birthday weekend

A few snapshots from the weekend. Lovely cards, a panama hat and clothes from a clever husband (he had the dress made and screen-printed for me at one of my favorite shops!), a beautiful brunch at José Andrés Tres complete with mimosas and bloody marys, and sweet presents from dear friends.

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend, too!

easter decorations

We've never really decorated for Easter before. We have lots of Christmas and Halloween decorations, but somehow we've never really celebrated the bunny...but when I saw these figurines in a Marshalls yesterday, I couldn't resist!

I love how two of the bunnies look like giant foil-wrapped chocolates. Several people asked me if they were real on the way to the register, which made me laugh, though it's completely understandable why they'd think so. They're pretty realistic looking in their coloring and sheen, and I especially like the little bit of blush on the lady bunny's cheeks. The big fellow is 20" tall and very well-priced at $14.99; the other two were $5.99 and $9.99 respectively.

My husband's coming home today after a few days away, so it'll be nice to greet him with a house full of rabbits. Won't he be surprised!

comfort and joy

We are under the weather (again!) so things are a little quiet around the honeybee household...but I did want to share a few photos from the holiday weekend.

Pictured here is a lovely tag written by my clever husband (attached to a Puffin Classics copy of The Secret Garden), some festive holiday décor (including the two middle stockings received from The Little House Christmas swap), a Hello Kitty gumball machine I received as a present (and its true and rightful owner), and a little felt owl I made for the Strumpets Crumpets ornament swap. And now that their recipients have opened them, I'll be back tomorrow with photos of a few more presents I made as well.

It's raining and dreary and cold here again, so it's nice to look over these photos and remember all the merry-making and holiday goodness. Hope your own Christmas was warm and lovely and bright!

christmas tree

It's been a busy few days over here at the honeybee household. Are you all decked out for the holidays? We're finally mostly done, and have just started wrapping presents and addressing holiday cards. I love this time of year, but I do wish there were at least two more weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas so we accomplish everything we want to!

I have lots of photos to share of things I've been making, so I can't wait for my partners to get them. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a photo of our tree, which we finished decorating last week. There are 2000 lights and countless ornaments on this fella, which makes him incandescent when he's all lit up. Every year I think that our tree is the loveliest one we've ever had, and every year I think it's really true.

the owl has a new hat

Apologies all around for the prolonged silence on this end...between having a friend in town and spraining my wrist a bit, I haven't been online too much. And then photos start piling up and then I start putting off the return, and...well, you know. But here I am.

How do you like the new lampshade we got for our vintage owl lamp? After looking high and low, it was Anthropologie, of course, that finally came through with exactly the right print and color and design. The owl is very happy with his new hat...as are we!

our cats get more mail

Our fat cat, a handsome old Maine Coon, is the alpha cat in this household. He's the middle child, but he is so sure of himself and his place in the world that it just naturally falls to him to keep order around the place.

Because he's such a capable cat, and because I also wanted to keep our names off junk mail wherever possible, I usually put magazine subscriptions in his name (cheers to you if you can pinpoint the origins of his name, you 80s fiend!), and he also maintains an email account so he can deal with less personal items of business.

The cats do get real mail upon occasion, but both the name and the email address really come in handy for instantly spotting pieces of mail that are solicitations. This weekend our cat received a highly presumptuous but tremendously entertaining letter from AARP, the senior citizen organization which not only enclosed a letter and a bill, but also a plastic membership card with his name printed on it.

Exciting, yes? It was for us, anyway. He doesn't seem to think very much of it.

tiny wall art

With lots of thrifted frames lying around that I've accumulated over the years, it's always fairly easy to find a way to hang something. I was looking at my wall, and I was looking at my Craft Pudding rubber stamps from Etsy, and I thought, "tiny art!"

I quite like how the silver is slightly tarnished on the little square frames. Red Riding Hood and her affable wolf will find a place on our wall soon enough, if I could just find where our (old pickle) jar of picture-hanging materials is...

strawberries

Our very first strawberries. Ever.

I think the love with which we watered them everyday made them extra sweet.

japanese ice sphere molds

It's HOT in Los Angeles this week, and I succumbed to my unrelenting desire to own a Japanese Ice Ball mold. I kept reading about how they supposedly kept your drinks colder longer due to the reduced surface area, and how they were coveted by serious mixologists everywhere. Me, I was mostly enthused by the idea of a big frozen spheres floating in my drink.

We weren't in the market for the fancy $200 model that carves out the ice, and even the $16 dual mold at the MOMA store seems a little too pricey. I went for the $12 for 6 spheres option (plus shipping) on eBay, and I'm happy to report that these trays work beautifully.

They're easy to use and take up very little space in the freezer, and will probably replace regular cube trays for us. It takes about 90 minutes for the ball to melt completely in a warm room, so it keeps your drink nice and cool for awhile. Plus there's the terrific side benefit of it being awesomely pleasing to look at.

One tip: be sure to put the frozen ball into your glass and then pour your liquid on top to mitigate the exciting-but-traumatic cannonball effect. Don't ask me how I know.

summer tulips

Isn't it nice when dinner guests bring hostess gifts? It's not necessary, of course, but it's always very much appreciated. Our friend Susan brought us a bright bunch of tulips yesterday, and they look beautiful by our sunny picture window. I arranged most of them in a heavy rectangular vase with river rocks at the bottom, and snipped off a couple of pale yellow blooms for the bedroom, too.

PS--the carrot cake cookies were a big success. If you're a fan of carrot cake, I'd highly recommend them!

our cats get mail

A small package arrived in the mail this week, but it wasn't for us. My mother-in-law sent a baggie of dried catnip from her garden, and our cats went crazy. Before it was even unwrapped, our big Maine Coon knew exactly what was going on and started attacking the package.

The other two cats joined in, and lots of ecstatic purring and rubbing ensued. Catnip is the one thing that seems to make them forget themselves and lose all control over their dignity. They rolled around in the herbs and meowed until they exhausted themselves (and us).

We've planted a few little green things in pots over the past few weeks, but catnip is another one we may have to consider down the road when we have more room. Then again, it might be too much of a good thing. I don't know how many kitty drugs they can really take.

cheer

No matter how good-humored you are, moving is an exhausting experience. We started physically transferring our belongs to our new place last weekend and are still in the middle of the process, so between boxes and dust and delays and disarray, it's been a little nutty around this particular household. 

It helps, though, to have a partner who, after 3 days of sore muscles and while carrying several large boxes, takes the time to stoop and pick a tiny posy of flowers for his wife. Thank heaven for nice husbands!