It's My Life

The holidays are among us. Personally, at this time in my life, I love the holidays!  I have spent the past several weeks decorating my home trying to make it look as festive and cozy as possible for my family and loved ones.  However, if I am being super honest, I have not always appreciated this time of year. There was a point in my life when I was getting divorced and my father was dying of lung cancer that I honestly dreaded this time of year. I do not think I am alone. For many people, the time between November and January is a very difficult time to get through. Some may call it the bah humbugs or seasonal depression, or even just a funky ole mood but it is common to encounter someone with the Christmas Blues whose goal is just to survive the holidays.  There is something very emotional about the holiday season. It could be simply societal pressure of purchasing gifts and spreading ourselves too thin.  Maybe it is that a new year is upon us and star...

Cookies. I think we all might have a touch of Cookie Monster in us when it comes to our love of cookies. I mean, really, who does not love cookies? One of my favorite holiday traditions is an old fashioned cookie exchanges. You bring in a couple dozen cookies and swap with your friends. You leave with a sampling of cookies; maybe an old favorite or maybe even something new. My cookie of the year is a Lemon Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread. The red cranberries and the green pistachio's just look like Christmas in a cookie.  The lemon just gives the cookie an extra pop of flavor. Lemon Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies 2 1/3 cup all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup unsalted pistachio's coarsely chopped 1 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped zest from 1 lemon Mix the flour and salt together in a separate bowl. In your mixer beast the butter until smoo...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree such please you do bring me! So much that I keep adding them to my home. Right now I have five in my home. By the time Ole Saint Nick arrives I may be up to six. This year we changed things up a bit. I added mesh garland to the main tree in the house. I even made my own topper. The family tree in the basement got a new Frosty hat topper and some cute Elf legs. My dining room tree is a rustic burlap, white, crystal, gold and bronze.  The star is a giant wooden star I found at Pier One last year. This year in honor of our 2015 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals, I created a small Royals themed tree. All the ornaments are salt dough and hand painted by myself. I made a gold crown for the topper out of sculpey clay. The final tree is a small fuschia colored tree with pink lights and a pink star. This tree finds its home in The Short Chic's bedroom. She decorated it herself this year.