All is Calm...and FIT TIP (#182)

 

All is Bright

This time of year I love to look at snow-covered images. 
I like snow...from afar.
Or for limited periods of time in person,
if fun is involved.

To me/for me, this Christmas season does feel calm...and bright!
Last December was bright (and exciting)
but not calm.

Knee deep, but not in snow.  We (HH & I) were 2 months away
from becoming Man & Wife.
Busy combining 2 into one.  Two households, two lives.

a portion of our Christmas tree

 

 

Busy working our 3 piles.  Keep, Give, Toss.

Busy finding renters for "my" place.

Busy turning "his" place into ours.

Busy, fun, exciting, but not exactly calm.

I have vintage ice skates, and although I am kind of in love

with the above image

I will not be using my skates in a centerpiece.

Anything that was once on any one's foot does not

go near my food. Ever.

Maybe on a small side table in the home office?

 

 



So, the busy-ness of last Christmas season has wonderfully
become calm and bright.  Still fun and exciting...but calm.

Packages sent off late, oh well.  Who doesn't love to open
a few surprises after Christmas?  Extending the fun!

Calm and Bright.  Focusing on what the
Christmas season is really about.
Not just the birth of Jesus Christ,
but his life...his lessons.

Wishing you calmness and brightness this season!



FIT TIP (#182): Cuddle
Cuddling before bed relaxes the brain, reducing the process of over thinking, making it easier to fall asleep.



Words for the Week
{12.16.2012}

Pop of Red...and FIT TIP (#181)

 





A glorious pop of red is something I adore.

(not to be confused with red pop **which I don't adore--

but I know an adorable lil girl in Texas who does)



It is such a bright, cheery and festive color.

 

I don't use a lot of red

in my holiday decorating.  Just a

pop, here and there.

 

Heck, I don't use much red in

my none-holiday life

either.

But I do love a good pop of it.



You know how I feel about animal print.  Love.

I'm conflicted with the above image.

 

I don't love the coat.

I feel like I should.  I don't.

I love the pops of red.  They save it.

I do own a red handbag, stiped T

and lipstick **another story altogether**

pops

But I won't be imitating this look.

 

Before I get back to holiday

pops of red

I have to mention another everyday

pop that I simply love...

Red Front Doors.

Two of my kids have them.  Ahhh! 

 

 

A few more pops to enjoy:





 

Hope your weekend is merry & bright

and includes a few pops!

 

 

FIT TIP (#181): Love First 

 

 

 

 

Words for the Week

{12.9.2012}

 

Yes, it 'tis...

After doing this **December, Holiday Season, Christmas** for many, many years I happen to believe that the key to the whole JOLLY thing is strongly tied to SIMPLICITY.


Have you noticed how SIMPLICITY has become CHIC?  How awesome is that?  Very, very.
Speaking of Simple Chic, check this out:
 

not positive, but pretty sure credit for this brilliance goes to Lovely Things
 

Yesterday, when I realized that odds where high I'd still be at the office during the lunching hour,
 





I quickly **and simply** threw a healthy lunch together...and was even a bit giddy when I realized how festive it looked.  I mean really, I took a picture of cottage cheese?  

 

 

 And something I'm super JOLLY about these days, thanks to Handsome Husband:

 

diamonds are a girls best friend...in the niche that leads to the master bedroom.  I smile every time I walk by his handiwork. 

 

 

 Speaking of Jolly, Festive, Simple and Chic.  This is what I will be serving

 

for breakfast this weekend in honor of HH and his birthdate!  There will be some celebrating going on, for sure.

'tis the season, so have a JOLLY weekend!

Really, I Could...and FIT TIP (#180)

Cross my heart, I could...

see myself going to a Christmas party in this very place...honestly, I could.  Would you like to come along?  No jackets required!

And how about if instead of calling the above "graham crackers", I could start calling them "graham wafers"?  I saw them referred to as such in a recipe.  I kind of like the sound of it. 

Then I could make homemade graham wafers to be used for S'mores that I could also make, after roasting marshmallows in the backyard fire pit with Handsome Husband.

Ahhh, this floating candle.  I could make a handful of these as easy as 1,2,3.  I have the few supplies necessary on hand...including H2O!  I love the simplicity of this glow.

This evening I could throw together a bowl of these...my new obsession.  I have always loved edamame.  Warm, cold, in the pod or out, seasoned or plain.  But then I fixed these one night as an appetizer and whoa! 

16 ounces frozen shelled edamame
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt (is there any other kind?)
1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
(or 1-2 teaspoons alternate seasoning)

Thaw edamame for an hour or so.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Gently pat edamame dry.  In mixing bowl toss edamame with olive oil and seasonings.  Taste to test seasonings.  Spread in single layer on a sheet pan and roast 30-40 minutes.  Stir every 10 minutes.  Their color will darken and the exterior will be dry.  You will hear them "singing" as steam escapes from inside the bean.  Best if eaten within a few hours.  They never make it that long around our house.  Yum!

And then I could serve roasted edamame at an outdoor picnic...in the snow.  Wait, no I couldn't.  I don't live where it snows.  I live in the Valley of the Sun...where

I could just do yoga out by the pool instead, like I did the other day.  Yoga by the pool in December.  Crazy!





FIT TIP (#180):  Happy Chemicals
Smile. Even if you're in a bad mood, it will immediately improve. The simple action of thinking about smiling and using the muscles is enough to trigger happy chemicals in the brain.



Words for the Week
{12.2.2012}