if you've got about 3 minutes.

the wind and yellow leaves
by me (and the flip)
music by jenny lewis ( i didn't ask permission. is that ok? i hope so, because it is so nice to listen to. it's "melt your heart" off of her rabbit fur coat album.)

merry, happy.

first production from my favorite christmas present.
i'm still working out the kinks, but it's a start.

oh yeah, and a happy blog birthday to me. my first post was christmas day last year. appropriate reflection to come.

so sweet!

so sweet and so exciting. DailyCandy (officially now my favorite candy, move over kit kat) has nominated ban.do as a sweetest thing of 2008, for everywhere style. how cool is that? jamie and i are so thrilled. and of course we are humbly begging (please, please, please) for you to vote for us! just click on the daily candy banner on the right side of the page. any blog postings would be greatly appreciated, as well as fan clubs and grass roots movements . . . anything to help, really. and please pardon me if you are inundated with emails, etc begging you to get your vote on. it's just the last thing i won was an over sized stuffed bear (i think it was wearing a straw hat)at the local frozen yogurt shop in 1980). plus if you vote, i will actually go and find the photo of me and the bear, because i'm pretty darn sure that one exists and i am even going to go so far as to say it is a polaroid.

andrew and the giant christmas tree

i think the last thing i said to andrew before he left with my brother to go get a christmas tree was, "remember, something small, 4 feet or so." i even went so far as to hold out my arm at the height the tree should be. "yes, yes, i know." his last words. 45 minutes later the doorbell rings, and when i open the door i am greeted by an ENORMOUS christmas tree. i couldn't even see andrew. he and my brother pushed it through the door with such force that the thing literally took me down. i started to slip and then i backed into the open suitcase that has been on the floor since we got back from new york. i stumbled and then fell right in. part of me just wanted to stay down there for the rest of the night. we're decorating it tonight. i think i need more lights, and ornaments, and everything.

ban.do caddy

it just so happens that i married one of the best gift givers in the universe. andrew's gifts are always very personal, usually customized and quite often a total surprise. this gift was no different from the rest. shortly after jamie and i started ban.do, my grandma passed away, so i flew to florida for the funeral and spent a few days with my family. while i was gone andrew went and ordered me a vanity plate. it's so l.a. in the 80's isn't it? well it finally arrived and he was nice enough to let me put it on his old caddy (as i thought it just wouldn't look as cool on a 7 year old jetta wagon). now all i have to do is drum up the courage to drive the darn thing. it's a tank, or a boat, or something that makes me feel like i should be sitting on phone books while in the driver's seat. i'll keep you posted.

combs

i hate to brush my hair, but i love combs and brushes. these were a great find at a drug store in florida. the entire lot came in a bag for $3.99. a lifetime supply of combs for $3.99 . . . that's a darn good deal.

swamped

i have been so swamped. i won't even bore you with the details. next week looks so wonderful from here. see you then?

for the bird

i wanted to capture thanksgiving moments with my polaroid, so as i cooked, i took photos. it was a race against time, as it is getting dark here around 5, which means the pretty light is gone around 3. i took the bird out of the oven, and it looked beautiful. the light was dwindling, but i thought i would give it a shot. got myself all set up and then the damn camera jammed (i was using my backup camera, as my favorite one is sitting in the ban.do studio). basically, what i'm trying to tell you is . . . i have no real thanksgiving photos, no turkey, no plates filled with all of the fixings. so i'll just have to ask you to imagine it. this picture might help. it is the makings of the maple syrup and orange juice glaze that went atop the turkey - - and it's good - - real, real, real good.