Well, this has been the Monday-est Tuesday I can remember! I spent almost my entire morning on the phone with tech support because of a Carbonite (backup) glitch that put a 4.2 terabyte log on my hard drive, taking up over half of my enormous hard drive and choking my computer. Anyway, I’m relieved it was a simple problem, but it’s thrown my day off schedule. Anyway, such is life. I wanted to share a few of the gifts I received for Christmas since some of you might enjoy them as well…
Manet & Morisot – I was so excited to receive this book on Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot. After reading Paris in Ruins a few weeks ago, I was more interested in seeing the “conversation” the pair had in their paintings. This book shows them side by side and covers their professional and personal relationship in more detail. The book is beautiful, and the reproductions are high quality.
Berthe is not my favorite artist, but I do love the undone-ness and scratchy suggestions of her paintings. It inspires me to loosen up.
John Singer Sargent: The Charcoal Portraits – I don’t think it’s possible to have too many books on JSS, so I was pleased when I saw another book featuring his stunning charcoal portraits.
While this book does have several large and medium-sized reproductions, which is what I like best in an art book, the vast majority are thumbnails. It’s a catalog more than a book to reference for master studies (although the thumbnails can be valuable for studies as well).
It is well made and nice to see all the portraits gathered in one book, but if you’re looking for large reproductions, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal is a better choice.
Florence: The Paintings & Frescos – There were so many paintings in Florence that I fell in love with, and I wanted to get a book that had information on all of them. This book is extensive, but it is missing some of my favorite portraits, specifically portraits from the Uffizi self-portrait gallery and the newer works (1850s+) from the Pitti Palace. I found a couple of books on Thrift Books that are supposed to cover those paintings, so hopefully those pull through! The book is still wonderful, though, and will be a great reference as I reminisce about my trip. I can’t wait to share about the Florence leg of my visit to Italy in October. That’ll be coming up on the blog soon.
Marshall Portable Bluetooth Speaker – I have the larger, plug-in Marshall Bluetooth speaker, but I’ve been thinking about this portable one for a while. Jeff took my Bose portable speaker, and a small one I got this summer doesn’t hold a charge very long. This one is supposed to play music for over 80 hours before needing to be recharged, so that sounded perfect for me! I love listening to music, books, and podcasts when I’m cleaning the house, painting, gardening, working on projects, etc, so now I can take good sound along with me.
Jeff and I had some homemade pizzas from a portable propane-powered pizza oven last year, and it was so amazing! We have been talking about getting one since, and finally asked my parents for one for Christmas. We are big fans of artisan pizzas (as someone who eats mostly vegetarian, it’s a great entrée option), and now we can make them at home with bubbly, crispy crust that only comes from a high-temp pizza oven. I will be sharing how we used it and like it once we get it set up and start making pizzas. If you have one (or something similar), do you have any tips?
I also got the annual haul of wool socks, a UVA hoodie, and a few other things.
What was your favorite Christmas present this year?
20 Responses
when you bought the larger Marshall speaker at a thrift store and liked it, i searched and bought the portable speaker you just received as a gift. While I don’t generally move it around, it’s nice that i can. The battery does last a long time and I have always enjoyed it. !
And enjoy the art book while listening to it.
Nice items and perfect for you, Marian! My fav gifts were two and both practical. We decided to get one another a big complete HexClad cookware set. Oh yay yay yay love love love!!
Our favorite gift each year is a gift of charity in our names. A village is getting a basket of chicks. Another family is getting a goat. Another village is getting a soccer ball and some help with clean water.
Year after year, this is always the best gift we get. We live in a smallish condo in retirement and don’t need much. Our family has been doing this for nearly 30 years at our request.
Great Idea!
My favourite gift this Christmas was a book embosser. I’m a total book worm and have a pretty extensive library so this embosser allows me to emboss each of my books with a custom made stamp with my name and a beautiful picture of a tree. I love that it’s something that I’ll have forever. Looking forward to your post about Florence.
Have a book embosser and put it on my list of good gifts for readers/book lovers. It really is a great, thoughtful gift.
Can’t wait to hear about everyone’s Ooni experiences! We’ve been wanting one for over a decade, but we have never actually purchased one. It’s always a “next year, we’ll do it” idea.
Ohh the Ooni!! We’ve looked at them and I’ve actually used one but we’ve not taken the plunge because at the time we could get incredible pizza super cheap. The books sound incredible! I’d love to hear more about the socks you received as I’m always looking for wool socks especially thinner longer lighter weight ones to wear with my Blundstones. Have a lovely day!
My go-to wool socks are Bombas. They have just the right cushioning and are a good weight.
Hear, hear. Bombas are worth every penny spent. I replaced all my cheap socks, a few pairs at a time, and have never looked back. The only time I don’t wear them is when I’m doing something messy like painting that might ruin them.
We don’t give gifts to our adult children anymore. They all are minimalist and not big purchasers. We buy for all 10 of our grandchildren and give much needed cash to our local food bank. It brings us joy since so many are struggling.
Wool socks and a UVA hoodie sound like perfect gifts! Wahoowa!! 💙🧡
Love to hear more about the pizza oven.
Hoo-rah-ray! Hey-hey-U-V-A!
Your gifts sound great esp the additions to your art book collection. I took a beat from you, asked for and received the linen gingham Quince sheets. I love them. They’re superior, imho, to Brooklinen which I have a lot of. I also loved a new Wustoff chef’s knives and Epicurean cutting board. All fun stuff for a homebody like me.
We have the 12” Ooni – used pellets at first but had trouble keeping a consistent temperature. We purchased the gas attachment and love it.
I prefer par baking the crusts for about a minute (once the stove is heated to around 650-700) then add toppings. I think it helps with controlling possible moisture issues. Also keep it light and simple. My .02. 😊
Good luck and enjoy!!
That is very helpful, thanks!
I’ve been wanting that exact Ooni and haven’t taken the plunge. You’ll definitely need to let us know how it goes. My mouth is watering now.
I read Paris in Ruins on your recommendation. And saw that here in San Francisco the museum at the Legion of Honor is showing a Manet et Monet exhibit. I’ve been eyeing this same pizza oven looking forward to a review!
We’ve had the Ooni Karu for several years and love it. I recommend finding some of the ooni videos online to watch about crust making and transferring it into the oven. And don’t overload the toppings! We get 00 Italian flour at the international market and prefer that. Also, we get pizza wood splits just the right size for our oven from Cutting Edge Firewood in Georgia. They ship nationwide cheaply. Love their wood, and it makes a hot fire quickly so you don’t use much fuel. We use the oven to cook other things besides pizza such as steak and fish because it is so quick and efficient, not to mention that it gives a delicious woodsmoke flavor. Hope you love it! PS Order the long handled metal pizza peel that Ooni sells. It’s round on one end and superior to all the others we have.
So many thoughtful ideas for different interests from cozy socks to art books and fun games. Thank you for sharing!