December Intermission
18 Dec 2013
Although I seriously doubt that anyone is hanging on my every word (ha!), I wanted to let you know that I’ll be away for a little while. In a few days, we’ll be home with family for the holidays, and I really want to unplug and be present. I may pop in from time to time, but most likely I will be back in January with new photos, new ideas, new projects, and big plans for the new year. I love this time of year so much, and I just want to try doing it a little differently. I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season!! Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and making this year so special!
I’ve kind of been looking forward to writing this post all year. We’ve been so incredibly fortunate to be able to travel so much this year and see so many new places together and with our families. So I just wanted to put together a little lineup of our trips. Hurray! We rang in 2013 in Nashville with Eric’s family.
And we also spent time with my family in Memphis and got to meet this sweet girl, who is now walking and talking!
I think February was the only month this year when we didn’t travel. I ran this past Eric, and he laughed and said it was because of a huge proposal he had due that month. Oh, right. In March we went up to Ventura for a little romantical getaway. We loved it.
April was a big fun month for travel. We went up to Fresno for the wedding of two dear friends…
swung up to Monterey for a conference for Eric…
and then went up to Berkeley for the weekend, on a whim!
A few weeks later, I flew back up to the Bay area to spend a week with my parents.
In May we went to Oberlin for my college reunion, and I got to show Eric around Cleveland.
In June Eric’s mom came to see us and accompany us to Palomar and San Diego.
June also took us to Big Bear Lake for our anniversary weekend.
In July Eric’s dad came with us to Palomar and San Diego.
In August I went to meet my parents in Seattle for their vacation because I am very good at inviting myself to things.
In September we had the amazing opportunity to go to Santorini…
and Athens!
In October I went up to Oakland with Hillary and the girls.
In November we took a quick trip up to Santa Barbara.
And we got to explore Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Albuquerque.
I am not actually talented enough to do both of those things at once (unless you count listening to War and Peace on my iPod as reading), but these are a few of the things I’ve been up to lately. I bought this cross-stitch sampler in January as part of a goal to try some new crafts (why yes, I am already excited about the ones I am going to try next year!) It was on sale, so I got it, even though it was by far the most ambitious cross-stitch project I’d ever even thought about trying, and there was a good chance that it might be just totally out of my league. I am really happy to say that it is going really well so far, and I won’t even mind if I don’t finish it until 2017.
This is what the cross-stitch will look like when it is finished: an ode to two of my favorite things! What are you working on and reading lately?
The holiday season is a really special one at the Ath, and Eric and I always try to go to their special holiday breakfast in December. It’s a rare treat to go out to breakfast on a weekday, and the spread at the Ath never disappoints.
Breakfast is served from 7-9, and you have to make reservations. Last year, the only one we could get was at 7:30. This year, we went at 8:30. Much better!
And this year I got a shot of the Nutcrackers that line the molding of one of the dining rooms. I love them!
The gingerbread house had some Russian elements this year, which made me smile.
And, of course, the enormous and lovely Christmas tree. I love that we have this little tradition. Just for fun, here is 
September in December! Sometimes the prompts for my One Little Word class take me a while to get together, but I am always happy to have done them. This month’s was to have someone interview you about your word. I chose Eric, since he knows me better than just about anybody. I have to say, I was totally astounded by his answers. Here is further proof that I married a man so thoughtful and wise and kind that I’ll just never plumb the depths of it. I am so grateful for him.
There was a simple template for this interview, which I used, but I wanted to transfer it onto some prettier paper for my album. I made a little pocket on the back of this page, though, for keeping the original interview sheet.
I used my new corner rounder (thanks, Hillary!!) to make the edges pretty.
I told you–he’s amazing. This was such an encouraging experience for me.
This was a particularly beautiful suggestion.
In addition to the interview, there was some space for me to respond.
And these were some of my thoughts looking back and looking forward. Sorry for the cut-off–some of it is really personal! I had such a positive experience with this exercise, and I would totally recommend it to everyone. Talk to someone who you love and trust about your goals. You might be amazed at the ways in which they see you moving forward with them, ways you never noticed yourself.
I don’t know whose idea it was, in 1979, to make cute little square-shaped puzzles of the Bay area, but I love them for it. I found this gem at the Depot for a song. I think it was fifty cents. But I have gotten far more than fifty cents’ worth of pleasure out of it!
I put it together last week, locking the freeways and bridges into each other one by one.
Ta da!
I trimmed a piece of cardboard and glued the puzzle on to create a bit of a mount and mat. Thankfully, the pieces held together really well. I’m planning to hang it in our living room from this little black ribbon.
I love these little inlays. And that old school font.
Is there anything better than a vintage map? In puzzle form?! I don’t think so.
Sigh, I am in love with these ornaments. Bright colors, lots of shimmer: what’s not to love?
But I love them even more because I bought them for nine cents in January. That’s right: nine cents.
I got this pretty stash of acrylic inks at the Depot in October, and I thought they would be perfect for this project because they would soak into the wood nicely.
I painted the whole surface of the ornaments, but I had plans for the higher ridges.
I also got these pretty glimmer mists at the Depot, and I used them to give some shine to the top ridges.
Instead of spraying the mists, I poured a little bit of each out into my paint tray. I layered it on thick, and I love how it created this antique look around the edges.
I painted the tops with gold and silver acrylic paint. I was thinking of adding some glitter around the edges, but I ended up deciding that they looked perfect already.
It’s harder to see the shimmer on some of them, but if the light catches it right, it glows. I’m so glad I remembered I had these stashed away in the closet!
Sometimes I get so focused on the projects I’m working on that the funny little moments of everyday life somehow get passed over in my (sprawling) Picasa files. But these two are too good not to share. I asked Eric to pick up a few things from the store, and he also came home with these two things, saying, “This is what happens when I shop hungry.” I laughed. For a long time.
And then there was this one, which we took outside Williams-Sonoma when my dad was in town. Every year they put up these slightly menacing signs, so I thought they needed an equally menacing model to reinforce the point. I love that Eric keeps me laughing all the time.
Eric and I totally ganked this recipe from 
You start by roasting the squash with some shallots and garlic. Next time I think I will toss in some little potatoes too. And maybe some chopped brussels sprouts. I like to live on the edge.
The kale also gets a few minutes of roasting, to make it nice and crunchy.
Heidi’s recipe calls for orzo, but I couldn’t find any at our all-purpose store, so I got these little guys: acini de pepe. The name means peppercorns, and they do like tiny pellets when uncooked. As you can see, they cook up to about the size of Israeli couscous, which would also be really good here.
A garlic yogurt sauce ties the dish together, but if you don’t like garlic, I think lemon would be delicious too. This recipe is a template, in the best possible way, and I think that’s the way Heidi intended it. Make it your own, and enjoy!
I’m keeping it pretty light and simple this month, with celebrating with family being my major goal. We’ll be meeting my parents and my little brother for a whirlwind Christmas weekend in St. Louis before heading up to the farm for Christmas and New Years. I am so excited about both of them! I really hope that at some point there will be some snow, but if not, I won’t hold that against myself. Ha! I would really like to get a bit of Project Life done before we leave, but I’m flexible about how much. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll order photos for the next couple of months. That would be awesome.
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