Growing up we always had two sets of ornaments, those from Hallmark given each Christmas of our childhood and a set of nearly fifty handmade by my mom in the 1970s. As I’ve gotten older I have grown to love my mom’s set of unique ornaments more and more. I also appreciate the time and effort they took to create, as the few I’ve attempted with her leftover beads all look pitiful. So as my mom and I used them  to decorate our Christmas tree this week, we pointed out which were our favorites and made certain they had a “prime spot” in front. It’s the little things like being able to share my mom’s vintage Christmas ornaments that make me happy I have a blog. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we do.

There are so many things I have to be grateful for this year, but the most noteworthy are the people in my life. From my family and friends to the magazine contributors who have become my friends, I’m grateful for you all. I literally could not be living and creating as I am without you. I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving with family and friends.

wishing you all a safe and happy holiday!

i never thought i would like the o.c.. it was always a show that i was aware of, but only knew bits and pieces about from weekly previews and that sort of thing. i suppose my understanding of it was a bad boy who gets into a lot of trouble in a wealthy town in orange county. that’s it. i didn’t give it any more credit than that.

but a few months ago my friend lauren, who encouraged me to watch prison break (and we all know how that turned out), posted a bunch of gif’s and screen shots of funny lines by a character on the o.c. named seth cohen. now, i knew who adam brody was. he was lane’s first boyfriend on gilmore girls. he read the entire bible to impress her mother. and i knew that adam brody left gilmore girls to take a lead role in a new series…the o.c.

so you understand, my impression of the o.c. was that of “stealer of lane’s awesome dorky boyfriend.” not good.

but, these screen shots that lauren was reblogging? hilarious. so when i finally texted lauren to ask her if i should really give the o.c. a shot she of course said yes, i would love it. and i had a deep suspicion that she would be right.

let’s just say, she was.

when i finally popped in that season one dvd rented from my public library, i really didn’t know what to expect. but, by the end of that first episode i knew i liked this show. because the characters were deeper than i expected. they had flaws, but they were good people. and best of all there was humor. the best kind of humor, too. the kind of self-depricating, quick-witted, sarcastic humor that makes me smile from ear to ear.

(and now i will proceed to share my thoughts on each main character of the show. if you actually finish reading this post, bless you. this was just one of those things i needed to get off my chest. so thanks for letting me share!)

sandy cohen, the man i knew from ‘while you were sleeping’ with the big eyebrows, was this superhero of a dad who would do anything to help a kid out. basically, the guy had your back. always. he was the man of the hour, schmearing bagels with precision, surfing, hating on the o.c. and it’s newpsies, rescuing kids from legal issues, salting seth’s game, and singing at the bait shop. seriously, if anyone on this series was stealth, it was sandy cohen.

kirsten was the mom you always wished you had. well, that’s a figure of speech; i’m actually quite happy with my own parents, thanks very much. but, seriously, she was always the voice of reason in the cohen family. the role traditionally held in tv families by the father, fell on kirsten cohen, a born and bread newpsie who couldn’t stand newpsies. throw in an alcohol addiction and getting ‘this’ close to having an affair, and this woman is golden just like her ever (thankfully) evolving hair.

oh, seth cohen. the son of kirsten and sandy. the hilarious and awkward jewish boy who memorized his sweet love, summer’s, mermaid poem in the fifth grade. only to find out in season four that it was taylor townsend who wrote it. (uh oh). from the moment we first met seth, sitting all huntched over playing video games and inviting ryan to join him, i don’t know a fan of this show who didn’t fall in love with him right there. every time he gave his line about not having any friends in newport until ryan came…goodness it broke my heart. because i believed him. and that relationship between ryan and seth? huzzah. in the words of lauren, “the bromance never dies.”

and i honestly think that’s what surprised me most about the o.c.. i never realized that ryan and seth would be friends. that ryan would always have seth’s back. and i suppose that brings me to ryan, the protaganist of the show. the man of the hour. to see ryan atwood grow up over the four seasons of the o.c. was a treat, both because ben mckensie kept getting better looking and because the boy who could only speak with his fists finally learned to speak with words. and that, right there, is the evolution of a character. there’s nothing better.