I have so much fun putting together a party and the holidays are no exception. This month I have three at the home. The latest one was for my small Scrabble Group. I planned a simple yet elegant meal including a small plate appetizer dish to have while we sipped on cocktails. I knew I was getting obsessive when I found myself digging through mounds of stamps to find a large snowflake one so that I could sprinkle snowflakes on the table.

 After trying out several color combinations I came up with a simple yet festive theme that I liked.There is something very magical about the days that lead up to Yule. All of the decorations and tiny lights seem to sparkle even more.

I enjoy treating my friends to a special evening where they can relax and enjoy, at least before we try to kill each other in a friendly game of Scrabble. I have the holiday edition which adds to the merriment of the season. A few days earlier, we hosted a dinner and movie night with much more casual food which called for a more casual look to the table. I left the Yule log in place and chose a plaid tablecloth to give things a more homey look. You just can't have a serious dinner when you are planning to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! It's the same setting I have planned for our Yule Eve dessert and drink party. Despite all of the work involved in putting together these small dinner parties, for me, it is what makes the holidays so much fun. I love holidays because they take us out of the ordinary days. This is also why I enjoy changing my house just enough to reflect each season of the year. It's the pagan within me that desires the connection to the earth. To be able to share those celebrations with others, whether it be just one person or a dozen, makes it all the more special.

I had a most spectacular day yesterday. I spent the day getting ready for one a holiday dinner for one of my gaming groups. As I bustled around to put the finishing touches on my holiday table and mixed up my homemade remoulade sauce for the crab cakes, I realized that I was living totally in the moment. Unfortunately, the holidays can become a time when we tend to reminisce more than usual, which can be a source of depression. We may long for the days when we were children and life seemed so carefree and full of magic as we waited for Santa to arrive, or we may feel the sadness of our childhood memories surrounding the holidays. While we can't erase the memories of the past, we can give them a moment of our time and then bring ourselves back to the present so that we can find joy from what exists at this very moment. In looking back, we can choose to remember the good memories and minimize the not so good ones. We can choose to see that the bad choices we made in the past, were what we thought were good ones at the time. While we can't change the choices we have made in the past, we can choose how we want things to be right now, and into the future, we will be able to continue to make choices. I see the present as it is, which also includes so many possibilities. I am empowered to make manyof those possibilities happen, others, I am not. When I travel I love to shop. I like to buy things that are specific to the particular place and I also like to shop for ordinary items such as clothes or jewelry. The reason being that every time I put on that pair of shoes or those earrings, I am reminded of a wonderful experience.The place I bought them is always with me until the next time I get to return. Every year at this time, I wear my long red scarf that was knit for me by my friend who told me at the time he knit it that everyone needs to have a red scarf for the holidays. I agree! When I put on my scarf, I am surrounded by good memories and hope.

On my latest trip out to Portland, I attended the Saturday Market which is always a highlight of my trip. This time I came away with a messenger bag. It wasn't a planned purchase. I saw this great looking bag that I discovered had plenty of room for my knitting project, my I-Pad and a few purse essential such as wallet, phone and lipstick. I could sling it over my body making hands free walking possible. Sold! It wasn't until I was pinning my button collection onto the one side that I realized what I had bought. Back home in Denver, I am still using it. I have too many holiday gift projects to go anywhere without a stash of knitting projects.

Fireside Books and Coffee

Unlike Portland, Denver has a wide variety of cozy coffee shops that encourage a person to hang out. I discovered a new one early in the month that I returned to tonight. The best part of this place is that it is also a used book store. This makes it a dangerous place to hang out for me but I feel it is well worth the risk. For the holidays they have put up a beautiful real tree which sits by the lovely fireplace.
With the books lining the shelves all around us, we were in cozy heaven. My friend and I decided to eschew our beloved Fancy Tiger this coming week and instead hang out and have a grilled cheese dinner at what is fast becoming another favorite spot. Since I spent the better part of the weekend getting my house ready for the holiday festivities, I plan to spend many hours sitting by my tree knitting away while I catch up on some of my favorite shows. This year we brought back our holiday village after an 8 year absence. Our cat Luna terrorized the Halloween village we used to put up, so after we got her we took a break. We decided to chance it this year and though she has already taken a stroll down main street causing a few of the citizens fall over in a faint, we think it might be OK.

Intact village, for now

I put up some new exterior illumination on the back porch. I have hanging icicles and over them a string of white and blue snowflake. The side tree is plain white lights giving my back area a frosty winter look which is good since the lights will be up all winter long. The lights strung across my wall unit in the living room are multicolor, as are the lights on the small tree that sits in the window. This year the living room  tree is flanked by extra village buildings that did not make it to the main showcase. It's a nice effect. My mantle in the family room is a woodland scene with a few elves, a few owls and a winter bird sitting in a holly garland with some pine cones as accents. Tiny lights will be added when I find them. The tree is a simple Yule tree. It has pine cones, sparkle, red balls and tons of white lights. It's unsentimental but visually pleasing. I added my Byers Choice Nutcracker Suite doll collection to my sofa table this year in order to change things up. As a kid my parents would take me into Philadelphia to see the ballet perform The Nutcracker Suite. To this day it remains one of the best performances of it I've seen.This year's yule Eve party will be desserts and holiday cocktails which is a change from the dinner we used to have. Though I like to maintain some of my traditions around the holidays, I feel it's good to change things up just a bit to keep things fresh. We are hosting two parties next week which I am already looking forward to. One is a movie night (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) with movie style food. The other is my small gaming group that I will host with much more elegant food since it will be a smaller group.
I like to get the holiday decorating done early so that I can enjoy it and also so I can concentrate on some of the other fun holiday things such as special meal planning, baking and making gifts. Then there are the outside activities as well, taking in the sights of Denver at the holidays and lunch and teas out with friends. All I wish is that this special time go very very slow.