Zanna from Heaven

OK, I've written plenty about Christmas at the Studio and our sleepy New Year's on Nantucket.
Now I must get down to business and tell about my dreamy gifts from Bryn.

She might have been in another continent for the past year, but somehow, she still knew just what to give me: a gift certificate to my all-time favorite store: ZANNA! Anticipation, as they say, is half the fun, and I am having lots of fun just anticipating, eagerly I might add, my next trip to Amherst. Sorry, J&M, this time you won't be the main attraction. But, Jayme, you're welcome to come along when I make my stylish purchase.

Sweet Bryn didn't stop there. She also tucked into the package another gift certificate to Northhampton Coffee, just so I am sure to enjoy a satisfying cup of java and a little R&R after what promises to be a most exhilarating shopping experience. She also gave me some lovely Indian note cards (on which I should be writing her now!) and a packet of dried Chrysanthemums from Cambodia, with which I have already made a delicious and mellow pot of tea.

THANK YOU, Bryn, for your generosity, thoughtfulness, and all of my wonderfully eclectic gifts. I appreciate them so much, and I especially can't wait for my Zanna from Heaven!

Love you,
Jenny

Sweet indulgence!

I feel funny posting online before I have mailed a “hard copy” thank-you card to my benefactor, Jill, but my mom, the zealous blog advocate, insisted!

So here’s my update- Jenn and I celebrated our winter holiday on January 30th- we had a tree and a big homemade breakfast and gifts! I was thrilled to open from Jill a magenta Starbucks coffee travel mug, all the better to transport . . . the fruits of my generous Starbucks gift card!

There is a Starbucks right next to my work building and friends often stop by my office on their way to see if I’d like to join them on a coffee run- so now I am empowered to take a break and indulge in my favorite afternoon treat!! I pass the same Starbucks when I get off the metro in the morning and now I am able to answer its siren’s call!

Plus, the gift card came with a stocking full of chocolate covered espresso beans which are another one of my best-loved treats. So until I have a picture of myself holding the travel mug, beaming with joy at the Starbucks counter, or tossing back a few chocolate beans – just imagine it!

Thank you so much Jill! It is a perfect gift!!

A quiet New Year's weekend on Nantucket

We had lots of time to just hang out on Nantucket during New Year's weekend. It was sooooo quiet and peaceful (OK, dead, as the kids would say), so beautiful, with the decorated and lighted Christmas trees lining Main Street and greens cascading out of window boxes, and not too chilly -- although our walk on Sconset beach didn't last long since the wind was howling and Bernard got soaked in a game of chicken with Alex. The LaFarge home felt so cozy and so conducive to reading books and playing games, which we did a lot of. Boggle and Scrabble were the main board-game attractions and Barak O's book was the most popular read, then Ann Rand's "The Fountainhead" and John Holmstrom's book on miraculous healing. Alex kept to his training schedule, running about six miles each day on the Madaket Road bike path while N&N shot hoops on Owen's fancy new court. B and I got our exercise walking into town and in and out of the few shops that were open. (Vis a Vis is having a great sale!) We enjoyed a couple of meals out -- lunch at the Brotherhood and New Year's dinner at Arno's on Main Street, but we mostly cooked simple fare at 88 Vestel. (We were tempted to try Oliver's fresh, local venison that's falling out of the freezer, but the pieces were so huge -- and our littlest ones so squeamish -- that we took a pass.) Nick crashed early on New Year's Eve (as we'd hoped), but the rest of us stayed up to toast the New Year.

We capped off the weekend with a visit to John Young's lakeside home in Plymouth and a memorable New Year's Day lunch of black-truffle risotto, duck breasts, mesclun salad, and decadent chocolate cake.

Thanks again, Nini and family, for opening up your home to us! We LOVED being there.

Smiles, Siestas, and lots of Spirit at The Studio