Tag: holidays (page 5 of 31)

HELLO, July

Hello, July! We’re ready for you to usher in the last month of the school year and bring us one step closer to being able to beat to our own rhythm for a little while with no set schedules. 

We’re ready for our annual Fourth of July celebrations with hamburgers and my Nana’s macaroni salad and homemade hot fudge sundaes for dessert while we watch “JAWS” in the dark. 

We’re ready for our Christmas in July celebrations and the festivities that surround that. A Christmas menu with a summer twist, Christmas movies, Christmas music and we are still deciding on the Christmas dessert menu for this year! 

We’re already eating our weight in your summer fruit bounty, but we haven’t yet had the perfect tomato sandwich, so that is still to come. We’re ready to bake pies out of all the fruit we can’t manage to eat in time with heaps of vanilla ice cream on top. 

We’re ready for our days to stretch out ahead of us where we simply read books and stack the record player and listen to music. We’re ready to continue dancing in the kitchen long after the sun has set and relish in our late night movie dates, while the curtains dance in the breeze from the open windows behind us.

Welcome, July! We’re ready for all that you bring! 

{Keep Your Cool, Slim Aarons, 1978 | “Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank ‘Brandy’ Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco.” | Pinned HERE}

Happy Easter!

🐥 Happy Easter!! 🐥

I hope you find all the eggs that the Easter Bunny has hidden and your baskets are filled to the brim with chocolate shaped bunnies and chicks and assorted goodies.

{A young girl with an Easter basket containing coloured eggs and fluffy chicks. | 1946 | Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Getty Images | Pinned HERE}

Happy Easter Eve

As Clairee says, “Now, it’s almost time for the Easta’ Bunny! Run on down!”. 

So, hurry up and get those eggs dyed and those baskets ready for his arrival. 🥕

{Easter Bunny Post Card by Hannes Petersen | Pinned HERE}

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀

May your day be fair and full of green. And may all the golden luck, rainbows and good wishes be with you today! 🌈

{Ann-Margret, Swedish-American actress, wearing turquoise blue woollen jumper in a studio portrait, against a blue background. | circa 1965 | Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images | Pinned HERE}

Happy Valentine’s Day!

💗 Happy Valentine’s Day! 💗

Although today specifically celebrates love, there are 364 (365 this year with the Leap Year) days in which to celebrate L-O-V-E in all its many shapes and forms. 

May today find you surrounded by love. Whether you are celebrating loving yourself, loving another, or being loved.  💋

{Publicity still | Rita Hayworth from “Tonight and Every Night” by Robert Coburn | Columbia, 1945 | Pinned HERE}

HELLO, February

Hello, February. I don’t know how you got here so quickly? 

January had moments that felt like a whirlwind, as storms battered our island home. Yet at the same time, there were moments of stillness, punctuated by the glow of beautiful crisp morning sunrises. And we’re going to continue to welcome the changing light while savouring evenings still-made cozy by candlelight and cups of tea with honey and lemon.

We’re ready for birthdays, the Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and the extra day you will gift us with this month on the 29th. We’re ready for the confetti shower of red, white and pink that you will sprinkle over us in this season of L-O-V-E!

We’re ready to spend those cold sunny mornings sitting on the beach, drinking coffee and watching the waves roll in. We’re ready to don our walking boots over the winter school break and head out on our adventures. 

We’re still holding out for the promise of snow and a day wrapped up under blankets, sipping hot chocolate while we watch the flakes gently fall. We’re still manifesting all the hygge. Candlelight, good music and french toast casserole drizzled with maple syrup for dinner are all still on the cards, even if spring is starting to knock on the door.

Welcome, February, we’re ready for you. 

{Rhonda Fleming, US actress, wearing a red sleeveless top while looking into a red hand-held mirror as she applies make-up in a studio portrait, against a light blue background, circa 1955. A red heart-shaped mark on her chin. | Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images | Pinned HERE}

We Need A Little Twinkle & Glow

Although, I find setting goals both personally and professionally, important. I feel that this is the time of year where it is equally important to simply be. To let things wash over you, to move with the season. Winter in the natural world is a time of rest, a season that supports rebirth in the spring.

Our current working culture does not allow for this to easily happen. It’s head first, jump in and just keep swimming. It’s not a straightforward road to walk, to find the balance between “being” and “doing”.

This is a season where we need to consciously make time to rest, to move a little slower, to breathe. And so, we shall continue to have the glow of our twinkle lights for awhile longer and linger at the table after dinner while a record spins and take opportunities as they present themselves to simply be still. Because we are now within the darkest part of the year, the part where we need the most light, the most twinkle and glow; where we need to be cozy, where we need to relish in the season that we are in and look forward to the season that is yet to come.

Last Tuesday, I had to walk past my first dumped Christmas tree of winter. I thought my heart was going to break, I know there will be more to come as I’ve already witnessed it. After all the warmth and twinkling lights, it’s so sad to see nothing but darkened windows. So for a little while longer, I’m going to share a few more moments of sparkle and glow before all of that disappears with the yule log ashes.

{A quick snap of an adorable snowman on top of one of the Christmas trees at Lamb House. | This year the theme was a 1970s Christmas based on the time period that Rumer Godden lived within those walls. It was a delicious step back in time!}

Happy New Year

🥂🍾 Happy New Year!! 🍾🥂

May this year lay an abundance of blessings, love and light at your door. 

{Midnight Toast – As the clock strikes twelve to usher in the year 1951, one of Hollywood’s happiest couples, Anne Baxter and John Hodiak, are prepared for a New Year’s toast. Both are enjoying top honors in Hollywood, Miss Baxter’s newest success being her brilliant performance in the 20th Century-Fox production, “All About Eve.” | Pinned HERE}

Happy New Year’s Eve

We stand on the cusp of one year slipping away and a new one about to dawn. 

So much has happened in these past 365 days. It’s somewhat bittersweet to say goodbye. But, we’re greeting this new year to come with open arms. 

May this coming year hold beauty for us all. 

Let the countdown begin…

{Nina Foch and dress designer Jean Louis sipping champagne at Samuel Spiegle’s New Year’s Eve party | 1949 | Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images}