Snow, snow, snow.
Really, that’s pretty much all that we’ve got. Lots and lots of it. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday…
It’s beautiful and peaceful…when you’re inside. But, what a mess! So, we basically spent the entire weekend brushing off our vehicles every hour and trying to avoid a lifetime’s worth of accidents on the roads.
Saturday morning we hit up the outdoor public market, which was pretty desolate and blustery – sadly, our lovely market just isn’t as fresh or abundant in the depths of the winter as it is during the rest of the year. So we walked around for twenty minutes then piled back into the truck and crawled on over to the Rochester Brainery’s holiday bazaar where lots of local artists and business owners were showcasing their wares. Oh man, I love shopping local. If we had the money, I’d love to support local business all year long! They had tons of neat things to share. We strolled past Get Caked, which makes the most divine cupcakes. Breze Teas is owned by a really nice lady who makes all her wonderful black and green teas in small, fresh batches and hand-delivers them right to your door herself. Shop Peppermint had an awesome colorful cardigan and fox scarf I completely fell in love with, Thred has an amazing blue lace dress with a pretty v-back that I adore, and Little Grey Gils had several cool throw pillows and a clever mug that Ted and I liked right away. Also, the Rochester Brainey itself is awesome. They are impeccably decorated and offer all these really fun, affordable, neat, single-session classes on just about anything you can imagine! What a way to explore the world and learn new skills. I really hope I can scrape together the money to take a few classes there in 2014. I also think they’d make a great girls night activity! Check out their January calendar here.
After I fell in love with absolutely everything at the bazaar, we grabbed a big, warm and filling pancake and omelet lunch with a gift card we had to Ihop then headed off to the mall because I had a gift certificate to a particular store that I needed to use by the 20th. Of course, the mall was a terrible idea a week and half before Christmas, but because we don’t really do any Christmas shopping, I completely forgot that others do partake in Christmas shopping (with a vengeance and a fury) and I didn’t realize how awful and mobbed it would be until we got there. I found what I wanted with my gift card (yay for adorable free things!), we waited for 15 minutes in a line that snaked around the store, and we got out of there ASAP. And that will be our last mall trip until February. The older I get, the less tolerance I have for anywhere shopping related around the holidays – with, of course, the exception of online shopping and local businesses, which don’t tend to be nearly as busy and far more awesome anyway.
Following the mall was more treacherous snow driving, a stop at Dairy Queen for ‘buy one get one free’ blizzards (you should definitely try the Peppermint Oreo right away!), mass at a new church, and a drive around a few nearby neighborhoods to enjoy the Christmas lights, and finally, an evening at the Blackfriar’s Theatre to see my lovely friend Mary in a performance of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play – which was a sweet, fun show and, as always, a great classic holiday story that I’m so very happy we were able to see this year. And who doesn’t love a good radio play?
How was your weekend? What fun and festive Christmastime activities did you enjoy this weekend?
