On this Weekend Meanderings my neutral Christmas Decor, holiday nights at Santana Row, vintage holiday pins, cute runners and napkins, an easy Christmas cookie to make and more…
Santana Row for Holiday Fun
Santana Row has been really making an effort to have fun things at the holidays and I wanted to share. This week my friend E organized us to have dinner and do their Wednesday night ‘Sip and Stroll’ where you can get drinks, walk about and see the lights and festivities. Wednesdays they have snow machines and on Tuesday nights wonderful live performances and coming the weekend of the 18th, a holiday craft fair.
We sat under the heat lamps at Left Bank and had a lively dinner and took a photo after by the big tree. It was a great way to be with friends during this holidays with low effort. Elaine and Bari are long time friends through tennis and we are lucky our husbands get on too. If you want to dress up a little and get that holiday feeling on, this is the spot! More here about all the happenings.
My friend E has a beautiful collection of vintage pins and wore one that night which brings me to this…
#Blingit
After writing this week’s Signature Style about festive outfits, I was inspired to share more of my own mom’s and grandma’s vintage pins and jewels that I have inherited and mostly sit in the drawer. I love wearing this pin of my grandma’s and the bells that my mom always had on her coat at Christmas!
I know a lot of you also have some festive holiday pins and jewelry you may only wear at a party or for the holidays. We need to get theses small treasures out all the days of December! Even wear them with a t-shirt and jeans- they look cool!
Juliet and I thought it would be fun to have a hashtag #BLINGIT on Instagram so people can share their treasures. All month, tag us with your sparkly bits and we will share them on our Stories! If you don’t Instagram, just email me and I’ll share here. Kim@northerncalstyle.com.
Also some of you have no vintage jewelry and that’s okay.. It’s fun to look for it online and at places like Goodwill and local charity shops. Online, EBay is a good source and WEISS is an American brand that made gorgeous pins and you can source beauties for good prices here.
Cute table runners and napkins
I love this runner I found at Nordstrom in Hillsdale while visiting my son last week. Very nice quality and I thought this green could work after the holidays too.
The whole line, called Heirloomed, is adorable and you can find it here.
They also had these cute cloth napkins 4 for $20 …
I filled my big wooden bowl (similar here) with some light green and pink bulbs and a few cuttings of greenery. It has been so dark lately, it’s hard to get a good photo.
I’m loving muted tones and that sort of works with the new white tree.
Last year’s look.. I had a brighter runner and added red ornaments. Also we had sunshine. It’s been pretty gloomy this month.
I’m really going slow on the whole decorating thing. Juliet and I talked about having to be in the mood to decorate on our LIVE this past Thursday on Instagram. Anyone else feel the same? We also talked about how important it is to say no to things this time of year. You don’t have to do everything you think you do, and cards and excess gifts are some of the things you may need to cut out to find more joy.. As women we put way too much on ourselves. We often do it to ourselves. Lower expectations =happier life!
Thanks to everyone who caught the chat. It was great to connect with you all. You can still watch it on Instagram here and we will do one next week before we take a little break for the holidays.
I found the gingham ribbon at Michaels this week. Michaels was CLEANED OUT of everything – and I consider this earlyish. Am I wrong? My sons will add their ornaments, each have their own boxes, when they come home.
I am not good with ribbon like some.. I kind of just jam it in there…
We did get the stockings up with command hooks and faux garland bought at the local home store Harvest. I have to remove it when the fire is on. This is the one time I miss having a mantel…Of courses Marlo has her own stocking!
Christmas Dream Drops
It’s going to be a stormy weekend here in Northern Cal, so I’m planning on doing my baking. This is one of the cookies I’m making and it’s fast, pretty and delicious. It was Sunset Magazine’s best cookie for 2011. I adapt it to remove the white chocolate chips which were unnecessary and weighed these down. This is like a mini pavlova so you want to make sure not to over bake these. They should have some give and be crisp on the outside and have chewy goodness inside that a hard meringue does not.
My dream drops at in the old kitchen, and far right photo from the original issue of Sunset. The online recipe has a new pic of them dipped in chocolate on the bottom. Recipe here.
FYI- these are a two day cookie max, so make these right before you want to share or eat them! I found the chopped up peppermint at World Market in the baking area.
I also spied at World Market and here, the vintage Betty Crocker ‘Cooky Book’ that holds all the treasured recipes our mom’s made. If you don’t have one, this spans cookies of the 20th century, trends and even world events and is chock full of good recipes and fun reading and awesome retro photos. I will never part with my mom’s edition, but may get another for the sons to each have. A cool gift idea!
Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach’s California home
Guys, the real estate market is slow now, so instead I’m sharing these new photos from Sunset of Abby and Glennon’s home that I love….
This house is my vibe, and is described as a modern Cape Cod style. I love the lightness and use of soft colors and fabrics and lots of texture. You can see more of the house here. Interior design by Kate Lester and photos by Douglas Friedman.
I want a pink rug for my bath! The bookshelves are so cool..
You can follow their designer Kate on her Instagram, which I am obsessed with and she also has a home store in So Cal here. How lovely is her mantel for the holidays? Inspiring!
ALSO…
Serena & Lily has their Winter Clearance which is up to 70% off on some things and many favorites like the gingham pjs, velvet shams and Sonoma Bath towels are the lowest I’ve ever seen them. Sale ends 12/20 if need any beautiful home things.
I did update the men’s gift list from last week as my son and I had a great day shopping at Nordstrom and he showed me some more cool things so go here if you need gifts for guys.
Sorry if this post seems light, but I had two other posts this week.. One was Signature Style with Cindy and Sarah…about holiday dressing strategies, and on Thursday I joined Annie, Cindy, Mary Ann and Kelley in Balboa, to share our hometown holiday traditions. Mine is about my town of Los Gatos and our family December must-dos.
And that is my weekend meanderings for this week. Don’t forget to stop over at Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs to see what good things they are talking about..
MAKE MINE A SPRITZER
PINECONES AND ACORNS
Have a lovely weekend!
Kim
On last weekend’s post..men’s holiday gift ideas, some fresh ideas in Christmas stockings, my new faux tree, a wonderful local floral design studio and more..
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Kim!!
When I saw your bling on your teddy jacket on your live I was heading to New Canaan and made a stop at the thrift shop thinking I would find one! I love how it looks! #blingit — I love it!!!
Your tree looks beautiful!! You’re great at the ribbon thing!! Love the brown checks!!
Xx
Annie I will keep my eye out for a good one for you! Aw thanks so much. xo
Kim,
I think #blingit is going to be a movement! So fun to pull out the vintage family pieces as well as new finds and share them with friends.
Your vintage pieces and stories reminded me of my own. By the way, some time ago you shared a tree, I think your grandmother made it? I have one that my mil made and I shared it today. It is one of my favorite Christmas decorations.
Your tree and dough bowl look beautiful. I concur with Annie, you get the ribbon thing, it looks beautiful.
It is stormy and gray here too, and I think there is more to come. I will be baking in spirit with you as I do my own cookies here.
We had that cookie book from Betty Crocker! Many of our favorite family cookies are from there, like the candy cane cookies and the sugar cookie recipe.
Loved all of your posts this week!
Looking forward to checking out the S&L sale and this beautiful house/couple you featured.
Have a wonderful weekend Kim. xo
Elizabeth let’s hope so! Would be fun. Thank you for sharing your beautiful tree. It’s so very pretty and your MIL was talented. I have seen a lot of these trees, but not one like that. We had a big power outage this morning and storm. I am writing this in the car at the coffee shop and hoping power comes back so I can bake. Love the candy cane cookies! Enjoy the weekend baking. xo
Love that idea Modern Cape Style! I have to look for my vintage brooches to #Blingit!
Merry Christmas, Kim!
I love that style too. Please share you brooches! xoxo
Your tree looks amazing! 🙌🏻 I would love to do a neutral tree, but Shannon has definite ideas about what a Xmas tree should look like. 🙄😆. Much love, Dawn
Dawn thanks. Well, this is the first year I am choosing all the things for the tree! Enjoy your holiday with Shannon! xo
Love the idea of getting out our heirloom (or not) brooches and pins. Unfortunately, my mom had her jewelry stolen many years ago and along with it went all of my grandmother’s great treasures. Your neutral tree is very unusual and sophisticated. Like Annie, I think you did just fine with the ribbon. The boys might not like the color so much but they can enliven it with their own ornaments when they come home. Enjoy this rain even though you refer to it as gloomy since it’s SO needed. This is baking weather, for sure!
Wren I loved your brooches! Thank you for sharing them. Oh gosh so sad about your grandmother’s things being taken. It’s the sentimental value isn’t it, more than anything? Thanks about the tree.. Honestly it was the only gingham ribbon color left, so I went with it! I know we need the rain.. Our power is out now, so hoping it comes back and I can have a cozy afternoon baking! Enjoy the weekend.
p.s. I read in my local paper today that Roger’s Nursery restaurant, the Farmhouse, made it into the top 22 California ranked by OpenTable. How’s that for a reason for a visit?
Really? Wren I am getting there soon I hope!
Hi Kim,
Glad you had fun at Santana Row, I think I’ll head there next week if the rain clears up a little. I could use a good dose of holiday spirit!
I think your tree looks great, I don’t do the ribbon thing but you handled it perfectly!
You know I’m blinging it, every day now. My mom’s pins came out of the jewelry box and I put them near my coats so I’d remember to wear them. I used to always wear brooches and pins, usually groups of them at one time. It was kind of my “thing”, friends and coworkers would find them for me in vintage stores etc. I have one of my friend’s Catholic school medals, and my husband’s Eagle Scout pin. I have a shadow box hanging in my closet that contains all of my favorites, that way I can enjoy them even when I’m not wearing any.
I’m definitely doing less holiday stuff this year, keeping it simple and still trying to enjoy the good parts!
Hope yours is really special.
Xo Heidi
Heidi, Santana was really fun.. Try and get there while all the festivities are going on. I love that you have your mom’s pins. I used to also have a nice collection and wore them back in the 80’s and 90’s a lot at work. One boyfriend even gave me a cool leopard pin. I still have them all somewhere..I am hoping pins and brooches are making a comeback. I can see how you an artist gravitated towards them! Good for you.. do less and find the joy. Thanks so much for sharing your pretty brooches. xo
New girl here!!! I love everything I see!! I think I am gonna like it here!!! Sincerely K Sunday
Kim! I just ordered the Cooky Book … I don’t recall my mom having this Betty Crocker cookbook but I bet I’ll recognize a lot of the recipes. I’m mad at myself for not holding onto some of her now-vintage cookbooks. What was I thinking? You’ve got me so excited over these holiday and vintage pins. Your friend Elaine’s is gorgeous. And I love both of yours. The Christmas Bells remind me of my grandmother. Nordstrom has really upped their game in the Home Goods department. I love all of these things. In our local store they took over the BP Shoes department and it’s all home stuff. Smart of them I think. Your tree looks great and you did a beautiful job with the ribbon. Ok, I’ve got to knuckle down and get mine done. A good project on this rainy night. Merry Merry! xo
Juliet, I hope you like it. I think you’ll love the stories through history, the events, fashions and cookies through the years that were popular. Also so many great recipes! Isn’t E beautiful? I think she wear her pins so well too. Nordys definitely has expanded with home goods and I love it. Good luck with the decorating! You did a marvelous job so far..xoxo
Those cookies you made were called NIGHTY NIGHTS when I lived in ITALY!
I cannot recall who made them or which country she came from but I still have the recipe!!
Now I need to go LOOK at it and see if I can remember!
I’m blinging it!
XOX
Really? How cute! Okay tell me more.. Also they didn’t happen yesterday. Power out all day long. Finally came back last night, so maybe today.. Thanks for sharing your holiday pins! xoxo
Kim your tree is fantastic! I love the unexpected addition of the gingham ribbon. It is wonderful. Love your cute #blingit hashtag. I have been collecting vintage brooches and pins for years. I just love them!
Thank you Cindy. The tan gingham worked out! You have to share some of your brooches please. We would love to see them! xo