Ms. Toody Goo Shoes: December 2017

Saturday, December 16, 2017

MY "TOP 10" INSTAGRAM PHOTOS FOR 2017

Do you find it interesting to see which of your Instagram photos

break through the clutter and receive the most "likes?"

I took a look back at the photos I posted in the last year

to see if I could spot any patterns.

Travel and nature seemed to dominate,

but one very photogenic pastrami sandwich

squeaked into my Top 10 of the year.

Some photos were taken thousands of miles away from home,

and others were shot right outside my back door.

Here are the Instagram photos that got the most "hearts" on my feed in 2017.

10. Oh, Hummingbird

Hummingbird at my feeder! | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed in my backyard in New Jersey

Posted August 29, 2017

#hummingbird #birds #birdsofinstagram

Featured in the blog post:

A Few Weeks In Photos: Mid July - Labor Day

9. Deck-orating

Summer container gardens on my back deck | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed on my back deck in New Jersey.

Posted June 27, 2017

#decks #outdoor living #outdoorspaces #summer

Featured in the blog post:

Summer Deck: A Haven For Peace & Quiet?

8. Hello, Gullfoss Waterfall

Gullfoss Waterfall in Iceland | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed on Golden Circle Tour in Iceland.

Posted November 27, 2017

#iceland #travelsofinstagram #gullfosswaterfalls #icelandgoldencircle

Featured in the blog post

Four Days In Iceland: Day 2 - Golden Circle Tour

7. Can you say Seljalandsfoss?

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall in Iceland | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed on South Coast Tour in Iceland.

Posted November 27, 2017

#iceland #travelsofinstagram #seljalandsfosswaterfalls #icelandsouthcoast

To be featured in upcoming blog post

Four Days In Iceland: Day 3 - South Coast Tour

6. Lady Of The Harbor

Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed on a Hudson River cruise in New York City.

Posted August 4, 2017

#statueofliberty #hudsonriver #newyorkcity #giveusyourtiredyourpoor

Featured in the blog post

Perspectives: Hudson River Cruising

5. Deerfield Beach Rocks!

Deerfield Beach Rocks! | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed from my beach chair in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

Posted March 1, 2017

#deerfieldbeach #florida #sunshinestate #vacation

Featured in the blog post

I'm In A Sunshine State Of Mind: Discovering Deerfield Beach

4. Swimmin' Pool

Pool at St. Regis Bahia Beach Hotel in Puerto Rico | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed from my lounge chair at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Hotel in Puerto Rico.

Posted March 31, 2017

#travel #puertorico #hotels #pooltime

Featured in the blog post

Ten Amenities Every Hotel Should Have

3. Pastrami On Rye

Katz's Deli - Iconic pastrami on rye - New York City | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed at Katz's Deli in New York City.

Posted March 31, 2017

#katzsdeli #jewishsoulfood #newyorkcity #foodporn

Featured in the blog post

Today In NYC: Back To Our Food Roots

2. Toes In The Sand

Photographed while walking along Deerfield Beach in Florida.

Posted February 25, 2017

#deerfieldbeach #florida #sunshinestate #vacation

Featured in the blog post

I'm In A Sunshine State Of Mind: Discovering Deerfield Beach

1. Don't Call Me A Pony

Icelandic Horse - Just don't call it a pony! | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Photographed on a horse farm in Iceland.

Posted November 5, 2017

#icelandichorses #iceland #horsesofinstragram #iamnotapony

Featured in the blog post

Four Days In Iceland: Day 2 - Golden Circle Tour

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Friday, December 15, 2017

BEST OF THE WEEKEND: LAST PARTY OF 2017!

Greetings of the season, friends!
Welcome to Best of the Weekend!
Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas at your house?
Have you got your chestnuts ready for roasting on an open fire?
Are your dreidels dried and ready?
Hanukkah is half over, so my brain has moved on to New Year's Eve planning!

This will be our last party of the year,
so at this time, let me wish you a joyous holiday season!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa,
or whatever you celebrate!
May the new year be filled with peace, health, prosperity,
and the promise of better days ahead.

Let's party!

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Non-Bloggers: There are hundreds of fabulous ideas collected here each week;
just click on the links under the thumbnail photos,
and you will be taken directly to the blog post.

All of our features are pinned to our Best of the Weekend board!

Last week's most clicked:

Skillet Chicken Cacciatore | Cooking With Curls

A few of my favorites from last week:

Mint Chocolate Chip Scones | Annie's Noms

Hot Cocoa Pancakes | Table For Seven

Make Your Own Christmas Holiday Card Holder | Repurpose and Upcycle

Fabric Gift Bags | I Should Be Mopping The Floor

If you were featured, grab our button!

Let's link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday, December 8, 2017

BEST OF THE WEEKEND 12.8.17

Hi, everyone!
Welcome to Best of the Weekend!
Whether it's your first time here, or you've been joining us for years,
we are grateful that you've chosen to spend a piece of your weekend with us!
I know you are all super-buy with holiday chores,
so I won't keep you --
let's get right to the party!

We'd appreciate it if you'd follow your co-hosts!

****************

We feature all kinds of posts --
recipes, home decor, DIY, gardening, travel, whatevah!
so link up your best stuff!

Last week's most clicked:

Heavenly Chicken | Living On Cloud Nine

A few of my favorites from last week:

Easy Christmas Bark Recipe | Cooking On The Front Burner

Mini Chocolate Crepe Stack | Tea Cottage Mysteries

Homemade Milk and Cinnamon Foot Soak | Kingsbury Brook Farm

A Tour Of The High Line In New York | The Boondocks Blog

If you were featured, grab our button!

Let's link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

HANUKKAH: OUR FAMILY TRADITIONS - HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR

**UPDATE**
The Holiday Blog Tour is from 2017

What's a nice Jewish girl doing in a Cozy At Christmas Holiday Blog Tour?
Writing about Hanukkah traditions, of course!
Thank you, to my friend, Katie, at Let's Add Sprinkles for including me!
At the bottom of this post, you will find links to 25 bloggers participating in the tour.
I hope you will visit them........
But first, let's talk about Hanukkah!

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Hanukkah is six days away, and how much have I done so far?
Zero, zilch, nada.
It's not that it takes much time to get ready..........
There's no decorating involved, as I've explained before.
Really, all I have to do is go down to the basement and bring up a few things.........
it will probably take me all of 20 minutes, but I'm procrastinating.

Okay, I'm getting off my lazy derriere right this minute to haul that stuff upstairs.

As I pull out menorahs, dreidels, and the like,
it's hard not to get caught up in the memories that each piece conjures up.

There's the big brass menorah that belonged to my grandparents, who I never knew.
I think it's one of the only things they brought with them from Russia,
and although I'm not 100% sure of that fact, I like to think it's true.
There are no markings on it that I can find,
and I'm guessing this menorah is both worthless and priceless, if that makes any sense.
Perhaps if Antiques Roadshow makes a stop in NJ some time soon,
I can have that question answered.
I polish it up, and it looks pretty darn good for being at least a hundred years old.

Oh, here's the cheapy one I bought at CVS -- I don't even remember when,
but probably at least 20 years ago.

I don't remember if I bought the menorah "house" for Junior GS, or if someone else did.
Regardless, it was his clear favorite throughout childhood.
He loved deciding which candles to use each night.

I remember the first time we let him use the Shamash (the main candle)
to light the other candles.......

It was a rite of passage!

Junior GS made the other two menorahs back in his pre-school days,

and they'll be on display just as they are every year.

I wonder whose brilliant idea it was to make a menorah out of wood???
Needless to say, we don't light that one, lol!

I check the bulbs for the electric menorah I've had since my first apartment.

Still working! I don't think I've ever replaced them, lol!
Its place of honor is in the living room window for all to see,

as it's considered a "mitzvah" (a religious good deed)
to remind the world of the Hanukkah miracle.

The menorah we bought in Israel is so beautiful,

and such a work of art, I can't bear to see it only at Hanukkah,

so it stays on display in the family room all year round.

For Hanukkah, it comes off the shelf to join the other menorahs.

I place the 2,000 year-old pottery pieces we got in Israel next to it,

which brings a lump to my throat, as it does every year.

The menorah and the pottery have a special story (read about that here),

the telling of which has become a tradition of mine for the past five years,
and will continue as long as I can get people to listen!

As far back as my memory goes,
this is the menorah my parents lit when my sister and I were kids.
We'd fight over who got to choose the candles each night.
It's in terrible shape, and probably of no monetary value,
but I'll never get rid of it.
Boy, it brings back memories..........
especially the tradition we had of finding the presents
which my parents hid under the couch, in a plant, on a shelf.

After saying the blessing over the candles, and lighting them,
half the excitement of Hanukkah was searching for those gifts......
the other half was opening them, of course!
I still remember when I found a Barbie Dream House behind the dining room drapes.
Man, that was the best Hanukkah ever!

We've continued the gift-hiding tradition with Junior GS all these years.
I wonder if he'll still want to play that game now that he's in college!
"You're getting colder, warmer, burning hot!'
I'm preparing myself to hear that this is a tradition we should put to rest.

Eighteen years ago, our friends gave this dreidel to Junior GS when he was born!

Oh, and this one? Such fond memories of finding it on clearance
at TJ Maxx a couple of years ago, lol!

Junior GS bought me a little pillow at the school holiday fair
back when he was in elementary school.
I still adore it.
I hang it on the door knob, and that is the extent of my Hanukkah decorating.
Done and done.

Okay, now I need to start thinking about gifts, which are mostly for Junior GS.
He's away at college, so our tradition of a gift (or two)
on each of the eight nights will have to be modified.
Is he too old for that?
Nah, I don't think so........
Maybe I'll mail a couple to him, and then when he comes home,
we can do the gift-a-night thing.
Our tradition has been to give him his big gift on the last night.
But what-oh-what will we give him????

As I'm looking to see if we have any Hanukkah wrapping paper,
my eyes drift over to the ping pong table, which was the "big gift" a few years ago.
It still makes me laugh my head off when I think how the table was delivered, and set up, literally behind Junior GS' back........
He was so oblivious to everything while he was playing his video games,
that it wasn't until the table was completely set up that he noticed it for the first time.

I can't forget a present for Sadie -- she loves Hanukkah!
She gets so excited when she hears us singing the blessing over the candles!
She starts barking and howling,
because she knows it means a gift for her -- usually a few treats in wrapping paper.

On the last night, she gets her "big" gift, too -- a new toy.

I better contact Aunt Goo Shoes and figure out a date
for our annual family Hanukkah party.
Every year, she brings Junior GS a pile of gifts..........

and she always makes potato latkes!

I'm a wee bit teary as I think about how our Hanukkah traditions
need to be modified, now that Junior GS is grown.
Things change.........that's the way it's supposed to be, right?