I'm so excited!

We're having our first professional pictures of Charlie done today. Our friend, Neysa Ruhl, is coming today to work her magic on some pics of our family. I met her about a year ago at a photo shoot for Cincy Chic & was immediately struck by her enthusiasm for photography. Later, I had the pleasure of working with her organizing her very busy home office. I can't wait to see the results!

On another note, I laughed out loud when I looked at my calendar this morning. It says "Charlie's blanket done today." Sadly, this is not the case. Not even close. I started this "Hearts & Stars" blanket way back in the spring and worked on it here and there. It's a beautiful pattern written by Zoe Mellor. After Charlie arrived, I wanted to give it to him for his first Christmas. Always of the mindset that it's easiest to eat an elephant one bite at a time, I did a little math to see what I was up against. The blanket totals 332 rows, of which I had 78 done at the time. This left 254 rows to complete, meaning it could be knocked out in 84 more days working 3 rows per day. Ugh. Undaunted, I boldly wrote the goal end date on the calendar to keep me motivated. Well, the 84 days have come and gone and I've only managed to add another 30 rows or so to the blanket. Looks like Charlie will be getting the blanket for his first birthday instead of Christmas!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

One for mommy. One for daddy. And one for Charlie.

Managing Picture Clutter

I'm sure there are many professional organizers out there who bristle at the idea of a fridge full of magnets & pictures. I'm not one of them. I love seeing pictures of friends & family smiling back at me as I reach for my coffee cream in the morning or grab dinner out of the freezer. That being said, the sheer volume & clutter can become overwhelming sometimes, so it's good to have a plan to deal with it. Every December as Christmas card season rolls around, I pull all (ok, most) of last year's pics off the fridge, clip them together and date.

I store the picture packets in the same box in which I display incoming Christmas cards. It looks great sitting under the tree & is large enough to hold pictures from seasons past for years to come. It's fun to leaf through the old packets each year when I get the decorations out. New pictures go on the door where they'll stay for most of the year!

That was fast...

Wow, I'm glad I didn't pay the extra $5 for expedited shipping on the grocery bag order. I decided that I could wait the 5-9 business days it might take for them to arrive and still have time to ship completed gifts to those afar. They arrived today via UPS. The UPS guys were working in a team of two...a drive and a runner. Literally, a runner. He ran down my driveway, knocked & shouted "UPS!" and ran back up to hop in the truck as it sped away. Service that made me smile.

Reusable Grocery Bags

Reusable grocery bags fall under the category of things I think are really great, but haven't ever gotten around to getting for myself. I imagine some family & friends find themselves in the same boat. With that in mind, I ordered a dozen or so of these this morning and will use them as gift bags for some of my presents this year. I'll hang on to a few for myself too.

Consignment

Things are a little tighter financially for many of us right now. Last week I decided to drop a few items off at a local consignment store to see if anything would sell. I went through my closet this morning to see what else I might be able to part with. Turns out, quite a lot. I took 4 skirts, 2 blazers, 4 pairs of slacks & 3 sweaters to the dry cleaners this morning. None of them were particularly dirty, but all were kind of wrinkled from hanging out in a "maybe I'll wear these again someday" bag. Once I have them back from the cleaners, I'll swing them by the consignment store & get an update on my earlier drop offs. Hopefully I can bring in a little extra holiday dough - fingers crossed!

White Chili

Here is one of my favorite white chili recipes. I usually make it with chicken (rotisserie chicken from the store is perfect!), but I've found it to be a great way to use up leftover turkey too.

• 1 lb. navy beans
• 2 T butter & olive oil
• 1-2 onions
• 1 small can mild green chilies
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground coriander
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb cooked chicken or turkey, cut small
• 5-6 cups chicken stock
• salt/pepper to taste

If using dried beans, soak overnight, drain, rinse & set aside. In soup pot or dutch oven, saute onions in butter/olive oil combination over medium heat until translucent. Add green chilies, oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic & meat and continue to saute for another few minutes. Add beans & chicken stock to pot & bring to boil. Once at a boil, reduce heat & slow simmer covered for 1 1/2 -2 hours until beans are tender. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve with fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla chips & sour cream.

This recipe works great with canned beans too. Substitute 4-5 cans of white beans (navy, great northern, etc). Drain & rinse beans before adding to the pot. You can also adjust the heat level by adding a few dashes of hot sauce, using more chilies, etc. It's a very adaptable recipe!