Flames That Never Wane

Based on other blogs I follow, and the last few times I've scrolled through Pinterest, it would seem that the best way to get into the holiday spirit is to throw on some festive socks or footwear and sit in front of the fireplace.

So, I turned on the Yule Log channel and had my own wintery fireplace experience!

(photos collected from soul-of-simplicity, classygirlswearpearls, blog.lauraashley, and by e.hunt)

The Glory of Its Beginning and the Splendour of Its End

I am continuing my Done With School celebration tour by doing some fun activities in my off time.  Friday night was a blow out, starting with a little water color painting up in the loft.  I found a good page to emulate in one of my many inspiration books, this particular one having to do with boats.

Then we went to Dewey's for dinner and a very refreshing Scrimshaw beer, after which I decided to brave the middle school hoards and go ice skating.  The kids made for some interesting obstacles to skate around, but other than that it was absolutely delightful.  I can still land jumps!  I came home and immediately made the seasons first hot cocoa to warm back up.  Art, pizza, and skating makes for a great night indeed.

(photos by e.hunt)

Dreams in Monochrome

I really tried to avoid the cliche 'shades of grey' title for this outfit post, which is indeed made up of, well, shades of grey.

In other news, the official title of Bond 24 was released the other day, and it's bringing back a familiar enemy entity of which old fans know and love: SPECTRE.

(photos by e.hunt)

I Know More About Lord of the Rings Than American History

Because I no longer have to read textbook chapters every week for class, I started reading the prequel (The Silmarillion) to the prequel (The Hobbit) of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  In addition to the actual story, the book is filled with maps, family trees, appendices, and a fifty-two page index of names, along with a note on pronunciation.  Good old J.R.R. really put it all out there on this one, as he worked on it all throughout his life.  The Silmarillion details an account of the First Age of the World, while the more well-known Hobbit and Lord of the Rings takes place in the Third Age.  Many of the stories that happen in this book are then referenced in songs and Elvish pieces of wisdom down the line.  It will be so exciting when I recognize one.

(photos by e.hunt)

Dancing in the Produce Aisles

Spending my day off doing a little Christmas shopping!

(photo by e.hunt)

Lucky Enough to Be Different

A bit of personal style I photographed last week but just now had the time to edit and post.  Good heavens have I been busy!

(photos by e.hunt)

In the Midst of Exploding Rockets and Ringing Bells

First of all, happy December!  Mom hung up the annual Advent Calendar yesterday morning and it's literary themed!  Oooooooh.

Second of all, I suppose the lack of posts in November merits some explanation.  Well, 35-40 hour work weeks, combined with end-of-semester papers, presentations, and projects, and spending time with the family for Thanksgiving made for a pretty crazy last week or so.  Good news is, I got everything done! This picture fairly accurately sums up the last few days of my life.

Before that though, was Thanksgiving!  And a good Thanksgiving it was.  Taylor came into town on Tuesday night, and we celebrated his birthday with a homemade, double layer, coconut milk ice cream oreo pie.  It upheld our new no-dairy beliefs while also being absolutely delicious.

And just in time for Thanksgiving day, it snowed.  That's already the second "snow storm" this year, which does not bode well for the future.  It did look cool through the skylight up in the loft though.

And to cap off the holiday festivities, Mom, Taylor and I went to see Dad play music with Jay Farrar downtown at The Old Rock House.  The blue lighting added to the wintery cold atmosphere, and all the instruments were on display.  Taylor and I decided that they were just old buddies sitting around the fire wanting to listen to the music too.

(photos by e.hunt)