Friday, November 25, 2016
Yesterday morning [Thanksgiving], I was up and dressed by 7:00 am and the turkey was on by 7:30 am.
In years past, because my parents' home was the site of so many festive Thanksgiving gatherings, I try to provide photos of the events going on now. Does anyone remember my Mother's beautiful holiday trivets?
I like the quiet holiday we now enjoy. In the past, I always felt I simply stopped in to have dinner, greet visiting relatives and old friends, and then left. I may have returned over the holiday weekend for "extended family" shopping trips or leftover dinners, however really just a visitor.
Now, I am much more the event planner. Before, my career was very important to me-- and I went to an office everyday. I hosted very few parties in my own home. An office Thanksgiving party was also a big event, also planned by others [in this case, office staff].
This more to say, although Thanksgiving is now different-- it is not bad. I love working and now I combine work with holiday planning. In the past, holiday planning was done for me. Believe it or not-- I used to give my Mother money to purchase the holiday gifts I gave. Now I do all of that.
This morning, I had plans to be at Arundel Mills for the beginning of Black Friday shopping, for a Hanover MD, Businesses project. I cancelled when I realized the Mall opened yesterday at 6:00 pm and has been open ever since.
I am almost done with my holiday gift purchases. Later today, I will be wrapping more gifts. By the second week in December, I will finish all of my shopping and we will start putting up the decorations and tree.
This year, I want to get out and enjoy the season more, however have no definite plans. Are you still looking for gift ideas?
Today, I am working and having leftovers for lunch.
Sometimes, I simply cannot believe I make my own turkey and dressing with all of the trimmings...
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
I was up early this morning preparing some of the baked goods we will have for Thanksgiving.
Last week, along with some of the gifts for family- my new wallet arrived.
I cannot tell you how pleased I am with this purchase. I listed it in the "Items I Have" Category, however if you need other gift ideas you may like some of my finds...
Right now I am waiting for my cheesecake to cool so I can add the sour cream and sugar topping for the final bake [a ten minute process]. I am on schedule insofar as holiday baking. Hope your preparations are coming together.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Today is my Mother's birthday. As previously reported, her gifts arrived November 8th, 2016-- and this morning I finally gave them to her.
On Tuesday, I went to the market to purchase ingredients for the cake, I changed my mind about making. You may recall- I did not think I was going to make her a cake this year.
The tea set...
In August, when I gave my sister a similar set- she seemed to like it, so when I found this Ancient Coin Cast Iron Tea Set, I thought she might like it as well. She did, along with her new tunic top.
Big dinner and other plans tomorrow.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
I love cranberry sauce. I love it so much- I keep OceanSpray Cranberry Jellied Sauce on hand- year round.
That said, three or four years ago I started making my own sauce for the holidays, i.e., Thanksgiving and Christmas. Photos from last Thanksgiving.
I use the recipe on the back of the OceanSpray Cranberries bag which can also be found here. I use the non-frozen berries normally found in the produce section.
If you have not tried this recipe, you may be surprised by how much you like it.
I know- changing a traditional recipe at the holiday is often hard, however in this case, it is easy to keep on-hand a can of Cranberry Sauce or bag of Craisins, you can use later if it works out.
Other preparations for the holidays? I have been researching and shopping. Do you need gift ideas? I think I have found some pretty good ones:
I feel I am on schedule this year. How are your plans shaping up?
Tuesday, November 08, 2016
My mother's birthday is next week. Since it is so close to the holiday shopping period, I tend to start my holiday shopping at the same time I am researching for her birthday.
Happy to report my mother's gifts arrived today along with my first gift purchase for the holidays. I am also happy- I have wrapped the gifts. I dislike wrapping gifts...
Since I rarely get out, I like mentioning when I do venture out and where I check in... [yesterday, between noon and one thirty pm]:
- Business bank [actually went inside the bank, normally I only need the drive-through]
- Safeway-- [don't think I am going to make a cake for her birthday this year, so I was researching options]
- Arundel Mills Mall [went in the Dave & Busters' entrance and stayed awhile in VisionWorks trying on eyeglass frames.
Today, since I was waiting on the UPS delivery I sat around in my office-wear doing the things I normally do except with a bit more makeup...
Recently, I was on a Style [YouLookFab] forum responding to another member's post about what to wear while working from home. I noted that because I normally do my hair and makeup everyday [unless I am too tired]-- I never feel the need to worry about what I have on unless I actually have to leave the house or prune something in the garden. I even go to the mail box-- in the office-wear shown above.
By the way, I am still finding neat Gift Ideas you may want to checkout:
Cannot tell you how happy I am to get my holiday gift buying underway.
I have also been working on my Hanover MD Biz Page-- so if you have not been to our area-- check it out. There are so many things to do here. When I do get out, I am always surprised by how much my town is changing...
