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Dec. 14th, 2024 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dollyrogerflagAs I said last month, I knew this December would be kind of a busy month for my partner and I! My folks stopped by; a couple of friends wanted to hang out with us over the weekend. I haven't seen my parents in person since last Spring, and we hung out with our friends (let's call them Koala & Dragon) separately last month. Basically, I made sure to keep our place tidy! We got Koala to watch archived Christmas specials for Saturday evening; just lowkey conversations of Christmas lights, their office parties, and vintage holiday specials. Dragon came over the next day to play some video games with Bern; lots of fun-competitive plays and energetic bursts. They played Super Monkey Ball. Out of all of Bern's local colleagues, they've been great about keeping in touch with him.
I baked brown butter cookies! The first batch came out a bit well done (still delicious), but I cut down the next cooking time down to a minute less and it came out perfect, with a bit of the chewiness in the middle. I also baked persimmon bread, with persimmons that I received from my parents' place. This year, they turned out humongous. My family is pretty green-thumbed.
Oh, and so we finally picked up a Christmas tree; a fresh Noble Fir. It's been a week and it didn't dry out yet! For once, we used our own tree stand because we want room for the train toys to pass around the tree. You know how some people got miniature water fountains in their homes, with the sound of water as their asmr? Well toy trains are Bern's kinetic stimulation. I enjoy the presence of trains. I finished decorating the tree in a couple of days; it was very relaxing because I love taking my sweet time. I went with the usual: second-hand ornaments, gifted items, incandescent lights and collected pieces from the past years. I watched a bit of Kirsten & Joerg's holiday videos in the background-- they're very cozy and wholesome! They're such a handsome couple; charming personalities. I love their taste-- which is just classic deep red/ hunter green Christmas, with warm colors...similar to mid 90s holiday decors. They remind of some day time slice-of-life programs from local tv stations that partnered with PBS. Some people made comments that they lowered the blood pressure-- and they're correct!
My sister bought me some cute gifts!
I told her that she did not have to since I couldn't get her anything beyond the cupcakes and cookies that I've baked for her. She loves shopping for other people; no one can stop her. Literally no one. I'm going to save my stickers for scrap booking! She also got me practical things: mobile phone suction & slippers.
I also need to plan my birthday. I think I have an idea, but not exactly sure what I want to do during my birthday. If we do end up eating out-- it will be an outdoor sit-down place. Part of me wants to do a bit of window shopping at malls/ downtown areas, but I can't be in a place of crowds during the holidays in this timeline. I'm okay with flea markets/ open air places. I guess I can always search up some local museum stops & light installations. I'm lucky to live in area with a bunch of landmarks that doesn't involve indoor spaces. Since our refrigerator is unreliable for the third time 
, I'm just going to skip out on baking myself a cake for now. There's no point in using up buttercream, eggs, ganache for them to go to waste. Dealing with improper food storage would frustrate me 
, it would be unsafe to consume them. I may also have to avoid preparing dinners that requires overnight leftovers, just incase. If this continues this whole week, I would be okay with getting a local Chinese food takeout if any are open during Christmas day. Perhaps I'll end up having a 90s romcom movie* dinner for holidays.
*Okay, I know the link isn't really from a romcom movie nor is it from the 90s. But Sandra Oh looks like she could've starred in an iconic one.
Well despite our refrigeration malfunction, I was able to decorate and I had some time to work on my art! Here is my Drawcember art atm:
I made a Drawcember prompt list for myself just to simply get sucked into a festive mood. At least for me, it's pretty effective. Got my holiday movies in the background; hot cocoa around (but not close to my tablet). Yes, I'm a tad bit upset that I won't be able to cook my favorite foods but I'm also grateful things I'm able to do. Aside from essential needs....there's not a whole lot for me to ask for.
I baked brown butter cookies! The first batch came out a bit well done (still delicious), but I cut down the next cooking time down to a minute less and it came out perfect, with a bit of the chewiness in the middle. I also baked persimmon bread, with persimmons that I received from my parents' place. This year, they turned out humongous. My family is pretty green-thumbed.
Oh, and so we finally picked up a Christmas tree; a fresh Noble Fir. It's been a week and it didn't dry out yet! For once, we used our own tree stand because we want room for the train toys to pass around the tree. You know how some people got miniature water fountains in their homes, with the sound of water as their asmr? Well toy trains are Bern's kinetic stimulation. I enjoy the presence of trains. I finished decorating the tree in a couple of days; it was very relaxing because I love taking my sweet time. I went with the usual: second-hand ornaments, gifted items, incandescent lights and collected pieces from the past years. I watched a bit of Kirsten & Joerg's holiday videos in the background-- they're very cozy and wholesome! They're such a handsome couple; charming personalities. I love their taste-- which is just classic deep red/ hunter green Christmas, with warm colors...similar to mid 90s holiday decors. They remind of some day time slice-of-life programs from local tv stations that partnered with PBS. Some people made comments that they lowered the blood pressure-- and they're correct!
My sister bought me some cute gifts!
I told her that she did not have to since I couldn't get her anything beyond the cupcakes and cookies that I've baked for her. She loves shopping for other people; no one can stop her. Literally no one. I'm going to save my stickers for scrap booking! She also got me practical things: mobile phone suction & slippers., I'm just going to skip out on baking myself a cake for now. There's no point in using up buttercream, eggs, ganache for them to go to waste. Dealing with improper food storage would frustrate me , it would be unsafe to consume them. I may also have to avoid preparing dinners that requires overnight leftovers, just incase. If this continues this whole week, I would be okay with getting a local Chinese food takeout if any are open during Christmas day. Perhaps I'll end up having a 90s romcom movie* dinner for holidays. *Okay, I know the link isn't really from a romcom movie nor is it from the 90s. But Sandra Oh looks like she could've starred in an iconic one.
Well despite our refrigeration malfunction, I was able to decorate and I had some time to work on my art! Here is my Drawcember art atm:
I made a Drawcember prompt list for myself just to simply get sucked into a festive mood. At least for me, it's pretty effective. Got my holiday movies in the background; hot cocoa around (but not close to my tablet). Yes, I'm a tad bit upset that I won't be able to cook my favorite foods but I'm also grateful things I'm able to do. Aside from essential needs....there's not a whole lot for me to ask for.
