My kinda challenge...

...for this time of year!  Amanda has set a super easy challenge for this week at The Studio:  "I know that most people are ultra busy in the run up to Christmas, so this week your challenge is to take a photo of something that puts you in a Christmassy mood! Then, once all the festivities are over, you'll be able to go back and scrap the picture at your own leisure."  Here is my photo:

To me, nothing signals the holidays like mandarin oranges. Growing up in snowy Utah, I would look forward to the boxes of mandarins that my grandparents would send at Christmastime from sunny California. Now that I live in California, I look forward to the cold weather that ripens the mandarins so that I can fill our home with the scent of oranges. Call me crazy, but I'd rather have one of these than a Christmas cookie any day!

These sweet treats reside across the street, on my in-laws' property.  If we are all out in the house, I can just walk over there and pull a few off.  What puts you in the Christmas mood?  I would love to see - just link us up over at The Studio.

Before I go, I thought I'd share a link to a really cute and easy gift idea.  My sisters may or may not receive something like this ;).  Have a great day! Tessa