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Five in Five on the 5th

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I planned this post in my mind early this morning before it was light, and I got so busy during the day I almost forgot to take the photos before it got dark this afternoon. (Yes, afternoon. There is so much less daylight in December, and I keep forgetting.) Earlier today I posted a photo of the shopping cart filled with flowers at The Garden Factory on Saturday. I thought it would be fun to see where they ended up in our yard, and in our house. Actually there are six photos, but I’ll stick to the rules and just post five of them. 

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While I was waiting in line with Matt at The Garden Factory I spied these amazing urns filled with greens—far too large for our yard. Matt quickly noticed that there were smaller ones on a stand just to the left. After I left them, I discovered that they were very reasonable, and one quickly hopped into my cart. When Matt redid our landscaping this fall, he left this wonderful stone which looks great alone, but also holds a good sized pot.

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We’ve had a couple of old sleds hanging in our garage for years, but it’s only been the last year or two that I’ve added some greens to one of them and put them on the (very small) front porch. I added the ribbon at home, and didn’t even notice when I was (quickly) taking the photo how much the wind was blowing.

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Every year we have a bright red poinsettia in our living room. 

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And often a multi-colored one in the dining room.

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It wouldn’t be Christmas without a cyclamen. Actually I bought two, a bright red one that’s in the dining room, and this gorgeous pink and white one for my desk upstairs. When my father was alive, he always sent me a cyclamen at Christmas time.

Linking up with Sandi at Itchifingers for her Five in Five (5 photos in 5 minutes) with thanks for hosting this monthly meme. 

Memorandum Monday

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Just a quick Memorandum Monday post, waving at Sian and friends!  I’m hoping to return by the end of the day with my Five in Five (actually on the 5th!). Have to wait for it to get light first. I had a busy weekend. Tracy’s been down with a nasty respiratory infection, so it took most of the weekend to get the house decorated. As usual, I made a run to The Garden Factory for flowers . . .

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and ran into this cutie who was there with her family to find a tree.

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I left Matt and Betsy and the girls after they found their tree. They were off to let the big girls do the rides. The Garden Factory has a huge indoor green house that they turn into a winter playground for kids during the holiday season. Typically Tracy would have gone with me, as they have a huge model train display as well.

So what was new? Saturday night we went out to dinner with friends. Tracy wasn’t sure he’d be up to it, but he was and enjoyed himself. It’s called The French Quarter, and specializes in cajun cuisine. I had Shrimp Etouffee for the first time, and it was fabulous. But the unexpected pleasure was live jazz. We had the nicest time!

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Yesterday I was up at 4:40. Usually when I can’t sleep, I stay put and rest, but there was so much on my mind, I just got up. It made for a very. long. day. The good news is I got a lot done: the 2017 calendars are not only created, but printed (23 sets of them), 90% of the Christmas cards went in the mail, a huge pot of minestrone was cooked and will be ready for dinner tonight as well as two good sized containers for the freezer, and while I was out doing test prints for the calendar, I picked up two red pillows for our couches at $10 apiece with a good coupon! House is decorated. I love my house, but especially at Christmas. This week is particularly busy, but next week my class will be over, and the calendar looks like I might actually get some scrapbooking and baking done. Here’s hoping your week is wonderful.

 

SNAP: Zoo Lights

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We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Chicago with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. Sarah is expecting a little girl in January so a lot of our time was spent moving their office from the second floor to the basement, and then painting one wall with pink and gray stripes to turn it into a nursery. The crib and dresser got set up, but there’s still some decorating to do. The last night we were there, we rearranged the living room to make space for the Christmas tree, which will then be used for baby paraphernalia. The weather was unusually warm, so Saturday night we took off to the Lincoln Park Zoo to see the Zoo Lights.

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The zoo was packed but it was still possible to walk through the zoo to see the amazing variety of lights. What you can’t see in the still photos are all the interactive lights. The only disappointment (to Caleb) was that the polar bears and penguins were “sleeping.” He told the Sunday School director that it was all his mother’s fault since she made us eat early! Actually, we were incredibly lucky to get a table at a restaurant just across the street from the zoo. We ate there a year ago, and it’s a very family-friendly place with good food.

So here’s Week 48:  The Zoo Lights

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If you look closely at the bottom left photo, you can see a cute almost five year old peeking out! Off to link up with Helena and my fellow SNAPpers (a bit late since the photos didn’t get edited until late this afternoon.)

Addicted to CAS: Congratulations

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This week is the Addicted to CAS challenge site’s 4th birthday, and appropriately, they’ve chose Congratulations as their theme for the current challenge.

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Long time friends of ours are celebrating their anniversary this coming week. It’s definitely an occasion for “congratulations.”

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This one came together quickly:  a piece of patterned paper cut on the diagonal, the happy die cut from PTI’s gold adhesive paper, one stamp, and a punched heart.

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Hope you’re enjoying a good weekend! We’re being blessed with sunshine, and unusually warm temperatures for the end of November.

SNAP: Weather Extremes

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We’ve had an unusually warm and sunny November, for which I’ve been very grateful. This past weekend we set two records:  one for a high temperature and one for the amount of snow in one storm for November!

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From top left:  On Friday at the University of Rochester (54°), on Friday afternoon (72°), Saturday evening (rainy and 37°), and Sunday evening (at the beginning of the storm, 32°). We ended up with nearly a foot of snow with very windy conditions. Linking up with Helena, as always, our lovely SNAP hostess!
 
Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow if you’re in the US and celebrating. I have so much to be grateful for, and I count those blessings every day.

Memorandum Monday

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It was a very unusual weekend. It began with a record high temperature on Friday of 72°. This morning we woke up to nearly a foot of snow and very windy conditions. We’ve definitely been spoiled, and I’m definitely not ready for this kind of winter!

The big event this weekend was celebrating Ella’s second birthday. Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, and most of us will be traveling. We went over after church to give her our gifts. Several years ago, we bought Skylar her own chair from Pottery Barn Kids. This year it was Ella’s turn and she was delighted to get her own personalized chair.

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We also gave her a box filled with notepads and pencils. Her favorite character is Mickey Mouse, and that was the theme for her party in the afternoon. I found some cute stickers to decorate the box where she can store her pads and pencils.

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Later in the afternoon there was a party at “The Little Gym.” It was the perfect place for toddlers and some of their older siblings to run around and play. The staff there was fabulous and there was just the right mix of activities and free play.

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Of course, there was cake. Wegmans, our local grocery store extraordinaire, creates the most amazing and delicious cakes.

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I made Ella a shaker card for her birthday, which she promptly pulled apart to get at all the sequins. Later on, we pieced it back together again.

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Waving to Sian and other Memorandum Monday folks! Here’s to a great week.

 

Virginia’s View: Stripes and Plaid #2

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As promised, I’m back with another card for Virginia’s View Challenge: Stripes and Plaid.

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On our way home from Chicago in September we stopped at Buffalo Stamps and Stuff. I found a really cute stamp set from Impression Obsession called “Tidings of Joy.” I specifically purchased it for the image of a cute little car with a Christmas tree on top, although I haven’t used that image yet. When I finished my granddaughter’s birthday card (coming soon on a post) I had a series of stitched rectangles left over from cutting frames. I didn’t want to waste them, so I looked for a Christmas image that would fit nicely into it. This sentiment fit the bill.

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In addition to the stripes on the sentiment which I colored with my Tombow markers, I created some tone-on-tone stripes with my scoring board. 

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I don’t usually share my Christmas cards online until after they’ve been mailed. There are six of these, and there are nearly 50 total (several designs.) They are all done except for the inside greeting which I hope to finish over the Thanksgiving holiday so they’ll be in the mail early next month. I can thank the World Series for being so timely with my cards this year. I set up a card table in the living room and worked on them while I watched the games. Hope next year’s games interest me as much as this year’s. It’s a great way to get a head start on the holiday card making!

Virginia’s View: Stripes and Plaid

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Somehow I always seem to be late to Virginia’s challenges; sometimes I miss them altogether despite the fact that I always have ideas for them. This time I’m down to the last two days for Virginia’s View Challenge:  Stripes and Plaid. I’ll have one today to share and another tomorrow. Both were done a week ago, but I just didn’t get to posting them. This card was made for a dear friend who just had a mastectomy. She got through the surgery well, and is recovering at home. Last alert said all was going well.

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The striped paper is from Maile Belle’s “Black and White All Over” pad. I love these designs, and will need to order more next time I order from Papertrey Ink. the cute stamp is from Papertrey’s “Inside and Out: Well Wishes.” I stamped it on Limeade Ice paper and then attached the tear-off strips with a piece of Washi tape. The rest of the sentiment was stamped on a die cut from the A2 Noted die set. The leaf is from the Mini Market Kit: Color Pop Autumn.

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I’ll be back tomorrow with a Christmas card for the challenge.

SNAP: Views From My Windows

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On Monday we drove up to Niagara-on-the-Lake to pick up a watercolor we ordered and had framed. It had been a month since we’d been there last, and I was surprised to see that most of the leaves on the trees along the Thruway had fallen. The predominant colors were faded yellow and brown. Not so here in town yet. Our proximity to Lake Ontario buys us another week or two, so when I looked out the living room window yesterday I was struck with how much color still remains. 

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From top left: the view out my kitchen window looking to the west. You can see the new brick sidewalk here, and the hanging plants and yellow mums that still have not succumbed to a heavy frost. Top right: out the kitchen window looking north across the street. You can see a bit of the new landscaping here. The grass probably won’t fill in until next spring, and then I’ll do a big sidewalk/landscape post. It’s very different from what we had before, and I love it. Bottom left: out the living room window looking south. Most of the color here is yellow and a bit of orange. Out big Japanese maple which has bright red leaves has lost most of them already. Bottom right: out the hall window looking west. I’m guessing our bright red maple will be leafless within a week or so. But I’m so grateful to have had such a mild and colorful fall. Often by now, we’re like the Thruway, brown and dreary.

Linking up with our fine hostess, Helena, for the weekly SNAP of 3-4 related photos.

Memorandum Monday

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We celebrated the life of our friend, Bob, this weekend. It was a beautiful and meaningful service. Tracy was one of three speakers. He reflected on their 22 years of hiking through the backcountry in the Adirondacks which brought smiles and tears to our eyes. Later we gathered together to share stories at a local restaurant. It was a lovely tribute to a kind, generous, and loving man. He will be missed. Tracy found several photos of Bob taken in the Adirondacks. My favorite is of the two of them, taken many years ago.

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Here’s the card I sent to his wife and daughters, all dear friends. I combined PTI’s “Splits: Best Wishes” and “Inspired Faith” along with the die from the latter set. A few tiny pearls finished it off.

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And the inside:

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Sunday afternoon we attended an “apartment warming” party for my nephew. He has some developmental disabilities, but with the help of his mom, stepfather, and support team he has moved into his first independent living apartment. Marc drives and holds down a job, but has never been on his own. It’s a huge change, and he’s alternately excited and apprehensive. The party was in the apartment complex’s party room, but he proudly took anyone who was interested on a tour of his apartment. It’s a great space, and I hope he’ll be successful in making this huge transition. He made chocolate keys for everyone as party favors.

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The message reads: “The key to happiness is friends and family like you.”

Then after supper, I took my camera outside to see if I could capture a photo of the Super Moon. It’s supposedly the largest and brightest moon we’ve had since I was born. I was too lazy to set up a tripod, and in retrospect wished I’d taken a tripod to a better location, but got a decent shot handheld (and then cropped.)

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According to Honoré, we won’t see another one for eighteen years, and if we weren’t having company tomorrow night (supposedly even a brighter, bigger moon) I’d be off with my tripod. But I’m happy to have captured it. 

Waving to Sian and other Memorandum keepers. Hope you have a great week!

 

Project Life: August 2016

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August was a very heavy photo month with a week in Nantucket. Not only were there lots of family photos, but many photos of the beautiful island. And, of course, the trip was not the only activity I wanted to capture.

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Once again, I relied heavily on Tracy Larsen’s Simply White photo templates, adding journaling to some of them, and a few stickers and one filler card I made with a Project Life Everyday card and a Heidi Swap clear sticker.

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I buy postcards wherever we go, but rarely use them. This time I used one of a map of Nantucket which I loved. 

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These pages have some of my favorite photos. Ella loves to figure things out, and spent a LONG time learning out to insert and release the buckle on the stroller. The one of Matt with the two girls is in a frame in our living room. I’m rarely a fan of selfies, but the one Nadia took of the five of us on the beach is great of everyone. The filler card at the bottom was made from a purchased notecard added to some patterned paper.

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This page documents our trip to the Whaling Museum, the Cisco Brewery, our “date night,” our bike rides, and a family photo taken at the Nantucket Hotel before a family dinner.

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The last pocket page documents the trip to Providence, Rhode Island on our way home from Nantucket, and the other activities of the month. 

Then I added foue pages of photos that I had printed with white borders at a local camera shop. I don’t really keep separate photo albums any more, so the Project Life album is where any photos that get printed are kept.

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I still have a few pages from early in 2016 to finish embellishing, and September’s pages are all planned out. Now to find time to get to them!

 

A Trio of Pink

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The current challenge at The Card Concept is “Pretty in Pink.” One of the things that’s interesting about this challenge is the categories they’ve set up for card designs. I have a trio of cards for this challenge:

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A simple CAS card—the tag was die cut from Maile Belle’s Ombre cardstock by PTI, and the the Hugs die cut & stamped sentiment are also Papertrey Ink. I adhered it to a premade Memory Box card (A4) size and tied it with a bit of yellow & white twine.

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Everything about this card came from the “Don’t Forget to Write” Make-it Market Kit by Papertrey Ink, without a doubt the best kit purchase I’ve made. The cardstock is Hibiscus Burst, and I added four enamel dots by MME to the center of some of the flowers. I think this one fits the Clean and Layered category.

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Last, a “Botanical Blocks” rose (PTI), colored with Copics, and layered with Raspberry Fizz, white, and black cardstock and adhered to a Bazzil card. The die cut is also Papertrey Ink–“Wonderful Words Thank You.” Another CAS card, I think.

 

SNAP: The Grocery Run

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Our church has sponsored The Grocery Run (a 5K race/walk) for the last six years. This is the third or fourth time I’ve walked the 5K. 100% of the proceeds go to hunger ministries, not only at our church but across the city. This year over 1200 people participated, and $41,000 was raised. It was perfect weather for it, really amazing for November—sunny and in the high 40’s, nearly 50° by late morning. Some years it’s been snowing!

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In addition to funds, participants bring donated food to FoodLink, a nonprofit organization that sponsors food cupboards, backpack programs, and summer food programs for children. The top left photo shows folks loading the truck with the donated items. The top right is a photo of our retired Associate Pastor for Outreach who has always come in costume for the event. Now our current Outreach Pastor, Lynette, also comes in costume. I love the frame someone created for photo ops! By the time I remembered to take a photo of the finish line, most folks had finished. Needless to say, the runners were done well before any of the walkers! It’s a great way to get some exercise and do some good at the same time.

And so, our election. I went to bed at 10:30 knowing in my heart what the results would be, was awake in the middle of the night for over an hour, and awoke to more anxiety than I can express. One consolation is that Hillary appears to have won the popular vote. (I’ve always believed the Electoral College was a flawed process, and today confirms it.) I find it so hard to understand how one can vote for someone who has shown such contempt for so many groups of Americans, but I also know there is a sense of futility felt by many that causes them to latch on to anyone who promises them a better future. Now to move forward, and to find ways to bridge the wide divisions that exist in this country. So I’ll be praying to find ways to bring about reconciliation in my small corner of the country.

November 5 in 5 and Memorandum Monday

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I’m joining in with Sandi and her monthly 5 in 5—five photos in five minutes. I had to pick up my pace today to get these photos in five minutes, but it was a gorgeous November day, and it seemed like a good time to share some photos from the University of Rochester.

I’m on the campus three days a week this fall for a course, “Introduction to the Old Testament.” I took on the project of reading the Bible from cover to cover this year. Two years ago I purchased a Daily Bible which is divided into 365 readings, and I decided this was the year to tackle the project. I’ve found it fascinating, and when I finished reading the Old Testament I had many questions, so asked to sit in on this undergraduate course. The course covers the historical, social, economic, and political background of the writings of the Old Testament. It’s been a wonderful experience with lots of reading, although I’m not taking the exams or writing the paper.

The last couple of weeks we’ve been reading and studying the prophets, and I must say during this awful election season in the United States, I’m afraid that not much has changed politically since 600 BCE.

Now to the photos:

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The Rush Rees Library; the building where my class meets is on this quad.

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Just around the corner from the library, Wilson Commons, the student union and activity center.

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I couldn’t pass by this beautiful tree. There are Novembers in western New York where all the leaves have fallen by now. This has been an exceptional fall season.

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Even the roses are still blooming, with the lovely leaves as a background.

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I think this is a dorm, but I’m not sure.

The weather this weekend was pretty nice as well. It started with the annual Grocery Run, a 5K race/walk to raise funds for hunger ministries. (More about this on Wednesday.)

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Here we are before the start of our walk.

On Sunday after serving Communion at church, I helped a friend get out the vote for her political campaign. She’s running for the New York State Assembly. I totally neglected to get any photos, but this is my first foray into any kind of political action. She’s a Democrat running in a deep Republican district, but has made a lot of headway, even getting the endorsement of a very conservative radio host. It will be interesting to see tomorrow what kind of impact her campaign has had.

This morning we learned that our dear friend, Bob, passed away peacefully early in the morning. His wife and daughters were with him. He had been admitted to hospice on Saturday. After church we visited with the family; by then he was not aware of our presence. Just 10 days ago, we had lunch with him at one of our favorite restaurants. It’s hard to comprehend. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers, and many thanks to those of you who have asked about him in recent weeks.

CASology “Welcome”

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Week 222 - Welcome

I’d hoped to have two entries to this week’s CASology Challenge, “Welcome,” since we have not one, but two, friends who have just moved into new homes. But the weekend was particularly busy, and only one is finished. It’s a tag attached to the house warming gift we’ll be taking this Friday when we go for dinner.

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I used the house from Papertrey Ink’s “Winter Hills,” “welcome” from “Wonderful Words: Baby,” and “new home” from Reverse Confetti’s “Whole Lotta Happy.” I was thrilled to find that last set in my box of stamps, having forgotten that I picked it up a few months ago because it had so many versatile sentiments. They were all gold embossed to match the strip of gold on the tag. Both tags are from a set by Jen Hadfield for Pebbles. The black bag and tissue are both from Paper Source. There’s a Paper Source store within walking distance from Sarah’s house in Evanston, so I almost always make a visit. The fact that it’s several doors down from Caleb’s favorite bakery doesn’t hurt either!

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The gift inside is a beautiful winter candle holder which I was thrilled to find at a local gift shop. I picked up another one as a birthday gift for a friend.