happy christmas

restin'up

merry christmas to all. i hope santa brings you everything for which you hope and peace and love on top of that.

favorite holiday story

Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town. A great black stove is its main feature; but there is also a big round table and a fireplace with two rocking chairs placed in front of it. Just today the fireplace commenced its seasonal roar.

such begins the classic truman capote story a christmas memory. before he became the famous manipulative, brilliant, alcoholic party-goer, he was the sweet and impressionable boy of this autobiographical tale. my father first read this little book to me when i was too young to remember and i read and give it at least once a christmas season. to me, it is the essence of christmas.

happy christmas

give a little love

there are people on all of our lists that have everything they need and want. to which i say - give a donation! while some charity fans have their pet cause and support that on behalf of others, i think it is much more meaningful to find a cause that would be interesting to the recipient of that nice-if-generic notification card in the mail. some thoughts:

build a nest supports women artists and artisans in the developing world in helping them create sustainable businesses by providing loans to begin and/or maintain art or craft-based businesses.



stockings with care is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to making sure that families in need have everything they need to create the magic of Christmas morning for their kids.



crispaz: christians for peace is an organization dedicated to building bridges between the church of the poor communities in el salvador and communities in the u.s. and other countries, striving together for peace, justice, sustainability, and human liberation.



since 1886, the aspca has existed to alleviate the injustices and cruelty to animals.



meals on wheels provides home-delivered meals to new york’s homebound elderly.

happy christmas

yesterday at the craft fair i caught myself saying "i can't wait until this is all over!" to nice jane from foxy and winston. i hope that was the last of that sentiment. do one (er, several) less thing if you have to to stand back and enjoy it.

stocking suffins'

now, some of those expensive earrings and tickets can certainly fit into a stocking, but, in our house, stockings were always for little less-expensive suprises. my mom would sometimes cheat and fill up part of our stocking with boring toiletries (yawn, just give me good chocolate) because it's hard to be inspired given both budgetary and physical constraints. i hear ya, and here's my 2 cents:


kitchen gadgets from anthropologie. how cute is this chicken timer? how groovy are these spoons?

the pigs in a blanket shakers? get it? pigs in a blanket?

points for creativity, it's a bottle opener from 3 potato 4!


i know i am contradicting myself about budget here. that said, if you order any ipod nano online, you get freen engraving on it's little tiny backside. so my nephews will be embarrassed by theirs that read "i loooove my aunt kitty".


i go through enough lipbalm to know what's good and i'm telling you, you don't have to spend $12 a pop at aveda for the perfect, minty lip-smacker. i discovered good witches brew lipbalm slopeside in telluride and order it by the box. (at $3.75 you can stock up).


thank you notes from sugarpaper



oh, it'll fit! a little olive dish from michael aram is only 4.5" long.


how can these not-quite-gems only be $15? red flower earrings from build a nest


this summer i left my passport in a cab on the way back from newark after a long-delayed, tedious flight from london. sad to lose my passport. sad to lose my lovely, travelled passport cover. j crew

all i want for christmas, part 2

my friend laura vinroot turned me onto irene neuwirth jewelry. i only have one necklace but, really, it always draws a compliment. love her use of unusual gems like my own peruvian opal.




a michael arran chip and dip platter for the classiest superbowl party ever.



opera tickets! so many new cool productions, including romeo + juliette and iphigenie.



tickets, take 2! broadway is back on and hopefully without interruption. good thing as i just booked both wicked and jersey boys for those family and friends coming into town. entertainment snob that i am, who doesn't (maybe secretly) love a show?



simple and stylish hugo guinness paintings and drawings.



it's a little wierd how much i love grapefruit, and indian river is the best.

all i want for christmas, part 1

1. hella jongerius bowl moss online
1a. if there's not enough hella j in your home (i certainly can't claim so...) then, by all means, get the tableware!!




2. jcrew coat in a nubby bright green looks much cuter on than in this so-catalog pic.


3. handmade leather bags by pivet. a woman carrying this style in orange walked into camp and i had to ask her about it. so nicely made and with a cute contrast interior fabric.


4.hamish bowles' vogue living. 400 pages of the homes and gardens of our dreams.



5.birdbath dish from apartment 48 'cause it's just so darn cute.

happy sunday

domino contest

so domino finally announced the winner of their reader contest, presumably also to be featured in the december issue. it's like this woman and i are the same person! love the colors, the soft pastels and pops of fuschia, lime, etc. and ohh...the delicate stenciling on the bed and fantastic deco vanity.





while i do agree that the winner did a hands-down fab job, big snaps to the entry/owner of this green sofa against black and white damask. spunky choice.

christmas card roundup

one of my favorite things about the holiday season is sending christmas cards. i hate to talk on the phone, like phobia-level hate. so, thank god i like to write or there are people who would have totally given up on me. i love letterpress, hand-embelleshed, lovely calligraphy, the more gorgeous the better. and, of course, the written sentiment has to be just as meaningful. so this can be quite a project.

in recent years, the number of quality cards has definately been on the rise as (among other reasons) it's become easier for small printers to sell online and particularly on etsy. i find the designsponge letterpress guide indespensible in sifting through options and here are a few that i picked out from so many good ones...

favorite "bird" option 1 here from satsuma press



ok, name-of-blog! love birds! round robin press



and deer, especially with this funky watermark design, from vertallee letterpress



and, of the mixed media variety (letterpress and applique fabric), i am seeing variations on these cards from cartesian graphics everywhere. note to self, great new uses for scraps!

just window shopping

oh, it's time for super-fabulous holiday windows again. marc jacobs launched christmas 'round the corner in the bleeker street marc-ralph-marc strip mall on november 1 (yep, crummy, huh?). which i chose to ignore as best i could. and i do write that with a fervent love for marc j aside from this jump-the-season blunder.

to me, the queen of holiday windows is consistently, decidedly, bergdorf's. i can't imagine what their annual budget is, but each vignette trumps the one before for outlandish creativity and the most over-the-top styling imaginable. these pix are from last year's lot and i can't wait to get up to see more incarnations of the spirit of extravagant gifting!