Month: December 2012

shiny brite times

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a vintage bead of silver bellsbox shiny brite ornament tin moldsfrosted sprinkle sugar cookieslamp post with colored bulbssnowman tableShiny Brite ornaments were the most popular Christmas tree ornaments made in the 1940’s and 1950’s in the United States. I have an original box set that my grandma gave to me when I had my first apartment, and Christmas tree, of my own. Those ornaments hark back to the time when she and her sisters were the age that I am today. I always keep an eye out for them in antique stores, and it makes me wonder what will evoke memories of Christmases past when I am in my eighties.

It is easy to feel homesick around the holidays, because it’s often a mile marker for realizing that things are never going to be the same. For others, the times seem more joyous and precious than ever, and I need to keep that in mind. I am just missing people right now, but on New Year’s Eve, I’ll raise my cup to the shiny nostalgic memories and hopes for unexpectedly brite futures.

lunch and candy, not necessarily in that order

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1 cinnamon ribbon candy olympia

kirby dip chocolate turtles

lunch olympia mirror register

mugs olympia seating tin ceiling lights

soda shop lemonade

x olympia candy windowGiant cinnamon ribbon candy | Hand-dipped turtles by a man with 35 years worth of practice | 100 year old diner with a lunch counter across from a candy counter | Candy cane heart pendant lights hanging from a tin ceiling | Best-tasting soda shop lemonade ever | My first visit to the Olympia Candy Kitchen, a place “reminiscent of the days when the world revolved a little slower.”   Now that’s more my speed.

let it . . .

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a blue glitter snow paper marker house

glue write snow

house sprinkle blue glitter snow

snow pennant on the roofOne of my dad’s hobbies is making paper models of historic homes. He gave a few of his prototypes to my niece to color over Thanksgiving, and here is one brilliantly surfaced product that she gave to me. I thought it would be nice to live there and be snowed in (a chimney implies a fireplace!). And if we were snowed in we might not so feel guilty watching college basketball and Christmas movies on TV for a day (a few of my dad’s other hobbies that I happen to enjoy). No snow here, yet.

four main (elf) food groups

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a hand of four candy suckers food groupschristmas kettle cornd and k jumping for kettle cornhand in the plastic kettle corn bagk places gumdrops on the roofthe 2012 gingerbread houseIt was never so easy to follow a diet. The day began with my sister’s eggnog pancakes covered in maple syrup. After breakfast, my niece and I unwrapped candy and candy canes to decorate a gingerbread house. And when we went to find Santa at an outdoor mall (unseasonably warm for December in Indiana this weekend), we found another jolly man making fresh kettle corn on the sidewalk (kettle corn will sub for candy corn here)! I have to tell you that I have never enjoyed kettle corn so much in life, then I realized that this was the first time I had ever had kettle corn when it wasn’t hot outside. With just the right amount of sweet and savory, popped to warm perfection, it reminded me of the hot chestnuts I ate on the street in Florence one chilly early January afternoon. The day of sticking to the four main elf food groups was also a day I will never forget — thank you Manges Family! Don’t worry, I am eating my fair share of broccoli today.