tree all ready to go | stockings filled too
a present from my favorite little jewelry store! | Ginger loved all the squeaker toys in her stocking
yummy steak dinner | first use of our fireplace made the evening extra cozy
27 December 2011
insta-Christmas #1
Labels:
holiday
24 December 2011
merry and bright
Ginger and I have packed up the car and are headed to spend the week with family; Peter has to stay behind to work, but we all enjoyed a very nice Christmas (including inaugural use of our fireplace!) together yesterday when Peter had the whole day off. Looking forward to more celebrations with people I love, and wishing you and yours an equally merry and bright Christmas!
This year's cards from Shutterfly; photo snapped by Clayre at the Grand Canyon.
This year's cards from Shutterfly; photo snapped by Clayre at the Grand Canyon.
17 December 2011
lately: around the house
It's beginning to look like Christmas (inside the house, at least), starting with my DIYed painted glass ornaments on the tree:
I saw on the news yesterday that by this point last year, there had already been three snow days. This year we've had a couple flurries once or twice, but it really hasn't felt like December in the least - such as it reached 60 this week. There are plenty of places in the world that don't have a white Christmas season, but having grown up in a place that pretty much always does, this is strange. Also, I've learned that Christmas decorations and rain (which we've had tons of) really don't mix: my garland ended up in a heap since all the moisture made my hooks come loose, and Ginger and I have seen disintegrated wreath bows and various decorations on the ground on our walks lately.
In any case, it's been nice to have a cozy and festive home.
p.s. details on the various DIYs here!
I saw on the news yesterday that by this point last year, there had already been three snow days. This year we've had a couple flurries once or twice, but it really hasn't felt like December in the least - such as it reached 60 this week. There are plenty of places in the world that don't have a white Christmas season, but having grown up in a place that pretty much always does, this is strange. Also, I've learned that Christmas decorations and rain (which we've had tons of) really don't mix: my garland ended up in a heap since all the moisture made my hooks come loose, and Ginger and I have seen disintegrated wreath bows and various decorations on the ground on our walks lately.
In any case, it's been nice to have a cozy and festive home.
p.s. details on the various DIYs here!
13 December 2011
holiday style: colored cords + sparkle
Everybody, Everywear is wearing sequins and sparkle today, but I've also been wearing a lot of my colored cords, so I thought I'd do dual duty with Work it Wednesday for a range of holiday season looks. I wish I had better photography skills to capture the color of these pants - it's a really nice deep teal that feels festive and can be worn lots of ways for lots of holiday-related events...
First up, the sequins - I bought this top for a holiday party last year but after that didn't really know what to do with it. So to try for a more casual and laid back sparkle for some Christmas shopping and dinner with a friend, I added a denim jacket, and of course the colored cords:
I think a successful remix of the sequins!
Next up, I gave the pants a more dressy holiday look with a velvet blazer and lace tank (which also doesn't photograph very well!), heels, and red lips for a cookies & cocktails party over the weekend:
And finally, last week's vest and cords combo for a cozy afternoon at home listening to Christmas music and wrapping presents (you can see that the number of gifts checked off my list and placed under the tree has increased, above!):
First up, the sequins - I bought this top for a holiday party last year but after that didn't really know what to do with it. So to try for a more casual and laid back sparkle for some Christmas shopping and dinner with a friend, I added a denim jacket, and of course the colored cords:
pants: Loft; sequin tank: Express; jacket: Land's End Canvas; shoes: DSW
I think a successful remix of the sequins!
Next up, I gave the pants a more dressy holiday look with a velvet blazer and lace tank (which also doesn't photograph very well!), heels, and red lips for a cookies & cocktails party over the weekend:
jacket (old) and shoes: Target; lace tank: F21
And finally, last week's vest and cords combo for a cozy afternoon at home listening to Christmas music and wrapping presents (you can see that the number of gifts checked off my list and placed under the tree has increased, above!):
vest and shirt: Loft; belt: H&M; clogs: American Eagle
11 December 2011
lately: in the kitchen
These days I bake a bit less than I used to (perhaps wise now that I spend all day with easy access to the pantry...), but the holiday season always presents occasion and inclination for baking, especially this year as I had two cookie exchanges to attend and hosted a cookie decorating party with some friends at my house.
Three of the recipes I used (more information on all of them here) happen to be ones given to me at one of my wedding showers, where ladies from my family brought recipe cards to add to my first recipe box. The cookie brittle recipe came via Grandma Judy, the Christmas cookies from my mom (a recipe from Grandma Vange that we made growing up for any holiday we could get my dad to make and roll out dough for), and the peanut butter balls - a family classic - from my great grandma. I grew up eating these, as did my mom...
Though at the extended family Christmas Eve gathering, I'm going to have to investigate the mystery of the strange peanut butter ball recipe: I'm not sure I'd actually used this particular recipe card yet, and when I pulled it out, I was surprised to see rice krispies as one of the ingredients... and upon eating one, I decided this is definitely not grandma's usual recipe. The rice krispie crunch is kind of nice, but I've no idea where that ingredient came from and what exactly is in the original. Either way, the family recipes were a hit; even Ginger got a chance to do a taste test of the peanut buttery mixing spoon, and she was a fan!
peanut butter balls / decorated sugar cookies
peppermint Oreo bark & cookie brittle / everybody loves peanut butter ball making!
Three of the recipes I used (more information on all of them here) happen to be ones given to me at one of my wedding showers, where ladies from my family brought recipe cards to add to my first recipe box. The cookie brittle recipe came via Grandma Judy, the Christmas cookies from my mom (a recipe from Grandma Vange that we made growing up for any holiday we could get my dad to make and roll out dough for), and the peanut butter balls - a family classic - from my great grandma. I grew up eating these, as did my mom...
Though at the extended family Christmas Eve gathering, I'm going to have to investigate the mystery of the strange peanut butter ball recipe: I'm not sure I'd actually used this particular recipe card yet, and when I pulled it out, I was surprised to see rice krispies as one of the ingredients... and upon eating one, I decided this is definitely not grandma's usual recipe. The rice krispie crunch is kind of nice, but I've no idea where that ingredient came from and what exactly is in the original. Either way, the family recipes were a hit; even Ginger got a chance to do a taste test of the peanut buttery mixing spoon, and she was a fan!
08 December 2011
open to interpretation
You know I love a challenge - and the latest one (from Kayla) is to interpret this inspiration photo with an outfit of your own:
Here's mine - cuffed colored pants (mine are teal; the color is kind of hard to photograph), strips, and a little faux fur (plus a preview of the Christmas tree!).
Of course, it was way too cold (it snowed a little for the first time yesterday) to leave the house, or even be in the house for that matter, in this outfit no matter how much I liked it... and I had to put on some socks and another sweater pronto.
Here's mine - cuffed colored pants (mine are teal; the color is kind of hard to photograph), strips, and a little faux fur (plus a preview of the Christmas tree!).
outfit: Loft; belt: H&M; clogs: American Eagle
Of course, it was way too cold (it snowed a little for the first time yesterday) to leave the house, or even be in the house for that matter, in this outfit no matter how much I liked it... and I had to put on some socks and another sweater pronto.
Labels:
style
07 December 2011
work out wednesday: PR edition
Thanksgiving week had some personal records in my running life that I am kind of excited about. A little recap:
And aren't they snazzy? The design is part of a Nike line honoring/encouraging Native American athletes; the flashy colors made me nervous about ordering them at first, but the good price won out. And now when I am running and start to feel a little tired, I just have to look down at my feet and I feel fast again.
On Thanksgiving morning, I ran in my first 10k race - the 102nd annual Thanksgiving Day race in downtown Cincinnati. I came in around 1300th, which doesn't sound impressive until you know there were more than 13000 participants. It was nuts. But kind of fun for the tradition and for getting to run into Kentucky for part of it (though now I realize that bridges are just really long hills... so difficult!). I imagine it's fun annual event for a lot of families to do together and lots of people just go out to have a good time in pilgrim costumes or turkey feather hats. But I've realized I'm too goal oriented to ever be casual about running... I wanted to break 50 minutes, and so I ran hard and had my best 10k time yet: 48:20.
I'm always glad I did the run after it's over, but running a 10k at race pace is really hard! I had to use my mental stamina a few times.
Same thing with this one: the weekend before Thanksgiving I participated in a Girls on the Run 5k. This is a great program for 3rd-8th grade girls that's not only about running/exercise-related life skills but also about development of emotional and social well-being. They hold a 5k event at the end of each 12-week program for all the girls, plus family members and anyone from the public who wants to join in. I had a friend doing it, so I decided to sign up too.
So this event was all about self-esteem and encouraging girls in completing the race (and they were sooooo excited at the starting line: lots of screaming and squealing), and most of the adults running seemed to be in a mentor/coach position to run alongside and encourage specific girls, but I couldn't help myself... I figured if my first race ever was a 5k at 8:14 pace, and I've since run an entire half marathon at 8:15 pace, then I should most definitely be able to do this 5k in under 8 minute miles. Plus it's not very far... So I just ran as hard as I could the whole time and ended up at about 23:00. That's 7:24 per mile! I kind of wanted to die for a little bit there, especially to maintain the speed for the last mile, but it felt good to have by far my best time. When it was over.
It was a petty low key event, so there was no official time recording or placement listing, but as far as Peter and I could tell, I was about the 5th person to finish. I will revel in this - despite all the supportive dads rolling in at about 40 minutes who looked super fresh and obviously could have beat me if they weren't busy being supportive mentors and coaches - since it's unlikely to happen again. Sorry 10-year-old girls. I took all of you (and that guy at the end).
And that pretty much concludes my running excitement for the year. I'm much less of a fair-weather runner than I used to be, but now that it's getting below 30 degrees in the morning, I've reached my limit. Back to the treadmill!
I wore through my shoes faster than normal with all the half-marathon business, and it was time for a new pair already. I am loyal to my Nike Pegasus shoes, so I was extra excited about the deal I got (in my one bit of black Friday/cyber Monday shopping): $40 with free shipping. That's over half off! Best price I've ever gotten by far.
And aren't they snazzy? The design is part of a Nike line honoring/encouraging Native American athletes; the flashy colors made me nervous about ordering them at first, but the good price won out. And now when I am running and start to feel a little tired, I just have to look down at my feet and I feel fast again.
On Thanksgiving morning, I ran in my first 10k race - the 102nd annual Thanksgiving Day race in downtown Cincinnati. I came in around 1300th, which doesn't sound impressive until you know there were more than 13000 participants. It was nuts. But kind of fun for the tradition and for getting to run into Kentucky for part of it (though now I realize that bridges are just really long hills... so difficult!). I imagine it's fun annual event for a lot of families to do together and lots of people just go out to have a good time in pilgrim costumes or turkey feather hats. But I've realized I'm too goal oriented to ever be casual about running... I wanted to break 50 minutes, and so I ran hard and had my best 10k time yet: 48:20.
I'm always glad I did the run after it's over, but running a 10k at race pace is really hard! I had to use my mental stamina a few times.
Same thing with this one: the weekend before Thanksgiving I participated in a Girls on the Run 5k. This is a great program for 3rd-8th grade girls that's not only about running/exercise-related life skills but also about development of emotional and social well-being. They hold a 5k event at the end of each 12-week program for all the girls, plus family members and anyone from the public who wants to join in. I had a friend doing it, so I decided to sign up too.
It was a petty low key event, so there was no official time recording or placement listing, but as far as Peter and I could tell, I was about the 5th person to finish. I will revel in this - despite all the supportive dads rolling in at about 40 minutes who looked super fresh and obviously could have beat me if they weren't busy being supportive mentors and coaches - since it's unlikely to happen again. Sorry 10-year-old girls. I took all of you (and that guy at the end).
And that pretty much concludes my running excitement for the year. I'm much less of a fair-weather runner than I used to be, but now that it's getting below 30 degrees in the morning, I've reached my limit. Back to the treadmill!
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