resolution(less)

I've never been a fan of the New Years Resolution, it has always felt forced to me, and I am generally unsuccessful. I am proud to be resolutionless.

Having said that, I have always found the end of the year the perfect time to be quiet and introspective, to take an inventory of myself and the past year. It is an ideal time for goal setting, dreaming, and gratitude. A fresh year awaits.

Try it:
Alone or with others, write down your goals, hopes and dreams for the next year. Seal the envelope and address it to yourself. Put it in the mail so that it is post marked and returned to you. Next year you can open it on New Years Eve and celebrate your achievements of the past year.

Josh and I did this last year, I can't wait to open it.

Today I will be working on composing my list for 2008. I am ready to hatch, ready to grow.

Image from Getty Images.

the long road home

{photo of my grandfather, my father and his brother in new york,
taken by my great grandfather}

Today we said good-bye to my grandfather (Opa for the Dutch minded). He spent 87 years in this world and made it a much better place for many, but especially for me. I will miss him and will always hold his memory close to me.

cute top

Although I'm not convinced that I want to be twenty-one forever, Forever 21 occasionally has some cute clothing items. My sis and I found this thermal shirt the other day while shopping, not bad for $10.80! The best part is now we can dress like twins.

just pasta?

Help! I can't stop. I LOVE fruity pasta...stay away from this stuff!

endless options

I know this posting will not appeal to everyone, but today I discovered an awesome website with fabulous bags (the kind without bells, chains and whistles that are so popular right now). Check it out here...they even pay you $5 for overnight shipping right now!

leavin' on a jet plane

This morning, all of our holiday guests caught their planes to go home. We miss everyone already.

This year was very special for us, it was our first Christmas at 123 House, and it was wonderful to have our family there to celebrate with us.

We worked on puzzles, ate lots of food, took naps, watched movies, and spent time enjoying eachothers comany. It was really a dream come true.

Image from Rubberball.

from our home to yours

We hope you all have a warm and happy Christmas Day. We would also like to thank everyone who has helped make our holidays so special this year.

Love Bree, Josh and Henri

Artwork by Blanca Gomez

one missing dad and caroling companion

Dad's flight to Salt Lake was cancelled tonight due to bad weather, this is the third year this has happened. I think it's time for Dad and Old Man Winter to sort out their differences.

what nice teeth you have!

Henri spent the day at Banfield the Pet Hospital to have his teeth brushed and whitened (kidding about the whitening part). It was a rough day. He was so groggy when we picked him up, poor little thing...but he has remarkably fresh breath just in time for holiday guests.

sweet treats

Tonight I made holiday cookies for my co-workers. The recipe I made is one of my childhood favorites. They are called Chipits.


{packaging from Martha, of course}

Chipits Recipe:
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips
1 c. rice krispies
1 c. chow mein noodles
1 c. peanuts

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips over medium heat. Stir in remaining 3 ingredients. Spoon onto wax paper, and allow chocolate to harden.

That's it, that's all.

deck the halls

Here a few items that we put up this year for the hoildays. We had fun finding them.


{the snowmen are from CB2, we blogged about the red shoes here, oh, and our walls are not actually painted acid yellow}


{we found this modern wreath for the front door at Kenneth Wingard}

a little nut

Ever since Lizzie's photo went up yesterday, Henri has wanted to feature more of his friends on the blog.

Miss Peanut came into our family a couple of months ago. Her mom is Elena, Josh's sister. Here are some facts about Peanut.

Breed: yorkshire terrier (just like Henri)
Relationship to Monster: cousin
Likes: putting herself to bed, stealing food, anything pink


{peanut in her new coat with fur trim...so fancy!}

a nicely composed evening

Last week, we went to see a Christmas concert by the youth symphony that Josh's dad (Roelof) works with. It was a perfect holiday activity. I love this picture.


{roelof conducting rudolph the red nosed reindeer}

fluffy stuff

I am totally stealing this idea from the Apple store! White pom poms strung together to look like snowballs. I love this.

just ducky

Have you ever seen a snow duck? This was worth stopping the car to take a picture.

blog makeover

We have been working on the new blog graphic for a while now, and we finally got it done. Let us know what you think.

little lizzie stanford

Our dear friends Jill and Aaron Stanford recently became new parents to their first fur child, Lizzie. We can't wait to meet her. Isn't she beautiful?


{lizzie and her cool mom}


{lizzie enjoying the sights}

who's counting?

Forget waxy choclate in paper calenders, this is an advent calender!

I saw this idea here on another blog that is full of great ideas and beautiful things.

I am hoping to be supervising the building of this project soon. (I'm not so handy with the tools myself, but I think I know the perfect person for the job)

Now I'll be counting down to next year's countdown.

last call

Only 20 shopping days left. This is the final call to all of those with any special requests.

the reason for the season

I absolutely love this new nativity scene created by Giacon Massimo for Alessi. I have been visiting it regularly online. I may have to give in and buy it.

tinsel town

Real tree? Fake tree? Real tree? Fake tree?

If one were to have a fake tree, it might as well be really fake right?

Saturday brought us 8" of snow, so we put up our new tinsel tree this weekend. The best part might be that a tree made out of tinsel requires no lights at all...we needed all the extra time we could get, with the amount shoveling that needed to get done.


our tree

Thanks for shoveling, Sweetie!


josh hard at work


our in-house quality control manager