round up: christmas treasures

We received so many meaningful gifts this Christmas. I felt really blessed, especially when packages started showing up from old friends all the way across the country. My brother sent a wreath he made by hand from the trees around his house in New Hampshire. That was a real winner. Our friends Derek and Erika sent a beautiful tea set for Stella, and a book for Oliver, and a calendar made from Derek's artwork for us. Our friends Sara and Chris sent more wonderful books and an assortment of homemade cookies, which like always, were all gone a day later. Our friends Darcie and Mike, who live much closer to us, gave us a little collection of treasures inspired by our love of Point Reyes (more on that later this month).

I received much more than I asked for this year. Christmas gifts from David this year included vintage suitcases, vintage rhinestone earrings, a new dress, a handful of vintage slips from the "ten dollar basket" at Dollhouse Bettie, along with a new black cotton peignoir, also from Dollhouse Bettie. Had he picked all this out for me himself, certainly he would win husband of the year (he's already nominated, in my book), but, no, I got to go on a little shopping spree with some gift certificates from Dollhouse Bettie and one of my favorite vintage shops, Decades of Fashion. I took a detour at the Bettie Page shop too, since the were having a sale. So happy to find out I'm rocking an XL these days.


It's lovely that I can walk, with a very patient little boy in a stroller, to all of these shops. It made for a nice afternoon out.

That's my "burlesque" wall in the background. We don't have enough closets, so I've got a little museum going in an alcove in our bedroom.

Fire-King azur-ite chili bowls, also from David. Also picked out by me. The kids have decimated my jade-ite collection and they are not touching these!

My mother sent so many thoughtful and beautiful gifts this year, and made me a new stocking, the first Christmas stocking anyone has filled for me in years. My mother is the patron saint of all things Christmas, by the way. My mother knows how to fill Christmas with magic and spirituality, and she passed it down to me. I'm not sure about my brother though. His yearly tradition is to chuck the tree out the front door into a snowbank the second all the presents are finished being opened. I'm laughing just thinking of him doing this.


My mother got me a great pair of boots. I picked them up at a benefit for Stella's school, and she paid for them. I have publicly declared my dislike of the "blogger uniform" (not the bloggers who wear it), which includes the ubiquitous Swedish Hasbeen sandal over colored tights. But these are boots, my friends. Still, I probably just stuck one of them in my mouth.

There is one more sweet, unexpected gift I received. A set of silver snowflake pasties. A friend from the Showgirl Chorus class we were taking this fall gave them to me as a little thank you for giving her rides home from class. I was so touched when she gave them to me. And since I already had them in red, and had attached a white pair to my earmuffs for my December solo act, it was great to get a silver pair that shines like rhinestones!

It's a really nice feeling when you feel like someone has thought about you. I always treat gift giving as a meditation on a person. If you just spend a few minutes letting your mind wander about someone's life you can hit on some creative and considerate ideas. That's my trick, although I got so behind this year that almost no one got a Christmas card, let alone a package (I did get a few key ones out). I will do much better next year, I hope!