THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS...

taken at the Golden Lamb, Lebanon, OH

The countdown begins... are you enjoying the

MAGIC of CHRISTMAS?

WE DO COOKIES!!

Our HOLIDAY TRADITION... 

When my daughters were in preschool, we started a tradition of baking cookies the Sunday before the last day of school. Over the years, it became known as "COOKIE SUNDAY" and involved lots of flour, butter, sugar and sprinkles. Now, if you know me, I love a "tidy" kitchen so having these ingredients in the hands of 3-5 year olds required patience! BUT, this tradition has continued into adulthood for my daughters... 

Of course, the favorite cookie cutters are those that yield LARGE cookies (boot, mitten, bell, tree) that can be decorated with green frosting & colored sugar sprinkles. See those little cutters? the mitten, snowflake & stars... those are usually handed out to the adults (they're small, so you don't feel like you are eating TOO many - in reality, you can't just eat ONE!).

As I mentioned.... we DO cookies.... Lots of them!

For the past 5 years, I've rolled & baked the cookies... Then, Christmas afternoon, we have a "decorating station" so everyone can put together a plate for themselves to take home. It gives everyone something to do when the meal is eaten, the gifts are open & holiday spirits are starting to fade.

I'm a bit of a control-freak (no comments from my
family, please), so there are some RULES... 

1. Decorate only the cookies on the wax-paper or 
paper plate in front of you.

2. NO licking your fingers or the end of the frosting
gun. 

3. Try NOT to smash your frosted cookie into the plate of sprinkles (don't forget, NO licking your fingers).

4. Place your decorated cookies on a plate &
clean-up your work area. I MUST say... this is the
most difficult to monitor... because EVERYONE wants to start shoving the cookies in their mouth!!

Family members ooohs! & aahhs! over everyone's creativity. There are lots of offers to decorate a cookie for someone else! Ummm... the power of the frosting gun & all that frosting & sprinkles! 

A plate of the finished product!

Creative artistry by Katie (at age 8)

KONYA & RUMI...

Mevlana Mosque (Lodge for Rumi)

Well... we finally have some internet connection, but details of our days are melting together. We are on information overload! which is GREAT, until it's time to pull the written words together to detail our journey.

Street corners are decorated with whirling dervishes which I'll address in a future post!

Konya, Turkey

is a very conservative city!
Most women on the street cover their heads with headscarves... but we also saw Westernized attire worn by young women (perhaps college age?)!

Stephanie asked for prayer beads from Konya! Do you think she'll like these?

JPE & I are amazed by the number of mosques that dot the horizon...

these clay bottles act as chimneys & prevent rain from entering the flue...

a shopkeeper cleaning the sidewalk in front of his store!

one benefit of staying in a business hotel is comfy beds!

ummmm! endless cups of coffee or tea!

crispy potatoes with cumin, sausage or hard-boiled eggs...

an assortment of olives...

apricots (the tastiest dried fruit ever!), raisins &

 cereal (similar to cocoa puffs), as well as cornflakes...

& a chef to cook your omelette!

after one night, we're off to Antalya (on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea).

NATIONAL HOLIDAY....

REPUBLIC DAY - October 29th

(Cumhuriyet Bayrami)

like the US, Turkey displays their national flag on REPUBLIC DAY!

even restaurants displayed large flags.

JPE & I had one of our "tastiest meals" while visiting Istanbul.

line up of students participating in a Republic Day parade.

flag displayed on a historical building.

Istiklal  Caddesi means "Independence Street"

(New District - modern section of Istanbul)

street sign

the rest stop on the way to Ankara

Turkish people are very patriotic!

our group celebrating at Taksim Square

MEN OF TURKEY...

In Taksim Square is a monument dedicated to Ataturk - the Turkish president (often referred to as the George Washington of the Turks)...

the view down Istiklal Street (New District)

men - traveling in groups!
women - with their husbands

 a little hookah & backgammon?

making a living... (wanna buy a bubble maker?)

selling lottery tickets...

how could you not leave a tip for this sweet musician?

more to follow!

A BLUE SIGHTING...

this morning! I was enjoying the view from my chaise lounge... 

sipping coffee... & thinking about my blog post...

WHEN... I had a visitor!

JPE had seen several when he was hiking in Big Sur...

this one scampered from underneath the edge of the patio slider!

so, I GOOGLED "Blue Tail Lizards California"

I didn't like reading this...

as we often have Lola {or other dogs} visiting! 

As JPE reminded me,

this is the FIRST one we've seen on our patio.

HOPEFULLY, it will be our LAST!

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more!

Today is...

TASHA'S Bday

{they're at the cabin in Big Bear Lake!}

Later this evening,
we're headed to the top of the hill to watch

the Pismo Beach Pier Fireworks

BE SAFE! 

HaPpY 4Th oF JuLY!!!

GOOD.RANDOM.FUN. {WEEK 9}

FAT TUESDAY @ work

Today at work, Traci got us in the "MARDI GRAS" spirit...

she brought a KING CAKE!

For those who don't know, a KING CAKE is a ring of cinnamon-streaked dough & with a hard sugar frosting tinted in the traditional colors of Mardi Gras. The "party-spot" was decorated with purple, green and gold beads.

I had a meeting off-site at 1:30, and the baby (baked inside the cake) still had not appeared... & the cake was almost all eaten.

The sign reads "ENJOY the KING CAKE!

if you get the PIECE WITH THE BABY,

you will enjoy a year of Good Luck

& you must buy the KING CAKE next year!!"

posting with Tamar at RANDOM-OSITY

GOOD 

{tasty, little treats are always GOOD}

RANDOM

{something unexpected is pretty RANDOM}

FUN

{having FUN at work makes the day pass quickly}

did you celebrate FAT TUESDAY?

PHOTO-HEART CONNECTION {January 2014}

Packing up holiday decorations is bittersweet! We always enjoy having our home decorated with holiday treasures... it was especially exciting this year because Katie & my Mom came for a visit over my birthday weekend... they both oohed & aahed over the tree, ornaments, lights, and miniature houses!

Even though the majority of our decorations are my Santa collection & JPE's holiday-lit houses... we always display these two items as remembrances of my dad and JPE's mom.

Before my dad moved to an Alzheimer's care facility, he would spend an occasional day at care facility while my mom ran errands. This snowflake ornament is a treasured memory from one of his craft-days! 

The basket of ornaments were created by JPE's mom. Although I knew her for only five years before she passed, I quickly learned how much she loved decorating for the holidays. Her grown children & grandkids meant the world to her, and it pleases me to have her hand-crafted ornaments to put out at Christmas.

A few weeks ago, we had some friends over for dinner! they'd never been to our house, so we  gave them a "peek" at condo living. At the end of a fabulous dinner (created by JPE), Cindy said, "your house is filled with treasures that have stories or memories attached to them. It creates such a cozy feeling!"

What a nice reflection! we don't keep much that is NOT MEANINGFUL to us. Living small, we have to rotate our treasures... but, we never grow tired of seeing them from a new perspective each time they appear in our decor.

Posting with Kat Sloma at KatEye Studio...

visit her blog to learn about Photo-Heart Connections.

P52 {WEEK 52}

My last post of 2013!

Linking to Tamar's blog at Random-osity.

 Thanks, TAMAR for hosting P52. 

Although I missed a few weeks, I loved being able to connect to her blog. She'll be starting a new MONDAY "muse" entitled, 

 Hope to see you there!

We had a Christmas celebration at the Big Bear cabin... it had snowed the night before we drove up, but the warmer, sunny weather melted most of the snow before we left. Seems odd to have snow & kayaks in one picture! but here they are... in all their fair weather glory...

The orange cupcake looks realistic... I expected to be able to get a dab of icing on my finger, but, the ornament was spongy to the touch & squeezable!

Love the natural decor! although it wouldn't work in my house (I decorate our tree with my SANTA collection), I love the re-cycled, simplistic nature of houses that use loads of white, beige and cream in their decor.

One of my favorite bloggers is leaving the blog-world... Chez Larsson...  (her all-white decor is refreshing) of course I'm sad, but understanding how difficult it can be to write posts 2-4 times a week! it's something I expected! Benita will still post photos on Instagram.

CHRISTMAS DAY cookie decorating is becoming our "new" tradition! When my grandniece, Katie, and grandnephews, Matthew & Derek, were younger, I would bring the cookies fully decorated... as they gotten older, I'm s-l-o-w-l-y passing on the JOY of the Christmas cookie decorating!

This is the second year of asking them to decorate cookies. It's a blast... they eat (way too many cookies during the afternoon... more than their mom knows!!!) and decorate to their heart's content. Of course, the adults get caught up in the action also.

On our way home... we stopped at Snapper Jack's for fish tacos! yummy!! Arrived home to Lola sneaking a nap in front of the fireplace (Allie & Brian were watching a movie)... But, OH NO, our succulents got frost-bitten while we were gone! 

Today we're going to a matinee, to see the Hunger Games! then, dine on lentil-potato soup + cornbread! taste a bit of sparkling cider & "watch the ball drop" (three hours ahead of time-East Coast time)... we have a puzzle on the table... ENJOYING the quiet after a whirlwind November & December!

See you in 2014! (LOVE even-numbered years)... with my annual recap of the year, Memories, Dreams & Reflections ... here are my 2012 & 2011 posts.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 7.7.13

SHS 7.7.13
READING... {will share the book on my blog later this week}...

so this will be a quick post!

You know the routine - capture a photo for each word & link your blog URL to Ashley's blog, RAMBLING & PHOTOS.

This week's words were well matched to the festivities of our holiday celebration, 4th of JULY:

RED, WHITE, BLUE, STAR & SPARKLE.

RED

JPE & I enjoy spending 4th of July with family in So California. Mom's house has some delightful "treasures" that I've captured in photos over the years. But, this RED heart is a favorite! And, if you've never been to Renegade Craft Fairs, check their website. I bought the wooden doily for mom at the SF Renagade several years ago.

WHITE

I haven't mastered taking pictures of fireworks... so I changed this photo to black & WHITE. Loved the WHITE "sparkler" trail... thanks to "D" for accommodating my request to draw circles in the air.

BLUE

No... we didn't play horseshoes! But, knew I had to include the BLUE horseshoes for this week's SHS. Plenty of games are played on 4th of July... but, horseshoes are something I remember the family playing at the trailer in Huntington Beach...

STAR

These flowers are amazing. Don't you love the yellow STAR!??!

SPARKLE

Okay! so, this is the extent of my fireworks pictures! Lots of SPARKLE, but not a lot of clarity.

Next week's words are pretty cool: RELAXING, INSPIRING PERSON, WRITTEN WORDS, MEMORIES & BEST FRIEND.