6 Days To Christmas!

I can't believe that in 6 days Christmas will be here. Hope everyone has been able to take a moment to ingest some Christmas spirit in-between normal life. All week I have been going over lists. I'm getting things ready for when I see my family on Christmas Eve. I've managed to keep the apartment neat and clean. I even set up the guest bedroom for the kids. I set out board games, books for them to read, and coloring books and crayons which should keep them occupied all evening. All of my gifts are bought, wrapped and under the tree. The house is all aglow. This weekend I plan to take it easy. I'm not going to do much as I will need all my energy come Monday when I begin cooking.

Right now it's pouring down rain and I'm sitting here at my desk - eating a nasty hotdog - counting down the hours. I will be off until January 5th (doing happy dance). So you won't hear from me again til the new year.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! And to all my friends at MHH and CEO I especially want to wish you all the best. It has been another great year of sharing thoughts and ideas about Christmas and everyday life. My holidays have been the best they've ever been since meeting you and for that I am truly thankful (smiles, smiles, smiles; hugs, hugs, hugs). God Bless.

Making Cookies Using Cakemix

Today I received a nice surprise. A co-worker gave me a canister of chocolate cake mixes and a canister of sugar cookie mixes by Martha Stewart. I was telling another co-worker about the gifts when she asked if I've ever made cookies using cake mix? I never knew you could do that!

All you add to the cake mix is a stick of soften butter and eggs. Mix those together than add the mix. She also said that you can add more butter if need be because you're trying to get the mix like cookies dough. Plus she said that if you like, you can add sugar or vanilla extract to get the flavor you want. One tip: Do Not Add Any Liquids (ie: milk, water, vegetable oil) as called for when making a cake.

I plan to try this, this weekend with the chocolate cake mix. Plus I have some white chocolate chips to add to the mix. Will let you know how they turn out.

Great Gifts

I just had to share these with you. One of the ladies on my job is a fabulous knitter. Earlier this year I asked her to make me two scarves for my best friend and her husband of their favorite football teams. Here is what she made:

For my best friend

For her husband

Don't they look great! I am so pleased at how they turned out. I can't wait to see their faces when they open their gifts Christmas Eve. I love the scarves so much that I asked the lady if she could make a Ravens scarf for my their son for a birthday present. His birthday is in February. I know that once he see's theirs he's gonna want one too. I can't tell you all enough how excited I am about these two gifts. This lady is awesome.

Holiday Tour of Homes

Today members at Magical Holiday Home are showing off their beautiful decorations for the Holiday Tour of Homes. Everyone has done an outstanding job of making their homes festive for this special time of year.

I too want to share how I've decorate for the season. Much of the decorations are the same as last year and are on this blog from last year, so I've just posted pics of decorations with a few changes and additions.

Enjoy!

Only 13 Days To Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. Time to get ready for my annual Christmas Eve family dinner. I'm expecting a lot of guests so there must be plenty of food to go around. I'm so excited I can't wait to see everyone. Each year I like to serve something different. This years menu is:

party wings platter (buffalo, fried and Bruce Lee).
cold-cut platter
deviled egg platter
lasagna
pork shoulder
green beans
Seafood salad
potato salad
fresh baked rolls

DESSERTS
fruit platter
home made cookies
Oreo balls
Cream Cheese pound cake

Beverages include several types of cocktail drinks for the adults and a special holiday punch for the kiddos. And my all-time holiday favorite, eggnog.

You may be wondering what are Bruce Lee wings? Well I'll tell you. In the city, a few blocks away from the famous Baltimore Inner Harbor, there is a wonderful little market called 'Cross Street Market'. It's a very popular market (next to the world famous Lexington Market, which is a few miles away from Cross Street) that sells all types of fresh produce, meats and other treats. Inside the market there is a stall which sells very delicious chicken. The chicken is crisp and crunchy, dipped into some kind of sauce which has a light bourbon flavor. OMG when I tell you it's delicious, it's delicious! And what's so great is that the chicken stays crisp even though it's covered with the sauce. A co-worker turned me on to them about two years ago, and I've been hooked ever since. I found myself getting some on a weekly basis. The owner's name is Bruce Lee, hence the name.

This weekend is basically free for me (no job to go to) so I plan to get my baking done. Saturday I'm getting up early, about 5 a.m. to get started. I also want to attempt to get my bedroom back in order. I just can't seem to keep it together. LOL!!! Then later Saturday evening my nieces and nephews will be over for pizza and movie night.

Sunday I hope to spend the day just relaxing. Black Friday I bought a lot of movies at really cheap prices. I plan to lay around and watch movies all day while nibbling on cookies and eating ice cream.

22 Days to Christmas

Today is going to be a productive day for me. I'm making sure of this. First thing I did today was change the screen saver and wall paper on my computer. Then I changed the ringtone and wall paper on my cell phone. During lunch I will down load some Christmas tunes to my new MP3 player. It is one of my gifts to me.

First thing after work I'm heading to Walmart. I need to get a couple boxes of popcorn and other treats for the movie baskets I'm putting together. Then it's straight home to finish decorating. Everything except for the kitchen and the dining room are done. Also I need to dress up the trees. The ornaments are out and ready to go.

Once the decorating is done it's celebration time. To celebrate the Twenty-Four Days to Christmas" I have planned movie & popcorn night. Tonights feature is "Fred Claus" with Vince Vaughn. But before I start the movie I want to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefella Center in New York on NBC.