December 9, 2022
thoughtful, whole family, and seeing the seasonal sights
posted by soe 1:57 am
Three beautiful things from my past week:
1. One of my teammates brings me an ornament for our tree. “I picked it because its skirt reminded me of your Halloween costume.”
2. My brother and his partner were visiting my folks and so I got to talk to Josh, as well as my parents when I called on Wednesday.
3. I did a little Christmas shopping on the Hill this evening, and decided to talk home across town, since it was dry and warm. I passed the Eastern Market tree, the Congressional tree, and the White House tree (not as gaudy as many past years), as well as the ice skating at the sculpture garden.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
December 8, 2022
virtual advent tour 2022: day 8
posted by soe 6:00 am
Rudi at Random Duck likes to balance my bonhomie-filled belief in the transformative power of Christmas with the power of laughter and parody (although it should be pointed out that the first dvd he picked for this season was The Holiday).
Today, he’s got a series of laugh-out-loud, skewering holiday skits and performances to start off your Thursday.
Thanks, hon!
December 7, 2022
virtual advent tour 2022: day 7
posted by soe 6:00 am
Today marks the end of the first week of December, which probably means that those of us who are hoping to get things mailed should start hopping to it.
In addition, it’s one of the Advent days I look forward to most in D.C. — the Washington Post‘s Food section releases their new Christmas cookie recipes for the year!
We grew up making Christmas cookies — and eating those family and friends made every year. Like most people, I have cookies I associate with the holidays, even if there’s nothing stopping me from making them any other time of the year. Peanut butter blossoms, for instance. And spritz cookies if you make them in non-Christmassy shapes. But in my brain they’re seasonal cookies.
Because most of our Christmas recipes are beloved hand-me-downs from family and dear friends, I don’t often add new recipes to the repertoire. But I love to peruse newspaper food sections and baking books and foodie blogs and bookmark recipes and imagine Someday and What If?
But this year, with no day job to get in my way and with pre-holiday plans few and far between, I’m thinking, Maybe This Year and What’s Stopping Me? After all, many of those beloved family recipes would have come from women’s magazines.
I’ve got cookie cutters I’ve never used and a bunch of decorations I bought in 2020 when the pandemic meant we did Christmas on our own for the first time ever. That year, I needed the traditional recipes. But this year, I’m thinking it’s time to add in some new things, as a metaphor for what I’m looking for in the other aspects of my life. There’s at least four pounds of sugar, five pounds of flour, and two pounds of butter in my kitchen.
I’m ready! (And I’ll share later in the Virtual Advent Tour if I find any winners!)
Do you have a favorite holiday recipe you make each December or a new one you’re excited to bust out this year? We’ve still got plenty of open dates that you could grab!
December 6, 2022
virtual advent tour 2022: day 6
posted by soe 6:00 am
Happy St. Nicholas Day! I hope you survived Krampusnacht unscathed and that you awoke this morning (or, come home later today) to find your shoes full of goodies.
Today, we get to do some touring! Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading is the blogger who’s participated most in the Virtual Advent Tour, having joined in its inaugural year, back when Marg and Kailana were running it. That’s how we met, and I joined her on the tour the following December.
Today, she shares some Christmas memories with us, both from her personal life and of her Virtual Advent Tour posts through the years. I hope you check out both.
top ten holiday reads i’d like to get to this season
posted by soe 1:57 am
Since this week is a freebie week for Top Ten Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl I thought I’d share some holiday books I’m hoping to read this season.
But first, if you haven’t been reading this year’s Virtual Advent Tour, make sure you check out fellow bibliophile raidergirl3’s post for today. Want to join in the fun? We’d love some additional participants, and you can do things like share a book or film review, a recipe, or favorite tradition. Sign-ups are here.
Now, here’s my holiday list, all of which I own, are checked out from the library, or I reasonably expect will come in from holds:
- The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox (grown-up The Parent Trap meets professional holiday baking)
- Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan
- Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
- Deck the Donuts by Ginger Bolton
- Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
- Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds
- The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park
- The Usual Santas edited by Peter Lovesey
- 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
- The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
How about you? Do you have any seasonal reading planned?
December 5, 2022
virtual advent tour 2022: day 5
posted by soe 6:00 am
Welcome back to the fifth day of the Virtual Advent Tour.
Every year, in the first week after Thanksgiving, I head downtown to Macy’s to check out their holiday windows. Some years, they are amazing and other years, they’re … a little less wondrous.
This year falls into the latter category with an apparent tie-in with the Toys-R-Us brand. The toy store giant faded this millennium, ultimately declaring bankruptcy five years ago. However, Christmas is a time for miracles (and capitalism-driven nostalgia) because the brand now operates seasonally out of Macy’s toy sections.
So, if you were at one point or another a Toys-R-Us kid, get you to your local Macy’s for an Instagram opportunity with Geoffrey the Giraffe.
Would you like to share some of the holiday sights near your home? Sign up for a date and the Virtual Advent Tour will make a stop.