holiday faves

It’s List it Tuesday over at Artsyville. This week’s theme is Holiday Traditions…so here goes:


My Favorite Things about the Holiday:

My mom’s gingerbread men. Oh, and she makes a mean pumpkin bread (with nuts and chocolate chips).

I love wrapping presents. Not so much the buying of. Or the paying for. But I really love the wrapping of part.

Holiday movies. Oldies like “Miracle on 34th Street” with Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood. And new ones like “Love Actually” with Liam Neeson (swoon) or “The Holiday” with Jude Law (double swoon).

My favorite all time Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. I’ve seen it 50 times. And I’ve cried 50 times.


But my favorite thing about the holidays is seeing my family. We are all spread out so this is the only time of the year that we ALL get together. This year’s count is 36. About 2 years ago, we started renting a hotel meeting room…grandma’s house just got too crowded! But there is still plenty of food and gifts and talking and laughing. Lots of laughing!

That is my absolute favorite thing about the holidays.

list it tuesday--the finale

Here’s my contribution to List It Tuesday. I’m a big list maker but you would be bored out of your mind if I shared my usual lists. My lists tend to be work related To Do stuff mostly.

For this one I used a scrap piece of watercolor paper. Let nothing go to waste!

vanilla latte

Better late than never. Right? 

My list for Artsyville’s List It Tuesday is another recipe. I make this latte every morning. Without fail.

I became addicted to coffee shop latte’s many years ago and had to find a cheaper alternative! At first, I have to admit that I didn’t like the taste of this one. It took a few cups of it to grow on me. It is sort of like adjusting to diet soda when you are used to regular. You know?

Anyway now I prefer my homemade latte to any coffee shop version. It’s yummy.

list it tuesday

My contribution to Artsyville’s List It Tuesday topic. My “list” consists of five ingredients that taste yummy when combined!

• Just peel the orange(s), slice them in circles or bite-sized pieces.
• Warm the honey for a bit to thin it. Stir in the cinnamon and five-spice powder. Pour this over the oranges.
• Sprinkle the ginger on top.

list it tuesday

One of my fav bloggers started a new feature on her blog last month. List It Tuesday. It’s very clever. Artsyville posts a handwritten list every Tuesday.

I’ve wanted to play along but have had too many other projects going on. Plus all my lists are really boring. I’m a list maker for sure but mine are mainly To Do lists. I like that sense of accomplishment to have things crossed off The List. You know?

Over the weekend, I wracked my brain to think of a list I could share. Food! That’s it! I’ve got recipes out the wazoo…they’re lists, right? So here’s my first contribution to List It Tuesday.

Mix all of the ingredients and store them in an airtight container or jar.
This mix will keep in the fridge for about 10 days.
To make the chai tea, brew a cup of strong black tea.
Stir in one tablespoon of the spice mix.

It’s yummy!