And she cried...

She might cry after seeing that I posted that first picture. I didn't get a good shot of her opening the gift, so this is it.

Have you ever found the PERFECT thing to give someone? Absolute perfection in every way? My sister-in-law is hard to shop for. She has impeccable taste and is so far beyond me with her fashion and design sense. I struggle a bit when I have her name for Christmas.

But this year. THIS year, I found the perfect thing. Actually, she pointed it out to me and my mind started whirling and twirling, and I soon came up with what I thought would be just the right thing. In the fall Pottery Barn catalog was a piece of art, unfortunately not for sale. Heather wanted it. Wanted it BAD. Badly enough to call Pottery Barn to see where she might buy such a thing. But it was an original. Something that was in the home where they did the photo shoot. Not available.

Heather showed it to me while we were perusing the catalog in search of ideas for my house. And I knew immediately, if I could find the right supplies, I could recreate it or something very much like it.

I searched locally and in the Tri-Cities for vintage furniture catalogs. No luck. I turned to eBay and there wasn't much, but I found the perfect thing. I really hoped it would have a Buy it Now option so I could just buy it and be done with it, but again, no luck. I watched the auction for 5 days and bid with about 1 minute left. Outbid! And I bid again. Outbid again. I bid. They bid and it's over. They win and dreams of a perfect gift fade. I guess I should have read up on sniping!

But, all is not lost and I found a couple of other options with Buy it Now options and place my order. The catalogs arrive, I purchase the canvas and the creation begins. I was so excited about this gift, I could hardly keep it to myself. When Heather was cutting my hair mid-December, I wanted to blurt out the whole surprise.

Heather and Trev went to Wenatchee for Christmas, so they were not there for Christmas Eve at Mom's. Instead, we had everyone over for a taco bar on Saturday and I could not wait for Heather to open the gift.

Well, she cried. And I cried, too, of course. I think it was an amazing surprise. I love it when things work out, when you pick just the right thing. I love to be the author of a little joy in someone else's life. I was blessed to be able to do that for Heather this year.