Odds and Ends

Bit of a short post this morning, but I do have a few happenings here and there to share with you all.

Christmas Tree at South Coast.  Spotted this magnificence while visiting our local mall on Friday night. There is a domed area of the lobby that extends four of five stories high and there, every year,  they erect one of the prettiest trees in all of Christmastime. I always look up and marvel at how they are able to string all the lights and hang all the ornaments so perfectly, so high above the ground. The tree and lights are crowned by the circular cut-outs in the ceiling design itself and all that stained glass. Feels otherworldly, but the palm trees in the courtyard below confirm we're still in California baby!

Isn't it pretty?

Recipe Sampling. I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the last week or so- probably more than I've spent in quite some time. The string of rainy days we've been having motivated me to get back to the stove and try my hand at some of the recipes I've been hoarding over the last couple of months. The one above- Cauliflower Soup (with scallops), found over at Coco + Kelley - was the stuff dreams are made of. We were surprised again last night with how good this Magic Sauce tasted over our roasted chicken and potatoes.

The Nieman Marcus-Target sale.  Over the weekend, we hit up Target to check out these much anticipated goodies and my first reaction was wow, they are still really stocked up! I had expected mostly empty shelves by the time we arrived, but happily for us 'twas not the case.

Overall impression: some very fun stuff and I have to admit, we walked (skipped!) away with a few things from the collection that were on my wish list.