Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Blog Party #40: Holiday Edition 2.0

Can you believe we are a little over one week from Thanksgiving and six weeks from Christmas?! I can't either. Of course this also means that we will soon be the swim of holiday parties and gatherings. I can't think of a better way to get a jump start of the party rounds than by attending Blog Party #40: Holiday Edition 2.0 hosted by that wonderful lady of all things blog party, Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness.

Blog Party #40:  Holiday Edition 2.0

When I was on my vacation in the Shenandoah Valley, I stayed a few nights at the Big Meadow Lodge on the Skyline Drive.

Big Meadow Lodge on Skyline Drive

This lodge was built in the 1930s by the CCC and my room was comfy and cozy

My Room at Big Meadow Lodge

with incredible views morning

View from My Room at Big Meadow Lodge at Sun Rise

noon

View from My Room at Big Meadow Lodge at Noon

and night.

View from My Room at Big Meadow Lodge At Sun Set

One of the best parts of staying at the lodge is there are no TVs in the rooms or in the main room of the lodge but they do have games, books, and jigsaw puzzles. It was during my stay that I rediscovered my love of putting together jigsaw puzzles. During the three nights I stayed there I put together this 2,000 piece puzzle(minus the missing piece)!

Jigsaw Puzzle from Big Meadow Lodge

I purchased a puzzle this past Sunday to put together in the evenings. I'm finding concentrating on finding the pieces incredibly therapeutic and losing myself for a few hours in the interlocking pieces is a nice change of pace from the stress and sadness of the last seven weeks.

What does any of this have to do with Blog Party 40? Not much except that my partially completed puzzle provided a really pretty backdrop for what I'm bringing to the party: crab wontons, spinach pockets and baby bottles of Prosecco!

Blog Party 40 Offerings

Tonight, after work, I came home and I don't know what got into me but I decided to rummage around in the freezer to put together some finger food for dinner to sit at the puzzle and work. I found half a package of wonton wrappers and another half package of spring roll wrappers. I also uncovered half a container of some spinach stuffing from some pasta shells I made back in the spring and three pieces of pre-cooked king crab legs; all the makings for a little plate of crab wontons and spinach pockets.

Mini Treats

Right before I went on vacation, I was scoping out mini everything that would make perfect pack ready items for my trip. I noticed at one of the wine stores small bottles of prosecco in three packs. How cute and perfect I thought for nights when I just want a glass of sparkling wine but don't want to open a big bottle. I bought them and put in the fridge and basically forgot about them until tonight.

So, along with my plate of finger food I opened a bottle Prosecco,

Baby Prosecco

sat down at the puzzle and found a piece I spent two hours looking for last night

Puzzle Pieces

A good reason to celebrate!