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!
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.
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
J is so adorable…love her painted nutcracker and seeing her in her attire and mask! I can only imagine how $$ a Disney on Ice is all told. I have that Merlin app and love it! So fun to identify birds by their calls. Taxes…ugh. I’m already getting texts and emails from Turbo Tax to get started…makes my head hurt. It's chilly here this morning…brrrr. I bet you’re covered in snow or bracing for it. ❄️ Stay warm and cozy.❤️
ReplyDeleteI really want to go to your antique booth! It's delightfully dangerous! What a great holiday you had, Rita. Lots of love and "grand" fun! My white wax amaryllis just started blooming last week and it is a dazzler. Not too tall but many blooms. I love those wax ones, not being world's best plant caretaker! And they seem to last a long while. What a fun look back!
ReplyDeleteJ is adorable and growing up so quickly and I am sure she made the holidays fun and exciting. Her nutcracker turned out cute! My dad could mimick so many bird sounds that sometimes I didn’t know if it was him or the bird….he could get them to talk back to him. Enjoy quiet January
ReplyDeleteLast comment was me……new iPad and forgot to sign in
ReplyDeleteLittle J is so adorable and getting so big. That snow goose is gorgeous. Good luck with the taxes. What is the saying Death, taxes and laundry are always a sure thing in life LOL!!!!!!! Have a great rest of your week. Hugs. Kris
ReplyDeleteSweet little J is growing up. How fun to see her experience so many wonderful adventures. Disney on Ice sounds so fun. Her nutcracker is darling. The snow goose is pretty awesome. Interesting about the bird sounds. I always hear a bird that sounds like it is singing and wonder what it is. Taxes, hmmm, not a fun job, but we have to do it. Thank you as always Rita for organizing the blog hops. I look forward to see your Valentine’s ❤️ table.
ReplyDeleteJ is a cute little doll! I know you enjoy your time with her and making lifelong memories you both will enjoy for years to come. The holidays with children keeps you young and on the go. Disney is so expensive! The booth looks interesting. We have a local antique mall we enjoy shopping. It had a plethora of items this year we felt we couldn't live without, so we brought several things home with us. We're looking forward to the Valentine's tables. We enjoyed wonderful warmer weather during the holidays. This week the cold begins! Our weather tends to change by 30 degrees or more lately. I have a row of outer jackets going from light to leather! Stay warm! It looks like you have had cold weather consistently. Clara❤️
ReplyDeleteOh Rita, Christmas with you would be such fun, you do so many fun things with Jacqueline. Such an adorable stage for the Christmas program and it is sad it occurred on a bad weather day and some kids missed out.I know you are enjoying her so much. I love the idea of continuing your Disney tradition, worth every penny! She looks darling in her princess costume. I understand you are ready to take the decorations down early. I would love to do that but Jim is just the opposite. I'm ready to start clean in January. I'm thinking I'll begin a little earlier so everything can come down early. We'll see how that goes. I am amazed at the app you've found that identifies bird songs, so interesting. I feel so bad for the snow goose, I do hope he found a way. Wishing you and Will a very Happy New Year Rita. Looking forward to your Valentine's blog hop.......Hugs.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post! Blessings be with you this 2026!
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of continuing your Disney tradition, and J is such a cutie in her costume. Her nutcracker is darling. Can you believe I've never been to Disney on Ice (no daughters lol), but I do want to start taking Claire. My niece's two year old was chosen to be on the ice and did a little dance with two other children. It was so cute to watch when they posted it on Facebook. I'm intrigued about the gorgeous snow goose, and wish her the best. Good luck with your taxes....our pile of documents looks like yours :-)
ReplyDeleteRita, I always enjoy seeing little J growing up on your blog. She is a cutie! I can see from your photos how much she enjoyed Disney on Ice. I have all our Christmas put away, as of January 1. It’s so great to get the house cleared up for the new year.
ReplyDelete