For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a subscription to Martha Stewart Living, which had to be one of my favorite gifts of the season, simply because like all subscription gifts it keeps on giving, month after month. And this morning as I scrolled through the Valentine’s Day  issue, I came across this story on gathering your girlfriends and a ton of different crafty stuff and just going to town making Valentine’s all afternoon.

How fun would it be to gather around that table with a group of your friends? I feel like this is the kind of thing we used to do in school all the time as kids but that adults rarely get to do. There’s something to be said for this sort of free form, mixed media crafting, just sitting down to a table with all different sorts of paper, ribbons, glitter, fabric, ink, paint, pencils, stencils, string, stamps and so much more and letting your imagination run wild.

I, for one, forsee a trip to Michael’s today. Even if I can’t get together with all my best girlfriends (since we all live in completely different cities now) – I can at least have a little “crafternoon” for one.

For more on Martha’s Valentine’s Day Craft party, click here. All photos borrowed from MarthaStewart.com.

Well it sure has been quiet around these parts, eh? And what a false representation that is of my life these days because it has been anything but quiet. I believe the only word one could use to encompass it is batshit, which according to Urban Dictionary is defined as “A level of insanity that the word alone cannot justify.”

Yep, that just about covers it.

The new job? Batshit. I think I’ve done more work in these two and a half months than I did in six at my last job. And yes, it’s been fun at times and certainly a hell of a learning experience, but to go from wanting to scratch your eyeballs out if you have to play hide-and-go-seek one more time to feeling like you can’t remember your name because you’re juggling so much at once takes a bit of getting used to, to say the least.

Then on top of that, throw in two trips down south for the holidays, Christmas shopping, buying a new car (the Volvo, I regret to inform, shit the bed), one ever-growing and curious puppy, and me, three weeks before Christmas, deciding to throw a holiday party for 15 people. (I bring it on myself, I know this.)

But you know what? It was great. The holiday party, I mean. I set the menu a week in advance (cocktails, heavy apps and dessert), spread out my shopping, did my baking during the week, then pulled everything together last Saturday. And I’ll admit, there was a moment about two hours before the guests were due that I had panic moment. One of those what-the-f-did-I-get-myself-into kinds of moments, but with the help of a friend and one very patient husband, we pulled it off. And with time to take pictures before the guests arrive too!

And now we’re home in Maryland laying low for the rest of 2010. Wouldn’t you know it, the minute I stopped running around at top speed, my body decided to shut down and get sick! But that’s okay, I have my new toy from A to keep me plenty busy:

But what about you? How are your holidays treating you? Do tell, it’s been far too long.

A went as V from V for Vendetta and I was (clearly) a ghostly equestrian a la Martha Stewart last year. And we brought these cookies we made together yesterday… spiderweb sugar cookies! Fun to make but definitely labor intensive.

We also carved some pumpkins a few weeks back. This was my happy little owl (in progress) on a white lumina pumpkin.

And this, believe it or not, was Andreas’ FIRST time ever carving a pumpkin. And they say engineers aren’t artistic!

Unfortunately, we carved these weeks ago and the elements have now reduced them to droopy puddles of black mold next to our door (truly frightening).

For today the plan is to watch Hocus Pocus (undisputedly the best Halloween flick of all time) and pass out candy to the kiddos later with this little lady.

Ava would like to wish you a very Happy Halloween!

Someone recently asked what happened to all the cake baking around here and the answer is: my waistline. My waistline happened. It can’t take it anymore. As much as I love all the cake, I had to put my baking on hold for awhile to slim up a little bit for the summer.

But. There are exceptions. And one of them was last weekend with the 50th birthday celebration for my uncle slash 4th of July party we were going to.

Of course I felt compelled to bake something. My first inclination was a coconut cake, just because I think it’s awesome for summer and it was my godmother’s favorite. But then I saw this incredibly festive cake on i am baker (originally from 17 and Baking) and got the brilliant idea to combine the two.

So a coconut flag cake it was. I took this recipe for basic white cake, added coconut flavoring, and baked three layers in white, blue and red. To make the colors really brilliant, I used these food coloring gels by Wilton that you can get at A.C. Moore.

After cooling them completely, I whipped up some frosting (adding in even more coconut flavoring) and then assembled the cake. I won’t attempt to explain the assembly myself when Elyssa did it so beautifully here, and also demonstrated it on a morning show, which you can watch here.

Okay, not going to lie: this was the most challenging cake I’ve ever made. And it literally took all day. From buying the special ingredients, baking and cooling the layers, making the frosting, and of course the assembly, the total time was almost 12 hours (with a lot of down time in between the steps).

But! It was totally worth it. I presented it as a plain coconut cake, and from the outside it looked just like one.

Then when we cut in – wow! Everyone was so shocked by the brilliant colors and the flag design. And even better? It actually tasted amazing. I made it the day before and I don’t know if it was the overnight sit in the fridge or what but it was incredibly moist and soft with a very distinctive coconut flavor (but not overwhelmingly so!).

This might have to become a July 4th tradition.

I made him this painting using stamps I carved out of potatoes.

And this lovely plate of chewy, chocolate-y brownies.

He came home from his business trip on Friday with this lovely bouquet in hand.

Then he took me to an Italian dinner in the North End and even sat patiently though the latest cheesy love flick, Valentine’s Day. I rewarded him this morning with a homemade Valentine’s Day breakfast.

All in all a great holiday. Hope yours was too.

And very quiet.

Some days, I ignore the quiet and go full blast against the world. But other days, like today, I go along with it. And think thoughts.

And after a marginal amount of reflection, I have come to the conclusion that first Christmases together (for married couples) are not all they’re cracked up to be. (Hmm. Something tells me I come to that conclusion a lot, about many things. Why do I continue to be an optimist again?).

Too much pressure is put upon first Christmases. And I’ll admit, I bought into the hype. I mean, I wanted everything to be perfect. But I can’t tell you how many times last week we said to each other, next Christmas we’ll do this instead of that. Next Christmas will be different.

And so I’ve come to the conclusion that first Christmases together may not, indeed, be the bees knees. Second Christmases must be where it’s at.

Because. For one thing, if you got married, went on a honeymoon, and bought or are planning to buy your first house anywhere within a six month time frame of the holidays (on either end), you probably have very little expendable cash. You’re broke, basically. Maybe not broke broke, but things are probably tight. That’s one.

For another, you’re still finding your way as a married couple. Like two little foals just learning to walk. Except your legs are tied together. Old traditions are being gently shattered, new ones are coming to be. That takes time. I’m guessing that takes at least one Christmas, maybe two. Who knows, maybe the third Christmas together is where it’s at. We shall see.

There were so many things I personally wanted to do differently this year. For one, I always thought when I had my own house, we’d have a real tree. Heck, maybe two. I want to do it up right. Coordinated ornaments. A unified color scheme. I wanted to get a little Martha madness going up in here. None of these cheap gold beads I strung up this year. (I’m embarrassed I even posted that picture of our tree on my blog. (At least there were no colored lights. Oy. The horror.))

We didn’t even have a star.

I wanted to think up some fun crafty wrapping style and do all my presents like that. (Kraft paper was big this year.)

I wanted to bake gaggles of Christmas cookies and box them up for friends and family alike.

I wanted to give more. And more thoughtfully.

I wanted to decorate the whole house. I wanted lights outside. Garland everywhere. And mistletoe!

I wanted the house to smell like nutmeg and cloves for the entire month of December. (Oh no, have I gone too far? Revealed too much of my inner insanity for all things Christmas?)

But it’s true. And to all these things I found myself saying, NEXT CHRISTMAS.

Advent calendar? Next Christmas.

More time at home? Next Christmas.

Handmade Christmas cards? Next Christmas.

Which reminds me, I have some cards of my own to write today. Thank you cards. For the wedding.

Here’s hoping that’s something that happens before next Christmas.

Here’s hoping there’s loved ones nearby to squeeze, cookies aplenty, and a few quiet moments to reflect on your own heap of blessings.

And for those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours.

Shelley x

Because you’re married. And you’re expected to be a grown up (that’s side effect number two). And grown ups are expected to be good with change. To understand that time passes and traditions evolve and that’s okay.

Yeah. And now I understand why people drink so much at the holidays.

Seriously. I never quite got that before. Things were all fine when I was a kid and we had our holiday traditions so ironclad you could rest a baby on them. We knew where we’d be when. How we’d celebrate. We even knew what we’d say. (On Christmas Day, you better be ready to answer the question, “What did Santa bring you?” because you know the adults are going to ask you that about 17 times.)

There weren’t arguments about who’s family we’d be with and when (helps when your Dad is Jewish and pretty laid back to boot and totally fine with going wherever on Christmas Eve, Day, whatever because what the hell does he care? Crazy gentiles.) There weren’t questions about whose house we’d be sleeping at and exactly when which presents should be exchanged. And between whom. And how.

But now that we’re married we have to think about all that and granted, it’s not the hardest problem in the world to have, I know. I know it could be worse. We could have families living hundreds of miles apart and then we’d have to make the choice about which family we spent a given holiday with AT ALL and wouldn’t that be a bitch. Or we could have crappy families or no families at all. I realize this.

I’m just saying, as a person who frequently gets the wind knocked out of her when anything changes at all, a person who clings to her traditions with the ferocity of a snapper turtle, a person who really likes to please everyone, especially parents and new in-laws, this is a challenge.

So pass me the eggnog. I’ve never tried it before but something tells me I’m going to need it like it.

I guess this is what sweeping change feels like.

Sometimes when I’m feeling so many things at once, they all sort of merge together and cancel each other out like white noise, and I’m left scratching my head wondering what the hell I’m feeling.

It’s not sadness, it’s not elation. It’s a little bit of everything. Which feels a lot like nothing.

And which makes it very hard to come up with meaningful blog posts. But I shall try.

Last week my Dad flew up from Maryland to help us paint our kitchen and our hallway. We had thought we’d get it done professionally but after getting estimates from two different painters we realized holyhell professional painting is expensive.

So we called in the next best thing: my Dad. Who took our kitchen that looked just like this:

And made it look like this:

And our hallway, which looked a lot like this (not the best before shot but you get the idea):

And made it look like this:

The man is a painting miracle worker, I tell you.

Then he flew out and our little brother came in, bringing with him a big ol’ snowstorm from down south.

I must admit, I’ve felt a bit like a bed and breakfast proprietress this month, barely having enough time to throw the guest sheets through the wash before the next visitor came through. First my Mom, then my Dad, now my brother-in-law.

But it’s wonderful. In fact, these visitors have helped me stay grounded through a month that otherwise could have been quite… groundless. They’ve made our first round of holidays in this house feel so much more like home.

And grumble though I may about feelings and fluctuations, I couldn’t feel more blessed this season.

{2010 Letterpress Desktop Calendar by Kirtland House, $22}

{2010 Letterpress Calendar by delphine STUDIO, $38}

{2010 Letterpress Calendar by Albertine Press, $29}

{2010 Letterpress Calendar by seesaw designs, $28}

{2010 Letterpress and silkscreen calendar by ilee, $22}

{2010 dutch door press calendar by dutch door press, $30}

Finally, this little non-letterpress but equally lovely gem from one of my favorite Etsy artists of all time, Yellena.

{2010 Wall calendar by Yellena, $28}