Crystal Mt.

that is my Aunt Charlene and jasper walking up to my aunt and uncles lodge at Crystal Mountain Resort.

billiken is the name of the club/co-op/lodge that they belong to.  it was built by a group of boeing engineers mid last century.

it is gorgeous and lovely and enormous.

and 25 families share it.

that's me in my retro-vintage nineties purple and neon columbia jacket.  and jasper in the middle.  and my awesome Uncle Steve on the left. 

My Uncle has been on ski patrol for 55 years!

yep, 55 years!

at his 50 year mark he was honored at Crystal by having an entire run renamed after him.

if you ever ski upper Ferk, middle Ferk, or lower Ferk at crystal, you are skiing my uncle Stever Ferkovich's run.

jasper and i on the gondola

us after a long day of sweet skiing.

thanks aunt charlene and uncle steve!

we cant wait to come back for skiing and in the summer time to have a picnic at the top of the gondola overlooking mt. rainier.

and we want to do the horseback ride too!

thanks for all the fun,

xoxoxo

jennette

New Year Capricorn

photo via Russh magazine

i was browsing over on fieldguided a while back and came across this utterly fantastic capricorn horoscope, that anabela commented on, devised by Susan Miller for Russh.

russh is an incredible australian fashion, beauty, arts, and music magazine.  and apparently, if i do say so myself, their astrologist has nailed it on the prediction/interpretation front!  check out how my year is bound to pan out people!  just look! :

Capricorn 2012 will be a great year to be a Capricorn. Recent years may have proved challenging. Fortunately you appear to be coming out of your difficult time and your outlook is rapidly becoming brighter. In 2012, Jupiter, the great giver of gifts and luck, will powerfully ignite your fifth house of creativity, initiating a huge trend, allowing you to come up with vibrant, original ideas. Rarely have you seen your imagination take flight in the way it will in the coming year.

The fifth house is not only your house of creativity but also your house of true and enduring love. If you are single and not dating, Jupiter in Taurus, until mid-June, will make that a banner time for meeting your one true love. Jupiter only comes by this house every 12 years, so this is news. If you feel that it is impossible to find love, and that it would take a major miracle for you to find romance, keep an open mind. Jupiter is certainly powerful and actually IS associated with miracles. If you are dating the wrong person, you are behooved to break up and start anew – it would be a shame to miss the exceptional help the universe will provide to you now!
By October 2012, you will be in a strong professional position and ready to tackle anything that life throws your way. You will see a noticeable reduction in tension. Gone will be the days that you will have to prove your worth to higher ups – you will have paid your dues and will have gained their respect.

In 2012, Mars will make an unusually long visit to your ninth house of foreign lands, higher education and learning, giving this area of life unusually strong emphasis. Your sense of adventure will be especially very strong during the first half of the year, and you will want to push the boarders of your world back, to give you a big worldview. Under this trend, you may return to college or graduate school, or volunteer to help a political candidate, you believe in. Or, you may do a great deal of reading of great thinkers, or delve into various religions of the world.

Financially, for fourteen years you have hosted nebulous Neptune in your second house of earned income. Neptune is never easy to host in a house dealing with money management, for Neptune brings its characteristic veil of confusion or mystery to whatever house it visits. Money may have been strangely hard to control. Neptune’s departure of your second house of money in early February 2012 will be a wonderful change, for finally you will be able to firm grip on financial affairs. There was one fine, upbeat exception to the rule and that is if you make your money through the creative arts. In that case, you were likely to launch your career nicely, for Neptune was working hard to help you see financial reward from your artistic expressions during that phase. Why such a different affect from Neptune? Neptune rules the arts, and in a financial house means you would gain from the arts. After Neptune leaves, you will continue to see financial rewards from your artistic expressions in future years now that you have established your contributions to your field. Neptune’s departure of your second house of money in early February 2012 will be a wonderful change, for finally you will be able to firm grip on financial affairs.

In so many ways, by the end of 2012, you will be well on your way to a more enjoyable life. You will have swept away all that is outworn and no longer effective, productive or of value to your future. In terms of the whole year, the first half of 2012 will glow brightest, with very late April and May your favorite months of 2012/ You'll be in a fine place creatively, romantically and even financially. By the end of 2012, may be more fit and healthy than you have been in years by year end. You'll feel lighter, happier and have a bounce to your step. You'll realize all that you endured was worthwhile, and you will know that your bright new future is one you had a strong hand in creating and that suits you perfectly.

 holy cow!  how much stock can i put into this?!  i want in, i want in!  yes please, cosmos and the great mystery, give me this year! 
i will definitely let y'all know how it goes! and by the way, hey baby, what's your sign?!

so what are you hoping for in the new year?  do you let the stars be your guide or do you make concrete goals, plans, and resolutions?  will you start something new? let go of something old that no longer serves you?  do tell.  and go check out your year long horoscope at russh and tell me what you think!

it's been a couple weeks of winter break over here and i'm trying to get back into the swing of having a studio and being a shop owner.  it's not easy my friends, to shift gears out of kids home, house improvements, lack of schedule, and back to the daily grind.  but slowly and surely i will get there.  treating myself to some patience and gentleness, along with a full body massage right before my first day back in the saddle!, to make the transition smoother, if possible. 
the shop is open and there are new items.  i will be having a sale soon and also going on another buying trip at the beginning of february.  stay tuned and come say hi!

reading with red wine,
xoxoxox
jennette

Winter Wonderland

As the snow started to fall at our house I couldn't resist getting out a few holiday ornaments to enjoy for the next few weeks.  I said I would resist since a surfing, snorkeling, birding, and yoga-filled 2 week holiday vacation is coming up.  I had told myself that I would not be putting out these decorations, that it wasn't needed and it would be nonsense to bother.  But I just can't help myself.  I love the winter holidays and I probably have enough decorations and holiday paraphernalia for two houses so I figure one litte holiday "alter" can't hurt!

Framed trees arranged on velvet made of vintage costume jewelry picked up at the thrift store many years ago for $2 each.

As you can see, I have quite the collection of holiday woodland folk!  When my Grandpa McAlpin died I inherited all his Christmas decorations.  I unearthed a large box full of the pinecone elfs.  Each one had a double and there were at least 10 sets.  Over the years I have gifted the duplicates to other family members and have continued to collect them for my family.  They hold books, lanterns, instruments, gifts and trees.  Right now I have about 40 different ones!

I have also been collecting vintage deer figures, little snowmen and other woodland creatures as well.  Most of these items are vintage "made in Japan" decorations.  To keep the creatures contained this year I used two matching tiered silver tray thingys, set on top of an antique pie safe, and displayed the deer and friends around them.  The plastic elfy gnome couple above watches over it all.

I love this photo.  It appears to be a Scandinavian Christmas pageant complete with snow, crowns, costume gowns and Father Christmas.  The back says "xmas 1916."

Leafless tree full of tiny vintage glass bulbs sitting on an antique plant stand between the dresser and the pie safe.  And the penguin is vintage chalkware.  The green tree a beeswax candle.

On the left is a photo of my dad around 1950.  On the right is a photo of Chad around 1979.

The grouping of pictures above contain images of the display on top of an antique dresser next to the pie safe and plant stand.  The two soft white Santa's are reproductions, not vintage, but all the feather angels and buildings are vintage made in Japan.

On Saturday I took the boys to Yulefest at The Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard to check out the festivities and celebrate our Danish heritage.  I am a Nielsen, after all.

Jasper with Santa at Yulefest.  I couldn't get August to be in the photo. Uggghhh....teenagers.

The Snow Queen, her sleigh and Reindeer.

We hung our Danish flag garlands in the window, attaching them to our net collection.  Jasper wanted the Danish flag we bought for his room.  Some day we will travel to Aarhus, where our ancestors are from to visit and discover our roots.  We can't wait!

Is it trying to snow where you live?  Does it make you want to decorate for the holidays?  We usually have a big Winter Solstice celebration.  It will be strange to not have a tree and be in the tropics for Winter Solstice.  But I think I'll survive it.  Surfing on Solstice, Christmas and my Birthday will suffice!

xoxo

Jennette