The Daily Pixel: Ho, ho, holy cow, it's almost Christmas

Growing up, I remember Christmas taking forever to arrive. For-ev-er. I mean even Christmas eve felt like eternity. Nowadays it seems like Christmas just pops up out of the blue. Didn't we just do all this celebrating? How am I shopping and decorating and baking again so soon? Now the Christmas crazy in me loves it, don't get me wrong. I'm just flabbergasted at how quickly the season comes and goes. Le sigh. At least it makes for some good pictures...

#343- Dec 8- The saddest little garland in the world

With grand plans for a snowflake garland (inspired by the purveyor of elusive crafty dreams, Pinterest, of course), I bought doilies and started snipping. Guess who sucks at making doily snowflakes? This girl. Many fell apart. Most maintained their doily identities instead of turning into beautiful flakes. So I gave up, crunched up the damn doilies, and created this silly little too-low-hanging garland with leftover ornaments. What can you do?

#344- Dec 9- Chicken pride

Mmk. I'm just going to go ahead and say it: I am the best chicken roaster, ever. You can be, too, with this recipe. 

#345- Dec 10- Cheerful mail

Isn't this the most cheerful advertisement in the world? It was meant for our elderly neighbors but got caught up in our stack of junk mail. Yikes.

#346- Dec 11- Let sleeping pugs lie

You can almost hear Meena and Betty snoring. 

#347- Dec 12- A little winter color

Pansy power!

#348- Dec 13- Christmas crafts

Turns out where I suck at snowflake making, I excel at Christmas tree cone decorating. 

#349- Dec 14- Let there be grass

A couple months ago, our lawn looked like it was balding with great big patches of brown earth showing through. Thanks to a few different types of "easy seed," we've got some lawn back. (Yours truly is way too excited about this.)

#350- Dec 15- Oatmeal-pecan-chocolate chip cookies

I blended Smitten Kitchen's recipe with the one on the oatmeal container. Pretty scrumptious, although a little heavy on the nutmeg and clove for my taste. 

#351- Dec 16- Christmas baking extravaganza!

I go a little nuts with baked goods during the holidays, crafting pumpkin pear and pineapple banana nut loaves for Mr. T's colleagues at work. This year I discovered paper baking trays... HELLO fabulous. More on that later.

#352- Dec 17- Loaf love

I shudder to think how many pretty little calories were on my counter. At least a million. 

#353- Dec 18- On the road again

Made my semi-annual trek to Ukiah to visit friends. Sushi, girl talk and Christmas cookies are good for the soul! 

#354- Dec 19- How 4-year-olds decorate Christmas cookies

My dear friend Shannon figured out it was her 20th year hosting her girls-only Christmas cookie decorating party. (She started when she was a wee lass, FYI (Did I really just say "wee lass"? Someone's had too much sugar today.)). With a reputation for strict decorating standards (rumor has it, she's yelled at children before), Shannon seemed surprisingly chill when our 4-year-old guests dumped mountains-o-sprinkles on the cookies. Or sometimes just the table. Or the floor. 

#355- Dec 20- The 11 p.m.-I-almost-forgot-to-take-a-picture picture

One New Year's goal is to organize our library and the cabinets underneath!

#356- Dec 21- Pretty sunrise or nuclear apocalypse?

When I woke up yesterday, the house was illuminated with soft red light. I admit wondering "Maybe the Mayans were right" as I crept through to the living room. While others in town caught photos of "doomsday rainbows," I saw a spectacular this-picture-doesn't-do-it-justice sunrise. Later, while uploading the photo to Facebook, I said "Pretty sunrise." Mr. T replied, "The wall of destruction, moving westward." Perpetually cheerful, that one.

xoxo,
shawna