seasons greetings

(Charles Phoenix and his Redi-Whip filled, volcano-like exploding Christmas Cake)

As this blog prepares to retire for a long winters snooze, I am wishing you a lovely holiday season and much joy in 2016! 

We've hit a new height in holiday procrastination this year - the feather tree has not even made an appearance yet. Indeed, all that has been completed is the most important thing, the wrapping of FIRST CHRISTMAS gifts for my little grand nephew. Oh and the buying of Amaryllis (since I can never manage to remember to buy bulbs in time to grow my own!), they remind me of my mom, who loved them so dearly - a must have for Christmastime.

Knock on wood, thus far we've had a healthy holiday season and been able to go see Charles Phoenix's holiday retro slide show again and go to the Swedish Christmas Fair --- next up is a stage production of A Christmas Carol, can't wait!

I am very much enjoying "blogging without obligation" and radically decreasing my online presence. Having spent many (many!) years in front of a screen, watching my rumpus grow and ankles swell, manically trying to keep up with a gazillion blogs for the latest creative wonderfulness, it is a HUGE relief to let it all go.

No more stressing over posting, or following, or commenting or responding or emailing. Zero obligation + zero guilt = sheer joy! I'm doing it My Way, like Frankie Sinatra.

Happy Hannukuh, Happy winter solstice, Happy Festivus, Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwaanza, etc. everyone!

Take care and be well!

christmas eats

When I wrote about the fun event we went to last weekend, I forgot to say that Charles Phoenix made us dessert too! Drum roll ... "Twink and Ho" Trifle in honor of the Twinkie and Ho Ho Factory where the event was held. Retro foodie fun fun fun! It looked great but I was too skeeerrred to eat it with all that high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring and flavoring and preservatives LOL. Not an eighth of a teaspoon of real food in that bwahhahhahahhaha

We were all on our own for Christmas yesterday and we pretty much napped and read and ate the day away. We did go out to our favorite vegan restaurant for Christmas dinner and had a wonderful time as always. They always take a photo on special occasions, so nice to have a memento from the evening. There was a special three course meal for Christmas with an optional dessert course. Yummy in my tummy!!!

 Red and White Christmas Soup

New York Rockefeller Terrine

 Holiday Gift Box

Frosty's Frozen Fantasy

Sorry, terrible picture. The dessert was so charming, a snowman with a chalet and decorated tree. Hoping you can see it better in the photo on the menu ... and they sent us home with snowman cookies too.

Our neighbors must have stopped by while we were out to dinner because my husband found a Christmas card and plate of cookies their kids made for us on our porch when he went out for our paper early this morning. I feel so sad, we only enter through our front door when we've gone for a walk and since we drove home, they must have sat out all night long sniffle sniffle ... 

woof woof Merry Christmas

a very reluctant Rudolph ...

 

Holiday frivolity continues unabated over here LOL ... poor Missy got dragged into the act ... for a biscuit.

Tuesday we had the immense pleasure of going to see (the 89 years young!) Angela Lansbury in a revival of Noel Coward's, "Blithe Spirit". Fun fun fun. 

We had a lovely time on Christmas Eve at my cousins home. We're on our own today for Christmas. Hubby made me french toast for breakfast and there'll be lots of Christmas movie viewing.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

holiday happenings

To the tune of Jingle Bells, we're "Coughing all the way" through the holidays over here. Sheesh, will this monster of a bug leave town, puhleeeezze! Nevertheless, we are out and about and celebrating the season a bit. Fa la la la la ...  Gingerbread cookies have been eaten snarf snarf ...

and more Christmas cards made ...

Saturday night we saw the wonderful Irish accoustic band Lunasa in concert with singer Karan Casey at the Broad Theater, for A Celtic Holiday. Beautiful haunting music and Karan Casey's gorgeous voice.

And more merry making on Sunday! I've wanted to see Charles Phoenix for years and finally got to see his Retro Holiday Slide Show over the weekend. HYSTERICAL! Laughed for two hours straight without a pause. The event took place at the former Twinkie and Ho Ho Factory!!! - which has become Modernica Props, a gigantic movie prop rental company. Vintage lovers take a seat before you get the vapors and pass out on me --- filled to overflowing with mid century wonderfulness.

Holiday attire was suggested and we silly kids couldn't resist
bwahhahhahha ...

Happy almost Christmas!

santa's on his way

The up side to having the mean old bug and unrelenting strangling cough from you-know-where, that hangs onto you (and hubby even more so!) for dear life and won't let go, is having plenty of crafty play time!  I can't seem to stop making holiday cards LOL. I think a snowman card is next on the list ... "in the meadow we can build a snowman ..."

Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is still up in the living room and I'm hoping I can remember where my feather tree went to before Christmas Eve??!

The list is long long long of events planned and eagerly looked forward to (some all year long WAH!) that we've missed this December. But today we're off to a play, loaded down with smiles, kleenex and a boat load of lozenges. All appendages crossed for no lengthy coughing fits.



Happy (hale and hearty!) Holidays to you!

a crafty happy holidays to you

Santa's Workshop is chugging along over here ... 

making Christmas cards today!

february christmas critter felt along linky party

I'm really enjoying participating in the Christmas critter ornament felt along co-hosted by Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage and Dawn of Creative Cain Cabin. It's so much fun to see all the creativity of the participants and all the different ideas each had. I think it's fair to say that it's a tie which I enjoy more, stitching them or seeing what everyone else did.

The darling February critters were the cardinal and the sheep.

Please note that I stitched these yesterday while having a headache and made boo boo's and blunders, ay yi yi - I didn't even notice some of them until I had completed both ornaments.

A word of warning ... it's probably not a good idea to make christmas critters when your noggin hurts. LOL.

I hope you'll join in the felt along, it's so much fun!

For info on the current linky party and also for the
January, February and March patterns:

Claudia @ Mockingbird Hill Cottage
Dawn @ Creative Cain Cabin

january christmas critter felt along linky party

Even though I only got so far as cutting out my ornament pieces for the Christmas ornament stitch along hosted by Claudia of Mockingbird Hill Cottage and Dawn of Creative Cabin, I didn't want to miss out on the fun of the very first linky party!

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Creative Cabin

I think this is such a great idea and motivator to actually get those holiday ornaments made! I know I always wait until the last moment ... December ... and get nothing made.

I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone's ornaments!

have yourself a merry little christmas

We've got a few hours before the holiday festivities begin over here and I thought I'd run by and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope this finds you in the company of all your dear ones, feeling joy and much loved.

We went out to dinner last night for Christmas Eve and had a lovely time at Shojin. They are so fun and charming there for special days of the year - when we went on our anniversary they took a photo of us holding a heart wreath and last night they gave us holiday stuff to wear for another photo. While you're eating your meal, someone prints out the diners photos and places them in a handmade card and presents them to you after your meal. So much fun!  And as if that wasn't dear and special enough, they gave us a present of a string of lights and darling origami boxes to cover them.

I chose the xmas tree headband and hubby chose the santa hat. gah! I take the worlds worst pictures. 

 

I leaned in so we'd be closer together in the photo and I look like a hump back whale (or a narwhal with the tree on my head LOL!) with turkey neck hahhahahha. Hubby is holding my hand but the result of my moving closer makes me look like I have no arms - and no one told me I put the headband (at quite a jaunty angle, don't ya think?!) all the way at the back of my gigantic noggin (with hair enough for a family of four, mind you!), with a wee Christmas miracle, most of the tree made it into the photo.

Wishing you the merriest of holidays (and better photos!)
and much joy and abundant good health in 2014!

 

god jul

My husbands off for his holiday break and we've been having fun over here. Saturday we went to hubby's BFF's annual Christmas party and Sunday we went to the Swedish Christmas Fair (at The Shrine in downtown L.A.), then had lunch at our new favorite Shojin (the downtown location for the first time) & then raced over to Carson for a Dickens Holiday Celebration at the International Printing Museum. On Monday we saw "Catching Fire" at the theater ... we've got a long list of movies to catch up on!

I could have sworn that I bought a boat load of stuff at the Swedish Christmas Fair because my credit card was shooting sparks teehee but found out I hadn't come home with nearly enough for my feather tree and our Swedish Christmas we had planned! But then I've got plenty, so it's all going to work out.

Sharing some Scandinavian cuteness this Rednesday!

Please join in on the Christmas Rednesday fun with Melody at Brown Gingham Creations!

holiday home tours online

I'm so loving seeing everyone's holiday decorations on their blogs. And I've found two holiday home tours online going on so far, so much fun. I'm sure there's more out there ... please let me know if you know of other blog holiday happenings. 

If you enjoy seeing homes decorated for Christmas and/or you're looking to be inspired, I know you'll enjoy these blogs participating in holiday homes tours.

The starting spot for Jennifer Rizzo's Deck The Halls 2013 Holiday House Walk is here, beginning with her own charming home. (go to her home page to find links to the participants for days 2 thru 5)

And the starting spot for the Home For The Holidays 2013 All Things Home tour is here. Sorry, I'm not quite sure who is sponsoring this one, or where there is a master list of all the participants - follow the individual links if you can't find the complete list either. 

Switching gears ... remembering Nelson Mandela today. What an amazing human being, such a bright shining light in the darkness.  

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." (From Long Walk to Freedom, 1995)

we had a great time

Hoping you had the loveliest time with your family and friends!
We sure did!

And here's the wooly lump lumps on Christmas morning ...
Santa brought them a new bed.
George is hanging in there, bless his heart. 

He loves his food and his ball and his people.

merry christmas

Wishing you peace and joy this Christmas,
surrounded by all those you love!

Sally and Santa
Christmas photo taken at Santa's Village
1956

There was a quaint small theme park long ago in Lake Arrowhead, California called Santa's Village. My brother and I loved it. There was a lollipop tree! (My grandma once gave me a lollipop off it and my mom was furious at her for giving me candy.) Don't know if you can make it out, but here I am feeding a goat. They had deer and chickens too. Lots of fun stuff. From the short sleeved clothing everyone is wearing it appears to be summer when my mom took me for my photo with Santa. 

i wanna be a cowgirl christmas

Christmas 1958,  four years old

This silly little picture holds so much of what has been dear in my life. It is jam packed with memories. I'm a little hesitant to show the modest home of my early years, I see so many lovely homes on peoples blogs and we were just middle class people, making our way.

This was the Christmas I received a cowgirl outfit and the Christmas my brother named me Sally Annie Oakley. Apparently I wasn't given a hat to match as I am wearing the largest white hat and it looks like possibly it's just a straw hat?  

Recently I shared a vintage Santa with a bubble light and I can see it on the cabinet on the right side of the picture. And I can see my mothers salt box, seeming to float in midair, so funny!

I see three pieces of Early American furniture in the photo that would move with us in a few short years to our home in the canyons and would still be in my parents home when my father passed away last year.  I kept the cabinet/I think it's called a dry sink? I'm hoping to find it a home somehow in my teeny house.

I see two captains chairs that my father would break and use for firewood the first night we were in our lovely new home, as it was a cold and rainy January and the furnace didn't work.

I see my mothers chaffing dish, sitting on the desk (for some reason?!) - bringing back sense memories of her yummy stroganoff, made for company and presented in the chaffing dish.

I see a wooden Christmas tree decoration I loved as a child, but strangely never found at my parents last year. I wonder what could have become of it?

Lastly I see the many holiday cards, sending word of news and love our way, from many family friends whose names I still remember after all these years.

I guess I'd rather be a cowgirl, wear my cowgirl clothes
Sharing cowgirl secrets, twirl on my cowgirl toes
Hold my cowgirl daddy's hand, going to the grocery store
Til I find me a mustang and I'll head out that front door.

favorite ornaments

I am sharing some of my favorite ornaments this week for 

A Favorite Thing Saturday.

Of course there must be dogs.

I found this darling little girl at a Teddy Bear Show
in San Diego many years ago.

Three charming Natalie Salitch angels.

Love these little girls found at a home craft show years ago.
The one in the foreground is carrying a dollie and her friend
has a stack of Christmas fabrics.

This is my tree top angel I made for my first tree,
in my very first house in 1978 or 1979.
It's the first counted cross stitch I ever did
and I was terrified.

These may be my absolute favorites. I bought them in 1976 or 1977. 

I got them at this wonderful teeny tiny hole-in-the-wall shop in 

Santa Monica that sold ornaments from all over the world. I wish I
could remember which country they're from??? 

Wishing everyone the very merriest of Christmases!

Joining in A Favorite Thing Saturdays with Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.