Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies

I adore all things pumpkin. And while many people view pumpkin as a seasonal treat, I did not get my fill during Thanksgiving. I discovered this awesome recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and dove in! It is simple and tasty and my husband loved it!

1 box of spice cake mix
1 package of chocolate chips (I like the semi-sweet chips)
1 small can of pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350. Just mix everything together. Scoop out onto cookie sheet in whatever size you like your cookies and bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until theyre your preferred consistency. Yummy!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I think "Let it Snow" is my favorite Christmas Carol. Ironically, I don't particularly love snow. I guess I like to watch it from inside. So that line "How I hate going out in the storm" rings particularly true. At second thought, the entire song is about how you can stay cooped up inside during a snowstorm.

Anyway, since our small apartment has no place for a Christmas tree, we have our decoration tray.


Our two new additions to the decoration tray this year are the amber glass bird and the mother of pearl ball.

Our Midnight Walk

Occasionally, my husband and I get cabin fever in the middle of the night and decide to go for a walk. Last night as we were walking by a Christmas Tree vendor we fell in love with the smell of fresh pine. Too bad we don't have space for a Christmas Tree in our apartment. Leave it up to my husband to snag us some loose pine branches! We felt like bandits in the night scooping up the loose pine branches even though I'm sure they would have been given to us freely if we'd have asked. I stuck them in some water and this morning when I stepped out of the bedroom, the smell of sweet pine made me smile.

How gorgeous is the light and glass reflection on the placemat?

Post-Thanksgiving Day Hike

It is tradition that we go on a hike the day after Thanksgiving. After all that eating, no one resists the hike. We take turkey sandwiches to have as a picnic on the beach and then set off for our hike in the preserve.

My cousin threatened to go surfing, but he changed his mind when he realized the surf was weak and the water frigid.

This is my beautiful family on the railroad tracks. Dave (my husband) was taking the picture so he's not in it.

I fell in love with these orange mushrooms, but Dave suggested I not eat them:(
This armadillo ran away when he noticed I was trying to take his picture. Gotta be quicker!

And as the sun started to set and the air got cooler, I broke out the pashmina.

I miss my mommy

One of the things I miss most about not being in Miami, is that I don’t get to spend time with my mom. My mom is one of my best friends. She knows how to push my buttons both good and bad.

Mommy, if I were with you today, I’d warm up your coffee, pour your no-pulp orange juice and heat your oatmeal (how you drink all that and don’t spend the rest of the day on the toilet, I don’t know). Then we would take our time getting dressed, first spending the morning in our PJs with glasses on. We’d make plans for lunch, but without time constraints. When our stomach pangs hit, we’d get in the car (I’d drive because I hate the way you drive) and we’d go somewhere and split an appetizer and entrée. You’d pay but you’d need my help figuring out the tip. Too bad I’m bad at math, but it usually ends up being fortunate for the server. Then we would go shopping. We’d hit TJMaxx and Marshalls where you’d spend at least 30 minutes scouring the purse section. You’d find the one high-end bag hidden behind the dumpy ones and then you’d give me first dibs on it if I wanted it. Then it would be time for a dessert snack. An ice cream cone would make you happy—coffee ice cream.

Turkish Food

I LOVE Turkish food. I think it might be my favorite cuisine. This past summer my husband and I attended a Turkish Festival in Central Park. And boy did we pig out! Perhaps dinner tonight will be Turkish inspired!

Put yogurt on anything and I am one happy cookie!

Kebabs!!!!!!!!!!


Who knew there were so many types of baklava?

Valet

Simple things make my husband happy. But he can also be VERY picky! He used to have a valet on his bedside table where he would put his phone and wallet when he came home. However, the cord to charge his phone would always slide down. In conversation with my brother, he realized there was a solution to this problem: a charging station, which is essentially a valet with a power strip inside. Problem solved--no more slipping and sliding cords with this awesome charging station from Bed Bath and Beyond!

And while we are looking at my husband's bedside table, check out the paint/stain job I did on it. We got the piece raw from Gothic Cabinets Crafts. It's actually not a bedside table, but my husband insisted he needed a massive piece for his side of the bed.

Aloe plant

About a month ago when I was home in Miami, I picked a couple of pieces off my mom's aloe plant and put them in a ziplock bag in my luggage. When I got to NYC, I replanted the aloe in a small pot and am hoping that it takes root and grows into a big aloe plant. This is is how it looks today:

Thanksgiving Day Table Setting

It's no surprise that the setting for our Thanksgiving Day feast was not our rinky card table. I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving in Cocoa, Florida, at my aunt and uncle's home.

My uncle decided he wanted a basketball hoop a few days before we arrived. A tree trunk had to be trimmed to make space for the hoop. The trimmed trunk thus became the Thanksgiving day centerpiece:



So here we are playing HORSE as a family. Yes, that is my mom wearing heeled loafers--she even played a game of basketball after HORSE wearing those babies! Check out the shocked expressions on our faces!

And this is my aunt's shot. Not perfect form, but it worked!
Surprisingly, we were all serviceable.

Original Painting for Sale

I finally listed an original painting for sale
in my etsy shop. It is a set of two canvases that I painted with acrylic paint.

I intended to create an entirely abstract work of art based on a series of circles. Once I had finished painting I stood back and all I could see were breasts! My husband came home and said "cool you painted olives." So I titled the work "Olivia." What do you see?