Page 101 – From China Village

Cutting Down our Christmas Tree, Irish Style

December 12, 2011

Yesterday, we had plans to head out to the Christmas Tree Farm and cut down our Christmas tree. We’ve gone to the same place for the last two years, and both times it’s been freezing. Last year, there was even snow on the ground!

This year, however, felt totally Irish. On our way, it was raining so hard that we decided to stop for a hot chocolate and wait out the rain. It was the perfect detour, because by the time we finally reached the tree farm, the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to peek through.

Unfortunately, that sunshine didn’t have enough warmth behind it to dry up the soggy, muddy paths between the trees. We left covered in mud up to our knees!

With a tiny, Charlie Brown tree that we agreed on instantly.

Tonight, we’re going to get the little guy all decorated!

And my new favorite instant-Christmas trick: a few orange slices, 10 cloves, a stick of cinnamon and a cup of water, simmering on the stove. It makes the house smell so festive!

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Round-up: Unique and Unusual Gift Ideas

December 9, 2011

{Portland’s tree went up while I was in Maine – huge!}

I’ve heard a few friends say they’re quite stressed about what to give for gifts this year and that makes me so sad! I hate when the holidays are stressful for anyone, but I do know that feeling.

For the most part, I love dreaming up the perfect gift for people on my list, but I do know how difficult it can get when you’re just stumped. I’ve got one brother who is very tough to shop or make for and it’s driving me bananas.

So while I spend my weekend making, baking and creating the gifts I have got figured out, and landing on the perfect gift for my sweet brother, here are a few great gift guides with loads of unusual and unique ideas. If you’re stumped, this should get your brain turning again!

Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

Lovely ideas like giving your loved one a day off! – from Design*Sponge

Sweet experiences to give. My favorite is the hot air balloon ride – sounds so peaceful! – from Oh Happy Day!

Giving a year of indulgence, like wine every month for the year. Oh, and DIY animal magnets are so dear too! – from A Subtle Revelry

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Holiday Decorating: Carol Garlands

December 8, 2011

So, back to the garlands.

I love, love the idea of making garlands out of the lyrics from your favorite Christmas carol.

Chelsea posted a great tutorial over on The Sweetest Occasion – including a great way to line up the string so the words aren’t all wonky!

And if I had high ceilings, I would most certainly stay up all night for the next week to make strings and strings of garlands just like this. If I did this in our house, my 6’4 husband would get very tangled, very fast.

Instead, I made a short little garland of my mom’s favorite Christmas song – Hark the Herald Angels Sing (or whatever that one is really called!). When my mom was little, she even named one of her dolls after the song. No, not Angel, Hark-the. She named it Hark-the. It’s no wonder my dolls were all named such literal things – Greenie for the Green Care Bear, Freckle-face for the freckly one and Pan-head for the (you guessed it) one with the pan on his head. I think it was supposed to be a baseball cap on backwards.

Anyway, I come by it honestly.

{I used cursive letters instead, cut out of thick paper, sprayed with adhesive and drenched in glitter. And now the house is drenched in glitter. Husband keeps giving me dirty looks.}

This little garland is getting packed up and shipped to America this weekend, along with a few other Christmas goodies! Three years in, I’m finally ahead of the game and our gifts will be there under the tree for my family on Christmas Day. Success!

Any fun crafts going on in your house? Are you all holiday-ed? I have lights to hang and a long, fun list of projects to finish this weekend. You?

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The State of My Nation: Real Life in the Dubs

December 7, 2011

{image from here, but I don’t know the source. help?}

This morning, when I got ready to hit “publish” on a sweet, beautiful post about holiday garlands, I just couldn’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, I love holiday garlands. I’m heading home this evening to finish mine, and you’ll even be seeing them here tomorrow.

But today I have to stop and acknowledge that yesterday real life seeped in, and no amount of garland was going to keep it out.

Like most countries, and more than most, Ireland is in a tough spot. The recession has taken hold and I’m not sure most people here in Ireland can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday and the day before, the finance ministers here laid out new austerity measures for the country. More of the same on top of last year and the year before. More increases in fees, cuts in social welfare, assistance for the disabled and the elderly, police stations closing and cuts to nursing jobs.

I sat on the train yesterday morning, reading the round up of new fees, gas price hikes, and assessed. We’re still okay. We don’t have kids or pensions, we don’t own a house, we’re still okay. All morning, I watched the Irish Times Twitter feed report more cuts, more fees. Still okay, still okay.

Around noon, I got a text from my husband. It read something like this:

You're not going to believe this. They cut secondary school
guidance counselors from 2012.

Ugh. Cue the panic. Michael was hired for his first job as a guidance counselor exactly two weeks ago. And I have decided to finish my contract with my current job in exactly 7 days.

In my head, I know we’re fine. He”ll keep his job until the end of the school year. I know he can look for work in private schools or colleges, and there’s a chance they won’t end up cutting high school guidance counselors at all; the backlash started immediately and fiercely yesterday. I know I’ll find work after leaving this job, I know we’ll be fine.

In my head, I know we’ll be fine. But all of the rest of me let the panic and the negativity and the fear seep in.

By the time I walked in the door, I’d let myself get totally wound up. So, naturally, I picked a big old fight with Michael for bringing-me-to-this-wacky-place-where-they-don’t-even-think-guidance-counselors-are-important-and-how-will-we-ever-buy-a-house!

There is a lot of fear floating around Ireland at the moment, and I let it get to me yesterday. I let it seep in and blind me to the fact that we are fine. We may not have everything figured out and nailed down, but we are still fine. We have food on the table, a roof over our heads, we live happily and have what we need. We are fine. We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we will be just fine.

Sadly, a lot of people feel that panic all the time, here and around the world. I know some people are not fine and don’t have enough food or shelter. When I remind myself that I’m fine, I also have to remember that there are people who are not fine. And I hope the fear that’s gripping this country doesn’t keep most of us from helping the least of us.

So at the end of my day, a new vow (or a vow renewed) I hope you’ll share, to help those you can.

***

When I was in Maine a few weeks ago, I was explaining some current, fleeting problem, to a dear friend, and she said she was surprised because my life seemed so cheerful on my blog. She said it sweetly, but it stuck in my head. My blog is cheerful because I mostly am, but also because my cheerful blog, in turn, makes me cheerful. But on the days that are crummy and panicky and exhausting, maybe you’re feeling the same way and need to hear me say you’re not the only one!

Back tomorrow with garlands. Thanks for indulging my serious side!

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Holiday Traditions: Neighbors

December 6, 2011

{pretty doilies from Martha}

If you’re new, visiting from Poppytalk, welcome!

For the last few years, Michael and I have stayed in Dublin for Christmas. It’s not easy, and I still have a few melty moments when I really wish we’d made the trek home to Maine. But overall, it works for us logistically (Michael’s basketball season doesn’t give him too many days off at Christmas!), so I try to make it cozy.

In fact, it doesn’t take much to make Christmas cozy in Dublin. I think it’s a holiday Ireland does really well. It starts in November, and ramps up through to the big day with lots of Christmas parties, fairs and festivals. And after Christmas? It keeps going, but gets more relaxed! Not bad, huh?

The Christmas season for us in Dublin involves trying to mesh the holiday traditions from my family with those from Michael’s family, and adding our own new ones into the mix. I realized this year that both our families grew up with traditions that involved our neighbors.

In my family, a big part of Christmas Eve was baking cookies for the neighbors on our street and, if the weather was snowy enough, bringing plates of treats around China Village on a sled.

Meanwhile, in Dublin, seeing neighbors on Christmas Day was part of Michael’s family tradition. I always felt Christmas Day was a “family only” day in America. In Dublin, it doesn’t seem to be so sacred. Instead, Michael’s family traipsed across the street to their neighbors and played games and chatted all evening.

So of course, we’re doing both this year. Well, perhaps we won’t be able to bring the cookies around to our neighbors on a sled, but we’ll make sure they get treats to say happy holidays!

How do you manage mixing family traditions? Or do you bother? Are holidays family-only days or do you celebrate with neighbors too?

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Murals at the Ace Hotel

December 5, 2011

The Ace Hotel in New York is doing a cool thing. They’ve commissioned artists to create murals for the walls of their hotel rooms. And then they made time lapse videos of the process. Here are two I love.

Dana Tanamachi works with chalk.

Dan Cassaro did his with what looks like a marker.

Very, very talented. I wonder how long it really took them!

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An Advent Bucket List

December 2, 2011

I have a sweet spot in my heart for holiday traditions like advent calendars. When I was little, we always got the standard cardboard ones with chocolate pieces for each day. As an adult, I get chocolate whenever I choose, so those aren’t quite as exciting.

But since I still love the idea of counting down to Christmas and squeezing all the holiday celebrating out of the whole month, I love these two ideas I stumbled upon this week.

The first, from Sharon of NYC Taught Me, is to create a list of holiday activities, even tiny ones, to do every day. Her list is perfect for her three kids – and they even helped come up with festive ideas for it!

{pretty wrapped books from No Big Dill}

The second is from Katy over at No Big Dill. She wraps Christmas library books for her kids and they get to open one each day. Doesn’t that sound fun? I think I need a gaggle of 5-year olds who would totally get into this!

So I decided to put together my own list to celebrate the Christmas season. Slightly less kid friendly, but equally active and festive. I’m a little late to the game, but here’s the start of my list.

Sip a hot chocolate at Butler's (more on this one next week!)
Stroll through town (without a to-do list!) to enjoy the Christmas
lights
Make mulled cider
Bake Christmas cookies for the neighbors
Cut down our Christmas tree and trim it
Make a wreath
Plant an amaryllis
Sing Christmas carols
Make a sparkle carol garland (like this one!)
Watch Home Alone and Love Actually
Have Michael make eggnog and actually try it!

I’d say this will get me through the end of next week, and by then I’m sure I’ll have more than enough ideas to last me through to January! I think December should be twice as long!

Do you do advent calendars in your house? What do you think of making a seasonal bucket list? What would you make sure to include – I don’t to miss any!

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Holiday Appetizer: Gourmet-Vous

December 1, 2011

This is a great appetizer my mother always makes for holidays. She created it for the first time when I quite young, maybe three. And I was smack in the middle of the phase where you sing songs like Frere Jacques, which goes a little like this:

Frere Jacques,
Frere Jacques,
Dormez vous?
Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines,
Sonnez les matines.
Ding Ding Dong,
Ding Ding Dong.

So of course, when there was a little discussion about what to name the new snack, I had a brilliant idea. Gourmet vous. See what my little three year old self did there? Clever, clever.

Twenty-something years later, my family is still calling it Gourmet Vous and making it for holiday occasions, winter or summer. It’s a delicious way to add some crunchy vegetables to your appetizer list for the holidays.

Gourmet Vous
Makes 24 servings

2 packages crescent rolls (at the grocery store in America, or 
from this recipe if you don't have that option!)
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup ranch dressing or two tbsp ranch dressing mix
2 tbsp milk
1/2 cup each of chopped tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, black 
olives and broccoli

Flatten out the crescent rolls on a baking sheet. You'll bake 
them flat and use them as the crust. Bake according to the 
directions, until golden brown. 

Meanwhile, with a mixer, whip up the cream cheese. Mix in the 
ranch dressing until combined. Add the milk and mix until the 
cream cheese is a spreadable consistency. You'll need a little 
more milk if you're using ranch dressing mix, and a little less 
milk if you're using ranch dressing. 

When the crescent roll base is cooled, spread on the cream cheese
mixture. You'll want it to be about a 1/2 inch thick. 

Sprinkle the chopped veggies evenly over the cream cheese. Cut 
with a sharp knife into square pieces and let your family or 
guests munch away!

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Maine Snapshots

November 30, 2011

Jet lag is a funny thing. Since I landed in Dublin on Sunday morning at 4am, I’ve been mostly wide awake. I thought I’d be exhausted and struggling to keep my eyes open in work, but I’m wide awake. All day, all evening, and all night long. Awake and buzzing.

I’m starting to suspect that my buzzing is really a result of those two weeks off – my brain had a chance to start thinking about a million ideas. Christmas gifts to make, projects to tackle around the house, articles and books to write. The ideas are endless and my brain has been refusing to shut off.

It’s a good thing, although I do wish there was more time in the day to actually do all these ideas! Soon, I hope.

So while I wrestle with my buzzing brain, I thought I’d share a few photos I took in China Village and Portland while I was home in Maine last week. They’re peaceful and calming. I’m hoping my brain gets the message – at least for a few hours!

First, China Village.

And my other home away from home, the lovely Portland. With seriously blue, blue sky.

{See those metal things on the outside of the building? The coolest Christmas lights ever, hand crafted by a Maine native. I was so bummed I didn’t get to see them lit!}

Peaceful and calming. What do you do when your brain runs away with (or without!) you? Any tips for chilling out?

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Rainy Day Reading: Holiday Gift Guides

November 29, 2011

I don’t know what the weather is like where all you lovely readers are today, but here in Dublin, it’s a pretty dreary. Pouring down buckets of rain. Buckets.

So I’m distracted myself with these little holiday guides. There’s nothing nicer on a rainy day than something to read, curled up in bed with a hot drink and a sweet treat. That is exactly where I wish I could be right now.

Alas, I’m in the office, so I hope someone takes these and heads back to bed! I love finding new Etsy shops and new ideas, for projects and presents alike! Enjoy and stay dry and cozy!