Things got all busy all of a sudden! Work, school wrapping up for the semester, parties… Holiday rush. Here are some recent photos I haven’t had time to post until now.

Went shopping in Old Ellicott City with the family.

   

Christmas-y window displays!

   

We went and got our first real live Christmas tree this year. If you remember this event as a special sort of warm, fuzzy family moment, where you spend an hour wandering around a tree farm with a red wagon, and then Dad bravely cuts down the perfect tree after 45 minutes of looking–maybe there is a better one up ahead! — … well, picture the opposite. It was 9pm on Sunday evening, and I demanded that we go get a tree then, because our crazy schedules were not really free again until it was practically Christmas anyways… so, we headed to the tropical plant place on New York Ave. Picking out the perfect tree consisted of a toothless guy and his cat hustling us along through some dark rows of trees leaning in piles, and us taking the first and cheapest tree we saw that had branches. While the guy and his cat tied the tree to the top of our car, Matt paid for the tree and an extra $3 for a fresh cut on the bottom. It all happened in approximately 12 minutes. Not exactly magical. BUT! Our tree is now home, lit, decorated, and it’s perfect!

   

…experience complete with giant blow-up Santa.

   

and, Bowser. Hanging out in bed on a rainy day… BUM.

   

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Circles and rectangles, rectangles and circles… This is the storefront window at Home Rule on 14th Street, a cute little shop with all sorts of great house things — *and* an especially great place if you need a funky gift for someone. Even though paper lanterns might be the most overplayed home decorating item in the last decade (thanks IKEA), I still like the cheap simplicity of the spheres and using them as glowing volumes in a space. With all our recent home updates, one of the things we’ve been looking for is a new lamp to hang over our breakfast nook/bistro table (still not for sale, JJ) area that occupies our front window bay. There’s no electrical junction box in the ceiling, so that’s part of the decision, the other being price. Who knew that lights were so expensive?!? I’d love to pick up one of these guys from Graypants, but instead, I’m holding out in hopes of finding some sort of shabby chic chandelier at a yard sale or thrift store in the near future. And if not, there is always room for more paper globes.

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Ok, I love shoes. Heels, flats, boots, giant red stillettoes — you name it, I like them all. A girl can never own too many pairs of shoes, no matter what her husband says. That’s why I had to take a picture of this (size 400??) red heel at Union Station. It’s like Santa was putting a big hint out there for all the men wondering what to get the ladies in their lives (hint, hint: cute shoes!!!).

Here’s another photo of an oversized pair of heels, taken on our honeymoon in Paris. People were waiting in some sort of defunct line to take a picture with the front of the shoe, so I obviously opted for the back, and far more important part in determining a worthy pair of shoes, the heel.

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We checked out Temporium on H St this past Sunday, the last day that this “pop-up”/temporary boutique was open. No purchases were made, though there were plenty of bags, shirts, belts, and unique pieces of jewelry and artwork that caught my eye, all of the items created by DC area artists. The reuse of the space was an excellent idea, so hopefully we’ll see lots more temporary places like this. No word yet on where the next Temporium space will be, but I’m hoping it will be in time for (eeek!) holiday shopping. Not that I’m ready for that yet or anything….

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I spotted this gem of a sign last night while picking up some groceries at the Safeway on Georgia Ave. All the breakfast necessities.

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Just a guy with an eye patch, singing and dancing for the masses….

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