Christmas Make-up '09 Pics Only

Christmas Eve Ski

This year we spent Christmas Eve day skiing at Sundance with Tom & Todd, who have been hanging here for most of December. We feel so special when they squeeze a stop to Utah into their busy world travels, especially when it's Christmas time.The ski day was magical. Partly because of the super light, super fine snow that fell all throughout the day. The snow quite literally looked like swirling glitter in the sunlight. We felt as though we were playing in a picturesque snow globe. Like I said, magical. The snow itself was awesome, I don't remember skiing on snow that soft and dry in a long time. But, I don't get out much. My skiing skills aren't quite what they should be, considering I'm a local and all. But I manage to get myself down the mountain in one piece, albeit less graceful than the dozens of 4 year-olds zooming past. It also doesn't help that BD effortlessly dances circles around me on his fancy schmancy Telemarks. P.S. I only got lost once, thank you for asking.

'Tis the Season

Seems we've been hustling and bustling here and there and spreading cheer at holiday this and that. What a wonderful time of year! Seriously, I love it. Being completely and utterly exhausted from too much holly jolly season is a really good thing. However, you can bet that when we do have a free minute we're squeezing in a bit of this:As apartment dwellers, we dig the digital Yule Log which transforms our little condo high in the sky into a cozy cabin tucked in the woods.

Oh, and we've been invaded by a throng of darling elves. It's been nice having them around to blame for things that go missing. Like the Christmas caramels. Or toffee. Or chocolate dipped cookies. It may just as well break my heart to give them away. We've so enjoyed receiving your beautiful Christmas cards in the mail each day. This is the one time of year that I rush to pick up the mail before BD. I look forward to seeing cute families grow cuter each year. Thanks to those of you who included us in your Christmas card list. It means so much. And {sigh} I vow that next year we'll get around to it!

freshly

Remembering just how much I love having a Christmas tree up in my house. Explains why I usually don't take it down until February. ShhhhhhDiscovering the bulk-foods section at WinCo Foods. By far the best selection of bulk I've ever shopped. I'm obsessed with the fresh honey-equipped with real live bees inside. It's open 24 hours, which means I have access to giant lemon heads anytime I fancy.Baking Jim Lahey's no-knead bread and let me tell you, it really is as easy as they say. And not easy in the same way that cake pops are easy. This is fool proof. I've always been scared of breads and yeast, but this recipe has given me the confidence to keep trying. Gorgeous no?Ordering from The Community Food Co-op of Utah. We put in our first order in November and were blown away with the quality and overall value of the food we received. Totally worth it. And we are looking forward to round two this month.Mourning (still) the loss of a box which disappeared 4.5+ years ago when we last moved. Contains the best of my kitchen wedding gifts. Including, but not limited to, all of my bake-ware: items that I haven't yet been able to replace because I'm just sure it will turn up sometime. Reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Actually we just finished, and both of us absolutely loved this book. Somewhat chilling and really dark and twisty. I kind of have a thing for dark and twisty though. Nevertheless, highly recommended. The new movie looks good too. Chuckling at the LG Give it a Ponder beard campaign. These videos are killing me.