Here's to a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Early to bed last night...but I did wake up at 1:00 AM...in time to "celebrate" New Year's Eve Mountain Standard Time, I guess! The weather turned cold and windy here in the early evening, so the warmth of the electric blanket called my name...

I received Vintage Vavoom from Amazon yesterday. What a beautiful book...filled with lots of charming vignettes and "how-to's". I also looked through the new issue of Victoria magazine. It's not quite up to the "old" magazine, but it is still such a pleasure to read. I especially miss the herb column written by Emelie Tolley. I'll have to just look through her books --The Herbal Pantry is one of my favorites.

Plans for today...reading, relaxing, and preparing for "back to work."

A little light reading...

My issue of Victoria arrived this afternoon. I still can't believe it's being published again. So exciting!

Last night in class, the instructor talked about a book she just loved...I've heard a few other good comments about the book, but didn't really know what it was about...I just remembered it had an interesting cover (an aside...when you work in a library, you get all kinds of requests for "I was reading a book awhile back...it had a green cover and a picture of something or other on the front near the corner"...it becomes 20 questions in book descriptions/characters/etc.). Anyway, this morning on my way home from running errands, I stopped at Borders and picked up a copy...this after checking our catalog and discovering the book had 36 holds on the 8 copies we have in the system. So...my new acquisition is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read a bit during my break this afternoon and it is really well written.

A new hold came in for me today...The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. When it rains, it pours.

My Dream Garden

If only I had a real backyard...one that I could actually have a garden in...surrounded by a white picket fence. I first became enamoured of this style while reading a Susan Branch cookbook...her drawings are so sweet...

I've pulled out all of my old gardening magazines...Country Living Gardener, Country Home Gardening, and the summery issues of my favorite magazine, Victoria. Ideas abound...I'll keep dreaming.