That’s my motto. No Christmas before Thanksgiving. Heck, no Christmas before Halloween!
A couple weekends ago, it couldn’t be helped. Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincided, so we had to do both at the same time. My sister-in-law made a menurkey. I can’t find the picture of her with it, so here’s DH.
We came home and celebrated the rest of Hanukkah.
(Playing with depth of field and my menorah collection)
Now I’m ready to prepare for Christmas.
We had a little snow here to put me in the right frame of mind.
I found Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans for a reasonable price at Costco, so I’m making some vanilla extracts. Two are made with vodka, and two are made with bourbon. I gues that would make the latter…Bourbon Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract! A week later, the vodka version is nearly as dark as the bourbon version. But don’t let that fool you; it won’t be ready to use for about a month or so. Here’s a recipe; it’s crazy simple. I love these flip top bottles, but I wish they came in a smaller version! These are 8 ounces, which is a lot of vanilla extract.
More merry-making: Here’s a group from Westlake High School singing at the Rotunda in the Texas Capitol in Austin Texas.
Yes, Austin! We had a quick getaway this week. Here’s a better view up into the dome. The star up there measures 8 feet across.
This is a beautiful building. So much detail!
Even the door hinges are beautiful.
Texas State Representatives meet here.
We also toured the LBJ Library and Museum, and saw lots of bands play. Favorite meal: breakfast tacos at Torchy’s Tacos. Cheap hipster slacker breakfast.
We got around via Car2Go. Very cool!
Cheaper than a cab, and pretty convenient. You only pay for the time you drive, 41 cents/minute, and you can park in any legal parking lot in their service area. We have these in Portland, too, and use them occasionally when we need a second car. Do you have Car2Go where you live?
Are you ready for Christmas? Not me, not yet!
PDXKnitterati 
Torchy’s Tacos are so amazing!!!! Their fish tacos are the best 😀
I’ll have to go back for fish tacos; no fish for breakfast for me!
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For future bottle use, I can recommend this place – http://www.specialtybottle.com/swingtopbottlesmi.aspx I didn’t get the flip tops when I made the Cranberry-Lime infused vodka last year, but I could have. 😉 They also have jars and tins for other crafty fun.
Still need to do the holiday decorating, that’s this week.
I love those swingtop bottles, but they are all bigger than I want. It looks like 7.5 ounces is the smallest; I would love a 4 oz bottle… My friend Carole is making cranberry-lime infused vodka!
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