Happy Hanukkah to all of you celebrating the festival of lights! If you need a little break this week from the hectic holiday season, check out my favorite links from around the web…

• I once decorated the lobby of the corporate office of the fashion company where I worked with this, and was nearly fired over it.  
  

• This cookbook is on my Christmas list. And I just picked up this one on sale and it's terrific!
  

• Should we get a pair of these for the farm?
  

• BUY REAL ART! Locals, please consider attending the MIAD Art Sale November 29-December 1.
  

• A stunning home tour where monastery meets Venician palazzo. (Thank you Glenda!)
  

• This unique rendition of Bohemian Rhapsodydelighted me "to the bone." 
  

• You all know how much I enjoy reading a good obituary. This one, more like a Christmas letter than a death notice, was written by Laurie Anderson, longtime partner of rocker Lou Reed.
  

• My Alt Summit pal Petra has launched a new line inspired by her Finnish roots. 
  

• What great listeners actually do.
  

• These photos of "drummies" in South Africa will captivate you. They look vintage but they're not!
  

• Antiques of the Week:  I consult this old book every year and it is full of timeless holiday recipes and decorating ideas. These bar accessories are chic! Love these vintage gamebird tumblers.

And, thank you for all of the reader comments on the shopping small blog post. It’s so great to hear that so many of you support your local stores.

Says Nader on shopping small: “And book stores!! Please support your local bookstore if it even exists anymore. Hold a book - not just a tablet. It feels different. You recall the author better when you look at the cover every time you crack it open. You get a sense of closure as the pages dwindle. They are amazing gifts. Worth a trip out in the cold dark night. Mithra, in her short post, didn't mention that two of those "back up brothers" of John Drennan did indeed end up marrying two young ladies who worked as cashiers! What memories you pull out.”

Photo by Robert Zunikoff via Unsplash