christmas day

christmas day always has an otherworldly feeling for me. it's so profound a moment that time seems to stop. maybe that's why we all prepare so assiduously for our different holidays . . we are always reaching for the outside of our ordinary days . . and then when we've had too much of the outside we reach again for the ordinary. life is a constant balancing act.

panettone panettone panettone . . !

here are the gift tags i made for this year . . 

they are always along the theme of jack and xena . .

reading about venice from a special smithsonian magazine issue . . 

i think morgana made this tag . . 

greg is happy to sit with his crossword puzzle and a cup of coffee . .

special yarn titled "baker street" from korrina. they're both sherlock fans.

a gift card to strand from korrina . . 

korrina's t-shirt of a cat in a pigeon disguise . .

clementine and walnut in my new mushroom bowl . .

a walk along the river . . 

(a grey christmas day has been the norm now for many years . . )


carrying the beans to put in my friend's oven since mine decided not to work today . . 

yes, it's been so warm that the roses are blooming!

(bulldog alert . . the little white dog on the right )

we walked to my friend janet's house for tea and chocolates . . 

and gifts . . a zen calendar and bernd heinrich's a walk in the maine woods.

i gave her a hot chocolate mix from a new chocolate store i found in soho. i'm kind of excited about this discovery as i've really missed having the chocolate bar nearby. mariebelle has been around for years but i never knew about it or noticed it when i walked by on broome street. i can't wait to visit for a hot chocolate one day.

playing a new hobbit game . . 

everything looking festive . . 

paper whites which i actually missed getting this year.

we walked along the high line . . 

and i think these are redbud tree buds blooming . . 

and the birds were out singing . .

the songs in winter sound so plaintive to me . . 

the two families . . now that the children are so grown up . . everyone is not always together at the same time. we're missing a korrina (she went home to take a nap)  and she's missing a lucien . . 

back home preparing hors d'oeuvres . . 

chanda began reading brian selznick's the marvels in the morning and she's three quarters of her way through the book.

hermione .  . wanting to be a gift?

our traditional christmas dinner: tuscan beans and florentine meatloaf with celery and carrots. i found it in an italian american magazine one year and everyone liked the meal so much that we decided to make it annually.

biscotti, peppermint bark, french chocolates and butter cookies.

german tea!

german tea in a special german teacup . . 

singing with korrina . . 

merry christmas . .