Belated holidays

Uhhh, I may be a touch late here, but I wanted to wish you all a happy holidays! (Let's just pretend that we're not in a totally different year by now, okay?). I hope you all had a wonderful Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the like.

B and I traveled to Phila (sadly, no cheesesteaks this time around); hauled gifts; exchanged said gifts; and did a lot of relaxing with family. 'Twas lurvely.

How was yours?

And before I forget, I have one special holiday shout-out in the form of the coolest pic ever. Val, this one's for you:

Blazow. (Yup, that's a word.) You can thank me later. ;)

Images via: 1- Walking Around Where the Sidewalk Begins, 2 and 3- Habitually Chic, 4- The Lil Bee

Oh crap.

They're back. I'm in trouble.

(See what I'm talking about here.)

Passover treat?

Typical. Pretty much universally, all kids out there who celebrate Christmas get beautiful gingerbread houses laden with candy and other delicious, commercial goodies; oppositely, only the luckiest of lucky Jewish kids - those with uber-ambitious and overreaching moms - get this:

Thanks for throwing the Jews a bone, Martha Stewart and co. Nice try, but matzo dressed up with dates and macaroons still sucks. The Jews' plight continues... (Ha ha - kidding, of course.)

At least we get to drink a lot of wine at the seder. Four glasses required to be consumed before the meal even begins - woohoo! ;)

Photo from The Crafts Dept. of Martha Stewart.

Happy holidays (and have a great long weekend)!

We're officially heading out for the rest of the week/weekend so I'll be gone until at least Monday, but I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

And of course I couldn't resist throwing in one more gorgeous thing before I go. Isn't this vintage-y holiday wreath (shown above and below) so cheery and pretty? Whitney made it herself using antique ornaments. Love it!

Wreath and photos from The Smith Family blog

Happy holidays everyone! Hope to see you back here again next week - when we'll almost be in to 2010!

Cheers!
xoxo, R

The blue door

This living room (by design legend Windsor Smith) looks comfy and chic as is, but doesn't that amazing turquoise door just make the whole scene? I love the pops of red (love the chairs in the back) and blue against the crisp white couch and the overall palette of neutrals, but that door has got to be my favorite part of the room. It's a good reminder to consider each part of a room - even the little things, such as the insides of doors, trim and mouldings - when designing your space. This room seems like it would be the perfect place for a Malibu Christmas. :)

Photo found on House of Turquoise, originally from C Magazine.

Three more days...

Photo by John Dolan

The holiday weekend will be upon us before we even know it! So much to do: wrapping, packing, re-upping the EZPass. I can't wait for B to be done work on Wednesday afternoon and for us to head out for a looong, fun weekend!

(Side note: I'll still be blogging up to Wednesday, so keep checking back throughout the week!)

Snowy weekend in Annapolis

Good morning! Did you have a good weekend? What's that? You got some snow? A blizzard you say?

Oh riiiight, it snowed in DC and Maryland this weekend.

A ton. Truckloads. As high as the rear bumper of my car. More than we've had since 2003. And really, really fun.

Saturday we bundled up in about 219 layers of gear and headed over to our friends' place where we all played in the snow like seven-year-olds. There may have been some "bumper skiing" going on too:

(This involves either holding on to the bumper of a Jeep or the rope that is tied to the back and then coasting over the snow on your shoes, no actual skis required. It results in slipping, sliding and generally debauchery. And fun. This photo was taken from inside the back of the Jeep.)

Today B and I spent all day by the fireplace, reading, watching football and warming up again. I've since come down with a lame cold ("skiing" in the snow anyone?) that I'm trying to banish as quickly as possible and before Christmas, but otherwise it was a fun weekend and made me even more excited for the upcoming holiday week. Only three days to go (if you even have work at all due to the snow).

Top photo from The Rockstar Diaries. See more of Naomi's beautiful snow day pictures here.
Bottom photo from a bunch of idiots I went to college with (whom we call good friends). :)

Living Christmas tree rental (alternately titled "hug a tree, don't cut it down!")

Photo by Michael Czerwonka for the NYT

Since I celebrate Hanukkah and B is a tree-hugger, we don't have a real Christmas tree come the holiday season. Trust me, I'd be all for it - a reason to buy things and decorate with them! - but we don't feel it necessary to cut down a tree just for our short-term merriment. I'd rather have fresh, clean air than a shedding tree, no? Instead, we string white lights onto our kayak (yes, we have it in our house - it's a long story) and put a sparkly bird on top. It's festive but subtle and twinkles nicely next to our fireplace.

But, if I lived in California (which I gladly would), I would seriously consider renting a tree from livingchristmas.com. Scott Martin, a landscape architect and the guy behind the awesome concept, rents out living trees - which are potted in soil, don't shed and remain alive while giving off that amazing Christmas tree smell - to families for the holidays. You can even get the same tree year after year. Some of the families who do this have even named their trees.

Even better than the brilliant concept is that the company is green in more ways than reusing trees. The trees are cared for throughout the year by adults with disabilities, the delivery trucks run on biodiesel, and the drivers are willing to take your used wrapping paper for recycling.

The article in the New York Times is really interesting; check it out here. Think B and I should start a similar service in Annapolis? Somehow it seems like it would be more fun in year-round sunny California...

Found via beachbungalow8 on twitter.

Gift idea: for the man (or granny) in your life

Now I know what to get B for Christmas!


No, it's not a "head backhoe" (that's what she said! ha.), it's an "acoustic listening device." These were developed as part of air defense systems research for the Dutch army between World Wars 1 and 2.

Doesn't this one look comfy?

Kinda cool though. I've always wanted to be able to hear everything going on around me. Also perhaps my grandmother would like one of these...you know, because her current hearing aid is just too darn streamlined.

Originally found on Swiss Miss.

DIY holiday decor: origami box ornaments

Adding on to my post from yesterday about holiday decorations made from paper, here's another great DIY idea for holiday decorations on the cheap and trying to be green (this is reusing at its best!). Samantha Miller of PAPER RED SHOES created this awesome work of origami that can be made from book pages, newspaper, sheet music or the like.

Full instructions on how to do this, along with step-by-step photos, can be found at Creature Comforts.

I consider this one to be attempted by super-crafters only. (I think I'm pretty crafty, but I don't know if my fingers are up for this.) I don't think I'd have the patience to intricately fold several (or even one) of these, but don't they look pretty hanging in a window?

They'd obviously be great on a tree, too, or adorning a mantel or ledge. So pretty and cool!

Happy birthday, Sara!

Today is someone's birthday. Guess who?

"Who me?"

Yep, that's right; it's the fabulous Ms. S - that's Sara with no H to you.

In honor of her joyous 29th birthday (an age we'll probably remain for the next 10 years or so...), I'd like to share a few things about my fun friend. I hope she doesn't kill me. So, without further ado, here are 10 things you may not know about Ms. McCrazy:

1. She's super fun.


2. She's obsessed with her Devon Rex, but deep down I think she's a dog lover too.

They kinda look related, no?

3. She makes a really good Mrs. Claus.

A dancing Mrs. Claus...

4. She's super sporty.

Who else could rock a helmet this nicely?

5. She and her boyfriend are hilarious together.


6. She likes to ride her bike in downtown Annapolis and Eastport.

Sometimes she swerves.

7. She can handle a gun.


8. She's a great dancer.


9. She is uber-smart.

Don't the glasses prove it?

10. She LOVES to sleep. And when she's ready to go to sleep, get out of her way! (No picture needed to prove this point. This is just fact.)

Bonus item: 11. She is an awesome friend.

Happy birthday, Somack! Have a great day today and see you at TGIFriday's for your birthday dinner (ha ha).