What I made for Christmas

Back in November I wrote a post that I'd been inspired by Grace of DesignSponge's post on a Shopping-Free Christmas gift (which you can read here). Well, I angsted and struggled with what to give or make Paul that would be truly special, and this time not an object.

What I came up with was a joint venture by several people. I am giving him, on January 21st, a baby-free romantic day up at our cabin. This may sound ho-hum, but it is not a baby-friendly place so we haven't been able to go there, and in the winter it takes hoooouuurs to get it warmed up with a fire. So I conspired with a nearby neighbor and figured out a way to have them get it warmed up beforehand, I conspired with my parents to provide a full 18 hours worth of baby-sitting (bless them!), and I shopped for foods that we could easily bring up.

And then I decided to make a faux-vintage brochure as a way to present it:

I have to admit that I spent perhaps just a leetle too much time designing and making this, as I was not writing my holiday cards nor going to sleep on time. And I was definitely cutting it close when on the 23rd I kept saying "You're not looking at what I'm doing on the computer, right? And now I have to print something, could you go into another room? Okay, you can come back in now! No wait, oops, I gotta... uh... just wait a second..."

But what was so perfect was that after I'd finished it up and hidden it, we were sitting on the sofa chatting before dinner. And he sighed, and said with utter melancholia, "I'm not going to be able to go to the cabin this winter, am I..."

And on Christmas, when he opened his little brochure, all was right with the world.