Ornament #5 and #6

I've been so busy planning Paul's birthday party that I haven't been posting my ornaments! Anyway, here are #5 and #6 for your viewing pleasure....

Our good friend Rita made this ornament for us last year when we moved into our new house in Vallejo. I love this ornament because it reminds me of the excitement of owning our own house and making new Christmas memories here!

This here is a double decker bus from jolly old England. When I was a senior in college, I studied abroad in London and loved (almost) every minute of it. I was lucky to be there right before the holidays, so all of the lights were up and everyone was in the holiday spirit. I have a few ornaments that remind me of my time there, but this one is definately my favorite!

Ornament # 4 - Married!

Here's our first Christmas ornament as a married couple! I love this one because it's both Christmas-y and wedding-like (the bells, the pointsetta). I can remember the ornaments that my parents had as newlyweds, and they weren't as cute as this one :)

Ornament #3 - The Fulton's

Ornament #3 is a clay ornament that my mom bought at a craft fair with my aunt. I always loved this ornament because when you hung it on the tree just right, the twinkle from the lights would shine through the fireplace to make it glow. I'm so glad my mom gave this one to me when she was purging her ornaments years ago....

Ornament #2 - The Leg Lamp

I'm sure most if not all of you have seen the timeless holiday movie, A Christmas Story. One of the best scenes is of the father receiving a large crate in the mail, filled with a surprise gift he won in a contest. Of course, he is enamoured and the mother is disgusted to see it's a life-sized lamp of a ladies leg (aka the "leglamp"). Raphie and his father can't keep their hands off it it!

A mini leg lamp

After Paul and I moved in together, we made a deal - I'm pretty sure it was if I could get a cat, he could have a leg lamp. He'd have to buy it himself, of course. Needless to say he's never gotten that leg lamp, but I did get him this fun ornament to hold him over...

12 ornaments of Christmas

As I was hanging up my ornaments this year, I thought it would be fun to share 12 of their stories. For the rest of the month, I'll be posting 12 of my favorite ornaments and a short story about how I got them and why they are so special.

First up:

I love this ornament. I love it so much that it broke and I had to crazy glue it back together! This ornament I'm pretty sure I picked out at Macy's in San Francisco. See every year, my grandparents (or just my grandma) would take me to the city to experience the holiday season. Sometimes we'd see the nutcracker ballet, othertimes we would just shop in Union Square and eat at Kuletos (is that place still around?) I love this ornament because it symbolizes not only my favorite sight in San Francisco, but those yearly holiday trips with my grandma and grandpa.

Fig Jam and Lemon Curd

I love this time of year - when the figs are still around, and the citrus is falling off of the trees...I scored 2 baskets of figs for $1.00 at Larry's Produce and am going to try my hand at fig jam. I've found a few recipes online, and have decided on this one - anyone have any other good fig jam recipes?

I also scoured our neighbors Meyer Lemon tree and am going to make some yummy lemon curd for them (and us, of course!) I love slopping this treat on toast, pancakes, or crepes. Mmmm....

Winter garden

brussel sprouts

It's starting to get a little chilly around these parts, but my winter garden is looking pretty good considering I haven't done much to it (except plant the seedlings!) I've never planted a winter garden, so I'm excited to see how these "crops" do. In addition to what's pictured, I have radishes, cabbage, beets, broccoli, and beets going. I'll let you know how the first harvest goes!

garlic

spinach

carrots