Monday, November 26, 2012

Halls decked, Christmas movies watched, season underway

Sigh, what a nice long weekend!  It's never boring though.  Always seems every year we have something planned for every day of the long weekend.  Thanksgiving was good.  We got in our workout in the morning, I made the mashed potatoes and stuffing (I used Trader Joe's stuffing this year and it was really good, surprise) and no weirdness or bloodshed with the family which is always a good thing.  ;-)  I mean if Olivier Martinez and Gabriel Aubrey can have a knock down drag out at Halle Berry's on the holiday, what hope does that usually leave the rest of us?  HA!

Friday was a good workout and we decked the halls.


I am SO glad we put up the accessory type stuff on the shelves and walls and such the weekend before.  It was nice to just have the tree to deal with and we might just make that a tradition.  It was just so much less chaotic.  I've had it on every night ever since.  We've knocked out several Christmas movies this weekend. The Santa Clause, Home Alone and of course we had to knock out A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving night since we hadn't had a chance to see it before then.  (affiliate links) It was a nice relaxing day in the scheme of things.

Saturday we grabbed some good deals at Joann's since I have some cookie tins I'll be sending out and they had 60% off in general and then a 25% and 50% off one item coupon online.  I think I saved just over $20 and we had a friendly cashier which makes things a little nicer.  We went home and prepared our spread for some football and I made a pie that could double as a frisbee but we won't talk about that.  That night we decided to get in our grocery shopping so we wouldn't have to get up early Sunday morning and Trader Joe's is crawling with people including the classic "granola" I often refer to.  She's the hippy dippy trippy mom with long bohemian hair, a scraggly cardigan over her t-shirt, a long multi-colored ankle length skirt with striped socks and Keds.  She also has her 2 children who are running into everything and everyone including us with their mini carts and the dad is totally clueless and looks like a barista at a local indie coffee shop.  These people are the reason we like to shop at 8am on Sundays.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough so I could evade a public scuffle trying to wade through looky lou's with no intent on buying but still clog up the aisles.  We made our way around Target and then the big box grocery and got home very glad it was over with.

Sunday the Mr wasn't feeling well so our trip to the antique mall was almost a bust until I fed him and put a heating pad on his neck.  Thankfully he started feeling better and off we went.  This antique mall rarely has anything new but I thought maybe there would be some good holiday vendors there.  There were 2 that were good but the rest didn't offer anything I had to have.  In the end I walked away with a new to me antique scalloped spoon that will likely show up in my pictures in future recipes.  The funny thing is we saw a friend of ours from a local antique shop there and I likened it to seeing your favorite teacher outside of school.  We went to a few more places including this general store we like to go to this time of year.  They have all kinds of stuff that's from other countries or very seasonal and I just love to look through everything.  I'm seriously considering getting a gumdrop tree.  Does anyone remember those?  My grandma had one when I was a kid and I thought I remembered seeing silver ones a few years ago but I'll have to do a little more research for one that isn't outrageously priced.  Then we worked out, the Mr cut my fruits and veggies for the week and we watched Once Upon a Time (anyone else think this season is kinda weak?) and Celebrity Ghost Stories on DVR.  I know, I'm real high brow, no?

What did you guys do this weekend?

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24 comments:

  1. The tree looks great and I am glad everything is all out and we can just enjoy the season now. It was definitely the way to do it by rolling out a little at a time instead of all at once!

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    1. Yes it does look wonderful. I love all of the little ornaments we're collecting from our travels! I think this will definitely make things more tolerable if I put up the decoration while you put up the lights.

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  2. The tree is beautiful!! We had Trader Joe's stuffing too, it was quite yummy. Glad your weekend went well!

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    1. Thanks! It was pretty good and as usual my family left about half the stuffing so I'm glad I didn't work my fingers to the bone on my homemade stuffing. Apparently I'm the only stuffing freak in my family.

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  3. The weekend was long. Both literally and figuratively. I'm so ready to go back to work today.

    I watched an episode of Once Upon a Time last night too, but it was one from several weeks back since I'm totally behind on my shows and my dvr is filing up fast. What I've seen hasn't been as good as the first season, but I think I'm still 4 episodes behind so I still have hope. Or had hope. Still, "not as good as the first season" still makes it better than a whole lot of other shows out there.

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    1. Uh oh, that doesn't sound good! LOL

      Next week is OUAT's holiday finale then they come back in January so you'll have some time to catch up. You're very right and I'll take a lackluster scripted show over a "reality" show any day! I was really hoping that was just a fad.

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  4. Sounds like you had a great Holiday/weekend! The tree is beautiful = )

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  5. The tree looks amazing..I always think of getting a tree every year but then postpone it till we have space for it...

    We had some friends over for dinner on thursday...and they would not leave soon enough...so had some drama...lol...overall a relaxing weekend..now trying to work..hahaha

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    1. You could even get a small tabletop tree. I'd hate to think of anyone not having one! Where are ejector seats when you need them? Could you imagine people overstaying their welcome getting rocketed off the couch? :)

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  6. You are ready, the tree is beautiful!! It sounds like you had a very nice weekend.

    I was just wishing that we had a TJ's closer to my house and then you had to go remind me . . . . :-) I think I see a field-trip in my near future (and I'll be sure and go early, thanks for the heads-up!)

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    1. Yep overall it was very nice!

      Sorry! Make sure you keep checking their website for the "coming soon" section. You never know when one might be popping up close to you! (And by close I mean within 90 minutes because I would so drive that at least once a month!)

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  7. Your tree is lovely! I think I'll adopt it as my virtual Christmas tree. If you don't mind sharing, that is. :)

    I made an early morning (6am) run through Macy's, Target, Michaels and JCP and then returned to my pet-sitting duties. No drama, no stress, no crowds except at JCP. All things considered, a pretty good weekend!

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    1. Consider it adopted! :)

      Sounds like you got away with some good shopping with little fuss. Go you!! We were looking at our Memphis pics last week and lamenting that Muddy's Bake Shop doesn't ship. Enjoy a Capote for me sometime!

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  8. Yes!!! I remember my Grammy had a gumdrop tree. Every year my brother and I couldn't wait to go visit her and see it. Hmmm... I wonder if my dad has it now? I need to check into that!
    Your Christmas tree is absolutely beautiful! Your holiday spirit is contagious, and like you, I love Christmas.
    On a different note, I'm with you on shopping early at Trader Joe's. I'm sure I look half way like a "granola" girl at times, but I know what I want. No clogging aisles here - get in, get out! Lol
    Have a terrific day!

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    1. I'm now obsessed with finding a gum drop tree! Though I suppose I could check with my grandma and see if she still has hers and if she's not using it maybe I could borrow it! :)

      Christmas rocks! We've got something going on every weekend until the 2nd weekend in January. I love this time of year!! WOO HOO!! Hey if you're a granola that isn't letting her kids attack me and doesn't stand in the center of the aisle not letting me pass on either side, I'm down with the crunchies! :)

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  9. I love your tree! I always want to do a pretty ribbon or strand of garland on mine, but I can never find one anywhere. We did our tree and all the other stuff on Friday and it took all day. It was tiring. At least the kids are old enough to help me hang the ornaments now without breaking them, so I had a little help. :)

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    1. Thanks! I just picked some up at Michaels. Joann's has GORGEOUS ribbon there. No ornament breaking is a good thing!

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  10. Wow, football game, thanksgiving, shopping, Christmas tree! You had a big weekend!

    Love the tree :)

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  11. Beautiful tree. Always wanted to try the ribbons on one but I have no talent. We got our tree up, stockings up, and then I injured myself badly and have been laid up since. At least it means another day off work, which I enjoy. And being waited on by my Mr.

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  12. Your tree is gorgeous! I hate those people at Trader Joe's too. Mooooove or get out of the waaaaay! So annoying.

    I took time off from blog-related stuff for the long weekend, which was very much needed. I did some shopping, a lot of reading, and it was quite nice. :)

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  13. GORGEOUS tree!!! So glad you had such a nice Thanksgiving with no blood shed! =o) Ours was nice with a lovely day with just us and the dogs going to the dog park and cooking throughout the day. Took one pooch to the groomer, the other to the vet, did a bit of shopping, and just relaxed the whole weekend.

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  14. I'm so cracking up right now! Shopped Trader Joe's tonight (Friday) after dinner and it was CRAZYTOWN in there. I swear I was getting road-rage in there. But we *needed* more Everyday Seasoning so it was a must-stop on the way to the bigger grocery store and Target, which was also nutzo.

    LOVE your tree! We put up our stuff earlier than usual this year and had all our gift shopping done early so now we are just kicking back and enjoying everything for the first time EVER. ~Krista

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