I hope all of you had lovely holidays! I was here and there, busy traveling and seeing family. Some gift-giving highlights from my holiday:
I got crafty this year and refinished a desk chair for my mom's office. She'd been eying the Bungalow 5 bamboo one in black and so I took the bamboo chair I got at Brimfield this year and painted it glossy black and had it re-upholstered in a great stripe fabric I found at Zimman's! It came out PERFECT!

(before and after)
For my Dad I took I few of the really old family photos we found at my grandmother's house and had them matted and framed. We are going to create a photo wall going up their front stairs using these as a starting point. They are such spectacular pictures that are so rare for a family to have!

And speaking of craftiness and great photography, my brother Sean set up these great shots of each of us based on pictures of us already taken or using parts of our lives as inspiration. I almost DIED when I saw mine- a Lego people replica of my famous wedding shot!!! How fantastic is it?
(Side note: He just had a book published of his photos of toys taken with his SX-70 Polaroid camera here- he also is the founder of SavePolaroid.com)

The others of the family are fantastic as well:
My parents in front of their house with a big ol' pile of mulch (a running family joke- my dad seems to ALWAYS be mulching somewhere...)

My brother and his fiancee in the Turks and Caicos (where they are getting married in the spring!)

And my youngest brother Connor in Boston with his new Mini Cooper (which was hit by another car over the holiday- sadness).

Sean will do photos like these on comission so be sure to contact him through his site for pricing. Such a great gift!

Oh, and if you feel so inclined, Apartment Therapy is taking nominations for "The Homies" awards for best design blog... hint, hint. :)

I have boat loads of work to do to catch up, but sure am glad to be back!