How many of you still have a stray Christmas decoration lurking around your house? Honestly? We still had a mini Christmas tree, a lighted Madonna, and a few Santas in our family room — with lights still hooked up to a timer that clicked on every afternoon at 3, and shut off around midnight. My husband and I kind of liked the ambiance while we were watching TV.

I toted the last stray signs of Christmas out of the house and into the garage, yesterday afternoon. But these Christmas bulbs, which the boys gave me, are still here…

And honestly, I wouldn’t mind another batch of bulbs right now to start all over again.

If you hand me a string of words, and say, “Make something out of this,” I could create a masterpiece. A Quilt of Words. If you handed me a house, and said, decorate this, make this a masterpiece. I would fail miserably. Fortunately, I have friends who can do that for me… simple things, like telling me where the desk should go. Right now, my husband and I are in the market for a new paint color for the kitchen. Our “research” has been to visit favorite restaurants and “analyze” those colors. Then, armed with “favorites,” my friend picked this color: Sherwin Williams Dovetail Gray:

this color will match our countertops, “perfectly.” And it does. It’s funny that this is her “final answer.” She doesn’t wonder if maybe green would work, or brown… this is the “right answer,” and she knows this. Just like, I know how long the sentence should be. This one should be short. And the one that follows should be, and will be, quite long:

Enamored with her talent to pick colors, I found this website… which creates an entire

palette for you from nature, or found objects. I am so intrigued with how this works that I can barely contain myself. You can pick your own colors with a palette picker,

(Isn’t it just amazing… how all of those colors are RIGHT there.. and I can’t even see them– until I see this?!)

and it fetches an entire color palette.

schemes for you…

or you can pick a type. Like this vintage red, that I just love…

it screams “kitchen” to me…

In the middle of Christmas shopping, and grocery shopping for all the guests for the holidays, I ran out of my favorite shampoo.

When I say favorite, I don’t mean I like the shampoo; I mean it is my hair’s favorite shampoo. My hair just won’t cooperate without this shampoo; this shampoo is the only one that keeps my hair from getting dried out, tangled, and frizzy-all at the same time.

Except, it was Christmas day, and I still had not remembered to make that special stop at the beauty store for my shampoo. The stores were now closed.

Luckily, the good folks at BlogHer sent me some new shampoo and conditioner to try out and write a review — Head & Shoulders Apple Hair Care. Now, my son uses Head & Shoulders but I had never tried it. I don’t have dandruff. My hair, though, does have special needs. Beauty shop, expensive, fancy hair product special needs.

I grabbed the shampoo, and through my watery-bleary eyes from the shower, the bottle of conditioner right beside it. Would that mean my hair would be so dry from the dandruff shampoo that I would need a rinse of conditioner? My son was pretty happy with this shampoo — flake free, and he said his hair didn’t feel dried out. But, he’s not a girl. His hair isn’t chemically treated. The water’s running… if I don’t make a decision quick, I’m going to be out of hot water soon… So I poured that Head & Shoulders shampoo into the palm of my hand, and rubbed it in.

Now, this smelled great, and this shampoo had a creamy, silky lather, the kind that is easy to work around the roots of your hair to work it into your scalp. This was a plus.

I rinsed it off, and gave my hair a quick run through, and I realized there was not a tangled frizzy mess on my head that would need a cupful of conditioner to work through just so I could get a comb through my hair.

Could it be that this bottle of Head & Shoulders was really gentle and pH balanced for use even on color treated hair? Just like the bottle said?

So, I tried the conditioner. Same yummy scent but with a nice creamy texture that rivaled my expensive “beauty salon” brand. With my hand, I rubbed the conditioner in my hair, and then ran a comb through it all, while in the shower, before I rinsed out the conditioner.

I was worried my hair would end up too gummy, or greasy, after all is said and done, but it was a risk I was willing to take to ensure that the conditioner reached all those places. Then, I rinsed the conditioner. I stepped out of the shower, patted dry my hair, and ran a comb through it, leaving my hair untangled and smooth!

But would my hair really be clean? Time would tell. My hair takes forever to dry; it’s thick and unruly. After about 4 hours (long time) my hair was thoroughly dry-and thoroughly clean-and I still smelled like that fresh apple scent.

Yes. Head & Shoulders is good enough to handle colored hair to leave it feeling silky, clean and smooth.

So Christmas day is not technically “date night,” but I’d love to hear what is your routine for getting ready for a date night? Leave me a comment to be entered for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card.”

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/30 – 2/28.

Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win! And visit the Life Well Lived section on BlogHer.com for more great tips on looking your best.

While we were staying at the hospital for our 23 hour tour, he was not allowed to eat. Surgery may have been eminent. His IV was hooked up for fluids (spare me the memory of watching him squirm and cry while his vein “blew” three times just trying to place the IV).

The next morning, it had been 18 hours since our last meal. I was ravenous… but I didn’t dare ask him if he was, for fear of inciting latent hunger pangs lingering in his tummy, just below the surface.

Mamma’s gotta eat… I needed my strength for whatever else would be laid out in front of me for the day.

I took a stroll down to the hospital cafeteria. This was a far walk… I had planned to eat down in the cafeteria, but it was so far — I couldn’t leave him alone that long. So, the plan was to eat in the room — with him — so I had to pick out something that would simply repulse him. That would be easy — he’s a picky eater — the vegetarian that doesn’t eat vegetables.

I scanned the salad bar, the soup kettles, the vending machines full of partially hydrogenated oils (his favorites!) and the clear plastic containers of tuna sandwiches and wraps. Soon, I spotted the perfect meal. Sushi. He hates Sushi.  And this was Hospital Sushi. I hesitated myself… but, hey, the word “hospital” in front of sushi would be the ultimate sacrifice. Nothing says Mommy is sacrificing too, like “hospital sushi.”

So, I carried my plastic tray of Hospital Sushi, and a cup of green tea back into room 523, where my son sat waiting, already glued to a video game of tic tac toe on the flat screen TV above his bed.

He noticed. “Is that urr lunch?”
“Yeah,” I said, and quickly followed up with those revolting words, “Hospital sushi.”

Without missing a beat, he looked up at me with his pitiful brown eyes, and said, “Can I have a tiny speck of your rice?”

I will add that that pitiful tray of Hospital Sushi was the worst meal I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. I couldn’t even finish the thing.

Within an hour, the nurse announced it was time for him to eat. This is what he ordered off the hospital menu:

• A bowl of rice
• Waffles
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Pears
• Green Gelatin
• Two cups of apple juice
• Sprite

The food came. He was busy eating. In silence. When the nurse came in to check on him, she said, “How’s your food.”

He mumbled, without looking up from his plate, “It’s dewicious.”

And he ate every tiny speck of a crumb.

So, friend, this is what I ended up making for that dinner party. This cobbler cheesecake was so beautiful when it came out of the oven. However, by the time I had the camera ready, this is all that was left.

It was so gorgeous, with the parchment paper all crinkly and brown and the perfectly round cheesecake nestled inside of the brown scorched parchment paper… all of those almonds glistening on top.

January is a tough month to come up with a creative dessert. It’s hard to follow Christmas, without doing Christmas. I didn’t want anything to chocolately-peppermint-Christmassy… but something sweet. Cheesecake was too pristine… so this combination of black berries/cobbler cheesecake was humble enough to offer just the right amount of coziness post-Christmas in dreary January. Do you know exactly what I mean?

I ended up messing up the original recipe, (I messed up on the part that said, “reserve” — I used it all up.) so I ended up with my own version, using the recipe for the world’s greatest crumble as the base… which was far better than what was printed in that magazine.

So, here’s the recipe:

• 1 3/4 cup of flour
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salts
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes.
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup black raspberries… or berries of your choice, mixed with 1/2 cup sugar.
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened1/4 CUP SUGAR
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Mix flour, sugar and salt with a fork.
3. Using a fork, or pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.
4. Add oats, stirring them into the mixture.
5. Reserve!!!! Stop! Get out a measuring cup and reserve 1/4 – 1/2 of this mixture.
6. Pour the rest of the cobbler mixture into a spring-form pan… of if you don’t have one, like me, use a 9″ cake pan. Line that with parchment paper… but do not oil or butter the pan or the parchment paper. (It will burn.) (Go for the 9″ pan… because the parchment paper gives a beautiful “covering” to the cake.)
7. In a bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar for 1 minute. Add egg; beat just until combined. Spread over crust. Carefully top with berries. Top with almonds and reserved crumb mixture.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on a wire rack. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; remove sides of pan. Store in the refrigerator.

I could not fathom how people could celebrate Christmas, full of the same expectation and joy that accompanies Advent, after Christmas. Some families, because relatives live out of state or travel or work constraints, decide to celebrate Christmas post-holidays — and hearing about those gatherings, I expected those celebrations to have a gray cast over them… full of the post-holiday bleakness that accompany stale cookies, broken candy canes, and the blah of January.

Yet, Christmas, can somehow overcome those constraints, no matter what the date, shinning just as brightly as December 24 — even in dreary January.  This was the first chance we had to celebrate Christmas at the lake.

Santa had already left behind our decorated mini tree, fully decorated with our “lake” ornaments and presents. (Chicago trip– without the kids.)

Along with presents, Santa added to our collection of lake-friendly animal ornaments.

I have no idea what that Elephant is doing there… there are no elephants at the lake, but I’m sure our boys know something about that.

There was enough snow to make a giant snowman,

And a mini smaller one who wore a hat:

The snow lasted “just long enough”  for sledding.

Not bad for a bleak January Christmas.

Packing List:

One country ham

Corn Meal (Forgot…. throw into car!)

Packs of Starbucks Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate

Pears

Cans of Pineapple and Cherries

Ice Skates (lake is frozen!)

Entire duffel bag  of mittens, snowpants, gloves, scarves

Extra blankets

Hersey Kisses for Peanut Blossoms

Peanut Blossom Cookie Dough (already made)

When we drove to Chicago, my husband and I snuck into the lake house and pulled out the Christmas tree, and decorated it… and left a few presents.

Prior to our visit to Chicago, I was scrambling around trying to find a babysitter. The girl I normally use for overnights was going to be out of town… but her boyfriend wasn’t! The boys already knew him… he’s a biology major, and KNOWS WHERE TO FIND FROGS… even when we’re not at the lake!!! What a score!!!

I was rest assured that the boys would be throughly entertained… no problem there… but what would they eat? Frozen pizzas and Two BOX TOPS can only get you so far…

So, I decided to package up some of the boys favorite meals, precooked, as slowcooker meals. This plan worked like a charm:

Here are my notes to the babysitter:

Your crockpot will be your friend this week. It helps to rub the bottom and sides with a bit of olive oil before you start to keep things from sticking. To clean the tough stains, let is soak with a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. (Both are under the sink.)  FYI: The garbage disposal switch is under the sink.

Meal 1: Lettuce Wraps

Pour contents in crockpot. Chicken is pre-cooked. Cook on high 3-4 hours.
There are two heads of lettuce in fridge. Use peanuts to throw on top.
Serve with baby carrots, and fruit in fridge.
Keep leftovers in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

Meal 2: Turkey Sandwiches.

Place contents of ziplock bag in crockpot. (Turkey is pre-cooked)
Cook on low 3- 4 hours.

Cook frozen vegetables in microwave for 2-3 minutes in bowl with a green glass plate as a lid.

Meal 3: Sweet potatoes.

Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork.
Place sweet potatoes in crockpot and cook on high 3-4 hours.

Meal 4: Pork Burritos.

Pour contents into crockpot (pork is precooked) and cook on low 3-4 hours.
The kids can grate the cheese for you.
They can build their own burritos.
Serve with baby carrots, pears and broccoli cooked in microwave.

Christmas break is over.

Thank goodness for the pot of steel cut oats waiting on the stove this morning…warm oats, warm tea, to get us through this cold, cold transition day.

I’m reading this book whenever I sip a cup of tea.

It’s wonderful.

We saw this movie with the boys,

We had so much fun watching it, we’re thinking about seeing it again… to watch the stunts.

I have made a ton of Praline Pancakes… and we nibble on them all day long.

I have crashed so many cars playing this game…

My husband always ends up grabbing the wheel and taking over… but honestly … it’s way more fun to crash into your opponent. Why all this emphasis on following that green arrow? Hitting the cones is way more fun!

If they don’t stop being so picky about it, I vowed I’d make them all play paper dolls with me.. or whatever it is girls do…

Took friends here:

but then we came back home so that we could drink more wine and eat more flatbread.

I’ve been making flatbreads again…

it’s going well, and the kids seem to like it! My husband and I love the Pear with brie and rosemary… but the boys like plain old mozzarella and sauce.

Roasting garlic!

How long has it been since you’ve done that? So pretty to do it with parchment, rather than foil.

And then, I saw some old, old girlfriends… and I realized just how loved we truly are. So for the New Year, we will be seeing more and more of them.

I’ve been playing 2 on 2 basketball with my husband and older sons. It’s a disaster… but I make a mean screen. (Whatever that means.)

(Picture to come… wait till you see the little guy with his glorious sock monkey hat…)

Still haven’t taken down the tree… I don’t have that “Photo” yet…

Happy