Dreaming of a White Christmas

I've been on vacation and have been taking it easy. REALLY easy, actually. Our cat has been sick, and five years into kidney failure, we can expect these peaks and valleys in his health and have learned how to manage the valleys with a variety of medications. The reward is a resilient creature who still loves life.

We're also getting ready for Christmas, which includes driving to Vermont to see my family. My family is not exchanging Christmas gifts this year. With the economy the way it is, it seemed a nice opportunity for everyone to focus on more important things like spending time together. Instead of exchanging gifts, my sisters and I are having a stylish white elephant exchange, which includes anything we haven't worn in some time and that we deem worthy of a continued life. My offerings? A red embroidered satin dress, an ivory shantung silk mandarin jacket, to name a few. I'm really looking forward to this!

A Young Artist

Three years ago, a colleague at work approached me about tutoring his daughter in PhotoShop. As an engineer, he didn’t know specifically what that entailed, but his daughter showed artistic promise and he wanted to support and encourage her efforts. She and I spent the summer going through assignments that I designed to develop her skills and establish a comfort level with design software. I was astonished at the pace in which this shy thirteen year old girl acquired and mastered the elements of the software. She soon transferred to a high school that puts prominent focus on the arts.

Just last week, with a mixture of excitement and wistful pride, I wrote a letter of recommendation for her to send to the three art schools she is applying to. She’s lucky to have parents that fully support her dreams. But I was also lucky to have a part in showing her what is possible, and sharing in her enthusiasm.

While part of me wishes she would attend the art school here in town so that I can continue to watch her artistic sensibilities evolve, I also think it would be really cool if she went to New York or Savannah, GA to immerse herself in a different environment. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she got accepted at all three.

The Unexpected List

When you reflect on the year that is slipping away, it's easy to count the things you didn't accomplish. I didn't run a marathon or remodel the kitchen this year. Or master the art of French cooking. But I did do some things that I didn't expect to that made it rather sweet.

1. Had a yard sale where I sold a lot of stuff for not a lot of money. I’m glad I did it and I never want to do it again.

2. Visited Falling Water. I expected to enjoy it, but didn’t expect to be so moved by the simple country escape built with such a great vision.

3. Went to a lecture by my favorite living author, A.S. Byatt. Her Still Life changed the way I saw contemporary fiction. She probes the inner landscape of the human condition with the gentle precision of a rare artist. Her work belongs in the canon of great literature.

4. Visited Cleveland’s West Side Market and the Cleveland Art Museum, where my husband and I had our first date. When a relationship starts with food and art, you know it’s going to be good.

5. Hosted a few parties. They were not flawless, but sharing food and wine with people I care for is a deeply satisfying experience.

What did you accomplish this year and didn’t expect to?

Gifts for the Tough Guys

The hardest people for me to shop for are, hands down, men. Particularly the men I’m buying for who already have absolutely everything. It’s tough coming up with something unique every year that isn’t insulting. Gift cards are great in a pinch, but they don’t say ‘you mean the world to me.’ Forget that I think men should be carrying man purses around so we don’t have to carry all their stuff when we go out. Face it ladies, that idea is just never going to take off in North America.

So here are a few things that might be a hit with men.



























The small Mexican spice kit from purpose design … great if you’ve got a grillmaster on your list.



























The Doc Holiday Hat from Moe Sew Co. Millenery. We love a man in a hat, don’t we?

























A Spalted Maple Titanium Nitride Jr Gents pen from moon sky woodworks.






















How about a fun vintage sign from Larry’s tin signs.

I’m sure I’m missing some gift ideas … and I welcome yours!

Vintage Gifts

In keeping my promise that my gifts this year will be coming from Etsy shops, I found a few vintage treasures to share.



































This glove mold from blue bell bazaar would look great on a dresser keeping necklaces in order.






















These vintage glasses from lucky little dot would also be a nice touch as votives – or to drink from.






















And these locker baskets are great for the organizer on your list.

The Awakening

Stop for a minute. Do you remember the first time you listened to a song and felt ... something, something was changing, and you got to be a part of it? You were eight or ten, even twelve and you suddenly felt like you had your finger on the pulse of what was really going on? Well, this song was that for me, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it has stood up to the test of time.



What's yours?

Coco: The Woman

Having just seen the film Coco Avant Chanel, I have this desire to purge my entire wardrobe and start over. I won’t, but I will tell you a bit about the icon who changed the way women dressed forever.

The life of Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel is not your typical rags-to-riches story. Accounts of her life vary because she herself told such extravagant lies about her past. It is true that she was born in a poor house and was later given to an orphanage by her father because the only work he could find was far away and too demanding for a single father. Coco learned to sew from the nuns at the Catholic orphanage, a skill that would sustain her in her particularly lean years. She met with failure more than once, and she met it with her characteristic unflinching manner.

The film collapses chapters of her life, and removes the complication of her going into and out of business repeatedly. It also only covers the early part of her designing years, which is to say, before she slept with the enemy, literally. Her storied affair with a Nazi officer during and after WWII enabled her to keep an apartment at the Hotel Paris Ritz, though it cost her dearly in popularity with her beloved France.

Coco was a true original. She began designing during the Belle Epoque, when women’s fashions were at their most complicated. Either because she herself could not afford the fashions of the day or because of her unerring vision of how women should dress, Coco created garments whose lines and textures were inspired by menswear. She discarded corsets and petticoats, but her designs were not lacking in femininity; they just rejected the current definition of it. I confess I'm not a huge fan of what came to be known as the Chanel look. I prefer her work from the early years, and her gowns were always breathtaking. Coco gave women casual elegance. She gave them trousers, interesting textures, perfume … and the little black dress.

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something, but to be someone.

Gratitude

This year has given me ample opportunity to reflect upon the things that are truly important, and for which I am endlessly grateful.


I am grateful for my sweet husband, my dear friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family for their tireless support, generosity, kindness and encouragement. And for my charming eighteen year old cat, who persists despite all the odds. Without all of them, I would be lost.




































I am thankful for the bounty of food that not only sustains all of my efforts, but delights my taste buds as well.




































I am grateful for the way nature constantly renews itself, giving our senses new pleasures every day.




































I am grateful for the warm, loving, and safe home I return to every day. It has been, and will continue to be, the scene of tears over sad movies, my cooking experiments, and the laughter of friends.




































I am thankful for books; an endless source of solace, delight and wonder, especially during long, cold winter months.




































I am thankful for the energy and drive to repair and improve the things around me that need care. It is how we lovingly preserve and respect the past for what it has given us.

And I am thankful to you, dear readers. Some of you I know personally, others I do not. But you are all a source of inspiration and joy.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Love and Care of Clothes

I love clothes, but I confess I'm not always great at taking care of them. We live in a culture that emphasises acquiring things, but not necessarily treating them well. Often, when I get home I change into something more comfortable and whatever outfit I was wearing goes in a heap on my bedroom bureau. It's not a habit I'm particularly proud of, and perhaps contributes to my daily struggles in putting together an outfit that doesn't make me look like a bag lady.

I'm not overly fond of ironing, so I try to avoid buying anything that requires it. But I also can't stand synthetic fibers, so the option of buying viscose, rayon and lycra garments is something I wrinkle my nose at too. The drawback is that much of my fall/winter wardrobe seems to exist for the sole purpose of feeding fragile little moths throughout the winter.

But I continue to buy woolen things, and they get dirty and wrinkled (mostly wrinkled) when they're not being eaten up. So they go to the dry cleaners where they come home looking all fresh and new. At a cost. For the sake of taking better care of my clothes and saving a chunk of change, I'm considering buying a professional garment steamer.

Am I the only one with these problems?