Good morning friends and happy Friday to you. Have you recuperated from the holiday weekend? I will be honest, I was dragging all week. Between all of the food, and catching up on all of the things I let slide this past week I am worn out and I need a bit of a rest. Tonight we are going to the village tree lighting ceremony and tomorrow morning to a Christmas parade, aside from that not much else. I have lots to share so sit down get yourself a cup of coffee or wine and enjoy.

Friday Favorites including books, recipes, finds and more.

Food

Candied Cranberries are the easiest Christmas “treat” and decoration to make this season. You can eat them, use them as a garnish and more.

I cannot wait to make these Salted Peanut Butter Christmas Trees.

My sister-in-law made this and it was so good that I made it this week! If you are looking for an easy and delicious Chicken Pot Pie Recipe bookmark this!

Harvest salad with cinnamon shallot vinaigrette is delicious, especially the vinaigrette.

Sugar Sprinkled Lemon Snowflake Christmas Cookies are the perfect cookie to add to your Christmas dessert trays.

I am making this Cranberry Spice Sparkler this weekend, I will let you know what I think.

Home Decor and Interiors

Make your holiday decorations merrier and brighter with these tips

My friend Michele shared How to Freak Out Less About Holiday Decorating, Gifts & Entertaining.

You can uses these Hostess Gift Ideas to Get You Invited Back:HOLIDAY BAGS, TAGS & BAKED GOODS to make your holidays homemade and easier.

These ornaments are fabulous and add a personal touch to your home. How to Make DIY Grand Millenial Christmas Ornaments

A Beautiful and Neutral Christmas Mantle

How to Create Simple, Natural Christmas Decor

Christmas flowers, including paperwhites, amaryllis, and poinsettias, shine amidst elegant interiors during the holiday season.

The Best Christmas Traditions for Making Family Memories

Love these Miniature Watercolor Works by Ruby Silvious Are Painted on Stained Teabags

A little Christmas ambiance for you from Cosy Places.

Articles

If you would like to learn more about the Starbuck’s holiday drinks and what they taste like before you buy one this article is great!

Your Guide to What’s in Season for Winter—and Exactly What to Cook With It

The Great Escape Why workers are quitting their jobs, after the trauma of the pandemic

More than just a ‘mystery’ train: the Orient Express

Bee gold: Why honey is an insect superfood

This is so cool, ‘Beneath the Bird Feeder’ Documents the Spectacular Wildlife Visiting a Wintertime Food Source

How an Excel TikToker Manifested Her Way To Making Six Figures a Day

This Is Why You Should Have Unrealistic Expectations

Virgil Abloh Made His Life Into a Fairytale—and Then Made it the Blueprint for Fashion

Can Pop-up Banksy and Van Gogh Shows Save Retail?

Interesting article about cheese.

A Harvard Nutritionist and Brain Expert Says She Avoids These 5 Foods That ‘Weaken Memory and Focus’

Is Society Coming Apart?

The Most Magical Christmas Markets in the US.

Books

The Christmas Promise

On the night of her high school graduation, Richelle Bach’s father gives her and her identical twin sister, Michelle, matching opal necklaces. “These opals look identical,” he tells them, “but the fire inside each is completely unique—just like the two of you.”

Indeed, the two sisters couldn’t be more different, and their paths diverge as they embark on adulthood. Years pass, until—at their father’s behest—they both come home for Christmas. What happens then forever damages their relationship, and Richelle vows never to see or speak to her sister again. In their father’s last days, he asks Richelle to forgive Michelle, a deathbed promise she never fulfills as her twin is killed in an accident.

Now, painfully alone and broken, caring for the sickest of children in a hospital PICU, Richelle has one last dream: to be an author. The plot of her book, The Prodigal Daughter, is a story based on her sister’s life. It’s not until she meets Justin Ek, a man who harbors his own loss, that a secret promise is revealed, and Richelle learns that the story she’s writing is not about her sister, but about herself.

I read, The Noel Stranger this week.

I can’t wait to read Christmas by the Book, I have it on my book stack to read this weekend.

Nora and her husband, Simon, have run the beautiful oak-beamed book shop in their small British village for thirty years. But times are tough and the shop is under threat of closure–this Christmas season will really decide their fate. When an elderly man visits the store and buys the one book they’ve never been able to sell, saying it’s the perfect gift for his sick grandson, it gives Nora an idea. She and Simon will send out books to those feeling down this Christmas. Maybe they can’t save their bookstore, but at least they’ll have one final chance to lift people’s spirits through the power of reading.

After gathering nominations online, Nora and Simon quietly deliver books to six residents of the village in need of some festive cheer, including a single dad of twins who is working hard to make ends meet, a teenage boy grieving for his big sister, a local Member of Parliament who is battling depression, and a teacher who’s newly retired and living on her own. As the town prepares for a white Christmas, the books begin to give the recipients hope, one by one. But with the future of the bookshop still up in the air, Nora and Simon will need a Christmas miracle–or perhaps a little help from the people whose lives they’ve touched–to find a happy ending of their own….

The Christmas Dress

One Dress. Two Women. The Magic of the Holiday Season.

When hopeful fashionista Meg Julliard must return to her hometown of Chicago to manage her late father’s apartment building, she thinks her dreams of making it in the fashion business are over. Add in her father’s eclectic roster of tenants who all need Meg’s attention (ASAP!), a host of building related disasters, and a handsome handyman she keeps embarrassing herself in front of, and this has all the makings for the worst Christmas she’s ever had.

Ellie Wade, one of the building’s longtime residents, is also not feeling the Christmas Joy this year. She is preparing to move into a nursing home (reluctantly), and is in the process of sorting through her belongings to downsize. Every corner of her apartment holds memories, some good, some bad. But there’s one dress she hesitates to pack up as it represents both the best and worst night of her life.

Ellie and Meg strike up an unlikely friendship and the story of Ellie’s dress comes out. Ellie gifts the gorgeous dress to Meg, hoping that it will bring her more luck, on the condition that she wear it to the building’s Christmas party.

The dress magically fits, and while it eventually leads to the best night of Meg’s life, it also acts as inspiration for Meg to follow a life-long dream of her own, a dream that will help save the crumbling Parkview West, and restore it to its former glory, and keep it as a safe home for all of the current tenants.

The dress and the magic of the holiday season helps both Meg and Ellie find their own happy endings.

Don’t forget the kids! Here are 25 Christmas Books for your kids and Grandkids to enjoy this season!

Finds

Are you a fan of Frasier Fir?  I love their candles but I had no idea that they had a whole slew of products, and scents, you can get simmered cider or  as well, which are perfect for this time of the year.

If you like lavender you will definitely want to check out one of my favorite places, Pelindaba Lavender. An amazing farm in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands, WA.

This  frommakes a great gift for yourself or family and friends.

If you are looking for festive lounge ware,(in green) looks festive and comfortable. Thislooks comfy too.

ThisI love the classic and old world look. It’s only $24.99.

Isn’t thisbeautiful?is perfect for your holiday party. Boden has many beautiful dresses if you are looking for one.

That is it for this week my friends. Before you go don’t forget to share your favorite recipes, books, finds or whatever else you found interesting this week.

One last thing, if you have a favorite cookie recipe I would love to try it, I am looking for new recipes to make for family and friends this year.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend.

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