snowy village brings me much cheer

i've been collecting these little houses one by one as i go from thrift store to thrift store. alas my little christmas village has come together. much thanks to my electrician of a husband. he rigged the whole thing up for me. i just added the fluff!
happy holidays.

little marvels

right there next to my pumpkins is a forsythia blooming. poor little thing is a bit confused. but its beauty does not go unnoticed, so i brought it inside coaxing it along to bloom. and just a few short days later we get our first little snow. very little , but not any less magical to wake up to.


my sister has this "snack set" as my mom like to call them. and i've loved it for quite a while, so i'm always happy to have soup and sandwiches and an excuse to bring these out because it works so well together. this weeks fare. sweet potato bisque and turkey burgers!

i love my mama

i am so grateful to live so near this amazing woman, who provides me with a fast and delicious tub of chili to be enjoyed on this chilly fall day.

chair shortbread cookies

we have small group on mondays. i told a friend i would bake for this. we are going to be painting, so i thought we could use a little treat. i looked in my cookbook for cookie recipes i've been wanting to try and decided on these chai shortbread cookies! they are a classic shortbread cookie, but have a little help from cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom to enhance the the chai thing. they are pretty tasty. good to dip in coffee. especially yesterday being so windy and cold. i finished that up, and then jason returned from his weekend away. i made him chai tea, to go with his shortbread taste test. he approved.

scrabble <3

we've been ( mostly me) wanting to get scrabble for a while now. its getting colder and with that comes more indoor activities. so we invested in a super awesome scrabble game! there is little grooves for the letters and a huge board to play on!!! so excited. we are still in the middle of our game!


Sushi for 1. i'm home alone this weekend. no husband, no schedule. so relaxing. at work today, i was reading the paper about a new trader joes opening up in the area. i was so excited to see this that i knew that would be my first stop after work. just opened yesterday, it was jam packed, but worth it all the same. ah so much good stuff.

this year, unlike last, i am eagerly anticipating the holiday season. i'm excited, for all the food, family and festivities. and this year i am also excited to decorate for the christmas season. i couldn't wait to hang these up. they seem festive for anytime of the year.

Show and Tell... from the yard

This fiery red tree was my grandmas. she loved it so much she wanted to bring it with her on her move up the hill. uprooting a tree, i'm afraid, is not worth the cost. i feel honored to live on her farm. to experience little pieces of her once life. and this gate is what jason and i would like to take with us when we move. not very likely, but a lovely thought all the same.

my niece Ellinor, had her 8th birthday this week. and like her older sister, she also wanted a cake themed around the season she was born, so here is the result of that. just a little bit of what i've been doing for the past several months at the bakery.

chocolate pots ( need no explanation)