Santa bebe- here's a little list per vous from me.. A coupla things to leave under moi's tree- so hurry down the chimney ce soir!
First, Madame anticipates celebrating the holidays in a new house (see this issue's real estate section s'il vous plait!) which means moi will have space for one of the beautiful crab pot Christmas trees from Kellogg's! In three sizes and two colors, their twinkling lights will look beaucoup festive at the new Maison de Canards! Moi also found a lot of stocking stuffers there- the tomato/lemon/pepper/onion shaped keepers are ingenious! Shaped exactly like the half-used fruits and veggies they are meant to hold and preserve in the frig. Tres better- and greener- than baggies!
Allo Madame's enfants!! At Lady Banks, in Scarborough Faire, votre mere saw a monkey wallet/clutch from the whimsical Espe handbag line (hint! hint!). Moi also found some great gifts that won't break le bank- darling little Serendipity Lip Balls; beautiful spherical tins filled with tinted, SPF 15 lip balm!
Gray's Department Store, at Scarborough Faire and the Waterfront Shops, still carries a Duck classic that makes an incomparable gift- 12 ounce Tervis tumblers with the Gray's 'duck en shades'. What Duck home should be without these? Gray's stocking stuffer alert- 3" by 3" bejeweled note pads: perfect for the purse, car or by the telephone at home. Life is only as pretty as your accessories!
Madame popped into Urban Cottage for a quick survey of their Autumn goods and ended up with quite a shopping list! Acorn soy candles- these damsels always have the best scents on the beach! Their Nora Wiley serving platter collection keeps growing as well- the pieces are plain ivory, but the ceramic occasion picks take your dishes from New Year's to Christmas, anniversaries to baptisms! Another item Madame is coveting- naturally elegant oyster shell votive holders and mermaid wall hangings with seaglass/seashell tails- simply merveilleux!
A foray into Mango's was most eye-opening! Any good fashion maven from le rive gauche will find chic, runway styles indicative of more metropolitan streets than Duck's! Tres chic- Madame walked out seriously considering a make-over a la Mango. Moi also spent considerable time deliberating over a selection of necklaces featuring the most delicate of chains and small charms- from initialed circles to subtle peace signs.
Another little gem of a boutique that had missed Madame's radar is Island Trader in Scarborough Lane. Ooo la la! Where to begin? The handmade baskets and pottery? Dazzling array of jewelry? One-of-a-kind blown glass globes enclosing incredible glass strand 'trees'? Madame does know she will be buying their inhalation beads en masse- a soothing blend of peppermint and eucalyptus helps to ease a stuffy head, another pot can be used for a mal de tete (headache). You'll find Olga most helpful and knowledgeable of the entire inventory- and she gave me my first 'recognized' moment! Happy Holidays, mon nouvel ami!
Here's a thoughtful present that can be used anywhere on the beach- a gift certificate for some personal training by Deb Taylor. Deb is an NCSA certified personal trainer and nutritional consultant and will come to your own home or gym for some sculpting du physique just in time for LBD season! Mlle Taylor can be reached at island2825@earthlink.net.
A reminder to all Duck residents, business owners and anyone else who has found a way to spend a lot of time in our pretty little town: the Duck Volunteer Fire Department is looking for good, selfless men and women to joins its ranks of volunteer heroes. Stop by the Public Safety Building and pick up an informational packet from Chief Donna Black and use the season as a reason to start giving back!
As Madame closes this season's column, moi wants to reminisce back about, oh, twenty years or so. In the early Duck days there was a Duck Village Merchant's Association, a group of business owners who banded together to promote all things ducky. Lots of familiar faces today were instrumental in that successful endeavor and we all had a lot of good times together in this quiet, little town. Sadly, one face is now missing. To all those readers out there who remember those days, I ask you to lift a glass (martini!) during this Holiday season to the memory of Greg Bennett. Ever smiling, ever caring, forever missed.
Joyeux Noel!
Turkey Day already? I guess its pretty obvious I'm running behind this month but at long last here is a rather wham-bam-thank-you-for-my-November- newsletter-ma'am! A bit short and sweet but hopefully enough to tide you over until December! 
Bit of a big blow down here earlier this month! Kids missed two days of school, the beach road was impassable, Hatteras Island was shut off again by ocean overwash and it really took almost a week to get everything back to normal... these pix are of the beach road area in Kitty Hawk near Milepost 2 (my parents have a house there which gave us a good excuse to keep checking on things!).. the OBX Marathon was major this year! All of the associated events- Fun Run, 1/2 Marathon, 8K- combined to draw in 7,000 participants! And boy, was their presence and financial impact felt up and down the beach! We love those runners... Sarah and I were front and center for the 12:01am New Moon premiere last Friday.. it was a great adaptation of the book- especially considering a new Director... a few other books on the big screen you may want to check out this holiday season include Michael Lewis's The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock (this is next on our list); Precious by Sapphire, an Oprah Winfrey backed film; and Cormac McCarthy's The Road (finally!) starring Viggo Mortensen... all the stores and businesses that closed 
earlier this fall reopened over the weekend in time to make Duck a bustling place again even if only for Thanksgiving week... remember- Duck' s Cottage is the ONLY coffee shop in Duck open ALL YEAR ROUND!!.. come see us when you're here! 