on a cold winter's day.

Today I've been nursing a head cold, and what I've found that helps immensely is to make a pot of soothing eucalyptis tea. It's very simple. All you do is take 1 tsp dried eucalyptis leaves and steep in 6-8oz hot water for about 9 minutes. I made a couple of pots today. You can also boil the leaves in a steaming pot of water and place your head over the steam to inhale. Wearing a towel over your head helps also, although it gets kind of hot, so I don't really like doing it for too long. I also made a pot of the most delicious vegetable soup. I highly recommend this recipe. I left out the pasta and forgot to get red peppers, but it still tastes amazing and is exactly what I needed today. Now all I need to do is make some bread and I'm set!

Any plans for New Year's Eve? I've already been to a couple of pretty great parties and since I don't really have any place to go this year, I think Jed and I are going to have our own little party. You know what I really want to do is make Jed another Christmas present and we can have Christmas all over again! Oh yes, did I mention I had a pretty spectacular Christmas this year? Everyone was so generous! Jed got me this lovely perfume. I've never owned perfume in my life (at least not the real stuff) so I am pretty excited about it. That means I'm all grown-up now, right? I got Jed a pair of much needed shoes. He looks pretty hot in them, if I do say so myself. And I also made him a picture album using pictures from our summer. I used MagCloud to make the picture book and then penned in a few memories on each page. I'm going to try and continue making albums for all the seasons I've spent with Jed.

Hope you have a wonderful New Year's! I'm taking it easy right now due to my cold and also for the holidays, but am planning to be back in full swing by the middle of next week. xo

p.s. are you the type who makes new year's resolutions? i didn't think i was, but am thinking about taking advantage of the new year and getting back into an exercise routine. i have a video called "ballet bootcamp" and i know the title sounds funny, but the one time i tried it i really liked it. thinking about starting it back up again. here's hoping i can stretch myself to get up a half hour early every morning...

merry christmas!

Although this is a picture I took last year, it looked very similar outside today. We had a blizzard last night and the snow continued to fall today, so it's quite the winter wonderland out there! I'm here at my parent's house enjoying an early Christmas celebration and again tomorrow and the next day with extended family. Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

shop update!

Over at Big Cartel this time!

p.s. to those of you who have responded to my little announcement...all i can say is wow! you guys are incredibly kind and sweet!!! :) xoxo

j + a.

Maybe you've wondered where I've been lately? Among other things, I got myself engaged! We kept it a secret except to close friends and family for a couple of weeks, but now it's official! xo

a surprise package from france!

Yesterday I walked to the post office in the blistering cold to mail off a check for rent and to mail the terribly high gas bill. Yes, it's officially that time of year and I am learning that it is a huge headache trying to keep a really old building warm. So I've moved my sewing machine into the little entryway and turned off the gas. That was a huge relief. And it's SO much cozier in here. So anyway, you can imagine how I felt after mailing those checks off. But then I went into the post office and looked in my box! There was a little orange key, which means there's a package waiting for me! I opened the box and discovered a parcel from...France! My dear friend Valerie whom I met through my blog, decided to just send me a package because she's awesome like that! You know sometimes you meet someone and you know right away that they are a kindred spirit? Well it was exactly like that when I met Valerie. Oh, no, we haven't "met" in person, but I know in my heart that we have. It is more than seeing a person face to face to meet them. She is sweet and kind and incredibly talented. Not to mention she has impeccable taste in everything! She sent over a beautiful shawl she crocheted, a box of French chocolates, beautiful pocket calendar, tea and last but not least, the most sweet, kind and lovely note that she wrote to me. I don't deserve such kindness!! Thank you again, Valerie. xo