Turkey with all the Trimmings...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope this week after the Thanksgiving holiday finds you all doing well! So much to share as usual over here in wintery Maine. Let's get down to the business piece first, shall we?

To start, after several years of not painting, I was doodling and got inspired to do a series of work inspired by 60's children's illustrations. The Top Crown Series, as I've named it, is now complete and listed in the shop for sale! These mini paintings are so cheery and fun and each piece is also accented with glittery details! I love them very much and I hope you do too. I think they will make some people very happy this holiday season!

What else? Oh, well STAG is also being stocked up with wonderful, unique, high-end vintage items for the holiday season! What better way to say you care to the men in your life than to give a special gift that you can't get at the mall? I even have some pretty things for the ladies out there, as well as vintage holiday decorations that will brighten the homes of the customers who snap them up! Just a few of these great items are shown below.

These golf shoes are about the craziest thing I've ever seen in men's footwear. Like clown shoes with a purpose.

For the ladies: A purple 100% wool blazer. Beautiful.

And for those of you who have a hard time thinking of things for that special someone, I am doing a Stag Item of the Day every weekday between now and December 20th to get those ideas percolating. Those will be posted on the STAG Facebook page!

It's not all work and no play around here, Lovelies! Oh, no. Thanksgiving was this past weekend and I joined some very good friends for a day of laughter, friendship and good food. (When your family lives across the country, your second family becomes as dear to you as your real one.) I did the baking, which included a lemon torte (hard to do, but I figured it out) and a pumpkin cheesecake with a candied pretzel crust (easier to do because I've practiced). Both were delicious. (Well, the whole day was delicious, frankly.) What a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season. I'm a very lucky girl!

This weekend, I plan on decorating my own place for Christmas and I'm very excited! There's nothing better than sitting in your living room reading or drinking a glass of wine with just the light of the tree on, no? And I will be playing my Christmas records the entire time. Because, you can't beat Bing Crosby's voice on a record with a little hiss and some cracks and pops. Don't you agree? Happy Winter, Lovelies!

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

Through a Shiny Lens...

Hello Lovelies~

I hope you are all well out there. So much to tell you, I may not fit it all in. Or, it will be a big post. Big post? Okay.

First off, business stuff. The 12 Sales of Christmas are going splendidly! We're 4 sales in and there are more to come, so 'like' the page and play along!

Also, for you local followers, I am having a Holiday Portrait Session this Sunday with music and egg nog and vintage decorations to use as props! The details are below, so email if you want to reserve a slot, or pass it along!

I went home to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and it was amazing. A lot of great food, a ton of laughs and I even got a shoot in, which I'll share with you shortly. Here are some pics and you can see the rest on my Flickr page here.

While I was out and about, I did some shopping and I picked up some records for my collection, including some pretty hard to find Martin Denny exotica albums that I've been searching for for awhile now. I've already listened to them each several times!

And speaking of music, I just picked up the She & Him Christmas album and I am loving it so far. I usually pick up a couple of new albums a year, usually vintage stuff because new Christmas music (post 70's) is lame for the most part. But, not this album and the cover is amazing. The photo? The colors? The font? Perfection.

And you may remember my post that mentioned the piece I bought by artist Derek Yaniger recently? Well, it arrived over the weekend and it's bigger and more beautiful than I imagined! It even smelled like permanent marker, so I know it's original! Take a look (the photo doesn't do it justice.)

With some vacation time, comes time to curl up with a good book and enjoy that time off. What have I been reading lately? you ask? I have been reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and I love it so far. A ton of people recommended it before a friend finally lent it to me. I won't spoil anything in case you plan to read it yourself, suffice it to say, you will be sucked right in. Let me know what you think if you've read it or plan to!

Well, that about does it for me, Lovelies.

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...

And to all Happy Thanksgiving...

Hello Lovelies-

Here's a mid-week post to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it. I am thankful for all of you readers and fellow-lovers of the dark, beautiful and sometimes downright bizarre things I share with you each week. And speaking of bizarre, the She Walks Softly blog has a great collection of vintage parade float imagery here. Great stuff(ing). So, safe travels and remember:

You can use your turkey for food or as a car... not both.

If you see this during dinner, it's time to stop drinking.

Turkeys love cigar-smoking so don't let them near your humidor or you'll regret it.

This isn't really a tip, it's just weird. A croc float? Really?

Until next time: unpleasant dreams...