You Know Dasher and Dancer...

Did you also know that male reindeer lose their antlers in early winter [late November to early December]? And that female reindeer don't lose their antlers until the spring? Hmmmm...ever met a gal named Rudolph?!

When Ben lived in London, he lived right next to Richmond Park [the former hunting grounds of King Charles I]. The park is home to some 650 free roaming deer. If you go there, you can see the markings on the trees from where the stags rub their antlers on them before they fall off.

What is it about antlers that are so beautiful?

[Images from Living Etc.;Cardboard Safari; Cookie; Design Public; DecorPad; Cookie -- an inflatable moose head!]

Recycling at it's best

Love a pair of reclaimed doors...

[not sure where this one is from -- let me know if you do!]

Black and White

Black walls v. white walls -- which do you prefer? In these two cases, I'll take them both!

[Full slide show of black house here; full slide show of white house here]

Domesticity

I went to Michael's the other day to look for wallet sized picture frames. While I was there, I happened upon these holiday cookie/treat boxes [pictured above and on sale] by Martha Stewart. I like her craft line. I do. I admit it. So, I had grand visions of whipping up all these different goodies to go in the boxes to give to my kids' teachers. HA! We did make chocolate peanut butter balls...

[the chocolate came later and was a HUGE mess, so the camera wasn't around!]
BUT they did not make it to school yesterday because I ran out of time, and while I always think that I will "just stay up a little later tonight", when 8:30PM rolls around I'm ready to hit the hay. So, we put one box to good use, and took some to our neighbors...

...and the others are stashed away until next year!

Do you have a favorite treat you make this time of year?

Winter Wonderland

All the white, silver, wood and greenery in this cottage makes me want to curl up by the fire with some hot coffee and a magazine...

I'm especially fond of the lighting -- those chandeliers in the kitchen are fantabulous!

[Find the full home tour on Living Etc. here]

The Cherry on Top

I received a precious pair of baby bloomers for Maggie from a friend of my mothers. Not only was the gift itself adorable, but the packaging brought a smile to my face -- on the outside of the bag, the seamstress had sewn the monogram that was used on the bloomers:

Definitely the cherry on top!

Here are some other ideas for spicing up all your packages this holiday season:




[From top to bottom: ormolu Christmas alphabet tags; farouche dandy tags; Petit Papetier envelope labels; PaperEclectiques naughty or nice tags]

I finally got around to wrapping some presents this weekend -- I'm so disappointed in my wrapping paper this year [not the one shown below; that's pretty much the only good roll I have] but considering all that has been going on, it's just going to have to do. I'll just hit the sales after Christmas to stock up for next year! Anyway, I figured if I designed a cute tag, then maybe the recipients wouldn't notice the tacky paper...hope it works!

To The Extreme

The big news in our neck of the woods this past week was the arrival of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition crew. They demolished and rebuilt a home for a local family who runs a non profit music school out of their house. We walked by yesterday to check out the progress:


No Ty sightings, but it was fun to take a peak!

The Bedroom

Sleep -- I don't get much of it these days, but that doesn't diminish my love for our delightfully, delectably comfortable bed. But while our bed is luxuriously cozy, I need to start focusing on pulling the room together. It just feels a little haphazard right now because I ran out of steam when we were moving in and that happened to be the last room on my list. So, I thought I would share some of my inspiration...







[Images 1/4/7 are from Living Etc.; 3/5 from domino; and 2/6 were just in my files -- anyone know?]

Baby girl did sleep for 9 hours last night, so maybe we are on our way to a consistent full nights sleep??!!

Home

I was unexpectedly a little MIA last week because my sweet baby girl came down with RSV, and we had to spend a couple nights in the hospital. There is nothing like coming home after a few nights away in a not so fun place. And there is also nothing quite as scary as wondering if your baby will be able to breathe, so I am SO grateful for the not so fun place. That said, it is definitely not a place that I'd like to frequent. When we came home Friday evening, the Christmas tree lights were on, and the house was toasty and warm. Sometimes the everyday tasks of housekeeping and mothering can be draining, but after I've been away it all feels so good. I remember sitting in the hospital waiting room with my sick girl thinking, "I would give anything to be cleaning up the Legos all over the floor and making dinner right now." Mostly, though, I missed the men of the house:

my almost 4-yr-old, who insists on dressing himself, and refuses to take off his pajamas before he puts on the clothes he has picked out...

My 5.5-yr-old, whose energy I wish I could have...even just a little bit of it would be nice...

and my sweet Reg, who did an amazing job holding down the fort...

Thankfully, Maggie is doing much, much better now. This Christmas, I am going to give particular thanks for doctors -- I wish I could write her doctors a note or send them something, but I was in such a daze while I was there that I can't remember their names. I remember their faces perfectly, but their names escaped me. All I knew was that they were going to help my baby, and that was all that mattered to me at the time. So, to all you doctors out there, THANK YOU for all that you do for your patients. I am so grateful to see this little face smiling again...

Cabin Fever

Even though our Thanksgiving was wonderful, we did have a little bit of Cabin Fever going on by the end of last week...all three of mine have colds, but my younger was one sick little fella, so we did not do much the whole weekend. I took advantage of all our time around the house, and caught up on the growing stack of magazines on my side table [since I now get in bed at 8:30 there isn't a lot of time for my nightly magazine read/show watching!]. I just finished the September Cookie [I'm also trying to savor this magazine...can't believe it will be no more...], where they featured this beautiful cabin...I'd move-in in a heartbeat!

[See the full slideshow here]

Call of the Wild

Maybe it's the turkey in my fridge that has me thinking about birds, but these bird calls are beautiful. And the packaging, well you know how I feel about good packaging...I think I'd buy one for the box and diagrams alone!

They even have a Christmas set that includes calls for the turtle dove and partridge:

More Than Meets the Eye

I was reading Nelya's oh-so-inspiring blog last week, and she mentioned that she spotted a Banksy while in New Orleans. I went to check out his website, and was so inspired by his art. Some of my faves:





I wish we could get a wall in our house "Banksy-ized!"

Creative Space

Today, I am all about inspiration for my work space...



[above images from Living Etc.]

[image from domino magazine...sigh...]

Do you get as curious as I do about other people's offices? The folks at Martha Stewart posted a feature about their offices -- very fun to take a look around!




[This is my kind of office...I'll bet the owner of this office knows exactly which pile contains what. That's how I operate, and Ben is always amazed when he asks me for something and I go directly to the pile of papers it is in -- mess with my piles and we've got problems!]

My New "Diaper" Bag

We made a pit stop at American Apparel this weekend where the boys played hide-and-seek in the clothing racks...



...and I picked up this bag [I bought the caramel with caramel straps] that I've had my eye on. With all the stuff I lug around for three kids, I needed a bag that was virtually weightless and with an opening that made it easy to access the contents inside.

This one fits the bill pretty well, even though technically it's a laptop bag. And for $34 you can get one if every color! My aching shoulder is thanking me today!