From me to you for Christmas

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/12/23/the-true-meaning-miracle/SeO8V66Ozkx5mnsLVSq0MO/story.html

Happy haircut! Happy holidays!

My father always said Happy haircut when he got a haircut. I've been thinking about him a lot today (oh! How the holidays both lift us and sadden us!) and since I got a long overdue haircut, I thought I'd evoke him here. 

The fact that I've been working too hard to get that haircut is testament to the fact that I'm slowing down in 2016. 

I won't be posting here until after the new year, but you can find me on Instagram and Twitter at annhood56, and on Facebook, where I'll surely be posting pictures of lots of food, knitting, books, and hijinx. 

Two holiday parties tonight. Tomorrow the cooking starts in earnest. Christmas Eve is the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a meal I dreaded as a child with its eel and smelts and baccala. But nowadays it's oysters and stuffed quahogs and scallops so I happily dig in. On Christmas Day it's Italian wedding soup and lasagna. Then it's a day (or two) recovering in my jammies with a book, some yarn, a jigsaw puzzle, and leftovers. 

Here's to all of you, and a food filled, love filled end to 2015. 

Yarn trucks, Knitting Pearls, Broadway

Last night I did my final (for now!) Knitting Pearls event in Buffalo, and what a way to end a tour and a busy year! If you haven't been to Buffalo lately, you must visit and see how this city is alive. Larkin Square has very cool lofts and restaurants like the Filling Station and Hearth. Buffalo also boasts one of the best indie bookstores, Talking Leaves. And--are you ready for this?--a yarn truck! Jenna drives KnitBuffalo all around, stocked with yarn (some she dyes herself):

How brilliant is that???

Now I'm home, finally. Got an immediate Gogo meatball fix then Christmas shopped and wrapped the afternoon away. Although I head to NYC again tomorrow, it's for sheer fun. Tickets to King Charles and Fun Home await me. Dinners and lunches with pals. Definitely some last minute shopping. Then Sam and I drive home on Tuesday to Christmas parties, cookie baking, the Seven Fishes, and at least one day spent entirely in jammies knitting and working a jigsaw puzzle. 

People complain about the commercialism of Christmas. But at the risk of being too Tiny Tim, isn't it in our hearts? Time to pause and cook and share ourselves with the people we love? I hope you all have that this Christmas.

Buffalo bound!

So excited to be headed to the great city of Buffalo and Talking Leaves Books, one of my favorite independent bookstores. If you're in Buffalo, come say hello!

Are you ready to jumpstart your memoir?

And without leaving your cozy winter home? Heck! Without getting out of your jammies! I'm teaching a one week online workshop through the Provincetown Fine Arts Center that will help you get your memoir started. Here's the link:

http://web.fawc.org/24-pearl-street/jumpstart-your-memoir

Titcomb's today!

IKnitting Pearls and I are on our way to East Sandwich for our 1-3pm event at Titcomb's. Cape Codders, please bring your knitting needles and say hello!

What a lovely event at Bookworks in Albuquerque, made even lovelier by a weekend with old pals in Santa Fe. Here are a few pictures of that gorgeous place. 

Goodby Portland, hello Albuquerque!

Two great events in Maine--at The Yarn Seller (thank you, Carrie!) and with Kelly of KellyBooksToGo in Portland, where Knitting Pearls contributors Lily King, Bill Roorbach, Clara Parkes, and Melissa Coleman gave tear jerking, rollicking, wonderful readers of their essays. 

Meanwhile, I have fallen in love with the ridge stitch, especially knitting it with this yummy yarn I bought in Ireland last summer. 

Now I'm in Kansas City, about to board my flight to Albuquerque where I'm talking all things Knitting Pearls at Bookworks at 7 tonight. And then I get to play in Santa Fe with my pal Mary before flying home on Sunday. If you are in New Mexico, bring your knitting needles to Bookworks!

In my world these days

Yummy blue yarn I bought in Dingle, Ireland last summer. Knitting it up in ridge stitch, my new favorite stitch. 

Tortellini soup made with homemade post Thanksgiving turkey stock. Especially good because I'm fighting a bad cold. 

Reading: The Tsar of Love and Techno. Eileen. And now Carrie Brownstein's memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. 

Saw the movie Brooklyn and still feeling its gorgeous illustration of home and homesickness. 

Preparing for upcoming Knitting Pearls events in Portland Maine, Albequerque New Mexico, and Titcomb's on Cape Cod. 

Knitting Pearls chosen by Parade magazine as a top stocking stuffer this Christmas. 

And tasted some Michter's bourbon, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/author-ann-hood-on-michters-10-year-single-barrel-bourbon-1448306061

I hope your week is as warm and cozy.