2013 - the year in review

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Now it's time to reflect on the past year.

I looked through all my photos and I was amazed at all the places I've been in the past year. A year can really hold so many memories. So I created this mosaic to serve as a reminder of 2013.

Without all the visual prompts I might have forgotten some of the fun I had. I try to make a collage each year so I can see what I was interested in that year. Although, some things never change. I am always drawn to Rockport, Nubble Light, the ocean, my pets, and food!

I am hoping you can click on the collage and see each photo in more detail. You can see the fun we had trying on hats in Exeter, the belly dancer at Jolie's party, the big birthday party I threw for my sister, the Soul Lantern walk around Horn Pond, a trip to the Zoo, meeting Susan Branch, the snowstorms, the Boston Strong chocolate tour, and all the holiday festivities. It was a great year.

Looking forward to the memories to be made in 2014!

Christmas Greetings

This is Christmas Mass at Saint Patrick's Church in Stoneham, Massachusetts. My hometown church. My sister and I attended Mass this morning and we were lucky enough to have seats in the balcony. I snapped this photo before Mass started. It was much more crowded later on.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.  I will post about my seasonal activities later this week.

Right out of a Currier and Ives painting

We had a snowstorm Saturday night into Sunday morning and the timing of it made it impossible to photograph the action. It was just too dark to get good photos. So  I was bound and determined to get some snow shots during today's storm.

It was after 4:00 in the afternoon so the light of day was fading. I drove by our town common and it looked magical. I knew I had to stop and take a few shots from my phone's camera.

The scene before me, the gazebo, Christmas lights, a steady snow, were perfect ingredients for my own Currier and Ives "painting".

In Summer, this little patch of green space is host to community concerts, kids playing frisbee, and dog walkers.

I am not sure why there are not more lights on the trees on the common perhaps funding is an issue. Isn't it always?

Never mind about the lack of lights, it was pure magic to me today. My town has never looked so pretty.

I got back in my car before pulling away and heading home, literally a two minute drive away.

But then I saw the Congregational Church, the subject of many of my Winter in Stoneham photographs. I had to get one more photo of the church in the bluish light of Winter.

And of course, a parting shot of the Fire Station. The Firemen are in for a long night. I have already seen several fire trucks and ambulances drive by my condo this evening. Beautiful and sometimes treacherous Mother Nature at work.

Christmas Festivities

One of the social events of the season is Jolie's Christmas Party. You may remember my post about her last year's party.  This year's party did not disappoint.  The food, the holiday decor, the company, was all superb.

Jolie's home is so warm and cozy.  She has an artist's eye for decor and her home especially sparkles during the holidays. I just drink it in and snap away, wanting to share it all with you. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing all the details of her home.

She has a collection of lighted buildings. It looks so gorgeous when it is the only illumination in the living room.

Greenery decorations on each window. And there are so many windows in the house.

Another view of the lighted village. There are some whimsical touches here like a flash of light illuminating Santa as if Santa is being photographed.

Jolie created this yule log complete with meringue mushrooms and real greenery on the tray. The outside of the log tasted like chocolate ganache. There was a "dusting" of snow on the top. It was crazy good!

 I mean really, these meringue mushrooms were so realistic! And tasted so fantastic!

All the food was so exceptionally presented. I vowed to try one of everything but there was so much to eat I could not eat it all.

See what I mean? This was so festive and delicious looking, how could one resist?

I loved this pot rack with all the copper pans and Jolie put them to good use. Jolie and her kids made everything for the party. The preparation is immense and takes days I am sure.

Red and green olives for Christmas. All so artfully displayed.  I am taking notes on all of this.

Lots of smiling faces on this night. The two people on the left travelled all the way from Sweden to attend Jolie's party! Only kidding, they were here for a few weeks visiting the US.

More great food to be consumed. The meatballs were delicious! So was the cranberry sauce and the tarts with cream cheese, goat cheese, parsley and peach jam. I lost count of how many of those mini tarts I ate.

The tree looked lovely and the gifts were already wrapped. Where does she find the time?

Back to the food, look at the bread selection. More than at Panera Bread!

Wait til you see all the main courses. There was a baked ham with sauce.

And a pork tenderloin and turkey with gravy and sauces to accompany them.

Guests were helping themselves to the meats from the stovetop. There was no room on the island for the big meat platters.

There were many generations of people at this party from kids to a woman in her nineties.

Those in the dining room were the luckiest of all as they were closest to the desserts!

More of the Swedish contingent. They were heading to New York after the party.

And last but not least, Morgan, the family dog. Morgan is a gentle giant and his space was invaded by all those party guests.  He was a good sport and did not make a peep at the party. I am sure he could not wait until everyone went home and he could attack the leftovers.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I was on my best behavior..  After all, I want an invitation again next year!

Harvard Square epiphany

I had a vacation day from work today and my plans got cancelled so I offered to help my sister with her Christmas shopping. She had made a list so it seemed like an easy task. She wanted me to go to one store in Harvard Square, Joie de Vivre, a small very quirky shop on Massachusetts Ave or Mass Ave as we natives call it.

The forecast was for wind driven rain but not too cold temperatures. I wore a light rain coat, blue jeans and snow boots. It was steadily raining but the monsoon had not arrived yet.

Parking was a nightmare. It usually is in that area but it was exacerbated by those doing Christmas shopping. I could not find a space near the store so I circled around to the opposite side of this busy street. I found one, not real close and the meter was for a mere 30 minutes. I hoped the meter maids did not want to go out in a nor'easter and I could be spared a ticket. I rushed out of the car and hurried to the store.

What a great store, Joie de Vivre. Lots of retro stuff, many low priced items, wacky stocking stuffers, and hilarious cards. Of course, 4 of the items on the list were sold out. So I improvised. Got some great stuff. My sister said if I found something I liked to get it because she needed a gift for me too. I bought a lamp for my new downstairs office. Photos to be posted later.

After visiting a second store, the Paper Source, for wrapping paper and a few small gifts, I took a mochaccino break at Rosie's Bakery.  At this point, the wind driven rain had arrived. I could not see my car and I figured the parking ticket was a certainty. I added a Mediterranean omelet to my drink order and I settled in to enjoy my breakfast.

Afterwards, I ventured out into the wild and wooly weather. You know, the kind of weather that if you were driving on the highway you would pull off because you couldn't see two feet in front of you. Umbrellas were virtually useless as they immediately blew inside out. I was having a hard time holding on to my 3 parcels. It took forever to cross the street, traffic, puddles, yuck!  I was not amused.

 I walked up the street a couple of blocks and could not find my car. At this point, the paper shopping bags were saturated and so was I.  One of the paper bags was starting to rip. I thought I would try to find a shop that had plastic bags and so I entered City Sports. The nice clerk said he would get me a plastic bag but came back with clear trash bags for me. He said he brought me the clear trash bags so I wouldn't look like a homeless person. Mmm, ok.

Continuing up the street, I still could not find my car. I turned and started walking in the other direction. The rain was coming down sideways and the winds were kicking up. My jeans were soaked and sticking to my legs. The water was dripping off my hair and rolling down my neck. I was getting chilled.  My bangs were so wet I had to slick them back and then the rain was hitting my face and eyelashes so hard I could hardly see. Plus when it is raining that hard it actually hurts. Real nice on my broken nose.

I walked into a store named Nomad just to get out of the rain and catch my breath. My arms were hurting from carrying my packages awkwardly so they wouldn't drag on the ground. The store had beautiful handcrafted items from all over the world. A young woman came up to me and said she would take my packages and put them behind the counter. She saw they were trash bags and then she told me she would just leave them by a display that she couldn't put them behind the counter. I told her no, she would not leave them out in the open and I took them and left the store. I am convinced she thought I was a homeless person and that's when her attitude changed.

I realized my car was not on this end of the street so I backtracked again. While I walked, I planned out all the wonderful things I was going to do when I found my car. A hot shower with my favorite Philosophy salt scrub and shower gel, a hot cup of tea and a gingerbread cookie while relaxing on the couch under my soft plush blanket. Aw, yes that will be wonderful but then my thoughts turned to the homeless. What if I were homeless and I got caught in the rainstorm and had no other clothes but the ones I had on? How would I ever get dry or warm? And how would people treat me? Would anyone help me? The temperature was scheduled to drop after today. How would I survive? I don't think I would.

Finally I found my car and I was never so happy to see it. I immediately turned up the heat to the max and I drove straight home. Christmas music on the radio and out of the rain, my mood immediately improved.

I arrived at home to see the entire contents of my recycling bin strewn across the driveway, lawn and the neighbor's property. Cat food cans everywhere, water bottles, plastic take out containers. and a Tidy Cats Kitty Litter container. As I picked up the debris it was still pouring. This discomfort is temporary I told myself.  You are minutes away from a hot shower, clean clothes and that cup of tea.

And finally, after the hot shower, I had my cup of tea and gingerbread man. While I was in the shower the sun came out!

Today's trials and tribulations had an impact on me. Just yesterday I had decided to join the 26 acts of kindness movement when a friend posted about it on Facebook. The 26 acts idea was created by NBC News' Ann Curry and was posted on Twitter at #26acts. Last night, I was thinking of doing things that the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting would have cared about but now I think my random acts of kindness will be centered on the homeless.

I found a non profit organization called Birthday Wishes and I am going to volunteer.  Their mission is to bring birthday parties to children living in shelters. Some of the shelters allow volunteers to come in and interact with the kids.  Other shelters are called safe shelters and the volunteers put together birthday boxes of gifts and supplies but they can't attend the parties. I am excited about this opportunity and I am going to round up my own group of volunteers.

So how about you? Are you in for #26acts? I did my first one today, Christmas shopping for my sister.  I have 25 more opportunities for kindness.

Christmas Mischief and Mishaps

Anything I would post about seems so frivilous after hearing the news from Connecticut yesterday.
I watched the coverage and was actually disgusted by the reporters asking for interviews from the children and their parents. I think they could have used a little more compassion.

I watched the interview with the teacher who locked her kids in the bathroom. What a brave, compassionate young woman. She is a true hero and if I had kids I would want her to be their teacher.

Anyway, I did write a post about my Christmas decoration progress today. If you want to escape the sadness for a few minutes read on:

I am finally getting down to decorating the condo for Christmas.  Last weekend, I decorated the mantle in the dining room but I am still tweaking it.  Tonight, I worked on the fireplace in the living room. It really doesn't take me long to decorate the condo since it's a small space.

This week I had a little mishap and it set me back on my decorating. On Tuesday, I fell in the parking lot where I work and I broke my nose. I tumbled feet flying behind me and I crashed onto the concrete face first. Well, first my knee then my hands then my nose and my forehead. What a bloody mess! I had my first ambulance ride and I spent about 3 hours in the emergency room.

I am one lucky girl. I did not have a concussion although I hit my head and I didn't break my kneecap although I hit my knee before breaking my nose. Just a broken nose, sore knee and facial cuts.
I think I have a guardian angel. It could have been so much worse!

Back to the fun stuff. I have a prelit garland that I use on the fireplace in the living room. This year I dressed it up with some gold leaves, gold pinecones and strands of gold beads. I wanted it to really shimmer.

I took about 10 seconds after I'd finished the fireplace for Percy to investigate. I think he can read, he went right to the stocking with his name on it. I should have known shimmery things would attract a curious cat.

How long do you think the garland will last on the fireplace? I am guessing not even 24 hours.

Right now he is back to resting on the cable box so hopefully he's done sniffing around. I'll let you know how it goes.

Holiday decorating inspiration

I don't know about you, but, I always look to magazines and blogs for my holiday decorating inspiration.  I saw this beauty in Matthew Mead's Christmas magazine. This was from a feature on Carol Spinski from Raised in Cotton. The chair is a little bit like my living room chair.

So I thought I would give it a whirl and pull out my own vintage ornament collection. I just grabbed the first few I could get my hands on since I haven't decorated yet. Mine is a little meagher but you get the jist of it.

I was admiring my work when ....

The one man wrecking machine awakened from his perch in the dining room. Of course, he had to investigate.

He just has to get in every photo doesn't he?  So the holiday styling session abruptly ended. I did not want to chance any of my vintage beauties becoming a cat toy for Mr. Percy or his siblings.

One last look before it is dismantled.  As you can see the chair is not in pristine shape as it has endured far too many kitty claws.

I decided to give you a close up view of some of my collection. I added a warm filter to the photo to give it more of a vintage look.

Where do you find your holiday decorating inspiration?

A trip to the Bedford Village Inn

Every year after Christmas, my sister, me, and our friends Duane and Lori Lee visit the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, NH.  We have dinner, exchange presents, and then we tour the inn and view all the beautiful holiday decorations.

We sat in a lovely room with a warm glow. I ordered the pork chop with pomegranate puree, polenta, and cauliflower. It was delicious.  My sister had the halibut and Lori Lee and Duane had pasta fra diavolo.

For dessert, I had the chocolate bag, the Inn's signature dessert.  It is a "bag" made of Belgian chocolate filled with sponge cake, chocolate mousse, assorted berries and whipped cream. I knew I was ordering this before I ever entered the inn!

After we ate, we went to the various rooms to see the decorations.  There were snippets of Robert Frost poems on chalkboards throughout one of the rooms.

This chandelier had a frosty glow, so pretty!  I should steal this idea!

All of the wreaths at the inn were gorgeous. The decorations are always unique.

This dining room looks so inviting. Maybe next time we will request this room. The inn is so old and many of the rooms are very small. It makes for an intimate dining experience.

I love the clock display on this wall. My sister thinks it looks like steam punk.

 A fireplace graces another of the small dining rooms. Any room you choose to dine in is special.  I have eaten in a few different rooms and each experience was enjoyable.  The service is excellent as well.

A number of designers decorate the inn so each room has a totally different look.

If you get a chance to visit the Bedford Village Inn by all means go, you won't be disappointed!