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As the afternoon slides towards night, I will look forward to saying hello 2012! And also, goodbye Pentax. You see, Santa was kind to me, so I am going to have a brand new camera to discover and more photographs to share with you of my corner of the world.

Wherever you are and whomever you are with, please know that I am sending my heartfelt wishes for the year ahead. May we all have good health, feel the warmth of love and the prickly sensation of adventure! As always, may hope lift you and guide you onwards.

When I saw the label on the box, I let out a squeal of joy. My lamp! And it truly is for me. Let me explain.

At the end of September, I was feeling lucky. Or maybe I can be honest and say that I was determined to be lucky after three really long years of more downs than ups. As part of trying to force my hand, I blatantly entered a give away by the fabulously talented Karena of Art by Karena, whose generosity of spirit is well-known in this oddly named ‘blogosphere’. Now, I am not a contest girl, surtout pas. Anything involving competition, well, I was the last girl to get picked for any given sport, you get the idea. But holy cow, when I saw that there was actually a give away, as in yes, maybe you, little ol’you, can get something for nothing (a concept that I still eye suspiciously) that was sponsored by none other than the riotously glamorous Francine Gardner, founder of the design company Interieurs, I leapt at the chance.  

And the fates decided, ok, let’s give this one a bit of encouragement. I won! Truly, I think there were nearly 800 others vying for the phenomenal opportunity to claim a basket lamp created by José Esteves. Now, if this weren’t already a lovely enough story, here is where it gets even better. Karena kindly passed my contact info on to Francine and at the same time I discovered her blog, Art de Vivre, a must for anyone interested in travel and great design. Emails exchanged, time passed. Honestly, I was so interested in her story that I forgot about the lamp. She had just climbed Kilimanjaro! The long way around! After a few months, she admitted why there was a delay…well, Interieurs had actually run out of stock of the lamp and so she had asked Mr. Esteves, who has his studio in France, to make one for me and send it on directly. Isn’t that amazing? And yes, the lamp is too.  Of far greater pedigree than most of our patina pieces, it nonetheless fits right in, spreading out the most gorgeous webs of shadow across my favorite Henri IV lithograph, as if we have always had it. Which makes me enormously happy. So thank you, thank you Karena, Francine and José Esteves! 

Up from the Christmas lunch table at 4pm. Just in time to catch the golden tips of the afternoon sweeping across the Alpilles. It is cold enough to shake us from our sluggishness and yet sunny enough to keep the peace. Strolling in pairs, then alone. Talking, then quiet. Completely content.

This is just a tiny post for any of you that might be in “it’s not enough” mode.

So a little reminder for myself and anyone else who needs it to take stock in the little joys that often get overlooked during the lambast of the holidays. Every morning I look forward to seeing what progress my two hyacinths have made in the night. Can I smell them yet? Not yet, but soon. At today’s outdoor market, I stocked up on more of two staples that hit their peak at this time of year, sweet clementines from Corsica and earthy walnuts from Grenoble. The sassy Mrs. Claus finger puppet that my Sister sent me makes me smile so many times a day. I created a little woodland scene for her on my desk. And finally, the surprise of finding that my flower seller had added a bouquet of chartreuse ping-ponged mimosas in my package, doubly charming as they normally don’t flower until February! 

So you see, these little gifts are as good as jewels, finally. It’s enough and so are you. Now it is time to step back and be present (which is a present) for the ones you love.

I also want to send out a wish for a very happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends and readers. As Bruce Barone recently commented here, “Let there be light!”