a glimpse into the holiday festivities of 2015.
decorating for the holiday season—an absolute favorite.
major helpers, right here. the smell of my "christmas spirits" essential oils must have really got to them.
to keep with tradition, v and i picked two words at random. this year the words were
• cotton & refreshing •
we needed to incorporate both these words into the gift we gifted one another in some way. this is such a fun
way to narrow down the plethora of gifts we could be giving. plus it forces each of each to be creative
and not just buy any old thing. we were also required to write a note or poem of some sort to describe it.
regardless. we also watched our annual "love actually" in our red socks. a tradition was started back in our
first year being married.
before thanksgiving—that poor [thanksgiving] holiday is going to be kicked to the curb by christmas
soon—feels as if it happens earlier and earlier each year.
to match the countertop. it feels so cozy now.
my aunt nala gifted me the most adorable wreath for christmas. the cutest owls i ever did see and real
cotton branches to look like snow!
i rarely prepare traditional ukrainian foods. mainly because they are very time consuming. but this christmas,
i pulled out all the stops!
1. refrigerator pickles
2. kvac [made by the husband]
3. holodetz [meat jello!]
4. shooba [again, made by the husband]
5. "i love you" salad [salat olivye]
6. cherry crepe cake
7. and so many other things that were not necessarily ukie, but were included in the meal
making the broth for my holodetz. i'm a first-timer for this dish.
below is the assembly of a cherry crepe cake. i used this recipe from olga's flavor factory.
the not-as-perfect-as-olga's-finished desert is at the bottom.
• christmas eve •
heading to christmas eve service at generation church.
• christmas morning •
i incorporated our words (• cotton & refreshing •) by getting v some workout clothes, because working out is
refreshing and i am sure there is cotton in those things! he got me a cozy robe to wear after a refreshing
shower. i'd say, we did good.
i've been looking for a pencil drawing/sketch to hang in our living room and have not had much luck finding
what i wanted. primary because most pencil drawing include a random nude lady (!). so v had a
sketch drawn of me. it kinda topped the word gift by a thousand!
my christmas table setup.
#christmasinflorida means you can eat outside in december!
to the right is the taste-test for v's kvac. major success!
we used his mom's recipe—which means i do not know the proportions. which means we'll have
to make it again and write it all down.
the mushroom chicken casserole—from natasha's kitchen, and ruth's delicious roast.
show-stopper to the right—my holodetz.
the cherry crepe cake is to the left.
it was a delicious light desert. perfect after a heavy christmas meal.
i also made these cute cookies, to the right. recipe is from natasha's kitchen.
day after christmas adventures —> miami.
lot's of walking and strolling and chatting.
thanks for visiting.
hope you and your family had a very lovely christmas holiday.
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Hey, I just loved watching your holiday festivities of 2015. All these decorations are so lovely. The food in those photos is crave-worthy. I also attended various parties in last year at some local Chicago event venues. It was a great year.
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