Hello 2010! It’s nice to finally meet you.

I love starting a new year. Like most beginnings, a new year is full of hope and possibility. This year, 2011, I have a goal. A blog goal, specifically. I am aiming to be more open here on the Duet blog – to share more about ourselves and our business. I’m usually a pretty private person, so this is going to be challenging. Plus, it’s going to be tough because it will take so much more time to write more personal posts. My time is so limited and very, very valuable to me now that I am mom. However, this is something I really want to do. I’m going to try my best.

So, that’s my goal. Have you set any goals for this year and care to share? I’d love to hear.

PS – If you follow me on twitter, you’ll notice the picture above. I mentioned that this would be our first New Year’s without party hats and Kacey stepped out of the room. He returned with homemade 2011 party hats for us to wear. He even topped ours with leftover silk and Em’s with a pink, glittery ribbon that was leftover from one of her Christmas packages. I love his resourcefulness + sense of humor!

Oh, this time of year is so busy! Tomorrow is Kacey’s birthday. I’m looking forward to him opening up his stack of gifts [see above]. Then, Em and I are off to visit family. Then comes Christmas! It’s going to be fun seeing the magic of Christmas through her eyes. Then it’ll be New Years!

We’ll be closing up the shop to celebrate the holidays and prepare for the new year. In addition, I’ll also be taking a break from blogging next week.

Hope you holidays are full of joy, laughter, good food, good friends, wonderful family + a touch of magic!

Thanksgiving weekend was very enjoyable. We visited with family at the lake house. The boys played a little baseball, which will most likely become a turkey day tradition. We played a little Bananagrams. Drank warm, homemade apple cider. Ate lots of yummy dishes. Gobbled down Hot Browns the next morning. Then, Kacey, Em and I headed back home to work on a few holiday orders, decorate + wrap gifts and enjoy a little down time. How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

Photo via Flickr

Every year, Kacey and I following the modern/traditional anniversary gift guide for our anniversary gift exchange. It’s really a challenge, but I always love the results. I think it’s my favorite gift to give him all year!

Last year, for our leather/glass/crystal anniversary, I gave him glassblowing classes. You can see the gift I gave him here and how our class went here. The year before that, I gave him a trip to Savannah, Georgia and made it all about cotton. You can read more about it here.

This year, I wanted to follow the box + card + experience tradition. The fourth anniversary is linen, silk, fruit, flower or appliance – depending on which guide you follow. After much searching and debating, I decided to give him silk screen printing classes. They offer them locally and we can print our own images on 12 or so pieces of clothing.

For the tangible gift, I designed a couple of cards – one small, one large. The small one contained the gift information, and I tucked it into a mini envelope that I glued onto the larger card. I put the large card inside a pretty blue envelope. I went to the fabric store and picked out a sea blue and a pretty iridescent deep purple/pink dupioni silk. At first glance, the silk is pretty pricey. However, I was able to get 1/8 of a yard of each color – since I didn’t need that much of it – which brought the cost down. I filled the box with the silk that I cut into strips and confetti squares and placed the sealed blue envelope on top.

He absolutely loved it! Once we get a babysitter lined up, we’re going to have three and a half hours of silk screen printing fun!

On this day four years ago, as Trumpet Voluntary began playing and with my grandfather by my side, I walked slowly down the aisle. Happy tears streamed down my face as I met Kacey who awaited me at the end. It was a magnificent day full of emotion and exuberant celebration.

Four years later + a baby, and I love him even more today. I never dreamed that was possible. I’m beyond happy. I’m beyond blessed.

photos by Bray Danielle

What a great weekend we had! Besides knocking out a ton of printing, we strapped Em to our back, got out of the house and checked out the new festival in town. It’s called the Gypsy Picnic, and it was a celebration of trailer food. There were so many people. And doggies. Sadly, we didn’t get to try out any food because the lines were pretty long + they were running out of food, but we enjoyed the music, great weather and walked down the riverside. Afterward, we grabbed some munches at Opal Divine’s and ate on the patio. Did I mention how glorious the weather was? Beautiful, perfect weather.

So, how was your weekend?

Seems like Friday sort of snuck up on me! So much to do this weekend. We’re going to take Em to a portrait studio to have her 6 [nearly 7!] month pictures taken. We’re heading to a family fest/open house at a day care/preschool that we’re considering. They are going to have pony rides. How fun! And, Sunday night we have our little Halloween party. Em is going to be a little lady bug!

What about you? Any fun plans? Halloween parties? Super cute costumes?

well, today is my birthday. i’ll be signing off a bit early to celebrate. i leave you with balloons. lots and lots of balloons and a wish for a happy friday. a happy weekend. a happy october!