Pandora's Box: covid-19

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Being Grateful...

buffalo checks

Some say being thankful is a feeling, being grateful is an action.

Are you grateful?

What are you grateful for?

Each day I make a mental list of what I am grateful for - there are always a few things to add to the prior list!

Grateful is showing an appreciation of kindness.

Studies have linked gratitude with increased satisfaction, motivation, and energy; better sleep and health; and reduced stress and sadness.

Grateful people are much more engaged with their environment, leading to greater personal growth and self-acceptance, and stronger feelings of purpose, meaning, and specialness. (Psychology Today)

So find reasons to be grateful!

Monday, September 7, 2020

A Dessert Tray for these new times ....

covid-19

Are you familiar with Olive and Cocoa?

The company has the cutest catalog and such unique and special gifts.. Each time I (or Mom) have ordered, the item is shipped in a hand made wooden gift box.

I decided to upcycle this box when I was asked to bring dessert to my SILs cookout over the weekend:

I removed all of the paper filling and wrapped the box in a seasonal ribbon, which covers the Olive and Cocoa name engraved in the wood:

I bought little chalkboards clip-ons and labeled each with the type of sweet treat:

They have clothespin clips on the back and were easy to clip on the box:

I grabbed a bunch of paper cups from my party supply drawer

And to make this easy for me, I bought these two, pre-made brownie doughs....

...and baked them in paper cups from Sophistiplate, my go-to source for paper goods:

I also made some Cookie Balls:

I wrapped some plastic wrap over the cups and covered with the wooden lid.

Ready to go!!

I decorated the brownies with dollops of chocolate frosting and a few sprinkle and used bamboo sporks in each brownie and a wooden pick in each cookie ball:

This was an easy way for guests to grab one or two desserts, no cutting, no serving, no paper plates and an easy dessert for the hostess to just place on the counter!! Clean up is also easy - Toss everything away and recycle the box for the next party!

If you want to create something similar, here are links to purchase:

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Tales of the Traveling Tote #24

covid-19

MAY

Covid, Covid, Go Away!

We made a quick trip to Rochester in May to see our daughter's new home and I went into the city of Syracuse once.

Google keeps track of my where-abouts:

JUNE

"LET ME OUT OF THE HOUSE"

We visited our youngest daughter's new home again. I packed for the Father's Day "pool" party, but never ended up in the pool because I spent the day playing with my newest grandson! We are happy they are living back in NY!

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Oneida Lake is a few miles down the street.

I never got in the water here either, but the breeze was cooling enough. We have had quite a few hot days!

The end of June we traveled thru Pennsylvania on our way to Ohio. We had a picnic lunch overlooking the vineyards and Lake Erie:

(how could I refuse this tube of potato chips with this silly guy dressed in checks)

The last Sunday in June was spent on Indian Lake on Callan and Carter's new boat!

We enjoyed the sights, tubing, swimming, lunching, eating ice cream and sunburning!! There were very few boats on the lake and the water was warm for 'floating'!

This map shows my June travels:

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JULY

We left Ohio in July, and here is my July travel:

Heritage Winery is located in North East, Pennsylvania. It's a 3rd generation family owned winery in a 200+ year old barn, offering a wide selection of reds, whites and slushies! We often stop on our way home from Ohio to pick up a few bottles of John's favorite reds. We were the only ones there and felt very safe! The view from their porch is of Lake Erie in the distance:

July 7th our TTT group had our 3rd Zoom call - it's always fun to catch up with everyone, but we missed a few:

Mid July I was off to Cape Cod for a girl's getaway. My car was packed with face masks, disposable gloves, lysol, antiseptic wipes, hand sanitizer and spray and so on....

DW Field Park, Avon, MA: Sagamore Bridge, Cape Cod Canal:

Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, MA:

The night before the "canceled MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale", Tracey hosted a Zoom call with a group of die hard collectors and our "go-to-guy for info". We reminisced, shared, enjoyed a contest and had lots of laughs! We all look forward to Barn Sale 2021!

Each morning, while on my vacation, I walked down the 165 cliff steps to the beach:

We spent one afternoon at the Cape Cod Lavender Farm:

It was a much needed getaway with my BFF from college!

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My mom has been in assisted living and hasn't really been out since March, so we had an escape to Aurora and Skaneateles and one day. We browsed through the MacKenzie-Childs store, had a picnic lunch overlooking Cayuga Lake and Mom enjoyed the ride through the back roads. We found a huge sunflower field where the sea of flowers never ended!

MacKenzie-Childs had a virtual on-line Barn Sale at the end of the month and it was fun hopping online each morning to see what new items were added to the sale. I was lucky to grab a few treasures, the Cheese Course being one of them:

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AUGUST

The beginning of August brought the Traveling Tote group together for another Zoom call. We all shared what we bought at the on-line Barn Sale, talked about our lack of traveling and caught up with each other!

At the end of the month Sara, Carter and Callan came to visit and we took them to the Sunflower Maze at Strawberry Farms in Skaneateles:

We married 40 years ago....

...and our girls and their families visited us and made our day so special. They prepared appetizers, dinner, and we had a delicious cake for dessert:

We ended the summer with a pool party at our daughter's new home:

It's been a great summer, in spite of Covid-19!

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I will confess that one of my vices is watching the Housewives shows on Bravo....I am addicted, not to one, but rather all of them. My daughter made this adorable cup for me and I love how it combined two of my favorite things!!