HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

'Tis the festive season! However you may celebrate at this time, I wish you a holiday filled with love, laughter, joy and peace. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I wish you an amazing festive time of year and hope that you're able to celebrate with those near and dear to you. 

This is the first Christmas that I'll be away from my family, but thankfully the kids and I went to Canada at the beginning of December for a lovely wintry visit. My husband's mother and sister will be joining us in Bermuda this year, and we're figuring out the traditions that we will establish for our little family. One new tradition will be to head to Elbow Beach on Christmas morning, along with the island's ex-pat community, to raise a glass of champagne with new friends. Monkey is already excited to splash in the ocean! 

However you celebrate, happy holidays to you!

'TIS THE FESTIVE SEASON

 The festive season is here! The streets of Hamilton are decorated with holiday colour, sparkle and lights, and last night was the Santa Claus Parade in town. It felt like every islander -- big and small -- came out to celebrate the season. We perched on the balcony of my husband's office building with new family friends for a bird's eye view of the parade that started at dusk ...

Yesterday, we also decorated our tree and Monkey helped, making sure to hang each ornament in just the right spot. Today was our first activity from our Advent Calendar -- it was read Finding Christmas, a favourite of ours. Yes, it really is beginning to feel like the festive season in Bermuda despite its warm sun, palm trees and beautiful beaches.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

Ever since Monkey was born, I've been cognizant of establishing family traditions. It's important to me that we create lasting traditions to cherish together now and in the future. The holidays are no exception as this is a time filled with tradition. 

On Christmas Eve, my family comes together to celebrate with a delicious meal and to exchange gifts. Santa stuffs our stocking that night. Each year my mom gives me a beautiful tree ornament -- a tradition that started at my first Christmas and one that has helped me decorate our tree with special ornaments. This is one small tradition I'm passing along to my kiddos. 

On Christmas Day, we head to my husband's side of the family for a morning gift exchange, an afternoon winter walk and another fancy feast.

We are truly fortunate that our two families live so close. It has been a seamless melding of our two holiday celebrations. I'm excited for our new little family to create our own lasting holiday traditions in years to come.

Do you have any special traditions that you share with your family for the holidays?

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DESIGN INSPIRATION: WINTER WREATHS

From boxwood and magnolia leaves to red berries, fresh balsam fir and even moss, a simple natural wreath makes quite an impact this season.

(Images from top left 1 / 2 / 3 / 4)

ACTIVITY ADVENT CALENDAR

As a kid, I used to savour the little pieces of chocolate in my advent calendar every morning in the lead up to Christmas. I was eager to start this tradition with our family this year, but I was not keen on giving Monkey a daily dose of extra chocolate so I was happy to stumble on this activity advent calendar. Brilliant!

It is simple to make with strips of paper and a jar or paper bag. On each strip of paper, write an activity related to Christmas such as wear red today, bake gingerbread cookies, read a Christmas story or make a tree ornament. Each day, your little one pulls out a piece of paper and you have a planned activity. Sadly, I was not organized enough to start at the beginning of December so this year we'll be doing the 12 days of Christmas, starting tomorrow.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2013: THE LADIES

1. Sweater
2. Hammered gold stacking rings
3. The Kinfolk Table: Recipes for Small Gatherings by Nathan Williams
4. Messenger bag
5. Scarf
6. Wild Fig and Cassis cologne
7. Terrarium
8. Ornament
9. Hair barrette
10. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

THE FESTIVE SEASON

Let the festive season begin! Today, we put up our Christmas tree, strung lights and hung our stockings. Now, pass me a mug of spiked eggnog and gingerbread cookies.

In case you're in need of some gift-giving inspiration, I will be posting a few holiday gift guides with cool things I find in my own search for just the right gifts. Stay tuned for those in the coming week or two ... and in the meantime, you can check out last year's gift guides for hosts, ladies, men and little ones.

PRETTY THINGS IN PINK, PURPLE & RED

Here are just a few pretty and fun things in pink, purple and red that I recently spotted ...

1. Eames Elephant
2. Silk-chiffon scarf by Alexander McQueen
3. Silk cotton blend dress by Girl. by Band of Outsiders
4. Happy Socks
5. Satchel bag by The Cambridge Satchel Company
6. Hug Me Sweater by Oeuf (for the little ones!)
7. Bamboo cord bracelet by Hortense
8. Gramercy Oxfords by Cole Haan

RECIPE: PINK CUPCAKES

Beets are a good source of antioxidants to protect healthy cells, folic acid to promote healthy growth and potassium for healthy hearts. This week, I've been adding beet puree to just about everything we eat ... pizza sauce, grilled cheese and waffles to name just a few things. I'm borrowing the cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld from a friend, and it has inspired me to be puree-happy. The premise of the cookbook is to add vegetable or fruit puree to increase the nutritional value of a meal without having to coax your kids to eat one more vegetable. Although I don't agree with the idea of being 'deceptive' (I want Monkey to know and learn about the foods he eats), I do like the idea of incorporating extra nutrients in each meal. So, that is how we came to have a lot of beet puree this week.

Beets also give food a fun colour -- bright pink -- just in time for Valentine's Day! I modified the recipe for Angel Food Cupcakes for a festive (the original recipe called for yellow squash puree), low-sugar alternative for little ones. Monkey is a big fan.

Ingredients:
5 large egg whites
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup beet puree
1 teaspoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Frosting ingredients:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/3 cup beet puree
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325◦F, and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper baking cups.

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with an electric mixer, and beat until egg whites double in volume and stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour, agave nectar, beet puree, lemon juice and zest to the egg white mixture until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until the tops are lightly browned and spring back to touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool.

For the frosting, beat cream cheese, beet puree, orange juice concentrate in a medium bowl until smooth. Spread the frosting over the cooled cupcakes.

Makes 12 cupcakes. Enjoy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND!

It's the Thanksgiving holiday weekend -- one of my most favourite holidays of the year! We're heading to Waterloo to visit with family and dear friends, enjoy a delicious meal (or two!) and stroll through the turning Fall leaves. This photo is from Monkey's tumble through the leaves last year. This year, he'll be running and stomping in the leaves. Time flies (sigh!).

Every year, my hometown celebrates Oktoberfest with a great deal of gusto. In fact, it is considered Canada's largest Bavarian festival. We're excited to take Monkey to the parade to see fancy floats and booming marching bands.

Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you all a great deal to celebrate and be thankful for this year.