Inspiration: My Christmas Vacation

Art Journal pages, December 2011

I loved this year’s holiday season. (Not just because I cooked a successful Christmas dinner.) Here are a few highlights…

The Muppets…

When I was little, my dad often rented The Muppet Movie or The Muppets Take Manhattan as a Friday night treat for my brother and me. He also had to rent a VCR from 7-11 to play them. We watched the Muppets sing away on our wooden television set. Good times.

Jeff and I took the girls to see the new version starring the talented Jason Segel and Amy Adams. I loved it! So many fun cameos (Zach Galifianakis as “Hobo Joe” and a bunch of other favorite comedians playing themselves), and the 80’s references abound. More good times.

Anthropologie…

I heard this store sells fun knick-knacks, but I wasn’t prepared to find colored masking tape at 50% off! This expensive Japanese item, also known as happy tape, is hard to find. I use it for art journaling (see picture above), and I pretty much danced over to the checkout counter to buy it. I know why they call it happy tape! You should have seen the smile on my face...

I probably won’t shop at Anthropologie often. Mass-produced vintage feels weird. I much prefer the Nebraska City antique shops and boutiques my Grandma Hall used to take me to, with one-of-a-kind treasures.

Favorite New Book…

Several years ago, I read Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle. She is a voice of wisdom, insight, creativity, and beauty. When I saw this post on the Tired Thirties, I knew I needed to get a copy of A Circle of Quiet. Jeff gave it to me for Christmas. And that’s just another reason why I love him.

Newest Marathon-worthy Television Show…

How I Met Your Mother. Oh Barney Stinson…”When I’m sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True Story.”

And Robin Sparkles singing “Let’s Go to The Mall.”

Enough said.

Best use of leftover Christmas ham…

I made homemade macaroni and cheese for the first time ever and added diced ham to it. Read that as “I made a roux and didn’t scorch it.”

A few other favorites…

Taking the girls to Barnes and Noble, baking gingerbread cookies, exploring Trader Joe’s for the first time, celebrating our nine year anniversary at Gordon Biersch, talking to my friend Heather in North Carolina for 2.5 hours on the phone, annual viewing of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, celebrating Kae’s fourth birthday, and this:

The Three Brave Stone Women taking over the rink! Kaelyn has a need for speed (she kept trying to get away from me to skate faster), and Kyla informed me she’s “never giving up” as she learned to skate by holding on to the rail and zipping around the edge.

  

Christmas Vacation 2011 was awesome. True story.