tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65752378907976656242024-03-18T23:50:54.093-04:00Sense and SimplicityA blog celebrating family, food, decorating, books, photos, and travel, all done with sense and simplicity.Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.comBlogger827125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-59840852400043226012015-06-05T23:58:00.000-04:002015-06-05T23:58:14.629-04:00Catching Up - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two days after we sold our home (see <a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2015/05/catching-up-part-1.html">Catching Up - Part 1</a>) the husband and my mother and myself flew down to Nova Scotia to celebrate our daughter's graduation from University of King's College and Dalhousie University in Halifax. We had a lovely time taking part in all the many special graduation events and we also went on a little road trip over the May long weekend. Lots of fun!</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate makes the fifth generation of women in our family to graduate from university and coincidentally graduated from Dalhousie just like her great great grandmother did back in 1901 (in the photo below is Kate with my mother and myself - we both graduated from the University of Toronto, as did my mother's mother)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;">We always seem to hit up a Tim's on important occasions (like</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">just before our</span><span style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2011/05/lovely-relaxed-wedding.html" target="_blank"> son </a></span><span style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2011/05/lovely-relaxed-wedding.html" target="_blank">and daughter-in-law got married</a></span><span style="text-align: center;">)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">All the students were led in a procession by a bagpiper from the university through the city to the cathedral where the convocation took place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cathedral in Halifax is beautiful and a fitting place for such a grand affair. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">University of King's College is a beautiful university with stone buildings all around a quadrangle. It is the oldest chartered university in Canada (<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">founded in 1789, chartered in 1802</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> ). </span>Kate had a wonderful four years there - worked hard, learned lots, and made fantastic friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also spent some time visiting Kate's favourite spots in Halifax. Places like the Public Gardens which were spectacular with all the flowers - especially the daffodils and magnolias</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the new Public Library with its amazing building complete with a cantilevered reading room, words on the windows, and book art on the walls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the market on Saturday where we enjoyed a breakfast pizza and coffee while looking out across the harbour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also went on a little road trip to Yarmouth and, of course, had to stop at Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been to Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove before, but they are both beautiful spots and are definitely worth a second (or third) visit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunenburg is full of beautiful old wooden buildings and ships at the harbour, including the Blue Nose (finally).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped at Sand Dollar Beach just south of Lunenburg and stretched our legs. There were people in swimming (crazy people is what I'm thinking as the ice had been there just a few weeks before.) There were also sand dollars all over the beach. The live ones leave little trails in the sand as they move. I actually didn't know they could move, so that was interesting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yarmouth was new to me and although the weather wasn't the best when we were there, the historic homes were gorgeous and definitely made it a worthwhile visit. We also popped into the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Yarmouth and enjoyed the Lucy Jarvis exhibit. She was a new-to-me Canadian artist, but I really am glad to have learned about her and seen her work. We also drove out to the Yarmouth lighthouse which we visited in the gale-force wind and threatening rain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Peggy's Cove was classic and gorgeous - as always!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, Nova Scotia you steal my heart every time I visit.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-22639004210526497872015-05-31T21:01:00.001-04:002015-05-31T21:01:08.850-04:00Catching Up - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been such a long time since I posted and so much has happened. I never really intended to stop blogging, but a few things got in the way. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I discovered Instagram in the late fall and have slowly been falling in love with it ever since. So yes, I've been cheating on my blog over on Instagram. I know I'm late to the game, but instagram fits me well as it is all about random photos of small details of life or your travels and lets face it that's mostly what I write about. If you are interested in checking out what I'm posting on Instagram my name is "aliasgracie", you can find the link on the righthand</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> sidebar of my blog, or </span><a href="http://www.intagme.com/aliasgracie/997091445676757740_1090952355/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So yeah, sorry blog. You've taken a back seat for the past few months. In addition to me spending all my screen time over there on instagram, we've also been super busy in real life. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bought a house and sold our current house and are currently getting ready to move in July. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a picture of our new (old) house. It was built in 1872, but has been been really renovated inside. It is located in a little village near a larger centre so we have the best of both worlds. We back onto conservation land and can walk to the centre of the village which has a little bakery and a book shop and an art centre, but aren't far from groceries and the train station. It is all the things we always dreamed of having in a home.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl9rt85U4-wps3Zq39ybt2Sqzr9N84zQiEHo-BhKlKjK7J7dGzWSUgIuhccOyn7jO6unhBwdBkMgJJFhkFVgu8RcDUiUYrPIxFs924FKZwWI6ZF0jRFJoemShWs1VFKanagJxssrqrYPa/s1600/House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl9rt85U4-wps3Zq39ybt2Sqzr9N84zQiEHo-BhKlKjK7J7dGzWSUgIuhccOyn7jO6unhBwdBkMgJJFhkFVgu8RcDUiUYrPIxFs924FKZwWI6ZF0jRFJoemShWs1VFKanagJxssrqrYPa/s640/House.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the front porch of our new house</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the gazebo and tree-covered hill in our new home's backyard</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The timeline was tight on selling our house and we had so much to do because we weren't really planning on moving just yet. We had it on the radar to move to somewhere quaint over the next few years, but when your friend sends you a listing with a house that ticks all the boxes on your list, you jump at the opportunity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we bought the house, then we had to do the mad scramble of decluttering, repairing, and staging our home (which included having all new windows and a new roof put on). It was a crazy whirlwind of a month. Here's how it played out (I want to record those dates so I won't forget how fast/tiring/crazy that month was):</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>April 7th </b>- a friend sent us a real estate listing of a house she thought we would like</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>April 12th</b> - we bought the house</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>May 6th</b> - our present home was finally ready to be on the market</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>May 11th</b> - we had 44 people view our home and two open houses and sold it with 6 offers and over the asking price. Hurray! It was such a tiring month that I'm only now recovering from it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And to make things even more fun, the husband broke his wrist a few days before we listed the house and we were still in the throws of sorting and tidying. Good times. He still managed to do an amazing amount of work with an arm in a cast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a few photos of our current house after it was tidied up and the stager had made suggestions. The person we had come and give us suggestions on how to stage our house was fantastic. She was not a minimalist and did a great job of making our home look better than it ever had before. (Apologies for the terrible photos as I took them all with the iPad,)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was going to put everything in one post, but it was just getting unwieldy so I'm going to post the rest in another post. Stay tuned for Part 2 in which we go to Nova Scotia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as for the blog, I hope to post updates on the house once we have moved in. It will be fun to see its transformation. The new house isn't terrible now, but we do plan on putting our own stamp on it. I do know I won't be posting as frequently as before and mostly when I have something to share. In the meantie, feel free to keep in touch over on instagram.</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-81700509708599069992015-02-27T23:42:00.002-05:002015-02-27T23:42:43.177-05:00New Food #2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continuing with my project for the year to try a new food every month, I bring you New Food #2 - the tamarillo. I had never heard of it and my interest was piqued when I saw it in the grocery store sitting with the exotic fruits and looking so pretty. The skin is such a pretty blend of reds and peaches and yellows. I actually had to check twice to get the name right as I wasn't familiar with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After some Googling I discovered that it is a fruit grown on a small tree and is also called a tree tomato. It is native to South America, but now is grown in many subtropical areas around the world with New Zealand and Australia leading in commercial production and exporting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are yellow and red varieties, with the yellow being sweeter and often eaten like a kiwi scooping it out of the skin. Since the red tamarillo are more tangy, I thought it would make sense to cook a savoury dish with it. I served it with chicken and it was delicious. While I liked the taste, I doubt I will be buying it again too often as it was very expensive. Have you ever had a tamarillo or is new to you too?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tamarillo Chutney</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>INGREDIENTS</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tamarillo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 apple, peeled and chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 red pepper, chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5 whole cloves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon ground ginger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon chili powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/8 teaspoon salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup white vinegar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 tablespoons sugar</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>METHOD</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Cover tamarillo with boiling water and allow to stand for 3-4 minutes. Then drain and when cool enough to handle peel and chop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Cook the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil for about 4-5 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Combine ingredients in a saucepan and cook for about 30 minutes (add small amounts of water as needed) until the consistency of jam. Remove cloves before serving.</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-31546327151920668202015-02-18T21:48:00.001-05:002015-02-18T21:48:24.089-05:00Winter Fun at Island Lake Conservation Area<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The husband hasn't skated in about 25 years. I thought he didn't like to skate - or at least that's how I remembered it after all these years, but it turns out his old skates were uncomfortable so he never went. We fixed that problem on Saturday by buying him new skates and on Monday we went to try them out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't like to skate indoors because of all the nasty smells so I did some Googling to find outdoor skating in our area. We decided to go to </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/enjoy-the-outdoors/conservation-areas/island-lake-conservation-area/" target="_blank">Island Lake Conservation Area</a></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">near Orangeville, Ontario. It turned out to be so much more than just skating and was a great choice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a skating area on a pond for hockey and one out on the lake for pleasure skating. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I guess skating is like riding a bike because the husband did well once he got going. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a cold day (-15C), but no wind so we actually warmed up while we were skating and walking around and even had to take our mitts off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were about 40 ice huts on the lake and a fishing derby for the kids. I have seen fishing huts lots of times at the cottage, but never up this close. I looked inside one of the huts (well two, but one of them had people inside looking back at me - gulp). I figured you like interiors as much as I do so I even took a picture of the inside of one. They are a little plain inside and could do with some decorating. In addition to all the ice fishing huts, there were lots of holes in the ice and even a clever contraption to cover the hole and allow access to it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other activities for the kids included making</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">snow art using paint and bird seeds and </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">minnow races. These were both new activities to me. The snow art would have been something I would have done with my own kids if I had thought of it when they were young, but the minnow races ... well, let's just say the minnows looked a little hypothermic and the rain gutters were freezing over and leave it at that. There were also snow shoe rentals and plenty of trails through the woods to use them on and t</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here were campfires to cook marshmallows and hot dogs.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Island Lake was a great place to get out and enjoy winter. I'm on the lookout for some more outdoor skating rinks now that we've established that the husband likes to skate.</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-80070629125894491142015-02-02T21:32:00.002-05:002015-02-02T21:32:27.345-05:00Blueberry Coffee Cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you get the urge to bake when it is cold and wet and stormy outside? I sure do. Today was one of those days - with a winter storm giving me a snow day and putting me in the mood to bake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to make a version of Ann's blueberry coffee cake (from <i><a href="http://www.onsuttonplace.com/2013/04/blueberry-coffee-cake" target="_blank">On Sutton Place</a></i>). Naturally I can't just make a recipe as is, but have to tweak it somewhat. The husband and I are trying to eat healthier so I cut down on the sugar slightly, used whole wheat flour, and added sunflower seeds. After a long snow-shoveling session this afternoon I had a piece of cake and a cup of tea, and man, did it taste great. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">INGREDIENTS:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">1/4 cup margarine or soft butter</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">1 egg</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">3/4 cup milk</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">3/4 cup sugar</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">2 cups whole wheat flour</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: inherit;">2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>For topping:</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/3 c. Sugar </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/3 cup oatmeal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup soft butter or margarine</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b><br /></b><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit;">METHOD:</span><br />1. Mix the first four ingredients together.<br />2. Add the baking powder and flour in a separate bowl.<br />3. Add slowly to butter-sugar mixture.<br />4. Fold in blueberries</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Pour into 8 x 8 greased pan.<br />6. Sprinkle topping over blueberry batter.<br />7. Bake at 350F for 40 – 50 min. or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean.</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-23029688980184079132015-01-28T20:56:00.000-05:002015-01-31T10:24:53.895-05:00Pineapple Gojju<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I have a real treat for you today - a guest post by my friend's 17-year old daughter Molly. She is one of those uber-talented teens who is sweet and thoughtful, studies hard, can do yoga like nobody's business ... and is an amazing cook. She teaches the exercise/yoga class I attend every week and does a wonderful job of tailoring the moves to my aging body. Molly traveled around the world two years ago and fell in love with South Asian cooking. I've invited her to share one of her favourite recipes with us today - Pineapple Gojju - which I can't wait to try.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is Saturday morning and as I’m enjoying my pocket of warmth in my bed, safe from the frigid winter air outside, I am already planning what to eat for breakfast (the only motivation for leaving at all). I could opt for my usual meal - oatmeal with some chia seeds or berries on top - but today I have no plans, just a craving for some extra spicy-savoury-deliciousness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took a trip to India two years ago with a close family friend of mine and of all the incredible dishes we tried my absolute favourite was the coconut pineapple curry *mouth waters*… it’s the perfect balance of heat and if you love coconut as much as I do, this is bound to become your new ‘fav’ as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The majority of our trip was within the state of Karnataka, home to the small town of Hampi, and a few hours from the main city of Bangalore. There was one particular restaurant that holds a fond place in my memory, obviously for the food, but also for the breathtaking scenery.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUO0z1cLxDIxqk36xn2sxz8eDx9gXVG0DiFYJLUqnxp4sG7kO3z_9ix44wOpbf0zXLJ3jDUtlgTJ1nx8I67dx3mY5_CAaR4G55bQSyeZKmGol0uWlOeU9x-YGUZCYY9a-csHPAZvT3EoF/s1600/Molly+4+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUO0z1cLxDIxqk36xn2sxz8eDx9gXVG0DiFYJLUqnxp4sG7kO3z_9ix44wOpbf0zXLJ3jDUtlgTJ1nx8I67dx3mY5_CAaR4G55bQSyeZKmGol0uWlOeU9x-YGUZCYY9a-csHPAZvT3EoF/s1600/Molly+4+a.jpg" height="490" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This was the view from my bamboo mat on the floor</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After weaving through a banana plantation for about a kilometer you’d come to a quaint little cafe - The Mango Tree Restaurant (even though there were in fact no mango trees nearby). It looked out on a beautiful green marsh with water buffalo passing by nonchalantly every half hour and monkeys climbing up in the trees… surreal I know.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiorM5-ZL9f7ahovtsOH2gvESXus64AcXZeO8Kqd0UT9_kQpEdYvL8KBkanBj05ZNPoa-6qFjOQ00qfXRVYUtd1TBIQPEUUFJbpzVZUkMHupq4lV99qeXhvtba_2fdKAx5T-us2Ak4Mo9n/s1600/Molly+5+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiorM5-ZL9f7ahovtsOH2gvESXus64AcXZeO8Kqd0UT9_kQpEdYvL8KBkanBj05ZNPoa-6qFjOQ00qfXRVYUtd1TBIQPEUUFJbpzVZUkMHupq4lV99qeXhvtba_2fdKAx5T-us2Ak4Mo9n/s1600/Molly+5+a.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once our shoes were off and we were comfortably seated cross-legged on the floor mats the waiter would come around with fresh watermelon juice and our menus.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKf0KXLQIvTbldhNh2u2WrnJLXz5LdRNvTyzLL9YmrIo9ZT-DoxdH8kONbho4xyGDVXKvaumV6SDuuFb2O9BjiRBCtt_NskMWymzkogdpTWabvsL4HC-nxWuPraRGhDh0n82BZ5lvVKGOk/s1600/Molly+1+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKf0KXLQIvTbldhNh2u2WrnJLXz5LdRNvTyzLL9YmrIo9ZT-DoxdH8kONbho4xyGDVXKvaumV6SDuuFb2O9BjiRBCtt_NskMWymzkogdpTWabvsL4HC-nxWuPraRGhDh0n82BZ5lvVKGOk/s1600/Molly+1+a.jpg" height="640" width="472" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6X8aQgxuBmINBFUf3L_zqWKr1gcee2b5USmtR3m_r4aqWU46DzoxLWvPAilfi4k78kQLHauDpqzTDDy0HESn3ahM6rwLhZIJNa91EDYY1BlyYhVDSZjWzHidPZAD22U4fSHufIBO7nGj/s1600/Molly+3+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6X8aQgxuBmINBFUf3L_zqWKr1gcee2b5USmtR3m_r4aqWU46DzoxLWvPAilfi4k78kQLHauDpqzTDDy0HESn3ahM6rwLhZIJNa91EDYY1BlyYhVDSZjWzHidPZAD22U4fSHufIBO7nGj/s1600/Molly+3+a.jpg" height="488" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">To the left is me (Molly) - we are very grateful to be under the shade of a big tree and about to eat!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A special bond was formed that day between the curry and me. Since returning home I’ve been trying to recreate the recipe on my own with the help of the Internet and cookbooks. I came up with this version, inspired by a recipe found on<a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/pineapple-gojju-29914" target="_blank"> <i>food.com</i></a>, with my own twist.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhK6OrNLIjg3684yPDD8dyLGRfq5SRaT14ob4a29VO-hoiXRIa4LVs_Yeeg05toCn1fhmszbvwBEG8pIeOhHkoZhnxVwP3HhTgN5gYqhYPI5Gvkg4bCj-J3Cmsl7fdhLZ5cxUc9KJGIT7/s1600/Molly+2+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhK6OrNLIjg3684yPDD8dyLGRfq5SRaT14ob4a29VO-hoiXRIa4LVs_Yeeg05toCn1fhmszbvwBEG8pIeOhHkoZhnxVwP3HhTgN5gYqhYPI5Gvkg4bCj-J3Cmsl7fdhLZ5cxUc9KJGIT7/s1600/Molly+2+a.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pineapple Gojju</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now its quite possible that this dish seems so magical to me because when I ordered it I hadn’t eaten in hours and was so hungry anything would’ve tasted like a five star meal, but I’m putting the recipe out there anyway and I hope you find it’s as comforting and homey on a cold winters day as I do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here goes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>PINEAPPLE GOJJU</b> (</span>Serves: 4-8)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>INGREDIENTS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tablespoon canola or grape seed oil (I use grape seed) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 garlic clove, finely chopped </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cinnamon stick </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 clove hearts </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cardamom pods, capsules crushed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 teaspoons ground coriander </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon ground cumin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon ground turmeric</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon chili powder (more or less depending on how spicy you want it) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 pineapple peeled and cut into small squares </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup coconut milk (I used the Thai Kitchen brand, from a can)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*if you prefer a sweeter tasting curry, add 1 tablespoon of sugar</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Optional:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup dried currants or golden raisins (I use currants)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sprinkle of desiccated coconut flakes and/or extra cinnamon when serving.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DIRECTIONS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Prepare all your ingredients.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. In a frying pan heat oil and fry onion, garlic and whole spices until onions are soft.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Add ground spices and stir for one more minute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Add pineapple and stir until well coated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Add salt, coconut milk, and sugar if using.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Cook uncovered 5 minutes or until soft.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Serve with steamed white or brown rice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Enjoy!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-51223723291734995032015-01-26T22:15:00.000-05:002015-01-26T22:15:44.766-05:00The Fabulous World of The Grand Budapest Hotel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUOEccR2s5JCGTdSJSslaHvEERYSFh3E46vWG-F7DraDz8Ghim7TzelY4sKNwBz76Y7ZsXM38F_zD8Luw4QpsTT-ZEkbsuamBQcNyucFmCUyGnXBRHoaTN9Hna3qSa3Ntg6NhyphenhyphenAZpQjQy/s1600/grand+budapst+hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdUOEccR2s5JCGTdSJSslaHvEERYSFh3E46vWG-F7DraDz8Ghim7TzelY4sKNwBz76Y7ZsXM38F_zD8Luw4QpsTT-ZEkbsuamBQcNyucFmCUyGnXBRHoaTN9Hna3qSa3Ntg6NhyphenhyphenAZpQjQy/s1600/grand+budapst+hotel.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The husband and I recently watched </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Grand Budapest Hotel. </i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you seen it yet? </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me the interest lay not in the plot, but in the </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">absolutely fabulous </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">visual design</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plot was interesting, but nothing remarkable ... it is about a conceirge who, with the help of one of his employees, works to prove his innocence when he is wrongly framed for murder. Pretty simple really. </span><br />
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The Grand Budapest Hotel </i>is set primarily in the 1930s and is bookended by portions in the 1960s and 1980s - a double flashback. Each time period has its own colour palatte, but since most of the movie is in the 1930s that is what made the biggest impact on me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Wes Anderson, the director and writer of <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i>, is known for his meticulous attention to detail in his films (reportedly he even specified the hook the stolen painting was to hang from). </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anderson's</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> use of </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">unique composition and distinctive</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> colour choices make you feel like you have entered a self-contained world. A world that is similar to ours, but different - more controlled, more intense, and quirkier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was drawn into <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel's</i> world and was completely intrigued by the visual design. It felt somehow familiar. At first I couldn't put my finger on what made it seem so familiar and then I realized that watching <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel </i>felt like I was stepping into some of my favourite blogs. The forced symmetry, the rich saturated colours, the pastels, the monochromatic look, and </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the moody lighting are</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> all things that anyone familiar with blog photography would recognize. </span><br />
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Let's have a look.</span><br />
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<b>RIGID CENTERING AND SYMMETRY:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel </i>is shot so you are looking straight at, straight down, or straight up at something. Everything is carefully centred in the middle of the frame - everything from people to buildings to pastries. The style of architecture is classic and symmetrical. It kind of does this symmetrical-loving girl's heart good to see everything lined up and organized like that. Symmetry gives the film a formality (although it is awkwardly formal at times because of the quirky characters and their antics). The rigid symmetry and centering also looks artificial and even a bit child-like </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which helps reinforce the appearance of this being another world. The symmetry also serves to make you aware of the composition which in turn serves to make you feel like you are looking at another world.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmPEsNX019w1Tlcs5VnplPdSkOnbdJDwMooLZnf5c_97y1dO3fuHAIo5YZFjN0XkRem9AEDJWvVVSWZqb9roKfz8WG-fC1logewLcASMxLiPZ9sO3QB5CvIFRHZHPybFgYkVe00MhibDx/s1600/Grand+Budapest+Hotel+Collage8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmPEsNX019w1Tlcs5VnplPdSkOnbdJDwMooLZnf5c_97y1dO3fuHAIo5YZFjN0XkRem9AEDJWvVVSWZqb9roKfz8WG-fC1logewLcASMxLiPZ9sO3QB5CvIFRHZHPybFgYkVe00MhibDx/s1600/Grand+Budapest+Hotel+Collage8.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />If you have read blogs for any length of time, you will be familiar with the same composition style. Centering the subject and tight symmetrical or semi-symmetrical composition are favourite tools that many bloggers use to take interesting and modern-looking photos of rooms, crafts, travel shots, people, or almost anything really.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://ohhappyday.com/2014/11/how-to-make-a-dessert-table/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Oh Happy Day</span></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/2014/11/19/women-whiskies-we-go-well-together/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">SF Girl by Bay</span></a><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLELnq9Fy_8-xTXD5TA8WySuqnuJf6AWPL_0w41Q6SCDgV45Ytq5156u3MY4X5s9QiiO6vzJqXFstJFgioO3VP7RsAm_2KmqRoAuOSk8O3ZE9OQvewc4xAHEeq0t2t9zG-doIpgfNKVPy/s1600/dip-mugs-8.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLELnq9Fy_8-xTXD5TA8WySuqnuJf6AWPL_0w41Q6SCDgV45Ytq5156u3MY4X5s9QiiO6vzJqXFstJFgioO3VP7RsAm_2KmqRoAuOSk8O3ZE9OQvewc4xAHEeq0t2t9zG-doIpgfNKVPy/s1600/dip-mugs-8.1.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="http://www.thisheartofmineblog.com/2014/12/17/two-tone-dipped-mugs/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This Heart of Mine</span></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4iYb8hzZsOfJgB9uXhFdJh6XQVCJySAI4A_23ilwOSNcwAX4Vm9sKSwZBVioNpSLRga6tnBofeW5XBsn7_jmeQxVwjrO-JZtkRSVnZzpf-sirhoQ9g2s6-WDFSsjPpgSFctnT70z0Zhq/s1600/Bright+Bazaar+Paris-Calling-sweater-1.jpg" height="640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="534" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brightbazaarblog.com/tag/paris-calling-jumper" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bright Bazaar</span></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4iYb8hzZsOfJgB9uXhFdJh6XQVCJySAI4A_23ilwOSNcwAX4Vm9sKSwZBVioNpSLRga6tnBofeW5XBsn7_jmeQxVwjrO-JZtkRSVnZzpf-sirhoQ9g2s6-WDFSsjPpgSFctnT70z0Zhq/s1600/Bright+Bazaar+Paris-Calling-sweater-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>STRONG HORIZONTALS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the other composition techniques Wes Anderson employs is the use of strong horizontal lines. I found this most evident in distance shots, like the one of Gustave and Zero running through the snow in the upper right in the collage below. Of course, horizontal lines happen naturally when you shoot your pictures at a 90 degree angle, but it is emphasized by having people or vehicles move straight across the scene and often at a distance so they </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">appear</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">almost as silhouettes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqfbfU-gE7VKkz74QIy6KOZFo1EoVvE-qMpsJym8OjbGmChHEgJebqYrLPNBM9DUJpPOEFb7D8VonOSDv-B1OdNYOY8RwhpNrtFdakU1xDxo0jON6WlS39Fu3uv2WmZ5s6jO5laDwJWX6/s1600/tumblr_muttmu99UH1r4xrx9o2_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://suchasadaffair.tumblr.com/post/64314385311" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">(source)</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prior to reading blogs, I had never seen family and wedding photographs taken with the subjects standing stiffly side-by-side facing the camera. Now I see this style frequently and have grown to love its quirky composition. One of my favourite variations of this composition style is the photo below of Gabrielle Blair's family (author of <a href="http://www.designmom.com/" target="_blank">Design Mom</a>). The same strong horizontal lines can also be seen in pictures of food, craft items, or travel photos.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg-tQfXjH7lP_B7FEguGVPB4t1cTqjW8NhXjPOuVW5gFqOXCMPI4QCk3cz2DesrCgqLfaoYpM8K26-Emo5oDsqqwrbDCHdQ-khcOyxTVgLPBL3jVTtcI2lJNgP2vjs6vbBc_wKwxrJaBA/s1600/BlairVintageCarChristmas07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVg-tQfXjH7lP_B7FEguGVPB4t1cTqjW8NhXjPOuVW5gFqOXCMPI4QCk3cz2DesrCgqLfaoYpM8K26-Emo5oDsqqwrbDCHdQ-khcOyxTVgLPBL3jVTtcI2lJNgP2vjs6vbBc_wKwxrJaBA/s1600/BlairVintageCarChristmas07.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.designmom.com/2012/11/5-tips-for-family-photos/" target="_blank">Design Mom</a></span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFJhBuU0iWLc5yPZl6ttRv_QSUS0ERiDrFT4XQbe0XwaaRarUSHYNf-WXksSC4PhhNSpSclx1DBzlaI5EUe0oj-y13k6tErRe0C_xV6IXTAM0_0doAKv9KaAzReEJuQ0uu7bWA_xDs7kf/s1600/02-clothesline-054-md108129_horiz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFJhBuU0iWLc5yPZl6ttRv_QSUS0ERiDrFT4XQbe0XwaaRarUSHYNf-WXksSC4PhhNSpSclx1DBzlaI5EUe0oj-y13k6tErRe0C_xV6IXTAM0_0doAKv9KaAzReEJuQ0uu7bWA_xDs7kf/s1600/02-clothesline-054-md108129_horiz.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/906821/block-printing/@center/276982/craft-tools-and-projects" target="_blank">Martha Stewart</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.designmom.com/2014/12/wooden-peg-doll-ornaments/" target="_blank">Design Mom</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://thehousethatlarsbuilt.com/2014/07/how-to-throw-the-garden-party-of-the-century.html/" target="_blank">The House that Lars Built</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/2014/06/oh-baby-paris.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brooklyn Limestone</span></a></td></tr>
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<b>RICH SATURATED COLOURS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wes Anderson is also known for the distinctive colour palettes that he creates for each of his films. In <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i> he used cheerful reds and pinks and purples in the hotel scenes. The exterior of the hotel was painted a range of intense pinks, the interior had red walls in the concierge and elevator, blush pink walls in the lobby, red patterned carpets throughout, and the staff wore royal purple uniforms. It is a strong and distinctive colour choice, but it also makes the movie.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuqf2lSt2_Pw0vK9EaMo7UU_CXyOcwryccbIfStMfCJxm4WTeGB4JU16Nw9B4UAqSs-MqUVXiqxDr42CNQC62tYFvOdAMLx8bH4TNlfkdxoh0JAWP6XBn00S4V1racdb8h1-_QAce4JRO/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuqf2lSt2_Pw0vK9EaMo7UU_CXyOcwryccbIfStMfCJxm4WTeGB4JU16Nw9B4UAqSs-MqUVXiqxDr42CNQC62tYFvOdAMLx8bH4TNlfkdxoh0JAWP6XBn00S4V1racdb8h1-_QAce4JRO/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+4.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I see lots of saturated colours on blogs, although not usually as intense as in <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i>. Saturated colours appear more in craft projects, flowers, food, and even fashion photographs, than in interior decorating. Most people decorate with more livable neutral colours, although there are a few bright and beautiful rooms out there in blogland.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVd0VXN8wyF1_nxxehOXLCY7m8gbHpabvjSqGFHVrS_VbbyyxafKFn9zGdaWlXL-3O4PQoJP8Axok8UeXpX98UOTKRhaNyvXfIpr0xi8TQFb8oFwly-weXAmybGAPCOhXeDPR7kLAZBg9/s1600/red-blue-room_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVd0VXN8wyF1_nxxehOXLCY7m8gbHpabvjSqGFHVrS_VbbyyxafKFn9zGdaWlXL-3O4PQoJP8Axok8UeXpX98UOTKRhaNyvXfIpr0xi8TQFb8oFwly-weXAmybGAPCOhXeDPR7kLAZBg9/s1600/red-blue-room_300.jpg" height="640" width="536" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating/home-office-ideas/turquoise-red-white-kids-workspace" target="_blank">Real Simple</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.designsponge.com/2014/10/matisse-inspired-cocktail-recipe-diy.html" target="_blank">Decor Sponge</a></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-amRWvbEMX87kN-FF9hPdYN3Zq9KGtqCIhc5A8EX-zWcXfoCGlnZfm-8nDzliSN4SsjAIpn9j9hIfuH_WcGEcGm9GD75Vo-SMp9jDDi4Ah-TnHbpbjMmI4fV9Zp3zTNO7pSkHOtifnTzc/s1600/decor8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-amRWvbEMX87kN-FF9hPdYN3Zq9KGtqCIhc5A8EX-zWcXfoCGlnZfm-8nDzliSN4SsjAIpn9j9hIfuH_WcGEcGm9GD75Vo-SMp9jDDi4Ah-TnHbpbjMmI4fV9Zp3zTNO7pSkHOtifnTzc/s1600/decor8.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="http://decor8blog.com/2012/09/10/style-guide-to-hamburg-germany/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Decor8</span></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bZOphnhyNI6IoVrHS6-Uk21JyIo0cTDyFY5gUoUDf7YKi9YqTLa1IbSxcSrMdzaDamuJQZGGC8jP48vBKaKklaROYxPw-6Zhf2aQwB3sweBuq6q1pEVmARnkTTpMBB950IeFvM1bufox/s1600/Bright+Bazaar.jpg" height="640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brightbazaarblog.com/tag/colorful-streets-in-paris" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bright Bazaar</span></a></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bZOphnhyNI6IoVrHS6-Uk21JyIo0cTDyFY5gUoUDf7YKi9YqTLa1IbSxcSrMdzaDamuJQZGGC8jP48vBKaKklaROYxPw-6Zhf2aQwB3sweBuq6q1pEVmARnkTTpMBB950IeFvM1bufox/s1600/Bright+Bazaar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://houseandhome.com/food/menus/berry-confections-menu" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">House and Home</span></a></td></tr>
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<b>PLENTY OF PASTELS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of the scenes in <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel,</i> especially ones<i> </i>that involve Agatha and the bake shop have lots of pink, yellow, and blue pastel colours. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bbdD10xIDM1SVWYChPDX0w47R6W-SV1lawJMc_gNsVaZy57U09iItZl3Lecu4WRK4cNZS3pML5Pi6RQFkwtaXXNzoTMqAnU6Ifv12ZASsK8l9GlBsa24IYnhWgwyhehElt8vAFRbFnn6/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bbdD10xIDM1SVWYChPDX0w47R6W-SV1lawJMc_gNsVaZy57U09iItZl3Lecu4WRK4cNZS3pML5Pi6RQFkwtaXXNzoTMqAnU6Ifv12ZASsK8l9GlBsa24IYnhWgwyhehElt8vAFRbFnn6/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+7.jpg" height="432" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastel colours are a favouite in blogland. Pastels are very livable so </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are used for pretty much everything from food to fashion to flowers to decor. The tone of pastels can vary though, from more serious greyed pastels to bright and happy pure-toned pastels.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORK_DMFybzDppaPLdLzQ_OABMGon5W3pk50EmYJWaUYied8JtFqN9I7hux5dKIikAFXVj6iCJLCUjLzx-2gub9Mx2Mwv3gGKSbgQFOElQeMYk7_Cg4r5GifJhIh-sE38L9C1Q8JRsVwkU/s1600/Martha-Stewart-Ombre-Flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORK_DMFybzDppaPLdLzQ_OABMGon5W3pk50EmYJWaUYied8JtFqN9I7hux5dKIikAFXVj6iCJLCUjLzx-2gub9Mx2Mwv3gGKSbgQFOElQeMYk7_Cg4r5GifJhIh-sE38L9C1Q8JRsVwkU/s1600/Martha-Stewart-Ombre-Flowers.jpg" height="510" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/230971/floral-wedding-centerpieces" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Martha Stewart</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdk9QHugEGw6GdqcqYvyN9HJq-mCFlr1Jf_7E7-IcJUwAiDuI0Ke8SD7VHY_X6FebSRPOJiP6iP9j9UJ-q45xf4x5f3x5zmpIjNjoiBeEW6yn6Ybxix8OW6vask9JN_gwoGlccGd-WeSj/s1600/MSL-flower-arrangement-560x700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdk9QHugEGw6GdqcqYvyN9HJq-mCFlr1Jf_7E7-IcJUwAiDuI0Ke8SD7VHY_X6FebSRPOJiP6iP9j9UJ-q45xf4x5f3x5zmpIjNjoiBeEW6yn6Ybxix8OW6vask9JN_gwoGlccGd-WeSj/s1600/MSL-flower-arrangement-560x700.jpg" height="640" width="510" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Martha Stewart via <a href="http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/anatomy-of-an-arrangement/" target="_blank">Home Depot</a></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreyIHcrRvn5Qc6ATxdoW2BheYl-23f0dsZRZqqu4NMGcO-IqeHD2qc0EgIKng0NlmzUk0-39v2Ivj1gN94wGlHmOzuDkh8MMRvrV8yN4Lxk6HQBkutRkArAqEVaAqHomg3QShHMsxaTKP/s1600/cocktail-recipe-grapefruit-rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreyIHcrRvn5Qc6ATxdoW2BheYl-23f0dsZRZqqu4NMGcO-IqeHD2qc0EgIKng0NlmzUk0-39v2Ivj1gN94wGlHmOzuDkh8MMRvrV8yN4Lxk6HQBkutRkArAqEVaAqHomg3QShHMsxaTKP/s1600/cocktail-recipe-grapefruit-rose.jpg" height="640" width="488" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.styleathome.com/food-and-entertaining/wine-and-spirits/drink-recipe-grapefruit-rose-mimosa/a/58711" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Style at Home</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY28JDHaOUqxDr4tF9UZsjWDOtQ93e1apThT1arUJeqom6KD6_LxPAkzcq4djn0M7X5iZbcvRSj4Q-OVnN0__uPcfKRseaPx2xFvP8Lnq4SYVbNMAvAMDPDrOL0RecPh0uPM4jr_UF8PsB/s1600/realsimple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY28JDHaOUqxDr4tF9UZsjWDOtQ93e1apThT1arUJeqom6KD6_LxPAkzcq4djn0M7X5iZbcvRSj4Q-OVnN0__uPcfKRseaPx2xFvP8Lnq4SYVbNMAvAMDPDrOL0RecPh0uPM4jr_UF8PsB/s1600/realsimple.jpg" height="560" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/cakes-catering/dessert-table-00100000074296?xid-stylisthome-RS-02-10-12=#2" target="_blank">Real Simple</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8WJ5LXsFDi-w2WDEiypA_GxfAn5ZGyxpBAWDG3beOwnIuY8gBOfxgrMOiVaRSEUxXd53ijFRePsycHZWj6tGmYa2FLTChjLA7xg03xsRxLkBRl5FIGHQKg7laYCHk3LZIDggziMvGdIf/s1600/img60h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8WJ5LXsFDi-w2WDEiypA_GxfAn5ZGyxpBAWDG3beOwnIuY8gBOfxgrMOiVaRSEUxXd53ijFRePsycHZWj6tGmYa2FLTChjLA7xg03xsRxLkBRl5FIGHQKg7laYCHk3LZIDggziMvGdIf/s1600/img60h.jpg" height="388" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.westelm.com/shop/design-lab/bedroom-suites/modern-blush-bedroom/?" target="_blank">West Elm</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>
<b>THE MONOCHROMATIC LOOK:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the outdoor shots were snowy and overcast creating a monochromatic muted feel to them. The shots even appeared to be black-and-white at times.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsI9MsMEJ6oYGxnJfS39zjydm3VbDbvQrMYhCIvy28IPeXOJL4BWUOYY9hELedB0wvlT9gZv7XgK1-9yBuft5i5dsX3gc9_W2-qRzHzy3r4XZCwi6TYNcE3Uc-VgToOHtEW6wlbH5xPqD/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsI9MsMEJ6oYGxnJfS39zjydm3VbDbvQrMYhCIvy28IPeXOJL4BWUOYY9hELedB0wvlT9gZv7XgK1-9yBuft5i5dsX3gc9_W2-qRzHzy3r4XZCwi6TYNcE3Uc-VgToOHtEW6wlbH5xPqD/s1600/grand+budapest+hotel+Collage+6.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSnkdF8JrdW7kj4GqLrHBliYUKOMe5IvEsVtYtXsXNNPonZi_u1bFeqp_KlvxAksQRWm5nhF4CbCPKxSdWRccb1LYNsTEM7zmaZV6dx6-oVTfCT4XANwe2qcDbKFOBUWlRTksZGh-E_Hb/s1600/Bright+Bazaar+oslo-snowy-woods-norway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The monochromatic look is popular in blogland. It is a calm look, often used in interiors and fashion.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSnkdF8JrdW7kj4GqLrHBliYUKOMe5IvEsVtYtXsXNNPonZi_u1bFeqp_KlvxAksQRWm5nhF4CbCPKxSdWRccb1LYNsTEM7zmaZV6dx6-oVTfCT4XANwe2qcDbKFOBUWlRTksZGh-E_Hb/s1600/Bright+Bazaar+oslo-snowy-woods-norway.jpg" height="640" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="520" /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.brightbazaarblog.com/tag/fargerike" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bright Bazaar</span></a></div>
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</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-sWi5AGt7WwdZdfSIZqVw3tpEs3ooqElxFcA3TKlEFl_lz14U9NLgpLuI_gJ_qb-N8vdNKgEFfGu76MTdCzIK-rJh7tyYlw_U4Z11sPsFmFYB6oFWpozLdTNbFAuu5Q6Jbu5vi5IkrrZ/s1600/Bright+Bazaar+nyc1.jpg" height="640" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="462" /></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="http://www.brightbazaarblog.com/tag/nyc" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bright Bazaar</span></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDve1OtvZTQp8Q4LgdQ93XBxxwVl77TwnLwVQ7XPpo9gOoyFoLh294HuBbE3gn3DmnVVdOGv6Ci1OjNsqV1oBthnP0oZ7BFlXVayGvjsEOOtVaYB7k3ddYhvCUMTbGKwb7sECcLhRY_5H/s1600/Design+mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDve1OtvZTQp8Q4LgdQ93XBxxwVl77TwnLwVQ7XPpo9gOoyFoLh294HuBbE3gn3DmnVVdOGv6Ci1OjNsqV1oBthnP0oZ7BFlXVayGvjsEOOtVaYB7k3ddYhvCUMTbGKwb7sECcLhRY_5H/s1600/Design+mom.jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.designmom.com/" target="_blank">Design Mom</a></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEKxc8vqLJVbGGKkd4yr8nlM5w_KMD8W6KTVLwdUW_JandCMH_nvjAQgt-m3edLtrgjRWkpOGI6v8JFW-SNuVuyqxFKMCdSXtpqmXDChGjpf1w90F7BgiVUyZRLhBtkZ95BQRrspCV96s/s1600/mla102028_0906_cappmach_vert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEKxc8vqLJVbGGKkd4yr8nlM5w_KMD8W6KTVLwdUW_JandCMH_nvjAQgt-m3edLtrgjRWkpOGI6v8JFW-SNuVuyqxFKMCdSXtpqmXDChGjpf1w90F7BgiVUyZRLhBtkZ95BQRrspCV96s/s1600/mla102028_0906_cappmach_vert.jpg" height="640" width="510" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/275277/neutral-rooms/@center/276997/decorating-color#275087" target="_blank">Martha Stewart</a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: auto; padding: 6px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37hQDvJ_bn5AzTgRcGpBdOjnQrMmyb8uQZ70mz0IXCVni41RI9i8EarW_BfJMl62gjSjeGjCQgdUSGsf5eWKyVX3UtCBraDBrYXs6xYkrYshoc4ezHLZ23czwYWfLMWoXeZffFtK0hCM4/s1600/table-setting_white_ritzy-bee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37hQDvJ_bn5AzTgRcGpBdOjnQrMmyb8uQZ70mz0IXCVni41RI9i8EarW_BfJMl62gjSjeGjCQgdUSGsf5eWKyVX3UtCBraDBrYXs6xYkrYshoc4ezHLZ23czwYWfLMWoXeZffFtK0hCM4/s1600/table-setting_white_ritzy-bee.jpg" height="640" style="cursor: move;" width="490" /></span></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<a href="http://sunday-suppers.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sunday-Suppers</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>
<b>MOODY LIGHTING:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lighting in <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel</i> ranges from bright and intense to dark and moody. I found the dark lighting especially interesting. The background in these shots was dark with the light focused on the character's faces giving them the look of an old master painting.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiB3E-1xCFiV-_ztJ5aWrMAbNbv8Au_xQvyi9ljjrJDk-ovntsyCu2tpkcGMItGauaFEa6Yxb2FgehY1rZVtI4bMHYZSP8VWBmKhTg_6Az0sEJKwknKkbVD27H9bK85PqKCCuALNr1MY3s/s1600/terGrandBudapest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiB3E-1xCFiV-_ztJ5aWrMAbNbv8Au_xQvyi9ljjrJDk-ovntsyCu2tpkcGMItGauaFEa6Yxb2FgehY1rZVtI4bMHYZSP8VWBmKhTg_6Az0sEJKwknKkbVD27H9bK85PqKCCuALNr1MY3s/s1600/terGrandBudapest.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimd8DRmxG7Cxl1Vx4lmTId7UdzziFsLkLX-KOXHTui0qhCUPqhiaoJOWhpSfqhs30lujB1jm2VWIUzx3M5i9N2n9L4zeJ04H2UBAXfUucEQcZmrnI1yuyd3INNlctt62TBogq7k4w1ryX7/s1600/terborch_j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimd8DRmxG7Cxl1Vx4lmTId7UdzziFsLkLX-KOXHTui0qhCUPqhiaoJOWhpSfqhs30lujB1jm2VWIUzx3M5i9N2n9L4zeJ04H2UBAXfUucEQcZmrnI1yuyd3INNlctt62TBogq7k4w1ryX7/s1600/terborch_j.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Woman Writing a Letter by Gerrit ter Borch (<a href="http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/masters/terborch_j.html#.VMP1zv7F-T8" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVr4X3lvhp13tBB3POjxI7eBuDxMuZgv38pGObjVjBfjHVDd3UtyJhZlASqe6eCQqTktGwBqHgR4xZwtEaeMzzhukpACADgod4aJvAftBZszWhlVvEKy5xEe71xQ0iFAe75u0BwxZmOoMK/s1600/grand-budapest-hotel-theredlist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVr4X3lvhp13tBB3POjxI7eBuDxMuZgv38pGObjVjBfjHVDd3UtyJhZlASqe6eCQqTktGwBqHgR4xZwtEaeMzzhukpACADgod4aJvAftBZszWhlVvEKy5xEe71xQ0iFAe75u0BwxZmOoMK/s1600/grand-budapest-hotel-theredlist.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-WaPmib2rjaDokc7XvL2mUifvSAjZfeR7QqK81Q9fTnq9zQbY6mJ0DNa6zTwRImBrYEO0sKZPhKR_LuISAYq0yLCr_ShTQ_EeO9oU1j_inZpm_MNsa7TCULaSf5vMs5NxEZpy109HecY/s1600/DP120783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-WaPmib2rjaDokc7XvL2mUifvSAjZfeR7QqK81Q9fTnq9zQbY6mJ0DNa6zTwRImBrYEO0sKZPhKR_LuISAYq0yLCr_ShTQ_EeO9oU1j_inZpm_MNsa7TCULaSf5vMs5NxEZpy109HecY/s1600/DP120783.jpg" height="640" width="518" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Portrait of a Man Holding Gloves, Rembrandt (<a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/437401" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While dark and moody lighting is found in blogland, it seems to be used selectively. I see lots of moody table settings, food photography, flower arrangements, and even sometimes in photographs of people. What I don't see as much are dark and moody homes</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - for the most part light and bright is where it's at when it comes to decorating.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxcE2m9qOJr61YU8vPIUbkwyOYyx8ZRu11q2Ya0o-d2R64C_OmgNFSOR4Zbm_FT8IOXswBlvBLNI4WNCwLSqH-46rwM7OclFB4JEmnYIhOIyLO63GTawwMFA4rvYwYgfHVULnG71RE3X_/s1600/recipe-goats-milk-brie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxcE2m9qOJr61YU8vPIUbkwyOYyx8ZRu11q2Ya0o-d2R64C_OmgNFSOR4Zbm_FT8IOXswBlvBLNI4WNCwLSqH-46rwM7OclFB4JEmnYIhOIyLO63GTawwMFA4rvYwYgfHVULnG71RE3X_/s1600/recipe-goats-milk-brie.jpg" height="640" width="368" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.styleathome.com/food-and-entertaining/recipes/recipe-goat-s-milk-brie-in-grape-leaves/a/58752" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Style at Home</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UHI-MZ3b2CMuV3ZrEiowTiE5cRinppM3EZLZPqYwmO2GsC3I4ifHYFA3E8Hg_fKdbWUynYj3BCAP1vDt507PV5drrfL0t9ExLFUv6knJw80dnkAemV6C4pmdpSkIJV4Bqzt_c4AK5frp/s1600/sideboard-showstopper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UHI-MZ3b2CMuV3ZrEiowTiE5cRinppM3EZLZPqYwmO2GsC3I4ifHYFA3E8Hg_fKdbWUynYj3BCAP1vDt507PV5drrfL0t9ExLFUv6knJw80dnkAemV6C4pmdpSkIJV4Bqzt_c4AK5frp/s1600/sideboard-showstopper.jpg" height="640" width="536" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/gardening/gardening-flowers/flower-arrangement-ideas/flowers-centerpiece-red-orange" target="_blank">Real Simple</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://makingitlovely.com/2012/07/26/the-bedrooms-mini-makeover/" target="_blank">Making it Lovely</a></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECO3I9gFOjteUxXVo2LBJvCF_VuAMfPKBk665ZU75jQ1FL8VPl9P86wqKcjN7_49DLXLsq094fzdUvCkWSIk3bctMkrgtDFKNsoHlmy0Hobr_OrI9bZDDUSwEOCnuTeLEpM7f4c2EOuxw/s1600/centerpiece-mwd108221_vert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECO3I9gFOjteUxXVo2LBJvCF_VuAMfPKBk665ZU75jQ1FL8VPl9P86wqKcjN7_49DLXLsq094fzdUvCkWSIk3bctMkrgtDFKNsoHlmy0Hobr_OrI9bZDDUSwEOCnuTeLEpM7f4c2EOuxw/s1600/centerpiece-mwd108221_vert.jpg" height="640" width="510" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/314321/fall-wedding-flower-arrangements/@center/352442/wedding-flowers-style#314005" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Martha Stewart</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although many of the blogs I admire remind me of Wes Anderson's design style, I have to give a shout out to Will Taylor, the blogger behind <a href="http://www.brightbazaarblog.com/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue;">Bright Bazaar,</span></i> </a>because his blog is the one that most distinctly fits this style. I love Will's photography and composition and when I read Bright Bazaar I get something of the same feel as<i> The Grand Budapest Hotel</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to get a taste of what I'm talking about, here's the trailer to <i>The Grand Budapest Hotel.</i> The movie is a feast for the eyes and especially if you are a blogger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would love to know what other bloggers think? Did you feel like you had fallen down the rabbit hole of the blog world too when you watched </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Grand Budapest Hotel</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">?</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-72497591611194032942015-01-18T22:03:00.000-05:002015-01-18T22:03:09.471-05:00How I Lost 10 Pounds and Kept It Off Even Over the Holidays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcbmQRI_djQyqypQ3-qXkwik4GhyphenhyphenToNjH796D5v4cBV_pdzXDXCoADOSoiyzRC1lsLg_iYCRPpX1sIjHN13LZwWnMlktW3XUmKxqLZzdvbSUMmOLyOMCqY6MM3dPBogB-OWmQnCUquvCX/s1600/a+P1080528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcbmQRI_djQyqypQ3-qXkwik4GhyphenhyphenToNjH796D5v4cBV_pdzXDXCoADOSoiyzRC1lsLg_iYCRPpX1sIjHN13LZwWnMlktW3XUmKxqLZzdvbSUMmOLyOMCqY6MM3dPBogB-OWmQnCUquvCX/s1600/a+P1080528.jpg" height="402" width="640" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been trying to write this post for a few weeks now and it is proving difficult to pull together.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The long and the short of it is that I have put on 5 pounds a year for the past few years and ended up in the overweight range on the BMI and all my clothes were starting to feel tight.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was time for a change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't want to appear braggy in writing about my weight loss, but I also know that in all my 50-something years I have never accomplished what I did this past fall. I've never had a big weight problem, but I also have never been able to lose weight when I needed to or wanted to .. at all ... ever! As I got older and went through menopause I was gradually putting on weight. I would find I would especially put on weight at Christmastime and I couldn't seem to do anything to lose those pounds afterward. I have tremendous admiration for people who lose weight and keep it off (both parts are equally difficult).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am, and always have been a stellar super-healthy eater up until about 7:00 at night. Every day I would eat healthy high-fibre cereal with skim milk for breakfast, a sandwich and yogurt and fruit for lunch, and whole-grain pasta or rice with lean meat and lots of veggies for dinner. So what was my problem you ask? Well, my downfall was evenings, weekends, and holidays. I would finish dinner, clean up the kitchen, and sit down at the computer and immediately want some chocolate and then a cookie or two (or more), and then some cereal before bed. It didn't seem like too much to eat, but as I was getting older it was too much. I wasn't able to curb my sweet tooth and limit my snacking and I couldn't lose the weight I had put on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last June, a friend from work and I were both feeling the need to lose weight so we made a pact to eat healthy fruits and vegetables and do lots of walking and swimming all summer. Well come the fall when we were back at work and compared notes, neither of us had lost weight and, in fact, we had both gone up a pound or two. So after a bit of discussion about what to do (like several weeks worth of discussion) we decided to try the Dr. Oz diet, but with modifications. It took a bit of time to get ready to try the new eating plan, both to gear ourselves up psychologically </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for the changes</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and to buy some foods we didn't ordinarily purchase so we were ready to begin. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the end of September we both were ready to start the new eating plan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the next 10 weeks we ate the modified </span><a href="http://blog.doctoroz.com/dr-oz-blog/dr-oz-answers-frequently-asked-questions-on-the-two-week-rapid-weight-loss-plan" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Dr. Oz diet</i></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> during the week and our regular diet on the weekends and we both got down to our desired weight - my friend lost 8 pounds and I lost 10 pounds. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.doctoroz.com/article/dr-ozs-rapid-weight-loss-plan-one-sheet" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dr. Oz 2-week Diet</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided to only follow the new eating plan on weekdays so that we wouldn't have to worry if we went out to eat at restaurants on the weekends. We also could indulge in chocolate or whatever was our most missed treat on the weekends and have that to look forward to all week. I found this very helpful and motivating as I would often say to myself that I only had to do eat like this for the next few days and then I could have chocolate. I was also concerned about not eating grains or drinking milk for a long period of time as I didn't want my GI system to lose the ability to digest them. So eating whole-grain bread and drinking skim milk on the weekends kept them in my diet. My friend had had lots of joint pain prior to the diet, which dramatically improved when she cut out grains so she is now limiting the amount of gluten she eats and is feeling much better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we ate whatever we wanted (in moderation) on the weekends our weight went up </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a pound or so, but it came off at the beginning of the workweek when we resumed our new eating plan. Then as the week progressed and we continued to eat the Dr. Oz diet we would lose another pound or so by the end of the week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the realizations I came to after following the new eating plan for awhile was that I had previously been trying to reduce my snacking through willpower alone and would always eventually lose the battle. I was successfully able to lose weight this time because I had a plan of what I could eat and I was never hungry so I was able to maintain the eating plan. It was more a change of habits than trying to exercise willpower alone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other key factor that helped me lose weight this time was that I did it with a friend who also wanted to lose some weight. Neither of us had much to lose, but we both had not been successful with anything else we had tried. Having a buddy alongside was key to our motivation and helped in providing tips and ideas to each other. We would check in with each other several times a week by email so that we kept each other accountable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After about 5 or 6 weeks we both made some changes to the eating plan to increase the amount of calcium and iron we consumed as the diet seemed a bit low in it for long-term eating. Some of the changes included occasionally eating beef and whole-wheat pasta and we both added a glass of skim milk to our dinners. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also took multivitamins and probiotics daily </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to ensure we got adequate nutrition. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see in the list above what was recommended by Dr. Oz, but we did make changes to the eating plan to suit our lives. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a list of the modifications that I made:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. I always have bran in the morning and really needed to continue eating it. Since milk was not part of the plan, I had my bran with plain greek yogurt. Frankly, the plain greek yogurt and bran tasted awful so after about a month I added half a banana to the mix and that was enough sweetness to get me through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. I used hemp hearts in my morning smoothie instead of flax seeds and protein powder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Dr. Oz lists the veggies he recommends (low GI veggies), but I </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">didn't want to make the eating plan difficult to follow, so my motto was - any veg would do! Any </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vegetable, even one that wasn't low GI, was certainly better than eating a cookie or chocolate or more pasta and they are all full of vitamins and minerals and fibre.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. I always have an apple after school because I'm so hungry then that I could probably eat your arm if you held it in front of me. So every day I eat an apple and 20 almonds on the way home in the car. This was my routine before starting the new eating plan so it wasn't a change, but apples aren't on the Dr. Oz approved list (fruit is limited to try and keep the intake of sugar low).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Dr. Oz recommends not drinking any tea or coffee (only green tea and hot water with lemon in the morning), however his reason was that you associate drinking tea and coffee with having a cookie or muffin so you want to break that habit. However, I don't associate the two and love having a cup of tea in the morning so I skipped the water and lemon and had tea instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. I skipped the detox broth as I couldn't figure out when to drink it and it seemed like a waste of veggies to make a broth and chuck the veggies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. I'm always hungry in the evening and overnight so I had some greek yogurt every evening. I added unsweetened applesauce or applesauce-berry-carrot mix to the greek yogurt so it was palatable. I also sometimes added cinnamon to change up the snack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. I was open-minded with the flavourings I used to make dinner as I figured you don't use much of them, but they add a lot to the meal. I included things like soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, mustard, and tzatziki (I used it on the chicken burgers and as a salad dressing).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. I wasn't sure how much 6 ozs of protein was, so I just ate lots of meat, tofu, beans, eggs, and nuts so I wouldn't get hungry, but if you are a huge meat or nut eater you might need to be more accurate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. I sometimes used brown rice vermicelli in place of plain brown rice. I checked the ingredient list for vermicelli and it only listed brown rice so I decided it was a good substitute and it added a nice variety to our dinners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what exactly did I eat?</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Well, h</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ere's what I eat on a typical workday:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfast: 1/3 cup Bran Buds with 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt and 1/2 banana</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Smoothie: 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 banana, 3 rounded tablespoons Hemp Hearts, generous 1/2 cup frozen berries</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12:00-1:00</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch: leftovers that included a protein and vegetables or salad with protein (usually a boiled egg and sunflower seeds and walnuts)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snack: apple and 20 unsalted almonds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6:00-7:00</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner: 1/2 cup brown rice or brown rice vermicelli with protein and vegetables, glass of skim milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8:30-9:00</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snack: 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt with small container of unsweetened applesauce or applesauce mix</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apart from losing weight so my clothes fit better (and gaining the confidence to be able to tuck my shirt into my pants or skirt - thankfully, as that seems to be the style now), one of the most surprising benefits was that I lost my sugar cravings. I used to sit down at my desk in the evening and just pine for chocolate. Now I don't even think about it. I can sit through a meeting with a plate of cookies on the table and not be thinking the whole time about eating one. I have read about people losing their craving for sweets and I thought they were crazy and it could never happen to me, but sure enough it did and relatively quickly too. After a few weeks on the new eating plan, I actually found that some things tasted too sweet (I'm talking about you Kit Kat bars) which was a little disconcerting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have often heard people remark that when they go off sugar and eat healthier they have so much more energy. I wouldn't say I noticed a huge difference apart from how I felt after parent-teacher interviews in the fall. I am usually very tired on the day after parent-teacher interviews, but this past fall I sailed through the next day as if I had had a regular work day the day before, instead of an extended day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I seem to be able to tolerate being slightly hungry now, whereas before I would get the shakes and a headache and ... well "hangry" (you know ... so hungry you easily get angry). I also seem to be able to eat sweets with moderation now. I think both of these factors helped me keep the weight under control over the holidays.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surprisingly, I only gained one pound over the holidays. I had given up trying to stick to the new eating plan over Christmas and New Year's and wasn't weighing myself every morning as was my habit. So I</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> was very surprised to find out I had only gained one pound when I weighed myself when I went back to work in January.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new eating habits were difficult to stick with when everyone was around, without the structure of work, and with all the special foods that Christmas brings. However, this year I had far fewer cravings than before and was able to eat in moderation. I also continued to have the smoothie every morning throughout the holidays so I wasn't very hungry during the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm still working out the kinks in a long-term version of this eating plan and trying to incorporate more exercise into life. The husband and I got Fitbits for Christmas to track our activity (or lack thereof) and hopefully improve our fitness habits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">So there you have my grand eating adventure of 2014. It's definitely not that I have all the answers, but I thought I would share my experience in the hope that someone finds it useful. I love reading other people's success stories as I find them very inspiring and I hope mine is motivating for someone reading this. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.</span></span></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-20088811565405119592015-01-15T12:52:00.000-05:002015-01-15T12:52:55.572-05:00New Food #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zKUOf6ttClgpjojvUJao3Z8W9DE7a8UKif5np0YY5EbgmQRz-fP_KKN9uXHrk7Tp4WlOij00AdI_rK47w5BvjPtYtqhYGNnPlkZ5JivQobEHOZbUo55SalNOlLzJFQLREqq1sm8sm-q0/s1600/a+P1080514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zKUOf6ttClgpjojvUJao3Z8W9DE7a8UKif5np0YY5EbgmQRz-fP_KKN9uXHrk7Tp4WlOij00AdI_rK47w5BvjPtYtqhYGNnPlkZ5JivQobEHOZbUo55SalNOlLzJFQLREqq1sm8sm-q0/s1600/a+P1080514.jpg" height="640" width="462" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my New Year's resolutions was to do something new every month. I thought I would try and make that even more specific and try a new food every month. I do like to eat, so I figure this goal is a good fit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was at the green grocers the other day I saw some endive and thought that would be my first food to try. My only exposure to endives are in the movie<i> Emelie.</i> Do you remember how the shop assistant carefully selects and even listens to each endive before deciding on which ones to give Emelie. It was so endearing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49HyemvFGqEqDiNo_tfpXsjNgxZ7Vpu56c6BGcwo6RYplf64cMLpk7vftR4buBjhgP4hMwIxeaLRpxzyxc4oovagjMwpELt_VsDkzC2aISUpX_4j_DVMz0zSnlRs4dqp_0EwJ3KoM4QfC/s1600/amelie17-700x292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49HyemvFGqEqDiNo_tfpXsjNgxZ7Vpu56c6BGcwo6RYplf64cMLpk7vftR4buBjhgP4hMwIxeaLRpxzyxc4oovagjMwpELt_VsDkzC2aISUpX_4j_DVMz0zSnlRs4dqp_0EwJ3KoM4QfC/s1600/amelie17-700x292.jpg" height="266" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little research revealed what a quirky vegetable endive is. It is part of the daisy and chicory family and can be eaten cooked or raw. Endive is a complicated vegetable to grow as it involves a two-step process. First the seeds are grown into a leafy plant with a deep tap root. Then the greens are cut off and the roots dug up and put into storage where they become dormant. Then the root is put in a cold, dark, humid environment and the endive is grown (the pale green and white colouring made sense when I read that). Endive are chock full of vitamins, potassium, and fibre.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRIQxDuYhmrPnSIpYE1nHaW7eGW1Ddue41nHB4V4qW8d7K8S0UFchcB5YWztn9F4Vy97eSOGBKpEN4tGul00u8Zu3iPxyWG-vTmVZWfHJyHNNgZOooOjEz2LAsmbUnZPxTukdgMJkvJg8/s1600/a+P1080512.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRIQxDuYhmrPnSIpYE1nHaW7eGW1Ddue41nHB4V4qW8d7K8S0UFchcB5YWztn9F4Vy97eSOGBKpEN4tGul00u8Zu3iPxyWG-vTmVZWfHJyHNNgZOooOjEz2LAsmbUnZPxTukdgMJkvJg8/s1600/a+P1080512.png" height="640" width="570" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I modified a simple recipe so I could fully appreciate the taste of the endive. Here's how I cooked them:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>INGREDIENTS:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 endive</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 small apple</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tablespoon butter or oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup chopped walnuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">salt and pepper</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>METHOD:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. trim the stem end and slice 2 endive in half lengthwise </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. place thin peeled apple slices between the layers of leaves </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. place in frying pan cut side down with 1 tablespoon butter or oil and cook for 6 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. gently turn the endive over, add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, add 1/4 cup water, season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook for 12-15 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. uncover and cook until the liquid has evaporated</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Verdict:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I liked the endive better the second day when I took it to work for lunch. It does have a slightly bitter taste which the apple helps to offset. I would make it again, but it wasn't a love-at-first-bite kind of food.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKjG_ksjuEZltw6jNYWjOqyv4XoEXrLuOaTWCLgIRi4Fdb6n6J69rLWqITz5BuwYrKUgQBfL6Iw-fsh0n2SYDFUBuf1mFYv2Dq1ahHqN5Uw9HUeavoWwgAGY4jFb0d5FBNw95c4d6noMz/s1600/a+P1080588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKjG_ksjuEZltw6jNYWjOqyv4XoEXrLuOaTWCLgIRi4Fdb6n6J69rLWqITz5BuwYrKUgQBfL6Iw-fsh0n2SYDFUBuf1mFYv2Dq1ahHqN5Uw9HUeavoWwgAGY4jFb0d5FBNw95c4d6noMz/s1600/a+P1080588.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you tried endive? What was your verdict? Do you like to try new foods?</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-58634104938050220922015-01-13T17:52:00.000-05:002015-01-13T17:52:47.553-05:00Winter Sideboard and Mantel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the whirlwind that is Christmas all I want is to create simple sideboard and mantel arrangements that will see me through until the spring. Something calm and easy on the eyes, but still pretty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I added some colour to the sideboard by embracing the warm side of the palette - red, pink, and orange. I was inspired by the fresh colours in the plates that I re-hung on the wall ... after not being able to find them for TWO YEARS. Yep, two years ago I took them down to hang up the Christmas plates and very carefully put them away so they wouldn't get broken. When I went to put them back up, I couldn't find them anywhere and it has taken all this time for them to reappear. Welcome back fruit plates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like that I can change out the flowers when needed to any red, pink, orange, or even white flowers or maybe even add a potted plant (which is a good thing because shortly after I took these photos the hydrangeas wilted and only half of them recovered). </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The carved oranges are fully dried now - with the more orangey ones being from the Christmas craft party this year and the more brownish ones being from the craft party last year. They are honestly the easiest hit of natural colour ever.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I went wild with the tablecloth just because I love how cheery the colours are. And I couldn't figure out any other place to put the red tissue paper flower I made for the husband's birthday so I hung it from the top of the mirror.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The mantel is still very neutral with a collection of white stoneware across the middle and warm browns on either side with the bracket fungus and the brown pot holding the plant on the other side. That plant has been alive through two summers in the garden and this is its second winter indoors. I love how it looks like a bonsai.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you change up your mantel and sideboard. It's one of my favourite ways to decorate our home.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-41905190749770899792015-01-04T22:07:00.000-05:002015-01-04T22:07:07.073-05:00New Ideas for 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to 2015. We made it through the holidays. I love Christmas with its bustle of family activities and mad dash for the finish line of gift buying and wrapping and opening and eating. Oh, the eating. So much eating. Anyway, I love it all, but I get to the beginning of the year and I, like almost everyone else, feel the need for a little simplicity and calmness and health living.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a resolutions kind of girl, but it often takes me a bit of time to think what I want to accomplish in a year. Here's what I have come up with for 2015:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Try something new every month. It might be a new vegetable, visit a town I haven't explored, a restaurant I haven't been to, or a museum I haven't visited.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Work on incorporating my new way of eating into my life to maintain my weight. I lost 10 pounds in the fall through changing the way I ate and I want to work on making it my new normal way to eat (I slip back to old habits at the drop of a hat). More details to come in another post.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Experiment with new settings on camera. Sigh! I say this every year and I still don't know how to use my camera, but I really want to learn. Let 2015 be the year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Travel to a new place. So far Peru and Iceland are being considered, but who knows. I get to January 1st every year and like clockwork I begin to pine to travel. I start contemplating where I might go, when, the itinerary, what to see, what to pack. I love all the planning and contemplating as it fills my mind with possibilities. By the way, you can tell that the travelling bug has got me because I spent a good part of today setting up my Travel page (along the header of my blog). Feel free to have a look and let me know what you think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you set goals for a new year? I love that quotation at the top of my blog - a new heart is always a good idea!</span>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-50050730714900156562015-01-04T00:15:00.001-05:002015-01-04T06:12:55.935-05:00New Year's in the Snow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVBdcIu5TvCbVIEZtPVQCiiIKGtDwyX8Yj3XJlG2H2WjvEGj5FoMtGCzWWhCoZ9Fd0hdcCbVQmlevyJ9B0suIAKt2NushgZKJ-YAF2KcHdIuldC-O1TgTnwHHbUiKCkZ1m03nt64A3TlG/s1600/a+P1080367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVBdcIu5TvCbVIEZtPVQCiiIKGtDwyX8Yj3XJlG2H2WjvEGj5FoMtGCzWWhCoZ9Fd0hdcCbVQmlevyJ9B0suIAKt2NushgZKJ-YAF2KcHdIuldC-O1TgTnwHHbUiKCkZ1m03nt64A3TlG/s1600/a+P1080367.jpg" height="510" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to the cottage for a few days over New Year's and ended up staying a day longer because of a snowstorm. It is lovely to be snowed in (or even only semi-snowed in) when you aren't in a rush to get home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the course of three days we went from having only a little bit of snow in the bush</span><br />
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to a lot of snow everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />There were crazy snowsqualls</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with wild yetis wandering about on the lake and through the woods. The yetis do look vaguely familiar, I have to admit. They carried sticks for safety on the ice, but then became crazed circle-making machines.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5quteGJ1QtJwl-hrcOy9-pecN3EldVwbjRfiBeqqzQyEjR0NIEWnnzegZiHyFVDy8hZItrEBnjf7LP72D8Lw22QEgi_DUowolrQTSY9MwRSrnN7BfJJz-32rZUr_Ly87VJjV9_k3sm5vr/s1600/a+P1080071+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5quteGJ1QtJwl-hrcOy9-pecN3EldVwbjRfiBeqqzQyEjR0NIEWnnzegZiHyFVDy8hZItrEBnjf7LP72D8Lw22QEgi_DUowolrQTSY9MwRSrnN7BfJJz-32rZUr_Ly87VJjV9_k3sm5vr/s1600/a+P1080071+a.jpg" height="580" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also had calm, sunny weather as well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewD7JZKUGGnOZHGLoDqaOBuuCnsU4s8hIt-KRmFeKd8O39yMnSIPO-BKz73m6dFrNY8FBMkR7w8O38fIs49wteWxbkFE6XzRtmMIN1c8D5oPkfmCLdGP5sTnLcFDaoE37dT72IP6Z1CFn/s1600/a+P1080420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewD7JZKUGGnOZHGLoDqaOBuuCnsU4s8hIt-KRmFeKd8O39yMnSIPO-BKz73m6dFrNY8FBMkR7w8O38fIs49wteWxbkFE6XzRtmMIN1c8D5oPkfmCLdGP5sTnLcFDaoE37dT72IP6Z1CFn/s1600/a+P1080420.jpg" height="640" width="512" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most days began and ended with gentle sunsets and sunrises.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmkkq0jLoOcgR6DHD5JzQmJSnliIg11tZzM6xVYEG1ZWpDQnQsnAQiyoKDoOB0XGyV65G-DsxozSwwY2W9gPTPj5CPR8D7ZMMF9LJfZb8inkZB2VRaGOixYASNN58SGW3jX2XecWweHIc/s1600/a+P1080010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmkkq0jLoOcgR6DHD5JzQmJSnliIg11tZzM6xVYEG1ZWpDQnQsnAQiyoKDoOB0XGyV65G-DsxozSwwY2W9gPTPj5CPR8D7ZMMF9LJfZb8inkZB2VRaGOixYASNN58SGW3jX2XecWweHIc/s1600/a+P1080010.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7LmCdK9Q_ICG9p9XTKlp5-hqMksrWD7CNwD2TslFAGv3tJq3ONOQwSjhGN1tIjBZFT1sCMoR7ahuyr3xIxDZs4h0XjIBLo-tfZL13wFZf2wwNXcYbsuvzkCrQjOBVHlVadt36AfHLwWx/s1600/a+P1080125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7LmCdK9Q_ICG9p9XTKlp5-hqMksrWD7CNwD2TslFAGv3tJq3ONOQwSjhGN1tIjBZFT1sCMoR7ahuyr3xIxDZs4h0XjIBLo-tfZL13wFZf2wwNXcYbsuvzkCrQjOBVHlVadt36AfHLwWx/s1600/a+P1080125.jpg" height="438" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were frozen puddles with oak leaves suspended in the ice</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAP0XFPeGlWErN3twYY2l4wBF2D5wCaIGzKt8VQiwu7P5tiDDiyNkb8F6DJrxqKlnQlACymqbusT-MkRZ9EqW6CThrVqcCni4d-A0Ve7SFBB88f2hd2LOlUjLULfkP-WWe5533ytu7m5Mo/s1600/a+P1070970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAP0XFPeGlWErN3twYY2l4wBF2D5wCaIGzKt8VQiwu7P5tiDDiyNkb8F6DJrxqKlnQlACymqbusT-MkRZ9EqW6CThrVqcCni4d-A0Ve7SFBB88f2hd2LOlUjLULfkP-WWe5533ytu7m5Mo/s1600/a+P1070970.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and snow dusting the dry oak leaves making them look like Christmas cookies</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bqD3SVhH_WXHnvod_hLNZA0fGemhx8Yyex4fDcUAi7xa4HSdK68SkwhiDVcvFIOJXPqsoUCCYuor1DIhPZgaBwJjDbf0S_BNhPKjPqYXEl0fTafJcmlAWmyqx9njDCIFL-pStlli234P/s1600/a+P1080014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bqD3SVhH_WXHnvod_hLNZA0fGemhx8Yyex4fDcUAi7xa4HSdK68SkwhiDVcvFIOJXPqsoUCCYuor1DIhPZgaBwJjDbf0S_BNhPKjPqYXEl0fTafJcmlAWmyqx9njDCIFL-pStlli234P/s1600/a+P1080014.jpg" height="404" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and shimmery ice crystals in the air</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlaXgRosRqLP-vNYm9ZNLUoI6FIrcWNATFT956elKGp5Afk1b5yNoej0eOsBwHwlLnivTwPom_-phyphenhyphenVSOXZYkrdy7jK3f-mvuScbEzYS95p-T07VSJIflLDCHS8ONhI0t0cRspAVKR90N/s1600/a+P1080038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBlaXgRosRqLP-vNYm9ZNLUoI6FIrcWNATFT956elKGp5Afk1b5yNoej0eOsBwHwlLnivTwPom_-phyphenhyphenVSOXZYkrdy7jK3f-mvuScbEzYS95p-T07VSJIflLDCHS8ONhI0t0cRspAVKR90N/s1600/a+P1080038.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a warm and cozy cabin to come back to</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhQuoSgFkYhn1F8HgknwZ4chXgIcuPOKUwERbPhUKWTO1PtqAJrX_jbaJ0porKPBc9aTLrFtKaT0cESzKHYcevQAegp1sQdiJjRFeBrRt6ZA-4qyK8P-Z7H8un-hIl6PXxcYl7eFJUCwW/s1600/a+P1080051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhQuoSgFkYhn1F8HgknwZ4chXgIcuPOKUwERbPhUKWTO1PtqAJrX_jbaJ0porKPBc9aTLrFtKaT0cESzKHYcevQAegp1sQdiJjRFeBrRt6ZA-4qyK8P-Z7H8un-hIl6PXxcYl7eFJUCwW/s1600/a+P1080051.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with the best view to admire while eating.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPOOKFy1P6-GUevdo8g7GYe0GTUL3QyPVu_sP2sTux9YHawV2Fu2EHReHut1NZdVhCe9tCY8Hz0axpvVqT6oRJ2h5gyRPeprxJ-D7PawMcNgSlsDiXovVbSjyXqGKS8HbHT1U8JEu0mh_/s1600/a+P1080407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPOOKFy1P6-GUevdo8g7GYe0GTUL3QyPVu_sP2sTux9YHawV2Fu2EHReHut1NZdVhCe9tCY8Hz0axpvVqT6oRJ2h5gyRPeprxJ-D7PawMcNgSlsDiXovVbSjyXqGKS8HbHT1U8JEu0mh_/s1600/a+P1080407.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our days were spent reading, chatting, and walking through the woods or on the lake. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiji17f8gh9p579tXQChSQjjKaokyYpOsrXq060JUC28W8flDGKveM08Oo-71FdKJf9wL21zHM6QOwzDbfijaKTQAdj1XbQyJnIFmtnh42E3eTzTsYPIcFNkP-ABR8XUCdSgPqEIjNxePEU/s1600/a+P1080249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiji17f8gh9p579tXQChSQjjKaokyYpOsrXq060JUC28W8flDGKveM08Oo-71FdKJf9wL21zHM6QOwzDbfijaKTQAdj1XbQyJnIFmtnh42E3eTzTsYPIcFNkP-ABR8XUCdSgPqEIjNxePEU/s1600/a+P1080249.jpg" height="550" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqv95s3_x1Q9BmfwFbVfXvwEKIdm_OYcOxzWkl_FsuwzmrqG4ioTaJeW2joQBji2EYJ5cbSHIHRg7zlVxX1dqlDhfefMCCuvC5zj36Zto6FIIJU0v_okhiEW_eXm3Td6LenXa8tIjhOUr/s1600/a+P1080275+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqv95s3_x1Q9BmfwFbVfXvwEKIdm_OYcOxzWkl_FsuwzmrqG4ioTaJeW2joQBji2EYJ5cbSHIHRg7zlVxX1dqlDhfefMCCuvC5zj36Zto6FIIJU0v_okhiEW_eXm3Td6LenXa8tIjhOUr/s1600/a+P1080275+a.jpg" height="640" width="560" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We welcomed the new year with a meal of Nigerian Curry and an evening playing a murder mystery game and a toast of champagne at midnight.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGyvccWerVyQpMIlgh0q4zbQh24So74JZM_hrTGy5tMgXNJNLK0hopvyR8-PG0OWXotpQ80mEQlCY50-BmF2FAldWjYxNnGj_61c6KRb8qPMSDqhRpqlpR-uRcK9hT4Wf1s4FnDtEqp_F/s1600/a+P1080179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGyvccWerVyQpMIlgh0q4zbQh24So74JZM_hrTGy5tMgXNJNLK0hopvyR8-PG0OWXotpQ80mEQlCY50-BmF2FAldWjYxNnGj_61c6KRb8qPMSDqhRpqlpR-uRcK9hT4Wf1s4FnDtEqp_F/s1600/a+P1080179.jpg" height="510" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And after we had eaten every shred of food we brought, we left pulling our bags on the toboggans.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbViGQ3bY_ug3VQk1NGeVgaIj0i0RnecQ71X6kC97lIAyYoiIQW0flhOt4a05Cwh8Q-HT1_a99akqYKkeQsWbwlKMm_9Grty0DykRfaI3YMrqA1dV2WP4vEZwabenzkZeZ6VN-KE_nB82/s1600/a+P1080424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbViGQ3bY_ug3VQk1NGeVgaIj0i0RnecQ71X6kC97lIAyYoiIQW0flhOt4a05Cwh8Q-HT1_a99akqYKkeQsWbwlKMm_9Grty0DykRfaI3YMrqA1dV2WP4vEZwabenzkZeZ6VN-KE_nB82/s1600/a+P1080424.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The end!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-17303339278415073992014-12-28T20:07:00.000-05:002014-12-28T20:11:52.547-05:002014 in Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy623UW2Ym7BDUMDQm1bUvr9zJrGjjIDZGKB2E68F82N4AEQ8Q8RaqWB9qNtCrZ_NhrrA_eL_NBWFgQVPzCTnhPpAnxH9w6_9-F6HAQJYPFwX_iV2TNYir7T3fHtVyYBE8J8j8RxRtyQ/s1600/2014+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXy623UW2Ym7BDUMDQm1bUvr9zJrGjjIDZGKB2E68F82N4AEQ8Q8RaqWB9qNtCrZ_NhrrA_eL_NBWFgQVPzCTnhPpAnxH9w6_9-F6HAQJYPFwX_iV2TNYir7T3fHtVyYBE8J8j8RxRtyQ/s1600/2014+Collage.jpg" height="324" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2014 was a different kind of year. My father's death at the end of 2013 meant a lot of firsts for us this year. We managed, but 2014 was a sadder, more reflective, and slower paced year. I didn't have the energy to tackle any major projects. I just puttered along. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a miserable winter with snowstorm after snowstorm. I have endless photos (and memories too) of piles of snow, shoveling snow, sun on snow etc. The snowstorms always seemed to hit on weekends which thankfully meant we didn't have to drive to work in the snow, but did mean we were housebound. We just kind of hibernated and licked our wounds (and shoveled snow).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLjzlyvparVWtEI3ZjjXm-qeyRzrWmRK6cWV4xI1byl7TT3nJJugqRMZOgVmIPHePYJMQTZYpO_QyGLI-YAha5NPqcbkfCiXfWKDgb6AzOGS9lMq5bqEXt78RlMNlWoPJPNlZ4ELJayI/s1600/P1000644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLjzlyvparVWtEI3ZjjXm-qeyRzrWmRK6cWV4xI1byl7TT3nJJugqRMZOgVmIPHePYJMQTZYpO_QyGLI-YAha5NPqcbkfCiXfWKDgb6AzOGS9lMq5bqEXt78RlMNlWoPJPNlZ4ELJayI/s1600/P1000644.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the midst of all those snowstorms our dear dog Juno passed away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of February, we embraced the crazy snow and cold temperatures and went to Niagara Falls to see some of the best ice mounds I have ever seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to the cottage lots this year - beginning in the March Break; then for Easter; often in the summer; with a friend in September to paint clouds and water; with friends and family for Thanksgiving in October; and with my mom in November. Here's a years worth of cottage photos to scroll through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I never really gave up blogging, but I posted far less often for the first half of 2014 than ever before. By September I had regained my energy and hit my stride and rediscovered the joy of blogging which I wrote a blog post about (<a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/09/the-joy-of-blogging.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">here</a>) <span style="font-size: x-small;">(By the way, the husband thinks it is one of my best blog posts).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did get a few things accomplished during the year - even some things that were on my 2014 <i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/01/7-in-14.html" target="_blank">New Year's resolutions list</a>. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I painted our dining room chairs navy and still love the colour.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFnOXfAZtLZv9ReT1h8u24DWruoVr4MM9igxfgkKE4jACsC1wuND_FOhvweJ1nBS5OdCqScZvhiW_aSfnatJbl6tQd8SAqK6oEBDmTFdKccOsvuVrx3nnqJLRO_PAwQ4U6T6xE_yNWrI/s1600/a+P1010248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFnOXfAZtLZv9ReT1h8u24DWruoVr4MM9igxfgkKE4jACsC1wuND_FOhvweJ1nBS5OdCqScZvhiW_aSfnatJbl6tQd8SAqK6oEBDmTFdKccOsvuVrx3nnqJLRO_PAwQ4U6T6xE_yNWrI/s1600/a+P1010248.jpg" height="640" width="606" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I baked bread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the summer, I went on a fantastic trip with the husband and my mother to Newfoundland. We had perfect weather and saw such amazing beautiful sites. We all want to go back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I painted a large painting (well large for me).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, although I don't have a photo of it, I kept the stairs clear of clutter. all. year. long. (which is a complete first for me). I decided it would be part of my fitness plan to actually take the items up or down the stairs rather than putting them on a step to wait for me to take them later. I love having the stairs clear and now can't stand having anything on them. Oh and speaking of my fitness plan, I did a little self-improvement and made some changes to my diet and fitness regime and have lost 10 pounds (more about that later).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also got my crafting on this year - well a little bit anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate was off at the University of Bath in England for the spring semester and did lots and lots of traveling (lucky girl). Since she was away for her birthday I made her a set of pop-up cards showing three of the places she had visited by that point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made little Hallowe'en treats to send to our son and daughter who were away at university</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made personalized advent calendars for the same son and daughter (<i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/11/personalized-advent-calendars.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We made twig Santas at my annual Christmas craft party (<i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/12/christmas-craft-party.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EYIMM625jjzyN7XLyiaJxnFLDi964hBEaHvuHUk7gvpGXNx244QT-9nhcKJBdM85ngMX7Ao7GR2fCSzIlI2xPrJG7YEoijx3z8jOtEdusnvHFrr-am6yWFOMxbCu3QB65WEImriVs8o/s1600/a+P1070561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EYIMM625jjzyN7XLyiaJxnFLDi964hBEaHvuHUk7gvpGXNx244QT-9nhcKJBdM85ngMX7Ao7GR2fCSzIlI2xPrJG7YEoijx3z8jOtEdusnvHFrr-am6yWFOMxbCu3QB65WEImriVs8o/s1600/a+P1070561.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decorated our mantel in a Scandinavian style (</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/11/our-christmas-mantel.html" target="_blank">here</a></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decorated our woodland Christmas tree with owls made from toilet paper rolls (<i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/12/our-christmas-tree-2014.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I sketched and painted some scenes from my daughter's travels as a Christmas present for her (I also did one of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal for my son and daughter-in-law for Christmas, but forgot to get a photo of it before they went home).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The husband had a significant birthday at the beginning of December which meant a significant present was in order.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we end the year with a new family member - the significant present and presence of Ruggles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm still pondering what resolutions to make for 2015. I can assure you that they won't be anything too wild, but I'll post about them later (when I know what they are, haha!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year, my friends!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Linked to <a href="http://southernhospitalityblog.com/best-projects-of-2014-party/" target="_blank">Best Projects of 2014 party</a> at Southern Hospitality</span></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-20804391697525062122014-12-27T17:20:00.000-05:002014-12-27T17:20:33.005-05:00Christmas 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm just emerging from the family and food frenzy that is Christmas. It is always a fun and intense blast of activities and feasts and treats and traditions. Here's how it went down this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Christmas Eve</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fun starts on Christmas Eve day with our annual family outing. This year we decided to go to the Royal Ontario Museum as we hadn't been in awhile. There was a special exhibit of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year which was wonderful (and in case you don't live near a museum hosting this exhibit you can see the photos <i><a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/wpy/gallery/2014/index.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An addition was put on the ROM several years ago which serves as the main entrance. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the old entrance, though, with the grand doors and beautiful windows and inside the gold mosaic ceiling in the rotunda. I don't love the new addition - commonly referred to as the crystal - but it sure makes interesting photos with reflections in it of the city - old and new.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We always have t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ourtière</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for Christmas Eve dinner and this year it was made by my dear friend Kim (we did a trade-off - I made Christmas cookies for her and she made a </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ourtière</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for me). It was delicious and just the right amount for all of our hungry selves after the museum. We had the </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ourtière </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with salads and pickles and relishes so it is a pretty simple meal, but oh so delicious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Christmas Day</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santa visited and left some beer for all (well except Ruggles and me as we don't like beer - well, truthfully Ruggles has never tried it). Ruggles had some special dog food in her stocking instead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does your house end up looking like this every Christmas morning. I thought it would be a little tamer as everyone got older, but there are still eight of us congregating for gift opening so that makes lots of mess. Everyone got stacks of books this year along with loads of chocolate (and beer!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Christmas lunch we used the tablecloth I bought in Bangladesh. It is hot pink with an orange and black design that certainly deviates from the Scandinavian look I was going for this year, but I love it so we use it anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christmas lunch consists of fancy breads and cheeses and meats and we make the best sandwiches of the year. Of course, we start off the meal by popping Christmas crackers and then wearing silly hats and telling bad jokes in English and French.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's house in Toronto with all my relatives, but I didn't take my camera so there are no photos. I always take a cookie tray for dessert and my mom brings the Christmas pudding with its requisite hard sauce and hot brandy sauce. Dinner is followed by a magic show (my uncle is a magician ... and a lawyer) and a gift exchange.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Boxing Day</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December 26th is a pretty quiet day around our house. We don't partake in the shopping frenzy, but instead just relax for the day. We did go for a walk at a nearby park and then came home and made sushi for dinner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How was your Christmas? I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends. We are getting ready to go to the cottage in a few days time for New Years. We've had a warm Christmas this year so even up north they don't have much snow left and the lakes are not fully frozen. It is supposed to get colder just before we go up and snow is predicted so we shall see.</span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-42936743070877315072014-12-24T09:30:00.000-05:002014-12-24T09:30:01.600-05:00The Huron Carol<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.453125px;">The Huron Carol” (or “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”) is Canada's oldest Christmas carol and a personal favourite of mine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.453125px;">It was written in </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19.453125px;">1643 by Saint Jean de Brebeuf, a</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;"> Jesuit missionary to the Huron natives. Jean de Brebeuf lived amongst the Huron natives </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">for twenty-two years, became fluent in</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.453125px;"> their language, and made detailed observations about their culture and way of life. </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">He wrote the lyrics to the Huron Carol in the native language of the </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.9886360168457px;">Huron/Wendat</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.9886360168457px;"> people to bring them the story of Christmas. Even after </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">Jean de Brebeuf was martyred when the Iroquois natives attacked the Huron settlement, the carol was kept alive in the Huron language</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;"> for over one hundred years before it was translated into French.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">I remember visiting Sai</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.9886360168457px;">nte-Marie among the Huron</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.453125px;"> on the south shore of Georgian Bay many years ago. I always love visiting historic places, but this one was especially interesting because it wa</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">s the first European settlement in Ontario and is where Jean de Brebeuf lived. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19.453125px;">I like this version of the Huron Carol sung by Five Fifths which you can listen to while reading the lyrics below.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE HURON CAROL</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Words by Jean de Brébeuf (1643)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>English Lyrics by Jesse Edgar Middleton (1926)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Set to an Adaptation of the 16th Century French Noel: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFJCami1Qw0" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; color: #4779ac; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">“Une Jeune Pucelle” (“A Young Maid”)</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Twas in the moon of wintertime</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When all the birds had fled,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That mighty <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitche_Manitou" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; color: #4779ac; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gitchi Manitou</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sent angel choirs instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before their light the stars grew dim,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And wand’ring hunters heard the hymn:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Jesus, your king, is born.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus is born. In excelsis gloria!”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD3gchL0ieigLF7TW6ODHHh35um296eH3PDq1lutUqa-uxoB9nAEnzb9w0SkQBSTYrMQPL_XIM7JWySe4VX2CXr1KW8EJWAg0mfIyxM1HgchMoOQL73kOthef40LcMqMinBA2LDvu48E/s1600/a+Dayspring+New+Years+223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHD3gchL0ieigLF7TW6ODHHh35um296eH3PDq1lutUqa-uxoB9nAEnzb9w0SkQBSTYrMQPL_XIM7JWySe4VX2CXr1KW8EJWAg0mfIyxM1HgchMoOQL73kOthef40LcMqMinBA2LDvu48E/s1600/a+Dayspring+New+Years+223.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within a lodge of broken bark</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The tender babe was found.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A ragged robe of rabbit skin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enwrapped his beauty ’round.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK16ZMpoV4awTWvwFWBwvA2BjUDHh2vkWiATw3biqhUQ1FPcQP8SACys7yoCLntY5CjW6zQ-mY9bprBahaxDKbLqYZcKdogE5alu9L7tW4q1t3AUPiw8b7-iDIBZHexTyZkxcClnYnVRc/s1600/Crepins+417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK16ZMpoV4awTWvwFWBwvA2BjUDHh2vkWiATw3biqhUQ1FPcQP8SACys7yoCLntY5CjW6zQ-mY9bprBahaxDKbLqYZcKdogE5alu9L7tW4q1t3AUPiw8b7-iDIBZHexTyZkxcClnYnVRc/s1600/Crepins+417.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as the hunter braves drew nigh,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The angel song rang loud and high:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Jesus, your king, is born.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus is born. In excelsis gloria!”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX46VmZpEl9yjqYtGMXyJe1xQXF0TyGZo_196qJ44BFgJAuM3M6FDGW9q0Nhq_-4nv1ZCC1I0__B-pJmAe79obnMd5QVLzapZU-D9WjxmYQtQfCKOtDLYWgUEpgYZu00zu2EGlUH0N-H0/s1600/a+Perrone's%2BFarm%2B073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX46VmZpEl9yjqYtGMXyJe1xQXF0TyGZo_196qJ44BFgJAuM3M6FDGW9q0Nhq_-4nv1ZCC1I0__B-pJmAe79obnMd5QVLzapZU-D9WjxmYQtQfCKOtDLYWgUEpgYZu00zu2EGlUH0N-H0/s1600/a+Perrone's%2BFarm%2B073.jpg" height="522" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earliest moon of wintertime</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is not so round and fair</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as was the ring of glory on</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That helpless infant there.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc72itvntLRrqTseSmU72_qguunJsJVYxfn0drwrm9qf6qEc1PfuKrkjhQ6BAMbBurDJMNxpcE3v0TUhwINnV6RO1zfbZW-MSGcfurUHAdfIVyrre9zam1o8g_0AtzdD7C7vxy9Bp3q1Y/s1600/a+Summer+2009+Bayfield+434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc72itvntLRrqTseSmU72_qguunJsJVYxfn0drwrm9qf6qEc1PfuKrkjhQ6BAMbBurDJMNxpcE3v0TUhwINnV6RO1zfbZW-MSGcfurUHAdfIVyrre9zam1o8g_0AtzdD7C7vxy9Bp3q1Y/s1600/a+Summer+2009+Bayfield+434.jpg" height="640" width="432" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While chiefs from far before him knelt</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With gifts of fox and beaver pelt,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Jesus, your king, is born.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus is born. In excelsis gloria!”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQndoWx45b-gGAFPHnlOPvq8ed9to7keWFyM-xq3yq5eqA7_YcZ6xH7fsWxd0dANsaXWepKYsSD4A_d9wkQsT10HV0zpbHdQpw_fjYjjDhW4KloiGKsu0QXOQ0lLgeT-dAp-jZ0fs7uE4/s1600/a+Dayspring+Dec+2010+251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQndoWx45b-gGAFPHnlOPvq8ed9to7keWFyM-xq3yq5eqA7_YcZ6xH7fsWxd0dANsaXWepKYsSD4A_d9wkQsT10HV0zpbHdQpw_fjYjjDhW4KloiGKsu0QXOQ0lLgeT-dAp-jZ0fs7uE4/s1600/a+Dayspring+Dec+2010+251.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6h8MdX9bYapXzIskTqzrOGUuY0vAXy9TP9sBtPO9c6X8RghUGj1Qg03A06i2N1l6y7AflfG0iOLY6YRfYMF8uZcrSTf0Hgttvk6pJlPFvJ8Jk1soaiqOQV-sOPU1D6XKK5otk1z2VW8/s1600/a+moon,+twine,+Norval+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: 16.9886360168457px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 17px; padding: 5px 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O children of the forest free,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitou" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; color: #4779ac; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> sons of Manitou</a>,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The holy child of earth and heaven</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is born today for you.</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 17px; padding: 5px 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ujR-Rwq1PhSTg4LM-aEiz8wZJ1yQZBRQlmvqVoZupBPi5NFIO29kHNA0qJZ6NhBpYdETk14nKCdzrbVaNbEq-JqvSJf_HxR-v-krjNY2hn2i5_97SKvAj8nXLFHvWCiV4MX8hvTlxN4/s1600/a+Dayspring+March+Break+2013+234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ujR-Rwq1PhSTg4LM-aEiz8wZJ1yQZBRQlmvqVoZupBPi5NFIO29kHNA0qJZ6NhBpYdETk14nKCdzrbVaNbEq-JqvSJf_HxR-v-krjNY2hn2i5_97SKvAj8nXLFHvWCiV4MX8hvTlxN4/s1600/a+Dayspring+March+Break+2013+234.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 17px; padding: 5px 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Come, kneel before the radiant boy</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Jesus, your king, is born.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus is born. In excelsis gloria!”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54xGt7UE8CFQJsnq2gLrT00RfcieMsAQV3QV1KA2ucDsaEPI7TRae8Sxju8mhWUmX4PeEC5ed6krDbQua2JNN4S0Hve-wB-Nk3ebOgjPVTlopgJ6cGmds_umP7I8VQimFPDucMagv9TQ/s1600/a+Dayspring+New+Years+438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54xGt7UE8CFQJsnq2gLrT00RfcieMsAQV3QV1KA2ucDsaEPI7TRae8Sxju8mhWUmX4PeEC5ed6krDbQua2JNN4S0Hve-wB-Nk3ebOgjPVTlopgJ6cGmds_umP7I8VQimFPDucMagv9TQ/s1600/a+Dayspring+New+Years+438.jpg" height="434" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MERRY CHRISTMAS, my friends, to you and your family. I'm signing off to spend time with my family, but will be back again after the holidays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="border: 0px !important;" /></a></span></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-28536925189551893142014-12-23T21:15:00.000-05:002014-12-23T21:15:07.499-05:00Our Christmas Tree 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has finally happened and none too soon. With just a few days to spare we got our Christmas tree up and decorated. We had to wait until the kiddos came home from university which meant that we got our tree for half price (good thing too because it originally cost $40). We had our annual evening of munching on nibblies while decorating the tree. - some of us doing more munching than decorating and some of us doing both. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate and I decided to go for a woodland-themed tree this year which some people in the family had a hard time understanding. They were convinced that trains went through the woodland and airplanes went over the woodland so train and airplane ornaments could go on the tree. And that somewhere in the world elephants lived in a woods so they could go on the tree etc. We had to do some editing when the rebels weren't in the room. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lzEj_yuJGx6G0p_BMQclc5ZdksOQxqPi59GPOajaKMQhCsPzZIqlZ_7Px0bh8eFm56SeC1rZoXgSV2vfeDul4BLmN07jtIiiwAX2FCBKjDcqb_oK7jwFwOJu4WiYzqRKWsj8idIkW-8/s1600/a+P1070772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lzEj_yuJGx6G0p_BMQclc5ZdksOQxqPi59GPOajaKMQhCsPzZIqlZ_7Px0bh8eFm56SeC1rZoXgSV2vfeDul4BLmN07jtIiiwAX2FCBKjDcqb_oK7jwFwOJu4WiYzqRKWsj8idIkW-8/s1600/a+P1070772.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made owls out of toilet paper rolls. They were so simple to make and definitely added to the woodland theme.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIaukL7EFw8ao_6K9HiCyKVbii13HhmJpY4J3VzUkyqsuvOnEv8MDUOo5d022Uu3Su3bzgqAhEzLj-uLmUgkO3piZUjT-RIDUEQ_MWbeJxtatdxcB9zIIC0XptanK0jFFbinI1ka9Pno/s1600/a+P1070773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlIaukL7EFw8ao_6K9HiCyKVbii13HhmJpY4J3VzUkyqsuvOnEv8MDUOo5d022Uu3Su3bzgqAhEzLj-uLmUgkO3piZUjT-RIDUEQ_MWbeJxtatdxcB9zIIC0XptanK0jFFbinI1ka9Pno/s1600/a+P1070773.jpg" height="640" width="456" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQC0dFWph4tY62D6oEbBfCmJ1xo47rfKd34sc13V5VsuasBVjlODtomPPqNNmqDlT3VDlCegHJcaBdE8iKlj46hgsVvom_6jOtzeMWNCIbFd1CYLiRZlEvnkiHUqWpl28jebPNIJ4ps4/s1600/a+P1070774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQC0dFWph4tY62D6oEbBfCmJ1xo47rfKd34sc13V5VsuasBVjlODtomPPqNNmqDlT3VDlCegHJcaBdE8iKlj46hgsVvom_6jOtzeMWNCIbFd1CYLiRZlEvnkiHUqWpl28jebPNIJ4ps4/s1600/a+P1070774.jpg" height="640" width="542" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3tp4sQ5vPBss2zKj4OPf4Sypg7aINH7NKlzlhIie2Sn37AoDFsEGWs5MDP6Oopc9w5ep4LVWTCx6zaRSoMvErGKrXOV2fi-0-hGwRKzLTZHXrvEZhLzO14Dt6itu5ilg4EyinxqrrZw/s1600/a+P1070776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3tp4sQ5vPBss2zKj4OPf4Sypg7aINH7NKlzlhIie2Sn37AoDFsEGWs5MDP6Oopc9w5ep4LVWTCx6zaRSoMvErGKrXOV2fi-0-hGwRKzLTZHXrvEZhLzO14Dt6itu5ilg4EyinxqrrZw/s1600/a+P1070776.jpg" height="640" width="568" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWCgcv_gEwBXX4v9ttuDPN2JQlWEfZ4QwZsZ5FEJSl3ruS73JnsK4NwZfwrfzJ9s62W3d-CSFr5rCIFLoXDegNbJ3yw0V4O7xM5qnpE2vfiGemjYln7OIfPGBMIag0R6m9B-gj0xHUgE/s1600/a+P1070781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjWCgcv_gEwBXX4v9ttuDPN2JQlWEfZ4QwZsZ5FEJSl3ruS73JnsK4NwZfwrfzJ9s62W3d-CSFr5rCIFLoXDegNbJ3yw0V4O7xM5qnpE2vfiGemjYln7OIfPGBMIag0R6m9B-gj0xHUgE/s1600/a+P1070781.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My friend and her daughter, who happens to be my daughter's friend, came over to make cookie Christmas trees. We used the speculaas recipe (which you can find <i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-cookie-week-speculaas.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>) and it worked perfectly because the cookies are nice and hard. One batch of the recipe made exactly enough for one set of cookie cutters. We iced the cookies using about 2 cups of icing sugar mixed with 3 tablespoons of icing sugar. The icing hardened well and piped fairly easily. It was a fun activity and will make a nice decoration for a few days and then dessert on Christmas Eve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have one more post lined up for tomorrow morning and then it is the big day. Are you ready? No matter how much I try to be organized there always seems to be that last-minute scramble and multiple trips to the grocery store and exhaustion. It is better this year, but you can still see that I'm posting about our tree two days before Christmas. </span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-51137910874121886432014-12-22T22:00:00.001-05:002014-12-22T22:00:53.024-05:00Life Right Now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me introduce Ruggles. She's our new little dog that we have had now for two days. We are only beginning to get to know each other and figure out each other's language. Ruggles is a Yorkie mix although I do find she looks a lot like Juno so the Yorkie part must be pretty strong. She ... and by 'she' I mean 'he' because Ruggles is a male and having only had a female dog I'm finding I have huge pronoun problems .. he is smaller than Juno and is underweight so we are doing our best to feed her and love her up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we went on a winter cookout to a nearby conservation area. We were looking for a good way to remember my father as this is the one-year anniversary of his death and a winter cookout seemed just right. My dad loved the outdoors and we often went on hikes and cookouts all year round when I was growing up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to a place called Rattlesnake Point which is much prettier than the name might suggest. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment with huge limestone cliffs an</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">d a forest along the top that we hiked through. There was a dusting of snow which is more than we have at home now since it melted last week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a bit of a time lighting the fire and almost went through the entire Sunday New York Times newspaper trying to get it lit. Thankfully it finally caught and we were able to cook our hotdogs. It was nice to sit around the fire getting warm and drinking hot chocolate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruggles did very well walking through the woods and then </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">while we had the campfire,</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I carried her in my jacket so she didn't get cold (or into trouble). It was quite an outing for her second day with us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in other news we finally have our Christmas tree decorated which I will show you pictures of very soon. We made some owls to go on it as we wanted a Scandinavian woodland type of tree this year and they worked out really well. All those toilet paper rolls finally came in handy!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-44656009644846605742014-12-19T23:45:00.003-05:002014-12-19T23:58:31.073-05:0011 Elements of Scandinavian Christmas Style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love Scandinavian style and especially at Christmastime. I</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n terms of climate and landscape, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scandinavia is very similar to Canada so their style is well suited to the dark, cold, and dreary days of winter that we experience too. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been pouring over lots and lots of photos to get some ideas on how the Scandinavians decorate for Christmas. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you want to know how to get some of that Scandi-chic Christmas style for yourself? I've come up with 11 tips to help you along:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.</b> <b>Embrace white</b>. And use it liberally! There you have the first and most important rule of Scandi decorating. If someone asks you what colour you want an item in, always say white. There is something to be said for all the white. It is simple, it looks clean, and it looks bright. So Step #1 - find all the white ornaments/bowls/jugs you have around the house and put them out for Christmas.</span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.myscandinavianhome.blogspot.se/2012/12/my-home-christmas-tree.html" target="_blank">My Scandinavian Home</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. Add tiny bits of colour</b>.<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once you have your foundation of white</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> you can add in a little colour. Don't go crazy though - dial it back, restrain yourself. I have the hardest time with this. I figure a white canvas is a perfect backdrop for turquoise or hits of bright green, but not in Scandinavian decorating. In Scandi style, colour means</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> neutrals, like gray, black and beige, possibly light blue or green, and, especially at Christmas, tiny amounts of red. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a little though or you won't have Scandinavian decorating, you will have Santa's workshop.</span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.digsdigs.com/76-inspiring-scandinavian-christmas-decorating-ideas/" target="_blank">Digsdigs</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9skI_dBqgS2IJ-ofie2svAmlu9bWTVdRqonz7x4yAOJN3WrfSLUTMG5JpOyiXjWK6Y70yBIdEyI7ktCm_ql3q3lxv9akpIvv1hw6HZf5lgKfKXfhEUUAZm6PptcPWWWD3b4pmtH1dFM/s1600/scandixmas-charm-candlebra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9skI_dBqgS2IJ-ofie2svAmlu9bWTVdRqonz7x4yAOJN3WrfSLUTMG5JpOyiXjWK6Y70yBIdEyI7ktCm_ql3q3lxv9akpIvv1hw6HZf5lgKfKXfhEUUAZm6PptcPWWWD3b4pmtH1dFM/s1600/scandixmas-charm-candlebra.jpg" height="640" width="562"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.styleathome.com/homes/interiors/interior-scandinavian-christmas-charm/a/45844/12" target="_blank">Style at Home</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. Lots of wood. </b>Wood is important, very important. It is best if you have wood floors (light-coloured or painted wood) and wood furniture (natural or painted), but if you lack those don't despair. You can still add in wooden bowls, cutting boards, candlesticks, or logs by the fireplace. If you have a choice, go with light-coloured wood, but dark wood is better than no wood because wood is very important. My theory is that living in a forested country brings out your inner lumberjack and you want lots and lots of wood around your home.</span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.styleathome.com/homes/interiors/interior-scandinavian-christmas-charm/a/45844/7" target="_blank">Style at Home</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMtTRGQKKPqogrlpE_-GruzoT26nET4KbtBH8oe-k7i5Vepcg4Zf49pWdA2vRDDltdaVQ9NTcAfiO1N2BrKPE9J0mSIEjZUtYoRqqVU80B6yS4JO0RVoh8NspFCbwXUl0mljAh-IAXxw/s1600/scandi+Niki-71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMtTRGQKKPqogrlpE_-GruzoT26nET4KbtBH8oe-k7i5Vepcg4Zf49pWdA2vRDDltdaVQ9NTcAfiO1N2BrKPE9J0mSIEjZUtYoRqqVU80B6yS4JO0RVoh8NspFCbwXUl0mljAh-IAXxw/s1600/scandi+Niki-71.jpg" height="426" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://myscandinavianhome.blogspot.se/2013/10/my-home-captured-by-karin-sitting-room.html" target="_blank">My Scandinavian Home</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Candles, twinkle lights, and lanterns.</b> Northern countries like those in Scandinavia and Canada get short-changed when it comes to daylight at this time of year and it gets dark very early. The best way to deal with this is to embrace the darkness and light candles whenever and wherever you can. Candles and twinkle lights should be white though (see Rule #1). </span><br>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things that is particularly Scandinavian is to put out advent candles at Christmas. These candles are usually white (of course) and are often placed in containers with some greenery added and lined up on a windowsill or down the middle of the table. They </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are lit on each Sunday in advent. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simple, but effective, right?</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUqHI9xJt2V3mN_UGgFv555treBklsDKLKLoxk5ABiX92Pejo3Us5RWW9eAZeqYljLpY3U-59PeqGytMgMSF5Fp9WfMxFdLSAc4KLc7NPNWC25uZcdAWD-FEbhOXNq28yOrTqOQ6dFxU/s1600/scandixmas+-+candles+in+tin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUqHI9xJt2V3mN_UGgFv555treBklsDKLKLoxk5ABiX92Pejo3Us5RWW9eAZeqYljLpY3U-59PeqGytMgMSF5Fp9WfMxFdLSAc4KLc7NPNWC25uZcdAWD-FEbhOXNq28yOrTqOQ6dFxU/s1600/scandixmas+-+candles+in+tin.jpg" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hegegreenall-scholtz.blogspot.ca/2010/12/decorating-with-christmas-greens.html" target="_blank">Hege Greenall-Scholtz</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTEggusgVlSckn8mmGp_8k4ZSYJhMCM5zUAzT5qJs3X2MPjhwR67fp-0YzpBPWvuiUUKgNS4-dsT6QRI1IpFaYj2nqfmRODQFhQgJNJX01H2wc52aqvoYScelb0YhxK5J2kaTzcz-wqk/s1600/scandixmas+candles-in-pots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTEggusgVlSckn8mmGp_8k4ZSYJhMCM5zUAzT5qJs3X2MPjhwR67fp-0YzpBPWvuiUUKgNS4-dsT6QRI1IpFaYj2nqfmRODQFhQgJNJX01H2wc52aqvoYScelb0YhxK5J2kaTzcz-wqk/s1600/scandixmas+candles-in-pots.jpg" height="640" width="584"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kjerstislykke.blogspot.ca/2011/11/i-ar-som-i-fjor-nesten-ja-sa-var-dagen.html" target="_blank">Kjerstis Lykke</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. Decorate with shiny and sparkly materials. </b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anything sparkly and reflective and shiny works with your Christmas decor - things like g</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lass and crystal jars and vases or mirrors or silver, gold, or brass plates and bowls. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It totally makes sense to use reflective materials that will bounce light around the room when there is so little daylight. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mixing metals is totally fine, as is using tarnished or worn silver or brass. In fact it is preferred as then it doesn't look too perfect. Shiny and sparkly is definitely an easy tip to follow.</span><br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtUQiXbN165hgoj2LJ0lQ7LPyPUQm3F118oFF6IMFglYsez0q51woJykn39QPfRgb0oU-ic4hMRpp1AZ4qe3KkK36yz9riK1rFjL1XYpSQc3fqFFkBaRBeFAk88lCkNZadhI49ze6vx0/s1600/scandixmas+johanna3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtUQiXbN165hgoj2LJ0lQ7LPyPUQm3F118oFF6IMFglYsez0q51woJykn39QPfRgb0oU-ic4hMRpp1AZ4qe3KkK36yz9riK1rFjL1XYpSQc3fqFFkBaRBeFAk88lCkNZadhI49ze6vx0/s1600/scandixmas+johanna3.png" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://myscandinavianhome.blogspot.ca/2011/11/christmas-decorations-danish-style.html" target="_blank">My Scandinavian Home</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OziMQtkeQgq-r3veALpnWvdic5FvZraz64DBi6sjNfT_wvZAY5JZefGEhuIgBuGpS8bRTPy3uEuj7S-gjB8vPO17iXrgO0xDYfC433t7po8r99_usTfgyEXijTylb2faIP9Txvg37h8/s1600/Scandixmas+Christmas+table+setting11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OziMQtkeQgq-r3veALpnWvdic5FvZraz64DBi6sjNfT_wvZAY5JZefGEhuIgBuGpS8bRTPy3uEuj7S-gjB8vPO17iXrgO0xDYfC433t7po8r99_usTfgyEXijTylb2faIP9Txvg37h8/s1600/Scandixmas+Christmas+table+setting11.png" height="640" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stylizimoblog.com/table-setting-christmas-2/" target="_blank">Stylizimo</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6. Use elements from nature. </b>It seems like every room I looked at had something from the forest incorporated into the decor. Things like evergreen boughs, pine cones, moss, wheat sheaves, or even bare twigs, and flowering bulbs. I love the price tag on most of these items as they can often be collected when you go for a walk through the woods or from the backyard.</span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stylizimoblog.com/first-sunday-of-advent-4/" target="_blank">Stylizimo</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhfBplWGFt2WrxNYUVpRNirOo70Xf4R0GfFfEHuvtWEdjYokS3kBaDr91WBLSBKesce07cYcotcjF2PzTDGuiapu7G_EHLgnZzAnvKUW08-KBrh10_DNaYSN1_cC8gAft0-CnI3kla2Q/s1600/scandixmas+kottkrans+(1%2Bav%2B1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhfBplWGFt2WrxNYUVpRNirOo70Xf4R0GfFfEHuvtWEdjYokS3kBaDr91WBLSBKesce07cYcotcjF2PzTDGuiapu7G_EHLgnZzAnvKUW08-KBrh10_DNaYSN1_cC8gAft0-CnI3kla2Q/s1600/scandixmas+kottkrans+(1%2Bav%2B1).jpg" height="640" width="520"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://daniellawitte.blogspot.ca/2012/12/love-for-cones.html" target="_blank">Daniella Witte</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqohRWK-ANEb_rv7utFF281lSEeyMbNOT07gfRt7NV8rmMWGwWAbd-ZPcUwGlPccu1GdMS-U3ArS-DAtMpt00lr3a2hEHS59-uHa7lpAfd05gH1T2mKIdcbDsipdi3u-xZrMfzghoENg/s1600/scandixmas+AN51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqohRWK-ANEb_rv7utFF281lSEeyMbNOT07gfRt7NV8rmMWGwWAbd-ZPcUwGlPccu1GdMS-U3ArS-DAtMpt00lr3a2hEHS59-uHa7lpAfd05gH1T2mKIdcbDsipdi3u-xZrMfzghoENg/s1600/scandixmas+AN51.jpg" height="640" width="411"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.planete-deco.fr/2012/12/08/noel-nordique/" target="_blank">Planete Deco</a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Use </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">natural fabrics like linen, burlap, wool, and </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>sheepskin. </b>Nothing seems cozier than a wool blanket or a sheepskin rug. Burlap and linen are more about the texture as the loose weave and soft wrinkles make your room seem more relaxed. </span><br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgCHTV7vHFG0CYCJI2-5cnT9lHzWjrOZV39-1hmd2Chm1YiI66B9YSyGHgLIEww2G0pPf10wpisO-8DEkGo7kYGWxlys8iavx9wBdPFy3bFvfX8KyPuZBaPu37-gDpW5NBbY4OWNMMN0/s1600/scandixmas+-+paper+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqgCHTV7vHFG0CYCJI2-5cnT9lHzWjrOZV39-1hmd2Chm1YiI66B9YSyGHgLIEww2G0pPf10wpisO-8DEkGo7kYGWxlys8iavx9wBdPFy3bFvfX8KyPuZBaPu37-gDpW5NBbY4OWNMMN0/s1600/scandixmas+-+paper+trees.jpg" height="640" width="424"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.planete-deco.fr/2012/11/02/ambiance-dhiver-en-suede/" target="_blank">Planete Deco</a><br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5KIhPEWLr_-Wcu2wOiQxipS_YggSqrNevOwZYsLXB4H6oMdfYYPILCd37P6wEZRGc31U2mgJCM0OIKdylSHyJ4qvzqjJfq_droJ-GHtikBw5NlfXMG00EHsyylEVCpfW4-FNHwiCJ6k/s1600/scandixmas+Christmas-tree_stylizimo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX5KIhPEWLr_-Wcu2wOiQxipS_YggSqrNevOwZYsLXB4H6oMdfYYPILCd37P6wEZRGc31U2mgJCM0OIKdylSHyJ4qvzqjJfq_droJ-GHtikBw5NlfXMG00EHsyylEVCpfW4-FNHwiCJ6k/s1600/scandixmas+Christmas-tree_stylizimo.png" height="640" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://stylizimoblog.com/our-christmas-home/" target="_blank">Stylizimo</a><br>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>8. Decorate with food</b>. I think one of my favourite traditions in Scandinavian Christmas decorating is using food such as fruit, nuts, and especially cookies to decorate with. The cookies are usually spice cookies that are cut out into pretty shapes and decorated with simple white icing. Sometimes the decorations are in the form of a gingerbread house, but again not usually the wild sugarfests that we often make, but rather houses decorated with restrained white icing. I love how decorating with food really makes it a multi-sensory event. Can't you just smell the cinnamon!</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gjFVQxRG783ODBnsqyi-KzplwMbVNYV700IwO8MOOcgTjfZeiLW1hrFsWDJV1JXBud1iupkDDv1IoWkCSvtAr1Qug2osLcJqlCkUYyd8WB0I3VujH4Yxk6lGVNdzdZc1LMpn4Gnh_xA/s1600/scandixmas+jul_quick_fix3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gjFVQxRG783ODBnsqyi-KzplwMbVNYV700IwO8MOOcgTjfZeiLW1hrFsWDJV1JXBud1iupkDDv1IoWkCSvtAr1Qug2osLcJqlCkUYyd8WB0I3VujH4Yxk6lGVNdzdZc1LMpn4Gnh_xA/s1600/scandixmas+jul_quick_fix3.jpg" height="640" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.skonahem.com/Jul/10-sista-minuten-tips-som-hojer-julkanslan-direkt" target="_blank">Skonahem</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbJJQh0ChfRHUsw0zG496qBW0CaxmQSy9GCsM8qAUnroRLRDFG0P3IXgGtKNzkGYuXwSjXA6Ud2DAbQx0bZUsVb6oz475KffR1OWGejBX7p6gXCk6UWaDpBOVBITxk62gpqwLD8KKl0/s1600/scandixmas+scandinavian-chrsitmas-inspiring-ideas-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFFbJJQh0ChfRHUsw0zG496qBW0CaxmQSy9GCsM8qAUnroRLRDFG0P3IXgGtKNzkGYuXwSjXA6Ud2DAbQx0bZUsVb6oz475KffR1OWGejBX7p6gXCk6UWaDpBOVBITxk62gpqwLD8KKl0/s1600/scandixmas+scandinavian-chrsitmas-inspiring-ideas-31.jpg" height="640" width="424"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.digsdigs.com/76-inspiring-scandinavian-christmas-decorating-ideas/" target="_blank">Digdigs</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>9. Include h</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>andmade touches</b>. I love that there are often homemade paper crafts hung on the tree or in the windows of the rooms I looked at. There were things like folded paper stars and small paper cones filled with candies or felt hearts. I especially love the paper cones and may have to make some for my tree this year.</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNml1myVdgH9fMl0qpC7PvDj2TyLGo-njUX8hbGL53jH5QTtO9wWyIfnLKw-ixGdGCu-pWyBGK0b_g5aAY0LGL6SUJG06wOIjakK2UMFI04GLCbxi1nPpv1WuB-bq1G3XJvc0xxRO0Mp8/s1600/scandixmas+Fullsk%C3%A4rmsinf%C3%A5ngning+2012-12-03+202352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNml1myVdgH9fMl0qpC7PvDj2TyLGo-njUX8hbGL53jH5QTtO9wWyIfnLKw-ixGdGCu-pWyBGK0b_g5aAY0LGL6SUJG06wOIjakK2UMFI04GLCbxi1nPpv1WuB-bq1G3XJvc0xxRO0Mp8/s1600/scandixmas+Fullsk%C3%A4rmsinf%C3%A5ngning+2012-12-03+202352.jpg" height="640" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://seventeendoors.blogspot.ru/2012/12/x-mas-table-settings.html" target="_blank">Seventeen doors</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UGoiJ0S9j7Pjr-5f159Q-pZFcPZ72cGzVqF_I3D6zkyCYkIym-3p6dBdEZrkpNojdhuOxN6s10j81v0dkLbeyAqcX3I35fcwW_UzIO764_6RLcarELbymp9az9WoR7GwwFB1fhYPCH8/s1600/scandixmas+paper-stars-1024x782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UGoiJ0S9j7Pjr-5f159Q-pZFcPZ72cGzVqF_I3D6zkyCYkIym-3p6dBdEZrkpNojdhuOxN6s10j81v0dkLbeyAqcX3I35fcwW_UzIO764_6RLcarELbymp9az9WoR7GwwFB1fhYPCH8/s1600/scandixmas+paper-stars-1024x782.jpg" height="488" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bonordica.com/make-your-own-paper-stars-decorations/" target="_blank">Bonordica</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjV28GduPhieh6EUZVfcbGA5sYWebgqQcd9cccgP0RqHqfMDd1Lb2wc1w1rLrxNF0Lu2dGDRY6yRmsNJr4HCrOm23KRHVCuOzEAQVOCFH0E6HSasyzQxAsuJ9iMMHInBcL5cpepit9Jw/s1600/scandixmas+johanna7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjV28GduPhieh6EUZVfcbGA5sYWebgqQcd9cccgP0RqHqfMDd1Lb2wc1w1rLrxNF0Lu2dGDRY6yRmsNJr4HCrOm23KRHVCuOzEAQVOCFH0E6HSasyzQxAsuJ9iMMHInBcL5cpepit9Jw/s1600/scandixmas+johanna7.png" height="640" width="484"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://myscandinavianhome.blogspot.ca/2011/11/christmas-decorations-danish-style.html" target="_blank">My Scandinavian Home</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>10. Hang a big star in your window. </b>The stars might be made of paper or metal or even plastic and some are lit and some aren't, but they seem to be pretty mandatory ... and pretty lovely.</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSU12UIVxh92HeWELY6A8SIgbJ53dEEZ0Emm_y2cLtMMW8GAZeC4GqMC2ANVygk7C8AAS62rYwFla-8hflcsbdDZPFpZca4snEDOxHwYI_p9NpvXuaIjXAdet-C4j0o7oLokLjcBSd5PA/s1600/scandixmas+Window_kitchen_christmas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSU12UIVxh92HeWELY6A8SIgbJ53dEEZ0Emm_y2cLtMMW8GAZeC4GqMC2ANVygk7C8AAS62rYwFla-8hflcsbdDZPFpZca4snEDOxHwYI_p9NpvXuaIjXAdet-C4j0o7oLokLjcBSd5PA/s1600/scandixmas+Window_kitchen_christmas.png" height="640" width="426"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stylizimoblog.com/in-my-windows/" target="_blank">Stylizimo</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>11. Be a minimalist. </b>This last tip is definitely the hardest for someone like me. Even if it isn't in your nature to be a minimalist you need to do your best to keep things simple. Like the old adage to look in the mirror before going out the door and remove one item, in Scandinavian decorating you should look around the room and remove about a hundred items. Less is definitely more!</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50cfdtrLPZJ3SUgvAhh4pEPbza7e5DnCXSzxZFVxrBH7_4aOQJuuvBYQqZ26yfioQmj5mq7GOClo5AMvrnlF8BwhUGnNc9ptLA9YL8lgr9SW8A6TI59c95XHm2RdvBdsV-OgJEDM0ZnY/s1600/scandixmas+-+door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi50cfdtrLPZJ3SUgvAhh4pEPbza7e5DnCXSzxZFVxrBH7_4aOQJuuvBYQqZ26yfioQmj5mq7GOClo5AMvrnlF8BwhUGnNc9ptLA9YL8lgr9SW8A6TI59c95XHm2RdvBdsV-OgJEDM0ZnY/s1600/scandixmas+-+door.jpg" height="640" width="424"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lantliv via <a href="http://www.planete-deco.fr/2012/11/02/ambiance-dhiver-en-suede/" target="_blank">Planete Deco</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love the Scandinavian way of decorating - the simplicity, the coziness, and the homey touches. I've seen a lot of people talking about Scandinavian decorating the last few years so I think I'm not the only one that finds it appealing. You can see my attempt at creating a Scandinavian mantel in <i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/11/our-christmas-mantel.html" target="_blank">this post</a></i>. Is it a style that you like and try to use in your home?</span><br>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;"></span></a></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-17117539684239510032014-12-10T17:04:00.000-05:002014-12-10T22:04:05.939-05:00Trees and Dogs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have two random things to share with you today so I thought I would lump them together into one post. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, in art class we carved lino blocks and printed the designs onto blue-striped IKEA tea towels. You can see them in the photos above - the green trees are mine and the red trees are my mom's. Have you ever done any printing? It is a very satisfying project.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I printed evergreen trees down the sides of the tea towel and then dipped a pencil eraser into silver paint and dotted the sky with stars (I'm sure you knew those were stars, right?) It is a fun project and I like that you end up with a useful item. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm using mine as a table runner rather than a tea towel.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was the husband's birthday last Friday and we celebrated on Friday with dinner out and on Saturday with lunch out with the family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a significant birthday so the kids and I went all out and did some extra special things for him. One of the things we did was list all his accomplishments on a long paper. It was so long I hung it across the lights in the dining room. We had fun reading them together and adding more things we had forgotten to the list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the really big news is that the husband is getting a dog for his birthday. And no I didn't wrap a dog up in that big box on the table - it if filled with dog paraphernalia. The husband has wanted a dog since Juno passed away in February, but I have been reluctant to get another one because of the difficulties when you want to go away. There is always give-and-take in a marriage and since this was the husband's heart's desire it seemed the perfect time to give it to him (well the permission to get his heart's desire anyway, as getting a dog is turning out to be quite the process). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A funny thing happened - on Wednesday I bought a dog collar to give him as a placeholder for the actual dog and tucked it carefully away. The next day I realized I had no idea where I had put the present (honestly, I can be so absent-minded sometimes) and the husband's birthday was the next day. So at lunch on Friday I had to run out and buy another placeholder. Since I was in the pet store anyway, I decided to buy a bunch of things like a dog bed and a leash and some food which is why the box was so big. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now we just need to find the right little dog - one that will fit the adorable coat and sweater I bought for it!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/72/AB6661A490E6F7BB766A6BC48578ED79.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></span></a><br />
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<span id="goog_1710252015"></span><span id="goog_1710252016"></span></div>
Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-74727524337618253632014-12-07T17:03:00.000-05:002014-12-07T17:03:06.929-05:00Christmas Craft Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last weekend was my third annual Christmas Craft Party. There's nothing better than spending an evening sitting around eating and chatting with friends from my art class while we make Christmas crafts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here is what we made this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1. TWIG SANTAS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What you need:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">twigs and sticks in a range of thicknesses</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">acrylic paint - red, flesh-coloured, white</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">corn starch</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">paint brushes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trays for the paint </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">popsicle sticks for mixing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">black Sharpie</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was probably my favourite craft of the evening. My Mom and I <a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2014/11/fall-meets-winter.html" target="_blank">collected twigs at the cottage about a month ago</a> so we could make these Santas. We chose twigs that were a range of thicknesses from about a pencil size to a couple of centimeters across. We used the large clippers to cut the end on an angle to form the hat. Then we painted the hat red and the face using flesh-coloured paint. We mixed corn starch with white paint to make the beard fluffy and we added eyes using a Sharpie. I made more Santas on the day after the party </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(it isn't easy for me to get much done during the party itself so I took advantage of having everything set up and I crafted the next day too before I cleaned up) </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and on some of the Santas I used fluffy white wool for the beard, instead of paint.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. TWIG LETTERS</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pt0HUzo3EF77b3DnsqmdgYemjf7gnzNXC9DtQGlSe-ri3a4iKck-amBTadVI-uLyQ7_ptMGvsKp8V2fVBC3gHWycFMpUKmt48fCAv8eD_trIfLVZJkU57W4lVan-zIcf4KPT9l_gWd4/s1600/a+P1070469+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pt0HUzo3EF77b3DnsqmdgYemjf7gnzNXC9DtQGlSe-ri3a4iKck-amBTadVI-uLyQ7_ptMGvsKp8V2fVBC3gHWycFMpUKmt48fCAv8eD_trIfLVZJkU57W4lVan-zIcf4KPT9l_gWd4/s1600/a+P1070469+1.jpg" height="398" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This craft really got everyone being creative and making different things which is always fun to see what everyone does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What you need:</span></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">twigs and sticks in a variety of sizes and shapes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wire to hold the sticks in a round shape</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ribbon, wool, twine, baker's string, fake berries to decorate the letters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blocks of wood</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">clippers, scissors, wire cutters</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">glue guns</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Mom and I gathered all the twigs we would need for this craft at the cottage too. I kept them in the garage so they would stay pliable which seemed to work. I want to give a shout-out to <b>Lowe's</b> and <b>Rona</b> as both stores gave me wood blocks for free and even cut a few scrap pieces up for me. I was so grateful as I didn't want to spend a lot on the craft projects and I had initially tried one other hardware store and they had said no, so I was very happy when Rona and Lowe's were so generous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made more letters on Sunday. I finished up "NOEL" which you can see in the back row of the first photo that is missing an "L" (get it, no 'L'. Ha! Ha! I crack myself up) and made "JOY" as well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTFMXEUubBubbo3t1pcSckYm5aEXwBueSm9eTpx4aqap7lftapnsCBSVoYW388cSd3IfNhKI0hrD-b-UMp3jvLgju2GOnvIiRvFNtP8uCjMlcZCO3XnQGu3JkstFwVi0o0WtIQSdnFik/s1600/a+P1070496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLTFMXEUubBubbo3t1pcSckYm5aEXwBueSm9eTpx4aqap7lftapnsCBSVoYW388cSd3IfNhKI0hrD-b-UMp3jvLgju2GOnvIiRvFNtP8uCjMlcZCO3XnQGu3JkstFwVi0o0WtIQSdnFik/s1600/a+P1070496.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. CARVED ORANGES</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AGvQn0VJmBU4gYVNYX6j9eSYYrSb5EqeVKEKYn3sxoem51re1tqWXhAC72ajoNlm3gOYk_tNikxFONy2LELSA7NTDnanmxYRJBZGwFpCy877CBteA5N-5fhcKyKN18EnbF067DrOz7c/s1600/a+P1070483+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AGvQn0VJmBU4gYVNYX6j9eSYYrSb5EqeVKEKYn3sxoem51re1tqWXhAC72ajoNlm3gOYk_tNikxFONy2LELSA7NTDnanmxYRJBZGwFpCy877CBteA5N-5fhcKyKN18EnbF067DrOz7c/s1600/a+P1070483+1.jpg" height="640" width="542" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've done this craft for three years in a row so this will be the last one, but I really wanted to do it again so I would have a bowl full of carved oranges. I only had four and that just isn't a good number to display so now I have seven and I'm good to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What you need:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">oranges</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">carving set</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bowl to put peels in</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only trick to this craft is to make sure the oranges are really dried out before putting them on display. I do that by putting them on our floor heat vent for two weeks and then they are fine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZnYxBdP1r1hf-gNmpDiCOyB0qFh5uBEjx3iC2gyub3TN70LsbUkq4cAy4Vp6Xsl18svkftA2mmKAH-r8prkx69g4r_441l-NfVTbc-HaaxQqH4ceQZdstXSkdPO_EjSnTZr1H13LmFk/s1600/a+P1070456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZnYxBdP1r1hf-gNmpDiCOyB0qFh5uBEjx3iC2gyub3TN70LsbUkq4cAy4Vp6Xsl18svkftA2mmKAH-r8prkx69g4r_441l-NfVTbc-HaaxQqH4ceQZdstXSkdPO_EjSnTZr1H13LmFk/s1600/a+P1070456.jpg" height="466" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to say that this craft party is one of my favourite Christmas activities. I love sitting around chatting and visiting with people who like to play with twigs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, if you are curious what we made in previous years, you can see them <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/11/christmas-craft-party.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></i>, <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2012/12/christmas-craft-party.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></i>, and more details <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2012/12/beaded-snowflakes-or-are-they-stars.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></i>.</span></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-75143667587720314722014-12-05T06:30:00.001-05:002014-12-05T06:30:00.808-05:00Christmas Cookie Week - Speculaas Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2yUSCbGASF09yRrvQ1NWRwHzFyz42oTjTuGSNKRvTSeJXr5pBIuA0rs5c3T7W8eBG8-yYqbS0nrSjQEaQDgl7wp8_dh0BH7TrtxPfkc4GPEgEmSwPksIa4eMG2R0R9H-_rOJgIx_wGU/s1600/a+P1070578+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2yUSCbGASF09yRrvQ1NWRwHzFyz42oTjTuGSNKRvTSeJXr5pBIuA0rs5c3T7W8eBG8-yYqbS0nrSjQEaQDgl7wp8_dh0BH7TrtxPfkc4GPEgEmSwPksIa4eMG2R0R9H-_rOJgIx_wGU/s1600/a+P1070578+2.jpg" height="640" width="468" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Speculaas cookies I made<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-cookie-week-speculaas.html" target="_blank">last year</a></span> were such a hit that I had to make them again this Christmas. Last year I used the cookie plank I was given when I lived in the Netherlands </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">years ago. This year I wanted to try decorating them with almonds which I remember was often used on speculaas cookies in the Netherlands. It was fun to arrange the whole almonds and slivered almonds into flowers and stars or just into patterns. Sometimes I got lazy and just put an almond in the middle of the cookie though, which also looked good.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjXR2fFF1NQ0quPccV85bQIdmQS7KQd9AXUIvMhez2Z-Y9FAKL-QuAghqMPVTRGjqXJpsLt_CTs_rec0lpbYry0YjBcJsm_Fkm0iK4egR2QAYrYYL-qaJgyHHE0ArBC3fETUYK8sXcy4/s1600/a+P1070563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjXR2fFF1NQ0quPccV85bQIdmQS7KQd9AXUIvMhez2Z-Y9FAKL-QuAghqMPVTRGjqXJpsLt_CTs_rec0lpbYry0YjBcJsm_Fkm0iK4egR2QAYrYYL-qaJgyHHE0ArBC3fETUYK8sXcy4/s1600/a+P1070563.jpg" height="640" width="636" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always consider it a happy coincidence that my husband was born on the day when Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands (December 5th). When I met my husband I had just returned from living in Utrecht for a year and I loved that his birthday was on such an important Dutch holiday. Well that day is today and my handsome husband is celebrating a milestone birthday, which he feels the less said about the better. I however am quite excited about the plans I have cooked up (can't reveal anything on the blog in case he finds out though). Happy Birthday Honey!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" height="640" width="524" /></span></a></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-53592328459308633272014-12-04T06:30:00.000-05:002014-12-04T06:30:00.382-05:00Christmas Cookie Week - Mom's Oatmeal M&M Cookies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALptWuW9Z3TH9r1KPIVkeaMF9j4EYrM9yfZNA8hvhnb3yjQZVM_bgZV3-kuXwETcsHX573XMqXrYCd9nI-u6N72QaRAuwYJwAb385KayO5hUv_9NUg00v4y1y0_2WF5bNY365tahPrfA/s1600/a+P1070392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_IFdsp_IA2wMBY9tK6QNyJD1eww7IgeWzPOLMKopBcfm-9a_aI3B8CrLuLN2UUj569hyphenhyphenQ02Wwn-Jc5hbOKb-1Hs_7YN6ghjveUbbxQdRuyoP88AjWTxmTidQjMfIl5uq9E9wN7ENVyE/s1600/a+P1070392+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_IFdsp_IA2wMBY9tK6QNyJD1eww7IgeWzPOLMKopBcfm-9a_aI3B8CrLuLN2UUj569hyphenhyphenQ02Wwn-Jc5hbOKb-1Hs_7YN6ghjveUbbxQdRuyoP88AjWTxmTidQjMfIl5uq9E9wN7ENVyE/s1600/a+P1070392+1.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMDLvW-dgCcWhpHxc2Xf6LxPBBKkGm1IILNmjbSYOWIUT5zjYzLxs0PqLTRY2-QiwvkVv3PvLnA8j0tHxvs1YpLiKLkqmpaF5_dnJRMkVyTyyiSLJBhjj_DobVH4XMQ9PSYoxaQ_tFCI/s1600/a+P1070398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMDLvW-dgCcWhpHxc2Xf6LxPBBKkGm1IILNmjbSYOWIUT5zjYzLxs0PqLTRY2-QiwvkVv3PvLnA8j0tHxvs1YpLiKLkqmpaF5_dnJRMkVyTyyiSLJBhjj_DobVH4XMQ9PSYoxaQ_tFCI/s1600/a+P1070398.jpg" height="636" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year I made M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies. They were fantastic and very popular, but the life of a blogger is that you have to change things up. So this year I decided to make similar cookies, but with a slight variation - my Mom's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with festive M&Ms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup margarine or butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup white sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 cup milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cup all-purpose flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup whole-wheat flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon baking soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup raisins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup sunflower seeds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 cup chocolate chips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 package Christmas M&Ms</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Method:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Combine first five ingredients</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Add flours, put soda on top and mix into flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Beat into liquids</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Add oats and raisins, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Drop by teaspoon onto baking sheet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Bake 350F for 14-15 minutes. When there is about 5 minutes left on the baking time gently put a few M&Ms on each cookie. Makes 45 cookies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can never decide which I like better - chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Life is full of difficult decisions. So if you want regular chocolate chip cookies you can </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">check out last year's post (<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-cookie-week-m-chocolate-chip.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></i>) or if you want oatmeal chocolate chip cookies you can give these ones a try. They both taste fantastic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" height="640" width="524" /></span></a></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-25915184872432158062014-12-03T06:30:00.000-05:002014-12-03T06:30:00.741-05:00Christmas Cookie Week - Brownie Bites<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_k37OfWhso_T9ieJ_1b_y_e-XrRNs_DNMI1x88tG8ZVuC0Cx77SBaZz7JhnEx7OxqN8Q7JKkQ9BxmWBvF1dsJjFkksqrSi9tPEMb0Du9SxJ0mVCPEkFwpgLkMOlGoa1oVm_DbAHlHas/s1600/a+P1070322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_k37OfWhso_T9ieJ_1b_y_e-XrRNs_DNMI1x88tG8ZVuC0Cx77SBaZz7JhnEx7OxqN8Q7JKkQ9BxmWBvF1dsJjFkksqrSi9tPEMb0Du9SxJ0mVCPEkFwpgLkMOlGoa1oVm_DbAHlHas/s1600/a+P1070322.jpg" height="640" width="574" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I have shared this recipe on the blog before, but it is a great tried-and-true recipe and you can never have too many of those. Our family loves brownies so I have to make them every year for the Christmas cookie plate. I thought long and hard about how to change them up this year and finally decided to make them into mini two-bite brownie muffins. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put chocolate chips into the batter rather than icing the brownies so they would be easier to freeze. Using chocolate chips might sound like a good idea, but I had my doubts when I tried to take the first batch of cooked brownies out of the tray. All the chocolate chips had stuck to the pan and most of the brownies came out broken into pieces. So I'm passing along my tip for how to avoid this problem. What I did was pour the batter into each well and then add a few chocolate chips on top and gently smooth some of the batter over the chocolate chips. That worked like a charm and the brownies all came out of the pans like they should after that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the recipe:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 squares unsweetened chocolate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/3 cup butter or margarine</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2/3 cups all-purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 teaspoon baking powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4 teaspoon salt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon vanilla</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup chocolate chips (or more if you want a thicker icing)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Method:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Melt chocolate with butter in microwave on medium heat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Beat eggs, then gradually add in sugar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Blend in chocolate mixture and vanilla.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Stir in flour mixture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Spread in greased 8-inch square pan (or muffin pans)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">You can can see my usual easy brownie icing <i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-cookie-week-brownies.html" target="_blank">here</a> </i>and my brownie s'more version <i><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2012/08/smore-brownies.html" target="_blank">here</a></i>.</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't forget to come back every day this week to see what other cookies and squares I made.</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_I-1r6tjyPuoHkhBh7NAy5yC8fvxVBQJPxuP9CF7PZ5BlYwc-Y15hpicgl0AV54tIJh7usYFgp5iSvGHvtXOKkHk_0cJYIbfvsJSc5T2tXUSZpHryxuWaXzle5G0GNqCG6CB8llvGDHc/s1600/aa+P1360760.jpg" height="640" width="524" /></span></a></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-49026700500220081252014-12-02T06:30:00.000-05:002014-12-02T06:30:02.103-05:00Christmas Cookie Week - Butter Tart Bars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0iE6uUwaSTGTXTOYoRI2KHrpAEyNrO-eu0r9kbzrkmoV4P-kbBAiqskBYvCFzO5uqWyC7XN6PXudHwdKXoh3qZ95a9NbFgKSQpP6amkQiEJQRPWeEYyeXMekGAaHMvLXZVcH0cEWJQ8/s1600/a+P1070334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio0iE6uUwaSTGTXTOYoRI2KHrpAEyNrO-eu0r9kbzrkmoV4P-kbBAiqskBYvCFzO5uqWyC7XN6PXudHwdKXoh3qZ95a9NbFgKSQpP6amkQiEJQRPWeEYyeXMekGAaHMvLXZVcH0cEWJQ8/s1600/a+P1070334.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love butter tarts so when I saw this recipe for butter tart bars in my recent <i>Canadian House and Home</i> magazine I thought they would be even better than making tarts - less fiddling around with crust and more of the yummy gooey filling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand that butter tarts are a Canadian delicacy and if you have never had one then you should run, not walk, to your kitchen and start baking right now because they are fantastic. Butter tarts are usually made with a flaky pie crust filled with a sweet, gooey, runny filling containing raisins, although they can also have chopped walnuts or pecans. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These butter tart bars have a buttery shortbread crust with the usual gooey filling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made a few modifications to the original recipe, so here is my version:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Crust:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups all-purpose flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 tbsp granulated sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 cup butter, cold, diced</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Filling: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup butter, melted</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tbsp white vinegar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 1/2 tsp vanilla </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 cups raisins</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Method:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan and place on a baking tray. Preheat oven to 350F</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Combine flour and sugar to make crust and cut butter into mixture until it is a fine meal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Press evenly into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Combing filling ingredients in a bowl and blend together. Pour over crust, spreading evenly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling is brown and is set. Cool completely and then cut into squares. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found the edges of my bars were a little overdone and didn't look as nice as the middle part ... so... I cut up the centre part into squares and froze them to be used at Christmastime and ate the outside bits. I know, I know, but someone had to do it. Another little tip that I will pass along is that they cut much more neatly when I let them sit for 24 hours. The crust came out with nice clean edges just the way it should rather than crumbling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you had butter tarts? Are you a fan? This is a new recipe to me and one that I foresee becoming a family favourite.</span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Don't forget to come back every day this week to see what other cookies and squares I made. </i></div>
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575237890797665624.post-89150086257683644812014-12-01T06:30:00.000-05:002014-12-02T15:23:09.099-05:00Christmas Cookie Week - 3 Holiday Shortbread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dhB9RMZkWt-vwuptZgpPoOktYTEHR8FQ_LwAJ1ftYr9t7HPCHq76jwcVhsK-UUxoF0AkaU0erEoQM3elXo2v93P2Yx3ykvs-GQBI2_spgCF7wfAH7-Fapq9t7fI6WLmKQLwgNKwLMg8/s1600/a+P1070306+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dhB9RMZkWt-vwuptZgpPoOktYTEHR8FQ_LwAJ1ftYr9t7HPCHq76jwcVhsK-UUxoF0AkaU0erEoQM3elXo2v93P2Yx3ykvs-GQBI2_spgCF7wfAH7-Fapq9t7fI6WLmKQLwgNKwLMg8/s1600/a+P1070306+2.jpg" height="640" width="372" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every year I make shortbread cookies using my Grandmother's recipe at Christmas time. Our family loves shortbread and it just wouldn't be Christmas without them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year my friend Kim and I were discussing the merits of different Christmas cookies and she told me that every year she makes shortbread cookies and in addition to decorating most of them for Christmas, she also decorates a few for Valentine's Day and a few for St. Patrick's Day and puts them in the freezer. How clever is that?</span><br />
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So I decided to emulate my wise friend and that is what I did this year.</span><br />
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I cut out most of the shortbread cookies in traditional trees and stars and other Christmas shapes and decorated them with regular Christmas sprinkles until I had a lovely pile of red and green cookies.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6a5HJmRmbwemSDaK45iunio2CH2SUAjNuZRixYU-6BgG-iqvTqoC0HkElpc3xcw95363tXqV1-Q1vGWIu-t_MK2866URJ9Y6v6d2wmDFT6xWLuF_91RlzyohPHZWgwrfcHJTddzxDZc/s1600/a+P1070312+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6a5HJmRmbwemSDaK45iunio2CH2SUAjNuZRixYU-6BgG-iqvTqoC0HkElpc3xcw95363tXqV1-Q1vGWIu-t_MK2866URJ9Y6v6d2wmDFT6xWLuF_91RlzyohPHZWgwrfcHJTddzxDZc/s1600/a+P1070312+.jpg" height="408" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I also made some of the shortbreads in hearts and neutral shapes and decorated them with red and pink sprinkles. They are tucked away awaiting their debut in February.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnyAO9PBy1EtnXjGuYfvJJr2wxtquAViONpQjv3P8XOvCfR4zSvdA6e8shFRaZ_j5dJkFRdhBoxn4BkZoS0veH6MurhyhZQsyPck-YvCanGA5vg19mYTHzq1O6vJQ3zw2isQh9Vm-x7c/s1600/a+P1070310+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWnyAO9PBy1EtnXjGuYfvJJr2wxtquAViONpQjv3P8XOvCfR4zSvdA6e8shFRaZ_j5dJkFRdhBoxn4BkZoS0veH6MurhyhZQsyPck-YvCanGA5vg19mYTHzq1O6vJQ3zw2isQh9Vm-x7c/s1600/a+P1070310+1.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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And finally I decorated a few with only green sprinkles and sugar and will pull them out of the freezer in March. Won't they make a pretty addition to our St. Patrick's Day dinner.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqApKXo3RCoo_jDaPVkBAQ37rYGyMqzfZL5A6mF77Pqn40YmHcSGYYA_oR6VuYZZ7MIjew4LcQHGNxV6gLmJkLUWRhB_jVhZRgCRWLZBIJQLl8t76PT-J0BQQcPanCk9khzA-YmvqWAU/s1600/a+P1070309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqApKXo3RCoo_jDaPVkBAQ37rYGyMqzfZL5A6mF77Pqn40YmHcSGYYA_oR6VuYZZ7MIjew4LcQHGNxV6gLmJkLUWRhB_jVhZRgCRWLZBIJQLl8t76PT-J0BQQcPanCk9khzA-YmvqWAU/s1600/a+P1070309.jpg" height="412" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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How clever is that? I wish organizing all of life was that easy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, y</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ou can read about my Grandmother, whose shortbread cookie recipe we use every year,</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-cookie-week-shortbread-cookies.html" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: blue;">here</span></i></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(and see a picture of her and her house and the view from her kitchen window) and find the cranberry-orange shortbread variation I made a few years ago</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://gracie-senseandsimplicity.blogspot.ca/2012/11/christmas-cookie-week-cranberry-orange.html" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: blue;">here</span></i></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<i>Don't forget to come back every day this week to see what other cookies and squares I made. </i></span><br />
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Grace @ Sense and Simplicityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14185222544452668586noreply@blogger.com5