We Whimsies have dressed up in our warmest, most comfortable clothing to pose with a pretty banner depicting a sentiment that is totally appropriate for the season: “Happy New Year!” We are very excited about this new year. We are hopeful that 2020 will bring only good things to us, and to our people. There is something very satisfying about the repetition of “20” and “20” and those two perfectly round zeroes that makes us believe this year could be extremely well-balanced and even-keel. Only time will tell, but at the moment, we are encouraged for a bright future.
Of course as Whimsies we always have a very positive attitude, consistent with our cute little watermelon smiles, but as I say…there’s something about 2020 that makes us feel extra-positive! (We could be feeling so positive because we are excited about the new year…or it could just be because Miss Chrissy has promised us that very soon she will be visiting the Thrift Store Boutique to add some new items to our Wardrobe! That, of course, would mean a Fashion Show, which is one of our very favorite things to do…so stay tuned!)
So it’s almost Christmas, and we here in Whimsieville have been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately, and there’s this one song we keep running into, and it begins “Have yourself a merry little Christmas…” And when I take a look around Whimmsieville I see that a lot of the ways Miss Chrissy has been getting ready for the season are indeed little, and very understated.
You see, once upon a time (between when Miss Chrissy was a little girl and had several Whimisies of her own…including me!…and now, when she is a properly grown lady), she had two children of her own, and during those years, she tells us, Christmas was always a BIG deal! The tree was big! The presents were big! (And there were plenty of them!) And the light display outside the house — big, big BIG! But now that her children are grown and have moved out on their own, and it is just her and Mr. Russ, there’s no particular need to do holidays so super big. A little bit of Christmas spirit can go a long, long way.
Now here’s Trixie, and it surprised no one that she instantly gravitated to all the tiny little Christmas presents that are just about to be placed under the tiny little Christmas tree. First of all, all these tiny boxes are delightfully pretty! But even more intriguing…what could possibly be inside each of these miniature treasure chests?
Tootsie, on the other hand, has been intrigued by a couple of very small ornaments that are in fact, so small, they fit very nicely on this little ledge at the end of the fireplace. The first one is a Polish…somebody or other…we’re not exactly sure. But we do know, from what Miss Chrissy tells us, that when one of her favorite aunts visited Poland many, many years ago, she brought back this little Polish doll ornament as a gift. The ornament used to hang on those much bigger Christmas trees from decades ago, but nowadays, Miss Chrissy is fine with giving this very special international ornament a place of honor by the fireplace, where it is so easy to appreciate.
The other ornament here also has a special story. When Miss Chrissy’s children were young, she once went to a class for painting Christmas ornaments, and she chose this Sleepy Bear, because it reminded her of her son, Joey, who had a favorite stuffed bear he would always sleep with. The bear’s name was “Love-a-Bear” and though Joey has long since outgrown him, Miss Chrissy actually still has Love-a-Bear, and it’s unlikely she will ever part with him. Unless…maybe…someday Joey has a child of his own, and wants to give that child a Love-a-Bear? Who knows what might happen!
Finally, Tillie has found some tiny candles which lend such a special glow to the Winter evenings here in Whimsieville. Technically, there are not Christmas ornaments, they are all-around ornaments, but doesn’t it just seem like Christmas is the perfect time for lights in all shapes and sizes? These candles, by the way, are not actually candles, they have batteries to light them up, which in some ways is much nicer, because they never melt and disappear, and there’s no mess, and no chance of knocking one over and causing a fire! On the other hand, they are not scented, and as everyone knows, the scents of Christmas are so wonderful, why not take every opportunity to enjoy them? 
I would show you some pictures of us enjoying our cocoa and cookies but at this very moment, the kettle is about to boil and… Hey!…Wait for me, guys!
As you know, we Whimsies are big fans of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and even though we no longer sit down here and have a weekly roundtable discussion about it, we still watch and enjoy the show. What you may not know is that some of us in Whimsieville are even more entranced by SHIELD’s sister show, Agent Carter. And some of us (like me) are most entranced by that show’s pivotal character, Howard Stark’s butler, Edwin Jarvis (as portrayed by British actor James D’Arcy).
But then that’s no surprise, because if there’s one word you could use to describe Jarvis’ character it’s that exactly: devoted. As a butler, he is completely devoted to his employer, Howard Stark. Stark could trust him with any secret. As Peggy’s partner in espionage, Jarvis is the picture of reliability. He will do anything to help her. And for his wife…well, here we pull out all the stops. Jarvis is so devoted to Ana that when she is shot by the villainess, even though it turns out she’s going to live and be okay, Jarvis can think of nothing but revenge.
live on to become a part of Tony Stark’s life, to serve him when he is an Avenger, and to provide the inspiration for the brilliant Mr. Stark’s even more brilliant computer, J.A.R.V.I.S.
So, as everyone knows it’s January, and that means Winter is in full force. Now, I am happy to report that Whimsieville is in that portion of the country where the weather gets cold sometimes, but it very rarely gets so FRIGID that you can’t even move because it’s simply too uncomfortable. No, our kind of cold in this part of the country is the kind that makes you glad to turn on the fireplace 
and dress up in your warm winter jammies, and have a nice cup of hot cocoa while sitting in front of The Weather Channel, watching the wall-to-wall coverage about the blizzard currently attacking our neighbors to the North. Oh, we do feel so sorry for those poor people up there, who may lose their Electricity, and their Heat, and will have to stay bundled up in more than simply Winter jammies just to keep from being so terribly uncomfortable. 
First of all we have Tessie, and it appears she has found the comfiest jammies ever stitched together! As you can see, she is all in white fleece, like a little lamb, and not only that, but she’s also wearing a hood to keep her head and ears warm! And not only that, but her hood has little ears on top so she does in fact look somewhat like a little lamb, doesn’t she? I asked Tessie and she said the hood in no way impedes her ability to hear the television coverage of the storm, and she does so enjoy looking like a little lamb, so she’s just going to keep on wearing that hood, even though with the fireplace going, we are nowhere cold enough to actually need such a thing. But that’s Tessie; sometimes she’ll get an idea in her head and just go with it.
Now! If you want to talk about getting an idea in your head and just going with it, you should take a look at Tootsie! This past Christmas Tootsie found these adorable red Santa Claus pajamas, which she wore all during the holidays, and now she barely ever wants to take them off! Tootsie has decided that “red and white stripes” is her new favorite fashion motif, and she looks for stripes in everything she sees! Santa Claus was exceptionally good to Tootsie this year too, this being her first real Christmas in a long, long time, so she’s exceptionally fond of the big man with the large white beard. As everybody knows, I have my own favorite superheroes (Thor…Hulk…) and now Tootsie has hers too.
Since Tillie is Tootsie’s very best friend in the whole world, she’s supporting the Christmas madness by also choosing a pair of Christmas jammies. Tillie’s jammies are pink, though, and covered in multiple images of Santa Claus. The very best part of this outfit, though, if you ask me, is the Santa Claus feet! How darling! Tillie’s outfit does not employ the “red and white stripes” fashion motif seen in Tootsie’s outfit, but I think I detect a red and white polka dot theme around her collar. Well, 
whichever way you go, red and white are the colors of Christmas, and while we all had a wonderful Christmas, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing Christmas jammies all year long, if that’s what you like, I’m thinking once the weather begins to turn, Tillie too will turn her fashion sense to something a little more “season appropriate.”
