Number 14 (now that Santa has come)

Remember when I bought that amazing book? (It was that glorious weekend I took Joe to Portland for his birthday and we stayed at this infamous and totally awesome hotel and saw Rick Huddle's one-man show Spent and stumbled upon a crowd of Santas like one has never seen before.)

And, of course, we went to Powell's, Portland's sprawling yet sultry book store.  And I found the book that gently led me one delicious step further than simple knitting...and into felting.

So I knit. And felted. And then, because I just can't leave well enough alone, some embroidery and beads and stuff too.  A fun little project that kept my fingers busy and will now (I assume) grace the Christmas trees of those I love the most.

Cheer

The Christmas cards have been packaged and mailed (yes, it's true, I made all the envelopes this year. It's just so easy and free (!) when you have a roll of butcher paper and some other Christmas wrapping paper around and some nifty envelope templates in your stash of useful things); boxes of cheery Moroccan gifts and handmade ornaments (more on that tomorrow!) were mailed and have all arrived at their intended destinations; small bundles of homemade marshmallows were packaged and dropped about; and it's finally here.

Merry Christmas. And since my parents visited for Thanksgiving and Joe's parents visited after that, we're all alone this holiday, except, of course (!) for each other.  And one very-hairy yellow dog, who will be wearing a harness and paniers today. 

And that's because we're off to go alpine skiing near Mount Rainier. Hope your day is happy and holly-filled (but not too holly-filled, because that stuff is pricky!). And warm and hopeful. And Merry. And Bright. And stuff.

Number 26, recession style

Define gourmet. I mean, it's my list, so I get to say what's what. And I think that beautiful French-styled plates and pairings counts as gourmet, even if there's a $12 hamburger on the menu. Even if.

Big thanks to my in-laws, who visited for a late Thanksgiving and an early Christmas (okay, they just visited to visit, but we ate a lot of good food and put up a Christmas tree) and were feeling adventurous enough to take us to the brand-new Toulous Petit on Queen Anne, a New Orleanian-styled bistro extraordinaire.  And the result? YUM.

Beautifully ambianced, this little gem is flanked with candles (much like its sister restaurant, Pesos); the booths feature works of art in and of themselves:  tables decorated with gorgeous multi-toned inlaid wood designs and perched upon all on 40,000 glass tiles.  The floor is covered in an additional 85,000 Italian mosaic tiles that beg you to notice them in their austere monochromatic glory.  Huge windows will open wide to the sidewalk in the summer (I'll be back) and in the mean time, the 5,000 pounds of hand-tinted deliciously tactile pink and green plaster fringing the walls practically hugs you the moment you walk inside.

The menu changes daily and is something like 8 or 13 pages of amazing choices. It would all be too over the top except that it's the kind of place you won't worry about showing up in jeans to. And you wouldn't even mind just popping in for a Sazerac and that $12 burger. But I dare you to try the foie gras. Or the fresh local oysters. Or the fried alligator, assuming it's on today's menu. Just sayin.