gold stars...

christmas vacation 2009. i am grateful for...

1. eating insane amounts of chocolate chess pie and pecan pie.

2. witnessing my mother-in-law and her sister do a dance in their christmas snuggies.

3. watching the wizard of oz and gone with the wind.

4. laughing uncontrollably with my brothers-in-law while playing jishaku on the floor.

5. combing the kudzu antique mall with my momma.

6. exploring pop's basement(a wonderland of antiques, treasures, and history) and playing white elephant at his house.

7. spending a night with corrie pellerin who drove up from new orleans and made a pit-stop in atlanta. i miss my corrie girl, and this was kind of the best present ever.

8. eating breakfast at ok cafe (three days in a row) and sneaking in a date with kristie day. we love our day day.

9. seeing the blind side at the movie theater with ed's whole family. every time a scene from our high school popped up, i pinched ed with excitement. anyone who knows me, knows how much i loooooooooved westminster. go cats.

10. feeling very lucky to have such good friends and family. best part of christmas. we house- hopped and saw the entire extended family on both sides. and we love them all.

hope everyone had a special holiday season and are now ready to say "so long aughties, hello 2010!" i can't wait to see what is in store for everyone this year!

ring in the new year

today is my last day before i leave for the holidays. see y'all in the new year. i've got three resolutions and a list of things i want to attempt/ accomplish in 2010. i'm also contemplating hosting a small, dinnerparty style new years fete. new years in nyc is always too cuckoo for me( the ultimate homebody).

happy holidays dear darlings in blogland. i look forward to seeing how you spent your week, when i return!

homeward bound

in about 48 hours i will be on my way home to atlanta to be with my family. i love that ed and i grew up living 15 minutes away from each other. makes the holidays a breeze. i am itchin' to see the branches and the stellings. and our highschool friends. because really, there is no place like home...

snow business

today i am grateful for...

playing in the snow before work. i had high hopes of going sledding with pals, but the shop ain't callin' a snow day.

so i borrowed a few of ed's warmest gear, and crunched through the park.

into the snowy woods, lovely dark and deep.

and i brought some ballet slippers- a little keepsake i purchased at the nutcracker at lincoln center. which by the way, was amaaazing. george balanchine's version might be my absolute favorite. i wanted all of the costumes belonging to the sugar plum fairies and snowflakes. i would hang them all on my wall. i am currently listening to the soundtrack and bopping along to the music.

saw some pretty dried hydrangeas coated in powdery white.

and a lonely little leaf

traipsing in the thick snow was the perfect way to start the morning. i just wish i could stay and play instead of going into work today. aren't there such things as snow days up north? i hope y'all make some snow ice cream or build a snowman today.

dyker heights

today i am grateful for...

the first snowfall and a trip to dyker heights with eddie. holy canoli... this ultra italian, superbly brooklyn neighborhood sure knocked our socks off with their spectacular christmas display.

atlanta has callaway gardens, which i used to BEG my parents to drive all the way out to during the holiday season. and there was this one amazing house, across the street from chastain park, that my parents used to drive me to when i was a baby. they would drive me around to the christmas lights to help me fall asleep at night. but places like dyker heights and amy merrick's candyland are somethin' else.

it was incredible. i have never seen this much snow in my whole life. the flakes poured down on us in droves and the wind whipped our cheeks bright pink.

we threw snowballs at eachother and attempted to make a snowman together. none of course as charming as frosty and his snow lady friend.

we "sat on" santa's lap. and maybe even found next year's christmas card ;)

and ed even made a snow angel.

i ate cupfuls of toxic new york city snow and snapped away as families drove by in mini vans, oohing and ahhing . we only left when our eyelashes started to form icicles and our fingers lost all feeling. we finished the evening at our local italian joint, back in park slope. ya know, keeping with the theme, followed by hot chocolate and clementines. it was a perfect first snowfall.

i absolutely recommend making a pilgrimage to dyker heights if you live in new york. it is unabashedly, unapologetically christmasy. bergdorf windows eat your heart out. all kidding aside, it is guaranteed to make even the scroogiest, grinchiest of hearts grow two sizes.

i hope everyone takes a little time to go play in the snow... the miserable snow-shoveling can be put off til a later time... says the gal from the south, who never needed to perform such a grueling chore. not in a georgia winter, at least.

mad dash...

grief. anyone else guilty of biting off more than they can chew?

hi, that's me. in a nutshell. always thinking i can squeeze more time into a day. just finished some holiday headpieces and am off to boerum hill for a quick shopping trip. wish me luck while i try and finish all of my last minute to-dos to-day. eeps. and away i go!

***REVISION I TOTALLY DID NOT GO TO BOERUM HILL*** and i think the world didn't explode. phew.

one week away

my holiday craft nights are coming to a close. my apartment is littered with scraps of paper, holly, pine needles, popcorn and glitter. my hands are also kinda mad at me. my fingers have hot glue embedded in the cuticles. and tiny pinpricks dotted all over the fingertips. thankfully my bootleg, make-shift christmas cards are in the mail, en route to the people ed and i love. i've ticked off my present list for my family members. my belly is full of chocolate chip cookies and cheap-o champagne.

however, tomorrow is going to be the best day of them all. i am gonna get all gussied up and go on a date with ed, to see the nutcracker! and afterwards, we're gonna kick off the evening with miss haylie bird, miss savannah, and mr. blake's holiday party. woo hoo!

and on saturday ed's gonna take me to dyker heights to see the christmas lights... provided the biting cold air doesn't shy us away.

the snowman

i wish this would play on t.v.

it makes me think of christmas and winter. and my mother.

we watched this together so many times when i was a child. and she really loves this song.

and i think i cry everytime i see this movie.

what are your favorite movies to watch this time of year?

glitter garland

today i am grateful for...

decorating our fat, lopsided christmas tree while my husband listened to georgia high school football. my day consisted of stringing bowl after bowl of popcorn onto dental floss. and lots of hot chocolate and homemade s'mores, toasted over the stove. and my sweet chelsea cook came over and crafted with me. and she fixed our silly, blinky christmas tree light malfunction. what a perfectly lovely day with folks that i adore.

lord love you

today i am grateful for...

diggin' out my r.a miller artwork to add a folky spin to my holiday decor. i love r.a miller. as a young girl my mother would drive us to his home, on top of a hill, to purchase pieces to add to her growing collection. i remember his home as an old, dilapidated shack littered with salvaged pieces of wood and tin. and lots of whirligigs. r.a was a barrel-chested man usually wearing dusty overalls and a crushed hat. often with bits o' chewing tobacco tucked in his cheek. nearly blind, he would take the unloved pieces and paint them in childlike colors with images ranging from angels and devils, to uncle sams and elvises. and he would scrawl his signature in something funny like metallic paint pen, usually prominently on the front. so here are a few of my favorite pieces...

say hello to my sweet angels.

and a glimpse of my husband's and my bed frame. probably the most special thing i own. he built the whole frame and painted it with angels and hearts.

and the dearest little sign. his signature catch phrase.

now i'm off to prep the apartment for our big evening. tonight we're getting our tree so i'm in the process of uncovering ornaments and making some trimmings. i hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

checking it twice...

today i am grateful for...

today is my last day of work before a nice two days off in a row - woo hoo! today i am doing the store's holiday install, which will involve plaster-thumbprinted windows and lots o silver balloons... i can't wait.

tomorrow brings two glorious days off work in a row. a tree will be bought. and lists will be checked twice. and christmas cards will be mailed and sent(fingers crossed).

i hope everyone is checking their lists twice.

deck the halls...

today i am grateful for...

building a deliciously slow start to holiday decorations. today i am trimming the mantle in our bedroom. and drinking cider with cinnamon sticks. and listening to andy williams christmas carols and the vince guaraldi trio.

i have a very slapdash decorating style. i don't labor over the details. just gather bits and bobs, and add a healthy measure of glitter. glitter hides a multitude of sins, in my humble opinion.

our wreath smattered with wood buttons and a variety of shiny charms. and a red, spun cotton birdie.

i'm a sucker for ornaments that look like giant wilma flintstone pearls.

my new favorite holiday find was a set of paltz houses. i would happily display a whole little village of these bitty cardboard houses.

this spun cotton santa tickles me.

our stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

i'm excited to start new holiday traditions with my husband. many craft nights and bake-offs are about to ensue. i hope y'all are feelin' festive and partaking in some holiday cheer... and most importantly, what are your traditions that you celebrate during this time of year?