Christmas | kimberly ah

Jan 04 2015

Another Christmas Tea

Another book club holiday tea is in the books (hehe) and we’re onto a new year. December book club always falls around winter solstice, so it was rather dark all day at Peggy’s, but hopefully you can appreciate the beauty of the rooms and the table settings in spite of my dark pictures. We split into two tables, each seen above, and as always the place settings were festive and lovely. Peggy should seriously give lessons on how to set a table because I always feel like mine lack the layering that hers have. She has such a great mix of dishes to play around with, too. We started the morning with a cocktail–ginger sage prosecco. We found the recipe here and I made the syrup, which is easy and delicious and amazingly useful in other cocktails too. It’s warm and wintry, perfect for this time of the year. Bruising the sage leaf before you float it on top of your cocktail is also highly recommended.

Our menu was very similar to last year’s menu. I made ham salad tea sandwiches again, and they were served alongside pimento tea sandwiches and classic cucumber tea sandwiches. We had two kinds of scones, cherry almond and coconut, served with Devonshire cream, Meyer lemon curd, lime curd and lilikoi curd. And we had Christmas cookies and lemon squares and lots and lots of hot tea. For our book this month, we read Emma–our first dip into Jane Austen. Sadly, only a few finished the book (which is rare for us!) so the book discussion was not as long and as deep as usual. But lesson learned, choosing a lighter book in December may be the way to go. After the book discussion, we lingered on in Peggy’s comfortable home and chatted about our Christmas plans, families and other books. I’m looking forward to another year of book club, and more reading in general. I didn’t read as much as I should have in 2014, so it’s time for a fresh start. For January we are reading Ethan Frome. Edith Wharton is a favorite of mine, so I’m looking forward to it. We don’t have any other titles planned for the year, which is a preferred way to go. Last year we planned an entire year ahead and a few of us felt stuck with some of the titles. It’s nice to plan a little at a time, and leave some openings for interesting titles that pop up in the newspaper or recommendations from friends. If you’re in a book club, I’d love to hear how you choose your titles.

Tagged books, celebrations, Christmas, cocktails, decorating, food, holidays

Jan 03 2015

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Christmas, holidays, Office Supplies, snail mail, Zines

Merry Zinemas

I think out of all of my gifts, I liked my stocking gifts the best. (Well, that’s hard to say…but they are awesome!) I mentioned here that I like to ask for zines for Christmas. My stocking was stuffed with zines, socks, postcards and a stamp. Here’s what I got:

Cats in My Neighborhood zine

Collage & Art Journal IDEAS zine

Parcel Ghost Super-Supernatural zine pack

(I’ll talk more about zines in an upcoming post, but until then, I highly recommend all of these zines!)

Donuts socks: These socks are so cozy! I gave Naoto the Beer ones a few years ago. The sock bottoms are lined with terry, giving a little extra cushion. I’ve been padding around the house in these for a few days now. I may never take them off.

Letter Writers Alliance Official Seal Stamp: I love all of my LWA stamps and I’m so excited to have one with my member number on it. I’m ready to send more mail in 2015!

Victory Garden postcards: I’m excited to NOT hoard these!

So that was my stocking. Santa Naoto did a great job, as usual. One more Christmas post…and then we can put the holidays behind us!

P.S. Though some of the makers (of the zines & stamp) are friends and acquaintances, this post wasn’t sponsored by anyone but me. 🙂

Tagged Christmas, gardening, holidays, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping, snail mail, zines

Jan 02 2015

2 Comments

Christmas, holidays, vintage

The Christmas Gifts 2014

I wish I could promise you this is the last Christmas post…almost!

For Christmas, Naoto surprised me with an Instax printer. If you don’t know, Instax are similar to Polaroids. You can buy an Instax camera, but I wanted the convenience of printing pictures from my phone so Naoto picked the printer for me. (As much fun as it sounds to have an Instax camera, I know I would never carry around an extra camera.) The printer links wirelessly with my iPhone and I can print tiny instant pictures wherever I want. The pictures are about the size of a credit card, perfect for memory keeping (ahem, scrapbooking) and mailing to friends. My first picture is of our Christmas Eve cocktails and I can’t wait to print some more. The printer is small, so it will be perfect to take on vacation so I can have some instant access to pictures of my food and drinks (heehee) to accent my travel journals. Naoto also got me this vintage table runner. I am in love with the one from our anniversary, and I imagine this one will be great to use in the spring. It coordinates nicely with my vintage dishes in the china cabinet. He also got us another pair of Blackhawks tickets…this year we are going on January 16! I can’t wait! I gave Naoto some practical gifts–snow boots and new jeans. (Un-pictured because snooooze!) I also gave him the shirt pictured above (which for the record, is less about the Chicago Bears than it is about Mike Ditka and the Superfans from the old SNL days. If you’d like to watch a Superfan clip, here it is…maybe it’s only funny if you’re from Illinois though?)I also got him a Resketch notebook and a ninja sticker for work. The Resketch notebook is really neat–it’s made from recycled papers like building plans and Braille sheets. There are also a few creative prompts mixed throughout the book. Naoto takes notes at work, so I thought it might be a fun gift. (Also, Shawn, the seller, was really super and I like to support super people with super ideas.) I bought both the t-shirt and the notebook at Show of Hands this fall. I found this rice cooker key chain at Renegade this summer. It’s from Mehoi, who has so many cute designs. I’m kind of regretting not getting him a pin instead because he’s already said the key chain is too nice to use.

I feel good about our gifts this year. Other than the snow boots, jeans and Instax, all of our gifts came from independent makers and sellers. Tomorrow I’ll share the stocking stuffers. Santa outdid himself with tiny treasures this year!

Tagged Christmas, holidays, office supplies, photography, shopping, vintage

Dec 31 2014

Christmas Food at Karen’s

We spent Christmas morning at Karen’s for a little brunch before we came home and hibernated with gifts for the rest of the day. We had to journey alllll the way across the hall, but it was totally worth it because Karen is always good company and her brunch food was delectable. I was in charge of cocktails. Since it was morning and it’s been so gloomy lately, I chose to make this Winter Sun cocktail. A nice burst of citrus was just what we needed. If you are looking for a breakfast cocktail (because who doesn’t like day-drinking?), I highly recommend this one. It’s kind of a fancy screwdriver…but a thousand times better. (Do people still drink screwdrivers? I haven’t had one since college.) Freshly-squeezed clementine juice, lemon, triple sec…and the citrusy sugared rim on the glass…we might have to make these again for New Year’s Day! Karen made an egg casserole (which was delicious) but the highlight of the meal was the “Japanese Pancake”. It’s a long-standing Karen’s family tradition to eat these “Japanese pancakes” on Christmas morning. It’s not Japanese, and the closest thing I could come up with that’s similar is a Dutch Baby Pancake…but oh, is it heavenly! It’s a thin, simple batter poured into a hot cast iron skillet and baked in the oven. It puffs up as it cooks and when it’s done, it’s the perfect blend of light and airy and crispy. It already is flavored by the butter in the skillet, but you can add jam, syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit, too. I just added a dusting of powdered sugar to mine. It was perfect.After breakfast we came back home and gave Presley her gift from Karen. It’s a catnip fish that makes water sounds when you swat it. She’s in love. More on the rest of the gifts Friday…

In the meantime, have a wonderful & safe New Year’s Eve! Thanks for spending a bit of your 2014 with me! We are heading back to Golden Steer (for the third year in a row!) with some friends and then coming back home for snacks and cocktails and the countdown to midnight. Happy New Year!

Tagged Christmas, cocktails, food, forest park, holidays

Dec 30 2014

3 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, snail mail

Holiday Cards 2014

Siiiiigh…our holiday cards are out…most made it by Christmas. Others didn’t. And that’s okay (she says, begrudgingly.) I worked on my cards over two days–one with my friend Jackie and her cats (Eskimo is shown above…she finally warmed up to me on this visit and now that she’s rested on my cards, I’m for sure we are best friends), and the other at home with Presley overseeing my progress (top picture). I took some people off of my list this year, and added some new friends, totaling forty-four cards for the season. I found these Hasui Kawase cards at the Book Table in Oak Park. I love that they are peaceful and snowy. Some people may say they lack “Christmas” but with their “Season’s Greetings” message inside, they worked for a variety of people. I also had a few 16 Sparrows Chicago Snowflake cards that I sent to a few former and current Chicagoans on my list. (It’s their interpretation of the Chicago flag.) And since twenty-eight cards were not enough, I mixed in some of last year’s leftover cards and some from a Cavallini kit that I’ve had for a few years. Not a single piece of washi tape was used for this year’s cards, but I did put a Trader Joe’s sticker on each one. (I often ask for a few stickers when I’m checking out at the store. I like to use them on my mail and my calendar. On a recent visit, the manager gave me the whole roll. Trader Joe stickers forever!!)

So, they weren’t perfect, but I wrote a personal message in each one, so hopefully that part was appreciated, even though the envelopes were a little plain. And now…onto New Year’s cards…I only have a few but the clock -again- ticks…

Tagged Christmas, holidays, Japan, letterpress, snail mail

Dec 29 2014

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Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Oh Tannenbaum 8: Inge-Glas Ornaments

(Oops, I fell off the blogging wagon last week. It’s still okay to post about Christmas stuff, right?)After the pickle, I chose to buy an orange slice and an apple slice for my next ornament purchases. They both really pop on the tree with their glittery edges and bright colors. The apple came with a little story card that explains how the apple is a symbol of temptation in Christianity. The orange didn’t come with a story, but it always reminds me of getting the tiny oranges in our stockings as kids. And a cigar–its burning end is my favorite detail, black and glittery. I purchased this ornament before I met Naoto but oddly enough one of our first dates involved a cigar bar in Greektown. We were the only non-old men in the place and it was a lot of fun. My parents added to my collection with a teapot and a ruby slipper. I love the delicate little teapot and the bright red glittered shoe. The last Inge-Glas ornament I received was the champagne bottle–an engagement gift from my parents. Naoto and I have a lot of “First Christmas” ornaments, but this engagement ornament is my favorite. This year it’s front and center (along with Charlie Brown) on the tree.

Naoto is already asking when we are taking down the tree…but I’m not quite ready yet. I’m still enjoying the Christmas lights…it’s been so gloomy and cloudy here that it’s nice to have a little brightness and sparkle inside for a little bit longer.

For the other Oh Tannenbaum ornament posts, go here.

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, memories, parents

Dec 23 2014

5 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Oh Tannenbaum 7: The Christmas Pickle

Do you know about the Christmas pickle? A German tradition, a pickle ornament is the last ornament hung on the tree, disguised among the green branches and hidden by the other colorful ornaments. On Christmas morning when children wake up, they search for the pickle. The keen-eyed child who finds the pickle gets an extra gift from St. Nicholas. Isn’t that a fun tradition.

Once I learned about the pickle, I was obsessed with finding one for my own tree. Back then, they were hard to find…now I see pickle ornaments everywhere. Somehow, the search for the pickle led us to an Ace Hardware store where they sold Inge-Glas ornaments*. I walked into the store and found huge glass jars filled to the brim with these delicate ornaments–handmade blown-glass ornaments, many embellished with a dusting of glitter, all topped with a signature star. They were all so beautiful and so different than any of the ornaments I had ever seen. They were also expensive…for a college student anyway… But I had to have the pickle. So I bought it and I’ve treasured it ever since. And every year after that, I visited Ace Hardware on Black Friday to add to my collection. My parents added to my collection, too. Soon after, though, the Ace stopped selling the ornaments, so I only ended up with seven ornaments. (But I’ve recently found them on Amazon and here, so look out bank account!)

Since we got Presley, I’ve kept the ornaments off of the tree. Instead, I chose to display them in my china cabinet. But they always got forgotten. This year, I couldn’t resist…I hung all of them, except the pickle, on my tree. I have a lot of ornaments, and all of them are well-loved, but the Inge-Glas ornaments really stand out. They belong on the boughs, glittering among the lights. This week, I’ll share a bit about the others, too.

To see the other ornament stories from previous years, go here.

*When I bought my ornaments, they were known as Old World Christmas Ornaments. But Old World ornaments are now made in China. They are sold at a much lower price point, but what I found so compelling about my ornaments is the fact that they were still handmade in Germany, some using original molds from years ago. Inge-Glas ornaments are the ones to look for now, along with the star on top. (This article explains more, if you’re interested.)

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, memories

Dec 17 2014

8 Comments

Christmas, snail mail

Mail From the North Pole

My first holiday card of the year came from the North Pole!!

My pen pal Ryan must be the most organized holiday card sender ever because not only was his card the first card to arrive in my mailbox, but he sent his to North Pole, Alaska for the special North Pole postmark. As I sit with my holiday cards spread out on the floor, still stuck in the M’s of my address book, I am envious of Ryan’s accomplishment. But extremely happy to be on the receiving end of such a fun mail surprise!

How are your holiday cards coming along?

Update: Here’s an older Letter Writers Alliance blog post with all of the holiday postmark cities. If you are interested in doing this (next year? or as belated wishes this year?) I would contact the PO of interest to make sure it is something they are still doing. And…if you want to get a head start for Valentine’s Day, the LWA has another list for that.

Tagged Christmas, holidays, mail art, snail mail

Dec 13 2014

4 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Oh Christmas Tree 2014

I think this year’s tree takes the cake…I love its little shape better than the fuller trees of the past two years (2012 & 2013). I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to hanging ornaments, so I’ve found places where there are little ornament clusters and spaces that are kind of bare, but I guess that just adds to the fun. The saddest part of my tree this year is that my favorite vintage tree topper would not light up, so I had to use a colorful replacement. (It’s hard to see in the pictures, but it has multi-colored lights.) I included pretty much every single ornament that I own on the tree this year. Our full trees of the past two years meant that some of the larger and heavier ornaments had to be left off, but this year, the strong Fraser Fir branches could handle them all. I also have not hung some of my most loved ornaments since having Presley. This year, I put most of them on the tree. (They will get their own ornament story post next week.) I just feel like I haven’t enjoyed them in ages and they are just too beautiful not to hang. Here’s hoping this little devil behaves herself. (Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, rubbing a horseshoe…)

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, home

Dec 11 2014

6 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Thoughts on Christmas Trees

When I was growing up, we always got a real tree for Christmas. I remember always being cold and annoyed at the tree farm while my parents picked out a tree. I remember being bummed that we couldn’t get our tree right after Thanksgiving. (“It will dry out!”) I was jealous of the families who dragged their fake trees out of the basement and got to decorate for Christmas right away.

When I graduated from college, I bought a cheap fake tree at Kmart. It was fine, but it really did lack pizazz. I had it for years but once Naoto and I got married, I convinced him that we should try a real tree. (If we could turn back time, I bet he would veto that decision.) So, we bought a $9 tree stand (which still serves us very well) and found a tree at Menards. I know it’s less than picturesque to buy a Christmas tree in a home improvement store parking lot, but it works for us. Their trees always go on sale the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the price is right and, at this point in my life, I don’t need to visit a tree farm with an ax to make my Christmas complete.

Now, I can’t imagine going back to a fake tree*…even though it can be a lot of work to do the real tree thing, I love that our tree has a different personality every year. I love that fresh pine smell that fills our living room. I love tossing it off the balcony every January and not having to store it in our closet all year. (Our village collects the trees and recycles them as mulch.)

Growing up, I think we always got a Scotch pine. They are very traditional looking Christmas trees, very full, very green. Scotch pine needles are medium length and their branches are really strong, good for heavy ornaments. My issue with Scotch pines–the needles are verrrrry pokey. I guess my dad never minded getting stabbed with thousands of pine needles when he was manhandling the tree into the stand? Naoto and I always alternate between White Pines and Firs, either Balsam or Fraser.

White Pines are one of the least expensive trees ($14.95 on sale at Menards for a 6-7 foot tree, the same price as Scotch pines) and they are really full and lovely with their long, soft, deep-green needles. They also, in my experience, last a really long time, staying green and fresh past the New Year. The big downside to the White Pine is that sometimes the branches are floppy and they don’t support the weight of ornaments as well. And they are so full and the needles are so long that tiny ornaments tend to get lost in the tree. But, the trees are so pretty and traditional looking that I don’t always mind leaving some of my ornaments off for a year.

Balsam Firs and Fraser Firs are my favorites, but maybe that’s because we have a Fraser Fir this year. (Every year’s tree is my favorite.) They are more expensive ($24.95 on sale at Menards for a 6-7 foot tree) but it’s totally worth it. Both are skinnier trees with short needles. Balsams have more olive green needles and Frasers have blue-green needles. The shorter needles allow tiny ornaments to shine. Both trees’ branches are sturdier, so they can handle heavy ornaments. And the branches are more spread out, leaving room for larger ornaments to dangle. Supposedly both retain their needles well, but in my experience, they do dry out a bit faster than the pines…this could just be my luck with trees though. Both Balsam and Fraser Firs have incredible scents…our tree has been around for more than a week and it still smells divine in here.

I’ll share more pictures of our actual finished tree tomorrow. It’s all decorated and my ornaments really pop on its skinny branches. Now, I just need to keep Presley from nibbling the lower branches…

P.S. This post is not sponsored by Menards–we just like their trees. For further reading on Christmas trees, I found this interesting, educational website. I feel like someday I need to expand our tree search and try a spruce or a cypress!

*Sometimes when I’m struggling to string the lights (or swearing as I remove the tangled lights from the tree in January) I remember an old friend whose family kept their fake tree in the basement, fully assembled and decorated. Every year, they would just carry it up to the living room and plug it in. Instant Christmas! But honestly…I’d miss bringing out each ornament and remembering its history as I hung it on the tree…

Tagged Christmas, decorating, gardening, holidays