Thoughts

Christmas vacation should be spent in . . .

/ jennced15 / 2 Comments

I think I am a pretty typical and predictable person. I like all the things most people like and 8 out of 10 times I want to spend my Christmas at home with my family doing all of our traditions but . . . there are times when I dream of far off places that I would love to experience during the Christmas season. My first real taste of this was when I spent my first Christmas away from family in Hawaii. I am not going to lie; I really enjoyed seeing lights in palm trees. I didn’t miss snow one bit and I loved that it was in the high seventies during the day. My most favorite memory was calling to talk to my family on Christmas morning and telling them that I was headed to the beach for the day while they were in a blizzard.

So here are 5 places I have only ever dreamed about visiting during the Christmas season. Who knows; maybe next year I will be in one of those places sharing with you the 5 things you should do while visiting. Fingers crossed!

  1. Paris, France 
  2. Malmo, Sweden 
  3. Pape’ete, Tahiti 
  4. Quebec City, Quebec 
  5. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico 

Gift Giving

/ jennced15 / 4 Comments

As a kid it was VERY easy for me to come up with a list of things I wanted for Christmas. Some years my list was a couple of pages long. I remember pouring over the toy section of the Sears Catalog and turning down all the pages of the items that I just knew I had to have. As an adult, I prefer to give gifts then receive them because the real gift for me now is to know that others are happy but even with that being said, it is nice to see something under the tree with your name on it.

The older I get the more I want to give gifts that are experiences and not things but an envelope with tickets isn’t the same as the actual wrapped box under the tree. Over the years I have also noticed a structure for what gifts to purchase so that overbuying doesn’t ensue. So here is the structure and my list should anyone be buying anything for me this year.

  1. Something I want to Read . . . Daring Greatly by Brene Brown  
  2. Something I Need . . . Crock-pot (okay I have a Crock-pot but it is really small, I really need a normal size one) 
  3. Something I want to Wear . . . Oxford Heels (aren’t they so cute?!!!) 
  4. Something I Want . . . Air Purifier (I live in Oregon with mold people . . . enough said) 
  5. Something to Eat . . . Salted Caramels (yes, please!) 

Post Thanksgiving

/ jennced15 / 6 Comments

I am sure most of you had turkey and all the trimmings during your Thanksgiving holiday. I hope it was a great meal! If not, below are some of the items that I made for my dinner with the family that were fantastic.

  1. Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie from Mel’s Kitchen Café 
  2. Grilled Mexican Corn Salad from Southern Living 
  3. Pecan Pie Bites from The Baker Mama 
  4. Cranberry Salsa from Our Life in Food (it seems their website is down; should you want the recipe, send me a comment and I will send their recipe to you)
  5. Chile-Rubbed Turkey from Bon Appetit 

Even if it was a great meal; I am sure you have burnout with the leftovers. Don’t get me wrong, I love turkey and it is one of the few meats that I eat but I can only see it paired with stuffing and mashed potatoes for so long before I start thinking fast food sounds like a good idea. So here are 5 ideas that I think sound excellent for using up the leftovers.

  1. Nachos from Half Baked Harvest 
  2. Bites from Nabisco Triscuits 
  3. Sandwich from Two Peas and Their Pod 
  4. Soup from Town and Country Living 
  5. Tart from Cook’s Illustrated 

Grateful for Life

/ jennced15 / 2 Comments

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and I hope it was spent among family and friends. My mother sent me an email a couple of weeks ago and shared with me a fun article she had read in the newspaper. It was a list of the Top Ten Thanksgiving Day songs compiled by the Daily Herald. You can access the article here.

That made me think about the songs I associate with the holiday or songs that make me feel more gratitude in my life. Below are 5 songs from my list.

  1. Sly & The Family Stone: Thank You
  2. Bill Withers: Lean On Me
  3. Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World
  4. American Authors: Best Day of My Life
  5. Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers: Accentuate the Positive