Christmas Theme continued

Here are some pics of the Gingerbread House I made with my team during FHE.  I like a lot of the little details that we were able to add.  Enjoy!

Notice the cute little dog with his HUGE bone.  Also, notice the little cars in the driveway. :)

And, of course, the lollipop orchard behind the house.

Favorite Christmas Decorations from 2009

So I was looking through some older pics from earlier in the year and these are some of the Christmas decorations that I had this year.  I thought I would post a few of the pictures that I thought came out best.  The cool thing about the Christmas tree is that I only set it up halfway or 2/3 so it looks full from all sides, but it is resting right up against the wall without any branches in back.  It worked out pretty well.  It looked good, it saved on space, and I was able to put it into a different spot.
So here are the pictures of my tree, my little Christmas village, the nativity, and some fresh pine boughs to give the apartment the right scent (since the tree is fake... easier when I leave for 5 weeks right before Christmas).

The Christmas Tree

The Christmas Village (Night and Day)

The Nativity

Pine Boughs

Hope's Way is gone...

On Thursday, January 28, 2010, Hope's Way, a local restaurant, cafe, and caterer, closed their doors for the last time.  They had been in Ithaca for 16 years and had made a nice name for themselves.  I had attended many lunches that they catered and had been to their restaurant/cafe inside of Triphammer Mall a couple times.  Every time I went I was always very impressed with the fruit/vegetable decorations they had on each tray of their salads.  They had amazing creations in the shapes of different animals or funny looking people using just different kinds of fruits and vegetables and a little creative cutting and carving.  It was amazing! 
I was surprised to learn of their closing just the day before it happened.  Spontaneously, a group of friends and I decided to visit Hope's Way one last time before they closed and enjoy a final meal and dessert there.  Here are the pictures from that event. :)