nyc | it snowed, a bit

hello, hello! hope you all had a wonderful holiday! ours was nice and there was a blizzard here monday in case you hadn't heard ;). we had just under two feet of snow and for reasons yet to be determined, it was chaos and still challenging for many.

cars, buses, ambulances, trains and snow plows were getting stuck in the snow and being abandoned. scott really wanted to get to work, but the only way that was going to happen is if he walked as my half of the car said no way.

one lucky thing is that the storm happened during winter break, which is great for kids and school bus drivers. so, we end 2010 with a bang in our town. if the bad guys ever figure out how to make it snow on command, we're done (more pics here). hope you have a happy & safe new year. see you in 2011!

xo, cindy

ps the new song rolling in the deep by adele is so good. it's about love gone wrong, but not hopeless -

throw your soul threw every open door
count your blessings to find what you look for
turn my sorrow into treasured gold
you pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow

heart break can come from many places other than romantic love and the best gift we can give ourselves in each case is to let go of the pain when the clock strikes twelve on january 1st, if not sooner. i'm going to try.

holiday | enjoy!

hello, hello! wishing you a wonderful holiday and hope all your dreams come true. from what we can tell you all have been very good this year :). thank you for visiting our little neck of the woods and making it extra-special!

xo, cindy + scott

ps this interview on npr talks about some unusual holiday traditions around the world. in sweden, people of all ages get really excited to watch a vintage donald duck movie on christmas day. in japan, people make reservations for kentucky fried chicken on christmas eve and another group feasts on a spread from mcdonalds! watching the yule log, homemade cookies and turkey sound pretty good in comparison :).

holiday | red + white

hello, hello! our holiday decorations are really simple this year and more about winter than christmas. frannie was made by ann wood and is dressed in an acorn hat & linen scarf for the cold. she's leaning on a vintage tiddlywinks container because she's had too much egg nog and can't stand up without some help ;).



the little embroidered stocking is from the new york botanical gift shop and hangs on our china cabinet.



my brother made the birdhouse long ago and i painted it white. the wooden bird ornament is from abc carpet & home and the embroidered clove-filled sachet a lucky score from wiksten.



the spool of thread wreath is from michael's and such a great idea!



the scandinavian-inspired martha stewart wrapping paper is also from michael's and the shanna murray gift tags are free in the november/december issue of rue magazine (page 60 or here). i also saw these tags yesterday from sharilyn and they are wonderful, too!

xo, cindy

ps have you seen the paper disco ball by laurie cinotto? so great!

pics | two views

fujifilm instax

hello, hello! i took the photo of the pepsi-cola sign in long island city last week during jen's visit and didn't think much of it, until she quickly convinced me otherwise. my brother always complained that photos with the sky blown-out weren't any good, but i'm starting to think he is wrong. the crane you see in the background had construction workers walking on it way up high and boy was it cold.

the stone sculptures named asaf and yo'ah by boaz vaadia were at the time warner center and fantastic - kind of ufo-ish. earlier this summer scott and i stumbled upon his studio in williamsburg and were just amazed by boaz's work. each layer is a hand carved piece of stone and stacked one on top of another with a little help from a threaded rod + glue. enjoy your weekend!

xo, cindy

ps the winner of the calendar+ giveaway is erika and i have one extra to send to anna. hurray, another excuse to go shopping! each calendar is hand cut and although i'm not able to print it on linen any longer, i can do so on matte photo paper. so, if anyone else wants to do some sort of trade, let me know. i'm going to be trying fine art paper next week and that might be very nice.

pps we had great news yesterday about charlie's early stage lung cancer. the doctor thought that after three radiation treatments he might be totally cured. good thing too because he was a brat this week and thisclose to getting an extended time-out ;)!

fun | calendar+ giveaway

hello, hello! i made a 2011 calendar using some of our favorite photos this year and would like to give one away. it's printed on a nice linen card stock and measures about 4" x 5". to sweeten the deal, i'll add a little something extra to the package depending on what i think the winner might like. all you have to do is leave a comment below before december 18th and we'll announce one winner on saturday. ho-ho-ho!

xo, cindy

collect | vintage letters

hello, hello! charlie brought out a photo album to show us some more of his wedding photos and i found these wonderful letters. they were written during the 1920s in czechoslavakia (currently, the czech republic) and mailed to new york city, america. although we don't understand a word of them, the handwriting is just lovely and could be quite interesting as the country established its independence in 1918 and the first president was elected in 1920.

one thing i do understand is that sending out our christmas cards would be much further along if i had such beautiful handwriting. excuses, excuses :).

xo, cindy