59.

The Peppermint Piercer stands in a crowded December train car, sucking his candy cane to a needle sharp point, and eyeing his fellow travelers.

53.

When you choose a Christmas tree, there are lots of things to think about. How tall is it? How fresh? What kind? Do the needles poke? Is it pitchy? Is it crooked? Is it a little mushed on one side so it will fit just right in the corner? Does it have a proper top bit? These are all very important questions. They don't matter one bit. The only way to choose your tree is by smell. When you get right in amongst it, are you suddenly transported to the pitch black middle of the night on Christmas Eve, as you and your brother sneak upstairs to look at the lumpy stockings hanging in a row? You are?

That's your tree.

day 9.

When I was four years old I got a Crayola coloring set for Christmas. 64 crayons and 12 markers and a 12 pack of chalk, in a little yellow suitcase with a black plastic handle, and special slots for every single piece to nestle perfectly into the two sides of the case. I was enchanted. The perfect, flat points and waxy smell of the crayons. The powdery feel of their labels. The juicy, sharp perfection of unused markers, and the joy of snapping the caps off and on. All those colors. The best part, my very favorite thing in the whole set, was the chartreuse crayon. I'd never seen anything that color before. I loved it so much that I wouldn't put it down. I carried it around all day, and finally took it into the bathroom with me. 

And then, dear reader? And then? I dropped my chartreuse crayon in the toilet and it was flushed away. Anguish.

I still have terrible flashbacks when I see incomplete sets of things. Don't let this happen to you. Don't take your crayons in the bathroom.

crush month: day 28

Today (and all the days hereafter) I have a crush on one of my Christmas presents. Shana shares my love of selvedge, but she has the foresight to actually keep it. In a true labor of love, she made me this amazing cowl by painstakingly sewing strips of selvedge together and lining it with a fluffy blue fleece. It's delectable, and I'm in love with it. As you can see from the last picture, I don't even brush out my bedhead before putting it on in the morning. You can't tell, but I'm smiling in there. Sexy. Thank you, Shana!

crush month: day 25

The Boy. My sweet and funny nephew, Grant, is celebrating his third Christmas today. I wish I could be with him to share the fun, but as we're far apart I have to be content with pictures. Just this fall, he stopped looking like a baby and started looking like a boy. Here are some that I love.

Brushing his teeth:

DJ'ing a wedding:

Enjoying the packing, last Christmas:

Aiming his Red Ryder BB Gun (oh wait, that's Ralphie):

Catching snowflakes:

And in a few short months, he'll be joined by a baby sister; I can't wait to meet her. Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one.

crush month: day 17

Muppet Carol of the Bells.

The combination of Animal, Beaker and Swedish Chef is a tonic 100% guaranteed to cure what ails you. I know we've had Muppets already, but, well, I don't care. This one's seasonal!

crush month: day 7

The holiday windows at Bergdorf Goodman. Nothing about these windows says Christmas to me, but I think they're extraordinary anyway. Darkly intricate odes to fairy tales and anthropomorphism, with heavy references to Alice in Wonderland and steampunk fashion, plus a charming series of Fantastic Mr. Fox windows, using the original puppets from Wes Anderson's film.

never was a story of more woe

...than that of Red Squirrel and his pillow. I'm lucky to have really funny and wonderful friends and family, and I got fantastic Christmas presents. Here, for your coveting pleasure, is a sampling.

Leslie got me the most excellent pillow I've ever seen. It's a page from an old fabric children's book, sewn onto a wool panel. And it's the sad-sackiest page imaginable. Poor Red Squirrel is lame and cannot gather any nuts. Everybody gets there before him - the grey squirrels, the brown squirrels, even the small boys (who, alas, are not pictured).

Shana made me a stocking, and filled it with Etsy delights of every kind. My dad got me a great book about the Red Sox (yay!) and the Yankees (boo!), and my mom sent beautiful slate coasters. Matt sent me a signed first edition by one of my favorite writers. My clever siblings made me cards and sugar scrub. How lucky am I? Thanks, sweet people.

randomly selected holiday specials

For one reason and another, I've had a rough and choppy fall, and have fallen a bit behind on all the fun stuff that's supposed to go with holiday shopping. It didn't occur to me until this morning that it would be fun to offer daily specials in my shop, so I'm going to do my best to keep up with that plan (Step 1: publicize it so you're accountable...). Starting with today: for Wednesday, December 3, take 15% off all blue earrings! Keep an eye on my Special of the Day section for new shopping treats.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5041500&section_id=5785807

Happy holidays!

you'll shoot your eye out, kid

I love, love, love when TBS runs the 24 hours of A Christmas Story. For that one, magical 24 hours, there's always something good on. Think of it: a 0% chance that you won't want to watch what's on. It's unprecedented.

On the less fun side of things, I am stranded at home in my apartment with a stomach bug/achey/fevery/shaky thing when I'm supposed to be in Virginia visiting my grandparents and sisters. It's making for a fairly pathetic holiday, I'm sorry to say. I did go out today to get some groceries for tomorrow so I could at least pretend to make Christmas, but as I was rewarded by almost passing out when I got home, I don't think I'll try again for a couple of days.

It's the pity post! Feel bad for me, for I am ill and sad!