Hello blog friends.  I went to lunch and did Christmas shopping in lower Manhattan during the second week of December.

My husband took the day off from work but had a business lunch meeting to attend and I came along too.  We decide to do the holiday shopping after our lunch, as we were in no hurry.

I took a few photos of the buildings located in the lower part of Manhattan along the way to the restaurant.

Below you can see part of the building that looks like a fin of a fish, it's called the Oculus Building.

A View of the Oculus Building

This was our first time we ate lunch at this restaurant and we went to the lobby of the building.  I asked my husband to take a photo of me in front of this gorgeous Christmas tree.  Look how small I look next to the huge tree.  LOL!

We did not realize it but we were waiting at the wrong area and we had to go back outside to the other side of the building to get to the restaurant.



We had lunch at the restaurant called Manhatta.  It's located at 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY on the 60th floor.  We took an elevator up to the 60th floor and we were amazed at the gorgeous views of the city.

Manhatta Restaurant and Bar

For our lunch we each had appetizers but I forgot to take photos of them.  I had scallops for my main dish that tasted delicious.








After our lunch, while still inside the restaurant, it was photo time.  We had an awesome view of the city.


Look at these gorgeous shots I took while we looked out the window.  We were lucky to have a clear day.





After our amazing lunch, we went to do Christmas shopping in the H&M store and in the Oculus Building.  If you like shopping, then you will like the stores inside the Oculus Building.


If you ever come to visit New York City, you don't want to miss a visit to lower Manhattan.  I would suggest after sightseeing perhaps have lunch or dinner at Manhatta.



Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!


Julie

CROCK POT ITALIAN STYLE CHILI













INGREDIENTS:

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 jar tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 can black beans, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
crock pot
non-stick spray



DIRECTIONS:

Cook beef in skillet until browned.  Pour off and drain fat from browned beef.  Spray non-stick spray into crock pot.  Mix the rest of the ingredients into the crock pot.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or set on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours or until done.

Enjoy!







Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!


Julie

I really wanted to make my own Christmas wreath this year for my back door.  I was so happy and thrilled to visit the dollar store back in November for all of my supplies.  I LOVE the Dollar Tree store!

I also used some items I already had in my stash such as the ribbon and garland.  I bought the red and white ribbon (that was already curled) in a local card store and the garland in a local dollar store.

This wreath was so much fun to make and it took me less than a half hour to make.

• 5 Christmas Ornaments
• 1 Bow
• Garland - I had this in my stash
• Red and White Ribbon - I had ribbon in my stash (The ribbon was already curled) 
• Glue Gun
• Small Wreath
• Small Door Hanger

I laid out all of my supplies on newspaper.

I took the pine cone and holly off of the red bow as in the photo above in the lower right hand corner.  I used instead the red and white ribbon.  The red and white ribbon came already curled, so I didn't need to curl the ribbon.  I used the twist tie on back of bow and tied it to the wreath.

Next I decided where I wanted my ornaments to be placed on the wreath.



I next heated up the glue gun.  Once the glue was hot, I hot glued the garland, ornaments, and bow onto the wreath.

Dollar Store Christmas Wreath

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope I've inspired you to do some crafting and make your own Dollar Store Christmas Wreath!

Enjoy the rest of the week and have a nice weekend.



Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!


Julie

Hello blog friends.  I thought it would be fun to participate and answer these twelve questions with a holiday theme at The Blended Blog Link Up for December.

You can join in the fun and answer the questions if you like in the comments section!

Christmas decorations with candy canes.

Real Christmas Tree 2017

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

I love making new handmade crochet ornaments each year for our Christmas Tree.  I decided this year that I wanted to make an angel.

I've been crocheting these angels since October for our tree and as little gifts for family and friends.

I really love all sorts of angels.  I have a lot of different angle ornaments and decorations.  I thought that crocheted angels would look cute on the Christmas tree. 



I was searching around on the internet for an easy angel pattern.   I was so happy when I found this pattern and they had them made into a garland.  I thought that angel ornaments would work out just perfect.   This pattern was not too difficult for me to make the crocheted angel.




DETAILS TO MAKE CROCHET ANGEL ORNAMENT:

Yarn:  You can choose any color and use any type of yarn for this project.  I chose yarn that I already had in my stash.  It didn't have any label on it.  The yarn I used was white and silver mixed together.  I think that the sparkle mixed in the yarn looks nice for this project.

Pattern:  The pattern is from Interweave and can be found here.

Crochet Hook: US size I hook.