Subject: Freshly Picked

Dear Melissa,


The other day when we opened our front door, we found this sitting on the stoop:




Isn't it fun? It's from my friend Holly and her family. The lemons are from her parents' yard and she added the clementines for some color. I love how some of the lemons still have a stem and leaves attached. It seems odd that lemons would be ripe and growing right now, since I always associate them with summer and lemonade, but a squirt of citrus seems like a bright spot on a cold winter day, you know? I also love the ribbon and how she threaded it through a hole in the note. The whole thing just works. (That's a line from the movie 'Hitch' that is often used in our home.)


Decorating with citrus for the holidays reminds of this Lemon Leaf Garland from Jordan Ferney's blog. Something about it seems so fresh and nice. I happened to catch a very small portion of the White House Christmas special on HGTV last week and I saw that a tree and mantel in one of the rooms was decorated with the same kind of citrus/nature motif. I mean, if the First Lady is doing it, it must be good, you know?

Happy Tuesday!
Kara