Sunday Fun-day & Superfood Hot Cocoa

Good Morning! It's about time that we got some snow! The accumulation this past week makes me remember the snowy winters of my childhood. In recent years, we would get a few inches here and there, but we got dumped on this past week in the northeast.

Sweet P at Eighteen Months

Happy half-Birthday Pippa! It's been a ball watching Pippa's skills and personality develop over the past few months. She is full of spunk and energy and love! Although she's been going through a shy phase where she only wants Mom and Dad during the past couple of weeks, she is quick to warm up and fill the room with her bright light. One moment, she will be reading her lift the flap books quietly, and the next she's tearing through her play area dumping bins or shoving her toys in her play kitchen. Most of the time, it's the latter! 

Health Goals and Recipes to Get You There

We're a month into 2017 so it's time for a check in on goals! If you made a health and wellness resolution and stuck to it, you're well on your way to setting up lasting lifestyle changes.

I'm big on goal setting. Although some people prefer to stick with a few big ones, I've made a long list of resolutions every year for the better part of a decade. SMART goals-  Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, timely. I'm pretty rough on myself when it comes to evaluating whether or not I'm on the right track. I usually revisit the goals and "grade" myself a few times a year just to be sure I'm making progress. In an upcoming post, I'll share the new tools I've found to help me get there this year.

Inauguration Fashion Files

If you missed (or boycotted) the inauguration and somehow haven't seen any media coverage of the event, here's what everyone's all abuzz about...

Design Crush: Studio McGee

It's been awhile since I wrote a design post, but boy is this one worth it!!! I've long been a fan of Gen and Ben Shor of Pencil and Paper, Julie Richards of Shelter and have been tearing through Emily Henderson's Style, which I received for Christmas. But Studio McGee (McGee & Company, the shop) is a new addition to my list of favorites. Some of their rooms make my heart go pitter-patter!

Seriously Special Eats

For ages, my mom hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas Day at my parents house-- and served exactly the same meal, right down to the appetizers and sides, for both. While other people were having ham or roast beef or even lasagna on Christmas Day, our family has TURKEY.

One year, I saw a Christmas Carol and the scene where Bob Crachit receives a turkey (which I mistakenly thought was a goose!) from the newly magnanimous Scrooge really stuck with me. So for Christmas Eve this year, the Sailor prepared a Christmas goose with all the trimmings and some!

He always puts his heart and soul into cooking a special Christmas Eve dinner, and it was even more of an effort for him this year since he was sick with a terrible cold the weeks leading up to the day.

Note that he actually used the ugly sweater coozie that I put in the Advent calendar! 

He didn't deviate from his normal planning routine and pored over cookbooks for hours, visited all of the local grocers for the best ingredients, and spent ALL of Christmas Eve Day scurrying around the kitchen like an elf in Santa's workshop.

Many cultures recognize preparing and sharing food as an act of love, and cooking for others is the Sailor's way of showing love. I so admire his patience, dedication and skill. It's especially inspiring since, although I am a better cook than I used to be, I'm still a total disaster in the kitchen! I have a few simple recipes for dinners and a bunch of baking recipes that I make regularly, but I really have no talent for it!

Here's what was on the menu Christmas Eve:

Apps: 
Oysters with Mignonette Sauce
Warm Blue Cheese and Bacon Dip
Cheese and Charcuterie Tray

Salad:
Clementine, Burrata & Prosciutto Winter Salad

Entree:
Christmas Goose and Gravy
Prune and Apple Stuffing with Sausage and Chestnuts
Cranberry clementine sauce
Kale Gratin
Rosemary Popovers

Dessert:
Bread Pudding with Amaretto Butter Cream Sauce
Gingerbread Ice Cream

Our Christmas

Quick Christmas recap in photos! Sweet P was much more into the holidays than I expected. The girl loved opening presents and still is mesmerized by the "tttuh-tttuh." She was great about just touching branches and didn't pull down any ornaments. I'd say that's a Christmas miracle! The biggest hit this year was an LLBean sled that we'll likely use in the next day or so as we expect our first Nor'easter of the season to hit today. 

For decor around the house, I mostly stuck with natural elements-- a cozy, rustic charm. And the Sailor cooked a gourmet Christmas Eve dinner, which has become a tradition. Our parents joined us for the festivities and an out-of-this-world delish meal. The Sailor REALLY outdid himself this year with a Christmas goose as the main entree. We didn't get too many photos of the dinner, but the menu and flavors were superb!  

A full post on the holiday menu to follow!