Posts tagged Holiday Season
Your Guide to the Holiday Season in Sacramento

After all my holiday celebrating and Christmas-themed research I’ve done in this past month of December, I can officially declare that there’s no shortage of holiday cheer in California’s capital city of Sacramento.

One common theme I discovered is that the people of Sacramento really love supporting their peers, i.e. fellow Sacramento locals. On my list you’ll find ample opportunities to shop both small businesses and local artisans, plus support the arts like the Sacramento Ballet.

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Guide to Decluttering Your House Before Christmas

Christmas is a time of celebration, but it’s also a time of accumulation. The tradition of giving gifts means that by January we’ve got a slew of new items in our home that we need to find a place for. It’s very easy to discover that clutter has begun to pile up around the house after the festivities have ended.

The best way to combat this holiday untidiness is with planning ahead before you get into the thick of the gifting season. In this blog post I will outline the best ways to purge your house of unwanted items and then organize your home so that new items can be put away easily.

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The Best Christmas Gifts for All Five Love Languages

The 5 Love Languages is both a theory and best selling book on how to improve your relationships with the loved ones in your life. Chapman’s advice is simple and uncomplicated, but still very impactful and easy to implement.

In a simple summary, every individual has both primary and secondary ways that they prefer to give and receive love. As individuals we are all unique in how we express emotions, and sometimes we have a hard time communicating or acknowledging those feelings with our loved ones because we we’re aware of their particular love language.

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Best Apple Hill Christmas Tree Farms to Cut Your Own Tree

The day after Thanksgiving we loaded up the car and headed North-East from Sacramento into Apple Hill. It’s about an hour drive from our house to the Placerville and El Dorado County area. We had been looking forward to selecting and cutting down our own Christmas tree all week!

Apple Hill is one of the few places in Northern California where you can go into the Christmas tree farms and cut down your own tree. The Christmas tree varieties include Douglas Fir, White Fir, Canaan, Noble Fir and Silvertip. Most of the Christmas tree farms open the day after Thanksgiving and stay open until the week of Christmas (or until they sell out).

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Top 20 Halloween Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating that the Whole Family Can Enjoy

October is the true beginning of the fall season and the entire month is filled with festive Halloween events. With every passing week of the month, the children’s anticipation builds up for October 31st. For most families Halloween night is synonymous with the time-honored tradition of trick-or-treating. Many children celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes and visiting neighbors in your neighborhood in search of candy.

So why would you decide against celebrating Halloween with trick-or-treating? There are several reasons to possibly avoid taking to the streets on Halloween. Some neighborhoods are not suitable for walking door-to-door, they may be too spacious and rural. Other places may just be unsafe and not very child-friendly. Extreme weather can hinder trick-or-treating or maybe your tweens are just getting too old.

No matter what your reasons, my guide is filled with many fun and festive Halloween alternatives to trick-or-treating. My suggestions are great for children of all ages (and for adults too!). Your friends and family won’t be disappointed with the spooky fun you’ll be serving up!

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How to Host a Moroccan Christmas Party - Just Like Phyllis from The Office!

The Christmas party episode of The Office was pretty memorable. The theme was ‘’nights in Morocco’’ as stated by Phyllis Vance, who wanted to plan an original Christmas party. After enduring so many traditional holiday parties put on my Angela from the Party Planning Committee, Phyllis was ready to flex her power as the new head of the PPC with an exotic party theme.

Whether you want to replicate Phyllis's Moroccan Christmas party at home, or would like to know what parts of the party were actually Moroccan and what parts were not, here is everything you need to know about that episode.

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English Trifle Recipe with Custard, Raspberry Jam and Sherry

Traditional English trifle is a desert dish characterized by layers of cake, fruits, jams, custards and is served in a large glass bowl. Trifle is often spiked with some sweet alcohol such as brandy, sherry or white wine. The Brits often serve trifle for Christmas desert.

By far my favorite Rose family tradition is enjoying my mom’s English trifle every Christmas. She came to visit us here in Sacramento and together we made her signature trifle so that I could document the recipe for the blog.

While we all grew up in California, we love to honor our English heritage with this classic English dessert. My mother was taught this recipe from her wonderful old family friend named Wilma Woods. Wilma made this trifle every Christmas for dessert when our family went to the Woods’ house for Christmas dinner.

Mrs. Woods told my mom that trifle was a recipe created to use up old, stale cake that no one wanted. Since it rarely happens that there is uneaten cake, we have to make a cake to use in the trifle. Hence it is best made ahead a day or so and allowed to “dry out” a bit first so it will absorb all the ingredients.

Because this recipe is best made in stages, planning ahead is very important. It’s vital to give yourself plenty of time for the cake to cool and the custard and Jello to set in the refrigerator.

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Sneak Peek at the Christmas Prime Rib Dinner from Raley’s

There’s a good chance you spent the week of Thanksgiving running around the grocery store picking up ingredients, followed by long hours laboring in the kitchen. Give yourself a break from all the frantic shopping and cooking with a premade holiday meal from Raley’s.

We were lucky enough to get an early preview of Raley’s Prime Rib Christmas dinner. We had no problems being taste testers of this family sized feast!

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Planning Guide to a Traditional Nochebuena Holiday Celebration

My household is comprised of mixed heritages so we celebrate the holidays in all kinds of ways. My husband’s family comes from Mexico and on my side we are mostly English and Irish. Our kids are lucky to have so much diversity because it just means more reasons celebrate!

Christmas Day is the big event for most Western cultures with a morning family brunch, opening gifts and then a big Christmas dinner. In Latino households Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena which translate to “A Good Night” in Spanish. Nochebuena is the biggest evening of celebration for traditional Mexican families and it’s the one my husband remembers most from his childhood.

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Locally Made Holiday Foods and Desserts in Sacramento

The city of Sacramento does an excellent job of making the holiday season extra special. It’s one of the few places in California where the trees change into vibrant colors, and the fall foliage really hits its peak the week of Thanksgiving. For Christmas there’s twinkling lights and trees adorning the Downtown and Midtown streets.

There’s many locally owned restaurants, artisans and foodie shops in the Sacramento area that have seasonal offerings. You can find your favorite holiday foods and sweets available during the months of November and December. These foods and treats are either available to order online and take home or you can enjoy them on-site.

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DIY Yayoi Kusama Painted Pumpkins

Halloween is coming up quickly this October and we decided to get crafty with some DIY pumpkin painting. My 2-year-old daughter Scout insists that Halloween shouldn’t be scary, so instead we decided to make it colorful and full of art.

Keep reading to see my step-by-step guide to planning and creating your own Yayoi Kusama inspired painted pumpkins for the fall season.

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The Modern Gift Guide For All the Trendy Cool People in Your Life

I am a huge Etsy fanatic, both my home and closet are filled with handmade gems from artisans selling on Etsy. As a freelancer myself, it genuinely gives me joy to support a small business owner who is living the dream of being self-employed. Not only does the Etsy platform allow small businesses to thrive, but they also elevate and support artists who are pushing the limits in the design world and serving up fresh inspiration.

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How to Make Your Home Hygge for Christmas

Christmas truly is a special time of year, it’s as close to magic as we can get as adults. My idea of a hygge Christmas is making new memories at home and enjoying quality time with family. All the while indulging the senses with all the classic holiday joys.

The cold winter weather makes us naturally want to cuddle up and partake in nostalgic holiday rituals. All it takes is a little effort and preparation to really bring the season to life in the perfect hygge setting.

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10 Ways to Add Fresh Pomegranate Into Your Holiday Cooking

When we bought our house in Sacramento it came with a large backyard full of trees. A few months later in November we got a sweet surprise, one of the trees was actually a pomegranate tree! Every year I have more pomegranates than we could possibly eat. So I have started incorporating pomegranate into my holiday cooking.

Pomegranates come into season around late October and November in California. Not only are pomegranates packed with sweet and tart flavor, they’re also filled with healthy nutrients. And let’s be honest, they are one of the classiest fruits and immediately make you feel fancy!

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Gift Guide to Modern Coffee Mugs on Etsy

There’s something so comforting about your favorite mug, especially while sipping a hot beverage on a cold winter day. When that fabulous mug also happens to be a thoughtful gift from someone special, well then it’s even more magical.

When you’re shopping for mugs as gifts (and even for yourself!), Etsy has the best shopping selection. My list contains styles for everyone on your list, and even some extra quirky picks for your office White Elephant or Secret Santa office party. Happy Etsy shopping!

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10 Easy Ideas To Add Hygge Into Your Winter Season

The Danish hygge lifestyle is all about embracing everything warm and cozy during the cold days of winter. To achieve this state of ultimate cozy bliss, it does take some preparation and possibly shopping for a few investment pieces to complete your "hygge kit." Everyone has their own slightly different version of the perfect hygge winter, but there are some staple elements that most of us can agree upon and I've got them all on my list.

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10 Ways to Celebrate Baby's First Christmas

The first year with your little one is filled with so many brand new experiences, and one of the best is baby’s first Christmas. The holidays already feel like a magical time, and even more so with a tiny human in the house. There’s something so warm and nostalgic about cutting down your own Christmas tree, decorating the house with Christmas music playing, and enjoying the twinkling from all the lights.

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