I'm not one for much Christmas gift giving. The frenzy is a big turn off. I like to give gifts, really I do! I just don't have many people to buy for because I'm a salty old dog. It disturbs me how NPR reports the status of retail sales every damn night in the weeks leading up to Xmas. As they rattle on about the numbers, I envision a big front-end loader dumping garbage and plastic toys into a landfill. Oh well, I'm grinch-y like that. It's because I didn't get one very specific piece of plastic in 1986; The She-ra Princess of Power Castle. (Which is selling on ebay for $219!!!OMG I STILL WANT IT) A plastic castle so beautiful - so magical that only the best children got one. That Christmas morning proved to be a crucial juncture in my childhood - a defining moment - all my potential ambition and motivation in life crystallizing under the Christmas Tree; You want something, you have to get it yourself!

All that said, I did in fact get a few very nice things this Christmas. I've always lusted over the dishes that Astier de Villatte makes, they are so simple and elegant. Eric surprised me this Christmas with a little coffee set - a start of my very own collection! I love them so much and I feel like a princess using them every morning.