Coastal Christmas in the Kitchen

First of all, I want to take a moment to remember those who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor on this day 70 years ago.  May we hold them in our hearts forever. 

I finally have something I can share for a few link parties, which I haven't done in a REALLY long time. 

I gave you a sneak peek of my kitchen windowsill a few days ago, but I finally finished it up by adding some greens and a few other things here and there, so I thought I would share the whole thing with you today.  I know it's not the 9th yet, but I'm not good at being patient, so here goes!

Plus, I still have a few more things to put out in here, so I will share more once I have the whole room finished, but I didn't want to miss out on the party.  I love a good party after all, and I've loved seeing the wonderful  posts others have shared over the past few weeks.  There is so much talent in blogland, it boggles my mind sometimes!

Ok, enough chit chat, on to the decorating!  The inspiration for this year's windowsill was mother nature, burlap, and turquoise/aqua.

I started with my blue ball jars, knowing that I wanted them to be a focal point and provide some color.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to put lights in them like I had done in years past, but finally settled on a more simple approach and added little baby cedar trees to them instead.

I lived with those on the windowsill for a few days before deciding which direction to head in.  Then I remembered that I had some burlap ribbon, so I strung that all along the windowsill which gave it some nice texture.

I tend to let my decorating evolve over time, but I usually have some sort of vision of how I want it to end up, or at least which elements I want to use.  I loved the blue of the mason jars, but I felt like something was missing until it dawned on me that I could use my turquoise/aqua insulators as votive holders.  They add just the sparkle I was looking for, and they look so pretty when I light the little tea lights each evening.   And I also love that they are chipped, don't all match, and are well worn, all part of the rustic charm I was hoping to achieve this Christmas.

As I wandered around my house gathering things to add, my collection of seashells seemed like a logical choice to incorporate into my coastal themed vision.  I have all sorts of shells, so I just grabbed a few and spaced them out over the sill.

I debated on putting 3 blue ball jars, one in front of each window, but I felt like it needed a little height in the center, so I grabbed these wooden shore birds which normally sit on top of the TV armoire in the living room during the warmer months.  And I fashioned a wreath out of cypress to hang on the biggest birdie.

Just below the windowsill, next to the sink, I added some vintage ornaments that had belonged to my parents and grandparents and a few other ornaments I have collected over the years.  I purchased the peppermints on copper wire a few years ago, and since I didn't have anything yummy to fill my candy jar with, they did the trick!  A pretty white Cyclamen I picked up the other day when I bought my wreaths is nestled into a big red bowl.  I love to have flowers around all throughout the year, but especially when everything outside is on its way out.

Santa seems to be eyeing something to his right...not sure what, let's hope he's not trying to make a break for it!

And because it's Christmastime, it never hurts to remind ourselves to believe, in whatever makes your heart sing.

Candy canes fill a pudding basin and get weighed in along with some fresh greens on top of my vintage scale.  My little sea urchin votive holder adds a little more sparkle to the kitchen.

So there it is, my coastal cottage inspired Christmas kitchen.  I think baking will be a lot more fun in here this year!  I can't wait to see what the rest of you did in your kitchens!

Click HERE to see more Christmas in the Kitchen inspiration!  And to visit some of the other Christmas link parties you can check out the list below.

 AND

Click HERE to visit the Christmas Home Tours at The Inspired Room!

AND

I am also linking up to the 24 Days of Coastal Christmas at Sally Lee by the Sea!  Click HERE to see more Coastal Christmas decorating ideas!

Simply Put

In keeping with my Coastal Cottage Christmas theme, I decided to decorate my living room sparingly and mostly with natural elements.  On top of the TV armoire, I added numbered mixing bowls (which were a birthday gift from my daughter last year), and filled them with fresh cedar.  Starfish resting between each bowl adds a touch of beachy'ness and conveys the coastal feel that I wanted to have all throughout the house this year.  The two musical Santas on the far left are from the 1960s and bring back memories of my childhood as my mom put them out every year.   I also love that their bright red outfits add a pop of Christmas color to the room.

I filled my glass wall vase with sprigs of cypress and tucked a single white poinsettia blossom in it to continue the green and white theme.  The white chenille throw belonged to my grandmother, and most likely dates from the 50s.  The nautical themed pillow was a steal that I got from Williams-Sonoma Home last year, I think I paid $19 for it and it included the down insert and free shipping...woohoo!


 

Simply put, I didn't spend a dime on this decor, and you have to love that this time of year when spending can get out of hand.  

I hope you are all off to a great week, and that you've found your groove this holiday season!

The Manger Down the Road

This time of year, as I drive past the sheep farm down the road, I can't help but hum a few Christmas tunes to myself...especially this one!

A Coastal Cottage Christmas Sneak Peek

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments, not just on my last post, but on every post!  You are my inspiration!  When I visit your blogs, stop by your Pinterest sites, or get your emails I find myself striving to try new things, expand my horizons, and just be a better person...so thank you!

And speaking of getting emails, the email gremlins struck again this week.  I know I sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but it's gone from just being annoying to really affecting my work and lifestyle!  Apparently a friend sent us an email inviting us to a Christmas party this evening, and if they hadn't texted me last night asking if we would be coming, we would have missed it completely...ugh!  So dear email, you can mess with a lot of things but I'm putting you on notice that you better not mess with my social life by losing party invites!!!

So, on to a sneak peek of my kitchen Christmas decor.  Like I said, this year will be simple, and I've coined the term Coastal Cottage Christmas for the look.  Oh heck, I'm sure someone else coined that phrase, but I'm going with it.  Mr. Tide and I stopped by a friend's house last night, and as we chatted about how as you get older you sometimes lose your gumption to put stuff out, we all decided that less truly is more for us these days.  I noticed that she too had embraced a simpler style of decor and her house was warm, cozy and beautiful!

As you can tell by the photos of my kitchen windowsill, this year will be a little less dazzling, not like in years past, which you can see by clicking HERE and HERE.  Still, I'm loving the natural elements, the pops of turquoise, which will be a theme found throughout my holiday decor this year.  And I'm not completely done with the windowsill yet, I will be adding a few votives so that I have a bit of dancing light up there in the evenings, just not the twinkle of Christmas lights like in years past.


 

I also managed to get a few greens and two big beautiful wreaths from a local Mennonite family yesterday.  I love, love, love the smell of fresh greens and can't wait to incorporate even more around the house over the next few days.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more pictures of my house during this year's holiday season, so stay tuned.

Looks like I'm on track, on budget, and still completely out of my mind...which is as it should be! ;-)

I hope you each have a wonderful week, and keep those inspirational posts coming!

In Shreds

I'm making progress on my Christmas decorating for this year.  As you may remember, I was torn between using all of my traditional decor, or going with a more simplistic and natural approach.  I finally decided to go with a more restrained look this year, and I'm embracing a coastal cottage look that I'm liking a lot.  I've also decided that I will try and only use what I have on hand or what I can find in nature.  My goal is to spend little or no money aside from buying some fresh greens that I can't find on my own.

There are still many more things to do...weird since simple should mean I'm done already right?!  What I have found is that simple isn't always easy.  I find it takes a lot more thought to use less and edit out the unnecessary yet still have it convey a festive look.  And I've always thought that I was a less is more sort of person, turns out I'm a more is more kind of person, but I'm liking moving over to the "light" side!

As much as I'm loving my pared down look for the holidays, I'm not loving some other things going on around here these days!  Like my email which is still giving me fits!  The fact that our son's tire blew out while he was driving home...thankfully he was fine!  The money I set aside to finish our backsplash is now going to 4 shiny new tires, which aren't cheap.  I dearly want my backsplash done, but I want our son to be safe WAY more!

And speaking of shredding, Misty Belle, yes that cute little pup, who is over a year old now, has taken to chewing on things!  The other evening while watching Glee in our living room I caught her nibbling on the skirt of the couch.  What the heck?!  She has never done that before! 

I guess sometimes, even when you are finding your groove in one part of your life, another part can be completely in shreds.  Let's hope she gets through this wacky phase quickly.  I know I've said I want a new sofa for my living room, but she didn't have to take it so literally, unless of course she has a puppy bank account with a furniture fund in it that I'm unaware of!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

My Dream House

I have this recurring dream, well it's a nightmare really.  It starts out innocently enough with Mr. Tide and I shopping for a big new house.

The house has plenty of rooms with high ceilings, a large well appointed kitchen, and lots and lots of storage.  The high ceilings and storage are both things we desperately lack in our current house, so my "dream" house seems like the perfect place to move.

Sometimes my dream house is also located on the water, just like this house, and sometimes it's even better waterfront, with a big huge pier and a luxurious boat at the end of it.

But each and every time in my dream when we have bought the other house, and we're moving out of this one, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness...shear despair actually!  I break down in tears at the thought of leaving this little house behind.  The dream always ends the same way, with me crying and regretting our decision to move.

So I guess with all of its quirkiness, lack of storage, 8 foot ceilings, and other shortcomings, I really, truly do love this place.  And when we have a sunset like the one pictured above (these photos are all straight out of the camera), well I think it's easy to see why leaving this place would break my heart!

In other news...I am WAY far behind on returning emails, or replying to comments, but I will get there...maybe, hopefully!

And the song below, which was written in 1943 during WWII, is probably not unlike my dream, only much, much worse.  Not knowing if you would ever come home and be with your family again at Christmas must have been a nightmare I can't even begin to imagine!  I hope that during the hustle and bustle of this crazy season, you will slow down and really enjoy those around you, and not focus on the things you and everyone else wants, but be thankful for everything you have!  

Holiday Cards and Other Stuff

(click to enlarge any photo)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and to those of us who stuffed ourselves silly, I hope you are now feeling a little better!

We spent the holiday with extended family, and then the past few days were occupied  with yard work and hanging Christmas lights.  We also have our daughter to blame for our new addiction to the show Glee.  I had never seen it before, so she suggested we watch it on Netflix from the very beginning.  We watched 4 episodes back to back on Saturday evening and then another 2 this morning before she headed back to DC!

I have to say that I love nothing more than to have all of my birdies in the nest, so this weekend was wonderful for me and Mr. Tide.  My Dad used to always say how nice it was to have everyone at home during the holidays, and I now understand why it meant so much to both he and my mom.  And it's funny, but my mother in law said the same thing when we left after our recent visit, that she remembered her own grandfather being teary eyed when they all left their family cabin each year.

I guess that's how life works, you rush around raising your little chicks with the intention of them flying from the nest.  But it sure is nice when they fly back home for a few days!

And speaking of birds, Mr. Tide and I have now officially declared ourselves old people.  And about a week ago we purchased a bird feeder.  The reason I say "old" is because when you are younger it seems like only old people enjoy watching or feeding birds.  Shoot, even in the movie Mary Poppins the lady that feeds the birds is older!  So we've always assumed, and maybe wrongly so, that bird watching was for old people, or maybe we ARE old now!  I would like to think that maybe we aren't old, but that we have just discovered a new found appreciation for everything ornithology! ;-)

After waiting a week for birds to grace our feeder, we were welcomed this morning by lots of little birds anxious for their own version of Thanksgiving leftovers.  I don't claim to know them all, but since I'm embracing my old person persona, I will likely have to break out the bird book soon so that I can be in the know about which ones are which!

I did however recognize a female cardinal without too much thought, and so I happily snapped away at her as she perched atop the wrought iron shepherd's hook that holds the feeder.  I was amazed at the clarity of some of the shots, so I decided to turn a few of the images into holiday cards.

I know that these would be more striking if it had been a male cardinal who had visited us today, but I still think Mrs. Cardinal deserves her due.  It's kind of like Santa and Mrs. Clause, no one lines up to see Mrs. Clause...poor dear!

I used a combination of things on these photos including the new free texture I got today from Kim Klassen, it's called Poetic, and I think that is a fitting name for this lovely new texture!  The top textured photo also has a free texture by Leslie Nicole.  I also highly recommend you purchase some textures from these lovely ladies as they have some great ones to choose from, and some are even on sale right now!

The other overlays I used (except for the one in the photo above which I can no longer find the source for!) all came from The Graphics Fairy.  I love finding beautiful license free imagery from The Graphics Fairy, it is one of my favorite places to go hunting for special clip art and backgrounds...especially for holiday projects like cards!

So there you have it, I'm slowly getting into the holiday spirit.  I was so pumped to get going on decorating this weekend, and then my dear husband lugged all of my Christmas tubs inside only to realize that my enthusiasm had waned slightly upon seeing just how much "stuff" I have!

In my head, I had visions of boxwood wreaths and all white trees, but my tubs full of holiday decor did not agree with my pared down simplistic approach this year.  And had Mr. Tide not pulled a muscle in his shoulder bringing said tubs into the house, well I probably would have sent them right back to the garage.  Instead I am letting my brain battle it out to see which will win, simplicity or surplus!  Until I do, those bins will act as wonderful ottomans for nearly every seat in the living room.  Which is perfect for watching more episodes of Glee right?!

A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

If you are easily offended, a pastry chef, or anyone who has a picture perfect Thanksgiving each year with people beautifully groomed sitting around the table passing non stop compliments to one another...well then you might need to turn away now!

Since my mother passed away over 7 years ago, Thanksgiving has lost a bit of its polish.  My mother, who was the consummate entertainer, pulled off spectacular holiday dinners without even batting an eye or breaking a sweat.  It was not uncommon for us to have 25+ people each Thanksgiving sitting around tables adorned with Waterford crystal, Wedgwood china, and lavish floral arrangements.


 

While both of my parents were still living, I also hosted a few Thanksgiving and Easter dinners at my house and I adhered to the strict silver, crystal, china rules I had known growing up.  My children were beautifully attired for these events and I even managed to look pretty good myself when it was all said and done and the guests arrived.

But after my mother passed away some of the formality and Martha Stewart type attention to detail fell by the wayside.  Carefully basted turkeys gave way to deep fried, a la my brother, and green bean casserole dared to make an appearance alongside the traditional corn pudding...my mother would be aghast at this!  We do still set a beautiful table, this year it will be at my sister M's house, and we do still behave with dignity (well most of the time anyway), but china and crystal have given way to fall colored pottery and lovely green glass goblets.

Thanksgiving has now become a holiday of culinary experimentation mixed among time tested family recipes, something we never would have done when my mom was alive.  No sir, Thanksgiving was a time when you could recite the menu in your sleep, when you could look forward to those tried and true recipes our ancestors had been consuming for centuries...it was, for lack of a better word, a traditional feast.

 
And not only was it traditional, but it was also quite proper.  Emily Post would have seemed like a bit of a slouch at our house growing up.  My mother was born and bred a Virginian after all, while dear Ms. Post was from Baltimore...egads, a northerner!

This year, my mother is maybe a little miffed, but more likely smiling down on me as I decided to attempt two rather non traditional desserts for Thanksgiving...French Macarons and Pavlova.  The messy images of my kitchen (and yes that #*$% backsplash is still not finished, please Santa, all I want for Christmas is a tile setter who won't freak out when I show him/her my tiles!), are evidence of my crazed baking spree.

I broke all of the rules, making meringue on a rainy day, and making macaron on a rainy day...but hey, I never was very good at following the rules.  I figure that no self respecting French baker is waiting around for the perfect sunny day to make a macaron.  Heck, I've taken tea at Laduree in Paris on a day when it literally rained, sleeted, snowed, and the sun shone...all in a matter of about 3 hours, and they were serving fresh made macarons, so the rule must be meant to be broken right?!

I'm also not a stickler for perfection, so mine don't look perfect, but they sure do taste pretty close to perfection.  What's not to love about that crunchy yet soft cookie filled with dark chocolate ganache...yum!

I thought I would share with you a few conversations my daughter and I have had over the past few days.  I think they pretty much exemplify how far from grace, or at least the graces my mother instilled in us, we have fallen!

The first one is regarding her picking up a few things from Whole Foods for us on her way home.


HER:  So, Whole Foods has effectively become a war zone. They now have three people directing traffic instead of one.

If there's something that needs to come from there that is for Thanksgiving dinner itself, I'd be happy to risk life and limb. Otherwise, all WF orders will have to be postponed for a weekend in Dec. (there will be a brief period of peace between this week and Christmas). All my shopping in the meantime will be done at the Safeway, which, honestly, isn't much better.

However, if there is something that must arrive by Thanksgiving, please send the list NLT Tuesday evening. I plan to go early morning Wednesday (my work at home day) before the unwashed (actually, let's be real - the Hyper Washed, Yuppie, Pearl Bedecked) masses arrive.

ME:   Your life is safe with us, we don't need anything!  If you need reinforcements, don't be afraid to call some in! ;-)

(moments later)  Ooh, I lied.  I need some organic fruit.  You can just get me a large, or maybe 2 large containers of mixed organic fruit already cut up.  Like one with kiwi, strawberries.  Just no melon.

I'm making pavlova so that Court *(my niece who is gluten free)* can have it too.  And I will probably make a flourless chocolate cake too.

What veggies would you like?  And I will pick up your crab cake *(for my pescatarian daughter)* on Wednesday. 

Thanks!  Love you!

Her:   Mooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Ok fine. I'll grab those. Do you want my flourless chocolate cake recipe? The only thing you'd probably need to buy is Cointreau or Grand Marnier.

I'm good with whatever on veggies. I'm not a huge fan of the corn with marshmallow (weird) but I'll eat the other corn. We made carrot fries recently which were delicious - I'll have to give you the recipe. 

Thanks for getting the crab cake! Love you, too.

I then had to explain that it is her aunt's sweet potato recipe that calls for marshmallows...not the corn pudding recipe!  So glad we paid for her to go to the "really" smart college! ;-)

But the fun didn't end there, while on gchat last night she and I were swapping dessert making war stories that went a little something like this!

While I was lamenting the fact that I had to make a redneck pastry bag from a freezer bag with a hole cut in one corner to pipe my macarons, she sent me a photo of her flourless chocolate cake which had apparently stuck to the pan.  She described it as looking a lot like tectonic plates.  After receiving the cell phone image, and knowing how brutal my family can be...we are talking memories like elephants and decades long ribbing, I replied with the following!

 

Me:   Umm, that would be a 8.0 on the richter scale!  Are you sure you want to endure the years long grief you will get lol?!

Her:  Ugh! I don't have time/resources to make another! What if I just bring it home and Court can eat some at our house? Squishy *(my kids call Mr. Tide Squishy...long story)* and the rest of us can eat the rest.

 Me:  LOL, no worries!  You could always turn it into a gluten free trifle!  Aunt Shelley was going to make one, but she may not have already made it, or you can just say the *&(( with it and bring it as is.  Tell everyone you were attacked by "occupy" Whole Foods and they messed up your cake!

Her:   They're *(meaning my family)* going to give me supreme *%@#. whatever, I'll figure it out. Maybe I can pretend it turned over in the car?

Me:   Yes, and then the ninjas came!  Just go arm wrestle someone in Whole Foods for the last gluten free dessert that is still standing! ;-)

Her:   Bloody hell, I'll just go get more ingredients and make another.

And there you have it, the perfect Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving experience!  At least my macarons and pavlova turned out fine...way better than the year I forgot and left the marshmallow topped sweet potatoes under the broiler too long and they caught on fire!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!