feliz navidad a couple days early

welp the christmas tree has been up for... 2 weeks now.  pics are now finally as well.  i got a significantly smaller tree than the beastly one i had last year, and probably will shoot for a happy medium next year.  but damnit, it was cold and freezing rain in the christmas tree lot, and my christmas-tree-hauling-friend-with-a-truck was rather displeased at being present.

i bought some tacky tinsel garland this year, and i think it looks pretty friggin nice if i do say so.

a very merry [messy] unchristmas

this is how a single former engineer removes a christmas tree that had to be carried in by two people. 

decor continued

besides a tree, i have some other tasteful holiday decorations around.  home depot sells a surprising amount of holiday sparkles and i got sucked in.  the perils of working in the electrical department, right next to garden/holiday.

christmas decor!

last week with the help of a classmate with a truck, i got a christmas tree!  turns out i have 8.5' ceilings and a 6' tall friend isnt the best height gauge..  the tree fits though, and it is quite rotund.  just as i intended.
frank helped decorate..

xmas 2013?

cos its never too late to start procrastinating projects for next holiday season that you didnt do the last one...   some projects found in my mom's collection of holiday home/cooking/crafty project books from the late 90s

• sparkle centerpieces - silver candlesticks and candelabra adorned with rhinestone necklaces
• belljars with middle eastern flair
• an overabundance of red poppies [too much with the terracotta walls]
• clear glass/plastic ornaments with gold/bronze leaf or actual leaves glued on
• feather tassels - wood finials and feather biots
• 10 types of holiday greenery and plants

christmas day!

apparently my camera does some funky stuff.  like phone filters.  only better quality

work xmas partay

see?  office sparkles.  i convinced some of the other ladies to wear sequins as well.  holiday style success!

xmas decor

its not much.  but as i mentioned before...teeny tiny apartment.

thanxmas

*edit - i changed the title from thanksxmas to thanxmas.  cant believe i didnt come up with that before.  jeez.

le table

multicultural nondenominational christmas culinary extravanaza

longest title ever.

what do you get when you sit down to xmas dinner with 2 atheists, a fallen german catholic, 2 japanese shinto, a muslim, a jew, and a vegetarian buddhist? 

amazing food, friends, and very little talk of religion.  just what the holidays should be!

food:  beef sauerbraten, pork bierfilet, balsamic parm green beans and cauliflower, honey mustard brussel sprouts, roasted veggies, matzo ball soup, rice, wine, beer, and 3 kinds of cake

xmas decor

after seeing several ornament trees on pinterest and blogs and realizing... i'm not going home for xmas for logistical reasons, i decided to do some quick decorating!

the glass balls were $2 at rite aid [too lazy to go anywhere farther with better selection] and tying them turned out to be a pain in the ass.  fishing line is...really hard to see.  cos its clear. 

the other decorations consist of lights left up from the burlesque party, beads from a mardi gras party a couple years ago, and cranes that have been hanging in my room for quite some time.  i am hoping to find some cheap greens but i have some lingering fears that frank will chew them up and then barf pine needles everywhere.  and/or destroy them.

pies!

family tradition dictates more homemade pies than people. unfortunatly since pies only came from once source we were lacking a bit. but we certainly put a christmas day hurting on those that were present.

from top: cranberry raspberry, pecan [pronounced pi-cahn not pee-kaan], and apple

mmmmm gooey cranraspberry goodness

i can't bring myself to make a pecan pie. what with a cup of corn syrup... but ill definitely eat my share of someone else's pie.
apple made with golden delicious

the sad remainders of the cranrasp which were finished today. turns out cranberry raspberry pie goes very well on top of homemade lemon bars.

holiday decor

xmas/hanukkah/solstice/kwanzaa decorations are scarce around the house. the roommates are leaving for home and the fam is going to florida. frank and the neighbors are left to create holiday spirit. fortunately mel sent me an early xmas present which i must say looks quite nice amongst our kitchen gear

mmm wine

close up of sparklies

we also did xmas presents early due to the traveling baggage restrictions and whatnot. and i pretty much enjoy wrapping presents

hello kitty wrapping paper! feeding the addiction i know.

sweet metallic bow on foily paper