Thank you to each and every one of you who shared with us on the blog this week about your December 26th plans! Your comments were so much fun to read, and I really enjoyed finding out what you all had planned for the day. See the end of this post for winners!
Our plans were really scattered this year...we typically stay at home for the holidays and have everyone at our house; however, this year was a little bit different. We traveled to Roseburg, OR (which is about 3 hours south of here) to visit my mom and step dad on Christmas Eve. One thing you should know...my mom is a fantastic cook, and spends days baking the most wonderful treats for Christmas.
Peanut butter balls anyone? Chocolate dipped pretzels?
Frosted sugar cookies? Pecan tarts? Gingerbread cookies? Fudge?
My mom bakes these goodies and so much more each and every Christmas, and I swear that I gain 5 pounds just by eating these treats on this one day...I justify this by reminding myself how fun these pounds were to gain. It's completely worth it! :)
On Christmas afternoon we then drove to Bandon, OR on the coast to visit my MIL and Woolboy's step dad. They live in one of the most beautiful locations, in a quaint little house that sits amongst the forest. Just check out these cute steps she has created (which lead to a full on trail through the forest right in her own backyard- which she also created). It's like something you would see in a landscaping book each and every time we visit - just amazing!
And this park photo? Oh, right, it's not a park, it's my MIL's yard! She is quite amazing!
We enjoyed a glazed ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, green bean salad, pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, and all sorts of other yummy goodness. My MIL then opened the Lagoon (sport weight sock yarn from Sundara) socks I knit her for Christmas...they look so cute on her, don't they?
This is some of the sock yarn I had gotten way back when Sundara was dyeing lots of one-time-only colorways - and I had gotten lots of this colorway. Lots and lots and lots. It was one of my favorites and still is, but unfortunately is no longer available.
We then spent the day after Christmas (Boxing Day!) sleeping in, relaxing, and enjoying a family visit with my MIL. No shopping! Not that I didn't want to or would not have been willing to, as I LOVE shopping on any day of the year, but there isn't much shopping available on the South Coast and we were doing so good at relaxing...why ruin a good thing, right? :)
Yesterday we returned home and we plan to do a little catching up on store business - a little inventory, filling orders, ordering more yarn for the shop, answering email, etc. I plan to work on a few knitting projects this weekend, visit with some friends, catch up on some much needed cleaning...and will try to get some relaxing in before the New Year begins, if that is possible!
Speaking of the New Year and new shop business, we have a few things to mention....
1. First of all, we want to announce a couple of winners of the recent blog contest.
The winner of the "Chestnuts Roasting" contest (and July was the correct month for inquiring minds who want to know...) is Melissa! Congrats! Melissa has won 2 skeins (enough for a pair of socks) of the Chestnut's Roasting colorway from the Unique Sheep, a matching stitch marker, and some of these fantastic oversized Reese's Peanut Butter cup trees.
The winners of the "Boxing Day" contest are Dawn and Isobel. Congrats to both of you! I will be contacting you both sometime today regarding your winning loot!
2. Secondly, we will be having a sale starting January 4th, which will continue through January 20th. Check back with us Monday, December 31st to find out a list of the yarns that will be included in the sale. This sale will include lots of opportunity to get some great after holiday shopping deals!
3. Also on Monday, I will announce how you can go about signing up for the 2008 Woolgirl Sock Club, which will open up for registrations on January 1st.
4. Our January newsletter will also be emailed out on Monday, so watch your emails for that!
5. We will be at the TNNA show in California on January 10th - 13th, checking out lots of new yarns and products for the shop, so any orders placed during that time period will be shipped on January 14th. We would also love to get your feedback in the next few weeks on which yarns and/or products YOU would like to see in the shop in 2008! We have found some of our most favorite yarns because of you, our customers, so we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Which yarns do you wish we would carry? Do you have favorites needles or bags you would like us to know about? We would love to hear your thoughts and typically will offer you a gift certificate if we end up carrying that particular product in the shop, so send us your ideas!
6. We will have a shop update this Sunday, featuring new colorways from Lavender Sheep, lace and sock yarns from Oceanwind Knits, and fantastic products from Heal My Hands.
Happy Friday to everyone, and have a wonderful weekend!
