Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas

The holiday season is in full swing...with Thanksgiving behind us, over-stuffed bellies flattened, we are back in shape and ready for Christmas. We feverishly mark off our list of presents and join the ranks of people succumbing to mass consumerism due to the holidays with those mile long wish lists in the middle of malls, botiques, God forbid highways thick with traffic...not to mislead everyone, I am no doomsday writer, but rather filled with the utmost amount of holiday cheer and generally delighted by the festive Christmas songs, trees, and lights.

I only wish to point out that people could make more of an effort to give the gift of handcrafted items to family and friends alike. Now, this is a wonderful standard to uphold oneself, but it is harder than you might think. An incredible amount of planning is involved with this route and I apologize ahead of time to those of you who might be secretly wishing for some delightful Maria-Made gift this Christmas only to be sorely dissapointed and bummed out. Never fear, there is always next year!

In all seriousness, I have been occupied crafting another type of holiday gift for the masses, one that will hopefully reach many, frustrate few, and delight all. I invite you now to take a look at, download, and print off my handmade holiday gift, courtesy Me, Maria Mandle with Trilogy Design Group.


Click here => http://www.thinktrilogy.com/ for your holiday gift and get ready for an evening of fun filled, origami ornament making!

Like so many, I am very excited for Christmas, but can't help reliving that delicious pie I had over Thanksgiving.....Thank you Daddy Mandle (Sr.)! Rob and I spent this past Thanksgiving in C.T. with the Mandles. It was a beautiful and slow train ride up. We felt like such comfortable travelers with our neat bags, books, laptops, art projects, enjoying each other's company.





The Mandle house was very relaxing with candles burning, a delicious Thanksgiving dinner...Thank you Sigrid and David! Unfortunately we did not take many photos on our camera. I have only a couple from this trip and all three of which were taken on a crisp day with David, Rob, and myself visiting the vineyard in Wallingford where we purchased the wine from our wedding....always lovely to return here! http://www.gouveiavineyards.com/



The weeks following Thanksgiving were filled with Christmas tree purchasing and decorating, crafty Rob and Maria projects to be disclosed at another time, a performance of the Nutcracker, and general fun listening to and in Rob's case, singing along to Christmas songs.










a vip after party at Bobby Woods for the Nutcracker!

Take a look through the remaining photos and enjoy the details of our tree. For my family so far away, I hope these images warm your hearts and make you feel closer to me....see our Wee Tree in our cozy apartment!? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!!!!!

Much Love,

Maria

November Racing Towards Thanksgiving

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving. This should be a time to reflect, rejoice, and reunite with family and friends.

For all of you who are participating in some Thanksgiving Day races, I salute you, but do not envy you. Although Rob and I have participated in said activities in the past and very well may next Thanksgiving, I had my fill of walking the 5K race in Virginia Beach Town Center on November the 10th with a great group of girls. I also had fun designing our Team's shirts. For a detail of the design please take a look at the latest update on the left under "Image of the Moment."

Fall is not only a time for appreciating the change of the seasons and holiday cheer, but a time to go to craft fairs, spray paint chairs, catch a rugby game, and get crafty! Below you will find the adorable hand-made owl that I bought from my good friend Cassie a couple of weekends ago at the Handmade Parade Craft Fair in Norfolk. This inspiring little guy got Rob and I excited to get our craft on and spray painted our dinky old fold up chairs a beautiful red to compliment the red tones of our dining room. Take a look!

Hope you all have very delicious Thanksgiving Holidays and look forward to catching you up after Turkey Day.

Love, Maria

Halloween

With Autumn finally creeping in, Rob and I have been getting into the Fall spirit by watching the changing leaves, going on walks, arranging gourdes and pumpkin displays on our *new dining room table, and of course participating in Halloween.

October's set of activities started with the wine festival at Town Point Park where we had a chance to sample some delicious wine. Hundreds of people turned out for this event and we literally experienced having to wade through a sea of people. Quickly realizing the lines were too thick to penetrate in a timely manner, we decided to buy our own bottle of the next wine we both liked. After choosing a bottle, we sauntered off quite pleased with ourselves, found a spot more removed from the jumbled masses, and settled in for a nice chat while we finished off the bottle between the two of us!

Because we so enjoy cooking together, that weekend was also filled with some amazing dishes and a chance to properly enjoy our new table! This Spring Vegetable Risotto dish was amazing and highly recommended. For the recipe, just email me.

Aside from our wine tasting and culinary adventures, the weekend prior to Halloween was an adventure in costumes. After diligent searching and not much prep time, we found the perfect finishing touch for Rob's Halloween costume....and being such BIG Redsox fans, we were quite pleased with the end result. Rob was ready, under concealing clothing, to hit Adams Morgan for the birthday/Halloween celebration.

The night was filled with introductions. We met up with the Chiquita Banana, Strawberry, and Grape trio; Indiana Jones and a construction worker; and finally we were all introduced to......Jonathan (Rob) Pappelbaum doing his river dance! Take a look at Rob's Halloween costume as he starts his Irish jig......

Because the bar was not well lit, we could not get a video of Jonathan (Rob) Pappelbaum doing his river dance, but hope to catch him in the act some time soon!

Happy Autumn!

A September Wedding in Maine

Congratulations to the happily married couple! Here's to Kim and Caleb Dubois!!! May your lives be long and filled with laughter and love.

Rob and I traveled to Maine for the wedding of our good friends Caleb and Kim in September and from the moment we stepped off the plane to the last day there we both agreed it was GOOD to be back!

As with all of our Bowdoin friend's weddings we have been attending over the last year, we were so excited to be with them all again and to see how the personality of the bride and groom would shine through the details of their wedding weekend extravaganza!

Caleb and Kim's wedding location could not have been more perfect for them! Set against the beautiful Maine coast, sitting atop a hill overlooking an apple orchard, we all gathered for the ceremony under a bonnie blue sky and a big yellow sun....needless to say, we were blessed not only with good company, but great weather! The whole weekend had been filled with laughter, jokes, and general debauchery, but most of all, everywhere I looked there was a smile on some one's face.

Pretty much the whole lot of us stayed at Jed's family's summer home in Christmas Cove in Damariscotta, Maine. http://www.damariscotta.com/

Thank you again Jed! What a spectacular view we shared there from the sweeping porch overlooking the sea. I loved sitting out the morning of the wedding looking over the rocky coastline of Maine, so like my Orcas Island in Washington State. The whole weekend brought me back to a combination of home and Bowoin. Well, both were my homes for many years and it was wonderful to be able to think of that during our time up in Maine.

As always, we teared it up on the dance floor and it certainly seemed some young ladies had the upper hand! Rob and Scott certainly enjoyed their time out with these lovely flower girls!

After a long night of dancing, jumping in the ocean, and who knows what else, Rob and I found ourselves on the road again headed down through Brunswick and decided to stop and say hello to the Polar Bear.

We will miss our beautiful Maine, our friends, and our school, forever and always in our hearts....Beautiful Bowdoin.

Orcas Island Visit Home

Orcas Island looking out from Turtle Head Mnt.

Rob and I were both lucky to be able to visit my family home this August...and what a spectacular visit West it was to sunny Orcas Island! No rain you say? Well, not anything worth mentioning. It is easy to forget in our sticky Virginia summer climate how refreshing and cool it is on the coast of Washington State.

My Sister - Val - Posing in Kirkland

Going back home for Me went a little like this: Sitting in the ferry landing with my sister, I look out on the cool ocean water of the Puget Sound and remember as my eye moves across to the mountains and a towering sea of green on every peak and valley. The breeze picks up and a flock of sea gulls coast by the line of cars ... I feel calm and clean with the grit of yesterday's travel washed away. Bustling summer adventurers weave in and out of the ferry lanes, but I think I recognize one family and a man with a large dog. The casual flowing shirt and loose, worn khaki shorts walk past me in an easy going gait that I immediately associate with people and life on Orcas Island. I don't really know the person or family, but they seem so familiar..... I was lucky to have grown up here.

Val, Pete, Me, and Noah...all grown up, sort of

After a full day meeting my Mom and picking Rob up from the Mnt. Vernon train station, stopping at our favorite Co-op with it's crunchy granola awesomeness, we finally made it across the sound on Orcas! I think the most captivating sight for me coming home is watching the ferry come in to the Orcas Island ferry dock and then the drive up and around the hill, twisting down and through the dark evergreens lining each side of the two lane road that leads to home! It's always so beautiful and green, no matter what time of year.

Val, Rob, & Mom in front of the new Turtle Back Mnt. trail sign

Mom and Me on Turtle Back Mnt. enjoying our view

The four days home were not nearly enough time to be with family and friends again. Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, we went for our hike up Turtle Back Mnt. Rob, Val, Mom, and Myself enjoyed the physical exercise and the chance to talk about life, family, and plans.

Rob & Me on top of Turtle Back Mnt. Enjoying the view!

Rob and I try to make it up Turtle Back Mnt. every time we go back to visit Orcas. I took Rob on a Turtle Back Mnt. hike the first time he came to visit me on the island...It will forever be a special spot for us!

Dad, Me, and Rob on the job site

We visited Dad on the job and while there took the opportunity to take some action shots of the workers. With his trusty summer worker, Noah the boah, work on the house had never been so swift! They were hammering along when we arrived after our hike and the sun was beating down, but neither seemed to notice! So, we decided to distract them with the camera in the hopes of leaving for lunch soon...

Noah and Dad standing on the second level of the job, men hard at work!

After a great lunch on the boat with Dad and Anna they set sail for the afternoon as we headed back for a bit of a party Mom and Jocko were throwing for Rob and Myself....but not before a quick dingy rescue to get Noah's keys he left on the boat during our boat docked lunch!

Chester's Grave in the garden


It was beautiful coming back home to Mom's carefully tended garden. To stand out there, watching Noah and Rob play ping pong, take in the tall sunflowers poking their heads over the gate, seeing Chester's little cat grave sitting quietly near one of the garden trees, well, the whole scene made me stop and never want to leave the island again. I felt so happy to just be home again.

Mom's Garden



The party was a blast with family friends and delicious food. Rob and I are now proud owners of a beautiful hand made pottery plate with two Orca Wales encircling a ferry in celebration of our 1 year anniversary. Thank you Mom and Jock!!

Gallivanting from one place and one event to another was certainly challenging, but Rob and I managed to fit a lot in. Sailing with Dad and Anna on Saturday was great even if the skies were not picture perfect....We set sail around the island and had a bit of a thrill as the boat leaned over this way and that, Dad, Anna, and Noah working hard...Julie, Rob, and I not so much. It is wonderful to see Dad so in his element. Both he and Anna love to sail and I look forward to a long over night trip on the boat with them maybe north of the San Juans one of these summers. (Photos to come from Noah of the boat trip!).

Rob and I were able to witness the wedding of Alana and Jim that evening on a romantic spot near Deer Harbor. The skies parted just in time for the wedding and as dusk rolled in a big beautiful moon illuminated the festivities.

Rob, Noah, and Pete at Alana & Jim's wedding

Jock and Mom at the wedding

The last day on Orcas was very special for me. I spent a wonderful morning at Church with Dad. Noah, Pete, and Mom met us there and we heard an energetic sermon from one of the missionary workers in South America who spoke of stepping outside ones self and putting others first, loosing the selfish shroud we so often throw on....And then off to more outdoor activities. After catching an afternoon concert put on by the choral society in town Noah, Pete, Val, Julie, and Moriah and I trooped out to Cascade Lake to go fishing.

Val, Me, and Julie at Cascade Lake


It's amazing how we suddenly we slip back into former roles, the past comes rushing back to meet your present state, at least that's how I felt tramping through the forest trail in Moran State Park towards the Cascade Lake bridge. I suddenly felt as if I was back in Camp Orkila, Val struck up an old camp song and everyone followed suite as I captured it on video. The line of us marching with ores, plastic boat and fishing rods above our heads tugged at something in me and I suddenly did not want to leave this place! I wanted to stay at home and be a little girl again walking off into the woods thinking up grand schemes for elaborate forts, daydreaming about my grown up life as I go slipping through the woods pausing every now and then to examine a tree root formation that might catch my eye....Again, It was a great feeling to be home again.

Pete getting ready to launch off into the Lake

Noah Caught a Fish!! Wait, nope it's seaweed.

The real fish Noah caught!

And we all went merrily on our way. Many great moments and many more to come upon my next visit home.

Adios my dear readers.