In today’s post I’m sharing a few of my favorite things from the past week.
Christmas baking
This week I started doing some Christmas baking. My brother requested that I make rum balls. My dad wanted gingerbread cookies. I always make Chex mix because it’s nice to have something savory to balance out all of the sweet treats at this time of year. I also may make shortbread cookies. They’re my favorite. I typically only have them at Christmas so it’s a treat that I really look forward to at this time of year.
Yesterday afternoon I made the rum balls. Unfortunately I underestimated how many chocolate sprinkles I would need though. I ended up having to use colored sprinkles until I ran out of those too. Finally had to resort to rolling the last dozen or so of the rum balls in sugar. I suppose it’s typical of 2020. While they may not look as delicious as they do most years, they’ll still taste good.
Pink and blue striped mittens
I used some new yarn this week and knit up a pair of mittens. I love the bright and colorful stripes on these mittens. They’re super cute and they knit up great. I put off making mittens for a long time because I thought that they would be really complicated and hard to make because of the thumb. I’m so glad that I decided to take a chance and try to knit them though because they were a whole lot easier than I was expecting.
If you’re also a knitter, I made them using The World’s Simplest Mittens pattern by Tin Can Knits. It’s a really well written pattern that’s very clear to follow. The best part of it though is that it includes sizes from toddler to adult large in yarn weight from fingering to chunky. Whatever yarn and needles you have on hand, you can make a pair of mittens. I used a DK weight yarn Lion Brand Big Scoop in cake batter (affiliate link) for the above mittens in an adult small.
The Lies that Bind
I started reading The Lies that Bind (affiliate link) by Emily Griffin earlier this week. It drew me in right from the first few pages which doesn’t always happen. I believe this is the first book by Emily Griffin that I’ve read. I’m pretty sure that someone on Instagram recommended it to me. I can’t remember who it was, so if it was you, thank you! Below I’ve added a synopsis of it from Good Reads.
It’s 2 A.M. on a Saturday night in the spring of 2001, and twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner sits alone in a dive bar in New York’s East Village, questioning her life. Feeling lonesome and homesick for the Midwest, she wonders if she’ll ever make it as a reporter in the big city–and whether she made a terrible mistake in breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Matthew.
As Cecily reaches for the phone to call him, she hears a guy on the barstool next to her say, “Don’t do it–you’ll regret it.” Something tells her to listen, and over the next several hours–and shots of tequila–the two forge an unlikely connection. That should be it, they both decide the next morning, as Cecily reminds herself of the perils of a rebound relationship. Moreover, their timing couldn’t be worse–Grant is preparing to quit his job and move overseas. Yet despite all their obstacles, they can’t seem to say goodbye, and for the first time in her carefully constructed life, Cecily follows her heart instead of her head.
Then Grant disappears in the chaos of 9/11. Fearing the worst, Cecily spots his face on a missing-person poster, and realizes she is not the only one searching for him. Her investigative reporting instincts kick into action as she vows to discover the truth. But the questions pile up fast: How well did she really know Grant? Did he ever really love her? And is it possible to love a man who wasn’t who he seemed to be?
As for this weekend I don’t have much planned. I have a virtual appointment tomorrow morning and that’s about all that I’ve committed to so far. Is anyone else enjoying the phone/online appointments right now as much as I am? I’m all about the commute to and from my computer. I’m thinking I might make the Chex mix on Sunday, but I’ll see how it goes. I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday.
What’s something you make (sweet or not) at Christmas? Are you crafty?
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