Holiday Traditions- RetroTrend Style



George, relaxing in his favorite Mid- Century chair.



The ice rink that doubles as my driveway is melting nicely and most of the presents are wrapped. I'm feeling surprisingly calm and collected this holiday season, at least for now. Looking forward to seeing friends and family for Christmas and New Years, as well as creating new traditions.

Hosting Christmas dinner for the first time this year- not the usual garlic confit brisket and apricot kugel (insert good Jew here). This year's menu is beef Wellington, fingerling potatoes crisped in duck fat, blanched asparagus, Beaujolais, and a Buche de Noel. Yes, I'll be making the Buche as well. Or tying to. 

Some things should never change, so I'll be watching Auntie Mame on Christmas Eve.

What traditions are important to you and your family?

Which ones have evolved over the years?

No matter how you celebrate- here's to a very happy holiday season.

Shopping Slump + Coupon Code = Weekly Round-Up

I am a good half- Hebe. And I shop for a living. So why is seasonal shopping so hard this year? Barely made it through Hanukkah with the "Let's just exchange one big gift this year" shtick (the iPhone 4 rocks, btw!), but Christmas is looming. Everyone seems to be scaling back, which is fine by me. There is little I need or want.

So while my decorations are up and home- made lemoncello is ready to distribute to friends, I still have a lot of present buying to do. From online stores that will deliver quickly. Of course, lots of purchases are arriving via Etsy, in clever packaging and with thoughtful notes. This makes me strive to avoid big- box stores as much as possible - I'd rather support handmade and vintage sellers.

Are you suffering from a holiday shopping slump too?

Maybe this will help:

This weekend only (starting, um, now) use coupon code "15offyay" in any of my three stores (retrotrend, RetroHommeVintage and ObjectRetro) for an additional 15% off.

Many items are already 20%- 25% off for the holiday season, so this is an added "Thank you!" bonus for my loyal blog followers (that's you, guys!), Facebook fans and Twitter followers.

I've used the Etsy on Sale API a few times to create sales and love the results. So it was thrilling to receive an e-mail from one of their founders, letting me know I'd been featured on their blog. That creamy canvas speedy bag? Right here.  Thanks for the feature!

Well, it's 5:08 pm here, which means my work day is over and cocktail hour has started without me. Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S.- If the sugar cookies turn out okay this weekend- there will be photos galore to share!

Holiday Decor

It's that time of year. The Hanukkah bush, normally just a weeping Norwegian spruce, has been decorated with blue star ornaments.

Like many households, there is also the Christmas tree, with a mix of vintage and modern ornaments. Yes, that is an (empty) Absolut silver Disco bottle topper. Because a friend came over a few years ago, drank the entire bottle and passed out, face down, at (and on) my dining room table. Hopefully, he isn't reading my blog.

Hard to see in this photo, but a red sequined pair of heels is peeking out from under the tree. Just because.

Proving that crafts and booze don't always mix... And that a glue gun can be a dangerous thing.

By now, I'm sure you've figured out that I am newly obsessed with Instagram. While similar to Hipstamatic is some ways, I like the ease and speed of edits. I use and recommend both.

Take lots of photos and Happy Hanukkah!

Drumroll Please... Introducing ObjectRetro

As you may have already gleaned, I have opened a third Etsy shop, ObjectRetro (see some items just over there, in the right sidebar).



The first item to sell, a large, antique ram horn.



Why, you ask? Boxes of vintage cameras in the attic, a bar full of Mid- Century glassware, 50 plus vintage and antique glass decanters, vintage tea caddies filled with smaller antique boxes that are filled with antique snuff boxes, patch boxes, etc.

Mid- Century Pyrex, Danish Modern metal serveware and mismatched Bakelite flatware, oh my?

Vintage linen tea towels? I've got a drawer- full.

Fire-King small serving bowls? Pick a color.

And that is just the kitchen.

Yes, the shop was created to cull my personal collections. And as it grows, I will source for it just as I do for RetroTrend and RetroHommeVintage.

"Why not just sell those items in your other shop?", asked a fan. Well, I assume that most guys don't like looking through loads of dresses to find that special retro shirt or tie.

Having three specific shops allows for easier searching.

As always, cross- site combined shipping applies. Purchase items at the same time from different shops and they will ship together, with any overages refunded right back to you. 

The avatar is yet another animal head - metal this time, not inflatable like Mr. McMoosey. He is a vintage coat/ hat rack that I've mounted over the floating fireplace. That photo was taken last Christmas, when he was decorated with vintage ornaments. Don't worry, Christmas dinner is usually brisket with garlic confit and apricot kugel- it's just hard to find Hanukkah costumes for horned inanimate objects.

Have a wonderful week!