freitag favorites + my christmas countdown

Finally it’s Friday. This week seemed extra long, but at least a lot was accomplished including the timely mailing of Christmas cards and packages. And, after two weekends visiting various Christmas markets with Martin’s mom (including Zürich, Einsiedeln, and Bern) I’m now stocked up on chocolates and treats for presents and guests. (The photos in this post are both from Einsiedeln.) Hooray for Christmas and visiting family in just 12 days!

Now that it’s the weekend I’m happy to be home to enjoy time catching up on more Christmas preparations, staring at the twinkling tree,  watching holiday movies, and finally running the Silvesterlauf 10km around Zürich’s old town with a friend on Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon is also the only day I won’t be praying for snow in the next week as I prefer not to twist my ankle slipping on the cobblestones along the route. That being said, what could be better than a cold day for a run through a twinkling city?

I’ll leave you with that thought while I retreat to the kitchen for a banana bread evening snack. Have a wonderful weekend!

• soft underfoot // I am in love with the colorway of this vintage rug. I would love something like this, soft and warm under our feet, in our living room this winter.
• iceland // These photos from a road trip around Iceland make me want to move this destination higher on our travel to-do list.
• kitchen sponges // Thanks to my mom, my favorite kitchen scrubber has always been the Scotch-Brite Dobie. In fact, I have even had them brought to me in bulk from home. All other sponges seemed to last too long and be too grimy for me. As it turns out, I’m not alone and so it was interesting to read this WSJ article about the bacteria housed in kitchen sponges, and as well discover that the Dobie has other fans as well.
• holiday boughs // If I had the time, and the access to more holiday boughs and branches,  I would make this wreath for our front door.
• gift tags // If you still have presents to wrap, these free printable tags would be a cute addition.

Schönes Wochenende!