I envy (in a good way, of course) anyone who has an unbelievably brilliant and intrinsic talent, be it  in  sports, music, art, dance etc. One such person that I've recently come across is  the artist/blogger, Danny Robert. His blog, igorandandre.blogspot.com showcases his amazingly beautiful sketches, with many being sold on Etsy. He has collaborated with H&M and most often does sketches interpreting the works of Marc Jacobs, Roberto Cavalli  and Chanel to name a few; a marriage of art and fashion.

The three skecthes shown above, take you from fantasy...

...to runway reality.
(The finished designs were based on the sketches by Danny Roberts
for the 2010 Caravan Style 360 Show in NYC.)

Since there are far too many portraits on Danny's blog to share here, I created this collage just to show yet a few more reasons to check out his work.

Since I've been posting about Christmas and Christmas Shopping this week, I cannot possibly go without writing about one of my all-time favorite movies, A Christmas Story, starring Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker.

Set in small town America, it tells the story of a little boy whose only wish is to get a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas. As you can imagine, his repeated requests are met with repeated admonishments of  "you'll shoot your eye out!" But, in the true indomitable spirit of a child he will not be dissuaded. Not even by the man himself - Santa Clause. The video below shows one of my favorite parts; second only to the tire changing scene. But, of course, there's also the bully scene and the...

and the infamous soap scene.

Far too many scenes to mention. Be sure to rent/buy the movie this holiday season. In the meantime...

If you're over the age of twenty-five, surely you'll remember these holiday tales. Who doesn't remember their first time seeing  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

All of the classics are here: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Frosty Returns, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, Little Drummer Boy, Cricket on the Hearth. Do they still even show these on television anymore? Well, just in case they decide to play Harry Potter instead, I'm glad that I picked up my boxed-set a couple of years back. (approx. $20).

I saw Amy Schatz's 'Twas The Night: A Holiday Celebration on cable and just had to order my own copy. Even though it was released in 2003, last year was the first time that I'd even heard of it. Over time, this DVD is absolutely bound to be a holiday family classic; heartwarming and hilarious. It's the holiday equivalent of Art Linkletter's Kids Say The Darndest Things. Take a look...