A Little Sparkle in Greenwich, CT

I've really enjoyed the holidays over the past week.  Taking time with family and friends to reflect on the year has been wonderful!  I also enjoyed the holiday sparkle in and around New York City and Greenwich.  Plenty of places online - websites and blogs - feature fabulous photos of NYC this time of year and here were a few pictures I took on the Avenue in Greenwich, CT two nights ago when I was out running errands.  It's a wonderful town and a lovely place to stroll.  Dogs are everywhere and many merchants put out dog treats and water bowls for our four-legged friends.  The streets of Greenwich were packed over the past two weeks with shoppers and families "out and about" and just taking in the festive atmosphere!  Parking was hard to come by (a good sign in this economy) and if you haven't come for a visit, there are a lot of great shops, galleries and restaurants:

Ralph Lauren

Morello's Wine Bar all lit up....Shoes and More to the left and Tory Burch to the right

The Elm Street Oyster House

Shops abound and not a parking spot available in view!

Rugby with a pretty wreath!

Terra Restaurant - great Italian!

Betteridge Jewelry, all wrapped up!

A cozy watering hole, The Ginger Man (we love the cozy fireplace inside)

Mediterraneo (Great food!)

Rinfret looking elegant

Richards festive with lit wreaths!

Manfredi

The quaint Black Forest Pastry Shop has great sweets and cakes

Some fun holiday windows at Hoagland's in Greenwich featuring the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!

Happy New Year's Eve!

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Snowed In! Snow Ice Cream Recipe!

We are snowed in here in the Northeast of America, which has been good for The Well Appointed House (orders are coming in and customers are taking advantage of our sale) but not so good for getting out and enjoying the last days of December.

I thought I would treat you to some beautiful snowy scenes of homes around the country:

Kentucky Governors Mansion by Gene Burch Photography 

NYC's Gracie Mansion in the snow

Bletchley Park Mansion in UK

Hartney Manor

Sundial House, Aldeburgh, UK

If this doesn't make you want to fly to Aspen and hit the slopes....

Elk Song Ranch in Aspen, Colorado - currently on the market for a very cool $35 million.

Colorado Governor's Mansion

The White House

Glamis Castle, United Kingdom

If you have kids who have been trapped indoors all day, put your snow boots on and go grab about a gallon of snow in a big bowl and make SNOW ICE CREAM!

SNOW ICE CREAM INGREDIENTS

1 gallon snow

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups of milk

Place all items in a large, clean bowl and mix!  You might not need that much milk, add it as you go until you get to the desired texture.  Serve immediately and see instantaneous smiles!

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Merry Christmas!

The big day is here!  My holiday table is set and ready for a big Christmas dinner tonight with our little ones and extended family.

Thank you to all of our customers and friends and we wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy holiday season and wonderful New Year!  We have many wonderful things planned for our retail website in 2011, including a new main page launching in January and lots of fabulous new home products!  Ho Ho Ho! Pin It

Merry Christmas from My House to Yours!

Merry Christmas from my house to yours!  This year my decorations are very simple.  A little bit of merriment here and a little bit there, but overall, very little has been added to the mantels beyond festive stockings or flowers! (Photos Copyright Melissa Hawks, May Not Be Duplicated)  Sometimes all you need is a little color and a few well-placed poinsettias!

A few favorite items, family photos and stockings casually placed on the mantel is really all you need!

This is a decorative tree and not the one Santa will be visiting!  The Santa tree has been decorated by my children and is eagerly awaiting his visit next week!

Merry Christmas!

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Christmas Cards and a Royal Christmas: Princess Diana & Prince Charles Holiday Cards

I really love checking the mail this time of year and seeing all of the fabulous holiday cards coming my way!  I have to say that we have some pretty good looking friends with some pretty cute kids and I thoroughly enjoy receiving all of the cards and hanging them up at home.  What a treat!  This year I strung some string between two windows in my kitchen and am using good old-fashioned clothes pins to hang the holiday cards as they arrive.  Here are some of what we have gotten so far and I think I'm going to have to add a few more lines of string since we are still a week and a half from Christmas!  (Nutcrackers are from my retail site, The Well Appointed House, and can be purchased there)

 

As you may recall, I wore the same dress to an event as Tina Fey earlier this year and it appears I have selected the same Christmas Card as one of our good friends (great minds think alike, as they say!  Mine is at right).  Hopefully I can get through 2011 without any similar "dupes":

Well it's all in good fun and it's such a treasure to see that people take the time to do this!  In the spirit of Christmas and holiday cards and all of the recent media attention on Prince William's engagement, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's holiday cards over the years:

This is an official royal Christmas card to "Tony" for their wedding year .

 This is an official royal Christmas card from the couple to a "Mr Murphy" which is signed by both. On the opposite page is a lovely studio portrait photograph of the couple with Prince William as a young baby.   Beautiful!   Here are some more and they don't look much different from many of the cards I receive:

This Christmas card was written to the Greek Prince Nicholaus, dedicated 'Nicholaus', inscribed 'With all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year' and signed 'and lots of love from godfather Charles' by the Prince of Wales. The card has an insert colour photograph of Prince Charles with Princess Diana seated on a swing with a young Prince William on her lap.

 Adorable!   Here are some others:

 

 

A Christmas card sent to Simon (Barnes, 1990), inscribed and signed by the late Princess of Wales, 'Simon, with love from the four of us, Diana', on a folded white card with embossed royal crests to the front. The colour photograph opposite the printed Christmas greeting shows the royal couple with their two sons in long grey trousers and red jumpers grouped in a garden.

 

A 1992 Christmas card inscribed to Peter and signed by Diana, with a colour photograph of Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugene.  They look like a perfectly normal family out having fun!

1994 

1995

Absolutely charming and fun to look at!  I thought I would share these with you!

(Photo Credits: Google, Yahoo & Fraser Autographs and Melissa Hawks, The Well Appointed House)

As always, I have to plug my website:  We are still having our final 20% off sitewide sale before Christmas, so take advantage of the savings!  www.wellappointedhouse.com

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