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UPDATE: Today, in a surprising turn of events, the Ecuadorian appeals court has upheld its condemnation of Chevron, holding them accountable for $8.6 Billion in damages. Additionally, if the company does not publicly apologize to the Ecuadorian public, the fine will be doubled to nearly $18 Billion. 

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.