Tumbleweed Christmas Tree....

What a beautiful unique southwestern tradition in Chandler, Arizona.  Chandler is the only city with a holiday tree made out of tumbleweeds, and this has been a tradition for over 50 years. Once the tumbling tumbleweeds are collected, somewhere between 1,500-2,000, they are used to adorn a 35-foot tall wire frame. Then, the tumbleweeds are sprayed with 25 gallons of white paint, 20 gallons of flame retardant and dusted with 65 pounds of glitter. The tree is later adorned with approximately 1,200 holiday lights that give it a spectacular look, day or night.  What a beautiful way to use a "natural resource".  Now for the western lovin' girl, this is just an ideal Christmas tree for a western town.  It conjures up all those wonderful times of living and traveling the west, seeing those tumbleweed just independently going where the wind carried them. 

Photo's by Joe Orman

Beautiful Christmas Bokeh...

I have only had my Digital SLR camera for less than two years, so I am very much a novice, but I have a passion for taking photographs, and try at least 4-5 times a week to go some place new and take pictures.  Always reading about new information, trying new techniques, buying new attachments, lenses, etc., and looking for those unique shots.  Living in Florida has given me a great backdrop for some spectacular photographs.  One of my favorite are those with  Bokeh in them, such as nature shots with the sunlight coming through palms trees, tropicals or around the beaches can produces some beautiful Bokeh in various colors.  Well, now that the holidays are upon us, it is the time to take photos of all the great Christmas lights, and decoration out and try to capture some wonderful Bokeh in each photo.  I just think it adds that special warmth and sparkle to our holiday photographs.  Below are some that I thought were really nice that I got from Flickr.  I just can't wait to get my tree and all the rest of my decorations up this weekend, so I can begin taking photos and see what I can capture this year. 

Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate...

What a better time than the holidays to get creative with chocolate!  There is a large variety of chocolate molds you can chose from and let your imagine go wild.  For years I've used Merckens chocolate wafers for chocolate covered strawberries, pretzels, dried fruit, and so much more.  The flavor is wonderful and so easy to use.  But the last several Christmas' I've been using it with a variety of molds.  One of my favorite is the small fluted bowl shape molds, as in the first picture group.  I will fill it full of chocolate mousse or fresh fruit and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top, to a variety of rich fillings.  Not only is it beautiful, but is so delicious.  I have several different molds and the "wild shapes" (as in the last group of pictures) are really fun to put atop homemade cupcakes, adds that unique flair.  The Merckens comes in a variety of colors, I personally use the milk, white and dark.   With the left over melted chocolate, my daughter and I will take parchment paper and spray it very lightly with non-stick spray, pour approximately a 1/4  cup (or a little more, depending on the size we want) of chocolate on the paper, place a lollipop stick again, sprayed lightly with the non-stick spray, as it cools down somewhat, start at one end, begin to roll the chocolate around the stick loosely, after it has cooled and harden almost completely, remove the stick and you will have a "chocolate straw", very similar to the picture of the "chocolate kiss martini" below, and use it as a swizzle stick, or in your choice of desserts.  Another fun idea is to make the liquor chocolate cups, place them in gold foiled servers and fill with your favorite liquor.  A great combination is equal parts Bailey's, cream  and Amarula, so yummy.  Trust me, your guest will love them.  It makes a nice little after dinner treat also, if you don't want a heavy dessert.

A great site to go to learn about how to mold chocolate and other information.
http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/candies/moldingchocolate/howtomold.htm





Double left click to enlarge pictures

Hostess Gifts...

It's that wonderful time of the year again where we will be going to holiday parties, family dinners, or just a nice evening with family or friends,  What a better way to show the hostess how much you appreciate all the hard work and effort they put forth to make your time with them special than a little hostess gift.  It doesn't have to be anything expensive, it is always about the thought.  Several years ago, when my daughter and I were spending Christmas at my Father's home outside Los Angeles, we went to a family friends house for a visit on Christmas Eve.  By the way, was one of the most beautifully decorated homes for the holidays, I have ever seen, so many unique and creative ideas. It sat high atop the mountain side over looking the Hollywood Hills, I will forever remember that home and that wonderful Christmas, for many reasons, even the strong after shock of an earth quake that happened the day before.  Upon our return to my Father's home.  The neighborhood was filled with people walking all around and visiting each other, just like in an old movie.  His neighborhood is very beautiful, all the homes that were decorated for Christmas were mostly done by creative professional decorators, so you knows it's something special, warm and inviting.  It is tradition in our family, as in many Latin families, to celebrate on Christmas Eve with the opening of the gifts, dinner and just being together as a family.  Well, as we were about to settle down and begin opening gifts, their door bell kept ringing...one visitor after another, all bringing cookies, bottles of wine, gift baskets, etc.  At their front door, my step-mother had a huge basket there filled with beautifully wrapped gifts and as the visitors went on to the next friend or neighbors home, she would hand them a gift from the basket.  I thought that was just a wonderful sweet idea and made the evening extra special, to have so many people stop by on a cool Southern California Christmas Eve night.   Below are just some simple but nice hostess gift ideas.

Pretty Hand Painted Martini Glasses and Cocktail Glass Adornments

  

 

Box of Chocolate Christmas Ornament and a set of Candles with Rhinestone Insets (Z-Gallery)

  

Winter Tree Glassware (West Elm) and Stella Mare Guava Coconut Candle and Reed Diffuser (Z-Gallery)



Adorable Little Hand-painted Martini Glass Ornaments and Holiday Cocktail Napkins (online)



Fabulous "Cake Pops" Book, by Bakerella and Mac Cosmetic Brushes in Carrying Case



Gold Tory Burch Cosmetic Case and Swarovski Pen with Crystals

 

Winter Fragrance Gift Set from Philosophy and an Adorable High Heel Cake Server



 

Chocolate.....diamonds!

It's no secret as I've mentioned before, I am a chocoholic, if it wasn't for the guilt I would have it every day!!!!  Oh yea!  But now for us chocolate lovers, what could be better than "Chocolate Diamonds".   Several years ago, these diamonds were just known as "brown diamonds".  Well that has all changed with the popularity of the Chocolate Diamond by many celebrities and women in general.  The Chocolate Diamonds of today, are mined and designed in a much higher quality than ever before.  The colors are deeper and richer and make for the most unique stunning jewelry for those women who want something different and beautiful.  Just love these gorgeous pieces, mostly from Le Vian or Na Hoku.




This is the one that I've hinted BIG TIME to my husband for a Christmas gift

 

 

Annual Christmas Shopping in Orlando...

For the last eight years, me and my family make our annual Christmas shopping trip to the Mall at Millenia in Orlando, less than two hours from our home.  We get up early in the morning, go out to breakfast and arrive just after the mall opens.  My husband will drop me and my daughter off, and he goes Bass Pro and every golf store in the Orlando area.  Then we will meet up for a very late lunch, and finish shopping at the mall together.  I cannot begin to say enough about the Mall at Millenia, it has everything, my daughter and I spend about five hours there and love every minute of our time together.  The holiday decorations are spectacular and it's just a warm beautiful enviornment for holiday shopping.  After shopping, we will go to International Drive and then head to Downtown Disney for all the beautiful decorations that only Disney can do.  Though my daughter is now 24, she still loves to go to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner, not so much for the food as it is just fun and a great place to unwind after a long day of shopping.  She feels like a little girl again and for that short time, I do too.  After dinner, we will go to Ghirardelli's for a hot chocolate, and stock up on all kinds of chocolate....can we say YUMMY!!!  We will then walk around listen to all the Christmas music and just enjoy the rest of the evening.  And on our trip home, we just spend that quiet time talking about the day and how God has really blessed us in so many ways, especially to have each other.  I'm getting so excited, we are leaving in just a couple of weeks, just hope it is cold out, like it was last year!

Cinderella's Castle - just beautiful

Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney - Planet Hollywood

Ghirardelli

International Drive

Rain Forest Cafe

Just love all these planters and fountain at Downtown Disney

Epcot ready for Christmas

Fill em' up!!!

The Mall at Millenia

Disney Chirstmas Store