Winter Wassail

Need something to warm your insides during the cold, winter season? How about some hot-spiced Wassail. The mix of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg with hot apple cider(ale) together with a warm slice of cranberry-almond loaf. My substitute for a lack of a fireplace on a chilly Sunday afternoon at home hehe. Happy Wassailing!

Inspiration from Decor by Color

I stumbled upon this website while looking for more decorating ideas for my living room. They've basically created a mini-blog for products in different color schemes. Now my living room is a hodgepodge of many different colors (ongoing problem), but it's slowly leaning towards the chocolate browns and deeper blues as I replace and rearrange items. It was interesting to peruse around a color blog and get some inspiration for decorating ideas. I actually saw one of the furniture pieces I purchased was highlighted on their blog. The items they feature are a range in affordability and styles, but a great way to see the decorating possiblities in the color(s) that you prefer. So head over to Decor By Color, pick a hue, and see if you tap into your inner decorator.

Happy Holidays from jessfromscratch

Department 56 - Christmas In The City Village

merry x-mas to me...well sorta

I am now of the smartphone generation. I actually bought this phone for myself a couple months ago. KJ and I dismantled our basic phone family plan when he got a Blackberry through his work. So why must I not have an upgraded gadget to play with as well? I don't have the luxury of my work providing me with a phone so I shopped around for the best plan and phone for myself. Actually, my boss has this same phone and he pretty much sold me on the Palm Pre...I guess we are now 'phone buddies'. I never thought I would use it so much and was apprehensive at first, but so far I'm getting so much use out of it. From using it to listen to morning podcasts every day, to my electronic agenda (I stopped using my little red agenda that I've had forever!), as a mobile GPS while driving, and of course for the traditional uses as an actual phone haha I'm not to the Crackberry point as my husband, but then again he uses his smartphone for work, so there's no need to keep my email on a constant refresh rate haha Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with the purchase and I think I've filled my gadget purchase quota for now. Though I know KJ has been eyeing a Kindle/Nook...

Snowy Christmas Season

Me hiking down the street in my hardshell, ski pants, and boots

KJ and the blustery snowfall...brrrrr

We were snowed-in this weekend with Winter's welcome and a giant snow system that moved up the entire U.S. east coast. After the stormstorm was said and done, the final tally was 21 inches in town and up to 30 inches in the surrounding mountains. More than either of us have seen in quite some time. It truly made for a magical winter wonderland right outside our front door :) So what to do during the snowstorm? Well of course KJ and I ventured out into the snow and walked around our neighborhood. It was so magical and serene with everything covered in a thick blanket of snow. After an hour or so of wandering about, we did start to get cold, so it was time to warm-up inside and drink some hot coffee and tea.

It had been several weeks since we both had a weekend off together. KJ has been working ridiculously in Q4 (10-14 hours a day for 7 days a week) so we took this time together as pure gold. We listened to Christmas music, watched movies, baked cookies together, and just relaxed! I am finally getting into the holiday spirit :) I'm still not finished with present shopping and with only a few days left, I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish this hehe Anyhow, the snow is expected to stay on the ground until Christmas with a 'winter mix' coming on Christmas Eve. So all this pretty snow just might make for a White Christmas...or a slushy mess :(

Oatmeal-Cranberry-Walnut Cookies and Holiday Planning Tips