Let it snow

We're headed up to the hideaway. It's not likely, but we're hoping it'll look like this when we arrive. This photo was taken 2 years ago. California relies on the snowfall in the sierras and last winter we didn't get much. So far this winter, it's been pretty dry, too. It's suppose to rain/snow the next few days so we're hopeful.
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Rejoice

Capping the end of a fun Christmas filled with omg oh so many smiles. Been reviewing the photos the past couple of hours and there are some great ones. The best photos are of our more shy family members so I can't post them but they were some of the biggest smiles of the day. Priceless moments.

Jimmy and I headed out late Monday morning. After lunch, I found Jimmy with the nieces sitting on the driveway...sorting thru this pile of junk for over 20 minutes making odd little creations.

That afternoon we headed up one of the Bay Area's tallest peaks. The view up there was amazing. And yes, the temperature was pretty mild. In the 50s. Good weather for a hike.

This side of the family loves to adventure. They are Active. And they like to climb. Here's the dad but the girls, especially the oldest, was right behind him climbing up those steep peaks. In fact, if you make the picture bigger, you can see her down the peak a bit from her dad. We headed home and were very thankful for my MIL's amazing Christmas Eve Dinner. I kid you not people. Her food is amazing. Imagine Paula Deen but probably better. This was no month to be on weight watchers, lemme tell ya.

Christmas morning we had an early and hearty breakfast. But we couldn't keep the nieces waiting any longer. They had been waiting so patiently. There were lots of surprises. And many many hugs and kisses to go with them. Here's an interesting photo jimmy took of me after I just opened some fun books, hopefully guaranteeing that my 2008 will continue to be as creative as the past several years.

And after watching my niece learn how to use her new Heelys...I wanna try it too!!! Don't you? You know you do...you've seen those kids at the store. They practically run you down but before cursing them, you really think 'That'd actually be pretty cool to do. I wonder if they make them in adult sizes.'
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Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas!
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Coal in my stocking

While I can definitely eat more than my fair share of Hershey Kisses, there's no way in tarnation that I coulda eaten all those kisses in my last post after the celebrating (ie: eating) I've been doing.

Thursday night, I went out with friends from another stamp club that I'm a member of. Only half of us were able to make it, but at least we were all able to partake in the same conversations.
We had dinner at Stacey's Cafe in Pleasanton, which is co-owned by Scott Adams the writer of the Dilbert cartoons. Not only did I finish my entrée, but I also had dessert (gasp!). I refrained from licking my plate since this was an actual cloth napkin restaurant. After I got home I made more of those Pretzel Kisses for my get-together on Friday with
The Bowen's. We had a casual dinner at their house then went out in the 45 degree weather to walk around their neighborhood and look at all the fancy lights. Do you burn more calories when your walking if you're shivering at the same time? Ok, I know some of my Northerner bloggy friends are rolling your eyes at me and my 45 degrees because I've seen your pictures and your snow and your ice but I was freezing. Maybe I should have worn a jacket. That probably would have helped. I'll make a mental note next time.
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Santa, I have a tummy ache...

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Joyful

addicted to these digi kits by Mindy Terasawa. She also creates elements for traditional paper scrapbooking at Autumn Leaves.
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Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? decorative tissue paper and curling ribbon
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial: button tree
3. When do you put up the tree? Beginning on December
4. When do you take the tree down? After January 1st
5. Do you like eggnog? not so much
6. Favorite gift received as a child? a big pink teddy bear
7. Do you have a nativity scene? no
8. Hardest person to buy for? the husband
9. Easiest person to buy for? myself, lol.
10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? Suave shampoo. seriously.
11. Mail or email Christmas card? mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf. well, there are lots more, but right now, this is cracking me up the most.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? If I see something, I'll buy it whenever. This year was August I think.
14. Have you ever recycled/regifted a Christmas present? Not a Christmas gift...blink blink...but i do admit back in the day i recycled a couple of wedding gifts. But that was over 15 years ago.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything my MIL makes.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Not into the Christmas music this year but usually "Oh Holy Night"
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? At the parentals, which I don't consider traveling.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Yes
20. Do you have an Angel on top of the tree or a star? neither
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? traffic and Christmas music everywhere
23. Best thing about Christmas? being with friends and family

I got this from siljevanilje's blog, who doesn't know me, i admire her artwork and lurk on her blog. But decided to add more christmas cheer to mine by doing this meme. Play along if you'd like!
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Scroogy McScroogerson

Lest I mislead anyone, that isn't my house in my previous post. I'm one of those neighbors who takes pictures of your wonderfully decorated house since I don't do it up myself. Case in point, from last year here and here.

And while I'm at it, here's another:
I hate to admit it, but the sole Christmas decoration I have up is that button tree I made last week. It sits proudly on display though, on a beautiful doily my BFF's kinda-sorta gma made me last year. This year, I'm quite content with all the Christmas and holiday activities to remain outside of my home space. I've been very productive this year as far as getting my shopping done, mailing packages, making my cards and doing all those crafty things. This has been the least pressure filled Christmas season I've had that i can remember. Smooth sailing. I'm not sure if taking the pressure off myself on merely decorating the house has had such a big impact, but I think that not being surrounded by it 24-7 makes me feel calmer. On the other hand, I do feel like somethings missing. So not sure if taking the decorating out of the equation is the answer. This year, perhaps. But I know I'd feel amiss if I let it go every year. So in the meantime, I share with you my favorite other-people's home decorations.
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A Jolly Happy Soul

Without his corncob pipe, because, you know, that would make him pop.
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Christmas in Graceland

Last year I was traveling cross country with my sister-in-law. We stopped in Memphis and toured Graceland, which was fully decorated for the season. The tour guides said that it was decorated exactly how Elvis had it decorated for the holidays.
The front of the mansion.

As you enter the front doors, to the right is the formal living room.

Continuing down front entry, behind the living room was Elvis' parents bedroom. After he purchased this home, he moved his parents in with him. They were very important to him. They even had a Christmas tree in their bedroom, with purple ornaments to match the decor.

Back out to the front entry, this stairway leads to the off-limits part of the home. The family still stays here when they are in town.

The formal dining room is to the left of the stairway and front entry.

The famous Jungle Room, towards the back of the mansion.

On the front lawn, Elvis wishes everyone a Merry Christmas.
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Christmas Party #2

The best part of this season is having a good reason to spend time with your friends and family. During the rest of the year, life just happens and despite good intentions to get together, things come up and well-intended lunches or dinners don't happen. Sure it's the busiest time of the year, but it seems like this is the time when we make the time to be with our loved ones.

Today, we were warmly welcomed at our friends, the Yuen's, home.Their tree was adorable, evident that they have a toddler in the house. All the ornaments were on the top branches. Loved it! So cute. Little J was taking her nap so we missed her in this picture.

I've mentioned before that there's a core group of programmers who are good friends and have worked with each other at one point or another. That's how Jimmy and Lun met. Several of the wives have become good friends as well. We've called ourselves The Wives Club a few times as a joke. It was pretty funny how the girls gathered together and chatted while the boys stood by the food and talked shop.
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My first Christmas

Obviously I don't remember this, but here I am with my dad oh so many years ago. We lived in the Mojave Desert in Southern California and although the morning sun is shining on us, it must have been a cold day, as all winter days in the desert were. I would have been about 5 months in this photo.
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Kiss a pretzel

Tomorrow we're going to our 2nd Christmas party of the season. It's the Yuen's annual cookie party and after chatting with the wonderful hostess, decided to bring these fun and super easy not-a-cookie but salty-sweet snack.Again, not an original idea. I first saw it on Becky Higgins blog here, then got an e-newsletter from Family Fun that linked to their website here. It looks much better using the Hugs, but I don't like white chocolate so I used original Hershey Kisses.
Supplies: Pretzels, Hershey's Kisses (or Hugs), M&M's. Put a kiss on each pretzel and put in 200 degree oven for 6-8 minutes till chocolate is soft. It'll retain its shape.
Remove from oven, smoosh 1-2 M&M's into it and its done.
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Button Tree

Since I've gotten all of my Christmas shopping done except for the husband, I'm finding myself doing a lot more crafts than I usually do this time of the year.

I found this project originally on Ali Edwards blog here. Which lead me to Tia Bennett's post and how to on Two Peas. Their photos are great, so I highly recommend visiting their blogs to see their awesome trees. Tia's link has complete how-to instructions.

Below are my quickie instructions:
Here are the supplies. Buttons: over 400. Pins: over 400, pearl white and pink. 9" white foam cone. I put the buttons in the baking dish so I could sort and see what I had to work with.

Following Tia's instructions, use the biggest buttons first and pin randomly. After using biggest buttons, use medium buttons...and so on. Overlap if you need/want to.

About 1.5 hrs later, while watching tv, you'll have this:I used a small jelly jar filled with the unused buttons as my trunk. I kind of screwed it into the foam so it had a lip to settle into. Take lots of cool pictures and share them with your bloggey friends.

(another rerun from N-N).
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Christmas Party #1

My first holiday party of the season was tonight. 17 of us (2 missing in the photo) met for dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. I'm usually the naughty one who steals peoples presents. I've probably stolen presents from every member of this stamp club at one time or another. This year I decided to refresh my karma, so to speak, and chose from the pile of unopened gifts rather than steal from my friends. And I got a great gift of Asian papers and kimono cards that I'll use in lots of projects. This fun little party brought me a little closer to feeling the Christmas spirit.
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Peppermint Patty Ornaments

(this is a re-run from Nudge-Nudge for those of you who read both blogs).

Here's a real quick and easy ornament:It's a treat and an ornament all in one.

This is what you'll need:Blue and white paper. Some small peppermint patties. A glue stick. Ribbon, about 5" per patty. A snowflake punch (or snowflake stickers). A 2" scallop circle punch. Substitute whatever supplies you have to make it work for you. Do red circles and green trees. Make birthday favors with cakes or flowers.

Put glue on the peppermint patty wrapper, stick on the ribbon, stick on the circle. Repeat on the other side. Glue on the snowflake.
Make s slew of 'em and attach them to your christmas packages. Or hand them out at parties. Or give them to your kid's class. Feeling motivated? Make 'em next year for Halloween. A great project for kids, too.

Diverted

Ocean Beach in December. Ended up here instead of here. Much better. That building on the right is the Cliff House.