Saying Goodbye to 2013

 It was a good year in so many ways. The Holiday season was filled with joy and happiness. We were fortunate enough to get some early snow to get the kids in that magical winter spirit.

 There were gingerbread houses to be made with plenty of sweet leftovers.

 There were beautiful Christmas trees and tree decorating parties.

 There were warm fires to sit by and hat cider with cinnamon sticks to drink, along with eggnog and Christmas cookies.

 There were delightful tables decorated in the spirit of winter.

 And many opportunities to check out friends ornament collections and hear the stories that went along with them.

 There was a lot of humor and some bittersweet reflection of those gone on to the great beyond.

There was so much expectation and everything worked to pretty great. Feeling blessed and wishing you a Very Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Saint Nick Day

 It has come to be a yearly tradition that on the feast of Saint Nicholas, I have a special childrens party. The perfect activity is usually some sort of cookie decorating. This year The children did little gingerbread trains. There was a ton of colorful candy and I was surprised to see  the children really decorated more than snacked.

 The kitchen was incredibly quiet. It was pretty serious business. I also had some little houses to decorate but the girls seemed to be more interested in those. I think they realized that you could use more candy by creating a little yard around the house than if you had a free standing train.

 Saint Nick usually puts little bags of treats into the shoes of the children left by the door but this year he cut a few corners. You can see the little treat bags in the box above. Then I posted a little free standing train cookie....it was the only one that wasn't picked clean of candy only a few hours later. I had hoped to post at least four little cars  in a row..wishful thinking.

 I thought this little angel ornament with googly eyes was cute and homemade.

 Here is a warm inviting fire to add the festive atmosphere of the season. I really enjoy stretching the holiday through the entire month of December. Such a wonderful time of family and memories.

Finally, here is a cute little snapshot of my youngest telling Santa what he wants. He climbed right up onto the sleigh and need to tell him face to face. So cute.

Getting Christmas-y!

I have just started dragging out the Christmas decor.  I have an assortment of items both vintage and antique that I hope to share with you later. This video shows some cute items but surprisingly, there were not many impressive holiday collections on youtube.
 Concerning, some of my favorite decorations, the blow mold plastic yard ornaments are always a great find. They are the definition of "kitsch". I would love to get my hands on some plastic choir boys or Frosty the Snowman style from the early sixties. Boxes of vintage tree ornaments are becoming really hard to find because so many people craft wreaths with them and sell online. (Guilty as charged). The bloke on this video has the right idea. It is always best to buy Christmas items from thrift boutiques or antique fairs, after the holidays. I am so excited to jump into this festive season. Hopefully, I will have time to add a few interesting  posts. Feeling optimistic!

Colorful, Festive Fall!

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged but life got in the way I guess. Here is a beautiful fall tree out my bedroom window. Below I have a box of yummy fall cupcakes.

Here we see a beautiful red burning bush. The colors of fall are so beautiful here in Massachusetts. 

Below, I hosted another Bridge luncheon for my lady friends. There is always a lot more talking than card playing. We talked a lot about our plans for Thanksgiving and what we will be cooking. Can't believe it is happening this week. Such a busy time of the year!

Thanksgiving week :)

Lisa's Wedding

 I just wanted to post a little bit about the cupcakes Kit and Chick made this weekend for our friend Lisa's wedding. Usually, we prefer to go with scratch to guarantee organic unless there is a special cake mix we want to try out.

 I really enjoy watching Cake Boss on t.v. and was not aware there was a line of mixes from the show.  I was excited to try the red velvet mix because I am always worried about the red velvet mix from scratch. I always get it wrong. It usually looks like "pink" velvet.

 The theme of the wedding was yellow sunflowers. We decided to just do an artistic homage to the flower in cup cake form, which means, they looked nothing like sunflowers but they were the right shade of buttery yellow.

 Here is one final batch ready for transport. Isn't that flower arrangement lovely as well.

 Lisa, the bride, had a perfect fall day and a beautiful outdoor wedding.  There were so many pretty little details. Big sunflowers strewn about and and white paper laterns in the trees.

 This was a sneak peak of the bride sneaking around front with her dad. Don't mind the walker and sangria table. Was the walker set up next to the complimentary booze table for safety reasons? Perhaps.

 Here is lovely Lisa awaiting her new husband to tastefully cut the cake and take a small, clean bite. No cake shoving silliness for those two.

 Here are a couple of my besties waiting on the sidelines to greet the new couple. Finally below we see an exchange of vows. My photography skills were lacking. The minister appears to have been replaced by a gas grill, hidden next to the groom. Anyway, the vows were cute and heartwarming. It was a lovely, enjoyable day all around. Most importantly.......Kit and Chick's cupcakes were a hit.

Happy Endings

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful summer. We really had a good time.  I feel like it went by too fast. 

I decided that a couple of lobsters was the perfect meal for the occasion. School was starting the next day and I was not ready to say goodbye to clam plates in exchange for crockpot yumminess just yet.  The leaves on the trees in my yard are still green so I figure if they aren't ready for fall, so neither am I.

I picked up some really junky, fun candy for the kids. The tattoo tongue gumballs were a hit.  I only allowed the children to indulge themselves with two.  The dye on those things was pretty toxic just on appearance alone. The kingsize dots on paper were as one would imagine, big on looks but little on flavor. The same could be said for the creamsickle pop.  The M-n-M candy bar was soo good. I put an extra aside for myself for later.

Here is my adorable little niece Violet. She is the sweetest little girl, not to mention a multi-tasker. Shopping with kids can be hard not to mention getting a little extra leg exercise on the push pedal stepmaster.  Actually, I am not sure what the contraption she is standing on is called. All I know is it is very hard to use and always seems to be left in my upstairs hall, when the lights are off. I am sure it is just a coincidence I trip over it at least once a week. Keeps a girl  on her toes.

Finally I wanted to show you this miraculous little cactus flower. It just appeared out of nowhere. What a pleasant surprise. That green cactus is usually so drab compared to her colorful cohorts. Don't mind the styrofoam beads all over the floor. My sons were being crafty with styrofoam.  It made such a mess but it is not often the boys "get their craft on", so I just I didn't complain too much. I am going to be vacuuming it up just in time for the tinsel to be all over the place I am sure. Life is good! Happy End of Summer.....reluctantly.