Well hey there, December 22nd! Is anyone breathing that funny sigh of relief we all breathe when it’s just too late, and we’re just too fried to do anything else? And then you just give in and say, ‘let’s make the best of it’? Yup. We are where we are. It is what it is. I don’t have any tattoos. But if I get them, they will read those two phrases, one on each wrist. To me, these ‘pre-holiday days’ are like when you get to the 8th mile of a 10 mile run. Ain’t no choice, but to just go ahead and finish it if you ever want to get home.

There are some ‘ideas’ for the last-minute procrastinators running through how to ‘gift’ an experience in the future in here. And a few for how to wrap this whole thing up. And then there are the beautiful things. And the sale things.

And the biggest of things? I think this might be the time to wish you all the best ‘break’ you can possibly have and a merry merry. None of it is perfect, for any of us, right? Stress will be felt. Tears will be shed. Hearts will hurt and be warmed all at the same time. Everyone has their challenges. But I hope in all of that, every single one of you finds moments of joy, wonder, and love. Hold those moments. They are THE GIFT. xoxo, A

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1/  I lament the fireplace that I didn’t do in our current home. It was too complicated. This is gorgeous and simple and OK, not inexpensive, but compared to the alternative? And it’s just freaking cool. You’ll see this in a post soon enough.

2/  My favorite way to wrap gifts that require paper, is with twine tucked with greens. I keep spools of this all year round. And find it useful in 100 million ways.

3/  If I were buying one gift for myself THIS SET is it. And OK, I’ll also gift it to people I really, really, really like. Who will love it too!

4/  Looks pretty, smells good. Words that should definitely be in in the timeless top ten design rules set.

5/  I am the one thing in life I can control. Let me save you millions of dollars in therapy, #truth. And Also a great gift for your Hamilton- and/or History-loving fans…and anyone else who needs to live this message. Is that then all of us? Warning: sell-out risk. xo

6/  I don’t know which of the homes I’m working on right now is going to end up with this stunning chaise, but I won’t sleep until one of them does.

7/  I ordered two of these gorg pillow covers for my son’s room. And then I loved them so much, I stole them from him, plopped them on the sofa in the living room and promised him I’ll order him more. They are soft on your face, perfectly textured and styled, and well-made. If it says sold out, just message her. Among the reasons I love etsy...direct communication with the people who make beautiful things.

8/  Hold On Hand Sculpture.  Do you ever walk around your house, with your phone in your hand, looking for said phone? Yup. We’ve all been there. Sometimes having a spot for something helps. I love this guy b/c he holds my phone and I feel like he’s always saying to me…I got you babe. Spots can be special. This is one of them. Nothing beats functional art, nor a found phone.

9/  Truth: I love a well-wrapped gift. More truth: I hate wasting paper. In our house, we have a box full of pillow cases, like these in all the colors. I plop the gifts in them, and use amazing ribbon like this to tie them (as if they were each a gift sac). And then we reuse them year after year, after year. Never gets old. Just more gold. Always looks pretty. Clean-up so easy. And ‘green;” in a good way. And you can still get this by Christmas. Amazing.

10/  So I was selecting kitchen stools that would fit in a certain space, and these aren’t going to be it for there, but I stumbled on them, and now I have them tagged for ‘next’. Because they are just gorgeous!

11/  These Peacock Feathers are how I take holiday decorating through to spring without undoing everything I worked so hard to do. They work will in vases and containers. You can pull red and green and blue out of wreaths and greens, and pop these in. I’m even thinking of stripping down my tree, leaving it up, popping feathers all over it until Valentines day and then switching those out for all red and white love. We’ll see. For now, I love decorating with these feathers. Pretend they are beautiful flowers that won’t die, and just put them EVERYWHERE!!!

12/  I have a gigantic person crush on Lin Manuel. Luckily for me, my girlfriend Laura was also crazy enough for this production that we went to see it in NY, original cast, including Lin. Everyone thought we were nuts for paying what we did. We did not care. And now I regret not taking the kids for the original cast b/c the tickets for here, in Philly, aren’t going to be much less. So my one kid, who really, really wants this, is getting tickets that don’t exist yet. And so I’ll gift her a promise note, in the book, and we’ll read it together b/w now and then. If you are last-minute experience shopping, Amazon can still get you a token gift, to hold and represent your promise gift to come too!

Terrain Sale on Sale

Wayfair Sale

One Kings Lane 20% off Rugs with code: OKLRUGS

CB2 The Winter Clearance PreSale

P.S. For more Home Decor inspiration, follow us on Pinterest and on the ‘grams at @themomedit.home.