This week's Cleveland Handmade giveaway

Every week Cleveland Handmade has a giveaway to spotlight one of their members and thank all their wonderful supporters and customers. It's a great opportunity to win some lovely items and check out the high-quality handmade art in their member shops. Entry is easy - full rules at the Cleveand Handmade web site.

This week's item is a lovely pair of silver and brass hoop earrings from Jewelry by Francine.

Cookie-baking marathon

Spent this weekend (all weekend!) baking Christmas cookies. I got a recipe for lime cookies from my sister - she made them last year but somehow I missed out on the taste testing. Anyway, I made them this year and they are YUMMY. This is my new favorite Christmas cookie recipe: Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

Holiday Tradition: Men in Tights

Image Source

I saw our local ballet company's performance of The Nutcracker for the first time about 13 years ago and have been going to performances every year since then. I love the grand old theaters, the music and seeing all the little girls dressed up for the occasion. For a long time it was a solo tradition, but over the past few years it's evolved to include my Mom, my sister and my niece. Last Christmas we tried adding my Little Guy and my nephew to the mix, but at five years old they just weren't that impressed. They agreed the fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King was pretty cool, but neither of them could understand why the characters didn't talk. So we're back to our "girls' day out" today. Bring on the men in tights!