AMANDA'S BASKETS: SHOPPING, LUNCH IN THE BRONX, MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATION PICTURES

Thursday, December 10, 2015

SHOPPING, LUNCH IN THE BRONX, MORE CHRISTMAS DECORATION PICTURES

Today was a busy day. I left around 8am - the car was parked on the side of the street that needed to be moved - with very little gas - under 40 miles. So did I go to a gas station? No, I went shopping. But the places I went were very close...actually, one exit away on the Belt Parkway.

The good news was that the stores were empty...EMPTY. I finished the shopping completely. Whew...does that feel good. Now I will be able to get all the packages off on Monday as I wanted. Oh, and on the way back, I did stop at a gas station to fill up the car before parking it.

After that, I stopped into the apartment, checked on the boys and the birds, then took off to the subway to get up to the Bronx in time for lunch. Today, the trains ran beautifully. No waiting. Express trains at the ready. Now that's a trip I love to make.

Tomorrow afternoon, Macy's and maybe a few other places.

Lunch today was smoked ribs and homemade mac and cheese.

Now, I am not a mac and cheese fan but this was absolutely delicious. Of course, the ribs were smoked perfectly. And I have to remind you that everything is made from scratch at the restaurant.

A couple more pictures from my apartment. I love my big Santa Clause. It's a Fitz and Floyd that we purchased from Macy's after Christmas for 50% off.

And here are my Snowman, Nutcracker and Santa by Jim Shore (along with a few other snowmen)...

I think I finally have a picture that works for my tree...not great, but it gives you an idea.

So, my home is decorated completely. My presents are purchased. Next, baking...but I think that will wait until next week.

Next week, I have some things that I want to share about Christmas, gratitude, believing, relationships and more. As well as some pictures of places I will be visiting.

Thanks for stopping in...

Talk to you tomorrow...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?