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When I was at Jo-Ann’s oogling all of the Christmas stuff this year as I was preparing to make my Christmas treats, I came across this idea on how to make a ribbon wreath. All the ones I had seen before weren’t really my style, but this one with all of the bows all over it was right up my alley! I decided to take the plunge and make one, especially since I already have so much ribbon in my “archives”. I am proud of how it turned out!
Everybody knows how much I love Christmas – and of course, making treats for friends is one of my favorite things about this season! Since we had a ton of red chocolate left over from Ruby’s birthday party, my mom came up with the great idea of using it with pretzels. I especially loved the idea, because a pretzel dipped in less than .5oz of chocolate is almost guiltless! I decided to do 4 different types of decorations for them and package them in clear plastic bags. The packaging was a lot simpler than my usual stuff, but the pretzels ended up being so pretty that they just had to be the main focal point!
Here’s how they turned out:
Close-up on sprinkles:
In sets of three, before packaging:
All pretty and ready to go!
Now I’m getting excited about what I’ll make for our 1st annual Christmas Eve Open House!
As new members of LACMA, we wanted to plan a little outing to check out the California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” exhibit, as well as introduce Ruby to one of our favorite L.A. hangouts – Canter’s Deli on Fairfax. So we made our way up for a little food before getting our dose of culture!
Ruby was tantalized by all of the selections available on Canter’s ginormous menu
She was definitely a fan of the pickles!
Ed had to get his Corned Beef Hash, and I went for some old school Cabbage Rolls …
After our Canter’s fix, we headed to LACMA for this awesome mid-century modern delight. We didn’t get to stay quite as long as we wanted, but here are some highlights nonetheless:
We also saw Kienholz’s Five Card Stud installation, which was powerful and shocking.
Probably the most fun part was the giant installation that was there formed of all of these yellow translucent yellow bands. We all had fun playing inside!
Then – we decided to take advantage of the Member Appreciation Days that were going on that weekend and visit OCMA as well with free admission! Don’t let the Orange County location fool you … they have some of the edgiest modern art on display and we LOVE their exhibitions! We were lucky enough to catch State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970 and Two Schools of Cool, which were both fantastic!
A few highlights:
We love these kinds of days!
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving this year. It was cause for major reflection, as last year, Thanksgiving was the 1st holiday that there were three of us cool Kims, instead of just two! It’s pretty amazing that we’re now officially done with all of Ruby’s “1st” Holidays … last year, she was just 3 weeks old on Thanksgiving, and this year – we have a toddler!
What a difference a year makes!
This year, we decided to set a new family tradition … Ed, Ruby & I participated in the Long Beach Turkey Trot 5K! It was awesome … and just so much fun. We definitely want to keep this tradition up and do it every year! Ed & I ran it in about 35 minutes … not bad for dodging in & out through major crowds with a stroller!
Here I am, ready to take it on … and here’s Ruby, carb-loading before the big race … :)
After the race, it was time to get home and get cookin’. We were responsible for the vegetable sides this year, so we decided on roasted vegetables and a yummy, healthy take on a green bean casserole. Everybody liked my green beans so much that we decided to put them in the annual rotation! Here are my loves keeping me company in the kitchen:
After getting to my parents house, we had our proper feast (Mom never disappoints) and Ruby even tasted her first bite of Pumpkin Pie!
We couldn’t be more thankful for an amazing daughter, our lovely families, our fabulous friends and our happy little home! Happy Thanksgiving!
(Hang in there ’til the very end to see Ruby get a little excited about Chuck Berry, too. :)
But sometimes, the best utensils are your hands.