Books...

This is the baroque library at the Abbey of St. Florian in Austria, built in the mid-18th-century.

I received a kindle last year for Christmas and I have really enjoyed it this year. It is easy to keep track of the books you read on your kindle, so I thought I would share them with you.

1. The Night Circus. (one of my favs)

2. The Affair: a Jack Reacher Novel ( very good, going to be made into a movie and Tom Cruise is playing 6'4" Jack Reacher!

3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children ( liked a lot)

4. Fool Moon (The Dresden Files)

5. The Forgotten Garden (liked a lot)

6. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

7. Storm Front (The Dresden Files)

8. The Greater Journey (couldn't have got through this one without being able to look up all the people and works of art on the iPad.

9. The Most Famous Man In America, The Biography do Henry Ward Beecher (interesting)

10. Something Borrowed

11. The Lincoln Lawyer

12. In the Garden of Beasts, Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

13. The Help (LOVED)

14. Fall of Giants (so Good)

15. The Paris Wife (liked a lot)

16. Cutting for Stone

17. Heaven is for Real

18. Hell's Corner

19. The Hangman's Daughter (loved)

20. The Sherlockian

21. Unbroken ( Best. Book. Ever.)

22. Encyclopedia of the Esquisite (going to buy the actual book, interesting)

23. Deceitful Moon

Currently reading: Catherine the Great

Merry Christmas!

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2: 1-19, King James Version)

Merry Christmas,

Disneyland and California Adventure

Last night we went to California Adventure and Disneyland. It was really crowded, but we made the most of it.

The castle looked so magical all lit up.

Lap Quilt or uh, blanket

I'm trying desperately to get three warm and fuzzy "quilts" made before Christmas. I can tell you right now, I'm not going to be 100% done. I have, however, finished Delaney's. First of all, it is not quilted, so I hesitate to call it a quilt. I did piece the top together, but they wanted the backs to be warm and soft so I didn't quilt the blanket.

I learned a couple of things making this quilt. I need a quilting foot, which I bought to make the second quilt and a walking foot to put the binding on, which I haven't bought yet. I also should have made the zig zag lines contrast instead of blend. I made this without a pattern, so no instructions and to make each line stand out, I needed to contrast the lines. I blended. I couldn't see it until it was all sewn together and then it was too late. Oh well, I've learned not to do that.

The good thing is that Delaney doesn't care, she loves it and can't wait til Christmas to get it. She picked out the fabric and the backing is nice and soft and warm. Thank goodness she is not a perfectionist (neither am I!).

Thank You cards

I recently sent out some Thank You cards and I have received a lot of compliments on them, so I thought I would share the source. I bought them on www.etsy.com and the name of the vendor is The Little Brown Pen. She not only has these pink themed postcards (postcards not cards, I had to provide my own envelope), but postcards in different color themes, beautiful 8x10's and bigger in sets or by themselves. All paris themed. I've asked Santa for a beautiful aqua-green set, hopefully they will be in my stocking on Christmas morning.

White Christmas

On Tuesday night I met my Handsome Husband for dinner at South Coast Plaza and then we walked over to The Segrestrom Center for the Performing Arts to see Iving Berlin's White Christmas. I LOVED IT! The cast was perfect, the voices were amazing and pleasant to the ears, the dancing was terrific and the costumes - to die for!

The cast's voices were amazing. I especially liked the girl with the red hair and the older woman's (Martha's) voice. I LOVED the red tulle ball gown! So Beautiful.

All the 50's dresses were so chic, I wish they were in style today.

White Christmas was one of the best plays I've seen so far. Everything just came together for a great show!

Tablescape Thursday - Nutcrackers

A couple of years ago, Alyssa bought me these nutcracker plates from Willliam and Sonoma. We use them for breakfast on Christmas morning. This week, I am using them for Greg's birthday. I've switched out the pink ornaments in the garland from Michaels and added red and gold. Took out the silver trees and put in the red. Added red candles.

I borrowed the big nutcrackers from my friend, Marlene, she collects them. I put in little nutcracker ornaments that I bought at Michael's (from the dollar bin). I consider the little nutcrackers quite the deal, considering I saw the same gold and silver ones for $5 at Crate and Barrel.

Here is a look at the various salad/dessert plates.

One final look at the table.

Saucy Roast Beef Sliders

Picture from "Mommy I'm Hungry!"

Three Envelope Picante Roast Big Mouth Sliders

From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3 to 4 pound beef chuck roast
1 cup of water
One envelope of dry onion soup mix
One envelope of dry Italian dressing mix

One envelope of dry brown gravy mix

1 (8 ounce) jar of Pace Original Mild Picante Sauce

12 Dinner Rolls

1 sweet onion, sliced and sauteed until browned
Swiss Cheese, shredded
Horseradish Sauce

Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce

From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of horseradish

4 tablespoons of chili sauce

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Prepare and refrigerate till needed.

Click here for roast and slider directions!

This is so easy and yummy - a little spicy!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ham and Cheese Sliders

from the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

We served these delicious and easy sandwiches at my birthday lunch. Here is the recipe:

24 good white dinner rolls (I used King's Hawaiian bread)

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese (I used Cheddar cheese)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip (I didn't use this)

Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Catching up

AXO had their winter formal and Delaney took her boyfriend Michael.

Katie went with her friend Kendall who is in Delaney's sorority, so the sisters got to be together.

Birthday Tablescape

So, it's that time of year again and I'm happy to celebrate another birhday. This year I am enchanted with the color pink. I decided to do a pink and silver tablescape but I couldn't resist adding a little gold. I was amazed at how beautiful gold and pink are together.

The Handsome Husband bought me a few fun things for my birthday. I received some Waterford crystal iced beverage and red wine glasses. YEEEE! I was so excited! The design is Colleen Essence. I will show a close up further down. I got 6 of each. I have to give a shout out to Bloomingdales here. We got the best deal. $25.00 off each $100 spent and then 15 dollars b-money (gift cards that are good for 2 weeks at Bloomy's and spend like money) for every $100.00. Our guy Alex broke out our order in such a way that we got maximum savings! I also got new silver placemats, silver napkin rings, pearl like napkin rings and individual trifle bowls. Alyssa and Greg gave me two watch bands for my watch and Katie and Delaney gave me a cover for my kindle. I made out like a Bandit!

Here is a close up of the Colleen Essence iced beverage glass.

I got these cute little deer planters with succulents in them from Stater Brothers. Be careful when buying them because a lot of them had cracks at the horns. I was lucky to find two without.

I took grocery store roses and some Dusty Miller from my garden for the center piece. Dusty Miller is my new favorite to put into flower arrangements.

I used Alyssa's china, "Opal Innocence" along with silver chargers and silver sparkling placemats from Pier 1. The napkin rings are two different rings from Pier 1.

The garland and flowers down the middle of the table are from Michael's. I added some pink ornaments and silver pinecone candles.

The sun was shining on the table in the morning and I couldn't resist another picture.

We had a birthday lunch and I made these ham and cheese sliders

and roast beef sliders. I will share the recipes this week. Really easy to make and delicious. We also had a greek pasta salad.

We finished up with chocolate trifle and everyone received a white chocolate covered peppermint oreo. Both dessert so easy to make. I used my new little individual trifle bowls from Pier 1.

It was a great day with my family. I love them so much!