Throwback TraditionsHi there! How's your day going? I'm just so happy I woke up and there was no rain. The weather has truly been the pits this week.  Well, here we are again at Throwback Thursday! Another installment of Elisa's China Throwback Adventure! Today, for Part 9: Last Night in Beijing: Shopping & Packing, it's my last day in Beijing and my travel buddy, Cheryl and I found ourselves pretty much on the naughty list with all of our fellow tour-mates. Oh, to be young again! Anyway, hope you enjoy it! (CLICK HERE to read more)  Some Pampering... Today is a partial beauty day for me. First, I had to get a dress hemmed that I plan to wear Saturday night for a Christmas party I'll be attending. Then I was off to the hair salon to have my hair done. - The nails will get done tomorrow! Don't ya just love when you can take a few hours out to do some pampering! Well, I'm not going to get overly excited, because I also have to go to the supermarket at some point today as well. I feel like I live there - how is it possible to run out of things so quickly? Christmas Season To Do - Day 11: Throwback Traditions Well, speaking of Throwback Thursdays, what would Christmas be without our traditions? My family has a number of customs that have been part of our holiday season for as long as I can remember. And now I am sharing them with my girls. * "Grandma's Bows" From the time I was a little girls, Christmas was associated with food. So many traditional food items from both sides of my family But, the one that really made it feel like Christmas was my Grandma Rose's Bows. These were a delicious dough deep fried to perfection tossed with a honey-vermouth mixture and topped with sprinkles. I cannot begin to tell you how scrumptious and addicting these sweet delights were. Well, my dear Grandma passed six years ago, at which point, my sister and I found her original recipe. We carry on the tradition now each year. And I hope to pass this on to my girls for when they are moms and grandmas! * Christmas Eve Dinner Coming from an Italian family, Christmas Eve has always been the focus of our celebration, rather than Christmas Day. The meal is always the same - the Sicilian tradition of The Feast of the 7 Fishes. When I was a kid, our meal would consist of even more than seven including flounder, baked clams, Shrimp, Cod, Calamari, Crab, Muscles, and even Lobster. These days, we usually have at least five and we'll include Linguine and Clam Sauce and a variety of vegetable dishes. What we never cook or eat on Christmas Eve is meat of any kind. I'm not a big seafood eater, but I do enjoy fried flounder! * A Visit From Santa Claus... And perhaps the most beloved of my childhood traditions was the long-awaited visit on Christmas Eve at midnight from Jolly Old St. Nick. The adults would start to get worried that perhaps Santa was having trouble finding the house and so a few of the men would venture out for a walk around the neighborhood to go look for Santa in case he "got lost." Sure enough after about 20 minutes, they would have success and arrive at the front door with the lovable fat man in the red suit. The lights would be dimmed very low since his eyes would have a hard time adjusting from being in the dark all night. (and it would help to keep whoever was in the suit from being recognized. As a kid, my dad was never there during Santa's visit since he had to "stay on the roof" to watch the reindeer. Throughout the 20 minute visit, Santa would occasionally go to the door to yell up to "George" (my dad) to see if he was okay. These days, it's the next generation of men (my husband or my sister's husband) who carry on the tradition. It's priceless to watch the kids' faces when Santa makes his entrance. Gianna does not believe anymore, but Kelsey still does!! These traditions just make Christmas such a joy each year. We'd love to hear some of your treasured customs. Please share!! I can't wait for tomorrow to hear what Tanya is going to share with us for Foodie Friday!! Enjoy your day and remember, only 14 days left till Christmas!! -E  | 14 Day Countdown!!!2 weeks! Can you believe that Christmas is in 2 weeks?!?!  I'm soooo excited! I know that I keep telling you how much just I love the holiday season - but I really really do! I'm like a big kid around the holidays. To give you some better insight: I'm actually not a very excitable person. I have to admit that sadly I'm a bit jaded when it comes to certain things. Other people seem to actually get more excited when they hear about my trips than I do...NOT to say that I don't adore each and every one of them - otherwise... WHY ON EARTH would I always be traveling?! I just don't excited very easily. But the Christmas season is magical; it's tiring but all worth every second of the hard work that gets put into all of the planning for the BIG DAY!!!   TBT Christmas (pre-Cosette circa 2000) The idea of gift giving... And surprising my loved ones with well thought out presents gives me the goosebumps! I luv it so much that I like to stretch it out and start my Christmas shopping in July! Any earlier and I'd just give the gifts away on the spot!!! Being that I like to stretch it out, I do a little here and there and I'm now almost done, I have a few more lovely shopping opportunities that I just can't pass up and then I'll be all set to begin wrapping...another thing I really enjoy!!!  One of my favorite things to do while traveling is buying gifts to bring back home with me, and then we all gather round, they listen as I tell my travel tales and I hand out lots of presents from around the globe!!! Speaking of around the Globe... Dominic has now been an Ambassador with the International Peace Choir (IPC) for just over 10 years!!! These kids sing and share beautiful messages of peace throughout the year and do a wonderful repertoire around the holidays that is most heartfelt and joyous!  TBT - Dominic singing with the IPC (circa 2006) As we get closer... To Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I'll go ahead and tell you more about our Christmas plans, share our menus, and delight you in the Traditions that we enjoy year after year!!! In the meantime... In case you're interested and I do hope you are...I've been adding some pictures to my NEW gallery page. Click HERE to check them out! And know that many more are to come...I am a shutterbug after-all! Wishing you all a fantastic day!!! See ya tomorrow! -T  |
