{ tara frey }:: typing out loud

the quiet, cozy week...

    I love the week between Christmas and New Year's.  In the Frey home, it's a week filled with eating left overs, having cookies for breakfast, leaving toys strewn about, tree lights stay on all day and night.  Those new jammies are worn 24/7 {and the slipper socks too} A lazy week. A "cozy go nowhere" week, as we say in Frey speak.  It's a week when it's okay if people pop in on us and I'm not horrified if they see the mess and debris, because, well, there's been an explosion and everyone knows it. No need to explain.  The same explosion happened in their homes too.

    Ok, wow! I'm so excited about the little Knitlaces.  You guys rock.  Seriously.  Thank you so much. If you ordered one, it was shipped on Saturday.  I had little helpers {my own personal elves}. I'll be busy knitting during this quiet week, to fill up the shop again, and thinking of you.  I wish you all peace and happiness in the new year and hope all your dreams come true.  ~xo

A few of my favorite things right now {while wearing the jammies above} during this quiet cozy week:

:: listening to music made by little fingers exploring a new guitar ::

 

:: the glow of the village at night  :: 

:: loving the winter light in our backyard ::

 

:: and of course, knitting out loud ::

ps:  Santa was very good to me and must read my blog...these photos were taken with my very own Nikon D80 .  More on that in another post!

knitlace for sale...

    Hi.  Last minute Lucy here.  Could I have thought of this about a month ago before Christmas shopping began?  Anyway, I had a lot of emails regarding that scarfy looking necklace I knitted and called it a "Knitlace" on my bloggy here, so I set up shop over at etsy, appropriately named ::{knitting out loud}::  so we match.  Although Christmas delivery is kind of out of the question, treat yourself in the new year!  Come see them:  www.tarafrey.etsy.com  I love them all and they will be hard to part with, but you guys rock and I know they will go to great homes and on super chic necks.

    I know how to shop at etsy {and very well I might add} however, this selling is new to me, so I hope I did it right.  Let me know if you find any kinks?

    Hope you like, and I'll be posting some new Knitlace's soon, since I got a big fat gift certificate to my local yarn shop and I'll be getting jiggy with it..  Merry Christmas!~xo

Canon vs. Nikon...

    

    Yesterday I had a bunch of photos to take for the book's chapter openers.  Ah yes the book.  I haven't talked about it for a while, but I hope to spill all of the beans soon.  I can't tell you how hard it is to have something be SUCH a part of your life for so many months, countless days and hours, and not being able to share with you, my friends.  ugh!  I want to tell you about the super cool working title, the content that we will all enjoy {and learn from}, doing the photography, and write about my fabulous team and "editoress" extraordinare, etc...  Some of you already know the details, but it's still hard keeping this all in. soon. soon. I hope to share with all of you rock star bloggers.  I can only take so much of this...  I'm not a good secret keeper. 

    So I was staging and propping all day.  I really love taking photos and this was a great challenge and opportunity.  I had a chance to experiment with a Nikon D80 during the shoot.  I think I'm in love.  Or maybe it's just a crush? Either way, I would love to know your thoughts on Canon vs. Nikon.  I am currently a Canon SLR girl, but using the Nikon made me just gush with excitement and really act , well.,..giddy.  He's such a strong sturdy lad, handsome too and very friendly.  So which do you have?  Canon or Nikon?  feel free to brag about your own crush and why you love him.

    help...since Christmas is around the corner and this lovestruck puppy could still write it on her list.

shot of whiskey on black ice please...

 

    I decided to sneak off by myself to do some shopping in Princeton NJ.  I had good intentions, really.  I brought my list of gifts to buy for Christmas and hostess gifts needed for parties.  I was all set and ready to get down to business.  Until I ran into this store and they were having a sale.  A serious sale.  Somehow my business plan was forgotten, possibly shredded.  Although, in the frenzy, I did manage to remember to buy one hostess gift.  check.  Still, such a sorry looking list.

    Ok, so the title of this post is odd, but let me explain...while at the serious sale....I was hearing whispers from other shoppers, {who clearly were doing the same thing I was :: anthro sale=shopping for self} they were saying how bad the roads were becoming and it was snowing.  mental note: time for Tara to go. Me and snowy roads don't get along, we have a really bad history together (which includes me ditching my car on the side of the road when 9 months preggers) 

    While driving home, hands in a death grip on the wheel, I was noticing cars all over the sides of the road, slammed into trees and poles.  The roads weren't really that snowy yet, but then it hit me...and my worse fear realized,  BLACK ICE.  You know, the rainy looking road that is really a booby trap of ice ready to take you and your car for a nice slide.  Dear god, help me.  I literally did 2 miles an hour to get back home to PA, watching people fly by me and slide off the road.  By the time I got home, I was seriously shaking.  This all triggered a memory of my grandmother.  When I was five or six, she took me for a walk at the Pocono house we were staying in...just a short little walk...which turned into 5 hours of getting lost in the dark and my parents calling state troopers to look for us.  By the time we were found and brought home, she was shaking and all she could say was "give me a shot of whiskey" and collapsed.

    After the black ice episode, I took my shot of Wild Turkey, just like grandmom, and told myself that's what you get for being so selfish and collapsed {but the two stuffed Anthropologie bags definitely helped to break my fall}

come stay at our Christmas village...

    My husband has a collection of a Christmas village town that has grown over the years. {possibly into a city with it's own zip code?}  Our daughter and him set it up every year on the cozy dining room sill. 

    It's so cute to hear her say every year without fail,  "I wish I was tiny enough to go inside one of these"  I hope it's a memory she carries into adulthood..remembering setting up the magical Christmas village with her daddy. Special time, just her and him.

Come visit us for a while in this lovely Christmas town...

   

First check in at the Oxford Hotel...

  

Hungry?  Yes.  You must be starving.  Let's grab some Italian:

   

I know we all love to read, so let's hit the library!

 

How about a movie at the local theater...

 

Fresh flowers would be nice in your hotel room, my treat...

 

 

Antiques anyone?

   

It's time for some sweets, let's stop in at the bakery...

 

hold on to your pastries, the village raccoons are on the loose!...

  

Let's try our luck at the slot machines in the casino...

   

here is the house I would live in if I were small enough...

 

Drinks are on me at the local pub, you must be tired by now...

 

Hope you enjoyed your visit to our Christmas village, come back and stay anytime~xo

biscuit jar junkie...

 

    One of my weaknesses {besides Oreos} are vintage biscuit jars.  Whenever I'm hitting the antique marts,estate sales or hunting online, I always have an eye out for biscuit jars. I usually succumb to ones that are large enough that I can fit my entire hand in.  There's just something about their fat bottoms and thick shape that I love.  I have quite a few in my collection, the one above is my favorite though.  The baby blues and delicate pattern make for a beautiful display {and these chunky jars also come in handy when hiding a stash of Oreos}  What's your vintage weakness confession? 

   

i'll take one in XL please...

    Is it me or is this lens huge?  It's even bigger when attached to the camera and it's like holding a fat newborn, in front of your face.  only steady.  It's on loan from Zip Lens.  Have you ever heard of them?  I highly recommend it.  You can rent a super expensive lens for a week or two, try it out before you go ahead and plunk down some serious cash.

    I used my rental period wisely and had a "photo shoot" with one of my best friends children for her Christmas cards.  I love capturing natural un-posed shots.  The one below is my favorite of the day, she did this move, all on her own, resting her head on her big brother's lap, bored to death with Aunt Tara and her super fancy rental lens.  My guess is that she was probably thinking here "please put that telescope away so this can be over "  Ah, yes sweet girl, all done.

knitlace...

 

    Ok, so I was making all these scarves and had some yarn left over, not enough to make a full scarf, so I did this necklace or "knitlace" or "knit neck", or "i don't want to make scarves anymore so I'll knit these" 

    I made one in every color to match almost every outfit. (charcoal anyone?)  I must say they are super cute and fun to wear!  This one I like to call "cafe latte" since it reminds me of coffee for some reason.   I'm running out of ideas...at some point I'm going to have to learn to read a pattern and make a hat, or gloves.  Anything.  But for now, it's safe to say we're all knitlaced up.~xo