I came across this photo the other day and was charmed. The combination of her sweet round face, long eyelashes, dark curls and her plaid outfit is adorable. She reminds me a bit of my daughter at that age. I hope the outfit was comfortable. My daughter hated getting dressed up when she was little: scratchy seams, and lack of freedom to run and jump as she liked. I wonder why the little darling is staring at the blossoms? She seems too sweet to have knocked them off. Hmmmm . . . -Maria

For my 50th birthday I was given a gift card for Fluvog Shoes. I bought a gorgeous pair of black with white shoes. They remind me a little of the shoes Elaine, from Seinfeld, used to wear. I feel great in them. I saw these in the window the other day and thought that these would be just the thing to cast away any winter blahs! What do you think? – Cris

I baked these shortbread cookies for the first time earlier this week in time for New Year’s Eve. They have dried cranberries and pecans in them. They were a bit late for my traditional Christmas platter of cookies, but my sons and I think they’re a keeper. I did have to use my mixer, but they were worth it. The dough wasn’t too sticky and I used up the rest of my pecans. Sometime soon, I will write about what I bake and why, and my family’s favourites, especially for that platter. Do you do any baking for holidays? If so, what do you make? – Maria

On Monday, I had to scrape the snow off my windshield for the first time this winter. I love the look of freshly fallen snow: so clean and sparkly and brilliantly white. Especially in the city, however, it doesn’t stay like this for long. We had a foggy, rainy Christmas this year. A frosty dusting of snow glistening outside my window would have been nice. Do you look forward to the first snow? Does it snow where you are? – Maria

I was looking at this photo yesterday, taken at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and it made me want to paint or wallpaper stripes on my ceiling. At the beginning of the week I was browsing through the magazines at the library and read an article in the October 2023 issue of House and Garden. In the article, Gavin Houghton wrote “White ceilings feel very unloved if you have no other white paint in the room, which I generally don’t. A trellis design wallpaper or a stripe looks sensational on a ceiling, and it never overpowers as it’s above the eyeline”.

What do you think about a painted ceiling? Are you inspired to paint this weekend? -Cris

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