Christmas is here (and gone) again

I meant to make this post Christmas day - and I meant to take pictures with a camera better than my iPhone - but neither happened, and I'm posting them anyway. I always love seeing other people's holiday traditions, and I am naively assuming you do, too.

The tree, complete with presents.

Always a real tree.

A relic from the 70's - my parents had the album on cassette and it defined the holidays for me as a child.

Rather spring-timey for Christmas Eve dinner, but I enjoyed it anyway - this is the first time I've actually used my grandmother's china, despite being in possession of it for several years. It was my first year making the traditional French-Canadian tourtière,too, but I didn't take any pictures of that, for though it was delicious, the top crust broke.

Eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, chocolate croissant, coffee that soon had Bailey's and peppermint schnapps in it, and a mimosa. Heaven.

The cat in Christmas-cheer mode.

And the final Christmas tradition: White Christmas.

things I like this week, vol. 11

In honor (and in irony) of the forecast being 110 today.

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The world remains beautiful and terrible at the same time, and either way, I know it doesn’t care what I think or feel about it. There are things to do to help others, and there are things that may never change. But if I learned anything from all of this, it’s my first, oldest lesson as a reader: There is always going to be a book that saves you.

From "I, Reader," by Alexander Chee

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I heart Michelangelo.






Especially since, not only was he good, he managed to insult people while doing it.

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So pretty. Although, next time I buy shoes, I need to get something outside of the black/beige/gold/silver neutral family. It's just silly, otherwise.

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All different patterns, made out of gourds.

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Pretty houses in Buenos Aires, with gorgeous wood floors. Stolen from the facebook albums of friends luckier than I.

new year's decor

I intended on taking pictures of everything prior to the party . . . but I forgot to pick up the Nikon from my parents, so these are afterwards . . . and I have no pictures of the party itself, except what some of the guests decided to take. Ah well . . . next year.

I know this is kind of a crap picture, but I really wished there could be fireworks at midnight. I settled for this quick centerpiece instead.


Wood lights, which were a birthday present (Christmas present?) from my sister. They were in the kitchen for the party, but they're over a window in our bedroom now.


Yay for silver pinecones.


I tied ribbon to the ornaments and then to clear pushpins (Pushkins?) which I put in the ceiling. My thumb hurt for two days afterward, but the effect was worth it, I think.





The twinkle lights in the living room reflected in the window.


We got perhaps five snowflakes that one day they predicted snow, so I had to settle for sparkly ones instead.


The amended and mostly ignored cocktail ideas list.


For some reason we started putting our wine corks in the liquor tray. We'll have too many, soon.


"Meanwhile, I'm putting on more twinkle lights."


I don't have the function on this computer to level this out. The lights framing the star in this shot was a complete accident.


My birthday present from Stephy, which we hung above the chess table upstairs.


Taken the day after the day after: the coffee table centerpiece. They were the leftovers from my ceiling project, but I thought they looked kind of pretty against the wood.