I somehow found my novice self in a gaggle of photographers just feet away from Hillary Clinton today. There is more content at my political blog, The Fray.

My BFFs and I had a belated Christmas celebration last night, which means I can finally post about my favorite little gift that I gave out for the holidays. It was a facial scrub from an issue of Real Simple that Heather handed down to me. Truly simple and fun to make. It’s oatmeal, almond and baking soda all mixed together in a food processor. It would probably be nice with some lavender thrown in as well, but I don’t remember having the time to shop for it in December. As for the scrub’s efficacy: I found it to be a refreshing way to soothe dry winter skin.

Brittnie brought back some pretty things for me from Syria.

Look at this lovely scarf. It’s so me!

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The 2008 Hoophall Classic. Springfield, Mass.

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Quoting Wikipedia:

According to the New York City Police Department, Ledger was found dead in his apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan on January 22, 2008.^[20][21]

Sewell Chan of The New York Times writes: "At 3:31 p.m., a
masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A of 421 Broome Street in SoHo for an
appointment with Ledger, the police said.^[22]

It’s post holiday time so you might be wondering whether I met my goal of furnishing a hand bag for every one of my female relatives. The short answer is no. But let’s focus on the positives. Here’s what I was able to manage.

I cranked out 26 Christmas stockings for family, not including the handful that I made for Dandie. So, you could say that my focus shifted from doing just a few things for a few people to a lot of stockings for nearly everyone. That felt good, but definitely kept me from completing all the other bags I wanted to complete. Which was fine for me. I needed a distraction.

I was also able to sell another bag for the holidays - a messenger bag, which I haven’t done before. My one regret with this one was that I used duck cloth, which was probably not the best idea as duck cloth is rigid and unforgiving - much like my second grade teacher.

I was also able to make another pink messenger bag for Maggie. Alas, I did not take pictures of that one or any of the others I made. Forgive me. The holidays were a big blur. I think I ended up giving away a total of seven bags. Not bad. My goal was 13.

Oh and I’m custom-making a bag for my mother-in-law. And I’m supposed to make an eyeglass case for Ms. A. Other than that, I’m going to sit back and just play around with some patterns and ideas and try not to feel pressure to produce.