Thanks to Jenni...

Thanks Jenni for telling me about this site. I didn't know about it at all and look what lovely things they have. So pretty...this could be the Granny Chic Cute of the Week!

See them here.

Merry Christmas!!!

I had a very Christmasy morning this morning. It was wonderful to wake up and have the big projects finished. I went to the store just to get a few ingredients for some Christmas baking that I want to do today.
As I finished at the grocery store, a very cute young man helped me out to the car with my bags. A bagger boy, you could say. They seem to be disapearing most places.
Anyway, as we were walking to the car, he asked me if I'd finished my Christmas shopping and I told him that I had. I then asked him if he'd finished his shopping and he told me that he had not, that he still needed to buy gifts for all his friends but he had finished shopping for his family. He told me what he bought for his siblings and Dad, but he got something really great for his mom (it cost $50 he'd spent most of his money on her) and he wasn't telling anyone what it was. He was just so happy and cute. I kept thinking whoever his parents are, they have taught this kid how to really enjoy Christmas. I am so glad that I met him. He made my day.
When I meet young people like this bagger, and so many others that I have met in my neighborhood, it has given me great confidence in the future. What wonderful people to turn the planet over to. I think that they will prepare themselves to solve some of the world's great troubles and bring peace and happiness to many places.
I put this picture up of the Capitol Christmas Tree because I just want to say one other thing and that is that I am so thankful for this country. Americans have so many blessings. As the news crews send in pictures from many troubled places, I am so grateful to be here with my family. It is my great hope that one day all the world will enjoy the freedoms and prosperity that we have here.
I am so thankful for the soldiers that serve here and abroad. So many are missing Christmas with their families. Our prayers are with them. We are thankful for what they do and what they and their families sacrifice for us and we are praying for them this holiday season.

I hope all of you will have a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to everyone who purchased Love Boxes for Christmas, I hope whoever receives them will enjoy them as much as I enjoy painting them.
Merry, Merry Christmas!
Tiffany

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth,
good-will to men!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Forced to look at Faucets...

I find myself forced to look at faucets this morning even though there are a million Christamasy things to do. The old one is cracked and it leaks a bit and you have to really push on it to get the water to shut off, so Christmas or no Christmas the old one must go. To match everything else I have to have white or brass and I don't want to clean brass so I'm thinking white. I wanted something really beautiful and granny chic, but nothing like that matches the specific requirements for sink and color. It's all more complicated that just pick your favorite design unfortunately. So now, I'm thinking this one...

Thanks Michelle!

Don't miss Michelle's recipe for Mint Chocolate Fudge which is located in the comments of the Parisian Dessert Plates below.

Great Desserts!!!

Five different friends that I can think of have black painted tables. Wouldn't these plates look great on a black painted table? I have seen these plates around several places. They are called Parisian Wallpaper and they come as a set of 4 in this cute box. They are also on sale at Spiegel for $34.00.

Spiegel Sale...

Spiegel is having an amazing sale. These shoes are $19.00 and they come in black! I love them. See them here.

Shawna...

Zara... see it here. I can't lift pictures from this site. :(

Granny Chic Outfit of the Week...

The Granny Chic Outfit of the Week has to include this beautiful blouse. I love this deep cranberry red, it seems to be rare the last few years. I hope cranberry makes a comeback, this shade anyway. This picture does not do it justice. See it here.

Granny Chic Cute of the Week...

Darling, don't you think? See it here.

I adore BOB!

I can't find a decent picture of this book cover, but the book is darling. I just read this today. I love it. Hilarious & very sweet to. I love the part about getting your friend a hippo for Christmas and needing a box big enough "so the ears don't squish." You gotta love a book that thinks of all the practical details.

A Christmas Classic...

Speaking of giving the gift of love, this is a story that captures the spirit. A classic to be read every Christmas and a great gift for just about anyone. The pictures in this version are delightful.

The Trouble With Presents...

I didn't really like this book when I first read it because I am not part of the anti-gift group. I love to try to find the perfect thing for friends and family for birthdays and for Christmas. I really love it. I loved it even the first Christmas we were married and we were so broke that I was wrapping up chewing gum and candy bars.

Finding the perfect gift is a trick however, and I have had some real bombs. I sometimes really mess up with little boys because I don't know what's cool.

Anyway, I think this book grew on me a little because even though I love to give gifts and I love to wrap them up, the trouble is that when they are unwrapped, they are just stuff when you really wanted it to be how much you love the person. In the end, it is just a sweater and mittens or whatever.

And, that is going to be my take on this book, the idea that Mooch is really making an effort to wrap up love and that is a great thing no matter how you do it. However, if you happen to be on my Christmas list, never fear, I won't be getting you nothing.

But no matter how much you like the gifts that you give or receive, I think that for the most part they are a symbol of love and that is the best way to think of them.

So, I am recommending this book even though I really like Patrick McDonnell's other book Just Like Heaven quite a bit more.

Chris Gardner is an amazing person.. and Will Smith better get the Oscar.

Whatever you do this holiday season, do not miss this film on the the big screen. It may be 5 years before Hollywood gets a clue and writes another script like this one.

In these United States and around the world as well there must be thousands of people with stories like this one, maybe not as dramatic, but certainly stories about people who are good, who are decent, who are brave just like Chris Gardner. Hollywood rarely makes these kinds of stories into movies.

Hollywood prefers the dark and the base and the ugly to a story like this that can really lift and inspire people. I don't get it.

If Will Smith does not get the Oscar this year for making this picture, then I am done with the Oscars forever.

Read more about Chris Gardners amazing life here.

My Favorite Things...

I love wrapping Christmas packages and these are a few of my favorite package designs.

The Post Office...

The post office in our town was very crowded this morning. There had to be about fifty people in line when I got there. I myself had about 15 packages to post and a lot of other people had large numbers of things to mail. I planned to be there for awhile. People were pleasant, but they were looking rather gloomy. There was a pregnant woman with a child in a car seat on her arm and a toddler by her side. The woman in front of me was telling me that this was the first Christmas she was going to spend without her husband who had passed last Father's Day. Then in came this woman I know with a little red basket full of Hershey's Kisses and a handfull of dollar bills. She went through the line wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and giving them a dollar to help with their postage. Every single person left with a smile. I don't really know how to describe what happened, but what a gift to give at Christmas. I see two gifts actually. One, the gift of a happy moment and two, the gift of a good example. Amazing. Best Wishes... Tiffany

Arlington...

Thanks to Uncle Paul for sending me the story about the wreaths at Arlington this morning. If anyone would like me to forward it to them, let me know. My intention in writing this blog was just to write about things that are pretty and things that are fun, a kind of cheery hello to friends. However, every once in awhile I must say something serious. I am so grateful to live in this free land. I am grateful for the soldiers whose remains lay beneath these stones and for all of the other soldiers who have laid down their lives for their friends. I am also grateful for many families that I know who have done without a family member for long stretches of time even during Christmas, so that a soldier might serve their country. God bless our brave Soldiers and their brave famililes this Christmastime.

This will be in someones stocking...

Still no sign of a coat. I would rather keep the old one through another season with the sleeves a tad short than purchase one neither of us will like, but I was happy to find this cute sweater. :)

Great Quote...

Celebrate people who are in your life-- past and present, close by as well as far away. Thank eveyone who contributes to your sense of well-being and joy, whether you know them personally or not. Every day, think of all the people who help make your life so rich and rewarding.

Alexandra Stoddard from Things I Want My Daughters to Know (One of my favorite books...)

Pretty in Pink...

This is also a beautiful and really fun room from Domino as well. It sort of reminds me of this sweet woman who lived in our town before she died. She was so nice to let me photograph her home and art collection. She was a tiny little person and she had a tiny little kitchen like this one. Her cottage was a little doll house and whenever I pass her home, I'm sad that she's gone and no longer there. I think that she would be happy that the new owners are looking after her roses and making everything even more beautiful.

Look at this beautiful room...

See it on Domino.com Love the colors!

Favorite Granny Chics...

Granny Chics can be found at the great yard sale on the World Wide Web, Ebay. I like to type in vintage anything and I often come up with something fun. Look at this cute fabric which I found by searching vintage +bluebird... one of my favorite searches.

A Jacket for Charity...

I love this style of jacket, and we've had it several times. I like the pink one that Lands End had the best (sold out) and I like the price better than this one (J Crew Kids). Has anyone seen another pink quilted jacket, it's a long shot but... I'd really like it a bit brighter and a bit cheaper.

OH Chwistmas Twees Oh Chwismas Twees....

This is the tree of this cute girl I know. She put it up herself. :)

Don't miss Alicia's review of The House of Seven Gables...

See it on the Pineapple Snow Blog.

The Box I Finished today...

Says inside...

We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.

Anton Chekhov

Available for $25. Let me know if you're interested. :)

Christmas House Pictures...

Just a few of the favorite Christmas things at our house. Did I say that I love Mexican Paper Flowers?

Great Quote...

How full of the creative genius is the air in which these are generated! I should hardly admire more if real stars fell and lodged on my coat. Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity: so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.

Henry David Thoreau

Happy Snow Day!!!

Fun Book....

Listen to these tapes while you wrap your gifts. This is a really fun little Christmas book.

Love this little book...

See it here.

New Love Boxes I Finished Yesterday...

Granny Chic Book of the Week...

I love this old book. It's a little old fashioned (in the weird way) in places, but mostly it's old fashioned in the good way. The book gives advice like: don't wear tight shoes, you can't be charming if your feet hurt. Hilarious, but still true.

Charm is a word that has some negative connotations now, but in this book it means sincerity, kindness, generosity and ettiquette. It was originaly published in 1938, but no culture has needed it's advice more than our current one.

As you read, you may have to edit for content. For example:"There is scarcely an hour that passes in which someone doesn't do something for you. It may be the grocery boy . It may be the mailman. Most of all it will be the people with whom you work and live. Do you stop to realize the humanity of these givers of good things that make your life comfortable? Your telephone operator, your stenographer, your maid, your laundress, the man who tends your garden (I wish....), the chauffer who taxis you? What is your attitude toward them? Are they mere scenery, something you paid for and so needn't be aware of? You can't afford to think so. Your attitude toward those who serve you reflects your attitude toward everyone else. Charm springs from warmth, not etiquette."

I don't have gardener, (dang) or a chauffer (no biggy, I love driving) but I have a hundred people who help me accomplish the things I want to do. How would you like to be the kid at the UPS store that does my laminating? Poor guy. I should tip him, but I hope that I thanked him very kindly anyway. I sure appreciate that he made my Christmas card so shiny. I love shiny. I need to do this better. I get so distracted thinking about other things, I often don't even look the cashier at the grocery store in the eye and say, "Hello". Bad manners. I am going to do better.

Anyway, (rambling, sorry) this book is just silly in places (the parts about bathing), but it has some great points. Enjoy!

Great Quote...

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship, it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him, and is willing to trust him.
Emerson

Crossing Delancy...

I love this old Romantic Comedy with Amy Irving. Hurray! It comes to DVD in Feb. See it here.

Love this little dress...

See it here.

Dorothy Draper...

CBS Sunday Morning featured a story about Dorothy Draper a few weeks ago and now I am seeing her everywhere.

In an introduction to her most famous book, Entertaining is Fun, Carleton Varney writes, "It was not uncommon to see a Dorothy Draper-decorated room with aqua-and-white striped walls, vibrant "lipstick red" carpeting, and curtains made of a flowery chintz; pink, violet, and red roses entwined with vibrant green leaves and aqua blue ribbons on a sparkling crisp white background." She is known as the first proponent of what we now call "eclectic." She believed that is was fine to "mix periods" and she certainly did that. She was one of the first people to make decorating a profession. She was the Martha Stewart of her time; she was extremely talented at creating a recognizable brand and selling it.

After seeing, the story on Sunday Morning, I was interested to learn more about her style. However, this is glamour dressed up, not the comfortable "Granny Chic" that I love, but it is a lot of fun.
See part of the CBS Sunday Morning story here.

I'd love to have you leave a comment...

And, what I understand is: you don't have to have a blog to comment, just click other or anonymous in the choose an identity area and you don't have to enter a web page, even though it asks for one.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas...

I love the tradition of Santa Claus. I always have. But, even more than the myth, I love the real story. Nicholas was born in the third century in the village a Patara located on the southern coast of Turkey. He was raised by wealthy parents who were devout Christian and who died leaving him a wealthy orphan. He was made a Bishop of Myra while a young man. To follow the example of Jesus, he used his entire fortune to bless the needy. He was known for his generosity to children and his love for them.

In 2006, we have added some glitz, a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer to the mix. But, the idea that someone could do some small kindness for children and then have so many millions of people try to commit similar small acts of kindness1800 years later in an attempt to do likewise is a miracle that cannot be surpassed by Santas that come down the chimney and fly all over the world in one night. That is the kind of Santa it is so important to believe in, just a normal person who wanted to do some good and who made the lives of the people around him a little better.
In our current culture where the idea of personal responsibility seems to take a daily beating in the media, the concept that one regular person can make a real difference seems less and less popular. And yet, one person makes a real difference all the time.
In order to become a Catholic Saint you have to have so many recorded miracles to your name. I don't know about those or what they are. What I do know is that he did perform one miracle of which I am sure. He was a good example.
I believe in Santa Claus and in the idea that anything or anyone that can inspire us to reach beyond ourselves to do a bit more for someone who needs us is something to believe in at Christmas time and all the other times of the year.
And, I believe that the real story of Santa is better than the myth, as it often is.

Merry Christmas...

Yesterday, I ate cake...

I ate some chocolate cake that was amazingly tall and very delicious and it had a green mint frosting with chocolate ganache. It was very good! And I ate some other cake that looked kind of like this. It was chocolate cake with chocolate bits inside and it had whipped cream topping with crushed candy cane on top. Amber, please send the recipe?

Matryoshka Dolls...

I know several people who love these dolls and this ebay store has a great selection at very reasonable prices..

See them here.

A Star for Christmas...

As I have written before, I love the work of Art Glass Artist Robert Held. Amazing! Look, a STAR for Christmas! Beautiful! See his site here.

Eddie Walker...

I love Santa. What a great guy! And, I have a small collection of Eddie Walker Santas, but as I was telling Michelle yesterday, you just don't see them around much. Duh? Ebay. There were quite a few listed including this cute guy. Speedy Delivery.

Gift of Organization...

These might be cute for just the right person on your list. See them here.

Great Quote...

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Sir Winston Churchill

Fun Granny Chic Website...

See it here. Sorry they won't let you copy pics out. Still fun though.

Granny Chic Tub...

Isn't this darling. I love this tub. See it here.