happy holidays!

as you all know (especially you, alphahen), we love baby pandas here at superette. so what better way to wish you all a wonderful holiday than to show you a pack of baby pandas playing in the snow...

to annie, love dabney

click to embiggen:

I WON!

thanks to the nice folks at apartment therapy and the kitchn, this gorgeous six-piece le creuset set is now mine!



out of over 1700 commenters, little old me was chosen (albeit randomly).

grilled cheese sandwiches are going to taste great in that grill pan. and will's aunt betty's portuguese kale soup is going to be scrumptuous simmering away in that dutch oven!

will sell pinky finger for wii

my dad has got to be the one of the hardest people to shop for - not that he is particular or finicky in any way. in fact, he is the most agreeable person i know. get him any old thing - he'll wear it, carry it, eat it, etc. once on a visit home, he happened to answer the door in a t-shirt adorned with a strange cartoon that said "will sell husband for food." did it make any sense? no. the question should be "did he even notice?"

the hardest thing each holiday season is to find things for dad that he is actually excited about. ties, wallets, sweaters, watches, pajamas - never suffice. as i have written here before, he loves gadgets to the extent that he is sometimes better known as robo-dad.



so what better gift to get him this year than a nintendo wii?



the problem is that HOW DOES ONE PROCURE SUCH AN ITEM THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS? anybody? anybody?

UPDATE 12/21: wii obtained! thank you, craigslist.

bright and shiny

one of my favorite objects in our dungeon of an apartment is this abstract stained glass piece that i picked up at a friend's store years ago (omg, make that a dozen years ago) on newbury street. i have no idea who made it, where it came from, or even when it was made, but i do know that i love it.



on particular winter days, such as this morning, the low sun has a tendency to reflect off the hancock tower and shine right through it and make bright rainbow-colored patterns of our ceiling.

groceries made easy

before any snowstorm, there always seems to be a last minute public rush to the grocery store. as if we'll be snowed in for weeks, folks grab all the necessities: bread, milk, eggs, water, toilet paper, etc. as a friend recently asked, "are people rushing home to make french toast or what?"

last week, we were right there in the middle of the throng at our local stop & shop. but just as we were about hold our breath and dive into the crowd, we spotted this on our right.

behold, the future!




yeah, that's right - hand scanners at the grocery store! no more long lines. no need for self-checkout. it was speedy and so much more fun.

pretend you're playing big buck hunter as you stroll down the cereal aisle.


scan that oatmeal. scan that soup. the hardest part is finding the bar code.

how do you scan a banana, you ask? the produce department had its own scale that weighed and printed out the appropriate sticker. scan it and you've bought that banana.

once you're done, join any line, scan one more bar code, pay, bag and go. we realized it would be even faster if we bagged as we shopped using our own re-usable bags.

bedbrows

not only do i get a wicked case of bedhead each morning, i occasionally wake up with dr. spock brows.

too embarrassed to share a photo.

holiday fairapalooza

it was a wonderful (and exhausting) weekend.

thank you, new yorkers and fellow bostonians, who came out to see us this weekend at the bust craftacular and the bazaar bizaare.

as always, there is always cute stuff at these holiday shows. some highlights...


i thought that these spaceman and a dinosaur necklaces from vera meat were amazing.


michelle had her eye on this vinyl paperweight from swigg.

our craftacular booth neighbors were panther by hand who created this hilarious skirt that cracked us up each time she'd turn around.



to be honest, i felt a little embarrassed just looking.


i couldn't help but purchase this tiny pendant from jill nimble. it will make a perfect zipper pull!


there was something about these little pewter saltines from herb hoover that spoke to me. when dabney confirmed their charm, the purchase was made. i can't wait to set them out on a plate for our next dinner party.

last but not least, amy sedaris was indeed a stone's throw away from our booth all day.


she was not only signing her books, she was selling her own crafts: popsicle sticks with googlie eyes, cupcakes, homemade jerri blank lighters, and a $1 grab bag full of very random stuff.

before the end of the day, i had to ask for a photo. and even though she had met and talked to thousands of adoring fans and had a sore back, she sat still for once more pic.

can't you see the exhaustion behind those thick glasses?


on sunday, we were back in our hood for bazaar bizarre...

here's what the cyclorama looks like right before the doors open.


within, moments BOOM!


as always, it was a wonderful event with tons of people, another genuine celebrity sighting, and of course, theramin holiday tunes. this year, mr. theramin himself, jon bernhardt, finally came out with his own holiday album. i had been waiting for years. now, it's mine.

for two years now, skunk of 80 grit art has been our kind neighbor. he makes the coolest stuff out of recycled material and other landfill-bound metal. this year, he allowed me to take a photo with his piéce de resistance, the "kenny g eliminator."



holla to other BB pals...


happy owl glassworks


my favorite mirror


tadworks

back-to-back

what's up with the back-to-back banners you ask? back-to-back shows.

yep, we're off to the big apple to hawk our wares at the bust craftacular tomorrow and turning right around heading back home for our last show of the season, sunday's bazaar bizarre. fittingly, it's in our neighborhood.

for more info, click the images above.

o christmas tree

we dragged the boys out with us to smolak farms for our annual christmas tree hunt over the weekend.



you'd think that chopping a tree down yourself would result in a discount, but no - one price - no matter what size. our basement apartment doesn't allow for very much of a tree, so it was good that wilhelm was on the hunt for the biggest (and skinniest) tree he could find. we like to think that between the two, we got our money's worth. oh yeah, they also throw in a wreath.



this year's drought made for a lot of funny looking trees with these long weird tops. ron aptly dubbed them "cindy lou-hoo" trees.



after a round of bailey's, we soon had this result. ahhhh....

flickr photo editing

for all you flickr heads out there (and i know you are and if you aren't among them, you should be), the photo-hosting super-site just launched in-browser picture editing with the kind help from the folks at picnik.


isn't our new god-dog cute? that's sasha!

just click "edit photo" and eliminate those red eyes, crop, rotate, etc... with a small fee, one can do more advanced stuff. it won't replace photoshop, but hey, it sure is convenient.

craftland store opening

for more info, check out craftlandshow.com.

mogo meets manhattan

hey new yorkers! this year, the annual bust magazine craftacular sets foot in the big city.

we'll be 4 booths away from ms. amy sedaris herself.

don't miss this one - this saturday, december 8th.

click the image above for more info.

a charlie brown xmas (revisted)

revoiced by the cast of "scrubs" - hilarious.