sentimental gifts

There is plenty underneath the tree this year for Stella and Oliver in the way of spy gear and science sets, as they requested. These are their sentimental, I-love-you-so-much-it-hurts gifts.

For Stella, a walnut-shaped box I bought for her here, to hold a necklace I bought for her here. I know the idea of real-albeit-freshwater pearls will blow her mind, and the two pearl eggs are her and her brother, and the bird is me, of course.

For Oliver, the famous image from Le Voyage dans la lune, which he first became obsessed with on a cold Sunday afternoon in July that all four of us spent cuddled up in bed watching Hugo. That night we ate roasted vegetables topped with poached eggs, and you could smell the roasting sweet potatoes during the movie. It was a sweet, sweet day. The image of the rocket crashing into one of the moon's eyes stayed with Oliver for weeks, and he reenacted it for us with his toy rocket ship, right in our faces, over and over. Still does.

For them to share, this hardcover sketchbook containing 696 blank pages for them (and me) to fill. I have spent far less time drawing with Oliver than I did with Stella. I know having this giant tome on the coffee table as a permanent fixture will help remedy that. It'll be good place for me to exorcise the little sketchy things I'm caught up on and cleanse my drawing palette, if you know what I mean. If you live in San Francisco, this sketchbook is on sale here for around twenty-four bucks, which I think is a total steal.  

David has a little catching up to do here, so I doubt he will see this before Christmas. But, to be safe, David, if you are reading this, look away!

We are huge fans of my friend Michael Merritt's work. We have so many pieces of his in our house. He is amazing and prolific. He recently (and relevantly) started casting railroad spikes in clay and then woodfiring them. As soon as I saw them I snatched one up. It's just so beautiful. I know David will treasure it.

Looks like Mike is currently sold out of these particular pieces, but he's already taken them to another level, dipping them in red tool dip and such (see here). LOVE.

May not be much of a gift guide, but at least you can tell where my heart is at. There are a few other good, sentimental things under the tree for David, but best to keep my mouth shut until Christmas. Can't wait.