How was your Christmas? Ours was -sigh- calm and quiet. I was still recovering, so we slept in and opened gifts and played with Presley and drank coffee and talked on the phone to my parents… and then we drove to Mitsuwa and Naoto shopped for groceries ’til his heart was content while I restrained myself in the book store (I only bought three little things for my 2013 calendar!) and the snack food aisle. Then we had a quick somen supper (I need to share our somen recipe here…simple, quick and delicious!) and our neighbor friends came down for a bit to share some Christmas cheer.
Naoto & Presley are awesome Christmas shoppers…Naoto knows I have a “the internet makes me want-y” Pinterest Board and he uses it. But he also throws in a few surprises–especially in my stocking! This year’s stocking was packed with lots of treats: my favorite tea, a gift card, a phone cover & car charger (much needed!) and (as pictured above) a bottle of my favorite new ink in silver, a new zine from Marissa and a place card rubber stamp from Yellow Owl Workshop. (Friends, you’ve been warned–no matter how small the dinner party, there will be place cards!) Naoto completely surprised me with this stamp–not only was it not on my wishlist, but I’d never even seen it before!
And the “big gifts” (pictured at the top) – which were hilariously wrapped in wads of kraft paper (and labeled by Presley apparently) – were the best gifts ever! The mailbox has been on my wishlist ever since Kathy & Donovan started bringing their shiny red one to letter writing socials. I’m very excited to make room for it on my desk and using it to store stationery and stamps. And the pillow flew onto my wishlist as soon as I saw it in the Winter Cabin Collection. It was hand-lettered, hand-screenprinted, and hand-made…worth every penny. And, it perfectly describes me in the winter–hibernation is what I do best! It was packaged so sweetly and I can’t wait to put it on our bed!
I gave a stack of SPAM gifts (a calendar, socks and a new t-shirt) to Naoto and he’s picking out a fancy new rice cooker for Christmas, too. And Presley was spoiled this year–tasty new treats, some catnip goldfish and a potent new catnip stick (which she pulled out of the stocking herself!) The Adami-Hasegawa home is a grateful one.
I have a nice stretch of days off before the new year, so I’m hoping to take advantage of the time to get ready for a fresh start. I’m also kind of itching to take the tree down, but I think part of that is just an avoidance tactic so I can pretend I don’t have other (more pressing) things to do…typical me.
So…anyone out there get anything crazy-good for Christmas? Do you have any end-of-year rituals to share? I’m sure I won’t be the only one setting up my 2013 calendar, clearing out my files and cleaning out a closet or two, right?
kimberly ah 