Holiday Gift Ideas...by color!

~A Few  Holiday Gift Ideas~

1.  Sprinkles red velvet cupcake mix...$14.00

2.  gift tags, set of 10...$18.00

3.  extra long red crochet clutch...$45.00

4.  How to Behave and Why...$14.95

5.  vesta crimson centerpiece bowl...$29.95

1.  'today is the day' print...$20.00

2.  wiener dog pillowcase set...$28.00

3.  on-and-on loop...$38.00

4.  no plot no problem novel-writing kit...$20.95
5.  Waechtersbach Tea Pot with Lid in Orange Peel...$41.07

1.  dahlia necklace...$18.00

2.  set of 14 pens...$20.00

3.  'Start Everyday With A Smile' print...$18.00

4.  mustard lines multi-purpose canvas bag...$35.00
5.  beam mug...$2.95

1.  green zigzags suitcase gift set...$38.00

2.  Sicilian pistachio macarons...$1.60 each

3.  recycled Spanish glass votive holders...$4.00 each

4.  glass beaded woven tube necklace...$36.00

1.  waffle-knit crewneck...$44.50

2.  teal blue and white peacock feather coin purse...$22.00

3.  blue and spice printed ikat toss pillow...$19.99

4.  calories popcorn set...$38.00

5.  the bowl that ran away with the spoon...$21.00

1.  Real Simple magazine subscription...$23.88

2.  simple nature pocket mirror...$5.00

3.  shemergency survival guide...$25.00

4.  g is for giraffe digital print...$10.00

5.  my ride short sleeve bodysuit...$14.00

6.  starry night pillow cover...$34.00

1.  large barrel chunky bracelet in Cocobolo...$100.00

2.  bernard driving cap...$39.50

3.  hands bowl...$50.00

4.  chalkboard candle...$19.75
5.  gold cascade orchid necklace...$28.00
6.  eco-friendly olivewood salad hands...$24.50

It's no secret that I love color, so I thought it would be fun to put together some gift ideas grouped by color.  I adore giving gifts, but stress myself out completely trying to find the perfect thing. Then when I give the gift, before the recipient even opens it, I am either explaining what they may dislike about it or detailing why I thought it was perfect. Sometimes I just need to shut my mouth! :)

I have not purchased one gift yet and I am starting to freak out! Since we travel during Christmas, I either need plan ahead and have our packages shipped to our destination or buy things easy to pack...Ahh!! I do love the madness of this time of year, though.  I hope you are a little more prepared than I! [or should that say more prepared than me?...I looked it up and I still don't know. Ha!]  I am taking a brief blogging break to work on a few projects.  See you back here on Monday!

Happy Shopping!!

One of the best parts about being an adult...

is that it is perfectly acceptable to have tomato soup and onion rings for dinner if we so choose.  :) 

After a few days of Thanksgiving leftovers, we were kind of over it, if that is even possible.  Neither one of us wanted to go to the grocery store and we both decided that we HAD to have onion rings.  This recipe is our go-to for "fried" veggies.  These are baked and perfect.  I actually prefer them over fried.  The actual recipe uses jalapenos and poblano peppers, but we used an onion and a zucchini.  The link also includes a recipe for homemade ranch, but we used this.  Here is the recipe, along with some bad photos...it gets dark too early now.  :)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds jalapeños and poblano peppers [any veggie will do!]
• 1 cup flour, divided
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons mustard, whatever variety you like
• 1 cup breadcrumbs [We used Panko]
• 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salt and ground black pepper 

1.  Preheat oven to 400ºF. Set up 3 plates (we used bowls) on the counter; in one spread the flour, in the second beat the eggs with the mustard and about 2 tablespoons of flour, in the third combine the breadcrumbs, cheese and some salt and pepper.  [We added about a tablespoon of horseradish to the egg mixture for some kick.]

 2.  Coat the peppers in the flour, then in egg and finally in the breadcrumbs, pressing to make sure coating sticks. Roast peppers in the oven, turning halfway through baking until golden brown and crispy, about 18 minutes.

Serve immediately.  We also had this soup.  It was perfect:

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for some fun holiday gift ideas!  Have a great day!!

Eek!!...I love Christmas!

It's funny how things change. When I was a kid, the time from Thanksgiving until Christmas seemed like an eternity. Now it flies way too fast! Years ago, I never would have thought we would have a fake tree and would not even dream of putting it up until at least the first weekend in December...maybe the second.  Now, I am itching to get started before Thanksgiving. I did some decorating before Thanksgiving this year, but waited until this past weekend for the tree.  We have a mix of ornaments we have collected over the past few years, some from my college roommates, a few from when I was a kid, and a few I still need to make.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  Ours was great!  I had fried turkey for the first time and can honestly say it was the best turkey I have ever had.  Now...off to sing Christmas carols!  :)

Happy Monday!

*Our* Thanksgiving Table!

I have seen lots of tablescapes throughout the blogosphere this week, so I thought I'd share ours too!  We will be joining friends for Thanksgiving this year, but plan to have our own little family Thanksgiving meal on Friday!  Yay!!  If you remember, I mentioned I was inspired by this tablescape in the November issue of Real Simple:

I fell in love with the rather neutral color palette and since Thanksgiving food is full of color, I wanted the food to *pop*, not get lost in a sea of fall colors.  I know I am probably the only one who feels this way, but that's ok.  :)  ...and we need nothing fancy, just one plate, one fork, one knife, and one napkin each...simple!  Here is our dining space for Friday, inspired by the photo above:

our thank-you box, all ready to be opened after dinner

I am signing off for a few days.  Have a wonderful holiday weekend!...see you back here on Monday!