Tree Lighting at Yankee Candle

Starting off our Christmas festivities we went over to the tree lighting at Yankee Candle last night. The temps were fairly mild in the 40s so it was pleasant enough wandering around looking at the employee decorated trees while we waited for Santa to light the tree.  There were carollers and an ice sculpture as well. The crowd started moving closer to the tree as Santa and Mrs Claus made their way over. Santa counted down from ten and then….the magical moment arrived.  Beautiful! Santa and Mrs Claus posed for pictures after and had their pictures taken with many of the children in attendence. What a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

Food & Fresh Air – Mosaic Monday

This Mosaic Monday I find myself wanting to share two different mosaics with you.  With Thanksgiving approaching this Thursday, Christmas will be following too closely on its heels and there’s so many pictures and ideas for mosaics yet to come. Matt and I celebrated my birthday last month with dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Here’s the mosaic I made of our delicious meal.

One of my favorite things about this restaurant, aside from the amazing food is the portions. We brought enough home for two more meals! We’ve been going to this place for like ever!  We had a few days of unseasonably warm weather and took advantage of yesterday’s sunny skies and near 60 deg. to take a walk on one of the trails on Mt. Sugarloaf. It’s amazing how all the leaves being off the trees changes the landscape.  I had my trusty camera along to record what we saw including some berries the warm temps had urged. Be sure to visit the link to Mary’s site to see all the other beautiful mosaics this week.

Holidays in Hand-Values

I’ve taken Jessica Sprague’s Holidays in Hand class. After taking her Stories in Hand free class last year and getting so much out of it I was excited to see she was offering another free class this year. You get all the information, prompts and encouragement to do the class at your own pace and time frame.  Works perfectly for me, especially when class time came and I was busy with other stuff. Things are quieting down a bit today and my schedule getting back to normal so I can devote some time now. Day 1 – what words describe your holiday values?

• togetherness
• magic
• gratitude
• food
• sharing
• reflecting
• memorable

Values become goals. How do I do this?  We gather on Thanksgiving for the Macy’s parade on tv and then dinner at Whately Inn. After we come back home to enjoy some favorite viewing on tv and enjoy each other’s company over pie.  Crystal and I make a cookie baking date and enjoy supper together and watching some our favorite Christmas specials or movies between cookie batches baking.  We should make more of a point of going to Christmas Vespers at Smith. The music always moves me and traditions of the evening magical.  Tree lightings in the area are beautiful and free! Christmas Eve we come together with Matt’s mom as well for a family evening.

Commit:  ”Find a way to include at least 20 minutes of recording/writing/photographing/savoring/printing/gluing/scrapbooking/remembering/slowing down EVERY DAY in December.” Last year I made a little mini album of the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It was a lot of fun and I enjoy having it to look back on and reflect on those days. I want/need to do this! I know I’m still messing around with my summer mini album and my year long project “No Place Like Home” but I will make the time for this.

Jumpin’ Jack’s-Brenda Photo Challenge

As the holidays approach we’re spreading out our challenges to once a month instead of the usual every two weeks. This last edition of the Brenda Photo Challenge on the two-week schedule is Ageless. The instructions from Donna read: 

“INSTRUCTIONS:

Ageless can mean, Anything that represents something that Father Time can Not touch! Something that is Timeless…Ageless to you! What it Means to You in pictures…”

Now this really gave me pause to figure out what I wanted to do. A variety of shots of things? places? You know me always thinking outside the box. A few places came to mind and one gave me my focus for the challenge. This time it’s ‘in the box’ so to speak..a Jack in the Box. In September we made a day trip out to New York State to the area I grew up. We made a pilgrimage of sorts to one of my favorite places, Jumpin’ Jack’s in Scotia, NY.  Jumpin’ Jack’s has been a part of the culture in the Capital District area for over 50 years. I never knew it not to be there.  Here’s the link to their official website and if you look at the older pictures you’ll see the only thing that’s changed is the prices and those are still an amazing deal for the food you get.  The table with the pump dispensers for ketchup, mustard and all your favorite condiments is still there.As well as the steady line of people. A seasonal favorite, only open in the summer it was a special treat to me as a kid growing up to go there. Serving up delicious burgers, hot dogs and fish along with fries and onion rings at the charcoal pit and a special building for soft serve. What a treat for a wee me to  have soft ice cream swirled with two flavors!  Back in the 60s that was a pretty big deal. All these years later and it’s like stepping back in time when I get out of the car and smell the burgers on the grill and see the cloud of smoke that hangs over the rear of the pit.  It continues to inspire new generations as this year’s opening day over 200 local high school students suspiciously had doctor’s appointments that afternoon. And the food! On our latest trip my Jackburger(1 burger, 1 cheeseburger, coleslaw on a bun charbroiled) was amazing as always!

Thursday Thirteen

1. Matt goes back to work Monday! YaY!
2. I love Guy Fieri and love his “Diners’ Drive-ins and Dives”. Would love to ride around in a red convertible with hehe like him and try all those places out.
3. favorite quote this week…”"I owe 30 percent [of my good looks] to genes, 30 percent to good sex, 30 percent because of sports and healthy lifestyle, and for the remaining 10 percent I have to thank my plastic surgeon. I’m 71, but I’m happier, the sex is better and I understand life better.”" …Jane Fonda.  You go Jane!
4. I’m now on tumblr also sharing this, that and the other thing. Bits and pieces from the various newsletters I subscribe to, multitude of blogs I follow on Google Reader and quotes I collect.
5. So happy that Kelly Osborne is going to the finals on Dancing with the Stars. She, Mya and Donny were who Crystal and I hoped would.
6. Who’s cooking Thanksgiving dinner? I’m not. We have a tradition of going to Whately Inn for their amazing food.
7. Forbes magazine named Will Ferrell the #1 overpaid actor. Can I say I agree!
8. Massachusetts ranked #3 for healthiest states.
9. We are so digging C.S.I.:NY.
10. So excited I got a Jazzercise dvd from the library. Had to freeze my class cause I have a real problem with night driving so will start back up in February.
11. Christmas tree is up at Yankee Candle. As you can imagine I’ve already been taking pictures of it. Don’t worry I’ll be sharing.
12. After watching #2 at this wonderful Italian diner I had to make up some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner the other night. Fresh italian bread and Mmmm great meal.
13. A picture of said meal just for you Donna and Sally!

 

Gratitude

Gratitude, thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

At this time of year many people are thinking of what they’re thankful for.  About four years ago, wallowing in my misery at a job I hated, I started keeping a Gratitude Journal. I’m a very positive, glass is half full person at heart, and it ate at me to be so consumed with negativity. I commited to writing down at least three things each day I was grateful for.  Six notebooks later and I’m still doing it each and every day.  It’s helped me appreciate the little things. So in this month of particularly recognizing the things we’re thankful for here are some of my recent entries…

• quiet day at home
• bunch of magazines at the library
• the comments here on my blog
• Yankees winning the World Series
• the back end of a tough work week
• chatting online with my best friend Kim
• Hockey Night in Canada on NHL Network
• sleeping in
• Accoustic Sunrise on my fav online radio station
• some scrapbooking time
• Matt meeting me with a coffee at lunch
• Crystal & I giggling over Dancing with the Stars
• payday
• family time
• a nap
• watching our favorite shows on DVR
• a great farmstand we discovered
• breakfast for supper
• a beautiful sunset
• getting some pictures printed at Target
• catching up with online stuff
• laughing with my friend Paula
• snuggles with Oliver
• Matt feeling better
• staying in our jammies all day
• getting a picture of the day I totally love
• taking a nice walk
• feeling I’m getting myself back and can really smile again.

Sunday Dinner

As the trees lose their leaves, the days get shorter and the temps cooler I turn to my trusty crockpot for more and more dinners. Sunday I made one of our favorite recipes and it’s easy too!  I’m a big fan of Flylady and those of you who are familiar with her know she encourages her “flybabies” to utilize this wonderful kitchen helper.  I got the recipe for my Crock-Pot Cranberry Roast from her website about 4 years ago from the copy I printed out and it’s been a favorite in our home since.

The ingredients couldn’t be more simple.

• 1 16 oz can of cranberry sauce
• 1/3 cup French Salad Dressing
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 pounds beef roast

I spray my crockpot with Pam or something similar to reduce sticking and make cleanup easier.  then add the roast to the crockpot. Slice your onion as large or thin sliced as you prefer.  Add your can of cranberry sauce and the french dressing.  Cook on High for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hours. I prefer the longer cook time. The roast comes out so tender you can cut it with your fork and the smell of simmering all day is wonderful. I added a couple potatoes partway through cooking. No fuss no muss and not a lot of fancy ingredients. The sweet/tart of the cranberry sauce and french dressing complement each other wonderfully. Delicious!

Nighttime in Northampton – Mosaic Monday

 I undertook a yearlong picture a day project that’s winding down to it’s conclusion.  As you might imagine it’s sometimes been challenging to come up with something I haven’t done before and since I try not to rely on ‘home’ things I find this time of year challenging with the shorter daylight hours. This past week found me in Northampton a couple evenings where I played around with some night shots. Here’s some of my favorites for this week’s Mosaic Monday.  I love any opportunity I get to hang out in my ‘hometown’ day or night.

Monday through Friday

I’m definitely a working for the weekend type, as I’ve mentioned here before, but I try to find the joy in life everydy.  Today brought me to the end blissfully of another work week and feeling like I was finally getting back to myself after lots of turmoil both at work and home. Here’s a peek at the week that was.  Love those ready to go Pillsbury cookies. So easy to just pop in the oven for an evening snack watching our favorite shows. Met friends in Northampton for dinner Tuesday night and took the chance to snap a few pictures. What can I say Dunkin Donuts coffee, my favorite. Never miss an opportunity to get one. I’m blessed with an amazing library in town where they know your name and have a wonderful selection of magazines to borrow.  Thursday is my ‘library’ day. To end my week I came home to a breathtaking sunset.  I pulled the car over and embraced the view.

Thursday Thirteen

1. I love payday. Every Thursday morning I call the automated number for our bank to see that my direct deposit is there and how much. It helps motivate me to go to work.
2. I was glad to see Aaron Carter sent home on “Dancing with the Stars” this week. Go Team Donny!
3. This early darkness is giving me some challenges getting my picture of the day.
4. How can anyone but Steven Tyler be the lead singer for Aerosmith? And judging by his recent behavior maybe it’s time to give up the snake dancing Steven.
5. Had a fun dinner with some of my peeps this week. All three of us have the husbands home right now and really needed the night out.
6. Matt’s feeling better each day if he only listens to his body and lays of the carbonated drinks!
7. Got a nice stack of magazines at the library today. What a savings!
8. Can’t wait to watch the crossover C.S.I’s.
9. Survey says: 60% of families surveyed by the Associated Press said they still sit down together for dinner at least five nights a week. Wonderful!
10. I love chinese food! We found out our favorite spot has lunch specials so picked up our dinner at lunch time and we’ll reheat. Good deal!
11. What’s with grown adult celebraties taking pot shots at Taylor Swift. I’m not her biggest fan, I find her pleasant enough but sour grapes people. You had your turn in the big lights.
12. I think if Oliver was a human he’d be going through his terrible twos. He’s about a year and a half now and has decided the kitchen cabinets are very interesting. He loves to open them and pull out all my dish towels.
13. Speaking of the little furball here’s a new picture of him. (Especially for you Sandi!)