Tennessee Family Christmas

This Christmas John and I spent the week in Tennessee with my mom, grandpa, sister, brother-in-law and neice and nephew. Whew! We had a super fun time playing, eating, shopping, laughing and exchanging gifts and good times.


I love you guys and miss you already.

Natalie Turns ***15*** Today

Isn't she fierce?

We Love You Natalie!

It Speaks for Itself (Literally)

Isn't it beautiful? It's much better than my old, clunky, virus ridden one.

Merry Christmas Cheesecake

It turns out that blogging is a really valuable habit. I used my blog recently to find out when in my life certain things happened. (When I write that it sounds so pathetic since this blog is only three years old). So, since I haven't blogged in awhile, I'm going to start again and I'm going to start with a picture of this beautiful Christmas Cheesecake. It's a Christmas Cheesecake for no other reason than I made it last night and tonight we had Christmas ham for dinner with the kids and presents afterward.

I took a cooking class with a friend in town a couple weeks ago and the agenda was cheesecake. The one in the photo is a classic NY, but we learned to make savory cheesecakes as well. I thought I'd made one before, but the process didn't feel familiar. So, I'm considering this my first of many Christmas Cheesecakes to come. It will be my tradition along with Christmas lasagne (which I made a veggie whole wheat lasagne this week for a potluck that was really good - even the die hard meat eaters liked it).

Call it beginner's luck, but seriously, that cheesecake pictured is the best I've ever tasted. It was moist, smooth, creamy and will be remembered for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

and THANKS Patrice!

My Favorite Fruit

The park across the street has two mature pomegranate trees growing in it. This year I harvested a bunch instead of only one or two. I'm been making pomegranate juice and giving them away to friends. Happy Autumn!

I <3 LUSH

Happy Anniversary to Me!

On the way back from Canyon De Chelly we drove through Las Vegas. The motivation for me to go this route home was to shop the LUSH store there at the Mandalay Bay to buy some hair conditioner. Instead I left the store with . . .

3 Bath Bombs
2 Bath Melts
1 Bubble Bar
1 Massage Bar
1 Bar Solid Hair Conditioner

The car smelled deliciously intoxicating the whole way home.

The Bath Bombs are in the front; the big yellow ball, the big pink ball and the thing that looks like a big pill. The Bath Melts are behind the Bath Bombs; the white cupcake and the peach bar. The Bubble Bar is the raspberry swirl bar back there. The Massage Bar is the oval bar left of the Bubble Bar and the Solid Conditioner is in the box with the tag on it (they sell it by weight).

So far I've had two baths this week (in addition to daily showers of course). I used the Honey Bee Bath Bomb and the You've Been Mangoed Bath Melt. Both soothing, relaxing and fun. Looking forward to using the rest of the yummy purchases (especially the Bubble Bar), inspired to make my own Bath Bombs and blessed with a thoughtful husband who kept quiet when I filled my bag and abused the credit card on such decadence.

The main reason I wanted to stop and shop was to try the Solid Conditioner. I like the concept of using products without a plastic bottle to manage when it's all done. I know I can always recycle, but I like to reduce and reuse. The Massage Bars are cool for that reason too, they can be used as a daily moisturizer (no plastic bottle to manage). I've been using the Solid Shampoo for about a month now (my first LUSH purchase) and it's really nice. So, being free of plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles makes me happy and the Bath Bombs, Bath Melts and Massage Bars are a big bonus.

I'm new to LUSH and am HOOKED! It's addictive so, WATCH OUT!

7 Years

John surprised me this morning with a replica of my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago . . .

Happy Anniversary to us!

Another Place Mat

Another set of place mats I made was with this blue and green striped stuff. The package on top is John's birthday gift.


If you look closely you can see my handiwork at tying the Fisherman's knot.

I learned it in mountaineering class.

It's Mine Now

It's a vintage Taylor Smith & Taylor plate. I found it on ebay. There's another one coming from Etsy. The pattern is called Break O Day. I'm looking forward to eating my breakfasts from it. The place mat it's sitting on is what I made last week. I've been wanting some place mats, but wasn't able to find any to my liking so I made some with fabric I had in the garage.

Since Robin Asked . . .

Last weekend we went to a wedding. One of Heather's friends got married.

Here we are all dressed and ready to go.

Heather was a bridesmaid.

Here is a picture of Heather and her friend.

And finally . . . the bride.

Fun in the Morning

I saw this product in the store last night and had to try it. It was fun and tasty.