To enjoy with red sprinkles on a peppermint mocha

Confession. I've been following about 100 photographers this year through bloglines. I admire so many photographers and learning from their thoughtful, generous blogs has been a tremendous help to me in starting my tiny little photography business, mostly working with families and children. It's growing fast this time of year. I practice law full time, and it's amazing how the time to pursue this endeavor just opens up without any effort: a great testament to The Secret in action.

I thought I would put in plugs for my favorites. A word of thanks and a display of their tremendous work. I wish I could make a blurb coffee table book of my favorites.

Today's favorite is my favorite for the year. The Gold medal.

Jasmine Star. (I couldn't get the link to work to her home page, but you can get to her from the link below.) I love, love, love her work. It has so much chi. Check out this "after the wedding" slide show and the link to the wedding shoot which was, by far, the coolest thing anyone did this year. Good God. I love the 1959 vintage Vogue aesthetic. This couple is amazing and I love Jasmine's creamy palette. She has a distinct, fresh signature. Perfection.

Just when I was complaining to my husband that the arts never talk about marital love, only courtship, here's the most fabulous love letter to marriage. AND it features my favorite song EVAH from Spoon's new album which is so great. Thanks to photographers (and their subjects) for sharing so many insights and their inspiring work.

A Quick Clean-Up Idea

Some dear friends of ours have a new sweet little 4 month old baby. We are all in love with her.

The daddy came up with what he calls, "The Dirty Thirty" where the first 30 minutes that he is home in the evening, he runs around the house to pick up and clean as fast as he can.

I love this concept. It compartmentalizes what we all dread and limits the time so you can move on when it's over.

We try to throw in a load of laundry any time the tv is turned on. Now, if only my Tivo were connected to the treadmill - or even better, my computer- so that these devices would only operate under the power of me exercising.

I heart Etsy

Twice this month, I found something for my daughter for the holidays that was promptly recalled because of lead paint (a Curious George tool bench and a Fisher Price Medical Kit). This has me thinking about a trip I took to Munich in December and how all of the toys sold in the square seemed like they were made in Santa's workshop: wooden parts, hand-painted without chemicals. If you ever get the chance to go to Munich during their Christmas market, GO!






Photos courtesy of the Munich Christmas market site. I'll try to post some of my own closer to Christmas.

So, in search of thoughtful, hand-made goods that support artists, I've found some beautiful, affordable things for her at Etsy.

For example, at this lovely little Etsy boutique called Robin's Egg Pink (how sweet is that) I found these pretend cupcakes...



...and a precious apron


to go with the wooden pastel kitchen that Santa has indicated he will be bringing. I bought them late Friday night and they were at my door in the most adorable robin's egg blue and brown decorative box with pink ribbons on Monday morning. I just love it. I may have to go back to her shop to get one of her toddler afternoon tea jackets.



Etsy has gifts for everyone. Where else can you get a shirt like this?



I keep an Etsy link in the right hand column of this blog year-round to search for items by color which is so much fun. This time of year, searches like "mittens" "christmas cards" and "scarf" yield great results. Happy searching!

Christmas Pajamas

Inspired by The Pajama Program, I'm collecting new pajamas for children living in shelters in my area ranging in ages from just-born to 17. There are about 100 children, many of whom have never had pajamas, who will be eating at the Salvation Army on Christmas morning. My amazing fellow daycare parents are donating toys and books, but I decided that in addition to a meal and new toy, each child really should have something warm and clean to sleep in.

I know many of us will be getting Christmas pjs for our kids. If we could each pick up one extra pair, it would make a tremendous difference. If you have my address, please feel free to drop them in the mail and I will see that they are there for the children on Christmas morning. If you are a faraway reader, please think about donating to The Pajama Program whose mission is this:

"Thousands of children go to bed cold and without clean pajamas every night. You can help us wrap our arms around them."

Gratitude on Veteran's Day

Special thanks to my dad for his service. Safe return home and sincere thanks to the men and women serving today. On my last flight back home, I saw a large group of soldiers in Dallas waiting for a connection. It was all I could do to not go up to each one and thank them. I probably should have.

Speaking of Tea Worthy

Check out this painting-a-day painter who has done a series of beautiful tea cups. I love it! Many of the pieces are for sale starting at $100 on ebay too.

Email subject: 6 weeks until Christmas

The email subject alone has me more than a little freaked. My family is spread out throughout the country so this means pre-order, pre-packaging, pre-paring which I have not begun to do. It also means there's a loud ticking noise reminding me that I only have so much time left to meet my annual billable hour requirement. (Hence the sparse Teaworthy posts lately.) But I digress...

Tonight, I'm getting serious. Christmas triage has begun. It will begin something like this:


PLUS



EQUALS



Just kidding. Though I do recommend a candy cane in the gin and tonic. A swizzle stick with pop!

Here's a preview of a few holiday gift discoveries I have found so far:

Precious for your preschooler's stocking. The animals actually appear to be running!

Sephora has a new blockbuster palette for the holidays for $48 which is a lot, but cheaper than the department store versions and I believe they are offering free shipping.

Last year, it sold out by Thanksgiving, so order early for the make-up maven in your life who has everything.

Garnet Hill's collapsible basket now comes in new colors, has an optional cover and is $24.

Great for the Farmer's Market, a quick eco-friendly trip to the grocery, or for picnics.

Feel free to leave comments about your favorite holiday finds.

A Gift For Wu

For my mom-in-law, Wu as my daughter calls her, who is much cooler than I am, and who loves Mick. This is the new documentary...