I am so excited to put my Christmas trees up. We added some ornaments to our collection this year, so I’m excited to reflect on the adventures we’ve had. The first trip Tom and I took together was to New Orleans. We were living in a tiny apartment so the idea of putting up a tree was unfathomable. We went to New York City for our 1st anniversary, so I bought an ornament to commemorate that trip, too.
When the trees are up, I like to sit in silence at the end of each day with only the trees on, and I find it very calming and peaceful. If I hadn’t been so busy and sick this month, they would already be up. We are bringing everything home from storage this weekend though so it is time!!
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Eating and Drinking:
Last weekend, I decided to try and find different things to pair with a bottle of Alsatian wine we were opening. I bought pork potstickers, chocolates, garlic cashews, spicy olives, and a young Comte cheese to try with the wine. The wine worked really well with the potstickers, cashews, the chocolates, and to some degree, the cheese. However, I’m constantly perplexed about the fact that cheese in the United States just isn’t as good as cheese in Europe. I know it has to do with the pasteurization process, but they don’t even taste like the same product.
That said, we did open a bottle of 2017 Brunello di Montalcino this weekend, and paired with a truffle cheese and pecorino romano from Eataly, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Last weekend, we opened a Martin Jund late harvest Gewurztraminer from our Christmas trip to the Alsace. It was just as lovely as I remember it being in Colmar. Last night, we were talking about how we never expected to be wine collectors, but I’m finding that opening a bottle of wine we’ve picked up on our travels is one of my favorite ways to relieve all the places we’ve been.
Travel Planning:
I am working on finalizing our Thanksgiving trip. That is another thing that is on my agenda this weekend… We are going to do a trip to Paris and the Alsace with my mom, so I’m planning, planning, planning for that.
Wearing:
Last week, I got a lot of compliments on a couple of Banana Republic blazers that I’ve had and worn continuously since 2009. I also found out that if you buy 2 or more pairs of pantyhose at Nordstrom, you get them for half off! Yes, I still wear pantyhose to work events. I like the way it looks. Don’t come for me.
Loving:
The cooler weather in Dallas. It rained all day Friday, and while that made it REALLY hard to work and focus, however, the cooler temperatures are a welcome change!
I can’t believe you’re already talking about putting the Christmas tree(s) up. I am not ready (LOL), but I know how much you love your trees and as you know, I love my Christmas tree too and can’t wait to be ready to embrace the holiday season.
I always love to hear about your travels (you’re traveling so much and have seen so many beautiful places). Where are you planning to go with your mom over Thanksgiving?
I hear you on the election frustration (esp. for you guys in TX)… I just don’t know what’s wrong with people who still support candidates that do NOTHING for them. It’s a mystery to me.
For blogs, I’ve been using Feedly ever since Google Reader shut down (I never got into Bloglovin’ although I did sign up for it at one point). Feedly has worked pretty well for me.