Ruby Tuesday Too - Birthday Antipasto

Ruby Tuesday Too reappears not long after Pati's birthday where she and I had dinner at Moto Bene Italian American Kitchen in our domicile of Ansonia Connecticut. We had their antipasto salad appetizer, nicely served on a cutting board for easier sharing. Although there are plenty of non-rubies present (olives, parmesan, mozzarella), kinda reds (soppressata salami) and finally the ruby goodness of tomatoes and roasted peppers. Everything woke up out taste buds and added our favorite Tuesday color. Happy New Year to all!

Whimsical Windows - Tinsel

The holidays have been busy, but happily I am back for this week's fun Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, hosted by Toby. In this view, the era is the mid-1950s, the place being my grandparent's home on Oregon Avenue Steubenville Ohio, the person my Aunt Terry. The windows here seem peripheral to the giant holiday tree.

However, in an FB exchange last week with Terry, the picture window has a prominent history as she advised:

"Grandpa did like big trees - and he loved displaying those trees in the picture window. I remember when I was little we had small living room windows. When it was decided to replace them, Grandpa insisted that the windows be simple plate glass so that everyone would be able to see his Christmas trees in full view. When the city busses drove down Oregon Ave. they slowed down so that passengers could gawk at the tree -- and everyone rode the bus in those days"

Further, the tree was a part of the lore in Steubenville it seems:

"And, yes, one year the tree was featured on page 1 of the [Steubenville] Herald-Star. The paper had been asking for several years to feature the tree but they wanted Grandpa to decorate it a week before Christmas. He would have none of that when I was small. But one year he gave in. It might have been this tree that was featured"

So the giant tinsel tree makes the window whimsical indeed!

Shadow Shot Sunday - More Happy Birthday

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 returns this week the day before the birthday of my two favorite ladies, Patti and Allegra. That the daughter and mom celebrate their birth on the same day is amazing, the firstborn had a due date of December 22 but chose to wait a week for Patti's birthday. As I see it :)

The photos may have been posted before. However, I like them, especially the mom and newborn just from the hospital on 1 January 1989, and the Paris school trip. Happy Birthday ladies, and a happy two years for SSS2!

Shadow Shot Sunday - First Christmases...

24 December 1989, E.Windsor, CT

25 December 1990, Derby CT

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 arrives this week near Christmas Day. Naturally in life, parents like to chronicle their children in the holiday for the first time. And given my look back at the past, shadows small and large on Christmases past seem are the theme. Our daughter was eleven months old on her first, however our son was only a month old. Yet the lights and such provided a wonder to both. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all participants in this meme's shadowy world!

Wordless Wednesday - Not mere ornaments...

Parents, it seems, dote over their babies on many ways. Like Christmas ornaments that celebrate the little ones intro to the spirit of the holiday...see Wordless Wednesday