From the Grannies

Yesterday was Christmas. I gave and received some excellent gifts, but one gift was given that I will treasure for a lifetime. Let me back up....

Last February I sent my mother an image on Pinterest about a granny square jacket. I didn't think anything of it, and honestly I had mostly forgotten the image all together. The same cannot be said for my mother. Since then she has been working long hours, in secret, making one for me. Well her own unique version of the original post, because my mother simply does not have interest in following a pattern or recipe without tweaking it a bit. She is creative like that! She is also just really talented and so loving.The gift alone is enough to make me cry...I am so very thankful that I have such a kind and loving and giving mother...but there was more!

Yesterday morning as I was handed the gift package, my mother was at the ready with a camera. No pressure on me to respond in a good way, ha. Then I looked at the tag and it said it was "from the grannies." I opened the package and was kind of confused. I was thinking 

1) Gorgeous!

2) Did my mom make this or finish my Grandma Rose's projects? She had been left with a lot of crafts when my Grandma Rose passed.

3) The Grannies? Who are the Grannies? Granny squares???

Then it was revealed that my mother had incorporated a square from both of my great grandmothers---my Great Grandma Maria and my Great Grandma Rose! Both of these women have passed so it was particularly meaningful that she shared even a small part of their work in this gift.

I am so so touched that my mother made this for me, that she took the time to make a gift with thoughtfulness and love. I think that is exactly what gift giving should be. Honestly I don't even know how to write this post. I want to share, but how can I really express how grateful I am for the mother I have, for the women who are the very fiber of my being? This gift symbolizes that beauty and the connection that I have to my mother, grandmothers, great grandmothers and so on back.

Thank you mom, this means more than words can ever convey.

Manatea

Last night my friend Laura joined us for dinner. I have known Laura for much of my life. She is one of those people with whom I am fortunate to have crossed paths at different points in our lives, childhood and adulthood.

She is more than a friend. She honestly feels like family. She is easy to be around, kind, honest, funny and generally wonderful.

Yesterday morning when I told the girls that Laura would be over they flipped! All day long Cordelia wanted a countdown to her arrival. Elise would just randomly call her name.

So, in short, Laura is totally radical and we are so fortunate to know her.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Last night she gifted me with the most amazing and thoughtful present! A manatee tea infuser, manatea!!! Something that, unbeknownset to her, I have long had my eye on. Even better she put little crowns on the manatees on the box as it was a gift for my show (called Kingdom which featured crowned animals). See, isn't she awesome?!?