happy holidays to everyone!
see you in the new year...
below, treats for my sweets!
(ma, don't look...you'll ruin your surprise)

ps-
1st batch, thermometer busted in the pot, glass shards everywhere
2nd batch, didn't set (lack of thermometer and better candy-making skills)
3rd batch, eau de garlic (bad idea to cut on well-used wooden cutting board)
4th batch, yum!

if you haven't been already,

the new academy of sciences is well worth the steep $25(!) ticket

lizard toes!

we finished up the day with a fantastic meal at ppq dungeness island
i would share photos if we hadn't wolfed the meal faster than a flash bulb
i highly recommend the peppercorn prawns and the garlic noodles

working on getting together holiday gifts and cards.

i had a disaster of lucille ball proportions with one item in my gift packages.

will share full story at a later date...
cards i printed on my gocco.
the two images are inspired by our home
the top image, in red and gold, is a eucalyptus branch from one of our trees
the bottom image is inspired by the 12 redwoods we planted

(holiday crafting day last weekend)

i was tagged by daphne of dlittlegarden.
i played this once before, but i'm game for a second round.
6 things
------

1. at 5'8" i often feel like the shortest person in the room at family gatherings.
this is because many of my loved ones are very tall.
my baby brothers are 6'2" and 6'7"

2. i've been taking german classes, off and on, for about 3 years now
but should be much more fluent considering i have a resident german

3. my paternal great-grandparents are big names in the history books

4. i'm very very proud that our compost is actually working

5. when my wisdom teeth were removed, i asked to keep them.
i still have all 4 in a metal tin on my nightstand.

6. in the past year i have traveled to:
germany, arkansas, colorado, egypt, philadelphia, minnesota, washington and france
some for work and some for leisure

most of the folks i'd like to tag have already played
so i'll just list some of my favorite reads, these days:
even*cleveland, armas design, ashley rose helvey,
unruly things, jeana sohn, abby try again

a few of my favorites from etsy.
unfortunately some have been on the list for too long and are now sold-out...top : favela stacking vase , handwoven scarf, stacking ring
middle: open bangles, circular shawl, pendant lamp
bottom: ripple swans, astrid bag, fishing town linoprint

handknit boy's hat and cowels (for the boys or the girls) by daphne of dlittlegarden.
she's also selling some really lovely vintage frocks
oh, and a perfect vintage belt

last week was a bit like an early christmas.
not once but twice,
i found an unexpected large envelope waiting for me on the front porch.
the first package was an incredibly sweet and generous thank you gift from
ms. christine schmidt of yellow owl workshop.
she sent me a card from her hilariously clever LCD line and
a set of the prints i wrote about a while back for apartment therapy!

the second package was a gift from ms. scotia:
a lovely letterpress poster featuring a timely quote by one stellar first lady.
we have our own little victory garden going on over here.

we're planning a trip to mexico and need suggestions!

a bit of info:
we fly in and out of mexico city, but plan on heading south.
we have a little less than 2 weeks.
we're big on budget travel
would rather spend money on great food, sights and gifts
than on a fancy resort hotel.
would particularly love to see beautiful textiles and crafts.
any and all ideas much appreciated.

above photo is from our road/camping trip through baja a few years back

last year i waited too long to order a calendar from the ffrench family.

this year, i was fast enough.
my favorite months in the 2009 calendar:
january, march, july, august, september and october.

over the past year, i've become a morning person.
i thought it was a new older-self development;
me enjoying early morning coffee and the paper before the boy wakes up.
turns out, according to my momma, i took a break in high school to be a grumpy teenager.
but otherwise, i've always been a morning person.
funny thing, isn't it?
a few photos from our backyard, early early thanksgiving morning.
very peaceful.
watch this short video to hear the birds chirping in the early morning.

tiny hummingbird on one of our plum trees

looking forward to turkey, family and time for knitting sweaters.

happy thanksgiving.

the annual early thanksgiving potluck was sunday.

i made this cake.
it was really good.
(oh, and i added in some banana on a whim, yum.)

i figured out what to do with all of our baby persimmons....
see here
(i may have accidentally understood dried fruits as chocolate chips)

from sundance:

scarf, flask, shoes (unfortunately only in boy sizes), necklace

views from home

and another beauty from ms. claire nereim

a few lovely items from erica tanov

plus, an art show

a few nice things from gap

friday evening at the paramount

live wurlitzer, raffle, whiskey sours and north by northwest
(with an old newsreel preview)

found a knob for my scavenged le creuset

bread baking and sewing on a rainy saturdaywindy windy cold and gorgeous sunday at ocean beach