changed a little throughout the month, but not much. It wasn't difficult to think of 30 people. It would have been tough to go on for another month, though.

I tried hard to be specific and original about something they did for me or with me, a detail of our relationship, or what they mean (or meant) to me. That part was hard; some days I just wanted to write something generic and not really put much thought into the process. Many days, though, I realized details about my relationships that I never would have taken the time to even think about - much less put into writing - without this project as inspiration.

I also tried to add some kind of a photo to each thank you. I had a great time going through old photos and also realized that I need to make sure I get in pictures more with the people who are important to me. And, I need to talk to my mom about getting photos of relatives (especially her parents).

Right now, the thank you notes are grouped together in a box. I will make them into a mini-album with the pictures I shared with each post. I don't think I'll get to that until after my December Daily, though.

I'm glad I took the time to do this every day during November. I don't think it's a project I will need to try again next year, but I do want to do another type of gratitude project in the future.

December Daily 2010

December Daily 2010

In Christames past, I have really enjoyed playing along with some type of December Daily. It was Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" that really got me involved and Ali Edwards's projects that have kept me going.

Here is what started it in 2006.
Here's what I made in 2007.  (never finished)
Here is 2008.
Here is 2009. (never finished)

And, here is 2010.

I don't have much creativity when it comes to these things. Mine is pretty much an identical copy of Ali Edwards's album. I added some vintage elements, made a cover that was a little more "me", and used a few different details inside.