Something that Caitlin and I have thought about

If you could invite six celebrities to a beautiful sea side cottage for a weekend of relaxing,eating,drinking and merriment, who would they be?
Laughing non stop, at sometimes very silly things, is how we spend a lot of our time,so one day we got to thinking about how fun it would be to have all our favorite funny people all together. It started out as a dinner,but then we decided that wasn't enough time, and we really needed a whole weekend to really enjoy them. The list evolved over time, but we think for now these are the six that we would spend a whole weekend with.

Jaime Oliver...He would do most of the cooking,and since he has so much energy and passion in the kitchen, I'm sure he would be very intertaining. We love him!
Jeff Goldblum: Have you ever seen this guy interviewed? Caitlin and I love how he seems to care about every little thing the person is saying to him. He is cool, and comical in his own strange way. Plus we love all his glasses that he seems to own.
Ricky Gervais..If you have ever seen the original "The Office" UK version, you will understand. Most importantly though, you have to love British humor as much as we do. He was on Conan not too long ago and said that pretty much anything sets him off laughing. That is pretty much us, so that is one of the many reasons why he is invited to our weekend getaway.
Conann O'Brian is too funny,and having watched him for many years,and the things he thinks are funny, well, I have nothing more to add, he too is invited to stay for the weekend
Same with Ellen, she is a comedic genius! Her timing and facial expressions are great. Welcome to our weekend Ellen.
Tyson Ritter, lead singer from" All American Rejects." We have seen some pretty funny videos of him on You Tube that he has made,and if he quits singing he can always be a comic. Plus the guy models clothing, designs his own clothing line, and has done a bit of acting in some small rolls. Most importantly though he is funny. We think that all of our people we chose would all get along, and have a great time in our sea side getaway.



Who are your six people???

Our Christmas day

Christmas started out with nice breakfast,with Dave's famous buttermilk pancakes and other yummy things to go with it. We had gone to midnight mass at the new cathedral in Oakland,and didn't get home until about 2:00am! So, this breakfast is really more like brunch.
The following pictures are after brunch, when presents were opened.Dave received this very nice gift from Nicole and Pierre.
This was a gift to Nicole from Pierre,aren't those cute little lambs.
Caitlin really wanted this make up case from Sephora,and was so happy when she opened it.
Nicole and Pierre gave me these beautiful antique French plates,along with....
this German antique platter and napkin set. Nicole had presented it all together very cute with other little boxes too.
Caitlin gave me these adorable earrings that I have been wanting for a while. Love the artist who makes these.
These are my first attempt at making profiterole pastry.
Brussel sprouts for a very good recipe,with caramelized shallots.
My Christmas ham. Recipe was from Martha Stewart this year. It was roasted with honey and apple cider. After an hour in the oven, Bosc pears and cranberries were added.
I didn't get a great shot of the table,but here is the group.
Pierre approves of the dinner!
Christmas Caitlin. Notice everyone wearing their paper crowns from the Christmas crackers....too funny!
Dave, hard at work putting together a small toy that was in his cracker.
Profiteroles, with coffee ice cream and chocolate sauce, good way to end the night!

Things I have been up to

These were the three pillow cases that I embroidered for my two nieces and my nephew. I can show them now,since they came over for a small holiday gathering, and they decided to open their gifts from us. We also celebrated Pierre's birthday.
Tea towel I made to go along with the apron that I made my sister.
Detail of apron
Caitlin modeling it
Pierre's birthday was December 20th, and we decided to get him this giant chocolate cake to celebrate.
Anticipation....
Make a wish!


Well folks, it is nearing the day. Hope everyone has all their chores done and gifts wrapped! I'm almost done,with last minute things and final menu preparations for Christmas dinner.
I put the pictures of Pierre up for his mom and dad who read the blog from France. I hope they enjoy the photos,there will be more to share after Christmas so come back again Michele and Jaquie.
My next post will be after Christmas....So, here is wishing everyone out there in blog land a very Merry Christmas!

Things I love about Winter

This is by far my very favorite hot chocolate! Not too sweet,with a hint of cinnamon
Oranges and grapefruit,YUMMY!
Christmas M&M's, who doesn't like these little devils?!
A beautiful frosty lawn....Ya, I know, for those of you in areas where there is actually snow, this is a joke,but this is all we get here in California.


I thought I'd pop in to say hi. I'm busy making a few gifts,and getting things ready for Christmas,so I have been a bit scarce on here. Thank you for all the lovely comments on the pillow I made in my last post. I started that pillow in 2001,and put it aside. Some how it made it in our stuff that we shipped when we moved to France,and I actually finished it up there. Funny since it was from a Marie Claire Idees pattern. I got real close with the other one I was working on and posted at the beginning of the season,but since I decided to make a few gifts, I have set that one aside for a bit. I will finish it though,because I would love to have it for next Christmas. I'll post the goodies I made this year when the holidays are over,since the recipients often read my blog.
Hope everyone out there is having a very nice holiday season. Next up.....Cookie making! I'll do a post on those.

Christmas has now come to my house

I bought this wool felt pillow last year at Room Service
I made this little pillow several years ago,from a Marie Claire Idees pattern
Little side table,all dressed up
Some of my favorite ornaments are to follow.This one I believe my daughter gave me,and I love how it looks old,but isn't.
Love little woodland creatures
I have a lot of glass birds on my tree,but this one is one of my favorites
I use to have one of these as a kid,and when I saw it, I had to have it.
I love Jennifer Murphy ornaments don't you?!


Some of the ornaments are actually very old,like this little girl..
and this Santa.
Here it is all put together.

Christmas has come to the city!

Close up of tree on Union Square
Too early in the day to see it all lit up
Macy's looks quite festive
If you click on this photo, you can see the huge tree in the entrance of Neiman Marcus. I can't believe this store will be coming to our town soon.
Every year the Sir Francis Drake Hotel has a hand built gingerbread house, this year its a castle.
A shot of the inside of the hotel
You have to have a picture of cable car right?!

Hi guys, thought I'd pop in and post some shots I took of the city.I went in not too long ago for a dental appointment, and everything looked so festive.
We just got our tree today,but of course I won't get around to decorating it until tomorrow. I think the tree looks so pretty as is, and I wonder why we have to put all the stuff on it.
Hope everyone out there is having fun getting ready for the holidays. Decorating the house is the most fun for me. So, I'm off now to dig all the boxes out of the garage.
Happy decorating to all!