Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

I still have not decided what to do about this space. But I could not allow the year to end without a heartfelt thank you to every one of you, whether you've commented (in the past, I still have those closed) or sent an email or a tweet - or not. I really do appreciate you. On to 2013. I won't close the blog without saying something first. xoxo 

PS: There are some good links on Giulia Geranium's front page for charitable giving & recipes & poems. If you are so inclined. Thanks.

Merry Christmas

I was just made aware that it is already Christmas Eve in some parts of the world. Hello, Antipodeans:) So all hemming & hawing about which photograph & links is over - now. A merry Christmas & a Happy Hanukkah to all. If you are feeling grumpy, remember that today is Festivus & air your grievances. (History of Festivus clip.) But as I exhort people on Twitter, air them stylishly with your Shakespeare Insult Kit.

Yesterday I met up with a friend & we walked around the city. A quick check-in at the holiday market was nice but it ain't Strasbourg. We had fun though: a drink, a quick errand to buy this beautiful liqueur, & a last-minute decision to walk to the White House to see the Christmas trees. A good evening.

Tomorrow I'll lunch with a friend who will be wildly busy as she is a makeup artist. But after we lunch, she'll hand me over to colleagues for a facial & a manicure. I'm so looking forward to it.

If you have little kids--or are one, occasionally--have a look at the Santa Tracker. It's fun. Also some last minute ideas are always on Martha Stewart's site. My friend Mary Kay swears by these cocktail & punch recipes.

(photograph via Pinterest but years ago I chose it as a Christmas card from Galison. Still looking for ultimate source. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.)

Christmas Lights

From the sublime to the ridiculous... I'm far behind in reading a manuscript & holiday prep & everything.

Friday a friend & I went to a garden of lights. I expected to love it; it was more wonderful than I'd hoped. The word magical is so overused; this was a fairytale come to life. It finally felt like the holidays. If you live near something similar, I urge you to go. I wish there were really good larger photographs to show.

Sparkly holiday Paris is my laptop wallpaper of late. Very cheerful in the 7am shadows. You can get the link to the large size on Giulia Geranium. And of course, what would the holidays be without the continuing showdown between inanimate fairy lights & Julie? With some flower garlands tossed onto the pic?

I cannot believe it is 10.56pm on the last Sunday before Christmas. Back soon. Cheers!

Copenhagen Christmas Tree

I've been going through the photographs on the Giulia Geranium site & sizing, correcting attributions, etc. I loved this photo in 2008 & I still do. Worrying about getting a tree home (tricking/fast-talking taxi drivers was wearing on my nerves; asking busy friends was also nerve-wracking), I loved the idea that it was possible somewhere in the world to do-it-yourself on wheels. Here's Mikael's Christmas tree tag with cyclists & their arboreal hauls.

Also, I've read posts bemoaning the lack of space for a tree. I think they grew up with gigantic trees (I did & I love them) & would rather have no tree rather than "give in" for a small one. I think this because whenever anyone gives them ideas for a smaller version, there's a digging in of heels & a setting of jaws. "No, no, cannot." Hmm.For the rest of us, here's a take on a Christmas tree that made the rounds back in 2008, too. A great idea, especially if you have a lot of "stuff."

Do you put up a tree? Will you have a photograph of it that we can see? Now, off to the market to provision the pantry & make these orange-y delights. Cheers!

(photograph by Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagen Cycle Chic)

Merry Christmas

Have a happy holiday. Wish I looked as calm & collected as this Viennese lady by Mela Koehler (Austrian, 1885–1960). She was part of the Wiener Werkstätte artists’ collective founded in Vienna at the turn of the century. This card was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's catalogue this year (it's on sale now). If you are or will be in NYC before 17 January, you can stop in to the Neue Galerie & see an exhibit of postcards from the collective. The online site is very pretty (as is the gorgeous catalogue). Cheers!

Christmas Eve Day

...and I'm running in place. So off to do so for real. Herewith a few not-so-great photographs but we do what we can. Are you sure you want a cat? It does give one the opportunity to practice patience, I suppose. Cheers to pals in Australia where it is past midnight & therefore Christmas Day. I maintain the Twelve Days of Christmas policy--it really does take the pressure off, as I see it. Back later. Cheers. PS: There's still time to donate to Toys for Tots, if you're going to be at IKEA, the Soft Toy campaign goes until they close today.

Christkindelsmärik

These are from the so-much-fun Strasbourg Christmas Market, here. (Christkindelsmärik is Alsatian.) Julie continues to wrestle with her ambivalence towards fairy lights, here. You can listen to Mon Beau Sapin, here. Here is Kristin of French Word-A-Day on donner (a mignon Provençal tabby caught my eye). More anon.

Christmas Lights

Same as on Giulia Geranium tonight. No pudding recipe yet. Freezing cold here. Cannot decide how much I like the song...maybe it's the balloons & fireworks over London in the video. Actually, I put this up on both sites to say hi to a friend who is seriously downhearted. Cheers! (photograph via Vintage Rose Garden via Pinterest) Thursday Update - here's a link to video playable in Europe.

Merry Christmas Baby

Hey, it's only the fifth day of Christmas. Some people want to rush things. Anyway, I'm still not feeling very well but this is an excuse to: 1) put in a sweet year-end photograph from the folks at the NSW Australian State Library (by my fave Sam Hood), & 2) say hooray for Bruce's Kennedy Center honor. (Plus a shout-out to the local boy who still can't believe he's in the band:)

There's No Place Like Rome

...ever. Especially at Christmastime. Merry Christmas especially to SBL in Darfur, Sudan, AB in Uganda, CLS in Afghanistan. [photographs by Enzo D. & the wonderful & generous Giampaolo Macorig via flickr]

Santa in Black & White

December 1953 [via myvintagevogue's tumblr blog]

A Christmas Surprise

Sure hope my mother doesn't see this dreadful photo-from-slide (she didn't see it on GG's site last year). If ratted out by a sister or three, or many nieces, I promise that hideous Christmas-pix-of-past (of you) will appear soon. The uncharacteristically bizarre outfit & coiffure are what happens when moving house two or three days before Christmas (the tree is up, that's the important thing!). I never saw those plaid pants before or after. She was on the spot & is smiling like she's ready to go out for the evening. Dad looks goofy (he always looked goofy in photos; he was usually the photog). I've a fondness for the photo because the surprise was a new neighbor 's appearance as "Santa."

At the least, my mother made sure that her daughter's hair was quickly bow-tied. I think the lesson of the photo is being absolutely delighted when surprised by well-intentioned new neighbors when you have a little girl, one on the way, & have just moved hundreds of miles away from family two days before Christmas & are wearing the most dreadful plaid pants. Good manners.

Off to have my hair made fit (if not beribboned) for festivities.

Christmas Correspondence

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
- W.H. Auden [Night Mail]

[by Roadside Projects on flickr, via Creative Inspiration]

Swedish Christmas Kitchen

Congratulations to Lori Langille, Canadian illustrator! Lori's blog automatism was included in the Times (UK) 50 of the World's Best Design blogs yesterday. That calls for an exclamation point. So !!!! for Lori. She was the first person to link to Giulia Geranium (& I didn't know it for months--it never occurred to me that anyone would) & has been so supportive. She's also the creator of the Benevolent Postcard Society project of which I am a proud participant.

This pretty image is from automatism's 2008 24 days of Noël series. Lori was kind enough to "lend" it for the GG blog last Christmas season. It's scanned from her personal Marie Claire Maison collection. Why, oh why, did I give so many of them up?

I had a wonderful 4th grade teacher. She was born in Sweden & remains an inspiration--of style & substance. I was thrilled to attend her Christmas-season wedding. Shopping for a gift, my mother & I decided on a silver teaspoon in Miss B's wedding pattern. That year, Santa had the good sense to leave a Madame Alexander Swedish doll under the tree. If I ever get this place in order, the doll will be part the Christmas decor, as always.

Congratulations again to Lori.

Snowflakes

The well-reviewed Washington Ballet's Nutcracker has only $85 tickets left. So, a still of Dance of the Snowflakes is as close as I'll get this year (after I made fun of TN forever, serves me right). The photograph is via The Washington Ballet. The snowflake doily photograph is from a DIY design*sponge post. Very clever, old-fashioned, & inexpensive. How easy? With a cat standing on my head? Reportage forthcoming.

December Evening in Strasbourg

Christmastime in Strasbourg--in all of Alsace--is gorgeous...best Christmas market in Europe. Absolutely. Also, tarte flambée (flammekueche in Alsatian), vin chaud, & the best of French & German cookies, pies, cakes, etc. I'll be taking flammekueche lessons from a friend's mother who is visiting the States for the holidays. Will try to remember photographs. Here's a little GG post with at least one photo credit.

Santa Baby

Surrounded by the guts of a fake tree (cannot believe I agreed to this). It defies reason. The Tasmanian Devil is tangled in fairy lights & squeals when she is removed from the Fairy Light Beast. Apparently it is feline performance art; I am not amused. She tore up (& ate? I have no idea) part of the (real) wreath. It's freezing in here & it's been a dumb day. Cranking up Santa Baby CD & ignoring all else. Here's a goofy video of Eartha Kitt (with three backup singers) singing the (kinda creepy) song. I cringe, I really do...

[images via GG blog]