A Lavender Christmas Breakfast Table

I woke up with a sore throat Christmas morning--The Christmas Cold revisited for the second time this month, a new record for me!--and am still battling it, the stuffed-up head, the runny nose, and the complete fatigue a few days later, but this Christmas was lovely.  As has been tradition each year we've been married, I made our Christmas breakfast cinnamon rolls late Christmas Eve (or in the wee hours of Christmas morning, since I went to bed at 2 am this time), but instead of setting the table in this year's color--last year the table was orange, 2013's was a buttery yellow and cream, 2012's was pink, and 2011's was aqua--I just frosted and covered the rolls and went to bed. 

I woke up at 7 am with the sore throat that didn't let me sleep any longer, so I got up, set the table in lavender, and made all the casseroles and side dishes that were to go with our supper.  'A good thing, as I would fall asleep almost seconds after eating that night. 

These two purple-winged cherub bookends are always on my shelves, but they struck me a few weeks ago as perfect for our Christmas table, so a lavender Christmas, it became.  The tiny cupcake and ball ornaments beside them were from my aunt Heidi years ago.  

Mom gave me the lavender napkins, candle, purple tinsel-garland, and the gorgeous Chickadee card this year with my Christmas gifts, since I'd mentioned the lavender table idea to her while home last month.  

The snowflake-shaped candle holder below was a gift from Aunt Laurie this year. 

The snowflake spreader was only twenty-five cents on clearance at Walgreens years ago, and I've used it every Christmas morning.  Mom found me the beautiful lavender snowflake ornament and hobnail ramekin-that-served-as-a-butter-dish below.

I'd forgotten until Christmas morning that I had thrown our usual snowflake-patterned lace tablecloth into the hamper a couple weeks ago when I'd noticed a stain on it, and since I wasn't up to doing last-minute laundry Christmas morning, I used a piece of leftover white kitchen curtain material over one of our lavender-patterned flat sheets.  I've spent most of the weekend sleeping and reading in bed and in my chair, but it's still been a sweet holiday.  As I was getting ready to leave for work last night, my supervisor called to tell me I didn't need to come in--BLESSED surprise!  ♥--so that gave me an extra night off to recover.  'Two more days off, so I'm confident I'll be starting the new year in better health.  And I wrap up this Christmas with a relieved "Whew! I pulled it off!" as I head back to bed.  :)  'Hope you've all had a sweet weekend.

Orange Christmas

As it did last year at Thanksgiving, an orange table felt like the way to go this Christmas morning.  Each of our four married Christmases so far, I've decorated our Christmas breakfast table in a different color--aqua in 2011, pink in 2012, a creamy yellow last year, and now orange too--and setting the table in it has become one of my favorite Christmastime tasks.  It is the last thing I do before collapsing into bed Christmas Eve.  I set it up while our cinnamon rolls for morning's breakfast are baking and after Mike has gone to bed.  It is quiet and calming and soothing to me, transforming a bare surface and a pile of set-aside-this-year's-color-items into a cozy and inviting table for us.  Christmas morning, Mike makes an egg casserole to go with my cinnamon rolls. 

I decided on orange on Tuesday and looked around the apartment to see what I had on-hand that would work.  A felted bird that had been hanging in the window was pulled down for a table decoration, pieces of orange gingham fabric were ultimately taped together to show up under the white lace snowflake  tablecloth, an orange cup worked as Mike's juice glass (I'm not a juice fan and didn't need one), a pumpkin-scented candle and an apple-scented one from Mom were deemed orange enough to fit the bill, orange star sprinkles and glitter were set aside for table decorations and cinnamon roll toppings, and an orange paper lantern that usually hangs in the kitchen ended up being temporarily taped to the ceiling above our dining table. 

I arranged a few cream and white village houses, snowflake ornaments, and trees around the table to fill in the bare spots a bit. 

An orange gingham gift bag from the drugstore was cut up and became two place-mats, and the two strips of it that were left after place-mat-making became what looked like a trivet for the cinnamon rolls but were actually just a couple two-inch-wide strips of gingham bag/paper stuck under the edges of the pan on two sides.  :)

Two fifty-cent orange-striped candies from the grocery store served as table decorations this morning and became Christmas tree ornaments when the table was cleared.  ♥ 

A tiny white plastic container that Mike's mom has sent a leftover pickled egg home to him in at Thanksgiving was transformed, with the help of the gift bag's orange ribbon and a small circle of the gingham bag itself glued into its lid, into a butter dish.  The snowflake spreader was a drugstore clearance item years ago. 

Stuffed, Stuffed, Stuffed.  ♥  I love his round head and his cheek-fluff and his half-black-half-white face and his paw lines.  He is such a sweetheart, just so dear.  You can see behind him that the orange gingham fabric under the lace tablecloth is really just scraps of fabric that barely cover the top; There is no "drop" or overhang with it, no.  :)  But from above!  From above, it looked good.  ;)

What is it about gingham that is so charming?  I love it in any color.  Dots don't do it for me, although I like them too, especially tiny dotted Swiss.  Stripes rarely make me swoon.  Plaids are pretty, but I've never smiled over one.  But gingham!  ♥  And orange gingham this morning!  Just looking at the pictures makes me happy. 

The village houses were both gifts from Mom and Aunt Laurie previous Christmases.  The tablecloth was a gift from my younger brother years ago.  The tree candles and trees were from Mom.  Mom also made the pillows on the chairs.  Some of the pots and pans were from my brothers and sisters-in-law.  Others belonged to my grandparents.  The table itself was a housewarming present from my parents for my first all-to-myself apartment back in 2002.  The drinking glasses were given to us by my in-laws.  Oh, this room--this whole apartment--is filled with so much love!  There are tokens of loved ones' hopes for us everywhere we turn, and setting the Christmas breakfast table always reminds me of that. 

We are blessed. 

It was a sweet morning. 

The snowflakes and paper lantern I taped to the ceiling never crashed down on to the lit candles during breakfast either.  A cup of fire-dousing water and a smothering quilt were at-the-ready just in case, reported the Lady of the House in her most-nonchalant-now-that-the-meal-has-passed-without-incident manner. 

I hope your own holidays are bright and beautiful. 

I know many are hurting over losses and transitions and that this can be a heartbreaking time of year.   My dad has been known to declare that "Better days will come," and I concur.  To be hurting during the holidays makes one feel freakishly lonely and lowly.  I have been there, as we all probably will have been at least once in our time here, and it makes these holidays that are filled with orange gingham and snowflake spreader glee all the more deeply appreciated.

Love to you all, and the brightest of days ahead for you.  ♥

Our First Three Christmas Breakfasts

I've  never been a breakfast person--I eat it every day, but I prefer to heat up some soup or make a sandwich instead of eating more typical breakfast foods, and I think my two-and-a-half-year stint as a breakfast cook permanently wiped out any fondness I ever could have found for the smells of bacon, eggs, or waffles--but the Christmas breakfast Mike and I share has become one of my favorite parts of the holiday.  It has been egg casserole and cinnamon rolls every year, and while the food is good (she says modestly), it is the table-setting and actual sharing of it that I love the most.  We enjoy a Christmas Eve dinner and a Christmas evening dinner too, but somehow it's our Christmas breakfasts that delight me. 

This was Mike's and my third Christmas in this apartment, and our third as a married couple.  I remember Dad asking me on the phone last Christmas what we'd had for breakfast, and I responded, "Egg casserole and cinnamon rolls--It's our tradition" and then laughing at that with him because it had been only the second Christmas Mike and I had done that.  'Quite a tradition!  :)  Our Christmas meal together before we married was always a belated supper  after we'd both returned from our parents' homes--Christmas 2011 was the first time we shared Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, and Christmas dinner together.  And it's sweet to be able to do that.  I had actually been scheduled to work this Christmas, but a coworker covered it for me, picking up some holiday overtime for herself, and Mike and I were quite grateful.  (I burst into tears when she said she would work it for me, I was that surprised and relieved.)  Our holiday together was extra-special this year, then, since we hadn't known until last week that we would, in fact, be together for it.  And this year's breakfast was sunny and sweet just like the two before it.

2011's breakfast table was in aqua with most everything on it a gift from loved ones.  The knit-look aqua mugs were from my mom.  The candlesticks too.  The lace snowflake tablecloth was a Christmas gift from my younger brother in 2010 and is now part of the tradition. 

Last year's breakfast table was pink.  The candles, trees, deer, house, church, and other little ornaments were all from Mom, Aunt Laurie, and (one of their younger sisters) Aunt Heidi. 

And this year's table was glowing and sunshiney, although that was an as-I-woke-up-Christmas-morning decision.  The yellow under the lace tablecloth was the yellow gingham bedspread I'd used on the table this past Easter.  It looked soft and mellow with the lace over it, which was nice.  While Mike slept in, I gathered the dishes from the cupboard and the ornaments off our tree that were yellow and cream, picked a couple yellow star sugar cookies for our plates out of the tin, and even found a lion and lamb amongst Stuffed's toys.  ♥  (Martha Stewart would shake her head.  That's okay.) 

The snowflake spreader was on Christmas clearance at Walgreens (drugstore) years ago for fifty cents or so.  :)  The trees and houses and ornaments and casserole dish were all gifts. 

Mom found me the brown deer at the flea market this fall and gave it to me last week.  The glass candle dish was the one Aunt Laurie had tucked into our cookie tin this Christmas. 

And now it is back to work for me after a blissful six days off.  I am blessed beyond measure. 

And it was absolutely a merry little Christmas.  ♥

A Pink Christmas (and Rose-Colored Glasses)

Between Mike's and my sidewalk run-in with a thug who seemed to be looking for a fight December 22nd, a hacker's theft from my checking account Christmas Eve and the ongoing hassle that that's caused, a round of food poisoning for me beginning December 29th, and a stomach bug for Mike that started New Year's night, the past two weeks with their combination of anxiety, illness, and lack of money have made our humble little apartment seem even more of a safe haven than usual.  "Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love," Billy Graham believes, and I nod my head in agreement as I type his words here.  I believe that true love, in whatever form it takes, blesses everyone and everything in its path.  It bettered our holidays, and it brightens our "everydays," and it is always bigger than our troubles and troublemakers.  "What are we gonna live on this coming week?" Olivia Walton anxiously asks her husband in The Homecoming (one of my all-time favorite movies, ♥ any time of year) after he's spent his final paycheck on Christmas presents.  "Love, Woman," he replies, cradling her face with his work-worn hands, making my spirit soar every time.  John Walton is wise.  And after a holiday season that's tested peace-on-earth-and-goodwill-toward-men for so many around the world, it is a blessing to start this second week of January still believing in the power of goodness and love. 

This Christmas, our second together, Mike and I shared our now-traditional Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls and egg casserole and took special refuge in all the simple joys of home.  The pink and white church was a gift from Aunt Laurie this year.  The miniature pink tree was from my friend Madai last Christmas, and the snowflake tablecloth is a treasure from my younger brother.  The vintage pink house, cream tree candles, small cream bottlebrush tree, and pink reindeer were all from my mom.  

Mike and I opened our presents from family then ate breakfast before opening our gifts from each other.  I made the cinnamon rolls and Mike made the egg casserole this year. 

The tiny pink cupcake ornaments came in a surprise package from my aunt Heidi this year, and the gorgeous pink snowflake cookie ornament was one of my favorite gifts this Christmas.  Mom gave it to me early when I visited the weekend of December 21st.  Love, love, love.  ♥

Pink and pink gingham always make me happy and just seemed right for this Christmas morning.  Last year's breakfast table was aqua, and it was pretty, but I think I just needed the extra warmth of pink this time around.  The cinnamon rolls saw a generous sprinkling of pink sparkling sugar and Mike's mom's recipe of buttercream frosting.  

The pink quilted gingerbread mug and pink-rimmed dinner plates were Goodwill finds.  I had had a similarly sweet mug set out for Mike's coffee Christmas morning but knew he'd rather use his usual navy blue one, so I switched them.  That sounds trivial, but I had told Mike a few days before Christmas--the night of our encounter with the Sidewalk Thug, actually--that I don't want us to be a couple that argues over stupid things.  Every couple does, I know, but as I told him, I just want us to get into the habit of shaking off dumb little things and not wasting time or energy fighting about them.  If he wants a navy coffee mug instead of the prettier cream-colored one:  Who cares.  It's our Christmas morning and a breakfast together, not a photo shoot.  I wanted hash brown-style potatoes in the breakfast casserole; he did not.  If he was the one making it, who was I to argue?!  The years I make it, I'll add potatoes, and the years he makes it, he can skip them:  Big deal.  We are blessed to have whatever time we have with our loved ones.  Let's not waste it.   FlowerLady, if you're reading this, please know that remembering you and your dear husband is what really made this click for me this Christmas.  ♥  I've only been married a year and a half, and it is always surprising to me that just as it is easier sometimes to be good and kind to strangers and acquaintances than to one's own family, it is also easy to find myself treating others more gently than I do my own husband.  My senseless complaints about the breakfast casserole--a dish that my husband had kindly and even enthusiastically offered to make for our Christmas--made me ashamed of myself.  Hearing myself harping about hash browns and then remembering sweet Lorraine and Sandra and others who would happily eat glass if it meant getting to share a morning with their husbands again. . . .My goodness.  I knew better, so why wasn't I acting like it?  Navy blue mugs and potato-free casseroles:  Fine and good. 

We watched the Christmas Story movie while we ate.  Both the cinnamon rolls and egg casserole were wonderful.  The almost-bare wall around the hutch and tv is one of the new year's projects.  We have an ever-growing collection of posters and photos of artists, writers, actors, musicians, athletes, thinkers, and people-in-general who inspire us, and once our frame-buying has caught up with our art-acquiring, the wall will sport more than Mike's Yankees baseball pennants.  :)

Although we had a nice Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner too, it is our Christmas breakfast that has become my favorite part of the holiday now that I'm married.  This year's found us more appreciative of the safe haven we enjoy in our home and in each other, and it saw me become at least that much better of a wife.  Fine gifts, indeed.  And love will save the day.  ♥

♥ Our First Christmas Together ♥

This Christmas was one of my favorite ones ever:  After four and a half years as a couple, my first Christmas Eve and Christmas with Mike. 

Many hugs and kisses, our new apartment shining brighter than usual, Stuffed looking like a kitten under the 6' tree, 

phone calls to and from our parents, and cinnamon and ginger in the air. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas and Love, Actually, the Festivus episode of "Seinfeld," A Christmas Story, Scrooged--and all the Christmas specials I watched (and am still watching) on YouTube and amazon after Mike goes to bed. Mike's Yankees stocking beside my pink gingham one, 

pink snowman sheets and matching pillowcases on our bed Christmas Eve. Cards strung along a ball-trim garland beside our tree. A surprise package mailed to a friend and a surprise package for us from Aunt Laurie. Watching The Bishop's Wife while painting salt dough ornaments. Mike and I wrapping gifts in separate rooms while sugar cookie dough chilled in the fridge. Christmas carols. A funny Christmas memory shared with my younger brother over email, and his reply: "Soooooo so funny you said that because I was just thinking this morning about [that]!" A wreath around the bathroom nightlight, a sprig of holly over our "Welcome!" cross stitch, and a candle in the bedroom window. "Phone calls from Santa" for my niece and nephew on Christmas Eve. 

I was tearing up over something Christmas afternoon, and Mike asked if I was wishing I was with my family. "No. It would be nice to be there, but I'm glad we're here. I'm just crying because I'm happy."

In the kitchen window:  Green gingham stockings my mom sewed for us last Christmas, a year before we would have this green gingham kitchen in our new home. :) She always looks for the vintage village houses for me at flea markets. The red heart is from my friend Madai. 

The little trees on the coffee table between our chairs were going to be our only Christmas trees this year, but I wanted us to have a big tree too and walked to the drugstore Christmas Eve morning to buy one.  I moved the heavy old coat rack that is usually in that corner, put the tree together, lit it, and decorated it while Mike slept, so he woke up to a colorful surprise in our front door corner Saturday morning. His addition of SpiderMan was the finishing touch. :)

We have yet to see any real snow this winter--just flurries a couple mornings--so I transformed our biggest window into a snow scene with paper snowflakes, pulled cotton, and white trees. 

It looks prettiest at night, and surprisingly, after an initial sniffing of it, Stuffed has left it alone. :)

Christmas Day's breakfast was a simple but pretty little feast of cinnamon rolls and an egg casserole, with the usual coffee and orange juice for Mike and iced tea for me. Aqua felt right this Christmas morning, and I had just enough aqua things to doll up our table for the meal. 

My younger brother gave me the lace snowflake tablecloth for Christmas last year. 

The aqua heart dish is a wedding present from my dear friend Vickie; Sunday it contained a love note for Mike. 

Mom found us the aqua knit-looking "Warm Wishes" mugs last year. 

(Ah! And you can also finally see how I've fixed up the little Hoosier cabinet-top I found on craigslist last fall. The base of the "new" hutch was the bottom-part of a bookshelf I took apart with a saw before we moved out of our old apartment in July, and the two pieces fit together just the way I'd envisioned. I keep all my baking supplies and spices in the top and pots and pans in the bottom. We will soon be adding our just-received-for-Christmas Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, and "Seinfeld" Trivia games to our stack of games on the very top. It's not "done" yet, but I love this little corner of the apartment.) :)

Christmas night's meal was the traditional red and green, and after eating, we managed to watch a couple Christmas shows and read a little before fatigue caught up with us and we went to bed.

The more sleep-deprived of the two of us, I spent most of today napping in the bedroom and then falling asleep reading while Mike watched movies in the living room, but it was another relaxing night at home with him and Stuffed tonight. 'Back to work for Mike tomorrow, but I have a couple more days off, so we still have a lot more time together this week than we usually do. A sweet and happy first Christmas together.   ♥