Various dispatches from the West Side.

Hi! Is anyone going to St. Albans, West Virginia soon? Could you take a couple of things for me? Shockingly behind on my holiday shopping and starting to worry that my gifts may not make the last reindeer out of town. Anyone? St. Albans? Charleston, even?

So Sarah's been on this enormous old-fashioned hand crafted candy kick lately, and gratifyingly a lot of you seem to be on her wavelength (we love when that sort of thing happens). The latest goodies in are from Brooklyn Hard Candy, and they're predictably amazing. Just look at 'em:

Candy with a cork: srs bznz.

Give 'em to people you like. Or stash a jar in your desk drawer to sneak into when the boss is gone for the afternoon and you're noodling around the internet reading various blogs.

Everyone got the memo that we're staying open through the holidays at this year at CapoPenn, yeah? Super excited. Because we want to be here for you! You need espresso and gelato, and at the risk of sounding a little smug, sometimes we feel like we're one of the few outposts of genuine good taste in West Philly. Not that West Philly isn't up and coming in a lot of ways! But for now, consider us your refuge for real, good food. Come on by! Soup and candy and gelato and booze and jalapeno chips and...

OH YEAH THE JALAPENO CHIPS! These are new, too! Deano's Jalapenos from my old stomping grounds in Vermont. Tasty! They are just little bite-sized noms of jalapeno and they go really well with a beer. And seriously, Stowe's a great little town! Lamoille County generally, but I'm maybe getting a little nostalgic now. I always start missing it this time of year because it's one of those places where you can place a pretty solid bet on a white Christmas.

Speaking of white Christmas and the lack thereof... seriously, if a symptom of global climate change is going to be that I have to adjust to 60 and humid on Christmas, I dunno what I'm going to do. It's just...WEIRD. Y'know? Like...what's Christmas Eve without snowballs? Sleigh bells jingling? Do you even WANT an open fire over which to roast chestnuts when it's...muggy?

Blatant appropriation of someone else's awkward family holiday portrait. I don't think they posed for it, do you? It looks totally spontaneous. (Dad's trying to hide that he's panting from running back to the shot after setting the self-timer on the camera.)

Yeah. We've all got those embarrassing hand-made Christmas tree ornaments that Mom (erm...Grandmom, more like.) won't let anyone get rid of because she remembers when your sister made that Elmer's Glue and glitter...thing...in third grade Sunday school. Christmas. Family and memories. And shopping. Seriously...anyone going to Huntington, West Virginia? I could make that work. HAVE to get to the post office tomorrow...



This song will never fail to make me happy. Happy Holidays everyone! Come see us soon!