Tales of the Traveling Tote #46, Giveaway

Hello, friends, and welcome to Panoply! Happy mid-January! 

Today marks the 46th instalment of the Tales of the Traveling Tote, can you believe it? It's all about tales of ladies connecting friendship and stories of our everyday lives via a MacKenzie-Childs tote we all purchased at one time or another. Previous to 2026, we would give quarterly updates, but our new schedule will follow three updates per year: mid-January, mid-May, and mid-December.

To read more about the origin of this series of posts, you can learn how it started here. A link to all my previous tales can be found here. 

Now that we're looking at December in the rear view mirror, January is a nice time to intentionally slow down  and get organized. Let's have a quick look back to the holidays.

My 4 year old granddaughter Jacqueline's Christmas program was adorable. It was a bad weather day, and even though the daycare/preschool was open, a lot of parents kept their kids home all day. 

The following weekend J came over while Santa's elves 😉were working on gifts at the North Pole. I had a Nutcracker painting craft for her to make as a gift for Mommy & Daddy. She did a great job, and afterward we went to see the Children's Theater performance of The Grinch, and it was fabulous!

Christmas Eve with my family was hosted by my oldest daughter and son-in-law. We had 24 family members, plenty of food and fun. By the Saturday after Christmas, I was already undecorating, ready to have the clean slate and quiet I crave in the house in January. 

My amaryllis bulb kit I bought in mid-December started blooming after Christmas. I also received a gift bulb in wax, which is growing, but not yet blooming.  Its color will be a surprise. 

Our weather, apart from the early snow events and some days/nights of hefty winds, has been nice enough to continue my daily walks. I downloaded the Merlin app and have been enjoying identifying the bird songs. While I don't always see the birds identified, most I am familiar with. It's those I am not familiar with that pique my interest most. 

Like this one below. It is a snow goose - a rare sighting for my area, a first for me. I first saw it, alone, on January 8, and following days. On January 12 it seem to integrate itself into a group of Canada geese. Yesterday it was alone again. Did it lose its way in migration? The link suggests yes, it  did.

And while having household Christmas decor all organized and stored away after the holidays, my sister Marcie and I also have the chore of putting away leftover Christmas decor in our antique mall booth spaces. We typically run a sale the week between Christmas and New Year's, then spend a day packing it away and cleaning, resetting our booths. We did that on January 6th. The GIF below shows the transition of leftover Christmas decor now packed away, and some of the new items brought in for Valentine's Day and beyond.

This year, J and I celebrated New Year's at Noon at our local Chick Fil A while mommy and daddy were working. It was perfect for me, as my days of ringing in the new year are much tamer than they used to be!

Just last weekend, we went to see Disney on Ice. It has become an annual tradition, one that's actually been carried on since J's mama was a little girl. We made it a family affair! My only advice to those who go:  carry lots of moolah, because they've got you coming and going with ticket$, trinket$, and refreshment$, not to mention the costuming in preparation for the event. 👑

As I mentioned earlier in this post, January is a month to get organized. I'll be spending a lot more screen time the rest of this month, getting taxes in order for myself and a few other family members.

NOW, ONTO THE GIVEAWAY!

The Traveling Totes Tribe is offering another giveaway and Debbie is our giveaway sponsor this time at Mountain Breaths. One lucky reader who leaves a comment on Debbie's post will have their name thrown into the hat for an opportunity to win this MacKenzie-Childs eyeglasses case.

Be sure to check out my other traveling sisters' posts to see how they spent their time since our last update on December 1st. 

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply (you are here!)

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie with Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Join us again on May 15th for another installment of Tales of the Traveling Tote.

On January 27th, I'll be hosting a Valentine's Day Tablescape blog hop. There'll be lots of inspiration for a variety of ways to celebrate not only lovers, but gal pals, bros, and even pets.

Rita C. at Panoply