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Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Counting My Blessings

Posted in Christmas, tagged , , , on December 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings…”

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin wrote this song for the movie White Christmas. I loved it the first time I heard it and I love it still.  It reminds me not to worry, and to be thankful.

At some point during the hustle and hurry of the holiday season, I like to take a quiet moment to think about how very blessed I am. Due to something tragic that happened to a friend yesterday, I am truly counting my abundant blessings this morning.

So often we get caught up in the craziness of our every day lives that we forget how very blessed, how truly fortunate we are for all that we have. I am often guilty of looking at things with a “grass is greener over there” eye. But today, especially today, I am grateful for every single nutty, crazy, challenging, wonderful, warm, loving person and thing in my life.

I’m thankful to all of you, as well. Your encouragement and continued support of my ramblings is a blessing to me.

Count Your Blessings and take some time just to enjoy those you love today.

She Who is Thankful

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Holiday Dresses

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Musings, tagged , , , on December 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

As a little girl who absolutely loved pretty dresses, I looked forward to the Christmas season with great anticipation. I always got a brand new dress for the Christmas program at school. Sometimes new shoes were needed as well, but always, always there was a new dress involved.

Sometimes my mom made my dresses and other times they were purchased, but I could hardly wait for the Christmas program to roll around. Not because Santa would be there handing out sacks of treats, but because I would get a pretty new dress.

I remember the dress I got for the first grade program was an icy blue affair with a double ruffle down the front from shoulders to waist and little embroidered flowers across the front. I played a bunny in the Christmas play and wore a little white rabbit hat along with my dress. Hopping across the stage was a bit of  a challenge in a dress, but that didn’t stop me from proudly wearing it.

One year I had a bright red dress with white lace on the front, another the dress was brown. Although, at that time, I thought the color brown was hideous, the dress was quite lovely in a soft, floral pattern, thick with cream lace.

My favorite dress of all time, though, looked like it came straight out of some Victorian holiday movie. It was cream with tiny pink roses all over it. A pink satin sash tied at the waist while froths of airy lace circled the neck and sleeves. I felt like a princess wearing that dress and was loathe to pass it on to my niece when I outgrew it.

Because of my great fondness for fancy holiday dresses, my two grand-nieces had dresses complete with crinolines, white stockings, and shiny Mary Janes  every year for Christmas up until just a couple years ago. The thirteen-year-old has outgrown such silliness and the nine-year-old tomboy much prefers her jeans and holiday sweaters to fancy dresses. My heart is still recovering from the agony of not getting to shop for fancy dresses during the holiday season, but I think I’ll survive.

Maybe I’ll shop for big-girl dresses instead.

I have a few favorite websites where I like to drool over the lovely gowns offered:

Mod Cloth

Coldwater Creek

Dillards

She Who Needs a Reason for a New Dress

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Pasta Ribbon Salad

Posted in Christmas, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, Recipes, Salads, Sides, tagged , , , , , on December 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 

If you are looking for a colorful side dish to serve this holiday season, try this easy Pasta Ribbon Salad.

 

Ingredients

Cook pasta according to package directions.

 

Slice Olives

 

Toss everything together.

 

I finished the salad off with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan and a sprig of dill.

Pasta Ribbon Salad

1 package Ribbon Pasta

1 can sliced olives

1/4 cup sliced Mazanilla Olives

1/4 cup sliced Kalamata Olives

1 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions. Cool completly. Add in olives and cheese. Toss with dressing. Chill and serve!

She Who Loves Pasta Salad

 

 

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Gifts for Guys

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Christmas, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , , , on December 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

If you are still looking for a few last minute gifts for the men in your life, here are a few ideas.

These ideas, of course, are for your outdoorsy, non-techie, manly men guys who are impossible to shop for.

Not that I have anyone like that living in my house. Nope. Not at all.

These boots, by Polo Ralph Lauren , are warm, comfortable and rugged. They have just a hint of fashion edge to them, which is the reason I was completely shocked when Captain Cavedweller not only wore them, but liked them. Edgy fashion is usually not something you would associate with mister T-shirts and lace-up boots. You can find these online at Macy’s.

Speaking of T-shirts, I buy all Captain Cavedweller’s from Duluth Trading. They have these wonderful Longtail T-shirts that are cut extra long, so active guys don’t have to worry about exposing parts of their anatomy when they bend over. Duluth has some great stuff for guys – and gals.

Most of the guys in my family really like jerky. Captain Cavedweller always has a stash on hand and Jeff Foxworthy’s brand is one of his favorites. You can pick up jerky every where from the gas station to stores like Bass Pro Shops. Makes a great stocking stuffer!

The men in my world seem to have gone mad for Airsoft guns. These imitation firearms shoot non-metallic pellets (similar to a BB gun). Maybe they are all having Ralphie flashbacks to their longing for a Red Rider BB Gun. Whatever the case, Crosman has a great selection from rifles to pistols.

Captain Cavedweller likes knives. He generally loses his pocket knife at least once a year and a favorite knife manufacturer of his is Buck. They have a great selection of everything from hunting knives to every day pocket knives. They even have pink ones for the outdoorsy girls (not that I would notice these things).

Coats are also high on Captain Cavedwellers like-a-lot list. The more outdoorsy and rugged they are, the better he likes them. I’ve never gone wrong getting him something from Filson. They have a great selection of coats, vests, hats and assorted and sundry outdoorsy guy stuff.

Last, but not least, are gift cards. If you can’t think of anything else to give, go for a gift card to a manly-man store. Captain Cavedweller gets quite excited over Cabela’s gift cards.

Have fun shopping for the men in your life!

She Who Is Glad to Be Done Shopping for CC

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