muted monday: coffee break on the patio

drinking: Jittery Joe's Tanzanian Peaberry, reading: Philippa Gregory's The Other Queen.

tree time

Going to get our tree last weekend. We went to Jack's Creek Christmas Tree Farm again this year, and were very happy with it. They have several varieties to choose from, and they have a little petting zoo, a shop with a nice Santa Claus to visit, and a stand with boiled peanuts- YUM.


The kids love riding in the back of the truck while we wander about looking for which kind we want to get.


Maybe over there!




Lyle did not want to leave the truck though. He was tired and crabby (we have started to go without naps most days and he is still transitioning). Jason finally got him to come and be carried around, and he eventually got down.








I'm not sure what these were called, but we really liked the silvery color they have at the ends of the branches. The needles are very wispy looking too, which we liked. We were so excited to see some bright red berries growing on a vine in many of the trees- we picked a few to bring home and adorn our tree with.



Once we found "the ONE", Jason got busy cutting it down.


Daisy picked it right up and carried it to the truck (with a little help from her sisters) and then we were off for home.


More photos soon of the decorations at the house. Hope you are having a lovely December with not-too-much stress!

a very happy birthday

I cannot even begin to tell you how loved and honored I felt last night when my family pampered and spoiled me for my birthday! It had already been a wonderful day full of phone calls from dear family and friends wishing me a happy birthday, and even some time alone to do a little shopping (thank you Rachel for taking the kids to the pool!!) and then a nice afternoon visit with my friend and birthday mate, Melissa. I've never had a friend with the same birthday as mine, and now I have one who lives just a block over from me and who is a wonderful person! That is so cool.





I had a very difficult time just sitting and relaxing while dinner was being prepared- I guess I'm so used to being the one doing it all. That is why this was a wonderful gift! Before dinner there was cheddar and blue cheese with crackers as an appetizer, which were so good. Then there were pork chops from our local meat market, grilled with homemade barbecue sauce, and a wonderful cold pasta salad with cucumbers and herbs that was really delicious. And some Georgia muscadine wine to go with them. I was thoroughly enjoying this when Jason got up from the table and came back with a beautiful plate of berries drizzled with a mouthwatering dark chocolate sauce which was also made from scratch, and a glass of sparkling blueberry wine.





And THEN there was yet another dessert (this was MY kind of meal!) called a chocolate raspberry clafoutis, which is sort of like a custard but sort of like a cake too. It was delicious as well and I was beyond stuffed with all this good food, as well as amazed at the cooking SKILZ Jason was dazzling me with! All I said was that I did not want to cook dinner on my birthday, and he did all the research and preparations for this amazing meal. The girls set a beautiful table including a bouquet of roses and lavender picked from our yard, and fancy folded napkins. Daisy helped Jason in the kitchen quite a lot too, and he said (as I do on many occasions) that he could not have done it without her.





And then there were presents! I was very surprised and excited to receive the DVD set of Freaks and Geeks, one of our all time favorite TV shows, as well as a membership to the wine of the month club at Gosford Wine! I get 3 bottles a month of their choice, along with tasting notes in my email box. I am SO excited about that! Now we can try out some new wines and look for some new recipes to try along with them, which I am looking forward to very much.



After presents we got the little kids in bed and I came out to a spotless living room- picked up and vacuumed by Daisy & Hazel- and we settled in to watch our first installment of Freaks and Geeks. We had our second helping of fruit with chocolate sauce somewhere between episodes 2 and 3 I think. What a fantastic night! I feel completely spoiled and loved, and I am hearing from my friends that Jason has raised the bar for birthday celebrations, which I just love. Everyone should feel so well taken care of on their birthday! Thank you Jason for making it a truly special birthday for me. So far I am loving 35!

Thank you also to everyone who commented on my last post- it is wonderful to see everyone checking in. Here's to another great year!

my new painting

We just acquired another wonderful piece of art from our pool of amazing local artists. This is an oil painting done by our very talented friend, Sarah Cook.

What is so special about this painting (aside from it being unbelievably beautiful!) is that it was painted just for me. I gave Sarah some ideas about subject matter and color, and she created something far more amazing than I had even hoped for! I am very honored to own this piece and to be able to say I helped inspire it.



It's going to hang in our dining room, and will be one of the first things people see when they come in our front door. It looks really awesome against the green walls in there, but I haven't hung it yet and couldn't wait to share it here, so I took these photos with it sitting on the mantel. I just know that getting it up in the dining room will help me get motivated to finish up in there- we sort of stalled out after we did the walls.

Thank you again, Sarah! I am deeply thankful for your talent and your friendship.

we won!!

Jason just said this weekend that we never win anything. And then he got an email today that he was a winner in the Shop Your ATH Off drawing! $100 worth of gift certificates to local businesses. And what's more, my friend Shannon's name was also drawn! The paper said hundreds of people pledged, and there were 15 names drawn. Everyone got 4 certificates for $25 each to use at local businesses. We got a restaurant, a salon, an art/jewelry shop, and a tattoo shop. What a great reward for shopping local and encouraging others to do the same.

Thanks, Flagpole!

shop local

You might remember last year before the holidays I pledged to buy handmade items for all our gifts. I of course intended to do the same again this year, but we just found a way to take it a step further. Our local alternative newspaper, Flagpole, is promoting local shopping by sponsoring a giveaway based on pledges. You can sign up to "Shop your ATH off" (pledge to spend at least $100 of your holiday budget at locally owned businesses), and you are entered into a drawing for $100 worth of gift certificates to local businesses. After living here only a year we have been thrilled to see just how many opportunities there are in Athens to buy from local crafters, farmers, artisans, and musicians. So we wholeheartedly support any program which brings them more customers!

For all of our out of town readers, please consider seeking out local and/or handmade gifts in your area as well. Even if it doesn't get you entered in a drawing, it helps your community very much when you choose to skip the national chains and shop local.