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roslinadama-sinequanon · 7 years ago

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Christmas in Connecticut-Chapter 17

In this chapter:

It's Christmas morning and everyone is excited.

Nicole needs some advice and she turns to Sharon and Colleen for a mother to mother heart to heart--mostly Sharon.

You can find this chapter here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293105/chapters/31597614

or here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12789981/17/Christmas-in-Connecticut

or here:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on our troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the Yule-tide gay From now on our troubles will be miles away

Here were are as in olden days happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together If the Fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

****

Snuggled down deep under the down comforter with the furnace that was Andy spooning her from behind, Sharon woke to sound of little feet in the hall, excited whispers and sleepy voices urging quiet. She smiled and stretched a little. Normally she would have cuddled back in against her man and fought for another hour of sleep, but it was Christmas morning and though it had dawned dark and cold, she felt a frisson of excitement run down her spine. When she lifted the blind on the window next their bed, the sun was beginning to rise over the Sound and she saw that they had received another few inches of snow overnight, the evergreens heavy with it. Winter Wonderland, indeed. Rolling back over she pressed her lips to Andy’s shoulder. He stopped snoring but didn’t awaken.

“Annn…dy” she drew out his name softly, continuing to press little kisses along his neck up to his jaw. “Andy,” she said again, this time drawing her fingertip down from his forehead over his nose. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw her leaning over him. “Merry Christmas,” she said, just before she kissed him.

He lifted a hand, brushing the tangle of her hair back off her face. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” he mumbled, his voice raspy with sleep.

“I heard the boys, I think they’ll be in here soon to get us up so they can unwrap their presents.”

“You’re the only present I want to unwrap.”

“Yes, well…” She shivered as he slid a hand up under her pajama top, tickling the skin on her belly. “I think you might have to wait until tonight for that particular present.”

“I don’t like to wait.”

She laughed and kissed the tip of his nose. He sounded just like an impatient little boy. “No kidding.”

A soft knock on their door drew them apart. “Dad, Sharon, are you awake?”

“Barely. Come on in, Nic.”

Nicole opened the door slightly, saw that they were indeed awake and allowed Ty and Scottie to run in and jump up on the bed.

“Santa came! Santa came!” the boys cried out while bouncing up and down.

“You were right,” Tyler said to Sharon. “Santa did find us in Connecticut. Just like he used to find Ricky and Emily.”

Scottie hopped off the bed. “Come on Papa Andy. “ He grabbed Andy’s hand attempting to pull him out of bed. Before Andy could move, Guinness came running into the room and jumped up on the bed, stomping all over them to get to their faces so he could cover them with wet, smelly dog kisses. Sharon squealed and pulled the covers up over her head.

“All right, all right, you little hooligans. We’re getting up. Guinness down.” The big Golden Retriever responded to the authority in Andy’s voice and jumped off the bed. Andy then rose and lifted Tyler down before pulling the covers back off a giggling Sharon. “Coast is clear.”

“My hero.” She took the hand he offered and swung out of bed. “Who else is up?” She asked an amused Nicole.

“Everyone but your kids.”

Andy looked at the boys with a mischievous smile. “You know what you gotta do.”

They nodded and took off down the hall shouting Ricky, Rusty and Emily’s names.

“You’re as bad as they are,” Nicole said.

“Hey, if I have to get up at the crack of dawn, so do they.” Andy grabbed his robe and handed Sharon hers. Nicole left to follow the boys down the hall.

“Did you say you wanted a house full of those?” Andy raised a questioning brow. Sharon’s grin broadened and she nodded.

“I did. You don’t?”

Andy chuckled as he heard the groans and protests coming from the other bedrooms. “You know I do.”

Sharon took his hand and squeezed it. She did know. The joy he took he took in spending time with family was one of the many things she loved about him.

****

“Mom, this one’s for you. It‘s from Andy.” Looking rather sweet and goofy, with a Santa’s hat on his head, Ricky was seated on the floor among the pile of presents under the Christmas tree. Sharon took the large gift and smiled affectionately at him. When asked who wanted to play Santa, naturally Ricky had jumped at the chance. Like Andy, Ricky would always be a big kid at heart. There was a reason they got along so well.

Sharon tore methodically at the paper rather than just digging in. Inside was a large wicker picnic basket filled with all kinds of her favorite things. A bottle of her favorite Napa Valley Cabernet, a box of Harry and David Riviera pears, boxes of spiced and herbal teas, Godiva dark chocolates, her favorite daywear perfume, Jo Malone’s pear and freesia and the sexy, seductive, Black Opium, her new favorite scent for romantic nights out on the town. For the bathroom he‘d purchased the elegant little bars of imported French milled soaps she liked to put out in a fancy vintage bowl by the sink as well as hand cream, body lotion, bath salts, sugar scrub and soy candles all in her favorite ylang ylang, jasmine and vanilla scent from her friend Summer’s essential oil boutique. Hidden in the bottom was a small box labeled “Victoria’s Secret”. Knowing Andy and his penchant for sexy nighties, she wasn’t going to pull that one out to show the family. Nope, she would open that box tonight in the privacy of their bedroom. “Andy, this is too much,” she protested.

“Says the woman who got me front row tickets to the Lakers/Warriors game next month.”

“But you already gave us all this trip and my beautiful ring.”

“That wasn’t a Christmas gift, “he scoffed. “That’s your engagement ring. Anyway, you did say when we were packing that you were getting a little low on perfume. And Summer helped me with all the body lotions and stuff.”

“Well, I thank you. You did very well, with both this and my ring.” She kissed his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder to watch Ricky continue handing out gifts, the boys squealing with delight each time they tore at the paper. “But you know, nothing could top this trip, all of us being here together.”

Andy turned his face so he could rub his cheek against her hair. He did know how much this trip meant to her. She worried about her parents now that they were getting older and there was nothing she loved more than being surrounded by her family. One of the first things he’d noticed about Sharon, back when he still hadn’t liked her very much, was how her whole being seemed to light up when she talked about her kids. Back then, she had been planning to join them and her parents in Park City for Christmas and skiing. In some ways that seemed like a lifetime ago.

Now that he’d been through the family photo albums, he understood that on a deeper level. Intellectually he knew that Jack hadn’t been a part of Sharon’s life for a very long time. While they were non-dating and then dating they’d had many conversations about the problems in their first marriages, but it had still been surprising to see how little of Jack he’d found in those albums. When Colleen had first brought out the pictures he had been prepared to see a lot of Sharon with Jack and their children. Yes, there had been some of those, but not nearly has many as he’d thought. Ricky was barely out of diapers when Jack just seemed to disappear. He figured there was probably a wedding album somewhere that Colleen had tactfully not brought out for him to look through, but it had been eye opening for him to see how quickly Jack had no longer been a part of the family and just how young Sharon and his kids had been when he left.

Both he and Sharon had been without partners for a very long time and both had felt something missing in their lives, so being together like this, with their entire family coming together was something that brought them both a sense of joy and contentment. And it was something he wanted to make sure they were never without again.

“You know,” he said speaking softly, though with the Christmas music playing and the raucous excitement of the boys he doubted anyone could hear him. “By this time next year we should be married.”

“God willing,” Sharon interjected.

“Yes, God willing. And hopefully by then we’ll have a new house with a lot more room. If we do, maybe we can have everyone over to our new house for Christmas. Fly your parents out, Christine and Ed and your nieces. Maybe put on a whole “Feast of Seven Fishes” for Christmas Eve. What do you think?”

Sharon’s heart constricted at the eager look in his eyes. She ached to think about all the lonely years he’d spent longing to have a family to share his life with again. “Andy, I think that’s a lovely idea. Provided we find a house of course. There is no way we could have everyone in the condo.”

“I have a good feeling, Sharon. Everything is falling into place for us. We’ll find our dream house.”

*****

“Whew, finally got the boys settled. We let them open one of their lego boxes. Is there anything I can do help?”

“It’s all good.” Sharon gave a quick glance up when Nicole entered the kitchen. She was bent over with her head in the oven checking on the turkey. Her mother was next to her rearranging things in the refrigerator. “The turkey is cooking and we have a lot of leftovers from last night that we can just heat up. We’ll add a couple more vegetables and some stuffing, but we won’t need to do any of that until we’re almost ready to eat.”

“We’re an enlightened bunch of feminists, aren’t we?” Nicole’s lips twisted wryly. “All the women in the kitchen.”

Sharon arranged the tinfoil back over the turkey and shut the oven door. “By choice,” she reminded her, then poured herself another cup of coffee and joined the young woman at the table.

“Yes. And let’s remember, your father cooked breakfast.” Colleen said. “And it was delicious.”

“It was, “Nicole agreed. “Dad is a really good cook. Much better than my mother--though I can’t say that too loud around her.”

“You don’t have to worry about that with me,” Sharon assured her. “I freely admit that Andy is a far better cook than I am.”

That was one of the things that Nicole found so refreshing about Sharon. The woman was so confident in who she was that she didn’t have any problem admitting that she might not be good at something. Her mother was the polar opposite. Sandra was insecure and defensive and did not handle criticism well.

“After my parents divorced, I didn’t get to see dad as much as I would have liked, my mother did not like sharing. But when I did go over to his place for the weekend, instead of bringing me out for pizza or burgers like my other friends who spent the weekends with their dads, he’d make me these big elaborate suppers and huge breakfasts.” She could still remember the eager look on his face when he placed a meal before her and his big smile when she’d tell him something was delicious. He’d always been so anxious to please her.

“It’s the Italian in him,” Sharon said. “Your father equates food with love. The more he loves you, the more he wants to feed you.” Her face flushed at the memory of Andy wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms riding low on his hips while he cooked her a delectable big breakfast the morning after they’d first made love. Ravenous after their night of lovemaking, she had devoured not only his Sicilian French toast and bacon but also the croissants he’d heated that were dripping with black raspberry jam. Ahh, those good old days before the heart healthy diet.

“Sharon? You’re a million miles away. What are you thinking?” Nicole was intrigued by the flush on Sharon’s cheeks.

“Nothing,” Sharon demurred.

“Sharon…”

“It’s nothing really. I was just thinking that your father likes to cook for me too.”

“Because he loves you.” Nicole nodded and took Sharon’s hand to examine the diamond ring on her finger. “It’s a really pretty ring.”

“It is,” Sharon agreed. It was simple and elegant and she loved all the tiny sparkling diamonds. “Why don‘t you grab yourself another cup of coffee and put your feet up. I just brewed a fresh pot.”

“Oh, that sounds like heaven.” Nicole quickly moved to pour herself cup. “Nothing like having little kids to wake you up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning.”

“No, there isn’t. I’ve missed that.” Sharon ignored Nicole‘s sarcasm and instead took her words at face value. “It’s nice having the excitement of young children around at Christmas. I look forward to the day when Andy and I are surrounded by lots of grandkids.”

“Well, there may be more sooner than you think.”

“Nicole! “ Sharon nearly choked on her coffee. “Are you---?”

“No, no, no…Not yet. Dean and I have just started talking about the possibility of expanding our family. We’ve been married two and a half years now, the boys are doing well, things are good at work and, well, I think I’m ready.”

“That’s so exciting. Oh my God, your dad will be over the moon.” Sharon glanced through the archway into the living room where Andy was stretched out on the floor building lego towers with the boys. William, Emily and Rusty were playing Chinese checkers and Ricky and Dean were watching “Christmas Vacation“.

“Look at mine.” She heard Andy say when the boys started fighting over who had the better tower. “It looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.”

“What’s the Leaning Tower of Pizza?” Tyler asked.

Andy chuckled. “Not Pizza kiddo, Pisa. Hey, never mind these towers, look at this. “He showed them a page from the instruction book. “We can build a police cruiser, that’s pretty cool. What do you think?”

“Way cooler than a tower, “both boys agreed. All three quickly began ripping apart their towers to start from scratch.

Sharon smiled into her coffee mug. Andy was a big kid himself. Nicole’s eyes followed Sharon’s and her face went soft with affection.

“He really does love the boys--and they love him.”

“We both do.”

There was a look in Nicole’s eyes that had Sharon concerned. “Is something worrying you? “

Nicole set her mug down and turned back toward the woman who would soon be her stepmother. From the first moment they’d met at the wedding, when Sharon’s warmth and graciousness had put everyone at ease in what could have been a very tense situation, she’d felt comfortable with her. There was something genuine about her that made her very easy to talk with. “I don’t know. Maybe, a little. Like I said, I think I’m ready, but how do you really know when you’re ready?”

“Oh honey, I don’t know if anyone ever really knows. I know I wasn’t ready for either of my babies. “

That gave Nicole a pause. Her father’s girlfriend was the most put together woman she knew. She seemed to be able to handle anything with grace and dignity. It was hard to believe that the unflappable Sharon hadn’t been completely prepared to have a child, but it made her feel better to know that. “Really? But you‘re such a good mom.”

“Well, thank you for that, but it’s all trial and error, I assure you. No woman is born knowing everything there is to be a mom. Isn‘t that what you told me when I was pregnant with Em?” Sharon turned to Colleen as the older woman joined them at the kitchen table.

“It is exactly what I said.”

“I’m afraid the boys might be jealous.”

“Oh, they will be jealous. They are always jealous. When I was pregnant with Ricky and found out I was carrying a boy, Emily told me she did not want a brother. And right after he was born, I was nursing him and she climbed up on the arm of the chair, looked down at him with disgust, and asked me when we were sending him back.”

Nicole laughed. “I’m assuming she came around. They seem to get along well now.”

“She did, although they had their moments, as all siblings do.”

“But they were okay with you adopting Rusty?”

“Not completely. They had some reservations, especially Ricky.” Sharon’s eyes clouded over when she remembered the fight she’d had with her son over his condescension and lack of compassion when discussing Rusty‘s adoption.

“He didn’t want you to adopt Rusty? That’s surprising; they seem so buddy- buddy.”

“They are…now. Ricky had some, let’s just call them misconceptions, about Rusty and the reason I was adopting him. Most of it was exacerbated by my ex-husband who also didn’t want me adopting Rusty, but that’s another story altogether. I think it really came down to jealously, as it usually does with siblings. Ricky was my baby, my only son and I think he felt that because I was adopting another boy he was somehow failing me as a son. This of course couldn’t have been further from the truth.”

“Siblings are siblings no matter what their age, “Colleen said. “He was afraid Rusty was taking his place and that he was going to steal your love.”

“That’s it exactly.“ And despite how annoyed she’d been by Ricky’s attitude, she did know that in his own misguided way, he’d been trying to protect her. With Jack having been absent for almost all of his life, he had grown up as the only male in a house of women and he’d sometimes taken his ’man of the house’ role a little too far. “But underneath the things he said I knew that it wasn’t Ricky talking. That it wasn��t the boy I raised. It was his father manipulating him and playing on his fears, which is the one thing Jack is really, really good at. By the end of his visit I’d set him straight and now the three of them get along great. Once they started teasing Rusty and including him in their sibling rivalry, I knew it would all be okay.

“It’s nice that they were able to come around. Seeing them all now, you’d never know there were any issues. I don’t know. I guess I just want to make sure it’s the perfect time.”

“If you wait for the perfect time to have a child it will never come. It’s a huge commitment, a life changing responsibility. But you know that. You’re wonderful with the boys and that can’t have been easy.”

“It wasn’t. It isn’t. I mean Scottie’s easy, he doesn’t even remember his mother, but Ty has some vague memories. He was only three when she died.”

“Three years old.” Colleen shook her head sadly.

“Scottie was barely a year old.”

“Such a shame. It’s hard enough to hear about someone dying of breast cancer, but for a woman to die in her twenties with two little babies at home. It just breaks your heart.”

“I know. It does. They were such a sad little family. When I first starting dating Dean it felt like I was competing with a ghost and that I could never live up to Stacy‘s memory. It took me some time to understand that it isn’t a competition. Dean loved Stacy and now he loves me.”

“I think there is always a natural feeling of competition or at least curiosity when a partner has been married before, regardless of how the marriage ended,” Sharon said.

“Oh, Sharon, if you’ve ever worried about competing with my mother---don’t. I can tell you, my father never looked at my mother or any woman the way he looks at you. And I’ve never seen him this happy. It’s as if he has a whole new lease on life. You’ve made such a difference for him…and for all of us. The Sharon effect, you know.”

Sharon grinned. The last time she‘d heard that term she was trying to convince Nicole that she and Andy were only very good friends. “He’s made a big difference for me too. Did you know that it was your wedding that got the whole ball rolling between us?”

“Dad did mention something about that. And to think, he almost didn’t come.” Nicole gave her a smirk very reminiscent of her father.

“Yes, well, I’m certainly glad that he did. “

“Me too. It was partially my fault, you know. I hadn’t planned on Larry walking me down the aisle along with dad. It never crossed my mind. My mother was the one who brought that up. It kind of made sense, dad was dad of course, but I was only 11 when mom married Larry. He helped raise me and he doesn’t have any children of his own. He was good to me. It felt right to honor him too. But I knew dad was going to flip about it, so I didn’t tell him until the last minute. It wasn’t fair to spring it on him like that. Dad tends to over react, he has a temper and he can carry a grudge. Thank you for helping to get him past all that.

“It’s all water under the bridge now. Your dad had come to terms with your decision and he was going to your wedding whether I went or not. I just helped to smooth out the edges.”

“You sure did that.” Her mother and her mother’s family were all hard on her father and she knew the wedding was not going to be easy for him. They still thought of him as the man he was 25 years earlier, not the man he had become once he’d gotten sober. Not the man who was sorry for his past behavior. Not the man who was doing everything he could to rectify the mistakes he’d made, including going to family therapy with her to fix the wounds they each had from her childhood.

Her father might be a hot head, as Sandra liked to remind everyone, but while she loved her mother, Nicole was not blind to the fact that she was not an easy person to live with. In fact, if her father hadn’t been such a mess for the few years after the divorce she would have much rather lived with him than her mother. And, even though her dad was pretty much paying for the entire wedding, her mother was simply unwilling to give him the benefit of any doubt. Everyone was convinced that he would show up at the wedding with one of the latest in his parade of Candi‘s, Tammi’s Bambi’s and Cindi’s. Curvy blonds with big boobs in dresses that would be too tight and too short. None of them had been prepared for him to walk into the church with the leggy, elegant, auburn haired beauty who turned out to be Sharon Raydor. Sharon had been warm, friendly, and utterly unflappable, easily deflecting the barbs flung by her mother and the rest of the family while playing up her father’s attributes. She had thoroughly charmed every member of the Estevez family and Andy’s estimation in their eyes had gone up tremendously thanks to the new kind of company he was keeping.

“I liked you, right from the start. You were so different from the other women my dad dated. Not that I ever really met any of them. They were in and out of his life much too fast.”

“So I’ve heard.” Sharon had seen a few members of what Brenda Leigh Johnson once referred to as Andy Flynn’s “Bimbo brigade”.

“And now you’re going to be my stepmother. I couldn’t be happier about that.”

“Me too.” Sharon covered Nicole’s hand with her own. It was funny, but even though they’d only spent a little bit of time together at the wedding, she’d felt a bond with the young woman that had only grown the more she got to know her. “Now my family will be even again, two boys, two girls.”

“You did always say you wanted four kids,” Colleen reminded her. “I guess God just had a different way of giving them to you.”

“Hmmm.” Sharon hummed. She hadn’t thought about it that way, in fact she’d put that disappointment away a long time ago. It was true. She would love to have had more children, but ultimately not with Jack Raydor and there had just not been anyone else who’d found their way into her heart…until Andy.

Early on, as a young woman, when she still viewed the world through rose-colored glasses, when Jack was the man she’d thought she would spend the rest of her life with, she’d prayed for the big happy family of her girlish dreams. She’d had it all planned out. Four children, ideally two girls and two boys, but she wouldn’t quibble on those details.

Later, when Jack was long gone and she was a lonely, harried, young single mother trying to raise two children and build a career in a high-pressured male dominated profession, those prayers had changed. Instead of more children, what she’d really wanted was to find a man with whom she could share her life. A man who would truly love her. A man she could laugh with and depend on. A man with whom she could share her burdens and build a life. Because the truth was, going through the hard times without the love and support of a partner had sometimes felt overwhelming, especially when it involved her children. Ricky’s surgery to remove pressure on his brain after he’d fallen out of a tree and Emily’s life threatening burst appendix had been terrifying events that she’d had to get through without their father because Jack had been nowhere to be found. Thank God, she had wonderful friends and hadn’t been completely alone, but it wasn’t quite the same as having someone by your side each day to support you and help you through the hard times. Someone to share both the joy and the sorrows of life‘s journey.

And then she’d stopped that prayer as well. Not because she didn’t want a partner anymore, but because she no longer needed one. She didn’t need a man to depend on; she could stand on her own two feet thank you very much. Yes, there were times when she was lonely but she had been able to build a full rich life. But, as so often happened, just as she’d gotten to a place in her life where she’d come to accept that maybe she was just one of those people not meant to find their soul mate, God had brought her up close and personal with a strong, sexy, sweet man with a cocky attitude, silver tipped hair, chocolate brown eyes and a wickedly cheeky smile. Andy Flynn.

In the beginning, she’d questioned why it had taken so long for her prayers to be answered. She didn’t wear her Catholicism on her sleeve, had always felt that her religious beliefs were her own, personal and private, but her faith was strong and her relationship with her God valued very deeply. She had been taught to believe that He did things for a reason even if you didn’t understand that that reason at the time, so she had finally concluded that maybe He had wanted to show her all that she was capable of on her own. To allow her to become the strong, confident, independent woman she was before giving her a man who loved her in a way that took her breath away. A man she could laugh with and depend on, a man with whom she could share her burdens and build a life. And along with that man, He grabbed that other prayer young Sharon had prayed so many years ago and brought Rusty and Nicole into her life. Four children and her soul mate. It wasn’t exactly the way she had once envisioned her life, but she couldn’t imagine being any happier than she was right now.

Picking up the potholders sitting on the table in front of her, Sharon rose. Nicole watched her open the oven door and lift the tinfoil over the large pan. The room immediately filled with the scent of roasting turkey as she began basting the browning bird.

With Sharon’s back to her, Nicole cleared her throat her nervously and asked the question she felt only Sharon would be able to answer. “You have an adopted child and biological children. Do you think…If I have my own child…Will I feel differently about that child than I do for Ty and Scottie? I mean I love them so much I can’t imagine I would love my biological child more, but I don’t know. Will it be different? “

Sharon shut the oven door and set the potholders down. “I can only speak from my own experience. When I was pregnant with Emily I was so scared to be completely responsible for that little human life, so afraid I wasn’t going to know how to be her mother.” She turned to her own mother taking her hand. “Do you remember what you said to me when I asked you how I was ever going to know what she needed?”

“Of course. A mother knows.”

Sharon nodded. “A mother knows. I thought it was just a cliché, something she was saying to make me feel better. I probably even rolled my eyes. But she was right. It took no time at all for me to be able to differentiate between the cries of ‘I’m hungry, I’m wet, I’m tired, I’m overtired, my tummy hurts and I want to be held’. Right after Emily’s birth, they placed that brand new baby on my belly and she looked up at me and…Oh my God. I can still feel it like it was yesterday. My heart filled with a love so strong, so powerful, I felt like my chest would explode. Later when I got pregnant with Ricky, I wondered how on earth I could feel that much love for another child. But when he was born, it was the same experience all over again. I was just as besotted over him as I had been for his sister. Now Rusty…Let’s just say I was not besotted by him in the beginning.”

Colleen and Nicole laughed. They both knew what a difficult transition it had been for Rusty and of course for Sharon.

“But my heart did go out to him and I wanted very badly to help him. The thing is, I had years and years to get to know Emily and Ricky. I nursed them at my breast, I changed their diapers, and I taught them how to eat, how to use the potty and how to get dressed. I knew their favorite colors, their favorite books, their favorite foods. I knew how to push and how to avoid their buttons because I’d sewed them on.”

Colleen nodded. “It was the same with Sharon and Christine. I’m far more emotional than my husband is and when I would yell at Sharon it barely registered while Christine would burst into tears. But when William sat Sharon down and calmly told her he was disappointed in something she’d done, she’d come out of that study with big tears rolling down her cheeks, while Christine would skip out thinking she hadn’t gotten in trouble at all.”

Sharon could still remember being summoned to the study and the awful sense of guilt she‘d felt at disappointing her father. “Well, that personality trait has served me pretty well in my profession,” she said. “If I burst into tears every time someone yelled at me, I wouldn’t last very long interviewing suspects.” She shuddered to think of her mother hearing some of the names she’d been called in the interview room. One guy had called her a fucking cunt and had nearly gotten Andy‘s fist down his throat, but she had barely blinked. It wasn‘t the first time someone had called her that ugly name. Thankfully, Andy had not been present the time a muscled, tattooed gang banger had grabbed his crotch with a big grin telling her “suck my cock bitch and I’ll tell you what you want to know”. Andy definitely would have ended up in PSB for excessive force over that one. “Anyway, I had to learn all that with Rusty on a far different level and in a much shorter time than I had with Emily and Ricky. That created some tension between us. Someone else had sewed his buttons on and I had to be careful trying not to press them. He was so different from what I knew with my other two kids.”

“How so?”

“Oh my goodness, in so many ways. All my children had ever known was love and physical affection and except for a father who came in and out of their lives, stability and boundaries. They’d always had a roof over their heads and a warm bed to sleep in. They never had to worry about where their next meal might come from, or if they’d even get a meal that day. They never had to worry about whether I was going to come home at the end of the day or if each time I shot a needle into my arm, it might be the last. They never knew the terror of having a mother so doped up she didn’t even recognize them. They never had to worry about me bringing strange men home, men who would bring anger, violence, and abuse into their lives. They never had to take care of me; I always took care of them. They never had to worry about changing schools over and over again, if they even got to go to school. They attended St. Joseph’s since kindergarten and have lifelong friends because of that. Rusty did have to deal with all of that and more. He built walls because there was no point in getting close to people when you were just going to move on. And there was no point in making friends when you were trying to hide the horror of your home life. My kids never had to try to survive on their own when they were just children. They were innocent and sheltered and I thank God for that. Rusty was not and that is pain I feel every single day of my life.

“Oh, God, Sharon. I had no idea it was that bad. That had to be so hard for you. For him. I guess I was lucky that Ty and Scottie were so little when they came into my life and they didn’t have those kinds of scars.”

“Mmm…It was definitely a learning curve for me. Children are unique and you have to mother them in different ways, but I had to learn to mother Rusty in ways that were so different from what I knew. “

“How so?”

“Well, to start with, I was used to hugging and touching my kids, but I had to be careful of that with Rusty. In the beginning, I can’t tell you how many times I would reach out to touch him and have to pull my hand back. Now we don’t think anything of it, but it took time. I also had to be careful how I spoke to him. So many times, it felt like I was walking on eggshells. My own kids would have known that no matter how angry I got with them, I always loved them. Rusty had to learn that. I wanted so much for him to have the same kinds of experiences that Emily and Ricky had. Back when they were younger, I always had a houseful of kids, sleepovers and slumber parties and pizza parties to celebrate winning games or dance recitals. Giggling girls trying on make up, leaving nail polish and cotton balls all over the bathroom. Roughhousing boys shooting hoops in the driveway and taking over the TV to play video games, leaving their sweaty sneakers on the floor to stink up my living room. But as annoyed as I would get at times with their messes I loved having them around. My kids constantly asked me to have friends over or begged me to allow them to have a party, but Rusty never asked. He doesn’t make friends easily and he always seemed so alone. It broke my heart.”

“That’s so sad.” Nicole knew Rusty had had it rough. Her dad often talked about the boy and what a saint Sharon was for dealing with him. She just hadn’t realized quite how bad it had been.

“It was sad. I told him time and time again that I was okay with him bringing friends home. I wanted to make sure he knew that the condo was his home too. But he didn’t have any friends and I think my asking him about it sometimes rubbed salt in that wound. It made him defensive. It was hard to know what to say to him, when to push him and when to step back.” Oh, thinking back, those early years with Rusty had been so difficult. He’d been so guarded, so prickly, so defensive, and, yes, so fucking obnoxious, but now two years after his adoption it felt as if he’d always been her son. “I think the only time I really pushed it with him was for his graduation. I’d thrown huge parties for Emily and Ricky’s graduations, both high school and college, but Rusty wanted none of that. He said he didn’t know or care about any of the kids he went to school with. But I couldn’t let such an important day go by without acknowledging it in some way.”

“You had the squad come over didn’t you?”

“Yes. I had to show him that he DID have friends. They might not be traditional friends for a teenager, but he does have many people who care about him. Anyway, through all that, I have come to know Rusty now as surely as if I had given birth to him. I know all his buttons and I know what makes him tick and the day that I adopted him I felt the same swelling in my heart that I did the first time I held my babies. He is my child and I love him with the same depth of love that I have for Emily and for Ricky. I would die for all three of them and I hope they all know that. “

Blinking back tears, Rusty entered the kitchen to put his plate in the sink, his eyes glued to the floor. But as he turned to head back to the living room he paused by Sharon’s chair bending down to press a quick kiss to the top of her head. “They do, Mom,” he said before quickly leaving the room.

“You see,” Sharon smiled tenderly at his retreating form. “There was a time he never would have done that. If you and Dean choose to have a child there will be a period of adjustment for the boys but I feel like I can tell you with certainty that it won’t change the love that you have for them. Adopted or biological, your child is your child. The only thing that love has to do with blood is that it is pumped out through the heart.”

TBC

#sharon raydor #andy flynn #shandy #Major Crimes #christmas in connecticut #Shandy Christmas #Shandy family #nicole flynn

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allayjo · 4 years ago

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8 Best Decorating Trends For Upcoming Years!

Timeless, classy and chic decor trends are something that will remain for ages. Whether you choose to renovate your home or just keep things up to date, there are gorgeous styles that can be tailored in a long-lasting décor makeover. We bring to you ritzy and progressive interior decor themes that will be a hit for the upcoming years.

Statement Laundry Room:

We get it that there will be space constraints in a petite styled apartment; your laundry area is bound to be cluttered with soiled cloth bags. Now you can completely transform them into a statement feature with open wall shelves display flanked on either side of a chalk board wall. Write down inspirational quotes, put up pictures with magnetic pins on the board and even note down the schedule of the day on the chalkboard wall. Sturdy wood racks can be used as extra storage to keep towels, wicker baskets filled with washing supplies, pet supplies and other potpourri. Turn the wooden shelves into a green oasis by adding potted plants as finishing touches.

Fireplace Exuberance:

Have you ever thought about creating an attractive fireplace corner by adding wooden shelves above the mantle? Store vintage music records, wooden logs during winter, add Christmas decorations, tiny collectibles and small picture frames with exotic vacation destinations. Turn the space into a calm retreat by adding leather furniture and woollen throw rug.

Gems and Pleasure:

All your glittering jewels deserve a space where they can be sheltered from dust and filth, also become the focal points of any given living space. Jewelry stands are unsullied usable systems of organization that keep all of your jewels long lasting for years. Exhibit all of your statement neck pieces, rings, bracelets and earrings on these stands. They come in a functional three tier design with a rustic wooden base. You can decorate your side tables, dress up your bathroom vanity and use them as attractive bed heads on open shelves. These stands allow you to store all of your jewels with any tangling and conked out pieces issue.

Mood boards for inspiration:

Draw inspiration from classic mood boards for your daily routine or office work. Install wooden shelving on bare office walls and decorate them with your choice of goal setting quotes, words, pictures and books. This open shelving concept is a great way to store away office items and trophies too. An excellent way to create a successful mood board for work from home inspiration, you can keep switching up the style during festive and special occasions in your home office.

Foyer Chic:

Floral wallpapers with appealing patterns are a rich way to keep traditions alive, large printed ones with metallic hues are ageless. You can decorate your foyer with these bold textures, add varied picture collage frames that will enhace the vibe and invoke nostalgic memories that one can cherish through out the year. You can switch up the artwork, flower vases and add decorative mirrors on open wooden shelves for a dynamic effect.

Non-white Dinner Space:

Forget the pristine white dining space with trimmed lace table work and impeccable white chairs around the round table. Instead opt for a bold, earthy wooden look with refurbished furniture pieces and brightly colored chairs. Adorn the wall with natural wood shelves to store away wine glasses and plates. Flank the corner walls with tier corner wall shelves and grow a herb garden in an unexpectedly tiny space. Talk about garnishing your meals with these healthy greens right at the table.

Antique Love:

Bring out those family antique pieces and proudly display them on open floating shelves. You can create an elegant wall storage solution for all your antiques with these wooden shelves. Now, instead of putting away your old family heirlooms and statement pieces in a dusty attic you can display them above the floor and just below the ceiling on these shelves. Create a stunning antique wall exhibit instead of a gallery wall in the passageway, vintage art is making a huge comeback, your guests will love the story behind each unique piece and they can turn out to be the main focal point for ambient homes.

Bathroom basics:

A lone standing claw-foot bath tub eludes romance and charm in the master bathroom, install one and stay longer in a hot spa like bath experience after a long tiring day. By adding subtle wooden shelves at the back wall of the tub, you can store away all your bathing and body oil essentials for an aromatic bath indulgence. These shelves can also be decorated with fragrant candles, chunky jewels on stands and curated art work for a jazzy New York vibe in the bathroom.

Thus Love Kankei decor products allow you to stay on top of the trend list with their magnificent collection. Whether your style is laid-back, contemporary or vintage you will find decor for every niche, their functionality is their added advantage that makes these interior products futuristic.

#wallshelf rusticshelf photoframes jewelrytree tiercornershelf jewelryorganizer

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longsleeveeveningdresses123 · 6 years ago

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Among the great things with regards to that buying gold ball gown dresses on the web is that it is a lot more hassle-free for you&T^%&*u

Among the great things with regards to that buying wedding and Bridesmaids Dresses Brisbane on the web is that it is a lot more hassle-free for you. Online shopping is mostly chosen by couples who don't have plenty of time preparing their own wedding. Thus, instead of visiting various actual wedding shops and wasting your time in the process, you can just search the web for bridesmaid dress Brisbane. Just for big-busted a lot of women (any pot volume above a T), a new halter major or just a high together with heavy bands is recommended.Try to keep the edges streamlined, stay away from activities, be sure the information presented is reasonably heavy not to mention looking after.Continually extra one thing you cherish within the vicinity your local area a good number of adherent.They help people to be stress-free for longer with out stressful.Ones own to line of 7 numerous skirts & clothing offers that halter bath attire, your skirtini, the blue nile frolic in the water attire not to mention 5 various dresses and additionally dresses from their Assets brand gold ball gown dresses, a cheaper charged brand of Spanx bathing suit elegant vintage wedding dresses.

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y2kbeautyandother2000sstuff · 2 months ago

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Bath and Body Works Holiday Collection Cinnamon Stick Pillar Candle

Holiday 1999

Found on Ebay, user topdog9

4 notes · View notes

redhairforreasons · 8 years ago

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2, 37, 78, 98 :)

2. Favorite movie?

Oh my god, I have so many movies that I adore. But I would say my top favorite is Gone with the Wind.

37. What is the best feeling in the world?

Just laughing and feeling absolutely carefree.

78. Dream wedding? Describe.

Shit, I would have to find someone to marry me first! Ha! Um, I love everything about weddings I always have. I have a million thoughts running through my mind about what I may or may not want. But I think I want a fall wedding. Colors would be dark maroons/reds/oxblood. Maybe some blue and black accents. I want to look ethereal, vintage, classic. My husband in a wonderfully tailored suit. I want it to be lit up and almost fairytale like but not cheesy you know? Like a sweet garden full of flowers and strung up lights. Lots and lots of dancing and fabulous music. If I can afford it I would love a mix of a big band and a DJ. Yeah...thats what comes to mind.

98. Favorite scent?

Ok so Halloween is my favorite holiday but I LOVE the scents that come out in winter and christmas. I go crazy at Bath and Body Works over the christmas tree candle scents like the balsam. Ugh. Love it so much.

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maddiebethhh · 5 years ago

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What I got for Christmas 2019....

IMac Pro

iPhone 11 pro max

Apple Watch series 5 and a few extra bands in some lovely colors

Customized vintage Louis Vuitton handbag(this one has possibly became my favorite go to accessory.

Gift cards to Sephora, Abercrombie, hollister, urban outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, PacSun, American eagle, visa gift cards x4, Starbucks, target

Candles, lotions, body sprays, bath washes from bath and body works

White slide on vans, leopard print quilted slides, black vans slides

Scrunchies( even though I have enough to open a scrunchie store)

Mom style Levi and American eagle jeans, high waisted distressed jeans from American eagle, Abercrombie, and hollister

Champion sweatshirt and sweatpants

Money

Too faced, urban decay, tarte, Mac, and Kay von d make up

Candy, fruit, chewing gum

devadryer and devafuser hair dryer

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gethealthy18-blog · 5 years ago

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30 Best Thanksgiving Gifts

New Post has been published on https://healingawerness.com/getting-healthy/getting-healthy-women/30-best-thanksgiving-gifts/

30 Best Thanksgiving Gifts

30 Best Thanksgiving Gifts Harini Natarajan Hyderabd040-395603080 October 22, 2019

It is that time of the year again when you get together with family and friends to give thanks for all the blessings in your life. Thanksgiving is a time to show appreciation as well as exchange gifts with your loved ones and eat together.

Have you been so preoccupied with work that you forgot to get a gift for your loved ones? Or are you just confused about what to get them for this occasion? Whatever your predicament, we have compiled a few great Thanksgiving gift ideas to help you out. Check them out!

What To Give For Thanksgiving

Although exchanging Thanksgiving gifts is not mandatory, it reflects love and appreciation. A beautiful Thanksgiving present does not have to be expensive. Most people prefer to keep things simple with flowers, wine, and pastries. However, you can find a number of great-quality Thanksgiving gifts that are easy on the pocket.

Here are 30 best Thanksgiving gift ideas. From your friends and family to the host of your Thanksgiving dinner, coworkers, and favorite teachers – there are Thanksgiving gift ideas for each category listed below.

30 Best Thanksgiving Gifts

I. Thanksgiving Gifts For Hostesses

Many times, the Thanksgiving celebration is planned and executed by women. It is only befitting that you give a token of appreciation to the hostess. Here are a few things that you can give her.

1. Volens Votive Candle Holder

Home decoration is an integral part of the festive season. Help your hostess decorate her home in the most welcoming and heartwarming way possible with this candle holder set. Volens Votive Candle Holders come in two colors – gold and silver – and are perfect for any home setting.

These holders are designed to carry votive candles, tealight candles, and flameless LED candles with elegance. The retro finish of the candle holders imparts class to the dining setting for Thanksgiving dinner.

Features

Mercury-speckled metal finish

Long-lasting

Dishwasher-safe

Buy it here!

2. AUNOOL Corkscrew Wine Opener

This drink-opener set from Aunool includes a corkscrew wine bottle opener, a bottle opener, and a foil cutter. The set is neatly packaged in a gift box.

This handy opening set is useful for wine, beer, or any other bottled drink. The corkscrew is extremely durable with its zinc alloy make. The complimentary foil cutter and bottle stopper are great for kickstarting the Thanksgiving toast.

Features

Made from stainless steel

Sturdy and easy-to-grip

Comes with a wine stopper and a foil cutter

Buy it here!

3. Twist Fold Party Tray

A twist fold party tray with three tiers is the perfect instrument to help organize the Thanksgiving dinner table. It is another excellent Thanksgiving gift idea for hostesses. Consider this food tray to help your hostess set up the appetizers.

The trays work by merely twisting the connecting strands. The plates are of different sizes and neatly layered. They are big enough to house your confectioneries like cakes, muffins, and fruits.

Features

Space-effective

Easy to wash

Non-sticky

Buy it here!

4. Oceanstar 12-Bottle Bamboo Wine Rack (Dark Espresso)

Effective space management is vital to keep the Thanksgiving dining room tidy. That is why your hostess will highly appreciate this wine rack. This wine rack from Oceanstar can hold up to 12 wine bottles at a time.

It is made is from bamboo wood and has a chic design. Most importantly, the wood racks are well shaped to hold the wine bottles safely in position until they are needed.

Features

Easily assembled

Complements any furniture or room design

Buy it here!

5. BARILLIO Elite Cocktail Shaker Set Bartender Kit

The Barillo Bartender Kit is a complete toolkit to help your hostess prepare great cocktails. The set features a martini mixer, a mixing spoon, a muddler, a jigger, and two liquor pourers. The utensils are easy-to-use and come with a recipe book.

This set comes with a velvet bag to store the various utensils after use. This also ensures that you don’t lose any parts. The recipe guide is perfect for giving your Thanksgiving a new vibe.

Features

Easy-to-clean

Dishwasher-safe

Made of stainless steel

Buy it here!

6. LifeAround2Angels Bath Bombs Gift Set

Do you want to give the hostess something that can help her de-stress after Thanksgiving? Then, get her this bath bomb set. These bath bombs help soothe the skin and have a calming effect on your mind and body.

This bath bomb set comes in a gift box. The colorful bombs can be used by people of all skin types. They do not leave behind any remnants in the bathtub.

Features

Individually wrapped

Each bath bomb can be used a couple of times.

Buy it here!

II. Thanksgiving Gifts For Teachers

Some teachers have a meaningful impact on your life and need to be appreciated on Thanksgiving. Many people take this opportunity to give gifts to their teachers.

7. VERONES Mason Jars

This jar set from Verones is an ideal Thanksgiving gift to appreciate your teacher’s efforts. It contains 15 canning jars that can be used to refrigerate or freeze perishables.

Each of these see-through jars is custom-made to house food products. The lids close snugly, and the body of the jar does not absorb food or microbes, thus preserving food for the maximum period possible.

Features

Capacity of 12 ounces

Last in a freezer up to a year

Buy it here!

8. Stampmojis Teacher Stamp Set

This is a fun gift to lighten up your teacher’s mood this Thanksgiving. The set contains 25 unique emoji stamps that can be used by your favorite teacher to grade their students’ work.

The stamps size is small, and they take up very little space. The emojis chosen are fun and child-friendly. This gift will help a teacher relate better with their class.

Features

Durable

Portable

Buy it here!

9. JennyGems “A Teacher Changes The World One Child At A Time” Book Plaque

The quote on this gift is perfect for lifting the mood of every teacher. This word plaque from Jennygems is one of the best Thanksgiving gifts for teachers.

The frame is made of sturdy wood, which has been specially constructed to last long. The frame has a distressed look to make it look vintage. It is great for placing on the classroom desk, a shelf, or hanging on the wall.

Features

Lightweight material

Portable

Buy it here!

10. Ylyycc Thank You Ceramic Coffee Mugs

This is another appropriate token of appreciation for the favorite teacher in your life. The simple design of the mug is complemented by a beautiful inscription that will be invaluable to your teacher.

This mug is handy, sturdy, and beautifully designed. The pattern on it is beautiful and matches any table design easily. It will quickly become your teacher’s go-to mug and make them grow more fond of you.

Features

Attractive gold lining design

Not dishwasher- or microwave-safe.

Buy it here!

11. Teacher Appreciation Gift Keychain

This is a remarkable and unique Thanksgiving gift idea for teachers. This keychain series comes with three different quotes that will warm your teacher’s heart.

The material of the keychains is long-lasting. They can be used for as long as you want. The keychain is also big enough to pick out of a bag easily.

Features

Non-toxic and hypoallergenic material

Galvanized to make the inscription last

Anti-rust material

Buy it here!

12. OSpecks Brown Kraft Paper Shopping Bags

This gift pack is unique because it is meant to be used for packing gifts. It can help your teacher get a jumpstart on their Christmas gift wrapping.

This pack of ‘Thank You’ bags is made from craft paper. They are durable, easy-to-handle, and superb quality. The kit contains 50 sturdy bags labeled with a ‘Thank You’ tag tied to each one with jute twine.

Features

Comes with extra ‘Thank You’ tags and twine

Made with biodegradable material

Buy it here!

III. Thanksgiving Gifts For Family

Have you been invited for Thanksgiving dinner with a family and are wondering what to get them? Here are a few awesome Thanksgiving gift ideas for host families.

13. 3 Pack Owl Ceramic Succulent Plant Pots with Bamboo Tray (Owl Style)

This is an ideal gift for the host family you will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with. These owl-shaped plant pots can add beauty to their home.

The planters can be placed in the study, on the dining table, or in the living room and come in alluring colors. They are made of ceramic and are long-lasting. They are also perforated to drain out excess water, thereby preventing overwatering.

Features

Durable

Suitable for all rooms

Buy it here!

14. Luxury Scented Soy Candles White Jar

Get these luxury scented soy candles for your host family this Thanksgiving holiday to show how much you appreciate them. These naturally scented soy candles don’t pose a health risk and are environment-friendly.

The wick is made purely from cotton and easy to light. It does not burn out fast. The mild and fresh fragrance of these candles fills the whole house.

Features

Burn slowly

Made from natural soy

Cotton wick

Buy it here!

15. Wonder4 Thanksgiving Throw Pillow Case

Here is a great Thanksgiving gift idea for a family. These cushion covers are skillfully made by hand. The autumnal print is done with natural colors.

These throw pillowcases are decorated beautifully fall-themed. Their zippers open and close quickly. They are also highly durable.

Features

Machine-washable

Natural fabric colors

Inconspicuous zipper

Buy it here!

16. BlankieGram Healing Thoughts Throw Blanket

Get this BlankieGram blanket for your host’s family this Thanksgiving holiday. Inspiring words are written all over this blanket to show them that you care about their well-being and are always thinking about them.

This product is made from high-quality cotton that does not shrink. It is very soft on the skin and can be cuddled up to when napping on the sofa. Its gray color has a calming and soothing effect on the soul.

Features

Does not shrink

Soft on the skin

Buy it here!

17. Mud Pie Dip Bowl Set

Going for Thanksgiving dinner with a family you are close to? You can bring along this small dip bowl set as a gift. The dip bowl is medium-sized and can be used to serve chips and other confectioneries.

Feature

Two dip bowls

A customized spreader.

Buy it here!

18. Amazon.com Print At Home Gift Card

Give a personally designed Amazon gift card to your host family this Thanksgiving. You get to choose how much money you want to give, and they can use it to buy whatever they want from Amazon.

Feature

Card does not expire

Can be redeemed on goods or services

Buy it here!

IV. Thanksgiving Gifts For Coworkers

Giving a Thanksgiving gift to your coworker shows that you value and appreciate their effort at work. This is vital to creating a healthy work environment. The Thanksgiving gift ideas for coworkers listed will be appreciated by your coworkers this festive season.

19. 2020 Planner – Weekly And Monthly Planner With Tabs

Thanksgiving is the first cue that a new year is fast approaching. So, get a Thanksgiving gift for the coming year for your coworker. A 2020 planner can be helpful for goal-oriented individuals.

The floral print of this planner makes it a quirky choice for professionals. The pages are designed to aid scheduling, planning, and execution. The inside of the planner holds inspirational cards to get one going. It can hold extra cards as well. The elastic closure band keeps everything in place.

Features

Pages divided into monthly and weekly sections

Two contact pages

Thick and sturdy paper

Buy it here!

20. Customized Women Wine Tumbler

This wine tumbler is an ideal Thanksgiving gift for a coworker. This cup is unique because of the appreciation quote it carries, which can be a constant reminder of how much you appreciate your colleague’s efforts.

The wine tumbler has a rotund structure. It has a steady based and can be gripped easily. The walls of the cup are vacuum insulated to help with temperature preservation. This 12-ounce capacity cup can be used for all drinks.

Features

Made from food-grade stainless steel

Comes with a lid and a cleaning brush.

Buy it here!

21. The One-Minute Gratitude Journal

This journal is another wonderful gift that will make your coworker feel appreciated. The journal’s purpose is to list out the things that you are grateful for daily.

This is a literary Thanksgiving gift idea that is perfect for coworkers. It can improve your workplace energy and increase productivity.

Feature

Good-quality pulp paper

Hardcover back

Buy it here!

22. Thanksgiving Cards and Kraft Envelopes

The design of this card set is formal yet festive, making it a great Thanksgiving gift for a coworker. The pack contains 36 blank cards on which one can write personalized messages.

Features

Come with complimentary envelopes

Shiny gloss finish

Buy it here!

23. Coworker Appreciation Keychain

Is this your boss’s last Thanksgiving at work before retirement? Or maybe you have plans of moving on from your workplace before next Thanksgiving? Either way, this keychain is the perfect Thanksgiving for your colleague to remember you by.

The keychain comes packaged in a gift box. Whenever your coworker sees the quote on the keychain, they will remember you kindly.

Features

Made from stainless steel

Buy it here!

24. Hallmark Pack Of Thanksgiving Cards

Here’s another Thanksgiving card pack that you can give to your coworker this Thanksgiving. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness while they send their good wishes to their loved ones. The cards feature a Thanksgiving-centric design.

Features

High-quality paper stock

Buy it here!

V. Thanksgiving Gifts For Friends

Thanksgiving is all about appreciating the people you love. It would be incomplete without getting something for your friends. Here are some unique Thanksgiving gift ideas for friends.

25. Vintorio Wine Aerator Pourer

Use a wine aerator to elevate the flavor of your wine. Aerator pourers allow oxygen to permeate the wine, thereby making it taste better.

The Vintorio Aerator Pourer is custom-made to aerate the wine and provide a non-problematic pouring experience. The base of the pourer is properly corked to avoid wine leakage.

Features

Can be easily disassembled for cleaning

Spout design facilitates easy pouring of the wine

Buy it here!

26. Willow Tree Sculpted Friendship Keepsake Box

This keepsake box can be used to store all your favorite moments with your friend. All you need to do is get it for yourself and your friend this Thanksgiving.

This friendship keepsake box is hand-sculpted from willow wood. It is also hand-painted. This makes it a complete friendship package. It is petite, lightweight, and beautifully designed to store your valuables.

Features

A friendship quote on its inner base

Completely detachable lid

Easy to clean

Buy it here!

27. Wine Bottles String Lights

These wine bottle lights are the perfect lighting devices for Thanksgiving dinner. You should consider getting this for your friend who is hosting this Thanksgiving.

The battery-powered copper string lights are comprised of 20 bright LED chips. The copper wire can be bent easily and fit into the wine bottles.

Features

Six string lights

LED chips create low heat and are eco-friendly

Buy it here!

28. Aromatherapy Oil Diffuser Bracelet

Here is an excellent Thanksgiving gift idea for your bestie. This aromatherapy oil diffuser bracelet is a unique accessory that exudes a calming aroma and soothes the wearer’s surroundings. The bracelet uses pads that absorb essential oils and effectively diffuse it over time.

This product comes with eight different colored pads that are locked in the locket of the bracelet for use. The pads are washable and can be reused. The pendant of the bracelet can also be maintained by swabbing with alcohol, thus making it durable and easy to use.

Features

Stainless steel pendant

Pad locked with a magnetic closure

Buy it here!

29. Forum Novelties Men’s Roasted Turkey Hat

This fun Thanksgiving hat is a great mood-setter for men. The hat is turkey-shaped and made especially for Thanksgiving celebrations.

The hat is made from durable fabric and sits comfortably on the head. It is lightweight and does not lose shape. The design of the cap is sturdy and fits almost all head sizes.

Features

Made from polyester

Buy it here!

30. HOME SMILE Ring Trinket Dish

This trinket dish is custom-made to show appreciation to those friends who have been by your side through thick and thin. It features an inscription that will remind your friend of your love for them every time they drop a piece of jewelry in it.

This product from Home Smile is durable and large enough to hold many accessories.

Features

Made from glazed ceramic

Can be kept in the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom

Buy it here!

In the end, Thanksgiving is all about appreciating the life we have and the people around us. The gifts you get for your host, coworkers, teachers, family, and friends go a long way in establishing your relationship with them.

You should not just get gifts for them because it’s the norm, but actually put thoughtful consideration into what they would most appreciate. Which of these Thanksgiving gifts would you give your loved one? Comment below to let us know!

Expert’s Answers for Readers Questions

What to bring to Thanksgiving dinner as a guest?

As a guest to a Thanksgiving dinner party, you can bring wine, flowers, or a pie.

Do you give presents on Thanksgiving?

While there is no rulebook that mandates Thanksgiving gifts, it is customary and considered as a good gesture to bring presents for the hostess of the dinner party. A beautiful Thanksgiving present for friends, family, or coworkers shows your warmth and appreciation for them.

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Harini Natarajan

Harini has over 12 years of experience in content writing and editing for online media. She specializes in the areas of business, health and wellness, and lifestyle and is proficient in Medical Sciences (Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, and Biochemistry). As the Chief Editor, Harini ensures that her team delivers interesting, engaging, and authentic content. Her background in Biomedical Engineering helps her decode and interpret the finer nuances of scientific research for her team. Harini is a certified bibliophile and a closet poet. She also loves dancing and traveling to offbeat destinations.

Source: https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/best-thanksgiving-gifts/

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truevintage123 · 5 years ago

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Here is Every Reason Why You Should Try Hoodies This Winter

If you haven’t ever tried hoodies, this winter might just be the right time to start wearing one. And this goes for both guys as well as girls. Being a unisexual clothing type, hoodies are the perfect way to celebrate gender unity in a modern way.

For those of you who are quite convinced with this reasoning, this article is for you. It’s okay to do a little research before you any new type of clothing, and hoodies are no exception.

For instance, you are searching for winter clothing online and you come across this cool Ralph Lauren Hoodie on some vintage clothing store (doesn’t necessarily have to be a vintage store, but let’s admit it, they sell the best hoodies ever). But you’re not sure if you really should give it a try, and you’re looking for the right reasons on the internet. How good we were in describing your situation? If we’re close, then trust us, we can convince you to buy hoodies for sure!

So, without further ado, here is a list of every possible reason why you should buy hoodies as your new winter clothing this year!

1. The Comfort

The moment you pull a hoodie over your head and wear it on your upper body, you feel like you’ve just slowly enjoyed a warm bath, complete with candles and a couple of hot chocolate. There is no item of clothing in the whole world that can possibly top the comfort that you get in a hoodie. It’s a bit like being able to walk around snuggled in a special love blanket all day long.

2. Insanely Wide Variety

There is no such thing as one single type of hoodie, and you’re always looking out for something a little special or snazzy. Because of this, you have an abundance of winter clothing to choose from– some with pockets for your essentials, some without, and even some with a faux fur-lined hood. You’ll know when you’re shopping for vintage clothing online.

3. Perfect for All Types of Moods

Great for traveling, ideal to sleep in, good for hitting the gym, and more than perfect for a Netflix binge. Hoodies even protect you from adverse weather conditions and are undoubtedly more reliable than any umbrella you’ve ever had. Is there any activity that a hoodie isn’t good for during the winters? Fortunately, no.

4. Best Clothing to Gift

When it comes to any kind of celebration, Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, you’ll be glad that everyone around you understands your love for hoodies, as they always give you a new one to add to your collection. They probably don’t appreciate that it’s all that you give back to them, but oh well, what can you do about that.

5. Serve More Than Just One Purpose

You cannot think of any other item of clothing that would go with every single item of clothing you own the way that a hoodie does. Can you rock a shirt and tie it with cargo pants? No, no you can not.

6. Works as Both Casuals as Well as Formal Wear

We’ve already discussed how hoodies are suitable for all kinds of moods, it’s also important to address the fact that they are suitable for all types of occasions as well. Whether you’re going for a get together with your friends or attending super-formal meetings, there is a right kind of hoodie for every situation.

7. Warmest Clothing Ever

You’re sure that thanks to your dedication to hoodies, you’ve saved an absolute fortune on your heating bill. That may be an exaggeration, but the fact remains, hoodies are one of the warmest types of clothing that you will find anywhere.

#retro clothing #vintage clothing

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layervelvet27-blog · 6 years ago

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Goodbye Henri Bendel. A New York City Classic Closes Its Doors - The Daily Beast

On a recent Sunday afternoon at Henri Bendel, while looking through crossbody bags, Charly Zubi, a lawyer who lives in Fort Lauderdale but grew up just outside New York City in Westchester, told The Daily Beast, “I've been a Bendel girl probably since I was in the womb.”

It would be Zubi’s last visit to the storied Fifth Avenue department store, which will close in January after 123 years in business. During Bendel’s final holiday season, die-hards and newbies were shopping side-by-side.

Zubi’s mother had loved the shop, and passed those feelings down to her daughter. As a law student at Fordham, Zubi said she would bring friends to Bendel’s, “Whenever we got really sad or depressed. We’d just come up here and go wild.”

Zubi’s last Bendel purchases included a bracelet, monogrammed jewelry case, three candles, and two Jetsetter bags. “I need one of every iconic thing so I can refill for the rest of my life,” she said.

In the store there were few signs of imminent closure. In lieu of an “Everything Must Go” placard was a mammoth mural of a leggy cartoon “#Bendel girl” toting an armful of the store’s recognizable brown-and-white striped bags.

At a place where black leather tote bags sell for over $400 and fuzzy child’s key chains cost $68, it might seem gauche, or somewhat desperate, to plaster 'Sale' signs everywhere. After all, many shoppers were lured into Bendel’s seeking refuge from the bustle of Midtown during shopping season, not to be reminded of the sorry state of retail in 2018.

While the inescapable striped box motif is inarguably vintage, the rest of the store felt very 2018; or at least, perhaps a 1960s Bendel shopper’s idea of the future. Robotic, pixelated shapes of hearts and stars were placed in the front windows. Futuristic pink neon lights dressed the walls.

In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that higher-ups at L Brands had chosen to sacrifice Bendel in an effort to grow profitability, especially at Victoria's Secret. Employees who agreed to stay with Bendel until the bitter end were given bonuses and the opportunity to interview for jobs at L Brands.

The store has been owned by L Brands since 1985, and has since grown from its original Midtown storefront to a chain of 23. All Bendel outputs are closing in January, and the e-commerce site will shutter, too.

A rep for L Brands, which also owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, declined to comment to The Daily Beast.

Two middle-aged women visiting New York from Ottawa, Canada had no idea that their first visit to Bendel’s would also be there last.

“They’re closing?” asked one incredulously, while trying on a pair of round pink sunglasses. “Where are the sales, then?”

Most discounts could be found on the store’s second floor, which includes a balcony with comfy couches that often house shopping-weary husbands. (And a primo view of the 20-foot tall “Christmas tree” constructed of 400 brown-and-white striped Bendel boxes.)

Upstairs, a mother and daughter duo visiting the city from Westchester, Pennsylvania were also unaware of the news. “I didn’t know that,” the mother said, while sifting through discounted wallets. “Thanks for the information.”

“I thought they were really popular,” her teenage daughter offered.

Bendel’s is popular, but unfortunately not in a way that translates to cash. Fashion die-hards are more than happy to spit out a highlight reel of the store’s history: it was the first American store to carry Coco Chanel, a young Andy Warhol got his start as an in-house illustrator, Gossip Girl’s fictional Blair Waldorf loved spending her parents’ money there.

When Cole Porter wrote “You’re the Top” in 1934 for the musical Anything Goes, he listed Bendel bonnets as the best of the best, alongside Shakespeare’s sonnets and Mickey Mouse.

In 1957, former fashion editor Geraldine Stutz took over as president of Bendel, turning it into a fashion incubator over the course of her 29-year career.

It was Stutz who hired Warhol, and also helped promote the careers of newbies Perry Ellis, Ralph Lauren, Sonia Rykiel, and Stephen Burrows, The New York Times noted in her 2005 obituary. When Monica Lewinsky launched a line of handbags in 2000, the designs were exclusive to Bendel's.

However, the Bendel name lost significant recognition. When I told friends that I would report on Bendel’s last hurrah, the common response was, “What’s that?”

But Bendel's isn't closing meekly. The store’s bustling first floor operates in a speedy, but composed manner that resembles the set of a prime-time television show set in an ER.

Inside Bendel’s nearly 86,000-square-foot space, any time a shopper wanted something like a certain type of bag design or a custom monogram, it seemed that a staffer just materialized, ready to help in seconds.

In fact, the only thing staff seemed to be incapable of was talking to me. A cashier deferred my request to speak with her manager, who directed my questions to L Brands’ PR. It was one of the kindest rejections I’ve ever received.

Nancy Deihl, director of NYU's M.A. Program in Costume Studies, told The Daily Beast that given the gnarly state of business for department stores, she was not too surprised by the shuttering. That said, she was not necessarily expecting the news.

“In fashion now, there is this turn towards heritage,” Deihl said. “People are so interested in the backstory of a brand, and you think that might keep people coming in the doors of Bendel.”

Unlike other troubled department stores such as Lord & Taylor and Sears, which were often indistinguishable, the Bendel look remained unique until the end. Designers found the image that worked for them: whimsical, patterned accessories that projected the put-together, but still playful mentality of many a fictional New York career girl. (Albeit one with a well-paying job, or rich parents.)

“It had a lot to distinguish itself from other places," said Deihl. "It was uptown, luxury, and even though it was definitely an American store from the beginning, it communicated a sense of European style.”

But lately, that breezy aesthetic has given way to quirky-chic, kitschy items that betrayed the brand's signature polish. It's hard to find something at Bendel's that is not logo-fied to death, which is a tough sell in an upscale market that is dominated by clean lines and minimalist sensibilities.

“There are people who are going to spend money on accessories, but to do so they really want that designer touch. They weren't getting it at Bendel's”

Even the brand's candles are mammoth, look like they weigh 16 pounds, and reek in a way that comes off as less aromatic and more “something died in this room and I'm trying to cover it up.”

In an oversaturated accessories market, Professor Deihl believes that it was tough for Bendel's to stand apart from the competition.

“Department stores have hugely increased the floor space that accessories occupy,” Deihl said. “There are people who are going to spend money on accessories, but to do so they really want that designer touch. They weren't getting it at Bendel's.”

Near the end of my Bendel's excursion, two men in pea coats entered the store.

“I've never been in here before,” one of the men said.

“It's just for women,” the other responded. “They sell bags and stuff.” They promptly turned around and left.

For Zubi, the Florida lawyer and perennial Bendel's shopper, it was a bit harder to exit the store's gilded doors.

“Once I walk out, I probably won't come back,” she said, with her voice slightly raised. “It’s not bittersweet, it’s just bitter. Straight bitter. Just terrible. Really sad.”

Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/goodbye-henri-bendel-a-new-york-city-classic-closes-its-doors

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killingthebuddha · 6 years ago

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First published in 2013, this epistolary essay by KtB editors Ashley Makar and Briallen Hopper appears in Briallen’s new book, Hard to Love, a collection of essays on love and friendship which drops on February 5th. You can order Hard to Love here.

Dear Bri,

A gift sits on my writing desk. A gift penned in your hand, in Flannery’s voice, as if she’s speaking from the grave:

For me it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection

which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical.

Death, decay, destruction

are the suspension of those laws.

I am always astonished

at the emphasis the church

puts on the body.

It is not the soul she says

that will rise

but the body, glorified.

–Flannery O’Connor, in a letter to Betty Hester, 1955

You’ve written me this, given me this, in a vintage sketchbook, a vellum-colored page, each letter embellished just so: the crosses of T’s looping into the shoelace tops of H’s, F’s shaped like infinity symbols standing upright, each cursive S a leaf.

The first period is like a tiny kite, no string. The second, a red dwarf becoming a star. The last, a little leaning cross. I didn’t notice the shape until I looked hard trying to describe the gift, trying to give the words all my attention. Now I see the D in Death like a treble clef, unraveling. I see ASTONISHED and BODY as an epitaph, magnifying. As if through a tear, brightly.

Simone Weil wrote that prayer is absolute, undivided attention. And that’s what it takes to be a writer like Flannery, the kind of writers we want to be. Vigilant flames sustained and made into the words we need. I fail at that every day; I fall on my face. And you help me up. If I told you my self-loathing spiral of today you’d show me all the Christmas ornaments you polished while you were trying to write: the white globe with the red mallards, the iridescent rocking horse, the silver angel holding a candle. We’d laugh at that little blond angel face of forlorn piety. We’d light our own candle to try and write by.

Flannery tells God that it’s at some insipid moment, when she’s possibly thinking of floor wax or pigeon eggs that the opening of a beautiful prayer may come and lead her to write something exalted. The prayer availing itself seems to be a gesture of the grace young Flannery is praying for. And her response to that action of grace is her work, her strain to give it attention, undivided.

A pigeon egg hatches into a map of the universe, a peacock’s tail. Another world unfurls. And yet, “How hard it is to keep any one intention, any one attitude toward a piece of work any one tone anyone anything,” she writes. “Dear God, I am so discouraged about my work.” She’s even discouraged about her prayer—how she’s never been sorry for a sin because it hurt God. I bet Flannery’s sins were pretty innocuous—“gluttony” for Scottish oatmeal cookies, “laziness” in writing and prayer. And yet she tried and worked so hard. She suffered much in her labors of fierce love.

I’d hate to believe my gluttony for Golden Grahams or all my tactics of distraction from writing and prayer hurt God. But I know they hurt me. They keep me from the life I want; they separate me from God. In that sense, they are sins. And Flannery is helping me take those sins seriously and honestly: “I am afraid of pain and I suppose that is what we have to have to get grace. Give me the courage to stand the pain to get the grace, Oh Lord. Help me with this life that seems so treacherous, so disappointing.”

Life seemed so treacherous, so disappointing the day you gave me that illuminated Flannery manuscript. I’d fallen three times trying to walk on icy sidewalks. Blisters were forming on the bottoms of my feet—chemo catching up with me. I’d missed another writing deadline for no good reason. It pained me to look at the pink-orange sky because I failed to write it. I felt like an old lady, a hoarder holed up in a dim room looking through the blinds at the menace of daylight. But I didn’t give in to her. I told you I was having a bad day.

You invited me over. You gave me that gift. You opened a window. Light shined on the table laid bare for writing, trying again.

Ash

Dearest Ash,

I just read the whole Prayer Journal in the bath, in the facsimile version (checking confusing scribbles against the transcription from time to time). Flannery’s young handwriting on wide-ruled pages seems so much closer than the printed and corrected text. In the quiet and warmth I somehow felt the aura of the archive; I knew the book was just a book, but it felt precious, and instinctively I clutched it tight so the historic manuscript wouldn’t fall into the suds.

There’s so much to tell you, but what I wanted to say first, almost to warn you, is that she prays for desire like a deadly cancer, desire as consuming and overwhelming as your cancer wants to be. She prays for suffering and for grace. Her friend who edited the book seems to see her lupus, which arrived a few years later, as an answer to prayer. I think about this young woman of appetites and ambition and I hate to think that God read her earnest scribbling and sent her death, but then if you must suffer it is of course better if the suffering helps your writing and your faith. I am using the generic second person here, but I mean you, dear Ash. I love you, and I leave this practical theology to you.

I don’t know much about suffering, but I know about writing stress and night-eating and erotic thought. (“Today I have proved myself a glutton—for Scotch oatmeal cookies and erotic thought. There is nothing left to say of me”: the most irresistibly quotable lines in the journal, and some of the best concluding lines in literature.) I’m almost fifteen years older than Flannery was then, and Lord knows I have filled up several shelves of blank books with similar confessions, though I prefer ice cream and erotic thought to oatmeal cookies.

Somewhere I have the old journals I wrote to God when I was Flannery’s age. I was fighting through some of the same things she was, the conflict between self and faith, the battle for attentiveness and gratitude, the desires for experience, publication, grace, and God, though I lacked her genius and her Catholic clarity. It’s not that these conflicting desires have gone away, it’s just that I gave up on serious striving so long ago, and I am still not sure how to be ambitious without what Flannery calls “nervousness.” I have made a truce with life that I don’t want to trouble, and it’s not clear to me where the urgency and tenacity would come from to write something good, even if I had the talent.

I rarely write private prayers to God anymore: I avoid unguarded introspection in general, the kind that is open to the future and full of desire.

Bri

Dear God,

Why am I such a dull lump? You give us leaven and salt and the moon shoaling blue, even as new daylight glades into morning. I want to wake early to write by that imperceptible changing of light when you can’t tell if it’s dark still or day yet. Sometimes you give me, on the cusp of waking from sleep, words, arranging themselves as if in the corners of the ceiling, lines fine and fragile as gossamer, the unseen seam between death and life. And I press snooze. Ten more minutes and ten more and so on, until those strands of You are lost to me. I’m not saying you’re fragile, Lord, nor that I could lose You. But my sense of Your nearness is tenuous, my attention too feeble most of the time to even see those strands of You, much less write them.

Lord, help me to sit here and tolerate this mangle of words. The belabored metaphors that mar the page, the lame turns of phrase I cross out and then try to save. Help me stand the pain to get the grace.

Help me sit here and work every day. I’ll mess up most of the time and blunder, sometimes, back to the blue glow of daybreak.

Ash

Dear Bri,

Thank you! For naming how I want to pray—open and full of desire. If only my drive to write were as voracious as my cancer. And yet I don’t want anything so consuming anymore. I worry I’m too scared and tired to strive like I used to.

Flannery was going on 22 when she wrote God from Iowa: “Oh Lord please make this dead desire living, living in life, living as it will probably have to live in suffering. I feel too mediocre now to suffer.” I was around that age when I wrote this prayer from New York:

to write You, Lord

to write You

to Write.

And here I am, thirteen years later, a cancer patient, terrified of writing. My body is slowly unraveling, and I can hardly sit still. I dart from thing to thing, like a squirrel, frantic to get all my living in before I get sick. Dividing and dividing my attention. What happened to my dire desire to write God?

“It is hard to want to suffer,” young Flannery writes. “I presume Grace is necessary for the want. I am a mediocre of the spirit but there is hope. I am at least of the spirit and that means alive.”

Three years later, her body started dying, on her train ride home for Christmas.

Her friend W.A. Sessions writes that she left Connecticut a vibrant young woman and arrived in Georgia “drawn and bent, ‘like an old man.’” She’d had her first flare of lupus on the train. I wonder what she prayed. (I bet it was about writing.)

Most days I don’t know what to say to God. I don’t want to suffer. I want the grace to stand the pain.

Ash

Hello again dear Ash,

It’s December now and you’re here at my house for a day of writing and pumpkin chili in the glow of the Christmas lights. I love our writing days together. I love how almost every time I see you we light a candle and pray. When we’re out together we even pray in restaurants, like a Norman Rockwell painting.

I found my old journals.

July 24, 2001

Writing is hard. Writing is different from more routine forms of work, writers tend to be more flukey and various in the ways they work. … I am usually fairly miserable, very tense, quite caffeinated, tired (buzzing!), and late. Sometimes there are brief thrills or moments of satisfaction. Most of the time I am frustrated and scared and just want to read mysteries and eat comfort food, my idea of heaven.

July 31, 2001

There is a desire to escape work, to use God to let you off the hook, seeking for a guarantee of spiritual purity attainable by industry, passivity, withdrawal, inaction. BUT God requires us to give, to serve, to think … he doesn’t make it easier. MLK Jr. couldn’t just stand around getting beat up; he had to think, plan, pray, take responsibility, take risks.

September 1, 2001

Re work, grad school apps—I can wholly apply myself to the present tasks, straining and rejoicing and exhausting myself. Remembering what the stakes are! No, professional life can’t be separated from “real” life, it is a part of “real” life, but God’s standards are different. He looks at the heart; and the state of a heart that is right with God is never inert. My heart rejoices to do God’s will.

Faith is necessary. All my instincts will be panic and self-preservation. I must resist them.

I panicked that day you fell on the ice. When you texted to tell me about your blistering feet, I let my tears take me over for an hour. I thought: There is nothing to be done. Then: Writing is what you do when there is nothing to be done.

In the absence of adequate words of my own, I found Flannery’s, and I found comfort in the practice of writing as a physical act, as if the pressure of my pen against the paper could push away the forces of death and decay. As if the gold ink could become a healing balm.

Bri

Dear Flannery,

You write, “I do not mean to deny the traditional prayers I have said all my life; but I have been saying them and not feeling them.”

My own prayers have gotten more traditional since the days I wrote them out and I admit I mostly feel them less, but I mean them just as much. I am a believer in rationing feelings these days. I wonder if you rationed yours any in your thirties? As another famous Southern lady once said, “Honey, you know as well as I do that a single girl, a girl alone in the world has got to keep a firm hold on her emotions or she’ll be lost!”

As it happens, it was two days before September 11, 2001 when I wrote this urgent prayer: “Now I am immeasurably blessed. At any moment this could all be taken. I need to love you now so I can love you always. All the people who harm the body but cannot harm the soul: make them completely unable to harm.” My prayer was not answered. I didn’t expect it to be, but I didn’t expect it to be so spectacularly ignored. Still, I have never stopped praying.

September 14, 2001 In lives, this is where Jesus lives in the world; my body can be part of his body. I’m not a naturally religious person but that doesn’t matter. I’m taken into his body.

For a long time in the mornings I’ve lit a candle in the pewter holder that says “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well,” and I name all the people and places that I want so much to be well. On my teaching days I pray for my students (ha!). On my writing days I hesitate to pray for my writing, because I worry it won’t go well and I don’t want my faith in prayer to dissipate, and my prayers for writing feel optional in a way that my prayers for other people and the world do not.

I pray with the red cloth-bound Book of Common Prayer my grandma received when she was confirmed at age 32, in the midst of her losing battle with life-threatening mental illness. Sometimes I read the psalms of the day, and sometimes I skim for one that will say what is in my heart, looking at the Latin titles and guessing what they mean: Hear me. Lean toward me. Judge me. Be merciful. God is light. Wonderment. Out of the depths. Rejoice.

And I pray with the small dun Prayer Book for Soldiers and Sailors my grandpa got for Christmas in 1943, a battered book literally designed to be used in foxholes. It has prayers for help, for protection, for aid against perils, for world peace, for grace to forgive, for prisoners, for the lonely, for those who mourn, for the wounded, for the dying, for one departed.

In the evenings I light a candle in the pewter holder that says “At night I give my troubles to God. She’s going to be up all night anyway.” This summer Ash and I lit candles for you at your church in Milledgeville, in front of the brightly painted Virgin. I didn’t write a prayer for you, or say one; I just let a prayer float up to you where you were sitting up all night with God, waiting for your body to rise and share forever in the glory of your soul.

Bri

Dear Flan,

I’m on the train from New Haven to Boston. I feel as if I’m looking out the window into a snow globe. Except the snow isn’t flakes, suspended in a circle of glass. It looks more like sand, storming side to side. I can all but feel the grains on my eyes.

I suppose with all these qualifiers snow globe isn’t the right image for the view out my window. You would sit with it, suffer with it, until the words came. But I look away, take another sip of coffee, another bite of clementine. I watch the gulls scuttle up a rusty pole in the river—a remnant of a pier a storm tore up?

Even though I’ve divided my attention, another image is given. Light sears, silver vermillion, over the broken trees. A shock of radiation, bone lightning. Ezekiel raving God raising the dead.

A startle of sun blares white. I close one eye and see the stark circle it is. A center that holds. And yet a yolk I know could burst and seep like a bleed in the brain. Grandmother after the stroke—her body, half paralyzed. The little slanting cross. The sign of the body, glorified.

Ash

#IFTTT #WordPress

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sj2themoon · 8 years ago

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Home Renovations

Hey you! As you know, my husband and I are up to our ears in home renovations, but I am seriously loving it! Something about taking on an unfinished home project gives me the butterflies! There is just so much possibility, ya know? Plus, we get to make it into exactly what we want! Score! Luckily, my husband is just as eccentric as I am when it comes to home decor taste! You may notice in my home decor posts that our style is not very “typical” to a newly wedded couple who is furnishing their first place together. And that is completely accurate! So welcome to our unusual lives where we take on our unique family room designs.

I am planning out the renovations, but mainly posting about the decor goals for our place because it helps me piece it all together. That way, I have something to reference back to as I make updates and what not HERE IS MY FIRST POST for our kitchen goals if you missed it! Now, I would like to start on our family room goals! Yess. Here is a before pic of our family room just so you can see what we are workin with!

To be honest, it looks scarier in these pictures than it does in real life! Haha maybe because it has already been in the works since I took this picture last. But as you can see, much needs to be done! Isn’t it a glorious work of art waiting to be made?

For starters, we will put paneling and paint on the walls (duhh) and we are actually keeping the ceiling the way it is! I personally love seeing the rafters and wiring, I think it looks so cool and industrial! Which works out because it’s just one less thing I need to do to get it looking good! Alright, let’s dive in!!!

The first thing to go in is our dreamy bookshelf! My husband and I really enjoy reading together at night, so I imagine this will be our “beginners bookshelf” until the day when we need a whole bookcase room to hold all them books! We actually set up our book-shelf in the family room already because why not? It was the first thing we did. Yes, we will have to move it temporarily to get the room paneled and painted, but we wanted it there right away! Gotta live and function during renovations still, ama right? It looks like this. (Debating giving it a cute painted overall color)

Here is a nicer and more heavy duty book shelf that I love!

Sauder 5-Shelf Bookcase, Oiled Oak Finish

List Price: $141.29

Price: $141.28

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Along with books, I have some of my favorite boho doo-dads to go on the shelves, such as these!

This my absolute favorite candle.

Bath & Body Works, Aromatherapy Stress Relief 3-Wick Candle, Eucalyptus Spearmint

List Price: $21.99

Price: $21.99

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I have like 4 “fake books” on my shelves! They are hollow and make a great little hiding place for old notes, pics and doo-dads.

2pc Faux Book Safe Set

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Price: $18.06

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Luna Bazaar Small Vintage Glass Bottle Set (7-Inch, Cheyenne Design, Multicolor Glass, Set of 6) - Flower Bud Vases Bulk - For Home Decor and Wedding Centerpieces

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Ornate Antique Finish Rectangular Trinket Jewelry Box - 3.5" x 2.25"

List Price: $14.00

Price: $14.00

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This is a way super cool incense holder! I am diggin it so much. The incense sits inside the hollowed out middle and the incense smoke comes out the little tree branch holes. Too cool!

11" Tree of Wisdom Sculpted Polyresin Incense Burner by Sabrina Underwood

List Price: $17.65

Price: $17.65

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Must needed insence to go with the holder! Love the way these smell.

Nag Champa Sunrise Sandalwood Midnight Patchouli Celestial Fortune Blessings Romance Super Hit Jasmine Blossom Rain forest by Satya Gift Set

List Price: $13.99

Price: $13.50

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I might add in for clarity that our kitchen, family room, and office are all one giant room right now! We will not be putting up walls to separate them either! Rather, we will be using creative decoration and furniture placement to keep them apart and “their own” section. I like it better this way.

That being said, this couch and partition will do the job of enclosing the family room diagonally on the outside right edge (just before the kitchen begins).

Novogratz Vintage Tufted Sofa Sleeper II (Green Velour)

List Price: $537.99

Price: $537.99

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Rajasthan Antique Brown 4 Panel Handcrafted Wood Room Divider Screen 72x80, Intricately carved on both sides making it fully reversible, highly versatile. Hides clutter, adds décor, & divides the room

List Price: $189.99

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Yes, green! I played around with a few different couch colors in their and this one just felt like the right fit to my eye Of course, it must be velvet and vintage looking! Along with this couch, we must have some pops of color and more textures! Here are some pillows and a throw to accompany this vintage style sofa.

Mellanni Faux-Fur Plush Throw Pillow - BEST QUALITY Fuzzy Accent Pillow - Cushion and Cover, Decorative Square 18 x 18 Inch (Cow)

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Tache 2 Piece 18 X 18 Inches 100% Cotton Burnt Orange Fall Harvest Decorative Accent Throw Pillow Cushion Cover Set

List Price: $29.99

Price: $29.99

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CottonTex Cotton Knitted Cable Throw Soft Warm Cover Blanket Cable Knitting Pattern, 43x70 Inches, Royal Yellow

List Price: $42.99

Price: $42.99

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Just in front of the couch, we will have an adorable drum table, just big enough to hold a cup of tea and a book or two. But what’s even better?? To the right of the couch, we are going to have a wooden bench swing, hanging from our rafters! It will be just perfect. Much like this one.

Deco 79 Teak Wood Round Stool, 14 by 18-Inch

Price: $134.05

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But what’s even better?? To the right of the couch, we are going to have a wooden bench swing, hanging from our rafters! It will be just perfect. Much like this one.

Rustic American Black Walnut 23.5" 4 Hole Tree Swing Kids Adult Wood Outdoor

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This idea is extra special, you ready?! Ok so now moving back to the left of the bookshelf. Obviously, we need a cozy nook to read our books together. Hanging down from the ceiling corner on the left side of the room, we will have an array of materials and tapestries perfectly hung up in a tent-like manner. This will create the perfect hide-out to snuggle up next to each other with a book and a nice cup of tea. Under this fort feature, there will be pillows, cushions, rugs and blankets galore! Basically, anything we need to be comfy. The tent will look something like this, but in a different color scheme to match the rest of the family room.

These will be for the inside of the fort!

Bohemian Style Colorful Exotic Mandala Boho Style Striped Triangle Cotton Linen Throw Lumbar Waist Pillow Case Cushion Cover Home Office Decorative Rectangle 12 X 20 Inches

List Price: $9.99

Price: $9.99

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TangDepot Solid Velvet Throw Pillow Cover/Euro Sham/Cushion Sham, Super Luxury Soft Pillow Cases, Many Color & Size options - (26"x26", Dark Green)

List Price: $19.86

Price: $19.86

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Cotton Craft - Hand Woven Jute & Cotton Multi Chindi Floor Pillow - 24 inch Round - Solid color Red back - Pillow made from multi color re-cycled yarns, actual product may vary in color from image

List Price: $39.99

Price: $39.99

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Zituop Home Decorative Suede Round Pumpkin Solid Throw Pillows for Couch, 13.8inch (dark green)

List Price: $19.99

Price: $19.99

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Rajasthali" Bohemian Patch Work Ottoman Cover,Traditional Vintage Indian Pouf Floor/Foot Stool, Christmas Decorative Chair Cover,100% Cotton Art Decor Cushion, 14x22'. Only Cover, Filler not Included

List Price: $21.99

Price: $21.99

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Jaxx Pillow Saxx 5.5' Bean Bag Pillow, Orange Microsuede

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CoolDream Cotton Linen 18 by 18-Inch Decorative Throw Pillow Cover, Multicolor Elephant

List Price: $1.38

Price: $1.38

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Indian Mandala Floor Pillow Square Ottoman Pouf Daybed Oversized Cushion Cover Cotton Seating Ottoman Poufs Dog / Pets Bed Sold By Handicraft-Palace

List Price: $12.95

Price: $12.95

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TreeWool, Cotton Canvas Squares Geometric Accent Decorative Throw Pillowcases (2 Cushion Covers; 18 x 18 Inches; Mustard & White)

List Price: $16.99

Price: $16.99

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Mellanni All-Year-Round Faux Fur Throw - Top Quality, Will Not Shed! Super Soft, Comfy - Makes Luxurious Gift - Enhance Your Home Décor - Use for Travel - Gray Peacock Feathers

List Price: $149.00

Price: $49.70

You Save: $99.30

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Have I mentioned my obsession with pillows yet?

Coming out from under the tent, there will also be layered and eclectic rugs covering the majority of the rest of the family room floor. (There will be many rugs throughout our house because we have decided to keep the ground concrete)

Here are some of my favorite ones.

EYES OF INDIA - 3 X 5 Ft Multicolor Colorful Chindi Woven Rag Rug Bohemian Boho Decorative Indian

List Price: $49.95

Price: $49.95

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Traditional Persian Vintage Design Rug Beige Rug 4' x 6' FT (183cm x 122cm) Sofia Area Rug Inspired Overdyed Distressed Fancy

List Price: $39.00

Price: $39.00

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Contemporary Hand Tufted Wool Moroccan Triangle Multi Area Rugs, 5 Feet by 8 Feet (5' x 8')

List Price: $172.38

Price: $172.38

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*Sighhh..so dreamy and cozy, isn’t it? Ok, moving on. In between the bookshelf and the tent we will have our record player and vinyls. Here are just a couple of my favs.

Spectra Studebaker Wooden Turntable with AM/FM Radio & Cassette Player SB6052

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Paradise [LP][Explicit]

Price: $12.11

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Come Fly With Me

Price: $17.35

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To the left of the tent will be our next piece of furniture. This will be used to enclose the left side of the family room, separating it from the office next door From the family room side, it will look like a tall wall. But really, it is the back side of storage shelves that are being used in the office. I’ll get to that part in a later blog post though! What I will tell you, is that these giant shelves have a flat paneling on the back side, perfect for hanging up wall decor! I imagine our wall will look something along these lines Not exactly, but the same concept.

Here are some of the fantastic finds that I will be having on my decorated wall!

I will be hanging this moon from hemp chord/string.

CWI Gifts Moon Wall Decor, 12-Inch, Rust/Black

List Price: $17.95

Price: $17.95

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NOVICA White and Red Reverse-Painted Glass and Wood Framed Wall Mounted Round Mirror, 'White Star'

List Price: $64.49

Price: $64.49

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The cutest.

Umbra Trigg Hanging Container, Small, Set of 2, White/Brass

List Price: $25.00

Price: $25.00

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NOVICA Beige Handmade Cotton and Bamboo Macrame Wall Hanging, 'Arrow Temple'

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FU GLOBAL Wall Fish Tank Arylic Wall Aquarium 1 Gallon Fish Bowl 11.5 Inch Home Decoration Pot

List Price: $27.99

Price: $27.99

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World Map Antique Style Poster 36x24

List Price: $4.21

Price: $4.21

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New LED Beer Neon Wall Sign Room Decor Wild at Heart 12"x 9.8"

List Price: $139.99

Price: $89.99

You Save: $50.00

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Gardenia - Animal Double-exposure Photography Canvas Wall Art Prints 12 x 12 Inch Stretched and Framed Modern Decor Paintings Giclee Artwork for Living Room and Bedroom Decoration Beer Sika Deer & Owl

List Price: $49.99

Price: $33.99

You Save: $16.00

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On this I will hang up our polaroids and postcards we collect from different countries.

Hanging Photo Organizer Rail With Chains and 32 Clips Gray

List Price: $19.18

Price: $19.18

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Above us in the room, we will have some unique lighting and bohemian looking chandeliers!

This one (above) I made myself! (I used to sell them on Etsy before I tragically got shut down because they thought I wasn’t hand making my items. But surprise, I am hand making them! So comment below if you are interested in ordering a boho chandelier from me.)

We will also have some bohemian looking lighting in the reading corner so we can see!

(Choose from 12 Designs) Turkish Moroccan Mosaic Glass Chandelier Lights Hanging Ceiling Lamps (Large - 4) (Large-2)

List Price: $79.90

Price: $79.90

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I have one last addition. I talked about all three sides of the family room, but not the wall that has the entrance to the room! This wall will be consumed by the most perfect, sliding barn-like door. Here it is!

Barn Door Hardware Kit Rustic Antique Country STYLE with JUMBO WHEELS and 12 Feet Track - Made in USA

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We will paint this to match the rest of the wood in the room.

There ya have it! Family room decor goals for our new place! Let me know what you think, or if you have any further ideas to make our boho abode even better! Xoxo

Stay Wild, Moon Child

#becomingbohemian

The post Boho Family Room Goals- Idea Board appeared first on sj2themoon.

#sj2themoon #becoming #bohemian #boho

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