tollipop

do you ever feel like hiding beneath the kitchen table?

Dear reader, do you have a small and cozy place where you can squirrel yourself away?  I've always had a penchant for being tucked into hidden places: treetops, underneath beds, in a thicket of berry bushes, a litany of forts.  I sometimes question the balance of this tendency...if, indeed, it is healthy to be drawn into a lost world of one's own, but in certain moments it provides such an irresistible escape. 

 

Let us not, however, dwell upon the fragile workings of my mind.  What I really wanted to confess is that the signs of Christmas are beginning to appear in our home.  Little by little, the girls are decking the halls. 

 

And delving into the winter hat box. 

 

Do I mind?  Not in the least.  As much as I adore the United States, I still think Canadians have the better calendar when it comes to Thanksgiving...it is held on the second Monday of October as a celebration of the harvest, leaving us the entire month of November to gear up for and savor the holidays.

 

So when I hear my girls playing Christmas music shortly after the Halloween decorations are put away, I admit it quite warms my heart.

 

They really are part Canadian, after all.

 

new tollipop locket design at polarity!

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I asked for your opinion as to which Tollipop prints you would like to see on a new set of Polarity lockets?

Well, you spoke and we listened!  I'm thrilled to announce the lovely, intrepid Cat has stocked her Etsy shop with these trinkets and they are only waiting for someone to stop by and cherish them forever.

Aren't they the sweetest things?  Can't you just imagine what secrets they are destined to hold?

Thank you again for your suggestions, dear reader.  I was quite touched by your enthusiasm and hope you are smitten with the results.

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p.s.  I've received several emails and comments expressing concern that the locket is already sold out.  Please allow me to assure you there is an infinite supply of these goodies in Cat's shop...most Etsy artists stock only one of a particular item and then relist promptly when it sells.  If you are interested in purchasing a locket and don't see one available, I'm sure she would love to hear from you on the matter.

and the winner is...

Amy!  To be specific, the lovely Amy who penned the following sentiment: "How delightful! An extra gift to reminisce on Laura! Too fun!"  It is too fun, dear Amy!  We are nothing less than thrilled on your behalf.  You will simply adore these calling cards, I promise!  And you will have a secret smile each time you use one to announce yourself.  Don't be surprised if you become the toast of high society overnight!

Let's get in touch, Amy darling, to exchange mailing information and the like.  A lovely set of Blonde Designs calling cards will be heading your way soon!

To everyone else, thank you for playing along!  And to those of you who hopped over from Angie's blog, how lovely to have your company!  I wish you all something very nice, something of great consolation, such as a bat-sized Toblerone chocolate bar falling out of the sky and landing in your unsuspecting arms.  Wouldn't that make you forget your troubles?  Especially as it was practically a near-death experience?!

Might I also wish you a chance encounter with Almanzo Wilder and his deftly maneuvered calling cards?  I'm quite certain that brash young farmer could melt your inner praire girl.

To you, dear reader, I wish all this and more. 

Now please keep me in your thoughts as I go in for round 100 with our local librarian.  It seems Caroline was hoarding books beneath the floorboards, or something equally as difficult to explain...

 

over the weekend...

There were copious amounts of bike riding, punctuated by one good crash.  Poor Caroline's pinky...I think if I am called upon to express sympathy for it one more time I shall be forced to do something desperate!

 

Schubert does a headstand for the duration of Sophie's practice...a sign of negligence or mutiny?  Hard to say.  If by tomorrow I'm writing Tollipop in exile, you'll know it was mutiny.

 

I stitched a tree.

 

And went for the world's coldest bike ride.  Laugh if you must, but I'm not kidding: when you're out in the middle of the desert on a brisk, windy day and the sun suddenly drops behind the mountains? 

Feels like the Dementor's Kiss.

Discovered a coupon for a local yogurt shop.  Forget what I just said about the Dementor's Kiss.  I can always rally for a good, tart yogurt.

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p.s.  Dear reader, I hope you had a lovely weekend.  There's still time to enter the Blonde Designs giveaway...I'll close comments sometime later this afternoon and post the winner!

how the day began, how the day ended

The lovely but hopefully not misleading nature of a blog is the way one can selectively feature moments from the day.  Based on these photos, one could easily get the impression that the Tollipop house is a cozy nook of creative bliss.

Well, it is.   

But that doesn't tell the whole story.  It doesn't capture the entire picture.  The problem is, sometimes I don't feel like dwelling on the rest of the picture.  The rest of the picture is often a blur. 

It's not that I don't acknowledge those other moments or accept that life is the sum total of it all, but sometimes it's nice to concentrate on the prettier moments.  And I suppose I trust most people feel the same way.

 
 I do so love a pretty moment.

blonde designs giveaway!

Dear reader, one of the serendipitous effects of keeping a blog is the chance to admire others whose paths you may cross only via the internet.  How much better, then, when the admiration is grounded in real life?  I was delighted when my friend, Angie, along with her colleague, Kristin, recently started a blog to complement Blonde Designs, their exquisite line of custom invitations and stationery.

A former art director at Martha Stewart Living, Angie brings her impeccable aesthetic to everything she touches.  It shows in her home, in her penchant for entertaining, in her three sweet girls whose names make me wish to have three more sweet girls, and in the way she navigates life in general.  She is always calm, elegant, and the epitome of style, but what I admire most about Angie is my sense she is not afraid of hard work, of making things from scratch, of taking time with details so her world reflects the loveliness that is an instrinsic part of who she is.

Today I am thrilled to announce a first for Tollipop: a giveaway on behalf of Blonde Designs.  The prize is one of my very favorite things: personalized calling cards, 25 in all, your choice of a design.  Isn't that a treat? 

 

Calling cards, dear reader, are a symbol of all that is right and wonderful in this world.  They denote friendship, good manners, and in the case of Almanzo Wilder, a subtle hint of admiration.  What could be more delicious?  What could be more fun?

To enter, simply leave a comment below.  I will draw and announce the winner on Monday, November 16th.  Thank you for visiting and playing along!

p.s.  Please be sure to visit the Blonde Designs blog...it shares many ideas on adding pretty details to one's life, plus there is a fun giveaway going on, too!  

"oh!," said the stylish lady, "what i wouldn't give to get my bee stung lips on one of those cookies."

Dear reader, I'm in a bit of trouble.  The kind of trouble one encounters when in the presence of too many pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  Yes, that kind of trouble. 

I made these cookies this morning for the girls to take to school.  Of course there were some leftover n'er-do-wells lurking in the kitchen when I came home from volunteering in Caroline's class.  Did they wolf whistle?  Did they cat call? 

Worse.  It's all a blur to me now and I can't remember who exactly made the first move,  but I am telling you--it was an out and out ambush. 

What is it with me and cookie attacks?  Do I give off a vanilla scent?  Do I look like the type of person who enjoys hand-to-mouth combat with baked goods? 

Don't answer that question. 

....................

An aside:  remind me to tell you about volunteering in Caroline's class some day.  How I rocket in popularity the moment I enter the room.  How I try not to let this go to my head. 

"Caroline, it's your mom!"  "Caroline's mom is here!"  "Hi, Caroline's mom!"

How I grin, letting it go to my head.  How Caroline grins, too. 

How I get all these cool jobs involving the use of rulers and felt pens, staplers, hole punches, and today...an exacto knife!  How using that exacto knife made me the happiest volunteer in all the land.  How strangely eager I am to please the teacher.  How thrilled I would be if she gave me a gold star.  How one of my jobs was to remove the paper jack o' lanterns from the wall and how I knew, without checking, which one was Caroline's (the one with cupid's bow lips and eyelashes).

....................

Back to the matter at hand.  As if this morning's run-in was not enough, who should stop by later that day bearing more freshly baked pumpkin cookies?  An alleged friend!  Only these cookies were covered in some sort of illegal glaze of such exquisite mien that I immediately had to call her up and beg for the recipe.

And now I will enslave/share it with you:

Brown Sugar Icing

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla
4 Tbsp. milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Combine butter, sugar, and milk in saucepan and bring to a boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool before adding vanilla and powdered sugar.  Icing should be a little thicker than a glaze.

For the record, my friend's cookies did not have any chocolate chips in them, which is as it should be when one is endowing one's cookies with a highly addictive substance. 

We've moved past chocolate, dear reader.  Way past.

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Edited to add:  Because so many of you are asking, here is my friend's cookie recipe.  It's basically the same as mine, only minus the chocolate chips and the insanity.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and shortening; add vanilla, egg & pumpkin. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Batter will be sticky. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes.

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Two more things. 

1.  The stylish lady with the bee stung lips?  That's my dear sister, Julianna.  The one who sings like an angel.  And has great lips.

2.  Please be sure to visit Tollipop tomorrow!  And do bring your friends!  A lovely giveaway is in the works...

over the weekend...

 I rode my bike.

Dear reader, you would not believe the snake I saw out there!  Yes, I stopped to check it out.  I very nearly fell off my bike in awe.  The poor fellow was the victim of a badly timed road crossing, and all the little desert creatures trying to snack upon him were in risk of a similar fate, so I used a stick to relocate the luncheon to higher ground. 

The weight of the carcass snapped my stick in half. 

Snap!  Flop!  Wiggle!

Dear reader, imagine how high I jumped because really, weren't you wondering if that snake was faking it, too?  I think we're all familiar with a snake's capacity to play dead, when in reality it may be waiting to wrap its coils around a conscientious cyclist and drag her down to its lair of bones, laminate, and ironic décor.  The serpentine penchant for shag carpet is a well known fact around these parts. 

Just to clarify--this one really was dead.  But I swear it wiggled. 

By the by, do I really think people come to Tollipop hoping for a good snake story?  Probably not.  But this much you should know about me: some of my fondest moments have been spent chasing snakes, catching frogs, and running with wolves. 

Yet I still adore Jane Austen. 

What can I tell you?  Some people are just special that way.

I made the girls clean their room.  Finally, a culprit for all that mysterious clutter was discovered!  What a relief, as I was beginning to consider my young charges to be on the slovenly end of the spectrum.  Note to self: have some faith.  I should have known it was the hamster all along. 

 

I worked on more sad, wistful girls.

 

I wish I had a dress of this color.  If I had a dress of this color, I would never be sad.  I would only be wistful.

Caroline lasered this minuet into smithereens with her look of intense concentration.  In other news, we attended her friend's violin recital...a boy with a similar capacity for musical expression.  One day they may play a duet together and their collective ferocity will cause a nuclear meltdown.

 
Finally, we started another project.  I hesitate to mention this as I consider my (temporarily) stalled Hundred Dresses Project, my lagging goal of weekly shop updates, my ludicrous plans for a tidy studio...why should I further reveal my penchant for failure?  Why should I hold myself up to the scrutiny of the world?! 

Because this project is really cool...can you guess what it might be?  The girls and I are working on it together.  Hopefully they will help me see this through but let's face it, we are related--a fact which doesn't bode well in anyone's favor.

I will certainly give you updates if, indeed, there are any to be had.  But in case this is as good as it gets, isn't Sophie's gingerbread house a sheer delight?!

when tollipop girls languish

Poor Sophie has been laid out with the ague lately.  And what is ague, you say?  Oh, dear reader, what isn't ague?  Yes, it could be fever.  Possibly fatigue.  And let us not rule out the fact it could be that state of mind when one is almost turning twelve.  But why should we trouble ourselves with the sordid history of a word only the French have any business to pronounce?  Voyons donc!  Suffice it to say every great heroine seems to have her dance card monopolized by this insipid, groping rake from time to time.

She was quite weakened, really.  The only thing she could muster was a needle and thread, along with the occasional request for bon bons, smelling salts, and the express desire that no one, least of all Mr. Darcy, be privvy to her suffering.  As long as the Tollipop headmistress was intimately privvy, such would suffice. 

But look how nicely her fancywork is coming along!  It would seem Miss Sophie is well suited to languish on the chesterfield every now and then.

And when our heroine had recovered her strength sufficient to venture out-of-doors, didn't she have the grandest satchel in all the land?

Which brings me to my own fancywork...you know, the one that is being french-dotted from here to Kiev?  Perhaps a day on the chesterfield, surrounded by bon bons and the soothing ministrations of three young candy stripers is the very prescription for a cure to this eternal work in progress.

what i love about this girl

 

:: Conversation while driving home from music lessons the other day ::

Izzy:  Mom, do you ever look at people you pass on the street and wonder--

Me:  Who they are?  Where they come from? 

Izzy:  Yeah.  And, like, what they're thinking about.

Me:  All the time.

Izzy:  Me too.