Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The Best of 2013


Hi friends,

I can't believe it's New Year's Eve! I'm slowly but surely recovering from a terrible bout of the flu and pneumonia. It's been a rough couple of weeks. But one of the saving graces throughout this ordeal was receiving wonderful holiday greetings from friends near and far each day. It truly lifted my spirits and brought me a lot of joy.



For years I have displayed holiday cards in our dining room on ribbon attached with clothes pins. This year I found tiny gold clips at Paper Source which I think make the display even more delightful, at least in my eyes! It is so fun to see all of your smiling faces and thoughtful greetings altogether. This year I organized them by friend genre, which was also kind of fun.

Forever friends - who we have known forever.


College friends - so fun to see teenage kids and newborns alike.

 



Work friends -  from various jobs- and family sprinkled in!





Post college party friends - oh my, look at all the kiddos!


Friends with kids - from PEPs, co-op preschool and Montlake Elementary.




And last but not least - our most colorful friends, at least by looking at their cards!



Friends truly are the best! Now I need to get ready to ring in 2014 with good friends! Happy, happy 2014 dear friends.

Xoxo,

Amy

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Breaking News: 2014 Color of the Year


Drumroll please!! Unless you are a color geek like me you may have missed the big news from Pantone today that Radiant Orchid is the Color of the Year (COY) for 2014. I love purple and I love orchids so I'm pretty excited about this choice!

Radiant Orchid symbolizes renewal and is a creative color, according to Pantone, the global authority on color. It blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health. I can see why I fell for it right away when I saw the news this morning.

Each December a team at Pantone designates a COY for the following year. My friend and color guru Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, helps determine the color every year. She's featured in this segment on Bloomberg News this morning announcing the color.

You can see some fabulous images of this brilliant hue on Pantone's Color of the Year Pinterest board. Here are a few of my favorites, but be sure to check it out!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What do you think? Are you are fan or will it take you a while to warm up to it like it to me with Emerald this year? Either way, the COY is meant to inspire choices in home, fashion and design, and to get people talking about color. It sure inspires me!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Brilliant Emerald Songbird


I'm slightly obsessed with bird ornaments for my Christmas tree! I've collected several over the years, but when I saw this Brilliant Songbird in Leavenworth over Thanksgiving weekend, I had to have it! (And a couple of others for gifts!) I've finally embraced Emerald - Pantone's 2013 Color of the Year - as they're about to announce the 2014 COY very soon. I can't wait to see what hue gets the honor for the coming year!

In the meantime, I wanted to share the story of the Brilliant Songbird found on the tag that came with this ornament. I think you'll agree it's very sweet!

Birds are symbols of happiness and joy, so they are regarded as a necessity on the Christmas tree. Glassblowers often kept wild birds during the winter months since the sound of the gas flame in the workshop prompted the birds to sing. Then when spring arrived, the birds returned to freedom.

Does this make you want to run out and get a bird ornament for your tree?