Do you agree that it feels like December comes out of nowhere? There you are, enjoying another leftover turkey sandwich from your Thanksgiving dinner when suddenly you need to buy and decorate a tree, put up lights outside, and find thoughtful presents for loved ones!

I am not a huge holiday decorator, but I do love a bright and happy Christmas tree! Patrick is the best at getting the lights just right on the tree, and the kids love to add the ornaments. My favorite part is getting the tree, especially when we make it a day trip and don’t buy it locally.

When I was little, there was a tree farm not too far from our house. Getting our Christmas tree was always something my sisters and I looked forward to each November. (We got our trees pretty early back then!) My grandparents and some of our cousins lived close by, so some years we would all go together to the tree farm.

The farm felt ginormous to us as little kids! We loved running around, playing escondido (hide-and-go-seek), and if we were good, getting a treat like hot chocolate or cookies inside the small house where you paid. My mom also loved inviting everyone over to our house to help decorate the tree. It became a big party; I loved the tradition.

Since I’ve lived abroad, driving out to a farm to cut down our own tree brings back all those happy memories. Tomorrow we’ll be driving up to Sebastopol to get our tree and I think we are all excited.

It’s been a busy week at the office and so I am a bit late on this week’s ideas, but, as always, better late than never! Here are a few things I wanted to share this week:

My Favorite Almond Cookies

For some reason, there are tons of almonds in our pantry: whole, slivered, blanched — you name it, we have it! I honestly do not know how this happened, but I need to find a way to use them up. And what better way than making cookies? (I could make a cake, but I am still looking for the perfect recipe).

These cookies are a breeze to make if you have a food processor. They resemble Mexican wedding cookies. They are so good! Tell me if you make them.

My Favorite Almond Cookies

This recipe comes from “Five Holiday Cookies From a Single Dough” by Flo Baker published many moons ago in the SF Chronicle.

Basic Butter Cookie Dough

• 1 1/2 cups unblanched almonds
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup+2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Grind the almonds to the consistency of cornmeal using a food processor.
2. Place flour, nuts, sugar and salt on a work surface; cut in the butter until the misture resembles coarse meal.
3. Using heal of your hand smear the pastry until it becomes tougher to form a cohesive dough.

Yields approx. 3 3/4 cups

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Shape dough into crescents with slightly tapered ends. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Space the cookies 1/2 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Place baking sheet on a wire and sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar. When the cookies cool down, transfer them to an air-tight container. Store up to 1 week at room temperature, or freeze up to 1 month.

Warm Leggings

Yes, I am from the tropics and after all these years, I still get cold easily. Some years ago, I got my daughter some PJs at the GAP. The ones in this picture. They were the largest kid’s size available, and after she rejected them, I decided they were pretty cool and started using them as my pajamas. They were awesome! Just what I needed to keep warm, but unfortunately, they still felt a bit too small for me, so I finally gave them away.

This is why, when I saw the jogging pants by West Knits, I thought, I HAVE to make those one day!

West Knits is one of the most amazing knitters I’ve come across. His shawls are huge in the knitting world. And wouldn’t you agree? He comes up with the most amazing color and stitch combinations! Just look at his latest shawl. There was a knit-along for it recently, and when I saw it, I was like, omg, if only I were a faster knitter!

Knitting one of Stephen West’s shawls is definitely on my knitting bucket list. And these leggings!!!

These would be the perfect replacement for the ones I gave away. I would love the whole suit for after-ski, eating chocolate chip cookies, and sipping some wine in a rented cabin on the slopes. (If only we had snow! )

Paper Crafts

This month, I’ve come across some pretty paper projects that brought back memories of the Christmas decorations my sisters and I would make at our grandma’s house with our cousins during long school breaks.

The first ones come from @valdirose. This is an Italian bed & breakfast account I found on Instagram. You can find many star ideas in their IG stories, perfectly labeled Stelle di Carta, or Paper Stars. After I found these, I realized that folding paper had a meditative effect on me. It was easy to spend part of the morning making a few stars while drinking my coffee. I can imagine so many ways to use these stars! What do you think?

Maarit Hanninen Free Downloads

These gorgeous ornaments are a free download from @maarit.hanninen.

Maarit Hänninen is amazing! I appreciate her generosity letting us have these beautiful ornaments to decorate our homes. Learn more about this Finnish linocut artist here. I think this would be a fun project to do with small children. They could help glue the ornaments and hang them on the tree. I miss having little children in the house.

And speaking of little children, I am excited to share that we are expecting a new addition to our family! Oh dear, I wish I were twenty again! Our niece is having a baby! And now I have an excuse to knit cute baby stuff.

[My poor kids! I never had time to knit too much for them. That’s how it goes when you work full time!]

And with that, I leave you to enjoy your weekends.

Share your plans with me in the comments!