This Present Is For You! Giveaway!

     This time of year, most of us have only been spending on other people. It is hard to "treat" yourself to anything new when you are buying gifts, making donations, baking, cooking and traveling. I think it is time one of you had a treat just for yourself! You can buy yourself a small treat, or you can put it towards a big treat!

     The "big treat" that we have been looking at are tv stands. We bought a new one a couple of years ago when we bought our new television for the living/family room. At the time we really wanted one with a fireplace built in, but they were very expensive and with the cost of the new television, we opted for something a little less expensive. I have been checking out the tv stands at CSN Stores and they have prices that are less than half that of our local furniture store.

Of course there are lots of other things on

 my wish list that are available from csnstores.com.

They have 200 hundred online stores to choose from!

You could buy yourself some party shoes!

Maybe you need to tone up a bit after the holidays!

How about a 16 pc. set of new dishes for spring?

I'm giving away a $55 gift code

to csnstores.com. For $55 there are

so many things to choose from!

     I'm going to keep this very simple. I will run the giveaway until January 2nd. That gives us all time to get through the holidays. It is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me which tv stand at CSN is 

your favorite, for one entry.

2. Let me know if you are a follower for a second entry.

Make sure you leave me a way to contact you if you win!

Oh So Simple Vanilla Shortbread-Foodie Friday

     When I decided to bake these cookies today, I took my camera in the kitchen so I could take pictures and post the steps for Foodie Friday. Do you think that I remembered to take the pictures...nope! I hate it when that happens. Lucky for me and for all of you, this recipe is so simple it doesn't even need step by step pictures.

     Shortbread sounds complicated and some recipes for it do require a bit of effort. This recipe took no time to make and the cookies are really delicious. It is a recipe that was in our local newspaper and credited to Alison Ladman for the Associated Press. 

Vanilla Shortbread

14 Tablespoons butter, room temperature (do not substitute)

1/2 cup white sugar plus extra for pressing the cookies and colored for sprinkling on top

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (use real vanilla it is so much better)

pinch of fine sea salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray (I used parchment paper).

In mixing bowl combine butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat on medium until creamy and well combined. Add the flour and beat until mixture resembles wet sandy crumbs that start to stick together. (You do not want a ball of dough)

Scoop out enough dough to make a tablespoon sized ball, roll in your hands and place on prepared baking sheet. Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in white sugar and press balls to about 1/3 inch thick. (I found the glass wanted to stick, so I sprinkled a little white sugar on the cookie balls before pressing) Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until light-golden blond and firm. The cookies will finish crisping as they cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 24 cookies.

I am joining Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday

Her blog is the best place to look for delicious recipes in Blogland!

This One Is For You Mom! Tablescape Thursday

     I wasn't looking forward to Christmas this year. Losing my mom in May changed everything in my life and I simply haven't been able to think about celebrating this holiday without her. My mom was Christmas in our family. She loved giving gifts. You couldn't get anywhere near the tree at our house because the presents spilled out way into the room. She looked all year for unique little things for all of us and she loved watching us open things and be surprised. It was always such a challenge to find things for her that would surprise her in the same way. I loved shopping for my mom.

     Between us, my sister and I have 6 kids. They are 28, 28, 27, 26, 22 and 14. You can tell from the ages that when they were small, we had a houseful of kids that were all about the same age. Mom would dress them in red pajamas, help them put out cookies and milk for Santa and delight in each and every one of them. It never changed as they grew up. Somehow, Santa still filled my stocking and my sister's, our husband's too and of course all those now big kids. When going through last years Christmas cards a couple of days ago, I found the one mom sent us last year..."See you in 15 days, can't wait"! What a difference a year makes. How do we have Christmas without the person who was our center...our drill sergeant...the heart of our family?

     We are going about Christmas in what is becoming the new normal for us. We won't all be together, but none of us will be alone. We are shaking things up in hopes that the focus can be on all of our blessings and not on an empty chair at the table. My mom would want that for us and we are all putting forth the best effort not to let her down. I'm sharing my Christmas table with you today because most of us will be too busy next week to be reading blogs. I had been looking for new Christmas dishes for a while and my heart just wasn't in it. I didn't feel "Christmassy" so nothing appealed to me at all...until I saw these dishes. My daughter and I were at HomeGoods in November and when we saw these, we both knew it was meant to be...it was a message about the holiday for us.

     The large charger plates and matching bowls are "Pottery by Santa". When I saw the word "Believe" I knew that I needed to remember the reason for the season as well as believe in Santa Claus. I set them slightly off center so you could read the words. They are layered with creamy Wedgewood dinner plates.

The table runner is cream with holly and berries (HomeGoods).

For the centerpiece, I used an antique cake stand sitting

in a berry wreath.  A Mercury Glass ball surrounded

by snow is the star of the table.

A vintage Santa stands guard.

Cream colored napkins are "garnished"

with a sprig of Christmas floral.

The sterling flatware was my grandmother's.

     A Willow Tree Angel (Thinking of You), one of the last gifts from my mom, is tucked in as a reminder that she is watching over us. Notice that she holds a seashell in her hand.

Lenox candlesticks with snowflake sparkles

add a cozy glow to the table.

Believe in what your heart is saying

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste

There's so much to celebrate

Believe in what you feel inside

And give your dreams the wings to fly

You have everything you need

If you just believe

Believe-Josh Groban

I am linking today to Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

I know the tables this week will be amazing...take some time to visit her!

Christmas Tea...Table Top Tuesday

     It is near zero in Illinois today, the perfect weather for a steaming cup of tea with friends. The inspiration for my table was a tablecloth and napkin set that I found when I cleaned out my mom's things this summer. It still had the tags on it and all it said was "hand-embroidered". I have no idea where she got it, but it had to come home with me! It is a smaller cloth, so I opted to use it on my coffee table today.

     As you can see, it is gorgeous. There are bells and bows embroidered all around the center of the cloth.

     For plates, I used Crate and Barrel white with a red "ruffle" as a background for new ornament plates that I found at a Tuesday Morning store in Florida. Each plate is different.

I turned this one the opposite direction because it looked so much like a Christmas tree.

Silver-plate spoons are the only flatware on the table.

You've seen this pattern (Enchanted Rose) many times.

This is my favorite of the plates!

The cups are Sango Silent Night.  I'm showing you the saucers,

but there wasn't room on the table for them.

This precious teapot was arrived in a Christmas Giveaway

from Gloria @ Happy To Be last year. I couldn't

wait to get it out and use it!

The cookies are called Snowballs. They are so easy to make...

2 ingredients (Vanilla Oreos and Cream Cheese) 

and whatever you want to dip/roll them in.

I almost forgot to show you the napkins!

I am joining Marty @ A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

I'm also joining Lady Katherine@ Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor

for Tea Time Tuesday

Sometimes, You Just "Go With the Flow"

     This was one of those weekends where we had every moment planned. We were picking up our grandsons on Saturday morning, they were spending the night and we would celebrate Christmas with them. Sunday, we planned to drive them a little over an hour away to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws before returning them to their mother. We also were meeting up with my sister to do some "gift dropping off" and we had tickets for the University of Illinois basketball game, they were a Christmas gift from my son to his dad. Well, nature stepped in.

     Illinois weather yesterday was some of the worst I can remember. The interstates were closed in various places, people were stranded for hours in dropping temperatures and they finally called the road crews in because it was too dangerous for them to be on the roads. The grandsons are still here, we have watched Mickey Mouse (the current fav) videos to the point of insanity, my son is staying here when he isn't working so he can spend time with his boys, the house is a total wreck and we have loved every minute! The plan is to take them home this afternoon, see the in-laws, meet with my sister and get back home before dark. Of course there will have to be a lot of road clearing before that is possible and our temperatures are below zero. Ugh.

     There is nothing quite like having a 2-year-old and an almost 4-year-old in the house to remind us of what Christmas is all about. Grandpa playing trains on the floor while Grandma is baking cookies, the excitement when they saw "their tree" with all of the Mickey Mouse wrapped gifts underneath it, the living room a mess of new toys and wrapping paper and sleepy little kisses goodnight. I do believe that the Blizzard of 2010 is one of the best gifts I could have had this Christmas!

I am joining Mary @ Little Red House for Mosaic Monday