Congratulations, Andrea!

Whoo-hoo for our lovely cousin Andrea who was the lucky number--and thank you to all the rest who warmed our holiday with their pictures and notes! Andrea celebrated Thanksgiving with her husband, baby girl and a few friends at their family cabin in Hartland. Sounds cozy!

What I love about Andrea and Shane is their commitment and attention to educating posterity about our most important family traditions surrounding this holiday and other formal family dinners:

So, congratulations Andrea; and look forward to a chocolatey, fabric-y package heading your way soon so that you can do some "making and baking" too!

Wade and I had a fantastic trip to Grandma Bailey's in Oregon for the holiday, and I'm totally embarrassed to admit that I completely forgot to take pictures of our own Thanksgiving table and spread! That's what I get for being overly excited and all hyped up I guess! We spent a day and a half in Tillamook and then the same amount in Portland celebrating my 27th. I did another photo album of Portland which you can check out here.

Fun & Funky Wreaths

Speaking of wreaths...check out this one that Betz White just crafted:


Also, these two cuties from Garnet Hill. I'm not sure where I'd put any of these, but they're fun to look at!

Sleigh Bell Wreath

Merry & Bright Crocheted Wreath

Wreaths + Reminder

Just a reminder--one day left to enter!! (Monday)

Isn't this corn cobb wreath lovely? What a great idea for Thanksgiving from Blueprint Magazine.

All of a sudden, I really love wreaths, but sadly W does not share the same enthusiasm. So, another ruthlessly wreathless holiday for me...but, Iiii'm dreeaaaming of a wreaaath(y) Christmaaas....

(if I lived in the Desert, or maybe just anytime of year in OC - Viva Terra)

(for the front door - Smith+Hawken)

(in the dining room, with the garland--
this is beginning to sound like Clue--Williams-Sonoma)

Leftovers

Just in case you don't know what to do.

Cranberry Pancakes

Online Holiday Shopping Guide

(Peak Sled from DWR)

Today, we're braving the streets of Portland on the craziest shopping day of the year. This is the season that I really miss living near San Francisco--that city really does it up right for the holidays. I often hear of people whose families have the tradition of visiting SF this month...annual shopping pilgrimages...what a tradition!

Anyhow, to celebrate the day I'm listing a few websites that make for superb online browsing and especially for generating great ideas!


First of all--this year's pledge to give handmade. Check our their pledge here, and browse Etsy and Poppy Talk Handmade for endless handmade possibilities.

(Wastebaskets made from recycled plastic wrappers from the Spiral Foundation)

Support worthy causes by shopping at Nest or the Spiral Foundation.

(Toadstool Tea Set from Mahar Drygoods)

For children - Robert Mahar Drygoods, of course (and others that you'll remember from here.)

(Tiffin Lunch Box from DWR)

For more modern items, check out DWR's Holiday Guide, MoMA Store or Moss Online. I can't help but love Garnet Hill and Sundance catalogs anytime of year...check out the barnyard finger puppets.

And for the ecclectic--too many to narrow down, but I have to list these as favorites:

• Rose and Radish
• Basic French Online
  
• Three Potato Four
• Reform School
• Fjorn
• Nancy Koltes
• Hable Construction
• The Gardener
  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Feasting and Happy Family!
And happy pumpkin pie for breakfast tomorrow too!

Thanksgiving Table Celebration

ADDENDUM - thanks for all of your comments. Just want to make sure everyone knows that you don't have to be hosting Thanksgiving to participate. You're welcome to email us a picture of whatever table you're gathered around. Happy Thanksgiving! xo.

(image from CHOW magazine)

As you know, I love setting the table. Even when I was a little girl, I would always pay attention to the spacing and special placement of every element...I think it was the beginning of what some call my attention to detail and others call my OCD ;)

So, needless to say, I really loved reading this article in CHOW magazine that I found via Shim + Sons (for her take on the shoot, make a worthwhile visit here...her table setting is beautiful.)

I also loved Blueprint's article on the Texas Thanksgiving. (Now that I'm living in SoCal, outdoor dining shots always pique my interest.)

(image from Blueprint magazine)

So, now that you've had a little inspiration, I want to invite you to our Thanksgiving Table Celebration. Here's the scoop--it's not a contest, but one entry will be chosen at random to receive a little care package from B&B. (I'm going to email Jamie a random number today and that will be the winning number.)

To enter, email us "a picture or few" of your Thanksgiving Table along with your name, the place you celebrated the holiday, the people you celebrated with, and any special notes about the elements within your table setting. The pictures can be of the whole table or close-ups of certain items...anything you want. If you have a blog, flickr or picasa account that you want to share, please do. The submission deadline will be a week from today, Monday 11/26.

Good luck and I hope you're number hmmmmm...

As an aside I thought I'd share my newest favorite way of setting our table since we'll be away visiting and not hosting T-Day this year. We got this cloth in NYC at Moon River Chattel and the napkins were a special gift--thank you B&G!

Operation Candy

I have to share a little bit of school news--because it is so sweet and we can all use a little more positive news in our lives, right?

"Operation Candy" was a huge success at our Mable Campus during the aftermath of Halloween. The elementary school has about 400 students and together they donated 500 pounds of their hard-earned candy to send to the troops overseas.

The celebration of the success was very patriotic. 5 representatives from the armed forces came to receive the boxes of candy and were greeted with beaming students clad in their red and blue uniforms, waving flags and singing "God Bless America!"

A couple of students read their letters which will accompany the candy overseas (check out the letter below written by one of our little pre-schoolers!), and others were chosen to share the history and reason for celebrating Veteran's Day. It was a really special morning to be a part of!

Coaster-ing

I'm a week into my new job... which means I've been sitting at my new desk using a stack of post-its to hold my mug as this local favorite is right downstairs! So, a rainy weekend + a sinus cold = coaster craft time.

And the job? Love it. Feeling at home career-wise at last...

Crunchy Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake

(Picture from Food & Wine magazine)

Even the name is a mouthful! This weekend we officially celebrated Wade's birthday, and this cake was humbly requested by the guest of honor. I, and possibly another 25 family/friends, thoroughly recommend the recipe. Although the instructions seem daunting (wait an hour for this, an hour for that, freeze the meringue, etc), the cake actually comes together pretty quickly.

(Wade was amusing himself by taking pictures while I spent the 4+ hours baking away.
What is up with that hand? I must have really been concentrating...)

Due to my lack of confidence in slicing horizontally through cakes (not to mention overall laziness), I modified the instructions slightly and ended up baking the cake in two round 9-inch cake pans instead of a 9x13 pan. This means that the cake was slightly thicker than the picture shown above, but it didn't throw the proportions off too much. I did 1.5 times the ganache frosting recipe to compensate for this and it worked out perfectly. The other thing I modified was the baking time--but I can't remember how many minutes I ended up baking the cake for...maybe around 30-35? It's pretty easy to keep an eye on...

So here it is in all its imperfect splendor. It was soooo good. You must try it out!

The Stitchin Post

I'm fortunate to live nearby to one of the ultimate fabric stores imaginable... The Stitchin Post. Not only does this fabulous shop host the annual Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon (pictured above), but it also hosts an annual pajama party that is almost as fun! This Saturday, my ma-in-law and I outfitted ourselves in our pjs and headed to Sisters for some early morning discounted shopping. Imagine a few hundred women, clad in slippers, robes and curlers at 6:30 am queuing up to cut fabric, buy notions and peruse other crafty goodies... Sadly, I forgot my camera so your imagination will have to visualize the mayhem!

I came away with an assortment of Denyse Schmidt fabric including a kit to make the Katie Jump Rope quilt pictured above, some knitting needles and a delightful new book, Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding. The projects are maybe a little advanced for my current skills but give me some exciting new goals of very Anthropologie-esque knit items.

Home Again

Wade is still away, but I made it home from NYC last night. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Wade's 30th (which is tomorrow) and I can't wait to tell you all about it! But first, must do some laundry, etc...you know how it goes...

In the meantime, check out this little album I made on Flickr of our trip.

(Miss you, Hsing!)

Busy Lives

I staged this picture for our blog header and have been meaning to share it after it was axed by my minimalist big sis. Apparently it is "too busy" but we're all busy right? I just love this collage of some of my favorite staples: the Ribbon Jar, Lantern Moon Needles, and Vintage Shelley Tea Cups. PS. I like our blog header even without this picture included!

Namaste

A lazy fall weekend turned into a sewing frenzy! After cleaning house Saturday Morning, it seemed like things needed messed back up Saturday Afternoon (and then extended to a bit of a tutorial today with my sewing guru ma-in-law!)

After downloading Amy Butler's free Nigella Yoga Bag Pattern months ago (and hoarding this great Nigella fabric for the outside and one of Anna Maria's Bohemian prints for the inside), I finally took the plunge and started cutting, pining and sewing--tasks that still make me nervous!

But I'm so delighted with the finished project! Maybe now I'll actually use this eco yoga mat that I wanted so badly for Christmas last year...

Start Spreading the News...

We're off to NYC...back soon! xo.