bye 2011

oh, you're taking a photo of those cards? let me sit on them for you.

(card backs)

happy 2012 to you!

gott nytt år!

a horse is a horse

when home in december, i always end up going with my mom to the stable where she keeps her horse. my mom has been a horse person since she was a girl, while i have never been a horse person. but horses are pretty cool regardless. top is godiva. my mom is pictured with her horse, nejlika, who traveled to california by plane from sweden. certain kinds of horses are more expensive to buy in the states than to buy in europe and have flown over! nuts. did you know that horses often ride on passenger planes?! nuts. my mom is 70 and has a replacement hip, but she rides regularly. nuts. :-) but good for her i'm sure.

nejlika expects (and receives) treats on the regular. carrots, sugar cubes, cookies made for horses, apples. giving nejlika treats is one of the more fun activities at the stable.

delicious

i'm hoping a certain L isn't reading this. had to take some photos of the beautiful blue chair jam cookbook before wrapping it. the book is chock full of crazy delicious photos by sara remington. and the graphic design is gorgeous as well. mmm. (more photos of the spreads)

good in december

lights of alameda's movie theater

i think there should be advent calendars all year round. little (often meaningless but nice and simple) surprises each day. i've been enjoying hanna konola's advent calendar so.

also liking the best of 2011 lists, though so far i have only heard the lists on fresh air for books, music, tv. and their linguist's word for the year: occupy.

lately i'm listening to lykke li's latest album, wounded rhymes (just realized she had a new one—yay!). also check out her version of the righteous brothers' unchained melody.

pretty excited about this calendar that i picked up by brendan monroe.

circles and triangles

liking my new cup, seen in elisabeth's shop, but purchased in sf at rare device. intended to be buying holiday gifts for others, not for me....

winter trees

the trees in alameda are tall and old and great.

always inspired by sandra juto's tree photos, which are gorgeous. here are just a few

the morran book project

camilla's beautiful morran book is out. such a wonderful tribute to such a fine dog friend. i love this photo of camilla and ingvar and morran, from my trip to sweden this past summer. all three laughing and enjoying a fika. that morran was so lucky to go on all those hikes in the woods in göteborg and on adventures all over europe! wrapped in cozy blankets, snuggly sleeping spots at every turn, treats treats, treats and so much affection.

above is one of my two contributions to the book based on this great photo by camilla.

all profits from the book go to the world society for the protection of animals.

tomte time

despite today's sunny weather, i'm ready for winter glögg, candles, darkness, tea, cookies, tomter, strings of lights.

goodies:

me, at parties may be my all-time favorite drawing by gemma correll.

in swedish, but still fun to see this video of designer lotta kühlhorn's studio, style, design. found via lena sjöberg.

i like this oakland backyard, via lena corwin.