Wakefield Holiday Stroll

The weekends have been so busy that sometimes I forget to post about an event I attended because I attended multiple events that day and night.  Such was the case with the Wakefield Holiday Stroll. I had attended the Home for the Holidays in Melrose that morning and posted about it.  That evening I attended the Wakefield Holiday Stroll.

 I almost didn't attend the Stroll because I was tired from attending the Melrose event, an antiques fair in Malden, and a visit to my Mom's nursing home.

I am glad I did attend. There were bonfires.

And lots of freebies like free popcorn and mulled cider, hot chocolate, cookies, and coffee.  The merchants decided what they would offer. The popcorn guy was outside of Century 21 Real Estate.

 And the Carolers were inside of Christopher Barrett realtors and outside of The Savings Bank.

An ice sculptor worked his magic on Main Street. Actually he did a few ice sculptures in front of various businesses.  Dancers performed on the impressive steps of the library.

 A concert from Wakefield  Music took place at East Boston Savings Bank's Wakefield branch. Such a talented group of children!

Some people dressed in their winter best. I loved this woman's ensemble especially the cool hat!

I love this shot of this little one anticipating a visit to Santa inside The Savings Bank.

 This church looked so lovely with it's green doors and simple wreaths. Perfect!

The tree in the Square looked wonderful when illuminated.  Wish I had a better shot of it.

So there you have it, the Wakefield Holiday Stroll. Something for everyone really, sort of a mini First Night with a small town twist to it.  I hope you enjoyed strolling around with me.

Recap of the Christmas Soiree and my 400th post!

Last night I held my 3rd annual Christmas Soiree.  Luminarias once again lined

the walkway. I got the idea from Martha Stewart's blog.

I ordered all of the food from Zuzu's Cafe in Wakefield and I have to say everything was perfect! They delivered my food at exactly the time I asked them to. Everyone loved the appetizers and sandwiches.

We had caprese bites with balsamic dressing and mini phyllo cups filled with salmon salad with mango salsa, buffalo chicken salad and one with spinach and feta.

The caprese bites were delicous, Tomato, mozzarella, and basil on a skewer, yum!

I ordered two small baked bries, one with fig jam and one with cranberry orange relish. They were complemented with crackers and berries.

The finger sandwiches were also delicious. There were three kinds: roasted vegetables with goat cheese, roast beef with cheddar and horseradish,and chicken salad with cranberries and almonds.

My friend Diane works at Starbucks and I hired her to make lattes and espressos at the party. She had a lot of customers and some people wemt back for three or four drinks. I really enjoyed my gingerbread latte.  If you are a long time reader of my blog, you will know that Diane is Oscar's foster mother.  They had a wonderful reunion prior to the party. Diane's beau, Michael, also helped with the drinks.

Diane makes a perfect latte.

I used tea cups for the hot drinks.

My friends Roger and Deborah surprised me with a visit from Santa. Their son Nathan was making the rounds last night and he stopped by briefly.

And he posed for photos with the guests. I was totally surprised and when he walked in the door I wanted to say you've got the wrong house but I was polite. Then I thought is he going to rob me?

There was not much left of my White Christmas Punch by the time I took this photo.

Lots of conversation with friends. And the party lasted about 5 hours.

I ordered these little Marie Antoinette angels from Australia. They arrived in time for the party but I had thought they would have been perforated and I would just pop them out off the sheet.  No, they had to be cut out. My sister cut all 16 of them out for me the night before the party.

This cake was the showstopper. Midnight Velvet cake made by my friend Mary. She also made

snowdrop cookies and shortbread and also gingerbread cookies and red velevet cupcakes.

Paul enjoyed many espressos.

I took a few shots the night before the party. My tabletop living room tree. I don't put up a large tree as Percy would climb it and destroy it.

I used some twinkle lights to illuminate the bird cage and later I added a flameless candle.

Percy loves to watch the "fire" in the fireplace.

Here's another shot of the teenage Santa Claus.  I think there's a seasonal career in the making!

Today, we were all exhausted and we lazed around a bit. The kitties loved my new Rachel Ashwell comforter.

The two boys looked so cute, I just had to take another photo of them.

As I mentioned in the title, this is my 400th post. Wow, it's amazing that I found 400 things to write about!

Hopefully, there will be many more.

I am linking to The Inspired Room's Christmas House Tour blog party.  Click here to see more posts.

Prepping for the Christmas Soiree

My annual Christmas Soiree is this Saturday.  As usual, I feel  like I am behind the eight ball. I barely have the condo decorated. I need to clean and shop for food.

If we don't have rain I will put out the luninarias again. They always make a statement at the entrance.

Hopefully, the TV will be wall mounted over the fireplace by Friday. I have a friend of a friend coming to do that on Thursday.  He will also hang the new chandelier in my dining room.

I still do not have curtains on the windows so the living room will probably look like this. Actually I have a new tree. Last year's tabletop tree had to be tossed, the lights went out on it. So a new small tree for the living room.  Also the lit garland has half of it's lights out so I think I will either put up some real greenery and a string of lights or scour my storage space in the basement to see if I have another prelit garland..

There will be another show stopper cake. Midnight Velvet, yum!  This is the cake from Soiree #1. No one would cut the cake because it was too pretty. Finally my sister cut the chimney off and finally the guests began to eat it.

Last year for Christmas Soiree #2, I served this cake. A little less impressive so the guests ate it.

I may go back to the cake from Soiree #1. It really is impressive.  We will also have red velvet cupcakes and assorted cookies.

ZuZu's Cafe is doing the appetizers and sandwiches for me.  I can't wait to try the brioche sandwiches and mini phyllo cups.

And I am having a barista at the party.  Yup, my friend (and Oscar's foster mom) is going to be serving gingerbread lattes and peppermint mochas. 

So there's lots to do before Saturday I'd better get started..

Home for the Holidays

Every year in the City of Melrose, Massachusetts, there is a downtown celebration called Home for the Holidays.  The businesses in several sections of the city open their doors for some holiday cheer.

Each business decides what they will offer whether it is discounts on merchandise, free gifts, or food and drink.  They usually cater to the kids so there are lots of activities for children like cookie decorating and story telling.

Carolers stroll the downtown streets and add some Victorian flair to this City noted for it's Victorian homes.

This window at Breads 'N Bits of Ireland reminds me of an old fashioned display.

Lots of smiles today.  The weather was perfect.,  Not cold but just chilly enough to make it feel like Christmas time.

City Hall looked elegant as always.

My bank offered the children an ornament making activity.  We also had cookies and Elaine's famous White Christmas Punch.

Reindeer rides at Cedar Park were a big hit.

Bohemian Coffeehouse had a raffle for a basket of baked goods.

Turner's Seafood sold cups and pints of clam chowder.  I can attest it is delicious!

Santa arrived at the Cedar Park train station.

Coffee Tea & Me had lots of goodies to be enjoyed.

There were trolleys to transport the attendees from one neighborhood to another. I am so thankful the weather cooperated .  One year it was bitter cold with a wind chill that made it even worse and no one rode the trolleys. Everyone drove their children to the events that year.

But today was perfect in every way. Thanks to the Melrose Chamber for pulling it all together.  It was a great success!

Christmas Bucket List

Are there things you simply must do for the holidays? Like visit a certain place or eat a certain food? Well here are my holiday must haves or my Christmas bucket list.

I like to see a live performance at the holidays. The Boston Pops, the Nutcracker Ballet, The Christmas Revels, it's always great to take in a Christmas show. This year I am hoping to see the Nutcracker at the local theatre.  It's a musical. Should be interesting.

Next weekend, I will attend the Nutcracker Tea.  This will be my second year attending the event.

My sister and I usually meet friends for dinner at the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford, NH.  The inn is stunning. And the week after Christmas is the best time to visit.  It is still decorated for Christmas but the atmosphere is more relaxed. We look forward to this special dinner.

I enjoy shopping in the small shops in surrounding towns such as Concord, Lexington, Winchester, and Melrose. I've already been to Nesting on Main.  They do such an amazing job with their displays. If I have time I like to go to Boston and browse around Beacon Hill and Newbury Street.  The window shopping is great!

I also take in church fairs and antique fairs. I find the best stuff there. In fact, I will show you some of my finds in another post.

A must do on my list is to visit Burdick's in Harvard Square.  Their hot chocolate is too die for! The cafe is decorated tastefully for the holidays. After hot chocolate, I have the energy to brave the crowds and do some serious shopping.  There is always lots to see in Harvard Square.

Here's a view of the twig chandelier in Burdick's. I had hoped to duplicate this for my Christmas Soiree but time is running short and there is still so much to do!

There you have it, my Christmas Bucket list. Do you have one? What's on your list?