Christmas is Coming Flash Sale

With any luck now, your Christmas shopping is down to a few last minute stocking stuffers and hostess gifts. Around here, the wrapped presents are slowly accumulating in a corner of the backroom and I'm just waiting for a few more packages to arrive. I'm feeling pretty good about things.

If you're someone who needs a deadline to really get going on any project, be it Christmas shopping or anything else, here's a deadline for you. This Monday marks the last day things can get shipped without worrying about (pricey) expedited shipping, which makes this weekend a perfect time to wrap up holiday shopping.

To inspire you to push through that last slog of shopping and as a thank you for your support and kind words all year 'round, I'm offering a flash sale between now and 11:59 P.M. Sunday, December 15 at my Etsy shop, Yes Sir, Yes Sir! At checkout, enter the coupon code SERENITYNOW to receive 20% off your entire purchase. Coupon code is good for all merchandise and no minimum purchase required.

Happy shopping and thank YOU!

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Thanks Giving and Snow

For the last couple years, Thanksgiving has marked the beginning of winter in these woods.It's an odd little coincidence. Last year saw us driving home for Thanksgiving festivities in a sloppy snowstorm; this Thanksgiving morning we woke up to 3 inches of fresh, fluffy snow. I guess it's kind of pretty.

The lake (the part we can see at least) iced over the day before Thanksgiving. When Andy and I were driving into town on Thanksgiving morning, we realized that the lake was open for less than 28 weeks in 2013. Didn't really need that reminder that I live in the land of endless winter. Meh.

So did everyone have a good Thanksgiving?

We had a lovely, albeit it busy, few days around here. I worked on the annual community Thanksgiving dinner on both Wednesday (prep) and Thursday (actual cooking and serving) that our church puts on for anyone who doesn't feel like putting on a big Thanksgiving dinner themselves. We usually feed about 100 people each year. My contributions this year were a pumpkin and a cranberry/cherry pie. Despite my best efforts, my pumpkin pie did weep ever so slightly. Apparently the weeping happens when the filling gets overcooked and egg in the custard seizes up and starts squeezing out the filling's liquid, but I was too slow with my instant read thermometer to catch the pie before the filling passed 150 degrees. Better luck next time. And also, yes, I do have that much time on my hands to obsess over such things.

I didn't actual eat dinner at the church, but instead headed over to Andy's mom's house around 3 with a bag filled with leftovers. (Winning!). Apparently lots of people went non-traditional with their Thanksgiving "feasts" this year - we had sushi (not made from the aforementioned leftovers), my grandfather had fondue and my brother had pirogies. And no, I do not know what that is all  about.

The smoked herring is attacking!

I'm not afraid to admit that we went to bed at 9 on Thanksgiving night and that I was out like a light. It was a good day.

Did anyone brave Black Friday sales on Friday or (heaven forbid!) Thursday? For the most part I completed my Christmas shopping last weekend and am feeling incredibly on top of things and also not brokeity broke broke. (You can check out my tips for saving Christmas moola here.)  If you still need to pick up some things, remember the Cyber Monday sale going on over at Yes Sir, Yes Sir today. Get free shipping for any order with the coupon code SHIPFREE and today only, all orders over $25.00 receive a complimentary holiday ornament. 

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Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday

At last, we can turn up the holiday tunes, pull out the Christmas ornaments and settle in for a month or so of Yuletide spirit. You know what that means - time to pull out the naughty and nice list and start that holiday shopping. All weekend long, you can enjoy free shipping at my Etsy shop  - where you'll find all sorts of hand knit goodness to stuff into stocking or for a lovely handmade present for some lucky lady in your life.

And check out the supply section of my shop if you're all like, "But Ada, I already know how to knit. Why on God's green earth would I pay you for something I could make myself?" You can snag some pretty good deals on brand spanking new yarn and other supplies at the moment because I got a little crazy with the stash busting this morning.

Happy Holidays! Thank you for considering shopping small and local!

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All I Want For Christmas . . .

For the last week or so, my social media feeds have been bombarded with tales of holiday decorating. Around here, it's been hard to get into the holiday spirit - mostly because it's been feeling more like late March than early December outside.

Today, temps soared into the 40s, which means a lot of the snow we received over Thanksgiving weekend disappeared. I can't say I'm sad about the warmer temps, but it is a little disconcerting. Holiday spirit feels a little sparse at the moment, but it will finds its way to this little cabin in the woods soon enough.

In the meantime, I'm doing my best to come up with a Christmas wishlist, but you guys, it's looking disturbingly and disappointingly adult-ish. Back in my teenage years, I used to love creating my Christmas lists. Now, I find myself struggling each year to come up with a decent list. I really do try to live as simply as possible - partly because of principle, partly because of necessity (the cabin is pretty small) - and I've never been much of a shopper. We are so blessed, that we don't really need new stuff and I hate having stuff that just sits around.

So without further adieu, here's my amazingly awesome Christmas wishlist of 2012:

Item #1 . . . the super sexy, ultra fun two drawer file cabinet!!!

But seriously, I need this. The elastic on the accordion file that I've had since college is just this side of shot. And it's so fun to get all your paperwork in order. Am I right?

Next up?! Paper towels!

Okay, I actually think these reuseable towels from Mamamade on Etsy actually are pretty kick-ass. I'm not sure I can totally divorce paper towels, but I love the idea of have these available to wipe up the vast majority of kitchen messes.

Speaking of messes in the kitchen, we could use a new compost bin.

Turns out that compost bins that have been hijacked (aka bitten) by black bears are actually kind of leaky. After reading that last sentence, I'm kind of embarrassed that I just admitted that we've been using a damaged compost bin for the last year +. How cheap am I? (Answer: very cheap.)  

I've been dying to get my hands on a copy of Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars  since it released this spring.  She's my canning guru.

Ooo, and some more ReCap lids for my Mason jars would be awesome!

One actual shopper-ish item that I've been lusting over for years are the Gussy Sews products. I just think they're adorable.

Posey Market Tote

Dashing Deer Pouch

Other more frivolous favorites:

This print from G is for Grow on Etsy:

Happy London Print

And this Minnesota necklace from Shop Oh So Antsy on Etsy. Except the heart must be moved to the Arrowhead region. Sorry Cities dwellers - the Twin Cities is not where my heart is!

Minnesota Necklace

What are you hoping to find under the Christmas tree this year?

 

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