3, 2, 1.....HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Holy smokes friends, can you believe 2010 is nearly here?? Euro friends and those in the land Down Under, you'll welcome it before we do....east coasters too. I have to say I'm really excited for a new year. Fresh start. New dreams, goals, aspirations, plans. BUT before that, I say we all pop the cork and have a little glass of cold bubbly. Raise your glass and repeat after me, "To good friends, good health and lots of love and laughter in 2010!"

....and maybe just a little touch of glamour too.

xoxo

alex

Going Back to Cali.

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a happy happy holiday. I sure did. Thanks for all the kind messages too. The whole fam is now back from Michigan, which truly was a Winter Wonderland of snow. We had a really terrific time, but now I'm holed up in California with one nasty cold. Fever, cough, sore throat, the works! I'm going to lay low for a few days, cuddled up on the couch with a mug of hot lemony tea and a good book. BUT! I'm also thinking this is the perfect time to get caught up on all my favorite blogs—not to mention discover some new ones. Did you lay off the computer for the holidays or were you one of those who couldn't resist? Help a sick girl out and leave me a lil comment telling me to swing by yer world to check out your latest! (aka if you ever felt shy about shameless promotion, this is your chance! Promote away!!)

I have lots more photos to share, but here are just a few from the last blustery day we spent. There really is nothing pertier than the snow covered lakeside.

That last photo should have been a "before" and "after" shot. The Mega Pout is because I had just said, "Wolfie....don't you throw that snow ball at mama!!" Two seconds (and one mischievous grin) later, I got nailed with a powdery snowball! The photo of Greg and Wolfie with the sled is actually the lake, frozen over. Amazing it freezes solid! OK Team, shoot me some links please! I hope you're having a great holiday, those of you who still have time off. Now, I have a hot date with my book and that cuppa tea.

xoxo

Merry Christmas My Lovelies!

Hello my fabulous little lemon heads. Thank you sooo very much for a glorious year and for all your love and positive energy and enthusiasm! Thanks for letting me have a peek into your lives and for letting me share with you a peek into mine. You make this whole bloggin' thang pretty darn grand.

xoxo

alex

A Jewel of a Tree.

I just had to share this little quickie with you—I've been waiting to share these photos with you all fall and almost forgot! My lovely friend Denise, who has one of the coolest homes around (filled with amazing vintage knicknacks and gorgeous vintage clothes) has one of my top favorite vintage pieces EVER. Take a gander at this gorgeous holiday tree, made entirely out of vintage rhinestone brooches and beaded earrings. It's so sparkly and cool I can't even stand it. Denise found it at the flea market and displays it year round. My kinda gal!

Brown paper packages tied up with string!

Let's talk presents, people. I have to say I love wrapping gifts. When I found out that kooky Candy Spelling had an entire room devoted to wrapping gifts I thought, "THAT would be AWESOME!!!!" I love finding cool paper, pretty ribbons and making little gift tags. I'll take fancy wrapping paper (with metallic embellishments or groovy graphics) but I also love simple craft paper with a little bit of twine. I get so obsessed with pretty paper that after xmas I skedaddle to the stores to scoop up all the sale paper. Among my faves are the Martha Stewart wrapping papers at K-Mart and the wrapping paper that Old Navy makes. For some reason Old Navy's is hard to find, but it's nice and thick and has cool designs. How about you guys? Have you posted any prezzie pictures? I'd love to see!

I still have loads of wrapping to do, but here are some of ours from last year:








Images: 1, 2, 3a, 3, 4

Vintage Kids: Animals' in Cute Christmas Scarves

This sweet book is called The Animals' Merry Christmas and has adorable illustrations by Richard Scarry. It was written by Kathryn B. Jackson in 1950. Something about animals in little scarves that gets me every time.


"The Animals' Merry Christmas is as bright and gay as a Christmas tree. All the animals have a happy holiday in this charming collection of stories and poems, delightfully illustrated by the ever-popular Richard Scarry."


As they went they sang:
"Rabbits in the snow,
Off to Grandma's house we go -
Holly, pudding, popcorn, toys,
Shining candles, lots of noise:
Off to Grandma's house we go -
Sing for Christmas, sing for snow!"



Santa Claus said he simply could NOT be everywhere at once. He said it was no use trying. Mrs. Santa Claus thought very hard.
"Your helpers will be glad to go to the stores and ring the bells for you," she said. "I'll fit them all out in your old Santa Claus suits!



Then arm in arm, the Hedgehog family hurried through the snowy twilight, heading for the lights of London town, and the wonderful Christmas sights they would see.


The puppy grabbed the Christmas ribbon and began jumping towards the door of the house.


When he saw some boys throwing snowballs, he ran right up to them. "Who wants a puppy for Christmas?" he barked.


"And Donner and Blitzen sang a sort of song:
"Through the snow,
Bringing toys
To the good
Girls and boys!"
But Prancer shook his head in the naughtiest way.
"Not me!" he said. "I'm not going this year."

[What's with ol cranky pants Prancer!?]


Before long the sleigh stopped with a jerk. It stopped on the roof of Tommy's house.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!


I own this book and scanned it before I left for Michigan, but I cribbed the text from the lovely Pipnstuff's Flickr set.

Santa's Village

I grew up in Michigan but my family spent every summer in Santa Cruz, California (my dad is a professor and he taught at USCS, at their summer language institute). We looooooved going there, it's such a cool town and the campus is gorgeous. I have tons of amazing memories, but one of the most random ones is of a little place called Santa's Village. Santa's Village was a Christmas-themed, er...."theme" park built in 1958. The idea was to bring Christmas joy to children all year round. Kind of insane and yet....totally amazing! My brother and I were fascinated by the place (we would pass it on the highway whenever we were taking a weekend road trip) and would beg our parents to let us go. Sadly it was already shut down (I think it closed in 1978??), but one day they pulled over and we were able to sneak on to the grounds and wander around the cobwebby rides. My favorites were the flying Christmas balls (kind of like the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, only with xmas ornaments!) and of course all the little gingerbread houses.

I found a site that had photos—you have to see it to believe it.

[EDIT: I just asked my mom if we actually went inside, because I for some reason I felt like I actually was able to go inside when it was still running but then I thought maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. Mom confirmed that we actually DID visit Santa's Village in 1977, the year before it closed! She said somewhere there are some photos of us on the little train ride. Whoo hoo!]

"Residents of Santa's Village included Santa and Mrs. Claus, their elves who operated the rides and sold tickets. There was a baby petting zoo filled with goats, sheep, bunnies, ducks, deer and a Mexican burro. All the buildings were designed to look like log chalet-type structures, repleat with snowy roofs and gingerbread trim. The park had a gingerbread house, a elf toy factory, a lollipop tree and brightly colored gift shops. Around the village were tree-top tall wooden soldiers and candy canes. Santa himself had a huge mailbox to accept all the letters from children around the world."

IMAGES: Alameda Net

MORE ABOUT THE PARK: HERE

Apparently there is still a Santa's Village in New Hampshire.