Wednesday, December 30, 2009

"Los Tres Reyes Magos"

Hello everyone!! I hope that you are still celebrating this beautiful season! We are again getting snow so I guess we are having a white winter:-)

Since my husband is from Puerto Rico, we will celebrate "Los Tres Reyes Magos" or "The Three Kings" on Jan. 6. According to the custom, children will put grass in a box under their beds for the camels and the three kings will leave gifts as they did for baby Jesus. Remember that the wise men were not at the manger for the birth. Some scholars think it might have taken at least one or more years to get there.  For more information about this holiday, click on this link: "Los Tres Reyes Magos." So I will be sharing a "Three Kings" themed tablescape today as part of "Tablescape Thursday", hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.



I was inspired by a piece of fabric I bought in Turkey. It has three different camels and just reminded me of the wise men.


Then I added some beautiful plates I also bought in Turkey...








And one from Spain...


Then I added three wise men from my mother's nativity...







I put it all together and came up with this...














Oh, and don't forget to finish the meal with a Turkish coffee! Very similar to Cuban coffee, this coffee is very strong, not filtered and has sugar but no cream.

Where it all came from:

Handpainted plates, "Big John's" in Adana, Turkey
Turkisk coffee cups and saucers, Turkey
Glassware, World Market
Oneida "Golden Julliard" stainless flatware
Napkins and napkin rings, World Market
Lanterns, World Market

I hope you enjoyed my "Three Kings" table.  Thanks SO much for stopping by! I read all your comments and love coming by to see your beautiful tables, decor, recipes, etc., or just saying hello. Have a beautiful and blessed New Year!! Anita


Saturday, December 26, 2009

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas!! We did have a white one, but woke up with no power. Luckily, it came on and my mom cooked our very traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, homemade gravy, and the best biscuits anywhere in the world. I can tell you there are no biscuits like hers. They are perfection. No chef, no cook, no one can make them like her. I could post her recipe, but they would not be like hers. She needs to write a cookbook.  Paula Deen could just move on over because my mom is the best southern cook in the world:-)

This is the end of Christmas for some, but it is just the beginning for us! We will have Christmas dinner today with my brother and his family here from Georgia. Then, as is the custom in Puerto Rico, we will celebrate "Los Reyes Magos" (the three kings) with the children. On the night of January 5, the three kings bring gifts. The children will leave grass in a box under their beds for the kings' camels to eat. This is to observe when the wise men came to visit baby Jesus.

So we will not be taking any decor down until after the New Year! I will be posting a "Three Kings" tablescape with a runner from some wonderful fabric I bought in Turkey with camels, that I cannot wait to do.  In the meantime, I hope you are all enjoying your family and friends.

Merry Christmas!!





Anita and family

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Christmas bath...

I've shown so many snow photos everyone is tired of snow so we are coming inside to the guest/kids bathroom! I'm linking up to Susan's "Metamorphosis Monday" over at "Between Naps on the
Porch."
















Thanks for stopping by!! For more Christmas photos, click on the photos on the right of the screen. I look forward to getting around to see all the other wonderful decorations!!!
 Merry Christmas,  Anita

And MORE snow...

The sun finally came out after snowing all morning.  So I got out to get some more photos. The snow is so hard with ice that the kids can walk on top, but I'm too big--I fall through! 


Notice the two cute sledders to the left of photo...







Sled parking only!!








I hope everyone is safe and warm in this weather! It's not going to get much better. Imagine my poor husband...his first day in the states was in Boston in a snow storm, and now he gets to enjoy it here:-) He is missing his island!!

Friday, December 18, 2009

I was just kidding about the snow, now I'm SERIOUS!!!

We are really getting it here in Western NC and have enjoyed this day with the children so much. The power went off for about 10 minutes, but thankfully came back on. Thought I would share a few more photos...


























We are happy to be here safe and sound, so please say a prayer for those out working in this weather; power crews, police, firefighters, EMS, etc., who are keeping us all safe. And please say a prayer for all our troops who are away from home making all this possible for us to enjoy in PEACE:-)  Anita


Sunday, December 13, 2009

White Christmas...

Good Monday everyone!! I hope you all all wonderful weekends celebrating this wonderful season. I am halfway thorough the special musical programs at my church this Christmas. My fabulous choir just presented the musical, "The Gift" and they were incredible! I am SO blessed to work with such a dedicated group of people who love music, and Christmas brings out the best in them. Children's performances will be this coming week starting with caroling in the community this Wednesday, then two musical/dramatic presentations Sunday.  It is wonderful to be a musician at this time of year. I never tire of beautiful Christmas music, old and new. Take what opportunities you may have to see some kind of musical performance this season, and remember the reason for the season. How incredible that in all the bad news, there is good news!!!

To thank our choir members for all the hard work this year, my husband and I are hosting an open house Saturday, so we are planning for about 50 people to drop in! We still have some outside work to do, but I wanted to share our porch for "Metamorphosis Monday" hosted by Susan over at "Between Naps on the Porch." We had a snow last week, so it was nice to see everything with a little white. Hope you enjoy..


We added wreaths to all the windows...












The view from the front porch...




...and at night...






Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night! 

Anita