“Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We’re so glad you could attend.”
~ Emerson, Lake & Palmer. “Karn Evil 9.” Brain Salad Surgery.
• We awakened yesterday morning to snow. We’d taken down our outside Christmas decorations over the weekend, so we were happy to see it. It was the first snow of the season and as such, looked delightful. Just a dusting that sparkled– and provided a unified color scheme for the outside. A perfect conclusion to the holiday season.
• Looking back on events I realize that this year during the holidays we got together with all sorts of different people. We had a party here at the house that went okay. [If we decide to make it an annual event, next year I’ll know better what to do: more beer & carbs/less wine & healthy.] We met friends for breakfast, lunch &/or dinner at various restaurants all over the city. We went to the Zoo & the Art Museum; we shopped at outlet stores & a huge, unique, locally owned grocery store that specializes in foods from around the world. In other words, we had some low-key, middle-aged, inexpensive fun.
• We’re not ones to buy each other Christmas gifts per se. Instead, in the month of December we tend to buy some things that we each have wanted during the year, but never got around to purchasing. So our “gifts” this year were some Le Creuset coffee mugs in a variety of colors; a new [“virtually indestructible”] Swiss Diamond skillet to replace our previous Swiss Diamond skillet that I destroyed; and a Roku for our un-bedroom (aka the upstairs sitting room).
• There’s really not much more to report from here. I’m feeling rather mellow today. No issues to discuss. No events to explain. No reason for me to keep babbling. So I think that I’ll just say Happy New Year to everyone– and be on my merry way.
[Hello FTC! Just a note to let you know that I haven’t received any sort of compensation for writing about these products. But you knew that already, right? I mean, have I ever been paid for anything I do here on this blog? Heck no! That’d be the day….]
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Welcome back! I broke a Le Creuset pan once. Shouldn’t it have been virtually indestructible? I’m looking into one of those new-ish ceramic coated frypans to replace my old non-stick. Happy 2012!
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We just replaced a couple of skillets that Isaac ruined, too! I love new things like that.
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Zazzy, I didn’t think that anyone could break a Le Creuset pan! Congrats. It seems noteworthy.
Beth, I like new pots and pans, too. I’m making the same stuff in it as before, but now it seems more special. Go figure.
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Welcome back! You were missed.
Happy new year!
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Lovely to see you back blogging again after the break. Love the ELP quote at the top, seems very apt for the start of a new year.
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Hi Melisa and Polly! Fun to be back here rambling on about whatever. Now, if only something interesting would happen….
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Happy New Year, jellybean!
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la p, you make me smile. 😉
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I’ve never had a Le Creuset pan. (feeling jealous) I’m sure I could destroy it though, if I had it for long. SNOW? We were supposed to have a tough winter yet so far(knock on wood)–not a flake.
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Happy New Year! Oh how your post made me smile about how much we have in common (who knew?) I’m guessing that you went to Jungle Jim’s (I would just live in that store if I had all the money in the world and didn’t have to worry about calories), I am obsessed by Le Creuset (I even wrote a whole post about it and took pictures of it at a Bloomingdale’s on vacation – how romantic!) and we bought a Roku last year for our bedroom (for when our teenage son monopolizes the bigger TV for video games) and we love it! So there you go, great minds and all that! 🙂
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Margaret, interesting goal you have there: get an expensive pan and then destroy it! 😉
Kristen, you’re so right about Jungle Jim’s. It’s filled with expensive, delicious items that cause me to lose all impulse control! ‘Tis wonderful, but it is only a once in a while place to visit. I’m laughing that you like Le Creuset enough to photograph it on vacation. That, my dear, is fanaticism at its best!
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Ha, I know, right?! I guess it would be over the top to tell you that I also researched where else I could purchase the whole line of Le Creuset (in Coastal Blue, my obsession – as if I could afford any of it anyway) since Bloomingdale’s (the exclusive distributor in the US) only sells just a few pieces. The answer? John Lewis. Oh yeah, in the UK. And yes, they just started shipping to the US! Uh-oh! 🙂
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According to the sales guy at the Le Creuset Outlet Store, Coastal Blue is coming to all of the US this spring. If he is correct and that happens, think how much you’ll save in shipping!
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