Friday List!

It's that time of year again when I start googling places in the world we can live where it's cold for the 2 weeks around Christmas and then nice and tropical the rest of the year. This climate exists somewhere, right? I want Christmassy weather without the SAD until February.

Cranking up the AC is no substitute for cold weather, but maybe the smell of these baking in the oven might help.

Spicy Gingerbread Cookies by Smitten Kitchen

Our best friend, Joanna (okay, we've never actually met her) has been keeping a nice collection of gift guides this season. Ideas for mom, dad, sister, husband, best friend, favorite mom bloggers in Congo...

Felt mistletoe from catbirdnyc.com

Or become the gift and tie your hair in a bow. Has anyone in real life ever done this?

Ordering our Christmas cards from Pinhole Press. We like to patronize them because they happily pull our order to specially put the trema in Annaïs’ name. Who does that to their child? Apparently no one. 

Ultrathick pinstripes make up for missing Christmas, right?

And to commemorate our first Christmas in 8 years in which we will wake up in our own beds (or country in which we reside) I'm going to ask our favorite wood workers if they can make one of these. If you don't have your own personal atelier. You can get one here. 

A gutschein adventskalender from klotzaufklotz.de

Jill's List:

Step away from the $84 candles.  Step away from the $84 candles.  (But they possess the ability to make Congo smell like Christmas...)

I have recently developed a Pinterest obsession.  It started out as an innocent way to promote this blog.  Now, I find myself craving $84 candles.  Check out this article about the power of Pinterest and Glossi. 

Don't tell me that since hearing the happy news, you haven't indulged in a little lunchtime People Magazine online browsing.  For example: "British Royal Maternity Fashions."  I mean, I certainly would never do such a thing...

I started my New Year's Resolution early.  I'm reading Trollope.  On the heavy recommendation of some of our dearest friends (Thanks Bethany & Peter!), and despite an earlier false start, I'm far enough into the first book of the Palliser Novels to feel super impressed with myself AND the prolific postman who wrote these stories...

Making these cookies for the sixth time in as many weeks.  So amazing.  (And, a testament to the fact that sometimes things that would normally be expensive can be randomly found in Kinshasa for not much at all.  Example: saffron.  But forget it if you want to find laundry detergent for under $40 a box.)

Our perfect, packable, Christmas tree: from Virginia to Kinshasa to Cape Town for all your decorating needs.  And, it's true what it says on the box:  "Will not lose needles!"  But, thank goodness my six-year-old is an assembly whiz.  This one was a doozie.  Maybe he has a future at Ikea...

And, way to sum it up, Dan. Feeling a lot of Seattle pride this week.