holidays | jenojoon

Dec 15 2012

Taking a Coffee Break of Sorts

Today I decided to take a social media sabbatical for an undetermined amount of time. It might only be a day or two. Or it might be forever (highly doubtful). There is just too much sadness going on in the world and I can’t control what is coming into my line of sight. Several years ago I made the conscious decision to stop watching the news and reading newspapers (print and online). It made a huge difference in my anxiety level and my mental well being. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and I don’t want to treat it with pills so I treat it with diet, yoga, and careful control of outside stimulus. Lately I’m having trouble keeping my diet clean, my yoga practice regularity has fallen off, and of course, every time I log into my facebook or twitter accounts I see horrible news. Not just national tragedies but friends and local neighbors facing devastating realities. Living in a bubble is an act of self preservation at times.

For the next few weeks I want to focus on Christmas and making cookies and wrapping gifts and listening to Christmas music and staying warm and cozy. Maybe drink some hot toddies (what exactly are hot toddies? I think of them as any hot cocktail-type drink…) And I LOVE the new year! I love a fresh start. Making resolutions and setting goals for the year. I’m training (not very dedicated at this point and that is another issue) for my first half marathon at the end of February, so I REALLY need to focus on that too. I want to do a juice cleanse for the first week or 10 days of January. I want to practice yoga daily. I want to make a vision board. I want to focus on the things I love, rather than wasting hours a day reading about crap on Facebook. So, I deleted the twitter and facebook apps from my phone. I’ll probably still Instagram because I love looking at pictures of food and kitties and pretty faces. And I’ll continue to read my blogs. My lovely, crafty, foodie, creative blogs. I love reading blogs. David called them my ‘shiny happy blogs’. :) I love that. And I also plan to blog here again. But I might not post any pics. Do people read blogs without pictures? I do.

Happy Holidays lovies!

Tagged first half marathon, generalized anxiety disorder, health, mental-health

Jan 07 2012

2 Comments

adventures, baked treats, cats, do stuff, food, fun, halloween, holidays, in the kitchen, life, loveliness, nachos, travel, vegan food, Vegan MoFo

2011- A Year in Cell Phone Photos

I take lots of pics on my phone- who doesn’t, right? So I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane via phone photos! I tried not to overload you on FOOD pics and CAT pics… ;) Here we go:

In January I made vegan waffles!

in February we adopted Nathan!

in March I went to Washington, DC with two of my besties! this is bestie Joe

and this is bestie Anna- that's the White House behind us

In April we went on THE BEST vacay evarr! this is Joe and David in Philly!

in May we got new bicycles! mine has a basket, cup holder, and a bell!

In June I went to Denver for a really great conference. I love Denver!

in July it was HOT!

also in July, we went to a Dodger game on a beautiful Saturday afternoon

in August I made 'sundried' tomatoes in the dehydrator- one of my better ideas!

in September I flew to Vegas for PhotoShop World in a private jet!! it ruled.

in October I blogged about vegan nachos for Vegan MOFO- it was a delicious month!

also in October, David and I were scary Halloween Clowns!!!!!

also in October I made pumpkin chocolate spider cupcakes!

aaaaaand in October I made these cute pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies!

in November I hosted the 2nd Annual Punkin' Partay! All pumpkin treats and drinks!

also in November David and I got new glasses and had beachy adventures!

in December these puppies escaped from the neighbor's yard and frolicked in my yard!

also in December I made these super cute (I mean scary) MONSTER cookies for my nephew's bday!

my nephew Jake turned NINE in December!

we lost our precious Bas in December but Nathan and Pepper are keeping his memory alive. here they are snuggling in Bas' tuffy bed

So there’s my year in review. It was hard to pick just one or two pics for each month. Looking back, I had a REALLY great year for the most part. It ended on a sad note with the loss of our kitty friend Bas, but it was nice to reflect on all the positive that did happen throughout the year.

Here’s to a wonderful 2012 with all kinds of fun adventures on the horizon! Cheers!

Dec 18 2011

6 Comments

cats, holidays, life

Hello and Stuff

I’m not sure I’ll post anything this week. My bestie kitty, Bas, is very sick and in the kitty hospital. I pretty much have no motivation to do any crafting or blogging, but I might do some holiday baking. I definitely do not seem to lose my appetite when under stress- I guess I’m a stress eater. ;)

So please keep Basi in your thoughts and please pray for his comfort and recovery if you are so inclined.

I plan to make some comfort food casseroles this week, maybe a lentil loaf and mashed ‘taters too.

Merry Christmas to you all! My Christmas wish is for my Bas and all the kitties and puppies to be happy and healthy!

xoxo, jenna

Dec 07 2011

2 Comments

crafts, do stuff, fun, holidays, loveliness

Do Stuff: Festive Christmas Mantel!

I love beautiful holiday decorations and for the first several years that David and I were married I decorated elaborately with a different theme each year. I had over 10 rubber totes full of Christmas décor. A few years ago I decided to go the minimalist route with my Christmas decorations. One reason I decided to cut back was because I was spending a lot of money every year on my ‘themes’. Secondly, my curious Cat Friends were destroying my trees! And finally, I decided that I wanted to focus most of my holiday energy on other things like baking and making gifts. So now I spend a few hours each season decorating my mantel (where kitties can’t reach) with some favorite things and usually something new and crafty each year. I have an adorable vintage aluminum Christmas tree that my BFF Joe found for me at a yard sale in New Jersey! I had always wanted a big aluminum tree but the vintage ones are hard to find and the vintage-inspired ones are not in my budget. One year I got a little package in the mail and when I opened it I couldn’t believe my eyes! There was a tiny vintage aluminum tree with its original packaging and instructions! Joe is the best!

Joey's tree!

My mom has a wonderful tradition of giving my sister and me a new special ornament each year. Several of these are hung throughout my house year around, but the others always make an appearance at Christmastime!

several of my special ornaments

And for my crafty fun thing this year I made these adorable (and easy) yarn wrapped trees! I discovered this beautiful gift guide from Ruche and got so inspired to do all kinds of fun holiday things, but the main idea that stuck with me was the wrapped trees. I found a rustic earth-toned yarn at Big Lots that was perfect for my Pumpkin Party banner and also for these trees. And I found the foam cones at the dollar store! I think I made all three trees (plus I have yarn leftover for gift wrapping) for about $4.00.

easy and fun crafty trees

I think little holiday vignettes are so cute and festive! Here’s an adorable one from Smile & Wave that I just fell in love with. What kind of holiday decorating do you like to do?