My husband and I exchange gifts at Christmas. Pretty common practice, right? Ah, so you might think! It turns out lots of our friends forgo the husband/wife holiday gift exchange in favor of a communally purchased, mutually agreed upon present-meant-for-two. Things like a trip, or a new piece of furniture, or a work of art. I will admit, I do like to open up a nicely wrapped, surprising package on December 25th, but it’s also true that the best gift my husband and I ever indulged in was one we bought together. It was a painting by Donald Sultan called “Green Apples and a Black Egg.” Reflecting on this truth got me to thinking about the importance and impact of good art. How it enhances our lives, opens up new dimensions of thought and experience, and generally enriches our world on the daily. Like this striking piece of street art by Retna, which I stopped to admire while swishing about in a neutral halter dress from my latest obsession, Olima. With less than two weeks to Christmas, I’m still shopping for Tom, and he’s still scurrying about in search of gifts for me (yes, I’m a lucky girl). But I think next year we might follow the lead of our less overextend friends and buy just one, singularly beautiful painting, print or photograph, and enjoy a little more time with our nog and a little less time doing the holiday shopping hustle.

With love,

Amanda