happy new year

Happy New Year! Peace and love to you in 2010. My new year's resolution is to take more photographs of my children this year. How about you?

christmas day

Wonderful day yesterday. Today: legos, puzzles, tea, chocolate, books, maybe a movie for the four of us this afternoon if we can get motivated. It's cloudy and quiet. I need a walk!

until soon

My friend Ann always finishes her letters with "until soon". I think it's such a lovely expression. I wish you all a good end of the year and a merry Christmas if you celebrate it.

Until soon,

Jill

give away and sale!

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! Today, on the shortest day of the year, I wanted to wish you all a wonderful winter season with a little thank you for visiting me here in 2009.

First, I'm giving away this little clothespeg doll, dressed in a blue wool sweater and a grey wool skirt. An alpaca scarf completes her outfit, but her best accessory (as is so often the case) is her smile. Just leave me a comment here before January 1st and I will draw names out of a hat soon after.

Also, I'm having a winter sale in my shop on all bags, both totes and zip bags. 20% off, prices reflect the discount already.

Happy Winter to you all!

cake and cold

Very cold here, but I like it. It feels like real winter. We are going to get our Christmas tree this afternoon, as soon as it starts to get dark. We'll walk down the street to our local market with our little red wagon and cart one back from the lot. It's a city thing, for sure. When I was little my dad, brother and I would walk to our next door neighbor's yard, where he had a little Chrismas tree farm. My dad would bring his saw and my brother and I would choose the tree and my dad would cut it down. We'd carry it back to our house in the dark, where my mom would be cooking something warm and comforting for dinner. I asked my daughter if she wanted to go out to the country to get a tree this year, but she said no. She'd rather go down the street since it is our family tradition.

I baked this coffee cake yesterday. It's one of my favorites because it's easy and always comes out well.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream or plain whole milk yogurt

5 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat for several seconds. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat for 2 minutes, or until light and creamy. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir with a fork to blend well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream or yogurt and vanilla and mix well.

Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a straw comes out clean when inserted into the center. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a rack and coool a little bit before slicing. Serve warm.

Gourmet Magazine December 2001

grapefruit

I had forgotten how good grapefruit is this time of year. I bought a bunch yesterday and had some for lunch today. The best!

Otherwise, quite an unremarkable day spent cleaning and cooking. Nice to have a quiet day like this.

from mexico

As I got caught up in all the holiday shows, I never finished posting about Mexico. Here's a few more of my favorites from the trip. It's cold here today and it makes me happy to think about the warm times we had down there.

snowy photos

I couldn't resist these snowy photos from Traci French's Blissful Images shop to decorate my mantel this holiday season.

They remind me of growing up in New Hampshire, where there are always piles of snow during the winter months and crisp, cold air. It's no problem to go for a cross country ski out the back door or have an impromptu afternoon of ice skating on a frozen pond. Unlike the grey dampness of Boston and Cambridge where we don't really get much snow at all. Can you tell I miss those NH winters? Luckily I live close enough to go visit often.

where we blog from

Oh, what a delight to get to share my surprise for tomorrow with you today! The lovely Jane, from one of my favorite blogs, Ill Seen, Ill Said has invited me to participate in her "where we blog from series". I was so flattered to be asked by Jane to contribute and so I'm sharing some sneak peeks of my studio on Jane's blog today. I'm so excited! Please come visit!

four friends

Hi there! I am finally done with all my holiday sales. I am breathing a HUGE sigh of relief, because honestly, I invested so much time and energy in it all and it is finally DONE! Everything went well and my little shop is feeling a bit emptier.

I wanted to let you know that I have four clothespeg dolls left in my shop from the original edition of 30. I am so pleased that these dolls were well recieved and it was my pleasure to send them off into the world. So far they have traveled as far away as Japan, Australia, France, and England! But what really touched my heart was when four friends came to my trunk show the other day and each bought the doll that reminded them of themselves as a token of their friendship. Isn't that sweet?

I have one more surprise regarding the clothespeg dolls, but I can't tell you until next Monday.

Oh, and I have a fun surprise for you tomorrow too! Stay tuned.

michelle willey trunk show

I love this invite that Angela made for our trunk show at Michelle Willey's shop this weekend!
Please stop by and visit us.

Saturday December 12, 11-6
Sunday December 13, 12-5
Michelle Willey
8 Union Park Street
South End, Boston MA

We will have ribbon, paper, notecards, journals, lavender pillows, clothespeg dolls, bags, scarves, grain sack pillows and more.

Michelle's shop is gorgeous: all whites and creams and filled with beautiful accessories for your home. You can check it out here.

Happy weekend!

we had snow

It snowed here earlier this week. Now it's all melted. But it was pretty.

trunk show tonight!

This fabulous show at the home of artist, Susy Pilgrim Waters is tonight!

5:30- 8:30 pm
11 Eden Ave
West Newton, MA

I will be there with Susy, Angela, Julie from Pod, and many, many more amazing vendors. There will be lots of yummy food and drink and even 15 minute massages. Don't let the weather deter you: this snowy morning is going to turn into a rainy evening. I hope to see you there!

starting to decorate

Starting to decorate for the holidays. I love pulling out old favorites this time of the year. I start slowly with a few things, then when we get our tree in a week or two things will really pick up speed.

Thank you to all of the wonderful people who came to the 36 Shea Road Holiday Sale yesterday!
It was great to see all of you and fun to see my usually quiet house filled with people and excitement.

Today, things got back to normal. I still have three more shows to go this week and a birthday celebration to prepare, but mostly, things are winding down and I can focus on family and things like making homemade chicken soup. That's what's for dinner tonight.

sales.sales.sales

Two sales this weekend! Please come visit me at these events!

Saturday December 5th 10-4

Waldorf School of Lexington Holiday Fair

739 Mass Ave, Lexington, MA

Sunday December 6th 1-5

36 Shea Road Annual Holiday Fair

36 Shea Road

Cambridge, MA 02140

The one on Sunday is at my house, with lots of wonderful ladies selling their handmade goodies.

We'll have refreshments to put you in the mood for some great holiday shopping. Hope to see you there!

invitation designed by Angela Liguori