Strands of Pearls

Showing posts with label Holiday Style. Show all posts

27 December 2015

Not Back, Not Forward, Just the Time Between!

As New Year's Eve approaches we start the annual rearview mirror exercise...and then we search for our crystal balls to see what will come. What results- some regrets, some smiles, some sadness and a whole lot of "what nows". That's a lot to take in before midnight chimes. The month of December is one BIG blur...it seems as if sometime around Halloween someone fires off a starting shot and away we go. It's a whirlwind of plans, events, deadlines, GET IT DONES, fires to put out just in the "Nick" of time... and a snowstorm of shopping bags, ribbon, stamps,cards, packages,flour,sugar,sprinkles, twinkles and... That is why I adore this weekend best of all. The time between when all I need to think about, at least for today, is where my book is and whether I should watch a meaningless Pats game or revisit the past season of Downton Abbey before the finale season begins. Sure there is mail to open, bills to be paid, dusting and laundry, and...but for this weekend I'm taking my time in between! 2016 will be here soon enough with a whole new list of DO ITS so while the phones and email are relatively still I will be too...No looks back, no projecting forward, just today. Enjoy the time in between...comes but just once a year! ...and may the New Year bring peace to all!

20 December 2015

Really, It's the THOUGHT that Counts!

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I know! I know! The clock is ticking...you cannot find a parking space...every store is out of wrapping paper and scotch tape...everything looks picked over and depressing...the check out line is out the door ...you cannot find the size you want... and you need an Advil! STOP...Close your eyes, and BREATHE! Now slowly open them and take a hard look at what you have in your hand and ask yourself 3 questions..."Do I like this?" " Would I want to receive this?" "Does this say Thank you...I Care...Happy Holidays, or does it just say I need to get this done"????...take a sec and Give it Some THOUGHT!

My philosophy about Gift Giving has always been ..."Think Before You Wrap!" It is easy in the Holiday crazies, especially as THE day gets closer, to "just do it", to buy ANYTHING to be done. I really do believe that it is better to give nothing, or to just send a card, than to give a mindless or useless gift that will end up in the bottom of a drawer or worse a trash bag...how wasteful and really how insulting. How do you feel when you open a thoughtless gift? STOP! SLOW DOWN! Sit Down...and THINK! Pour a cup of tea and ponder.

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Now I can fill a shopping bag better than anyone,and I definitely get caught up in the "just one more gift" crazies or the "one for him, three for me" routine, but sometimes the CARE gets lost at the bottom of the bag. We live in an overly consumed consumer age...and clearly it has taken its toll, and we all are paying the price. I have found myself of late popping in and out of stores thinking "why is all this stuff here"...so much out there that is just "stuff". Where is the Wonderful? Where is the Beautiful? Where is the Special...and Where is the Thought?? If I see one more box of peppermint bark...well let's hope I don't!

Truly I am NOT saying Don't Shop... My Gosh! I would be put to bed if that ever happened! What I am saying is- Shop Smart, Shop Carefully, Shop with your Heart and your Head. Put some thought into it!

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Care about the money you are spending, and care about who you are giving to, care about the gift you are giving! ...and Care about those who have nothing to open this holiday season. Lost in the wrapping and ribbon are the millions who really do need our thoughts and to be shown we care! Visit Changing the Present, CommonThreadz and Presents for Purpose and Wrap Up the Holidays in a better way!

20 December 2014

Window Shopping

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I think my favorite part of Holiday Shopping is Window Shopping.

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Tantalizingly decorated Windows have always been one of the best part of retail at the holidays--forget what's inside the stores-though the windows are of course styled to lure you in-I adore a well dressed window for any season, but especially for the Holidays.

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Traditional holiday windows filled with childhood wonder still pull me in -Macy's, Lord and Taylor, Harrods, Selfridges... all sparkle with snow globes, enchanted Night Before Christmas moments, Fairy Tales, Santa's Workshop of course and even Paddington Bear.


Selfridge's


Macy's

Saks Fifth Avenue

Lord and Taylor

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Holiday windows are of course a "can you top this" affair between retailers in major cities. Sadly in my city we no longer have a downtown filled with glittering department store windows, our department stores have vanished from the downtown area and somehow windows at the mall don't do it...Holiday windows may be in fact a dying art form, something we can only remember from childhood---I don't think you see great holiday displays on line... so I love to see how small shops in local neighborhoods do their windows. They may not compete with Baz Lurhmann's designs for Barneys but thoughtful, creative colorful windows that make you smile will always bring me through the doors of local shops.

Baz Luhrmann for Barneys

Some may enjoy a Pub Crawl for me it is a Holiday Window Crawl. Bergdorf's rarely disappoints and I admit to being pulled in by any snowman, teddy bear, or enchanted magical display that tells a great story and is designed for generations to share and remember. No matter what reinvention and innovation retail shopping may go through I hope the tradition of Holiday Window Hopping will remain.

Bergdorf Goodman

22 December 2013

Snowflakes That Stay on My Nose and Eyelashes-A Few Favorite Things

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I have told this story before but...While buzzing through Trader Joe's one afternoon, trying to beat the crowd, I was appropriately in the freezer area when I came upon a sweet little one tucked into the front of a carriage who was singing her favorite holiday songs. Suddenly she broke into My Favorite Things in full voice-how could I not join her! it is my favorite too and of course it has been in my head all this week!!. So with apologies to Julie and Rodgers and Hammerstein..here are a "few of my favorite things"...just in time for the holidays--

Raindrops on Roses...

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Get me back into the garden--without the weeds of last summer please. One way to keep my fingers in the dirt is to plant bulbs -I have containers with amaryllis, paper whites, hyacinth...all over the house. Good sources for all things bulbs Living Gardens, Eden Bros. and John Scheepers, ...and if anyone is listening--- on my garden book wish list is Flowers from Carolyne Roehm

Whiskers on Kittens---

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Truth be told I am a Puppy person but all things with paws need love. This season visit a shelter and maybe rescue a new friend for the New Year! or make a donation to your local shelter to help them care for displaced and homeless paws.

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Bright Copper Kettles---

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My favorite time of year to be in the kitchen is winter. Some of the cookbooks on my Wish List include: The Model Bakery Cookbook, Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, Donna Hays' Seasons , Valerie Gordon's Sweet Bouchon Bakery ,Heirloom Cooking With the Brass Sisters: Recipes You Remember and Love

, The girl & the fig cookbook: More than 100 Recipes from the Acclaimed California Wine Country RestaurantDorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours and anything from Ina! Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust

http://www.amazon.com/The-Model-Bakery-Cookbook-Favorite/dp/1452113831/ref=pd_sim_b_1

...and while we are talking books at home

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Artfully-Home-Marjorie-Merriweather/dp/1907804137/ref=pd_sim_b_73

Warm Woolen Mittens---

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I'm a Knitter don't forget so this is MY favorite Thing thing. Give me a basket of yarn and a pair of needles, maybe an classic old movie and a comfy chair and call me in the spring! I have not knit a pair of mittens in forever but maybe with all the snow we have been having The Let it Snow Mittens should be my first WIP of 2014??

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/let-it-snow-11

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String---

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Anything wrapped and presented is always a happy thing--and YES it is THE thought that counts so THINK before you wrap it up! but I love a beautifully wrapped package almost as much as what might be inside! As for the String Thing of course that would be in the form of pearls of course!

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Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes---

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Aren't you glad Pretty is back! Of course for some of us an elegant dress with a perfect bow has always been the happy dress! I have a few fashion books on the wish list this year: Diana Vreeland Memos, Charles James: Beyond Fashion,
Dior Couture ,Grace: A Memoir, Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style, In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine

YSL velvet dress, "Paris rose" satin bow, Haute Couture Collection, FW 1983. Photo by Gilles Tapie.
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Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes---

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We have had our first real snow followed by bitter cold and another snowfall which covered up all the ice so not quite a holiday card view underneath it all. I like the frosting kind, just enough to dress the trees and maybe enough to build that snow-friend-a date for New Year's perhaps?

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Silver white winters that melt into springs---

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Winter is often the season we hibernate and snuggle in, and for me that means curling up with the knitting and a stack of books. I love a snowy day but I also love those days when the melting begins and small signs of spring like the snow drops begin to appear.

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Sadly for many winter is the most difficult season, so many without the warmth and shelter we take for granted, and they need our help!-please remember those in need as you count your favorite things this season.
May the the holidays be filled with joy and peace!