Random New Favorite Things

• Driving down the neighborhood street to my place where all the houses have Christmas lights up! Didn't see that in the single-hood-ville that was my previous neighborhood.

• My baking center. The photo says everything, right? Everything you need to bake with at your finger tips. No more going all over the kitchen to gather ingredients or put them away. The baking center consists of the cupboard and the two drawers below it. Grab what you need from, measure it, put it right back! (Got the idea from Pleasant Home. Thanks Jodi!) Okay. Okay. Yes. It is also hot chocolate central. And yes there are 12 different kinds of hot chocolate in there. :)

• My new slippers. I never thought I'd get slippers, but my place is kind of cold... and so I bought some and I looooove them. Teri - they are just like yours. :)

• Already getting mail from friends at my new place - addressed to my new place. That's one of the perks of moving just before Christmas card season.

• Having a laundry basket for whites and one for colors... and more importantly room to have two baskets in my closet!

• My washing machine. Still. It's probably done 20 loads of washing. And it's going to get me $150 in rebates from my utility companies for being energy star rated. It's the purchase that keeps giving. And! I haven't even washed my sleeping bag, down coats, or quilts in it yet. Wait until I wash those - then you'll see excitement.

• My special dishes cupboard. Some of those have been packed away for years! It was like an early Christmas unpacking them. The blue Wedgwood mugs were purchased on my beloved study-abroad in England. Rice dishes from wonderful memories in San Francisco's Chinatown with my sister(s). A darling hot chocolate pot from friends that know me well. And mugs from all different people and times throughout my life. And a few childhood pieces. Sigh. :)