The week of Christmas is always so busy! All the time spent with family, baking loaves and loaves of pulla, the last minute scramble to finish all my knit projects before Christmas. I'm still wrapping up some last minute projects for the final gift exchange we'll have over New Year's weekend, but after months of knitting, it's wonderful to start passing my knits along to the recipients. The sweater I knit as a surprise for my niece, based on a favorite sweater of mine and my sister's turned out perfectly - a relief, since it was the first improvised sweater I'd ever made! My mom and sister both loved it, and it matched the original almost perfectly! It's dark so early these days, but light takes other forms in December - whether it be stunning winter sunsets, twinkling Christmas lights, or neon signs lighting shops in the city. During the shortest days of the year, these glimmers of light keep me sane!
Read moreLife: Week 50
Now that work has (finally!) slowed down for the holidays, I've had more time for mid-day walks and evening baking sessions. It's continued to be cold and overcast, but sadly there's been no more snow around home since the dusting I missed last week. It's been years since we last had a good snow around here, and now that I'm working from home, I wouldn't mind a few snowy days one bit! Luckily, we had plans to spend a lovely weekend in snowy Bellingham visiting friends who recently moved north. I'd thought it had been cold at home, but when we got into town Friday evening we discovered we were terribly under-dressed for the 18° temperatures! We didn't have to suffer too long, since there wasn't much walking to do, but the cold was certainly a shock! Saturday morning, we had a delicious brunch followed by a peaceful walk around Lake Whatcom. After a few hours relaxing at our friends hours, we spent the evening bar hopping in the city. Andy and I have become major homebodies since the summer, and it was a nice change of pace to get out so much.
Read moreLife: Week 49
It may still technically be fall, but it's certainly feeling like winter! Lately, most days we've had frost that lingers well into the afternoon. We even had snow at home on Thursday, although I was in Oakland for work at the time. It was a busy trip with very little time for sightseeing, but I did manage to find time for coffee at my favorite Oakland coffee roaster. After spending most of the week away from home, I was looking forward to getting home early enough to have time to unwind from the trip before bed. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed for over 3 hours for no obvious reason. It was beyond frustrating to have end up stuck at the airport for such a long time. Thankfully I had a good book with me, and after getting some dinner - a long with a very large drink - I found a quiet place to read while waiting for my flight to finally leave.
Read moreLife: Week 48
It gets dark so early these days. Somehow work has managed to stay busy, even though we should be well into our holiday season lull, so I've mostly been cooped up inside, especially during daylight hours. To compensate for all the darkness, I've been burning lots of candles, and even finally got around to using the pretty glass oil lamps we inherited from Andy's grandparents. I had my annual holiday craft party on Sunday, where I get together with friends to watch Christmas movies and work on our various craft projects. That meant spending most of Saturday baking and cleaning in preparation. I baked cookies, the Winning Hearts and Minds cake, and my favorite - pulla. Pulla is a Finnish cardamom bread that my family has had every year at Christmas for as long as I can remember. Instead of cookies for Santa, my sister and I would leave a plate of pulla. Last year, I didn't have the time to make pulla at all, so I'm enjoying it even more this year! I might even have time to make another batch before Christmas!
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