30 blogs in 30 days...

I did it! I blogged every single day for the month of November! Now I'll sit back and wait to hear if I won a fabulous prize...

It's true

I do have a 12 foot Christmas tree (well it's on loan). I have 18 foot ceilings and one BIG window. I'll have pictures soon...just you wait!

Things I can't do alone...

...I can't put up a 12 foot Christmas tree without a ladder and a helper so it will have to wait until after the wreath making party and NYC...so it sits in boxes in my entry way...

Wreath Making Party!

It's the week of the Wreath Making Party! My first year in the Boston area the woman in charge of the party asked me to chair the food committee. It seemed like a reasonable request until she said, "Try not to spend a lot of money, it needs to be nice, and we have to have carrot soup." Carrot soup? This carrot top had never had it nor made it. The night of the party I had one of those "ah ha" moments. So this is what all the fuss is about. There is a lot of preparation but it's an amazing party and a great way to start the holiday season. This year I volunteered to be in charge of the whole party. I've done it before and know what needs to be done. I asked my friend (I hope she's still my friend...) Michelle to be my co-chair. We've got good women in charge of all the committees (set-up, clean-up, making bows, decorations, food, registration) so we haven't been stressed out...yet! Tonight I went over with a few friends to decorate the chapel (lights, greenery, wreaths on the windows). It looks really nice. The Belmont Wards are having their party tomorrow night so this is what the gym looks like tonight. Our party starts with hot wassail and registration followed by a program in the chapel. Linda H. orchestrates the program (she has written the program for thirty-something years!) filled with wonderful stories and beautiful music. After the program we all go downstairs to make a wreath out of the boughs that have been purchased from a nursery. Over 200 bows are already made and you can pick which one you want off the display on the wall. When the wreaths are done there are delicious refreshments to enjoy! It's such a wonderful party! There are always lots of women who aren't members of the church in attendance. I have friends that have been in the past and ask when the party is. Everyone loves it!! It's one of New England's best traditions! My cousin is flying in from So. Cal. for the party. And then Friday morning we'll hop on the bus for New York City. Let the holidays begin!!!

"the Windsors"

I met "the Windsors" when they moved to Lexington almost 8 years ago. They moved away 4 years ago but are back in town this weekend to visit family (the Truscotts) for Thanksgiving (and their best friend--me!). It's been so nice to hang out with them. They left with 5 kids and have 7 now: Mary, Teddy, Jack, my buddy Queen Elizabeth (that's her on the far left!), Henry, William and Peter.

It's tough to get 9 people to smile at the same time...but I sure tried!

I'm having the Windsors and Truscotts over for dessert at 7:00pm. That's 14 people to feed! I better get baking...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Happy Thanksgiving (day two)!!

Neighborly neighbors and Anna Banana and I got together for a Thanksgiving lunch today. It was fun to have turkey again. I made (Josh Carter's) delicious yams (3 ingredients: yams, lots of butter and lots of brown sugar) and my raspberry/cranberry jell-O. Lisa made Aunt somebody's rolls and they were better than mine! Anna Banana brought a prize winning apple pie and homemade cranberry sauce. I'm glad to have two days of Thanksgiving feasts!!

I've been working on my photocard orders today...am ready to take a big order of reprints. Let's hope they get them right. That would make me really thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There were 27 of us around 3 tables at the LaPierre's today. It was noisy and fun and the food was deeeeeeelicious. My homemade rolls were a hit and everyone had fun playing "the M&M game".

I visited some other friends after dinner and had some yummy chocolate cream pie!!!

I'm thankful for many things...my family, friends, church, condo, job, camera, good health, a great city to live in, and of course, my blog!

Beacon Hill

I took my camera to work with me today and got excused early (hooray!!) so strolled through Beacon Hill and took some photos.

I'm thankful that I live in Boston!

Hello baby neighbor!!

Only 3 pumpkins until Thanksgiving

I can't believe this Thursday is Thanksgiving! I will be eating at the LaPierre's home with a big group of friends. I have my traditional assignment: raspberry/cranberry jell-O, rolls, and a fun game. I'm looking forward to the holiday and a long weekend.

RED gifts

This weekend I received RED slippers from a friend and a RED hand-me-down Talbots sweater from another friend. I have three brothers and no sisters which means NO hand-me-downs so when my friends pass their clothes on to me it's a treat! When I was a teenager an old woman in my ward, Sister Tyerman, adamantly said to me, "Redheads shouldn't wear RED!" (I never took her words of wisdom to heart.) I'm going to wear my RED sweater with my fancy new RED slippers just to spite her!

P.S. I wonder what she would think of a redhead with a RED refrigerator...

Harvest Moon Fair...or not

Today my friends and I went to what we thought would be holiday craft fairs. Wrong. It was more like tacky crafts at a yard sale (i.e., toilet paper roll covers--you get the idea). We planned on going to three fairs but after the second I suggested we drive to the town of Concord to see what we could find. We found one fair at a school that had some cool things and then we went to two quilt shops. I found some really cool material and bought a stuffed star and some fabric to make some for Christmas. Call me crafty...

Movie night

I went with two friends to see "The Queen" tonight. Loved it. Two thumbs up. The Boston Globe didn't give it 4 stars for nuthin'.

http://www.thequeen-movie.com/

Beauty shop

I got a haircut tonight from my friend Jana. She's one of my best friends ever. After she cut my hair she colored a friend's hair and cut it. I'm glad I don't have to mess with any of that hair coloring business. I've never owned a blow dryer and I don't use a comb, brush, or cream rinse (or whatever you people call that stuff). I've always enjoyed my curly red hair.

The kitchen is open

I started to enjoy baking when I was a teenager. My Grandmother Pitchforth loved to bake. Maybe it's genetic. Sometimes I'd want to start baking late at night and my dad would say "Sorry, the kitchen's closed".

Now that I'm on my own the kitchen is always open! Last week I bought 50 pounds of flour and 50 pounds of sugar...I wonder how long it will take me to empty these bags???

Cahd Pahty

Tonight (and tomorrow night) is my third annual card party. I think 12-13 friends dropped in tonight. I have 195 photocards to choose from ($2 each) -- all taped to the walls in my living room. I used the "delicate" blue painting tape last night and about 150 of the cards fell off the wall while I was trying to sleep. Annoying! I bought better tape today and re-taped all of them.

I have a drawing each night and the winner gets a free 8x10 of any of my pictures. Shauna was the winner tonight!

Here are a few photos of my photocards. Since it was so much work to tape (and re-tape) them up I may leave them for a while...

Get in line...

Today during lunch I went to the Post Office to mail one of my fabric turkeys to friends in California. There were 15 people in line ahead of me. It seemed like I waited forever to get to the front of the line. But, it was worth it. My turkey is on the way and it only cost $1.59.

From there I went to Finagle-A-Bagel for lunch. I wanted soup. They now have one size of soup bowls and it costs $5.49 (rip off). It was nearly 2:00pm and I was starving and I didn't want a whopper, so I waited in line behind a few people and got clam chowder.

Tonight I went to pick up a handful of 3 1/2 x 5 pictures (from negatives) for photocards for my Card Party (I will be selling and taking orders for photocards tomorrow night and Wednesday night). The guy handed me the envelope (I always check it before leaving the store...I wonder why?) and sure enough, they printed 4 x 6 pictures. I could feel my face get red and before flipping out, checked to see if they wrote the order right in the first place. They did. It was "human error". I didn't flip out. I told him the pictures were the wrong size, that I didn't want them and I walked out.

I would have gladly waited in line behind 30 people if they had printed my order correctly.

Ruby Lou turns two!!

Ruby turned two today and this is what I gave her for her birthday!

More family photos

Yesterday was another beautiful Fall day! Seth goes to HBS so we took their pictures on the campus. Mason was adorable in his little corduroy jacket! He's speedy and keeps Seth and Kristina on their toes! It was fun to follow them around with my camera!

Happy Veteran's Day!

My bad luck

I was going to write about how I went to an appointment today and didn't have to pay for parking in a lot (there's no such thing as a free lunch but there is free parking!) but then this seemed like a better story:

I have ordered a few photo books from shutterfly.com. I made one for my friends after our trip to the red cottage. I made one for my niece and her cousin after the bike ride. I made one for my friend for her 30th birthday. Recently I got a notice from shutterfly that they had had some new book sizes and that I got a free 8x8 book. Yeah! I decided to make a book for me filled with pictures I’ve taken of kids. I uploaded over one hundred photos and then spent a few hours arranging them on the pages. I was very pleased with the end result. My little redheaded friend Aaron is on the cover! I've been looking forward to getting the book in the mail and was thrilled when I got an email that it had been shipped. Yesterday when I got home from work there was a UPS sticker on the front door that they had attempted to deliver my package (they won't leave things here w/out a live signature which is one draw back to living in a locked building). I called UPS last night and asked them to re-route the book to my work today. This morning UPS called me at 8:00am to tell me that there was an error and they didn't re-route my package and what did I want them to do. I suggested they buzz #232 or #233 and one of my neighbors would sign for it (thanks Lisa and Luna). When I got home tonight there was a UPS sticker on my door that said, "#232". I knocked on Lisa's door to get my book. I’ve been so excited to see this book and it had finally arrived! Lisa told me she left it right inside my condo. I opened my door, picked up the package and went into the living room to open it. This is what the cover of the book says:

I am not a Garwood, Sanders, or Blackmore. And I didn’t take the pictures in the book.

I just called Shutterfly. At least they have a phone number for customer service unlike most companies. The customer service rep said they would reprint my book and send it to me (I gave my work address this time). Then he told me to "disregard the item we sent you." Are you kidding? I’m displaying that 2005 Family Album with pride on my coffee table. I hope the Garwoods, Sanders and Blackmores are thinking they lucked out getting a book of fabulous photos of cute kids!

Happy Birthday, John boy!

Late night sewing project

I saw this "cherry jubilee" fabric at the quilt shop on Saturday and fell in love with it! I just spent 15 minutes sewing the seams and now I have a fancy new tablecloth!

It's that time of year...

...I'm busy taking photos for Christmas cards...

Chatham, Mass.

I had a great time "down the Cape". My friend's house is very cool; it was built in the late 1700's/early 1800's. She gave me the grand tour of Chatham and I took lots and lots and lots of pictures. I stopped at Tumbleweeds, a quilt shop, on the way home. They had an amazing selection of 30's reproduction fabric and a lot of Denyse Schmidt's fabric. I definitely want to take my quilting buddies back to Tumbleweeds. I stopped to see a few friends on the way home. It was an enjoyable day!