serendipity

my family started a tradition a few years back in which we celebrate december 1st. we do so by exchanging small gifts (although each year they seem to get bigger!). it is mainly just my mom and i, but we started to include my dad too. my gift from my mom was ordered online and hasn't arrived yet, so she found a way to do it without the actual item. confused? this was my gift

yum, yum! frozzzen hot chocolate like they serve at serendipity in new york. apparently it was featured on oprah and so the mix that you can buy is backordered most places. mine should arrive next week possibly. but my mom was handy and did a web search and came up with the official recipe. she bought the bowls and all (though they were a bit smaller than the serendipity ones, but i think smaller is better in this case). she also bought me the movie serendipity - can't go wrong with a john cusack pic either!!

fresh whip cream went on top and so we shared with the other family members chase and abby


in return i gave my mom a gift that was based on her collection of yellowware. amongst the items was a tea cozy i knit in the same pattern as a yellowware bowl. the pattern (although somewhat altered) is from a local yarn shop, it is quick and cute!


after dinner, dessert and exchanging gifts i came home to my apartment to decorate my tree. eek, it is a lot of work decorating a tree on your own. i think i went a little overboard on the size this year. thank goodness for vaulted ceilings!


i continue to knit christmas gifts - but i did whip up a little hat for myself. it is starting to get very chilly here (well for seattle at least) and at night i have been finding it necessary to have something to keep my head warm. i have lots of hats, but found this to be the perfect project for some manos i had been hording for awhile. pattern is from last minute knitted gifts. this is the 5th item i have knitted from that book!