Happy New Year!

Totally changed our plans for tonight...opted to stay home instead of going out...it is freezing cold here and we just feel like being inside and at home tonight!

Making shrimp and grits for dinner...this recipe is from Saveur Magazine...















We are...of course...going through the Good Will drop off today...I have been very good about collecting giveaways but one of us has put off the actual removal of all of this stuff from the basement until now! Actually until this very minute...he is bagging and putting stuff in the car now...I am watching...lol...

We are grabbing some groceries for tonight and tomorrow...lunching out...then home!

It is supposed to get even colder! Tonight is the big mushroom drop in our town but we are not going...the town will be full of people and food trucks and music and fun! But we would rather be at home...cozy and warm!












This is the about to be dropped mushroom...it will be lit and dropped from a crane for the first time ever! Yikes!











Reading this...




Want this...



Have a wonderful day!

Lovely Books On A Monday Morning...

Eye doctor appointments this morning...I am totally out of contacts...wearing cool but not prescription reading glasses...I hate going to the eye doctor! Could he possibly find eye damage from too much reading? OMG! Den loves these appointments we go to together...me? Not so much...they are twice as long!

New books from Amazon Vine...yummy...a great way to start the new year!

Yummy...I love these translated books!


So excited about this one!


More mystery, mayhem and murder!


Can't wait...


Love Tessa Hadley...excited by this one, too!


I think this will be the book I read first on New Year's Day! Yum! Ta da!


Freaked out last night when my Kindle Paperwhite froze and refused to charge...but I fixed it! Ya hoo! I need all three devices to maximize my reading addiction...my Kindle, my iPad2 and an old fashioned handheld real book! Lol!

Happy Monday!

It's Raining! It's Pouring! Life Goes On!

It's a football/nacho kind of Sunday...but that's later! We are reading papers, watching BBC's Atlantis and relaxing.

We were going to go to a movie BUT the pouring rain just made us want to stay inside where it's cozy and warm...

Reading this...I have seen only sort of ho hum reviews of this book but so far I really like it! Plus I tend to love the books that Laurel-Rain loves and she gave this one a lovely review! Laurel-Rain and I are dangerous for each other...we tend to lean toward the same kinds of books!













Lucy...seems so much better...after her nightmarish health scare...we try to appreciate having her with us...one day at a time...she takes a high blood pressure pill daily...and we are weaning her off of the seizure med...she and Roxie seem more loving...Lucy seems as active as ever. Lucy is the kitty my parents knew and loved...the kitty who stayed with me when I helped my sister take care of them...the kitty that went to their assisted living. My attachment to Lucy is deep...sigh!







Happy Sunday!

Saturday!

Planning a relaxing day...

Getting a pedicure soon...then I get to watch Den organize his closet! He does this when he puts away his new Christmas clothes.










Girls are discussing their Saturday plans...








I am looking at my bracelet...









Still reading...this...filled with sad dysfunction...








Planning on staying home tonight...chicken and salad for dinner...the movie on HBO tonight is Warm Bodies...it has a three star rating...so we shall see...if it's not good there is always my new addiction...Doctor Who!










Happy Saturday!

What A Fun Day!

We had a lovely day...we had to trek to KOP...King of Prussia...to return a few things.

Easy peasy!

We ventured into the Pandora store to make sure my Christmas bracelet was sized properly and to add a few charms. I have gone from thinking I never wanted one of these bracelets to a severe addiction of acquiring charms that tell a story...the story of me!

Lol...these are my two faves...so far!





Then we went to lunch...yum! We had trout and salmon with lovely grilled veggies. This was a new restaurant for us and we loved it. Their specialty is various flat crispy breads. And...desserts in little cups!









Reading this...it had mixed reviews but it's the kind of book I love!



Still mesmerized with Doctor Who...there was a marathon this weekend...it was fabulous!

Happy Friday Night!

Today!

I think I love the day after Christmas even more than Christmas!

It's snowing and it is beautiful!

This is the scene from the deck...



This is the scene from the sofa...Lucy is preparing to jump up on my Santas yet again!

We stopped her in the nick of time...lol!



We are planning on spending the entire day at home...maybe a dash out into the snow...for a walk and a few snow angels! Making sauce later to have with Whole Foods fresh ravioli! Yum!

Most of the day will be spent reading and watching movies and watching Den try on his Christmas stuff! The girls and I love this part! Lol...




Happy Day After Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

My newest Santa!




My sincerest holiday wishes to all of my lovely blogger buddies! I appreciate you all so much! I learn from you each and every day! I respect you! I love what you write!

Happy Reading!

It Truly Does Look, Feel, And Smell Like Christmas!

The tree...












The presents...












More presents...










The crowds at Whole Foods at 8:30 this morning...









Seeing Santa on the way home...








Hanging stockings...









Seeing who wears it better...













Mailing...finally...our Christmas cards...







Someone downstairs wrapping presents for me...oh boy...



Dinner tonight is a combination of foods from our childhood Christmas Eve celebrations...we are having pierogi, sautéed cabbage...the ruffled kind...Savoy, I think...and shrimp cocktail! My Polish grandma would make pierogis all day long...filled with potatoes and cheese, my Italian grandmother would make Seven Fishes...the Italian feast. The cabbage is for Den because according to google...that is served on Christmas Eve if you are Hungarian! Ethnic eating can be tough...you have to sort of sift through the dishes to find things you like!

Pierogis are so delicious, though, soft doughy pillows stuffed with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese. You have to sauté them in butter and sweet caramelized onion to get them crispy and delicious! Of course...Whole Foods has yummy artisanal ones...I only need to pop them in a pan!

Happy Christmas Eve! We are praying for snow on our drive to church early tomorrow morning!

No More Ribbon!

Today was wrapping day...otherwise known as trying to outwit two crazed Tonkinese cats day...lol...

I thought that I had a masterful plan. We don't use curly ribbon ever...Lucy will eat it and die. We assumed Roxie would do the same thing! Bows are out...they pop them off and carry them away. For Christmases past I bought fabric ribbon and tied simple bows...unfortunately that bin is still in the crawlspace and we are binned out.

So...I used brown craft paper and Japanese masking tape...and tags...I thought it was a fab idea. I went off to a hair appointment...when I got home Den told me that Roxie spent her afternoon untaping my packages! Oh my!







What to do?
They are partners in crime! Usually Lucy watches and looks innocent...Roxie is too little to know any better!



Happy wrapping!

A Stay At Home Sunday!

Yesterday was exhausting! We rarely go into our little town but we spent a few hours there yesterday. It was so much fun!

Hair, nails, lunch, coffee, sushi! All in town! Whew!

Love my nails...the color is called Asphalt...lol!

It seriously looks like a driveway with sparkles! Lol! We had "wild game" chili and salads for lunch...the wild game was elk and so good...I had to stop being an almost vegetarian to eat it...













Coffee was here...I had the best creamy latte ever! It's at a brand new place called Philter! Get it? Philter! I think I am getting the "Christmas Crazies"...



















So...today...Den zipped off to church and to the store to grab a few provisions. I can't find my cookie cutters...they are still in boxes in the basement from the kitchen remodel!
So I am making these! Sugar cookies without rolling them out! These are from a site I love called...PureWow! The recipe is simple and they get sliced and baked and iced and munched!







And I am making these...and that's it for me for holiday baking. These are crispy edged chocolate chippers from Serious Eats! Yum!


Reading this still...I can't tell because it's on my Kindle but it must be a huge book!
What I do know us that it is so relaxing to just read a book without thinking about writing a review! Oh...I have to review it but...I am not thinking about it...lol! This book is a translation...but other than the twenty letter names of towns...the story and the set up are so engrossing...so smooth...I love every word. It's the Snow White Must Die author and I read and loved that one, too!



The rest of our day is breakfast, lunch, dinner and football!

Happy Almost Christmas!