On the photo above she says: “On Christmas morning, the sunrise was simply magical! However, they do say that ‘pink sky in the morning, sailors take warning’ and there was a blizzard the next day.”

How beautiful her farm looks in the snow! This blizzard however did reak havoc on the farm and disrupt Martha’s travel plans to St. Bart!

Martha actually uses the word “intimate” in describing this setting! At least she didn’t use the word Cozy, I would have had to consider a lawsuit!

What to get the person who has everything? Why how about some lovely Limoges?

Martha says “These floral-edged soup bowls were already a part of my collection. They are stamped Venice T&V Limoges France Ovington Bros NYC.”.
This platter was an especially treasured gift

And these “coordinating” bowls from Kevin, her interior design expert!
They are actually 19th Century Porcelin compote bowls but you knew that…

Who’s ironing to perfection your hand embroidered antique napkins? God forbid you get lipstick on one of these…!

Somebody scored by giving Martha a fancy set of Scrabble. I bet my mom coulda kicked her ass at this game! Anybody know a 6 letter word for compulsive?

Aaaaah, Christmas at Marthas. I suppose definitely Cozy in it’s own very special way!

Some absolutely magical photos from my family in Asheville, North Carolina where you have to be very careful with the words “I’d dreaming of a white Christmas!”
Hey, is that really just coffee in those mugs? You guys seem very happy…!

Talk about getting your ducks in a row!!!! How gorgeous are these birds? Christmas turkey takes on a whole new meaning.

I wouldn’t mind having these guys as neighbors but I can just hear my cats freaking out through the window as they would watch this procession march by!

Obviously sledding is not just for little kids! Naturally they froze their asses off and had a few bruises but nothing that a little fireside Cabernet Sauvignon couldn’t cure later on!

Merry Christmas from Asheville and thanks for the incredible pictures guys!

Last night, as part of our Christmas celebration, we got all dressed up and went to dinner at Mistral Kitchen. Afterwards in the “and now for something completely different” frame of mind we dashed home and I exhanged my little black dress etc for jeans and rain boots In minutes we were on our way to Gasworks Park to watch the 61st annual Christmas Ship Parade on Lake Washington.

Each night, through December 23rd, 2010 the Argosy Christmas Ship sails to different Puget Sound waterfront communities, over 45 in total. You can pay a small fee to actually sail on the boats and some even serve dinner too. Choirs onboard sing 20-minute performances to these communities, all broadcast via state-of-the-art speaker system. We were relived to find a parking space immediately (so non-LA!) and headed towards the two roaring bonfires (cozy!!!) which are also part of this tradition. Our timing somehow couldn’t have been more perfect as in minutes we saw the main boat, The Argosey take lead to what seemed like hundreds of smaller ships all decked out with Christmas lights! On board the choir started their program of Christmas carols which lasted for about 20 minutes. jThe reflection of all the lights on the water complimented by the sound of the choir was really beautiful!

On shore, tons of people were gathered (many wearing Santa hats!), kids and adults alike some singing, some just enjoying seeing lake covered with all these lit up holiday boats (any boat is allowed to join in the parade!)

In addition to good cheer, family, and friends, a portion of all ticket sales benefits The Seattle Times Fund For The Needy, an annual program that raises money for several charitable organizations in the Puget Sound area.

Marc and I were very happy to be a part of this cool Pacific Northwest tradition. Merry Christmas from Seattle!

Lets start with the ballet! I always LOVE going to see the Nutcracker at Christmas time so when Vinnie suggested it I was thrilled. Little did I know it would be the Moscow Ballet! The program was full of beautiful names like Ekaterina, Anatoly and Svetlana and the adorable children were supplied by the local school. We tried to have dinner at John and Vinnie’s favorite Italian restaurant but did not anticipate the crowd. The super friendly hostess was sympathetic and kept giving us plates of super fresh bruschetta but after 2 good bottles of Primitivo time forced us to get a super delicious pizza and eat it in the jeep on the way to the ballet. Now that’s what I call elegant???

The shop below is called Thyme in a Garden and I blogged about it in the Spring when I first visited Asheville. At Christmas time it is nothing short of magical. I knew I shouldn’t buy anything but naturally, there on the 40% shelf was this amazing ceramic bowl, already reasonably priced and a steal with the discount. How would I get it home? Who cared! I just had to have it! I would figure the rest out later!

We played games (well some of us). Scrabble is a Patson family tradition. My mom and dad were so good and knew all the tricks. Mom liked to bet money (who does that???) ‘cuz she knew she could win!

Vinnie baked cookies using the recipe from Martha Stewart and they turned out delicious!

I don’t recommend trying to find cookie cutters at the last moment as it was a bit of a scramble but Vinnie perserved and was successful! (I’m sure freehand would have been disastrous!)

We cruised all around downtown Asheville.

Should we have taken the Christmas Trolley? a charming option to a car!

We browsed the local book store (told John and Vinnie they would probably be in this calendar next year!)

Visited several Art Galleries (this by local artist Cornbread – love the name and the art!)

Shopped in the Five&Dime (could’ve gone crazy with all that nostalgic candy!!!)

Saw lots of beautiful nature (this is Beaver Lake but the major body of water in Asheville is the French Broad River).

Including what will probably amount to 1000′s of fallen pine limbs (due to heavy snowfall on their branches)
BTW, this is one of many in John and Vinnie’s front yard! Looks like they’ve got their work cut out for them!

Couldn’t miss the neighborhood flock of turkeys.

And can you believe it, we even spent a good deal of time relaxing….!

Although relaxing is not really in our nature with so many fun Holiday activities to do, it certainly helps when you have 3 wiener dogs (the 3rd one is behind me) and 1 cat sitting on you! Sometimes the critters just know how to calm you down!

Around the holidays my good friend Elizabeth Hansen and I like to make soup. This all started when I discovered and made the most amazing soup ever – Roasted Yellow Pepper from The New Basics Cookbook back in the late 90′s. Yes, that is how long this has been going on!

Every year I try and find a new and amazing soup that will make Elizabeth as happy as the Roasted Pepper. Last year it was a Chestnut with Bourbon Cream. Good but not great. This year comes close. A recipe for Celery Bisque from Gourmet Magazine that I’d had for years and finally made. And, I love it so much I’ve already made it about 4 times!

So I carted the soup over to her house where we were joined by our other delicious friend Annabella and Elizabeth’s beautiful and super cozy cool daughter Gracen. I had also tucked into my bag some fennel biscuits and pinenut rosemary cookies and Annabella brought a bowl of mixed olives and a bottle of red. Elizabeth grabbed a roasted chicken and threw some pecans, cranberries and roquefort into a salad and voila! The girls were at it again!

By the way, these are the things that girlfriends need to do! This defines COZY! And it didn’t hurt that in the background was Elizabeth’s Christmas tree all shimmering in silver and crystal and even a fire in the hearth! (this girl knows how to do it!).

Time to put shopping aside and have a little fun. Here’s a few things I recommend all you ladies out there not just think about doing, but do for the holiday season!

1.Soup get together. Wine get together. Cookie get together. It doesn’t matter, just get together! And make it easy, no stress and fun.

2. Ice skating. Is there a rink in your city or town? Kids or not, you’ve probably forgotten how totally fun this is!

3. Go to a Tea Room! A bunch of us girls just did this last weekend and what a treat! You know how cute tea rooms already are but when decorated for Christmas it’s just ridiculous! Tea, little sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, I just don’t see how it can get any cozier! (unless you’re exchanging wonderful little presents too!)

4. Lunch at some place special. Whether it’s your favorite trattoria that reminds you of Florence or a quaint little French Cafe in the neighborhood. Lunch with a girlfriend is always good, especially around the holidays.

5. The movies! For example I can’t wait to see the new Rob Marshall movie “Nine” starring the bevy of beauties: Penolope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Fergie and Sophia Loren. Can’t forget Daniel Day Lewis. What a great holiday movie!

To start you out on the right track, here the recipe from Bon Appetit November 2004 for Celery Bisque:
And just one more side note, I found that this soup doesn’t need the creme fraiche or cayenne and I have at times used just plain croutons. Either way, it is always delicious!

(I wanted to take time out from Switzerland for a second to post this story as we countdown to Christmas!)

Wow, this almost looks like something out of The Shining! but in actuality it is the road to an amazing Christmas Tree farm in Asheville, North Carolina. And yes, while Marc and I are going to our neighborhood Home Depot John and Vinnie are hoping in the jeep and driving into the mountains, hell I can just smell the pine needles!!!!!!

What is this? A Martha Stewart photo shoot? Was there not a sled available???? Hi Martha! Oh, that’s John….

I’m expecting Laura Ingall Wilder to pop out either that or Ted Kaczynski…

Pick a tree, any tree!

The chosen one (the tree that is!)

A little hard work in the Winterwonderland!!!!

The ride home. By the way, this was appropriately the first snow of the season, what perfect timing! And, unlike Home Depot, John and Vinnie bought two 9 ft. trees for a total, yes thats total of $50!!!!!!!

The long and winding road………that leads to your door

There are many flowers shops in Zurich and I love them all! They just know how to do it right! A really organic, natural approach mixing lots of natural fibers like burlap and wood with roses and paperwhites, pinecones and holly. Really really beautiful and totally inspiring!

Pussy Willow candle holders, fuzzy and unique!

The roses are incredible and saw them mixed with pinecones and apples!

Unique and tres elegant!

Large cinnamon sticks wrapped with velvet ribbon, loved this and large bowls of bulbs, gorgeous!

This shop is in Paradeplatz, where all the big banks are. I’m guessing the spot where many bankers buy their ladies a bouquet or two!

Maybe that’s when a bakers dozen becomes a bankers dozen!!! (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

And for desert, warm chocolate puddings (thanks Bill Granger from Australia!)

Christmas morning, coffee, tea and warm cinnamon buns! (thanks Pillsbury!)

And now on to Lisa’s house where happily there were no Grinches but we did love watching and singing!!! (how on earth is it that we remember these words???)

First course crab cakes, second course White Truffle Risotto. Shown here with handmade “Idiot” ornament!

Decanted wines at Lisa and Neils. I lost count!!!

The Idiot as Santa…he changes seasonally – you can see he is quite chameleon-like courtesey of his creator Neil!

The fabulous Christmas dinner menu continues with:
Beef Tenderloin (wow!!!)
Mushroom Bread Pudding
Roasted Broccoli with Balsamic glaze
Cheese Course and Homemade cookies! (thanks for the goodie bag Lis!)

The next day a walk through Pasadena, some inspiring houses…

Old Town Pasadena, they do this every year!

Somehow this walk inspired us to go back to Weldon and make spaghetti and meatballs! (so dang good and lots of leftovers!)
The next day, and our last day, we rendez-vous’d in Woodland Hills to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
What a great movie, all 2 hours and 45 minutes of it! Really beautifully done, we loved it!
A quick Indian dinner in Woodland Hills and off we raced to the airport.

We miss you guys already!!! Maybe next year it’s Christmas in Asheville, North Carolina snow and all!!!