Rainy days and warm blankets

Had a lovely time visiting with my family over Christmas. Once again we all holed up in my grandmother's house for two days of non-stop food, wine and gifts. I swear, I think my family is secretly cultivating an army. Every year there seems to be more and more little ones running around on wobbly legs. I don't even know who belongs to who anymore.

I'm so happy that I was able to spend some time with my brother Christopher. He'll be headed to Hawaii for about 5 years in two week's time. I'm going to miss the hell out of him, but it looks like I'll have at least five trips to Hawaii to look forward to. I hope he's able to make it to Austin for New Year's so that I can send him off proper.

Got a new camera for Christmas!!! That means that I will finally have pictures to go along with these boring 'ole words. Be prepared for cat pictures galore.

Lost in a world of Druids and castles

The grass in the garden is choking the trees

Sunday evening on the couch with the boy and the cats, a glass of red wine, Sam Gopal and a mane soaked in olive oil and rosemary. Life is grand.



Spent the afternoon running all around this sweet little city with Miss Claire discovering new shops tucked into old neighborhoods. The Arabic Bazaar is possibly the best shop I have ever been to. Perfumed room after room filled with treasures from lands like Morocco, Syria and Egypt. I was given free baklava and Arabic coffee to fuel my search for gypsy coin belts and silken tapestries. This girl sure is in need of lottery winnings and/or large monetary donations.