a winter fairyland...

In Britain, they call strands of Christmas lights "fairy lights". I'm beginning to see why. A little sprinkling of snow, sprigs of green... and voila!

mercury, silver, and glass...

It catches the glimmer of the fire's glow and twinkle lights, making it seem as if a bit of wintery starlight glistens all about you.

the men's study...

A little bit lodge, a little bit library.... lots of cozy comfort that makes you want to curl up with some Dickens and a cup of hot cocoa.

a glimpse before sleeping...

Just a quick peek at a sample of the shop before I fall into my bed for a rather meager allotment of hours. So much to finish up in this last day and a half.



I snapped this with my phone this afternoon as I was dashing out to go vote.

In other news, for the sake of sanity... I've determined that the website will officially launch the week of November 10th { which is next week, so don't fret! }.

Anyway, lots of photos of the shop pre-event will be posted once I tidy up the clutter and run the vacuum one more time...

Goodnight!

decision day....

Well, the end is finally here.

{ And no, I don't mean the end of the world if your candidate of choice is not elected. }

What I mean is: the end of the sign-stealing, the end of the pundits prophetically projecting, the end of negative ads, the end of ads of any sort. The end of debates, of avoiding a topic with those you love but politically disagree with (or vice versa), of the he said-he said. The end of the world's longest election season, which has been going on for almost 18 months now.

Now I'm not foolish enough to think that by the time the election is ratified everything will be hunky-dory and the ideological tenets that are the fundamentals for each party are going to blend instantaneously. Yet I am confident that the balance point will be found sooner rather than later. Why, you ask?

Because it always has. We are a country founded on UNITY. On the brotherhood of all men and their inalienable rights.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Glorious words, no? Even more grand are the realities attached to them. We might disagree on the policies, but not the principles.

This election cycle, I have been described as one of the most sought-after voting blocks: an independent 'unaffiliated' white woman. But I describe myself as far more.

I am: the child of an immigrant, a business owner, the daughter of baby-boomer parents, and a believer. Those "roles" have made me weigh each candidate carefully, to think and process only to start all over again.

Yet when I walk into the voting booth, I will be nothing more than those people standing on either side of me: an American.

My father's family owe their modern day liberty to the defeat of Mussolini and fascism in Italy and the rebuilding that occurred after the victory of the Allies. I've even heard tales that my grandmother sold things on the black market during the war in an effort to keep her family together and fed.

In working on our genealogy with my mother, it's been discovered that our relatives were some of the first to establish parts of Virginia and Kentucky, with military service that ranges from the Revolution on into the Great Wars and Korea.

The struggle and hardships both sides faced have afforded me a great luxury: Possibility.

My future is no longer tied to what a monarch or dictator decrees. I am not born into a "lot" in life and that is all to which I should ever aspire. Instead, I am blessed with an abundance of freedom, which I far too often take for granted.

I love quotes and one of my favorite presidents was Abraham Lincoln. Below I've listed some of his words of wisdom. Odd how they resonated so strongly with me today....

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You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.

Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets.

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.
The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us
from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

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Thanks for indulging my little political musing today. The polls will be opening in just a few short hours for those of us on the east coast. { Or as my brother is calling it, "battleground state" } And while I'm so tired from a hard day in the shop that the thought of climbing the stairs is exhausting, I'll be there bright and early. { And probably still coated in a fair amount of glitter. }

Not because I'll get free coffee from Starbucks, free ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, or because it's "cool". Not because I'm voting against someone or wanting to be on the bandwagon of a historic candidacy. Not because of spin or talking points. Not because of personality, popularity or endorsements.

It's because I can. As a citizen I get a voice, I get a vote -- and what good is having either if you don't let yourself be heard?

getting closer....

It's official -- I'm a week away. A week away from food, fun, frivolity, festivity, and fabulous-ness.

But I have to get there first. Climb through the mounting lists of things to "get done". Stave off a cold until next week. Marshal the troops in countless directions and being content to let them do what I ask instead of thinking I need to keep my hands on everything.

There are three basic categories to the lists: Store, Website, and Personal. Pretty self-explanatory, but when you have to remind yourself to pick up dog food and toothpaste, things are still on overload.

Yet, in other news, things are certainly getting exciting.

Our monthly shipment of Romantic Homes magazines arrived in the store, though I won't put them out for purchase until the Soiree. Couldn't wait to peek into the box and flip to the back....



Our new ad! Hooray! Who is that darling crown bedecked child? Why, it's "little alice" as she's been christened by Heather and I. And now that she's been revealed...



In other exciting news, I couldn't resist photographing (not to mention wearing!) some our darling jewelry that will be making it's debut on both the website and the shop.



And in other Christmas yummy-ness, I am busy parceling out oodles of delicious ephemera perfect for packages and projects for you and yours.



Enjoy!

the vanishing explained....

Had you begun to think I'd fallen over the edge into the brink? Or crawled into a box of new product and fallen down a rabbit hole into Wonderland?

Well, regardless of what might have been the case, I'm pleased as punch to tell you that I've been busy photographing product, receiving orders, placing new orders, handling paperwork and all other general shop duties in order to get ready for our annual event. I hadn't forgotten you, dear ones... but when you find yourself pausing in the middle of the day to wonder whether or not you've combed your hair, you officially have too much on your plate.



Isn't the postcard delicious? Heather did another phenomenal job for me and I'm tickled about how great they look. Next I'll be labeling and getting them to the post office post haste!

So mark your calendars {even if you aren't local and able to stop by}! Because on top of the Soiree, the website will have it's official launch the very same week! It'll be a party in every way imaginable. But those details will need to kept a secret just a LITTLE bit longer...

Every day seems to fly faster and faster though, as the date approaches. {Or maybe my dwindling sleep hours makes it seem that way.} Nonetheless, I promise to reveal hints and sneak peeks here and there over the next TWENTY days. Yep, just twenty days... oh, how I can hardly wait!



In the package with my postcards from the printer came my new business cards! Here's a glimpse at the back of it. "Shopkeeper". Yep, that's me...

And a quick reminder, if you are local and want to be added to my actual mailing list, please email me {adair@tusco.net} with your address or sign up for our e-mail newsletters in the sidebar to the right!

and the winner is....

MICHAELE!

Thank you to each of you dear ones who commented, coveted, and chimed in on how you love to use your ephemera in everyday life. Since I had no idea what to expect, I was thrilled at the success of my very first giveaway!

So let's all congratulate Michaele and wait with baited breath for this Thanksgiving banner she's hinted at! (Michaele, please email me your mailing information at your earliest convenience. I want to get this sent out before Holiday Prep ramps into overdrive.)

Now do not fret..... because EVERYONE who commented will be receiving a gift certificate to be used once the online shopping goes live at Alice Adair! So please email me (adair@tusco.net) with the primary email address where you would like your promotion code sent.

And to tide you over until then, here are some pictures of my ephemera stash just waiting to go online! It really is just the tip of the iceberg!

winding down...

Just a few more hours until the drawing for the first ever giveaway! I've extended the deadline for you to comment on the post below until...

5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time!

So... tell your friends, spread the word... and keep your fingers crossed! The winner will be posted tonight!

hearth and home giveaway...

So I had totally planned to blog about the state of my worktables downstairs today. To show you piles and boxes and bags of scrap and ephemera of all sorts. Until a certain someone (Heather) put the idea in my head about hosting a giveaway leading up to the launch.

Then fast-forward to me digging through all my piles and pockets searching for items for a custom collage. See me diverting from the task at hand and pulling things that make me think of Fall and hearth and home.

Then see me decide to put it all together in my very first giveaway!

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What You'll Win

2 Sets of Vintage Sheet Music
(Sounds from the Ringing Rocks, The Road to Home Sweet Home)

A glassine envelope

2 1930's Bird Scrap Cutouts

4 black and white photographs
(two houses, one family, couple in the woods)

Large portrait photograph in it's original folder

A beautiful decorative page from an antique photo album
(The pale orange is simply delicious and the scrollwork is on both sides)

3 Postcards

Scrap with a young boy and a turkey

An amazing poem card with Chinese lanterns and chrysanthemums
(With the original gold lined envelope)

A 1909 Grade Card

Letter with Envelope
(The handwriting is so distinctive!)

An adorable colored illustration of two children feeding a squirrel
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Each of the music sets have multiple pages and I'd added the silk leaves and berry sprig for photographic effect, but I'll be adding those in too. The lace panel I spread over my canvas-topped table -isn't- included. (So sorry to disappoint!)

Just looking over the pictures to make sure I've listed everything gave me lots of ideas of just what could be done with it all. Could you imagine having glass cut for your dining room table for Thanksgiving and serving your meal over a collage of leaves, photos, and momentos? So adorable and with nothing to launder when someone invariably spills gravy. My mind whirls at what so many of you artistic ladies could create with these supplies.

To be entered in the drawing for the giveaway, please post a comment with your favorite way to use ephemera in your daily life (decor, art inspiration, etc). The giveaway will be open for three days -- so that you have plenty of time to post.

I'll be spending the rest of the weekend sorting and situating the ephemera parcels that will be going on the website and wishing you all the best of luck! Check back Monday for the winner to be posted.

a perfect start to the new season...

blissfall: [blisfawl] n. the experience of supreme happiness, utter joy or total contentment on a day in the season of the year that comes after summer and before winter.

Since I know so many have been cheering on this day, I doubt that any of you have missed out on the fact that today is indeed the first day of Autumn. Or Fall. Or Harvest. Shine on, shine on harvest moon, up in the sky....

And for the record, I make up words, so you won't find blissfall in any dictionary. Yet the term perfectly sums up those moments in the oncoming season that just make you let out a long lazy breath and stand firmly rooted where you are until the experience has passed.

And if the calendar wasn't enough to inform me, my inner body clock has been steadily nudging me forward. My hands have lingered over my denim jacket wistfully waiting for the temperatures to dip. Gone are the cravings for sun-brewed ice tea or lemonade, apple cider and hot chocolate eager to take their place. The kitchen is changing too. Baking is appealing again, with rich nutty flavors and lots of cinnamon. Ever since I made that pot of chili, I'm been making "good meals" as J would call them. Comfort food. Like the pork chops and noodles I baked last night with cream of mushroom soup, then served with lima beans and cranberry sauce. Or the zucchini parmigiana my dad made that I had for lunch. Yum.

My blissfall moment came today as I spied a bunch of red buckeye pods littering the side of the street by the shop. The fallen branches had been picked up by the city workers finally, revealing a carpet of this yellowish gold 'fruit' in the grass. Red buckeyes tend to be larger than the variety that grows in my front yard and the pods do not bear any spikes. So there I am, in the grass, opening up all the pods that won't ripen on the tree to extract the buckeyes. Why? Because of how great they would look scattered across a table, or in an apothecary jar, or.. or... any number of possibilities. I even thought about using them at Thanksgiving and writing each family member's name on one in a fine-tip gold paint pen. It could serve as a place marker and a gift (my granddad always said that carrying a buckeye brought good luck). So as I stuffed my pockets and then used the front of my shirt to corral all the leathery brown orbs, it dawned on me that this was the first of many more blissfall memory moments to come.

There are clear snapshots of time as I think back to years past, other Autumns:

• Standing around a bonfire with friends, soaking in the glow of the flames and the laughter reminiscent of childhood when we were all on break from college. The sound of drum cadences echoing in the air as the marching band leads the way to the football stadium.
• Finding the perfect red leaf resting on my windshield (when there are no red-leaved trees anywhere around), like a little present God tucked there for me, a reminder of the pristine clarity and purpose of creation as fingers traced minuscule veins and the paper-thin surface.
• An open expanse of grass where I would lounge on a bed of quilts and read to my hearts content, warmed by the sun and your favorite layered long tee shirt and hoodie. I lived in Cincinnati then and can still feel the chill of the earth through the fabric. My friends and I would congregate on our favorite hill to spend Sunday afternoons together in silent community while we read or studied, taking breaks to laugh over something silly, finally playing Frisbee once we grew too cold and needed to get the blood flowing again. And all the while the city sprawled out before us like a glorious backdrop.
• A sunset over a ridge of beech trees that seemed to set the world in flame and caught me by such surprise, I had to pull over and watch it. I still mourn the fact I didn't have a digital camera at the time.

The emotion that permeated each of those memories flooded my day today. Tonight I'll be dreaming about what will get added to that internal scrapbook that defines this time of year.

{ Photos courtesy of Flickr. }

announcements...

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Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret.
ralph waldo emerson

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;
it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
antoine de saint-exupery
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For those of you who have known it was coming or wished for it... or even figured it out from previous posts: Alice Adair is going online!

The super talented Heather of Bluhm Studios, whom I've mentioned to you before has gone above and beyond in capturing the feel of Alice Adair and the vision I have it. And as a complete bonus, she's become one of my favorite people. Ever since stepping out on this dream, God has truly led me to incredible women that are as inspirational and beneficial to my spirit as they are influential in helping me get one step closer to that image in my head. Do you know that type? The kind of woman that wants you to be prosperous and successful just as much as you want the same for her. One who understands that there is enough in the world for everyone and that living in your own skin is far better than trying to be all things to all people as my mama would say. Anyway, that's a tangent and will bide for another post in the future someday.

While the banner is just a teaser for greater and grander things to come, I hope it whets your appetite for what I am scrambling to get prepared for the grand opening. Right now the online launch has been slated for the the first week of...



... to coincide with our annual holiday event (to be named later) at the shop, and the debut of our new ad in Romantic Homes Magazine. I would love to show it to you, but if I did it would ruin the big (still somewhat secret) reveal. Think of it like a present wrapped in beautiful paper and ribbon. You can see it, but can't open it just yet. But oh, when you do...

www.aliceadair.com

I know the splash page probably isn't live JUST yet as Brian has been traveling. But go ahead and bookmark it and check back often. Who knows... maybe a special "treat" will come your way earlier that you think.

liberty...

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.

~ Thomas Jefferson, Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)

I woke from a dream this morning of "that infamous day" seven years ago. My shadow splayed against the brick of the commons as I made my way to art history class. Voices echoing off the building as the news begins to trickle through campus. Fidgeting in my seat that entire hour, only to exit the room and find myself face to face with banks of televisions projecting the horror. The acidic taste of vitamins as I raced into the bathroom and retched.

Images whirled behind my eyelids until I realized just how much time had passed, the morning being orchestrated by coverage of the memorials on all the news channels. I had to pause getting ready because I was crying my makeup off faster than I could apply it. Haunting voices of choirs singing requiems to the skies. Nearly two hundred men in uniform unveiling the bench and memory pool of each individual victim of the Pentagon.

Over the past seven years, I've listened to one particular song on this day as my own private memorial... and now I'm sharing it with you. It is from John Rutter's Requiem, "The Lord Is My Shepherd". It has always had sentimental significance to me, because I play the oboe and have performed the piece before. But in light of today, it is only that much more important. I've included the best video I could find of it on YouTube and have given you the lyrics.

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The Lord Is My Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture: and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. He shall comfort my soul: and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me. Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me: Thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.

But Thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

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The piece is from Rutter's Requiem Mass and although I am not Catholic (to the disbelief of all of my Italian family), I find something comforting about the timbre of the Latin, the platitude of the prayers offered in it. In fact, my CD was so scratched I downloaded the full album so that I could put it on my iPod.

This is my prayer for those whose lives were taken, those who laid them down, and the families left behind....

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may light eternal shine upon them.

home and hearth...

Ahhh, September in Ohio. Is there anything quite like it? Mmm, I don't think so but then again, I live here. Although my imagination tells me that autumn in Boston or Nova Scotia is nothing to sneeze at.

Speaking of sneezing, I should buy stock in Kleenex for all that I'm a-chooing. This time of year is always a killer on my allergies. Which means I need cardigans and pants with deep pockets to stock with tissues. Since they are all in storage, I will be swapping out my closet sooner rather than later. Yikes. Just thinking about all that needs to be done at home, not to mention the shop, makes me cringe.

The coming weeks are going to be full of new things though. Sorting through product, new upholstery for the showroom, a brand new baby in the family, that top SECRET project. Not to mention that we are now at the threshold of my favorite time of year. Even as a retailer (translation -- sleep, eat, breathe your shop), there is something magical and warm that dwells in the heart of dipping temperatures and shortening days. It's all about coming home. Making things snug for those we love. Dragging out the goodies and recipes we've packed away. The memory contained in the scent of a bonfire or the cadence of the high school marching band on a Friday night.

So I might cringe at the work and shiver with the cold if I don't get that pesky closet turned around... I love it. It feeds my soul and invigorates me. So while I can't wait for the crunch of scarlet leaves beneath boots or to make huge pots of my famous chili, I'll have a cup of hot chocolate and sit out on my porch to enjoy the final days of those glorious hanging baskets that made my summer dreams come true.

Here are some snaps I took of them tonight. Check out how huge the geraniums are in my wicker planter. I love my local greenhouse.