Winter Works

At the start of winter I was asked, along with Halligan (&thanks to her), to submit artwork for a Winter Show of Gifts held at a beautiful shop in Philly called Vagabond. Below are the fragile, hand-sewn goodies I made all inspired by my first days of winter here in Philadelphia. Those days were spent reading Little Women & watching snow fall form the sky all day long. These little felt friends are filled with Christmas Tree needles and made from beautiful wool felt that I found in Aix en Provence last year in my travels abroad!

The kitten is Merry Widow and the rat, Sir Rodrigo. I have also included an image of my business card that I attached to the bag in which these good-fellas were delivered.

Sadly, this is the only project that I have completed since I have been here in Philly. So, it's a good thing the New Year is here. I have plans for being extra productive in the year 2008!

Most Grateful for Friends

Gratitudes:

1. Emily, Paul, & Abby spent a cozy long-weekend with me & Katie Miller here in Philadelphia. I loved being so close to them once again. We did lots of cooking and hanging out on a big comfy palette on the living room floor, all bundled up & sipping on yummy Vin Chaud!!

2. Lydia Smith, once again came to my rescue & called in troops, including her lovely mother, Mrs. Smith when I was feeling really not so very well!

3. The Caccuro's for caring so much and being remarkably understanding & kind to me when I couldn't show up for work one day

4. Liz Demos, my former boss/ friend & now, solely a friend keeping in touch and reminding me of what magic the world works bringing certain people together for very special reasons

5. My momma. She is beautiful & sweet and wants so badly for her children to be happy & healthy for as long as we live. I want to be more like her & I wish I had her charm.

6. Little Women is my bible. I read it all the way through this time & what a perfect time it was. The March girls are the best thing that happened to me all year.

7. Reading to Baby, it is my favorite thing to do at work and sometimes I just don't want to stop, only I fear I might bore him to tears!

8. Being a part of my sisters wedding planning- colors are to be poppy red and blush pink, strawberries will be prevalent in decor and taste. Ceremonies will be held in our hometown, Tampa, Fla. Also, I'm in charge of wedding invites.

9. Halligan, Adam Smith & I shared the honor to be in a Holiday Gift/Art Exhibit together held in the beautiful Philly based shop, Vagabond this past weekend.

10. Decorating for the holidays with Halli, we love Christmas and we now live in Christmas land.

11. Mr.Smith bought us our quirky & chubby little tree- so kind. Then, Halli decorated him, and he is so handsome, cheery & bright!

12. Evan (8) & Ellie(4) saw the Avett Brothers in concert- I can't wait to talk to them about it.

13. I'll be home, in Florida, on Sunday! I can't wait to see my grandmother & to eat lots of Cuban food for Christmas.

14. My cousin Jacki, who I adore to no end will be home from D.C. & I hope to spend lots of time with her, it's been a really long time since I saw her last.

15. I will be demoiselle d'honneur to Afton at the wedding- how sweet. Now I have to find a dress & quick!

16. Halligan has a new job that she loves working with Maximal Art, a jewelry company here in Philly. She is so happy & that makes me happy.

17. The little black snowman that Paul Isabella made for me as a hostess gift. He is beautifully hand embroidered and filled with beans for good weight & support purposes. I love it.

18. Handmade = love!! I'm trying to give as many handmade gifts this year as possible.

19. Books to read. I love giving books as a gift. Every year my nieces & nephew get a book from me, usually a favorite childhood book of mine.

20. To you, Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

With a Banjo on Her Knee

I am so happy to announce that my sister, Afton & Samuel are officially engaged to be married as of yesterday, December 7th! Samuel proposed in Arkansas on his family property- so sweet. I'm so excited- I was a ball of emotions when Afton called- I'm just so sad to be so far away from them during fun times like this.

It is so fun for me because I was there for the beginning of this relationship, Afton & I lived together for 3yrs in Savannah, Ga up until this past October. A few years ago we met Samuel through a mutual friend, Haynes Riley when Samuel came to visit in Savannah. Of course A & S took notice of each other then, only it was too quick of a trip for anything to spin from it. So, when Haynes & his twin brother Hunter heard that Afton, friends & I were going to Asheville, NC this summer- they insisted we look Samuel Boultinghouse up & it's a good thing we did!!

Congratulations, Afton & Samuel!!
I miss you guys.
xoxo

Meet the Family

I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving at my parents' cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. They have a beautiful place in Tuckaseegee, NC where the entire family was able to meet up. The household included the original 6, My parents, 2 big brothers, 1 big sister, & myself- plus: 2 sister-in-laws, one (sister's) boyfriend, 5nieces, & 1 nephew-phew!! 15 total.


On Thanksgiving day all of the adults took on a recipe & cooked it for our grand meal (which I forgot to photograph)- some of us succeeded & some almost failed, so...


thank God mom was close-by to recover the watery cranberry sauce. I won't mention the names of any failure cooks!!


One day we sat around in our p.j.'s while Kyle, the oldest & his wife, Leslie, prepared omelets-to-order. We also drove up and around mountains enough to make me want to die, all the while picking out favorite mountain homes with my brother, Blake, & his wife, Kjersten. This day it was everybody's top priority to find snow, so we drove and drove and drove to find the tiniest bit of snow-dusted forest where we hiked and pretended to be in Narnia.


On the day after Thanksgiving, Afton's boyfriend Samuel's parents arrived. It was such a pleasure to meet them. We all really enjoyed Sandy & Michael- they were lots of fun for us all. I think we all really hit it off, which is always nice, especially for my sister & Samuel.
Other highlights of being with my family were the old time jam with Afton on the banjo & Samuel on the fiddle & playing cards & games with the entire family. Who ever knew mom had such a great poker face? I was so impressed, but why didn't she ever teach me?

The Silly Babes:

I really loved being with my nieces & nephew who are all growing at such a rate that I still cannot wrap my brain around (Logan, age 12 is 5' 8"-yikes!!) & meeting my newest niece Maggie- she is such a sweetie. They are all well behaved beauties (& a little man), I love getting to know each of them- what fun, sweet, & gentle little personalities they are!

What a Treat!

Before I left Philly to see my family in the mountains of North Carolina, I stopped by Reading Terminal Market to pick-up goodies for my nieces & nephew, and this is what I found:


They are beautiful & delicious lollipops handmade in Lansdale, PA by a company called Sargent's, specializing in Clear Toy Candy made in antique molds. How special is that? The taste of the candy is just like that of the candy on a candied-apple. Yum. Yum.

These big treats were finished off in no time by the little Waring crew & their aunts Afton & Haylie!!