Wee Birdy

Happy Inauguration Day!

I'm going to be glued to BBC1 at 4pm London time today to watch Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. What a happy day.

Obama memorabilia, or "Obamarabilia", will reach fever pitch in Washington DC today. Over on Etsy a search for "Obama" currently yields 3076 results. I think handmade is the most sincere and really comes from the heart.

The hand-screenprinted tea-towels in the photo were actually gifts from friends of friends in New York. We had never met F and J before, yet we were invited to their Brooklyn Heights apartment on Christmas Eve for the most amazing home-made Japanese feast. At the end of dinner, J produced these gifts of tea-towels she had hand screen-printed herself. I was so touched by this act of kindness to strangers - and ultimately, of hope.

Christmas in New York City

Like most things in the States, Christmas comes super-sized, from the spectacular Christmas tree in Rockefeller plaza (which puts London's rather spindly gift from Norway to shame) to the festive displays that festooned just about every door, window and lamp post in New York City.

A few notes about wreaths, New York-style (and you know how much I love a good wreath). Everyone has one. They are invariably enormous. And they are mostly of the fresh fir variety (no retro tinsel versions here). So lovely.

I found this rather romantic wreath in Ten Bells, a dark and sexy Lower East Side bar we visited on Christmas Eve...

And this house in the West Village had a wreath in every window...
 

Fabulous feathers and big red velvet bows...

And it was apparently hip to be square at Brown cafe on the Lower East Side...

The shops were no exception, with Anthropologie at Rockefeller Centre putting a most creative spin on their Christmas windows. Have a look at their crafty and vintage-inspired displays...

This dress had the prettiest bird print...

Amazing yarn and fairy light display...

Even the city's hot dog stands were not immune to decoration overload...

Coming up... New York street style and shopping.

Happy Christmas!

Wishing you all every happiness and lots of tweets for Christmas.

Thanks so much for reading Wee Birdy this year ... I'm really looking forward to spreading my wings in 2009 and bringing you more sparkling magpie finds and treasures.

See you again on 30th.

Happy holidays and lots of love,
Top Bird xx

Holiday birds gift tag from Fred Flare.

The art of the poster: Christmas in London, 1951

'London Transport wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year', by Maurice Wilson, 1951.
Published by London Transport, 1951.
From the collection of the London Transport Museum.

Top 10 London Christmas wreaths - No. 10

Multicoloured sequin wreath, £18, from The Conran Shop.