O Christmas Tree

Snow + Christmas tree farm = quintessential holiday family experience.
We ventured to Shawnee Trail Christmas Tree Farm in Hudson, OH.

Dear Reader,

This is how you do Christmas trees in Northeast Ohio.

Step one: Have fun. Lots of it.

Step two: Get your gear ready (in this case, a saw).
And don't forget to bring a very cute companion.

Step three: Be patient, search and find that special tree.

The kids picked this adorable 4' tree, to which we replied, "Don't you want a bigger, taller one?" They said in unison, "No! This one is perfect! It's SO CUTE!" How could we argue with them? It was perfect -- just the right size for them.

Step four: Chop chop chop. And put some muscle into it. 

Step five: Celebrate with a Tarzan-like victory cry.

Step six: Wait for your tree to get prepped for take home. (The good folks at the farm
use a machine to shake the snow, ice and leaves off your tree; then wrap it in twine.)

Step seven: Meet Daniel the Wizard (no, this is not
Gandalf) while you wait for your tree to get prepped.
(p.s. this guy is AWESOME)

Step eight: Let your kids use themselves as a perch
for Richard the Rooster and his wife, Millie.

Step nine: Take home your treasured find. Decorate and take
some ridiculously cute photos. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Links dec11

Williamsburg is proof that fashion must be the most
intoxicating release from the banality of the world.

read/read/watch

• What happens when you spend one afternoon on a busy Williamsburg, Brooklyn street corner? Fashion happens. (BuzzFeed)

• Unfortunately terrible (read: awesomely bad) graphic design logos. (Meanwhile...in Art)

• A gripping series about one of New York's 22,000 homeless children. (The New York Times)

• A Lost Boy of Sudan grows up and finds the American Dream just out of reach. (The New York Times Magazine)

• This guy couldn't afford prosthetic limbs, so he made his own. (VICE Japan)

RIP Nelson Mandela

Death by chocolate

Oh, Whole Foods... Why?

This holiday season, these sinful little things will be the death of me. Dark chocolate + caramel + coconut butter = I'm done for.

This week's obsession: pinch your cheeks like you mean it

Grandmother approved.

A flushed, rosy cheek is a dead give away of good health and great skin. And I love nothing more than this adorable tube of wonderful-ness. A mustard seed-size dabbed on each apple of my cheek is all I need. Love.