Traquil Tuesday-Wise Men

The wise men are on the move making there way toward the baby Jesus.

Matthew 2:1-12 (King James Version)

Matthew 2

 ¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
 ²Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
 ³When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
 ⁴And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
 ⁵And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
 ⁶And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
 ⁷Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
 ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
 ⁹When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
 ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
 ¹¹And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
 ¹²And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Kalamazoo Christmas

In order to have a true Christmas in Kalamazoo you have to do two things. One is visit Candy Cane Lane in Bronson Park.

It's romantical.

We were having so much fun during our photo shoot that we nearly got a parking ticket. This nice meter dude let us off on Christmas Eve. I unfortunately became sick as a dog with a horrid cough and cold. I could barely breath. I needed to wear a mask to hold my Baby Nephew. So we sadly missed midnight services at St. Luke's and the second most important Kalamazoo tradition; visiting the Winchell Neighborhood to see nearly 3,000 luminaries. This neighborhood has been lighting the luminaries for over 25 years and everyone turns off their car lights and drives slowly through the winding roads. Christmas Card Lane is another fun tradition, but Winchell is not to be missed.

We did have one more visit on Christmas Eve; to see the original Andrew and sweet Caroline. Two of my three babes that I babysat for since their older sister Jess was one year old. I'm so sad we missed Jessie and Brett who were probably getting their Winchell home ready for the luminaries.

We got to meet Liney's beau Dave.

And see Sarah's beautiful Christmas decorations.

Liney and I were sick as dogs but made time for a quick visit sniffles and all.

Little did we know that Dave was about to propose to Caroline only a few hours later! He set up luminaries on the Kalamazoo Country Club golf course for a surprise walk home to his parents house. I guess he was antsy during our visit but we couldn't tell at all. He is such a great guy and will make a great husband for Caroline. We are so thrilled to have had this awesome visit with the cute couple. 

Christmas morning was wonderful at Mom's house.

Elise was home sick with the flu. Poor angel!

They are the cutest little family and Andrew is in such good hands.

Meeting Andrew was truly the best Christmas present ever! 

Seeing E. with this baby makes my heart skip a beat. We love being Aunt Nellie and Uncle Charlie.

Mac is the most adoring father I've ever seen.

Granny Punks is in love too!

We just couldn't get enough of him.

These are a few of my hand painted cards for 2010.

Francie thinks I should start a card line. She's a little biased and I love it!

So Christmas morning Mac and Andrew came without Elise. It broke our hearts that she was so sick. But again, Mac did the BEST job! This is my little brother remember. I can barely believe he can put two words together let alone take care of a child! But he is a rock star Daddy.

Uncle Charlie was awesome with him too.

Prizes were flying and we had such a nice morning.

Andrew was sacked out for the excitement.

Santa Punks handed out prizes.

The baby slept and slept. Pure bliss.

Three generations of Averitt men. Mac really dressed up for Christmas dinner, but he gets a pass since he is running on three hours of sleep nightly. Love how Pappy and Andrew have matching hats. Ho, ho, ho!

Momma made our traditional Roast Beast and Yorkshire Pudding. It was delicious as always.

Daddy carved the perfectly cooked meat in the kitchen.

Francie was in town visiting too and we felt so lucky to see her twice within forty days. Sadly something happened with the camera and we lost the photos of her and Andrew meeting for the first time.

The most simple luxury but my favorite part of our Christmas dinner is always drinking ice cold water in Mom's silver water goblets. 

We had a few visitors who wanted to crash our dinner party. We had seen a family of seven on Christmas Eve in the neighbor's yard.

There were downy woodpeckers at the feeder.

Purple finches.

Momma cardinals too.

We ordered a ton of cookies from Sweet Spot to be delivered to Mom's house. There were very few left on Christmas day. Good thing Mom made Princeton Rocks too.

Another great gift was Daddy and Francie teaching E. how to play bridge.

Francie and Granddaddy used to play all the time.

Keeping all the terminology and rules straight is complicated. Trump, Dummy, Tricks, Books, Pretty Cards, the etiquette of how to shuffle, cutting to the dealer and the competitive bluffing just brings back so many memories of my parents, godparents and grandparents playing any time we got together.

Daddy was a professor so the schooling comes naturally.

E. picked it up immediately and there were lots of laughs.

Mom was a big help too.

I had a few tricks and felt pretty great that I hadn't forgotten how to play.

Then we got another visit with Baby Nephew.

It was the best Christmas ever. We just wish Elise had felt better.

Thank you Momma for your wonderful hospitality. You can whip up a meal in minutes flat with the greatest of ease. Thanks to Dad and Francie for the wonderful bridge lessons. Can't wait for our next game.  Best wishes to Caroline and Dave and their engagement! Really looking forward to many long chats about stationery and wedding planning with you Liney

Kalamazoo, zoo, zoo!

Every time we visit Kalamazoo we have to stop by Food Dance. Eric has fond memories of having brunch there the day of our wedding with his best men. I loved the old location in the Haymarket building and remember having dates with my Daddy there. The new space is much bigger and has great private rooms and a little store.

E. got the Mexican scramble with Challah bread toast. The bread is all from Zingerman's bakery in Ann Arbor.

I chose the Sourdough Bread with my eggs and bacon. It was the best.

E. had an extra pancake too.

The decor is fabulous. There is a corn row leading folks to the private rooms. I planned our 20 year reunion this past summer and they did the nicest job. The food is always outstanding.

The space is wonderful, whimsical and welcoming.

The shop is in the front of the restaurant and sells the most wonderful products and gifts.

Fabulous cheeses.

Cakes and sweet treats.

They have the most fabulous selection of French dish towels.

We lucked out because there were samples when we arrived.

I spied some Salty Caramel ice cream in the cooler. It took everything in my will not to buy the lot.

The decor makes this place so special. There are three dimensional vegetables and little fairies flying all over the place. It is delightful.

I would think children would have the most fun looking around and counting all the cute little people.

There were samples of brownies and sugared nuts out as well. If you ever find yourself in Kalamazoo, you must go to Food Dance.

There are beautiful old buildings downtown too.

Michigan Avenue has changed so much but still has that Main Street USA kind of feeling.

We went to seek out if the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange was open. We were there way too early. We found out about them through Twitter. I love that people, no matter where you live, make great suggestions of places to visit via Twitter. It's like a giant Concierge Service.  

We were bummed it wasn't open. Santa would have brought Uncle Charlie a tee shirt.

The Radisson is where we spent our wedding night. We got upgraded to the Presidential Suite on 7-7-07. Pretty incredible considering there were four weddings at the hotel that day. We got married at St. Luke's and had our reception at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art. We remember this city so fondly from our fun wedding weekend and loved seeing the Radisson from afar.

The Water Street Coffee Joint is another location we hit up more than once on every trip.

We've been to the original and the Oakwood location in just one and a half days.

Both locations are always packed with cars and people.

We went to Water Street Coffee Joint with our buddy and maid of honor Mary for a quick breakfast our first day here. The Blueberry muffin was so tasty. E. had a waffle. 

They sell great tee-shirts and wonderful coffee gifts.

  

You can get breakfast and lunch items here.

I love the way they used the coffee bean bags to cover the planters for the winter.

And their go-cups are awesome!

Bell's is hands down another location that can't be missed. The bar and the General Store.

E. is a coffee and beer snob so he lucked out today.

This brewery has a cult following. Eric and I are card carrying drink-the-Koolaid-crazy members! We served Oberon at our wedding. They sell Bell's in DC but not Maryland. E. has to go to the Whole Foods to get Bell's. We have been known to buy cases and drive it over state lines ourselves. 

Bell's Oberon is a wheat ale fermented with Bell's signature house ale yeast, mixing a spicy hop character with mildly fruity aromas. The addition of wheat malt lends a smooth mouthfeel, making it a classic summer beer.

Sometimes it's hard to make a decision on what to get.

The sparkling ale is one of my favorites. It knocked me on my fanny a few years ago in November. It has 9% alcohol and tasted like a champagne style beer. They didn't have any this year.

For any cult like beer drinkers who want to go crazy and learn how to brew your own beer, this General Store has all that you need to begin that journey. Check out the Kalamazoo Libation Organization of Brewers (KLOB) for more information. My brother's buddy Andy Farrell is one of the brew masters.

The yeast is packaged and they sell glass containers to ferment the beer. It's pretty fabulous for the beer enthusiast on your Christmas list.

We love our trips to the Zoo. I grew up here and love visiting now with Eric. 

Thanks to my new Twitter friends from Kalamazoo, especially @JessePalmer and @SarahLWLee for their great suggestions.I've been sick as a dog so we haven't really gone anywhere but had to hit our faves. Next time we'll try Rustic! E. thanks for always being my partner in crime in our travel adventures. I love you to pieces.