Christmas Cards for Gun Control

In light of yesterday's tragic events in Connecticut, we need to take action to stop the gun violence in our country. Please make your voice heard ~ simply send your Christmas/Holiday card to the White House and enclose a note saying that it is time to stop gun violence. Easy. Simple.

Please spread the word about this card campaign via email, Facebook, twitter, etc. Sacks filled with cards of our beautiful families and children cannot be ignored by the White House.

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20500


tricia

My own Christmas card, ready for delivery

Photo Friday 91

December Morning in New Jersey

Crafting in Pennsylvania

A Christmas This & That

1. As the clock ticks down to Christmas, this t is D-O-N-E..read it and weep sister. ;) Just a few gift cards to be honest. I started wrapping and come Monday morning, teachers will begin receiving gifts.
Woo hoo!

2. A folly ~ there was a mix up with my Christmas card proof. I had three hours (!) to approve it online to ensure delivery by Christmas. I couldn't find it online - let alone approve it - and the wait for customer service on the phone was extraordinary. Most likely clogged with last-minute folks like myself. There should be a card reveal next week. Fingers crossed.

3. Much to everyone's delight, Tripp is sporting a plaid collar with a jingle bell for Christmas. The best part for me --> with the jingle, jingle, I know where the chewing bugger is at all times. Remember the Christmas morning when our dog Tiffany chewed up most of my presents? I remember it clearly. :(((

4. Yes, the Christmas nightmare happended - lights went out on the tree (brand new lights I might add) - repair required. Undecorated, removed broken lights, restrung new lights and redecorated tree. I heard there were some outdoor Christmas lights not working at your house..must run in the family. Bah humbug.

tricia

paper whites planted by Henry

NYC

I took some time out of the crazy schedule for a day in NYC!  Jack's school was running a bus trip so me, Jack, Grandma and Buddy hit the Big Apple.  What an adventure!

A couple of highlights. "The Lady" wore a super stylish outfit although she kind of looked like she was on safari. Grateful that Buddy has a built in GPS.  Any large city can be hard to navigate due to all the tall buildings. Enjoyed watching Jack soak up the sights, sounds and smells that the city has to offer. I was happy just walking around.  

We had some good laughs especially when said Lady bought a fake high end handbag on the street.  It literally felt like a drug deal (although I don't really know what that feels like - for real).  We paid for the bag and ran! 

Tracy

Happy Birchbox

I read about Birchbox twice (once on Goop) and finally decided to get on board so to speak. In a nutshell, for $10 a month, a little box filled, with luxe beauty samples, arrives on your doorstep. If you like products, you can go to the Birchbox store online and order up full-sized products. I subscribed to Birchbox for a full year of fun and surprises ~ three and six month subscriptions are available, as well as a Birchbox for men. Wow.

Honestly, I received two birchboxes so far..I adored the mascara with a mirror on the side, a Tweezerman nail file in a bright pattern and a tiny, lip balm that smells delicious. For this t, who rarely  never tries new products, the Birchbox broadens my beauty horizons in an instant, each and every month.

Now for the birthday tie in ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the LADY {our mom} For our lady who always returns everything, a birch box was the perfect gift this year. We can have fun all year long comparing the prizes and bloopers and everything in between. Maybe the men's Birchbox for Buddy's birthday? ;)

tricia

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mom!

She is called The Lady, Tess, Grandma, even Vommy,

but she is always our mom.

"My mother was the most beautiful woman 
I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother."

~ George Washington

Photo Friday 90

Elf (created with love) in New Jersey

One of Many Trees in Pennsylvania

BAM

The morning routine is the same and yet somehow issues always creep up.  This morning we had to deal with hitting, punching and screaming over the advent calendars.  The story goes something like this: one child allegedly stole the other child's day 14 chocolate.  Who would do such a thing?  

The threats are thrown out.  Stop now or the advent calendars are going away!  I don't care if they're from Germany!

Getting ready to walk out of the house, I pop into the power room and CRUNCH. I look down and there is "day 14 chocolate".  Now crumbled under foot in my freshly cleaned house.  A follie perhaps?

Tracy

this & that

1. HBO's "In Vogue: The Editor"s Eye" explores the creative role of the magazine's fashion editors. Sittings editors specifically. The documentary takes us behind the scenes of the iconic images that have graced the pages of Vogue for over a hundred years. Under their careful eyes, fashion becomes art before our eyes. December 6th at 9 PM on HBO. Tune in. I know I will.

2. Wreaths, outdoor lights, tree, ornaments, advent calendars and stockings. Much accomplished, but much left to do. I have to focus on cards and more shopping. We have this little ornament which has a digital countdown to Christmas..hours, minutes, seconds. Yikes! I had better get my groove on.

3. I am popping over to Anthropologie tomorrow. Their treasure trove of the unqiue, interesting, fun and chic is amazing. Browsing around usually yields many gifts with one-stop shopping. Best, I love being in the creative environment of the store..it makes me feel inspired to be creative too. Wish me luck!

tricia

RUSH

Weekends ... consumed by shopping, kid activities and wash.   That doesn't leave time for much more these days.  But we did catch a Lehigh University basketball game this weekend (remember ... Lehigh beat Duke!).  Star LU player CJ McCullom is back on the court for his senior year and is a fan favorite.  We hung around after the game for some autographs.  Scored the head coach, CJ and Macky. Fun.

On Sunday, we decided to cut down "the tree".  We thru in an extra Charlie Brown tree for the back patio.  Strung on some new, large, colored lights. Instant Christmas!  Not one other decoration inside the house but that will get done this coming weekend.  What else would I possibly do?

One last thing.  Miss Kate requested that we bake cookies this holiday season. WHAT!  She named all sorts of cookies that Santa would like.  Mainly cutouts. HELP!

Tracy      

Deck the Halls??

{spooky bones..I just set out to write about Christmas decorations and I spied your post, SPARKLE, about that exact topic}

I am not sure if it is an another effect of Hurricane Sandy, but over the Thanksgiving holiday, I noticed many homes laden with twinkling Christmas lights. I saw trees peeking out from behind windows. Wait! It is still November and there are pumpkins and mums to be found, maybe a witch or two. Therein lies my confusion..I feel like the hurricane caused a loss of time while speeding up Christmas smack into Thanksgiving.

There appears to be two camps here. One camp believes the twinkly lights go up when the weather is warm and sunny. These campers carefully watch the weather forecast with ladders and lights at the ready..the date on the calendar is of little importance. And, the second camp firmly believes the twinkly lights go up when the calendar says December. No need to rush the holiday like the retailers do. Which camp are you?

The last decorating detail was brought to my attention by Henry. Specifically, a complaint about how our fresh, green wreaths and white candles in the windows are b-o-r-i-n-g. What??!! I told my fashionista our "style" is perfect for our traditional Cape Cod. Still b-o-r-i-n-g. What??!! And, are you sitting down? Why can't our house have tons of lights and fun decorations like AUNT TRACY'S???? Little bugger..he had better hope the elf-on-the-shelf didn't hear his not-so-nice comment. (PS I think Grandma and Buddy are coming out next week to help decorate the trees, shrubs, lawn, driveway, fence, and so on PSS Buddy said everyone is decorating too early this year..hmmm)


tricia

Fresh Wreath purchased from the Boy Scouts