Just when I thought my heart belonged to Cowtan and Tout, I dropped in hunting for archival designs at Pierre Frey (which I never found; I’m terrible with directions) and stumbled upon this. Perhaps the most wonderful cotton floral ever. (Though Mr. Blandings just reminded me that I am prone to exaggeration; I did think the guy said eight inches of snow on Wednesday.)

Or I thought it was the most wonderful cotton floral ever, until I saw its cousin, whose blushing enchanted me.

Image via The Olympia Press.

January’s holiday seems so premature, one and done. No sooner have you popped the cork and it’s over. Maybe that is why Valentine’s Day has always made my heart skip a beat. My first date with my husband was, coincidentally, Valentine’s Day (so cornball.) Still, it’s something to look forward to as the snow creeps in the top of your boots. Have a friend trolling the internet for love? Take

Set that lonely heart up with a

and watch sparks fly. It could be their

though, I do hope you won’t be begging,

if he turns out to be a bounder. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Still, they may end up

leaving you to exclaim,”

,”as they pull away in a flurry of rose petals (or butterflies or bubbles or whatever it is one pulls away in a flurry of now.) Oh, I do like a happy ending.

Mrs. Blandings

All bottles available through Swanson Vineyards. A very special thanks to Caroline and John who shared their Expensive Christmas Wine with us Christmas Eve. (And, yes, I do know that “Merci” is French for “thank you” and not “mercy.”)

I had a friend from my Foundation days whom I did a little work for right after I quit my real job. She is just a little older than I and really, really smart. Really smart. And cool. She has great stuff. In her bathroom, she had this large, lighted, magnifying mirror and it always made me wonder. She’s beautiful, but didn’t strike me as vain, and I could just never see her as a pore-gazer. Only recently have I realized that she wasn’t micro-managing, she was just trying to do things like pluck her eyebrows, which is incredibly difficult wearing glasses. I know.

So, I have been sort of looking for a stylish mirror to help with these trivial tasks and I turned to stylish, jazzy product guru, Thomas O’Brien. Beyond product (and there is a lot of product) there is really nice information about how he goes about his craft. I think process is as interesting as results and there is plenty percolating at Aero.

You know what would be better still? Hearing O’Brien speak in Los Angeles, January 21st at the California Gift Show in the L.A. Mart. Yep, that’s what I would do. 11 to noon with book signing to follow. More info here. (I promise you will enjoy it; I loved hearing him in Chicago and a little bird has told me that this may be his last engagement for awhile though I have begged and begged for a Kansas City stop.)

All images via Aero Studios.

Image, Living, etc., November 2010.