August Rudolph Day

Oh my goodness, it's been a YEAR since I put up a Rudolph Day post!

What's Rudolph Day? Here is the definition according to Organized Christmas:

A few years ago, members of our Christmas community began to observe "Rudolph Day" on the 25th of each month.

On that day, we take a few moments to plan some simple tasks for the month ahead, in order to get ready for Christmas Day with plenty of time to spare. By starting early--and working a bit at a time on each month's Rudolph Day--it's easy to prepare for Christmas, save money on gifts, and cut holiday stress.

Here's the annual line-up with the sub-theme in parentheses:

January - Tie Up Loose Ends (gather ideas and organize your Christmas notebook)

February - Begin a Holiday Letter

March - Birthday Gift-Buying Strategy (party planning for the holiday season)

April - Plan Holiday Crafts 

May - Catalog Shopping Tips

June - Recipe Round Up

July - Choose a Holiday Plan (Christmas in July celebration)

August - Craft Control (thinking ahead to Elf on the Shelf)

September - Prepare for Holiday Gifts and Giving

October - Plan Holiday Meals

November - Write Holiday Letter

The bottom line is...prepare for Christmas by doing something every month and make the 25th of each month a Rudolph Day by doing something Christmas-y!  This month, it's time for some craft control - get those supplies organized and ready for any craft projects you plan to complete before Christmas.  For those of you who have fun with the little guy or gal in the red suit, it's time to think about what mischief he or she will get up to in December.

This has to be one of my favorites from our Elf in the Shelf days:

Here's another reminder about the holiday plans and links to each one - the two big ones are just a week away:

Holiday Grand Plan (starts Sunday, September 1)

House & Holidays Plan (also starts Sunday, September 1)

Christmas Countdown (starts Sunday, October 27)

I spent the day getting my Christmas planner organized with the printables for the House & Holidays Plan and added the Christmas Countdown sheets in there as well to be ahead of the game.  This month's movie was Love the Coopers, it was open in the DVD closet but I don't remember ever watching it before.  It was ok, won't make my top ten but it had a cute ending.

Here's a sneak peak at my planner - I've been meaning to put up a Christmas planner organization post, it's coming soon.

I love my Christmas planner clips from Cherry Blossom in the Market Square on Etsy.

That's me!

What I Got for Christmas 2013

I loved this post from Victoria over at Florence and Mary so here goes - my Christmas pressies from 2013.  I'll have to use stock photos for most of them as they are all put away - note to self:  take more pictures for blog next year!

Household first - After twenty years of marriage, I'm not the type of person to shriek in horror when I find a kitchen appliance under the tree.  In fact, this year I was thrilled to get exactly the appliance I had been hinting about for several months - two Crock Pot Hook Ups.

Crock Pot HOOK UP Connectable Entertaining System

This one has two 1-quart slow cookers - perfect for two dips - and the other one has one 2-quart slow cooker.  They connect to each other so you only have to use one electric outlet.  Can't wait for the next party to show them off.

Then there was some Le Creuset - mini-cocottes and a cookbook to go along with them.

Mini Cocottes in Cherry

Since we picked these up at the Le Creuset outlet in Williamsburg, I also added this book:

Perfect Pairings by Fiona Beckett, one of the UK's leading experts on food and drink matching and a wine columnist for the Guardian

Our Target shopping trip (we each make a list of things we'd like for Christmas on a trip to Target, exchange lists, and then wrap the packages and slip them under the tree - you get things you want, you just don't know which things on your list end up under the tree) - yielded yet another cookbook:

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays (140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations

When they say step-by-step, they are not kidding.  The photographs are amazing!  There were also some Boots No. 7 Vanilla goodies - Boots Extracts Vanilla Body Wash and Sugar Scrub.

Sophia added two charms to my Pandora bracelet, Big Ben and a Cherry Blossom bead (to commemorate trips to Washington D.C.).

The biggest gift I received this year was an iPad Air!  Vic won an XBox One at the command Christmas party but we decided to return it as we already have a Wii.  We took a gift card in exchange until we could decide what to buy instead and he said he wanted to use it to buy me an iPad.  I debated for a week or so - I've been going back and forth between wanting an iPad or a Kindle or a Nook and not wanting any of them.  I wasn't sure I would really use one.  Well, let me tell you, it's the best gift ever and I use it every day, several times a day.  I don't know what took me so long to get one.

I hope your Christmas was merry and please share what Santa left under your tree!

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and I'm up before the chickens.  It's usually on Christmas morning that I'm up long before it gets light but this year, it's coming a day early.  As much as I wish I could say that outside my window it looks like the photo above, all I can see are puddles from yesterday's rain.  It's going to be cold today, 45 degrees is the high but no white stuff.

We usually go out to breakfast on Christmas Eve morning and then head to Barnes and Noble for our annual magazine and book shopping event before heading home to pop the ham in the oven and prepare for our evening buffet.  This year, however, we did our Barnes and Noble shopping over the weekend because we are having friends over for brunch.  So I have two sets of Christmas Eve menus in the works.

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Christmas Eve Brunch

Sausage and Hash Brown Casserole

Quiche Lorraine

Bacon

Pumpkin Bread

Orange Juice    Mimosas    Coffee

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Christmas Eve Buffet

Baked Ham with Pineapple

Caesar Salad

Chilled Shrimp

Smoked Salmon

Cheese Board

Pâté

Olives

Marinated Mushrooms

French Bread

Christmas Cocktails and Faux Champagne

Vanilla Mousse in Chocolate Cordial Cups

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In a word...yummy!

Christmas City Swap Reveal

You may remember this post in November about the Christmas City Swap hosted by Allison at be up & doing.  My package arrived today!  My Santa (can't call her my swap partner because swap assignments were random so my package went to someone else) was Melissa from On Board the Gravy Train and its contents were from Brooklyn, New York.

There was a bag of Butter & SCOTCH Dark & Stormy Caramel Corn (Dark Rum) and two candles (Christmas Tree and Lavender scents) from Brooklyn Candle Studio.  What a lovely package - something sweet (always a big hit!) and candles in two of my favorite scents.  Also tucked inside was the lovely card that you can see in the photo above.  I can't wait to read Melissa's adventures on her blog.

My package is scheduled to be delivered to the recipient tomorrow but I think I can give you a sneak peak.

My package is from Virginia - I tried to find items specific to Norfolk but had to go a little farther afield.  There's a copy of Coastal Virginia (formerly Hampton Roads) Magazine, a mermaid ornament, a Peanut Crunch Bar and a package of Whole Cashews from the Peanut Shop of Williamsburg, along with a map and program guide from Colonial Williamsburg, and two Shore Seasonings mixes - Garlic Herb and Chesapeake Bay.  The Shore Seasonings mixes are from Melfa, Virginia which is right up the coast on the Eastern Shore.  I've also included a card that I made with a Virginia postcard.

I love swaps and this one was really fun.  I'm looking forward to Allison's post featuring a collage of all the swap packages.

Christmas City Swap

If you like Christmas and you like swaps, check out the Second Annual Christmas City Swap brought to you by be up & doing.