I Got A Christmas Present

Hello out there!  It is only one week until Christmas!!!  And I am ready!!  Turns out, when you don't have a lot of money to spend on Christmas presents, it makes your shopping a lot easier!!!  I am done shopping, and only have a couple of things to wrap.  Hoping to get to bake a little in the coming week, and just enjoy a nice relaxing holiday.
On Sunday night, our family met up for dinner at Chipotle and then went to The Festival of Lights at The Mission Inn.  It was cold and rainy, and crowded!!!  But we had a wonderful time!!!  I didn't take my camera, because it was raining, but my daughter did.  Go check out her blog post.  Her pictures were beautiful!!!!  Gennifer's Blog
While there, I had to try a cupcake from Casey's.  I bought two, and they were ever so delicious!!!

A pink strawberry confection that Hannah picked out, and a peanut butter cupcake that had my name written all over it.  Both were so moist and yummy!
My grandson Noah has been enjoying his time off school.  He made this cute gingerbread house on the last day of school, and then his Mama got him the gingerbread train yesterday and he had a blast decorating that!

 He watched Home Alone with all of us on Saturday night, and he howled!!!!  Then he watched it again, on Sunday, twice.  I found the DVD set with movies one through four at Target and we watched number two last night.  I have never heard him laugh so much in a movie!!! 
We have had some much needed rain, with more to come.  So nice for the holidays!
When I was at Target I was looking for a knife I have been wanting.  Giada De Laurentiis has a wonderful line in Target and she talks about using her Mezzaluna knife all the time.  They sell it, but it comes in and goes out so fast, that even though I am in Target weekly it seems, I can never find that knife!!!!  I noticed that the knife block was on sale, and I really need new knives.  I have one good knife.  My Santoku that I use all the time.  It is a Wuesthoff and I sharpen it regularly at Sur La Table to keep in sharp.  The Giada knife block was on sale for 99 dollars AND you get a 25 dollar gift card issued to you when you purchase it.  It is a great set!!  I texted Greg and told him about it, and he said get it.  So I went back today and did just that!!

NICE!!!

This is the mezzaluna knife that I have been wanting.

 

Do you see that bandaid on my thumb?  That is because, stupidly, while taking each knife out of the packaging, I carefully removed it, and on the first one, I was tempted to see just how sharp these knives are.....and......well....they are!!!

Not too deep, but I bled all over the place!  Anyway, I think I will be pretty happy with these knives.  They also came with a block of steak knives.  Both blocks are a nice solid bamboo.

My friend Dawn  held a little giveaway recently, and I won her cut out vinyl letters  J O Y.  I knew in my mind what I wanted to do with them, but I think I need to add another strand of lights.  I bought a strand of little lights and placed them in to a gallon glass jug that I had saved from when we went Apple Picking recently.  I purchased a gallon of cider and kept the glass bottle that it came in.  I placed the letters on the outside of the jug, then lit her up.

My pictures didn't really turn out very good, but it is cute.

 

 I got a fun package in the mail today from my dear friend Ally in New Jersey.  

She had all sorts of goodies in that big box.  Her specialty, homemade peanut brittle.  A jar of her homemade peach preserves.  And several gifts that were all so fun to open.

Thank you so much Ally!  I love you!!

At my boutique, I wound up taking several Christmas orders.  I finished them all last week, and said I would not be taking more, but I did.  I took three more orders.  Two are ready and waiting at the door for pickup tomorrow, and I have one more to complete.   I have been so pleased, and so blessed by all of the positive response from my hand mades.  I love doing it.  And I am eager to start on some new items after the holidays.

I hope that you are enjoying this time with your family, and finding joy, even though as a nation, we are all so very shocked and saddened by the recent violence in Connecticut.  I observed a day of no blogging yesterday, along with many of my blogging friends.  Today, when I went out to run some errands, the rain had stopped, and the sky was so remarkably blue, with huge puffy white clouds blowing swiftly overhead.  I was awestruck at how beautiful it was.  I actually pulled over, and took an Instagram photo.  For so many people who want to do something, but don't know what to do to help the people of Newtown heal, I suggest doing a good deed for someone...pay it forward.  Pay for the person behind you in line at Starbucks, or bring a shut in a meal. Bring a neighbors trash cans in, or surprise someone with flowers.   As for me and my family, this is a small thing that we can do to honor the memory of those lives lost.  The people of Newtown will remain in our prayers.

XO  Kris