I’ve been reminiscing, as tends to happen at the end of a year and particularly the end of a decade, and it struck me how the time around New Years 1999/2000 was filled with change and possibility. In the space of three months I met JSR, sat my Bursary exams, finished high school, and started University. I was only 16 at the time, and it was so exciting to move from the dictated routines of school to making my own decisions and functioning more or less as a grown-up.

Now New Years 2009/2010 feels like another turning point as we get ready to welcome the bean. We’ve spent all this time as a couple, and in just two more months we will suddenly be a little family. It’s hard to imagine how different things are going to be, but I definitely feel ready to tackle the challenges.

My hopes for 2010 are very simple: to have a healthy baby, and to find a way to juggle our new lifestyle and keep N&B thriving. It’s going to be exciting, I really can’t wait :) Happy New Years, everyone!

Milky Treat

Penguin Show

I keep a notepad on my desk at all times to jot down all those little things I need to remember temporarily. Right now I’m using the Mustard and Ketchup design, and while writing out a Christmas grocery list I absentmindedly doodled some glasses onto the characters…

HA!

They amuse me so much I’ll probably do this to the whole notepad as I work through it :D

Choc Leap

01) Tada*s Revolution features a host of beautifully styled amigurumi photos.

02) I love the dedication evident in the 221B Baker Street drawing of Sherlock Holmes’ flat!

03) The links in this roundup of blogs by Pixar artists and animators are going to fill a lot of my holiday time.

04) I really enjoyed the pilot episode of Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor’s web series Put This On, even though it’s about menswear which is not precisely my arena – I’m looking forward to their first season.

05) If you’re looking for a holiday project, how about this make-it-yourself paper window display from the children’s book A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas illustrated by Wilson Swain?

06) Kris’s Color Stripes extracts fabulous colour palettes from photographs. So inspiring!

07) I may have, somewhat foolishly, started reading Lego blogs. (It is foolish because I want to buy so much Lego!) My favourite so far is The Brothers Brick.

08) Speaking of Lego, this Lego-peg-size quad-hole-punch by Muji is such a simple but clever idea.

09) Hilarious TV-dinner themed cupcakes from My Paper Crane.

10) Fold up money so the face is wearing a hat!

Butter Flutter

Blue Whale Wave

Wizard Worm

Just a quick note to emphasise that, unless you’re in New Zealand, orders placed now are unlikely to arrive in time for Christmas. That does mean I’m no longer packing envelopes all day, so expect more regular updates here from now on :D

I’ve decided not to take a shipping break this year, so I’ll be sending out orders every day that the post offices are open through the Christmas and New Year period.

How are your holiday preparations going? I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping, so now I’m concentrating on what I’ll be cooking for the big day. This year I’m on salad and dessert duty, which are probably the most appealing jobs in this heat; I don’t envy those doing the roasting!

It always seems a little odd that we still have a big festive meal in the middle of a summer’s day, but there’s no children in our families anymore (in Auckland, at least, though it will be a different story next year!) and none of us are very keen on decorating for the season or other extended festivities, so all our celebrations are really centered around the food.

Reading blogs at this time of year makes me a little envious, as I’d love to experience a wintry Northern Hemisphere Christmas. JSR and I both have family in Canada and I hope we can make arrangements to travel there one year – that would definitely be a change!