HOLY QUILT CRUSH!

This post makes my heart burst with joy! My friend Carly has been working on this quilt for months, and the finished product illustrates her identity as a teacher. It is an incredible example of story-telling through craft, and it is a work of ART!

Go look. NOW.

And yes - I just titled a post "HOLY QUILT CRUSH!" That's a thing. I totally made it up and now it's real. Deal with my nerdiness.

Dance-spiration Friday: PINA

I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Wim Wenders PINA this past Tuesday night. It was mind-bogglingly gorgeous. I do not think that I have ever seen dance shot so beautifully for film.

From a technical standpoint - I was struck with the simplicity, almost primitive nature of the footwork in Bausch's choreography, which is very different from the ballet tradition that I grew up in. However, the simple footwork draws the audience member's eyes to the gorgeously expressive upper body and human gestures. Her work is earthy, raw and out there - like a Dali painting in motion. Truly something special.

At the beginning of the film, there was a wonderful audio clip of Pina talking about dance. She said something to the effect of "Words can only say or express so much - THAT is where dance comes in." Seeing PINA with my friends, three of my dancers and a wonderful theatre artist/musician, made me itchy to work, to make something beautiful. I think, next week, it is finally time to go back into the studio to play!

EDIT: Here is a wonderful blog post on Pina.

M is for Mondays...and Music: Steve-O Strips to Al Green's Let's Stay Together

WARNING: This post includes pictures of a young man stripping down to his skivvies. No nudity, just skivvies, but if that is offensive to you - do not read on!

Musical Memory: Al Green's Let's Stay Together
Silver Bay, New York. June 23, 2006

Chelsea, Shannon, Me, Ally and Rhi-Rhi

I was married to my ex in a little tiny town on Lake George in upstate New York. To give a little perspective on the landscape of the youth culture of Lake George - THE thing for teens/twenties types to do is to occupy a cabin/lake house of choice, and proceed to party, on any given evening.

There were no other social prospects on the eve before my wedding, so cabin party it was.

My ex, myself and most of our wedding party showed up at "the spot" of the evening. Lake George was the ex's territory, and my bridesmaids and I knew very few people there. We settled into a corner to enjoy a quiet beer, when I was approached by a tall, scrawny, young-ish fellow - we'll call him Steve-O.

"I heard that SOMEBODY over here is getting married tomorrow!"
"That's ME!", I said with a smile.
"Hang on, I'll be right back..."

Moments later, Steve-O returned with a boom box, pressed play and turned on Al Green's Let's Stay Together. (I suggest you press play NOW to set the mood for the rest of this post).

This should've been the social cue that alerted me that shit was about to go down, but I am a fucking oblivious human being.

Steve-O stared at me with an intense Blue Steel face and gently took me by the hand and guided me to the center of the room.

I started to giggle - but I still had no idea what was about to happen.

After a slow spin, and a dip, he led me over to a chair. And sat me down.

Then I knew EXACTLY what was about to happen. And it was too late for me to do ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I was TRAPPED!

Clothes started to come off...

So skinny...

Horrifying and hilarious...

Blinded by the whiteness...

By the end of the "show" I was laughing SO hard that I was crying and could not breathe! My bridesmaids, the ex and his best man were all howling on the sidelines. All was well, until the ex came over to shake Steve-O's hand. When it dawned on Steve-O that he had just stripped for a stranger in front of her husband to be, he instantly became mortified, apologized profusely, (which was unnecessary because the ex found the situation HILARIOUS), and disappeared into the crowd.

I never even found out his real name. So to me, he's Steve-O...and whenever I hear the first few bars of Let's Stay Together it instantly makes me chuckle, and remember the sensation of breathtaking, tear squeezing, pure laughter and sharing that moment with people that I loved the most.

Photo a Day #22 - Kitchen Sink

Photo a Day #21 - Delicious

Water, kale, banana, avocado, blueberries and strawberries. Yum.

Photo a Day #20 - Before and After

Well...I thought this would be fun to do! Photo #1 is from January 15, 2011. Photo #2 is from today, same dress.

Photo a Day #19 - Funny (Girl) / Musical Memory: 3 Faces and an Eyebrow

Let's see how many post themes I can check off at once today - Photo a Day, Music Monday, Musical Memory

Musical Memory: Barbra Streisand's I'm the Greatest Star
University of New Hampshire - 2003ish

Three Faces and an Eyebrow aka How I came to be friends with Joe and Sean

Funny Girl. Fanny is one of my DREAM roles. It is one of the few classic musical theatre leading lady roles that I would be appropriate for. You see, I'm usually cast as the silly best friend that lingers in the background...but Fanny. She's front and center!

When I was enrolled in what is equivalent to Musical Theatre 101 in college, we had to get up weekly and perform for each other. Our teacher decided that it would be a brilliant idea to have "anonymous" student feedback as part of the process. Picture a roomful of young, egotistical musical theatre hopefuls with easily bruised hearts, and you'll realize quickly why this was such a bad idea. This "anonymous" comment system, quickly became a mudslinging festival - and even more targeted when we started to recognize each other's handwriting...

So one day I get up to sing I'm the Greatest Star from Funny Girl

It's a hard piece. A vocal marathon. I was no Barbra, to be sure, but I plowed through. At the end of class, I was flipping through my feedback and I noticed the handwriting of the WORST kind of musical theatre types - the over eager, bitchy student that THINKS she is talented (but is really not) and feels that she has license to shit all over every one, when really she doesn't have a stool to stand on. Ahem (I'm not bitter). I looked down at the slip to read the following:

The lyrics say "I've got 36 expressions..." Well, all I saw were three faces and an EYEBROW.

Well, my jaw hit the floor, and just as I walked in the hall I ran into Sean and Joe - a sweet couple at the time, and my classmates (that I did not yet know well). They took one look at my livid face, and I took one look at them and shouted "SHE SAID I HAVE THREE FACES AND AN EYEBROW!!!" Sean grabbed the slip of paper, looked at it and uttered something to the effect of "What a cunt," and we all fell into hysterics.

The rest is history.

Though they parted ways back at school, I am still good friends with them both 'til this day. Joe and I even invented a drink called 3 Faces and an Eyebrow (gingerale, grapefruit juice and vodka vodka vodka) - and I'm the Greatest Star will always remind me of the beginning of two beautiful friendships!

Photo a Day #18 - A Corner of My Home

My kitchen table, one of my favorite corners of all. A place to relish good food, a place to converse with friends, a place to watch the sun rise and a place to flip through cook books and craft books and dream.

Such Lovely, Lovely Days

The past few days have been extraordinarily lovely. Here is why:

1. Had a fantastic, productive work day in Boston at headquarters on Friday. Received some work-related news that lit up my world with such joy that I cried. In a meeting. In front of co-workers. No big.

2. Visited my favorite lunch spot South End Formaggio for the first time in a long time. Ordered a Goat cheese, arugula, fig jam sammy on a sesame seed baguette and too many sweets for one day. Worth it.

3. Prep-cooked for Saturday's brunch before going to bed. Felt like a domestic/organizational goddess.

4. LAYDEEZ COFFEEZ! I hosted at my house and served blueberry muffins, avocado and banana smoothies and a new to me recipe - a breakfast casserole with onions, leeks, bacon, eggs and Gruyere cheese from Bubby's Brunch Cook Book which turned out to be delicious! Hostessing success!

5. Went to Throwback Brewery to pick up my CSA growler fill. (Yes, I have a beer CSA share - is that not the coolest thing ever?) It's always a pleasure to see the Throwback ladies.

6. Went to Salvation Army and had the thrift score of the century! Well...maybe not the century, but this year at least.

A set of pimp, vintage, stackable ottomans -

and a vintage maxi dress that FITS my bodacious bod. (Which I will probably hack into a mini - the jury is still out)

7. Hung out with my friend Joe, whom I've barely seen since we did Rocky together last summer.

8. Walked around Portsmouth and observed the St. Patrick's Day craziness beginning to stir long before the sun went down.

9. Dinner at Lexie's Joint with CJ, which turned into dinner with CJ, Kelsey and Criostóir - who had just sat down at Lexie's themselves.

10. Played Trivia Pursuit with above aforementioned peeps and Rhiannon. Quietest St. Patrick's Day ever - which after years of slinging band merch throughout the entire month of March and witnessing terrible drunkenness and cultural faux pas happening right and left was SO WELCOME.

11. Bought Preserve It! with a gift certificate. Free book for the win.

12. Had coffee and delicious German pastries, whose name I cannot pronounce at KAFFEEHAUS with my mom!

13. Mom and I proceeded to walk around Portsmouth, in the gorgeous 70+ degree weather, and we stumbled into Le Roux Kitchen which has been around for years, yet somehow I managed to ignore it. It's the most bomb-dig kitchen store EVER. So pumped.

14. Came home - at delicious all beef hot dogs from the Farmer's Market and home canned dilly beans for dinner.

15. Went for a glorious run.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVING these days.

Oh and the forecast for the next five days? 60's and 70's ALL WEEK. YES!

Photo a Day #16 - Sunglasses

2/3 of the holy triumvirate of style on the train to Boston this morning.

Photo a Day #15 - Car

The Cherokee decal on my Jeep that inspired this outstanding encounter.

Photo a Day #14 - Clouds

It was a bit dreary around these parts today. Wish I could've stayed home and watched movies all day (which I could totally do *if* I had a television).

Photo a Day #13 - A Sign

This is a sign for the letter "S" (for Sarah)

Also, a sign for Black Power...which is completely inappropriate, especially considering that one of my students once called me, and I quote, "as white as Wonderbread."

Farmers' Market Day Recap/Recipe: Ginger Sautéed Beet Greens, Parsnips and Apple

On Saturday I hit up the Winter Farmers' Market with my mum. Until two weeks ago, I had not attended the markets regularly since I moved away to Massachusetts. The scene has grown leaps and bounds in my absence, and it is positively wonderful to see. I walked away with lots of goodies!

All of that shopping made me hungry so I helped myself to a pulled pork sandwich (with Kellie Brook Farm pork) and washed it down with some iced White Heron Cran-Apple tea. Delicious.

After the market, my mom and I returned to my apartment to bake up some turnovers. I did this to use up the last of the strawberry rhubarb preserves from what I've taken to coining as the "Strawberrypocalypse of 2010."

I should never be allowed to bake turnovers, unless I'm having company over, ever AGAIN. Ate way too many of those fluffy pillows of deliciousness!

I whipped up a pretty nice little side dish from some of my market spoils. I ate the first round hot, topped with a lamb burger. Round two I did not bother to reheat, and it was delicious cold! Not only that, but the dish benefited from a night or two in the fridge, and the ginger was more pronounced.

Ginger Sautéed Beet Greens, Parsnips and Apple

Ingredients

1 bunch of beet greens, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 parsnip, roughly chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 inch of ginger, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions

Infuse olive oil with ginger by heating both over low heat in a skillet. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Briefly blanch the greens and parsnip until the greens turn a bright shade of green. Drain water. Bring the skillet up to medium heat and sautée blanched veggies in the oil, add the apple during the last few minutes of cooking so they maintain their shape. Finish with salt and pepper.

M is for Mondays...And Music: Lisa Garvey, The Mayor of Music

For years, my Sunday morning ritual has been as follows: Make coffee, fix a special breakfast, eat slowly, catch-up on blogs or magazines, BE LEISURELY all accompanied by the lovely Lisa Garvey's brilliant show on WXRV, "Brunch by the River" (BBTR). When "dance party" time rolled around, it was time to get up, get on up (as James Brown would say) - time to clean. Dishes had to be washed, floors had to be swept. BBTR has been the soundtrack of my Sunday mornings for years.

Which is why I was SHOCKED to wake up on Saturday to see a brief "wish Lisa well in her future endeavors" message on WXRV's Facebook page. Though I have never met or spoken to Lisa in my life, I was compelled to reach out to her. I found her on Facebook and wrote the following message:

Hi Lisa,

I woke up to see the news of your departure from The River this morning on my FB news feed. I only joined the online BBTR conversation last Sunday, but like I said, I've been listening for ages. I am not usually a fan girl type that writes to total strangers on the internet - but here I am, about to get all fan girl on you.

You are an amazing DJ. I especially enjoyed BBTR. I'm 29 years old, and when I was growing up I became obsessed with watching classic movies on AMC. Subsequently, I really got into the music of 20's-50's as well. Cab Calloway, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald. No one in my peer group listened to that stuff - NO ONE.

I loved jazz so much that someone took notice, and scooped me up and put me into jazz vocal competitions - where I did really well. That music was a huge and integral part of my high school experience.

My tastes exploded and became really broad in college - but I was so pumped when you would play old school stuff on FM RADIO! I just thought that was awesomer than awesome.

You are completely rad. I hope that leaving was your choice, and I hope that you get another opportunity to do what you do best. Share your love and knowledge and passion for music with people.

-Total Fan Girl, Sarah

To my surprise - she wrote back! And to my even further shock - she had been FIRED.

My reaction?

AWW HELL TO THE NO!

I committed to listening to this past Sunday morning's BBTR out of curiosity to see how WXRV would handle the transition. Not gracefully as it happened. Here is what bothered me:

• There was no DJ, no voice behind the music choices. This was likely intentional to protect the mystery DJ from the proverbial wolves stirring up commotion on WXRV's FB wall, however that demonstrated to me that the powers that be were wise enough to know how upsetting this move was to their audience.


• The mystery DJ also haphazardly played a few of Lisa's regular tunes with no regard to the format and flow of a normal BBTR show.


• Moderators removed huge chunks of conversation from Facebook discussing Lisa's departure. While some of this chatter expressed a negative opinion of WXRV, non of it was over the top or threatening, and the editing of the conversation felt very Big Brother-ish.

So at the suggestion of a fellow BBTR fan. I created a Lisa Garvey Fan Page on Facebook. As of five minutes ago the page had 92 "likes," and Lisa has proposed the idea of doing a live dj-ed brunch show at a restaurant for the fans!

One of the reasons why I choose to listen to independent radio stations is because there is an opportunity for the listeners and the djs to have a relationship, and form a dialogue. BBTR was a very special show - and it will never be replicated without Lisa at the helm. I'm so disappointed with WXRV's decision, but I'm glad that because of social media Lisa and us fans are going to find a way to make the dance party continue to happen.

IMPORTANT: While a communal love of music is awesome, it's not gonna pay the bills. LISA NEEDS A JOB! She has skills in radio, copywriting, PR and promotions or any related field. View her Linkedin profile here.

Photo a Day #12 - Fork

Daylight savings (especially spring forward) makes me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork.

That is all.

Photo a Day #11 - Someone I talked to today

A couple of weeks ago, I had a really great conversation with my brother Thom about family. It was the kind of conversation that marinated in my brain for days afterward.

Okay, gonna talk about divorce AGAIN...I guess I've just come to an emotional sorting out point with much of this business, so bear with me...

(Is anyone running screaming from my blog yet?!)

One of the biggest losses that I've felt from the split was the loss of my family. Not my family that I was born into, but the family that I gained when I married M.

Family has always been important to me. My family loves each other fiercely - that is the best way to describe it. When M and I got married, he wasn't very close with his family. His half brother and sister were a few years older and lived in far away states. His parents lived WAY UP in northern Maine. I found myself with all of these new family members that I wanted to bond with, without the benefit of them being nearby to do so.

So I made an EFFORT.

I wrote e-mails, and I sent cards. I made presents for all of the children for Christmas. During our summer visits to Silver Bay, I took care of the kiddos, taught my sister in law how to knit, drank coffee with my brother in law and read books by my father in law while he painted on the porch.

I made meaningful connections.

My in-law family was enormously important to me - and I miss them greatly. The only person that I keep in touch with regularly is my sister-in-law, and I am so grateful that she continuously reaches out to me. As for the rest of them, there has been little to no contact - including a slew of nieces and nephews, some who I have literally watch grow up.

I've mourned their absence in my life.

Then I chatted with Thom...and I realized, I have a great family that I do not spend enough time with. I am constantly busy with work, and I've been trying so hard to just glue my life back together that months passed by in the blink of an eye.

The sibling relationship is not hard to maintain with my sister. We are either crazy connected or fighting, (sorry, Ren, LOVE YOU). But I find it harder to keep up with my brothers. Thom's little girl Cottrell was born, and it was 7 weeks before I made it to meet her even though we live a 45 minute drive away from each other. Mike suddenly moved to Milwaukee for a job opportunity, and I wasn't able to say goodbye. And well, *foot stamp*, I do not like that one bit.

So I am trying a little harder. I am making an effort to talk to each of my siblings and my mom and dad AT LEAST once a week, even if it is via text. Because life is too short to let the weeks keep flying by, and though I've lost so much, I still have an awesome family that deserves my attention.

Laydeez Coffeez Shares of the Week 3/10/12

Click here to read about Laydeez Coffeez.


Okay, I'm a posting fiend today - but stay with me. A few months ago, I wrote here about Laydeez Coffeez and mentioned the following:

Around 10:50am, each week, we do something special. We each go around and tell the group something special or good that we have going on in our lives. A job interview, a new crush, a weight loss triumph, a new goal. We cheers each person's share and gulp our coffee or tea gladly.

The shares have really expanded to encompass anything and everything - positive and negative. The point is to put your share out in the world, validate it, and feel supported by the fabulous group of ladies. Each week, we create a the equivalent of a "CHEERS" for each person's share, and raise our coffee cups and shout that phrase out. Someone came up with the brilliant idea today of recording these "CHEERS" for posterity, so that we can look back on them.

I, of course, offered.

These posts will probably mean nothing to anyone outside of Laydeez Coffeez - but have fun speculating about our shares!

Shares of the week 3/10/12

HUNGER GAMES!

MEH!

FEELING GROWN-UP!

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT!

GRAN MANAM!

FEELING and HEALING and REMEMBERING!

EMPOWERMENT!

PASTA-TIVITY!

JAW DROPPING FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY!

Photo a Day #10 - Loud

When I was a baby, my big sister Renée (who is twelve years older than me) could not wait for me to utter my first words. "When is she going to talk Mum? When is she going to talk?" When I finally did start talking, this quickly turned into "When is she going to SHUT UP?!"

Growing up, I heard this story time and time again, and it is fitting. I love to talk. A friend of mine recently called me "Loquacious Duclos." Perfect. I'm wordy and bubbly. I am opinionated and passionate. I get excited when I tell a story. I get LOUD.

I love to sing. I love music. I love to dance in clubs where the music is turned up to 11 and the bass alone makes your organs jump. I like it LOUD.

I have BIG, untamed locks of hair that stick out in every direction. I love patterns and colors and crazy accessories. I am a LOUD dresser.

Nearly everything about me is big and bold and LOUD...

Which is why it is crazy ironic that there is a part of me that is so quiet and so small.

I have been spending an enormous amount of time this year reflecting upon my marriage and why it dissolved so suddenly (or not so suddenly at all), and I have made some important observations about myself:

I have a caretaker personality. I will go big and above and beyond for anyone and everything - except myself. As a caretaker, I like to please people...which means that I hate conflict and will do anything to avoid it. This leads to me to diminish or shove my needs aside for other people. In the past, I never put my needs first, because that made me feel selfish. Which I've come to realize is a crock of shit tied up in a bow of skewed self-perception.

How is that for some therapy talk?!

So...I'm working on it. I'm working on speaking up when I need to, being a little louder, a little bolder. I'm trying to articulate my needs and feelings as they come to me. I'm talking about my experiences when I need to, and keeping to myself when I need to. I ask for help from my friends or family - when I need it. I'm trying to get over myself. And it's HARD...but I'm trying.

Which brings me to something that happened this past week.

Last Thursday was the anniversary of a college friend's passing away. While on my lunch break, I went back into my archive to read the post that I had written for her. I had some time to kill, and I thought it would be fun to look back through all of my March posts to see where I was at during different years. This is partially what a blog is for, right? To remember?

I'm going to preface what I am going to say next with the following bit of information. Talking about my EX does not bother me. Looking at pictures of him does not bother me. Recounting experiences and memories that I have from our life together does not bother me. We had SO MANY happy times together. Casting a dark shadow on all of that would be a waste of energy and a shame.

When we broke up - I've described the experience to people as having an emotional stroke. I've always been an emotional person, but suddenly I became super rational. ULTRA rational and calm during the whole break-up. I arranged for us to go to therapy, and when that did not go well, I calmly explained why I had to distance myself, and not be a wife anymore. I apartment hunted and packed my bags. Every step that I took away from my marriage was like a tic on a sterile, clinical divorce checklist that was written in my head. The few times that I cried, and there were only a few, were tears of anger. Anger, anger, anger at this person that I thought I had known so well, but no longer knew.

Then on Thursday - I scrolled across this blog post. Mr. Geek+Nerd. His words, the way he spoke about me, the little inside jokes that are peppered throughout that post...I suddenly remembered.

I remembered that HE LOVED ME.

Now, that might sound silly - but throughout my residency in emotional stroke-ville, I think I truly forgot that. He was callous, cold and downright mean during the end, and it made it easy for me to separate. Rationally, I knew that he loved me in the past, but he was so awful during that time (and still), that I have not felt it. I forgot what being loved by him feels like. I haven't mourned for us, I've mourned for him - because he might as well have died. Reading that little post was like a ghost speaking to me from the dead - the ghost of my husband - and I remembered.

He DID love me.

And wowee - wow, did that hurt. Hurt in a chest pain/heart aching kind of way that I had not felt in over a year's time. And it was weird.

This morning at Laydeez Coffeez, during our weekly ritual where we share one thing from our week - I chose to share my weird, hurty experience - to give a voice to my feelings as I was feeling them - and as I was doing so something happened.

I CRIED.

Like REALLY cried.

I started SOBBING.

I got weak. But the weaker I got, the LOUDER I got.

And you know what? It was okay.

I am not perfect.

And my imperfections did not incite the apocalypse.

My friends did not roll their eyes and abandon me.

Becky put her hand on my back while I spoke, and Danica fetched an entire roll of toilet paper and put it in my lap. The other ladies nodded and listened as big fat tears splashed down my face. I apologized for not being able to stop, and they told me it was okay.

Then Carly - who is a therapist - said "You're feeling and healing and remembering. This is GOOD."

And it was.

This separation has been so much more than a break-up. It's caused me to take a hard look at myself and say "Hey, self. How are you doing? Who the hell are you? And what is it that you want out of this crazy life?" I've been functioning at 85% LOUD for most of my life, and I'm finally getting comfortable with giving in to the other 15%. I'm making progress. I am trying to strive to be a better, honest, more authentic me. My voice is getting LOUDER and it feels good.

I'm ready to turn it up to 11.


P.S. I have hesitated to write about all of this emotional navel gazing stuff here because G+N used to be about crafts and recipes and happy shiny things. But I've come to the conclusion that G+N should be about ME, bumps and all. Hope ya'll are cool with that.

Christmas in March

So let's do a little Christmas in March post, because sure...that's a thing. After yesterday's blog love fest, Flossy asked to see a picture of all of my "loot." I was so swamped around Christmas-time, I didn't really do a proper Christmas recap post this year - plus I received SO much goodness, it was downright overwhelming to photograph it all!

Settle in. This post is image heavy (and I didn't edit ANY of the photos - so they have a fabulous yellow glow. Keepin' it REAL, folks, sometimes you don't have time for that shit).

My first present was from Flossy - I accidentally opened it early, thinking it was one of my ornament swap packages, because she sent it directly from the Etsy seller (whose information I cannot find - Flossy I'm sure people will ask, would you live the shop link in the comments?), a gorgeous tea cup - which I filled with pumpkin spice coffee, lightened with a little egg nog to accompany my gift opening.



My festive Christmas jammies. My sister made me the jammy pants, she gave them to me the night before (my family does Christmas on Christmas Eve, hence the call to arms for blog-love on Christmas day).



Present time is all about setting the scene for me. A little Bing Crosby, a little coffee, a little delicious currant cake from KAFFEE-HAUS! (which must be shouted in a German accent) - all very key.



First up - prezzies from Sonya! She gave me vintage silk scarves! I LOVE VINTAGE SILK SCARVES! (You know me so well, Sonya) And pretty earrings!



Then came hot cocoa mix from Abbie - I loved the tag featuring her art work!



And her hand-writing is so adorable, just as one would expect.



Next up - presents from Sister Diane of Craftypod fame!



Diane...did you send me baking powder for Christmas?!



Of course she didn't! She sent me VINTAGE BUTTONS - YAYYYYYYYYYY!




Me=Pumped



Ahhh, and a theme emerged. Kanzashi flower makers -



And pretty fabric -



Perfect coming from the brilliant woman that wrote Kanzashi in Bloom!

Next was an ENORMOUS package from Amy



All beautifully wrapped - in bright colors, very Amy.



Inside there was amazing jewelry...



Stickers of many varieties, a crazy cute vintage plastic deer, cupcake soap on a rope, Bath and Bodyworks hand soap, fun smelling hand sanitizer a candle and all sorts of fun bits and bobs!



Next up from Gemma!



Gem sent me a candy wand, candles, the aforementioned slippers, yummy British candy stuffs, headbands and BLING!



Feelin' the Christmas magic.





Now from Cyndle!



Now, Cyndle is a "real-life" friend who knows that I have an obsession for supporting local businesses and agriculture, and all of her gifts were from local peeps (including herself). There was honey (LOVE), and delicious lollipops, spice rub, books by local authors, soap and a set of BEAUTIFUL wrist warmers from her shop (which, would you believe Cyndle, I left in a restaurant after 3 weeks of wearing them non-stop? Such a bummer).



And these gifts I intentionally saved for last - from my craft mama, (Diane's REAL mama), Pam.



She sent me a Tangle journal, a pen and a lovely set of colored pencils.

Now do you understand why I got all teary yesterday? These women rule. I seriously felt like a five year old that had gotten the most epic visit from Santa EVER! Thanks for being my Santas ladies. Love to all of you.