Holiday Shop Gorgeousness

Oh, this is THE most swoonwothy shop. It is, yes, my favorite store and, no, it's not Anthropologie! Gasp! This is Taken for Granite, the prettiest little store in a converted old gas station in the Stony Creek section of Branford, Connecticut. (The pink/orange granite from Stony Creek was used to build the Brooklyn Bridge.) It is on the Long Island Sound shore so there is a definite sea theme, but at Christmas the store comes alive with the most amazing glittery, sparkle-y, vintage displays. Here, just look!





















And here is the centerpiece of the whole holiday display! She is maybe 8 or 9 feet tall with a wire form skirt, lit from within, and covered with magnolia leaves, frosty floral bits, and ornaments. It was so spectacular that I gasped when I walked in!

Tuna Casserole

Food. I love it. I love making it, eating, talking about it, planning the next meal as I'm still eating the current one. The women in my family love to cook, bake, and can and preserve. They have all the family recipes, all that good comfort food.

One of my favorites is tuna casserole. Now, I loved it even with the inclusion of the contents of the red and white can, but Shauna and Daniel's version has none of that! My husband hates tuna casserole. Hates. Won't eat anything with canned tuna. At all. No way. So I save making tuna casserole for when he's away. Since he's working out of state ... it's tuna time!




Yeah, those are potato chips on top, Baby!


Now that's the seal of approval! (Although you can see that he ate all around the mushrooms.) It was soooo good that C told his Daddy that he just had to try it. And he agreed that he might. I'm gonna hold him to it!