Holiday Memories

When my brother and I were growing up, we would help my mother make desserts for the holidays.  She would dig out her favorite holiday recipes and we would bake dozens of sugar cookies with sprinkles, homemade fudge, Peanut Butter And Butterscotch Rice Krispies Treats, and milk chocolate marshmallow treats called Church Windows.  It was the one time of year when a silly contraption known as the Cookie Shooter came out of the pantry. 

It was always an afternoon filled with laughter, love, holiday music featuring Gene Autry on the record player, and mugs of hot cider with cinnamon.  Each year, the memory of this tradition brings me back to my parent's kitchen and fills my heart with warmth. 

Today, I invite you to share a favorite recipe that fills your family with cheer, year after year.  

aliveness

In the end

you won’t be known

for the things you did

or what you built,

or what you said.

You won’t even be known

for the love given

or the hearts saved,

because in the end you won’t be known.

You won’t be asked, by a vast creator full of light:

What did you do to be known?

You will be asked: Did you know it,

this place, this journey?

What there is to know can’t be written.

Something between crispness of air

And glint in her eye

And texture of the orange peel.

What you’ll want a thousand years from now is this:

A memory that beats like a heart—

A travel memory, of what it was like to walk here,

alive and warm and textured within.

Sweet brightness, aliveness, take-me-now-ness that is life.

You are here to pay attention. That is enough.

-Tara Sophia Mohr

Today, as we continue to savor the moments, we encourage you to pay attention through your lens. Share a thought, a word, an image where you're focused on this  "sweet brightness, aliveness, take-me-now-ness that is life."

...........

In the End is one of the poems featured in Your Other Names, the new book of poetry by Tara Sophia Mohr. She is graciously giving away a copy of her exquisite book today. All you have to do is leave a comment between now and midnight tonight EST (12/5).

For more information about Tara, visit her website. And for more information about her book visit the Your Other Names web page. We'd like to thank Tara for sharing In the End with us here, just as she shared a poem with us almost a year ago. It's always pleasure to have her.

at the pub

Gathering at the pub is such a British tradition... and we find ourselves there even more so in the build up to the festive season... a cosy pub, with comfy sofas, your favourite tipple and snacks, make it all so welcoming. I like to savor this time as friends and family connect to celebrate the holidays, and share in togetherness as the year comes to an end.

I’d love to see how you’re gathering with loved ones at the moment and savoring these moments over food, drinks and treats. Please share them here today... Cheers!

savor

 

savor~ to appreciate fully; enjoy or relish

Today we turn the page on our calendars and welcome in December. With it we introduce the new One Word for December, savor. Just as we begin ushering in the busyness of the holiday season, the endless lists, to-dos, and obligations that suddenly fill our calendars, don't you think it is perfect timing for this word? Rather than surrendering to the hustle and bustle that December can bring, give yourself permission to slow down, reflect, pause, honor and celebrate the beauty of these days through your lens. What am I savoring these days? The fleeting light of winter. Just yesterday, after many consecutive grey days here in my corner of the world, the sun shone bright. I wandered though my home chasing the light, honoring its presence, savoring a sun patch, capturing it's grace in my lens.

This month savor the quiet moments, the steam of a perfect cup, their smallness that is so fleeting, or perhaps savor something sweet.   Savor your time together, the wonder of believing, and the stillness of winter.

Today let's welcome in this new month and word together.

Share your images with us all month long in our One Word Project Pool on Flickr. (tag your One Word photos this month with the following: owp, savor, december)

What are you savoring right now?

There is nothing we savor more than THIS sisterhood. So what better time to announce the newest addition to our Bel Kai Capture Collection? You’ve asked for it, and now we’ve got it! The brand new Shutter Sisters Necklace (just in time for the holidays, we might add)!

We are giddy to be partnering yet again with the amazing Bel Kai Designs for this exclusive piece: an antique bronze setting and fine link chain that brilliantly showcases the iconic image of Shutter Sisters while the blue quartz bead charm paired with the pendant symbolizes the vintage flash bulb.

If you have been looking for a way to celebrate your passion for photography and declare your inner shutter sister, then the Shutter Sisters Necklace would be the perfect accessory for your everyday life!  

Please check out Bel Kai’s holiday shipping guide to be sure you get your necklace in time for the holidays!

We don’t know about you but we’d like to start savoring this season right now by offering our first giveaway of our new necklace! Leave a comment here between now and midnight tonight EST for your chance to win.

Hooray for the holidays and here’s to savoring the sisterhood!

Congrats to Leaca! She won the Shutter Sisters necklace! woot!