Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Whatever your plans are, have fun and stay safe!

Mr. Terrific and I will be staying in tonight as our kids go out with friends. 

Tomorrow will be my undecorating day.  These snowflakes by the back door make me smile every time I pass by.

 Goodbye to the jolly snowmen.  See you next year.

The Decorating Frenzy...and Clyde (of course)

 I've found that it's easiest to snap pictures of Clyde while he's sleeping.  When he's awake, he's usually out of the frame by the time I get the shot off.

He's been picking some interesting places to take his naps.  I had a picture of him snuggling with slippers in my previous post; the shoe theme continues....

with Erin's sneakers....

with mine.......

and with Sean's.  I'm glad he doesn't play favorites.

On Thanksgiving, we went to my parents' house in Connecticut.  He managed to find a cozy spot to take his nap.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday, I replanted some of the amaryllis bulbs I've been growing in my basement.

Every year, I start growing them around November 1, keeping my fingers crossed that they will grow and be ready to bloom when I do my decorating.

Out of the six bulbs that I started, two of them have shot up and started to bloom already.  I replanted them side by side, surrounded by shiny little ornaments.

And I found a nice, sunny spot for them.

These three have barely started to grow.

I put them in a large planter and I'm hoping that moving them upstairs (instead of in the gloomy basement) will prompt them to grow.

If they're happier with their surroundings, will they grow faster? Surrounding them with shiny ornaments can't hurt, either.

Salty/Crunchy/Chocolaty/Caramel Treat

Don't forget to leave a comment or become a follower if you want to enter to win the giveaway for the Williams Sonoma ornaments .

A set of three glass peppermint candy ornaments......

a snow chef and a ginger chef.

Three winners will be drawn on Friday.  Each winner will receive a set of all of the above ornaments.

{Just a reminder, this giveaway is sponsored by me.  I am not affiliated in any way with Williams Sonoma, I just like to shop there.  They do not know who I am.}

Mine are on my dining room tree...........

a good place to serve up tasty treats.

I also use them to embellish gifts or baked goods.  What will you do with yours?

Look who's all decked out in his holiday finery.  Gus is all gussied up!  I love the sound of the bells on his fancy collar, jingling all the way.

I have finished my five-day decorating frenzy.

Tree #1.  The real tree.  In the living room.

Traditional decorations.

Tree #2.  Not real.  In the family room.  Decorated with all of our favorite things.

Characters from our favorite Christmas movie.  Who doesn't love Ralphie, Randy and the Leg Lamp?

 Lots of hearts.  Because I love hearts.

Spongebob and Patrick Star.  Probably my kids' favorite cartoon when they were young.  Patrick was their favorite character.  Sometimes a certain family member will try to put Patrick on tree #1.

Uh....yeah.  If you don't know who this is, I'm not gonna be the one to tell you.  Let's just say that this guy makes Mr. Terrific laugh until he cries.

Tree # 3.  Fake.  In the dining room.

Sort of cooking-themed.

Lots of candy........

and cookie-themed ornaments.

The mantel.  Always a work in progress.  I'm never happy with it, and this year is no different.  This is the first year I didn't use fresh greenery.  I decorate so early, the greenery always dies.  And then I replace it.  And start cursing when all the little barbs on the holly leaves stab me.

I went and bought fake greenery this year.  Snow-frosted greenery, which totally announces that it's fake.  

Maybe next year I'll get it right.

The only thing about this picture that makes me smile is Gus' tail.  That's right, that little black swirl at the bottom of the photo is his waggin' tail.

And the little vintage-inspired papier-mache balls also make me smile.  This is their first appearance on the mantel, I think I'll let them stay.

I love snowmen.  Hangin' out on the china cabinet.

And on the sofa table.

\

Little Santa-fairies adorning the windows.

And snowmen, too.

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin, And A Giveaway!!

It's been a while since I've posted.......I'm not going to make any excuses.  You've heard them all, anyway!

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  

On Saturday we took a drive to the tree farm.  It took all of three minutes for us to find the perfect tree.

Well, my kids found the perfect tree.  All I did was agree with their choice.

It's been a decorating frenzy since then.

The real tree is in the living room, and there are fake trees in the family room and dining room.

In my sewing room, a.k.a. The Land Of A Thousand Unfinished Projects, I had started making a fabric bunting from a charm pack of Mary Engelbreit prints from her "Isn't Christmas Jolly" line.

I finished it today so that I could decorate the final tree.........my dining room tree, which sort of has a kitchen theme.

Which brings us to the giveaway!

 Aren't these glass peppermint ornaments cute?

How about the gingerchef and snowchef?

I bought these at the Williams-Sonoma Outlet last year, during the after-Christmas sale when all the holiday merchandise was ridiculously reduced.  I stocked up, with my dining room tree in mind, forgetting that it's only a five-foot-tall sort of pygmy tree.

I have three extra sets of these ornaments to give away.  You will receive five ornaments--the three peppermint ornaments, the snowchef and the gingerchef.

All you have to do to enter is 1. become a follower of  my blog.  (If you already follow the blog you are automatically entered.)  Or, 2. you could enter the giveaway by leaving a comment.......about anything from what type of ornaments are your favorites to whether or not you think the Red Sox will actually have a manager under contract before next season starts.  And 3. if  you are a follower and leave a comment, you will be entered twice, which means that you could possibly win two sets of ornaments.

Winners will be drawn by noon on Friday.

{This giveaway is sponsored by me.  I am in no way affiliated with Williams Sonoma, and I can say with certainty and conviction that they have no idea that I even exist.}  

Today's recipe was something I sort of stumbled upon in desperation.  Pork Tenderloins were on sale, I bought two, and then I didn't know what to do with them.  I couldn't just sit and stare at them!  I had to cook them!  What to do?!  Google to the rescue!

I scrolled through the recipes that popped up and settled on this one.  Which I just had to tweak, of course.  I read through a few of the comments that were left and made some adjustments.   

Recurring themes throughout all the comments--"Tasty!" "Flavorful!" "Tender!" "Easy!"-- I agree!  Mr. Terrific, Sean and Erin all agree--this recipe is a keeper.