@nonnasue - thank you so much!

@auds78 - Sorry - I said this all wrong (me + little sleep = very unclear explanations =D). The SUGAR maples, which provide the syrup & most of the color won't survive a significant climate change around here. Of the other maples, & there are a large variety, some survive the change & other varieties will opportunistically move into the voids left by the sugar maples --- so it isn't maples per se that will die out; it is specifically the sugar maples (& the ones around here have been really stressed by the last few years of too little rain & too much rain, poor things). Does this make more sense?

this is so very cute!

I don't think the trees will die, there were maples where i grew up. I just don't think the sap gets sweet enough to become syrup and the color of the leaves is due to the amount of precipitation that trees get in the summer. Tourist will still come, they just won't be able to take home some maple syrup with them.

@auds78 - She grew up in Maine & here in WMass but lived in Edgewater MD on Chesapeake Bay for quite a few years & in Reston VA before that. She used to laugh whenever anything was shut down by a 1/2" of snow since she was used to dealing with so much more than that! I too worry that we're going to get hammered, especially in March. We live right on the corner of a road with a lot of walkers so we're always chatting with neighbors who are out enjoying the gorgeous weather & they all say "we're going to pay for this...". Ug. I probably ought to restock all our emergency canned goods in case we do get snowed in/lose power (note to self!). And yes, maples will be one of the casualties around here. I've heard that they will be moving toward Canada & eventually will only be in Canada - & that hits MA & New England hard on two levels: one in that we have lots of maple syrup production here & two the gorgeous fall foliage that brings all the tourists is mostly thanks to the maples; if they go, so do the tourists.

I read somewhere that you keep having to go further and further north to get maple syrup, due to the winters not being cold enough for the trees to produce it. I'm honestly really afraid that the weather will be super bad in March and April.

Where in Maryland is your friend from? I grew up where Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania meet. That wasn't our weather, we were in the mountains, so it was basically a snow dump when ever a bad weather would hit mountain ridges.

Thanks, @lccalifornia! Ooooh - Tig bags are in Marshalls again? Must head over to mine to see if they have any. One can never have too many Tig bags, can one. =D And that is so sweet that you thought of me when you saw them!

@auds78 - I hadn't thought to check ebay yet (duh!). And the snow didn't add up to anything more than a teeny weeny dusting but still, it fell. I'm LOVING this January weather, too, though I feel horrendously guilty for liking something that is destroying the habitat of our flora & fauna. =( I read somewhere several years ago that if the weather patterns keep changing the way they were, MA would have the climate of MD within 25 years. A friend of lived there for 15 or so years & she said winter was all ice & ice storms rather than snow - & that sure is what we've been getting here this year so while I could do without the slippery surfaces from all the melt water refreezing, I love wandering around with my coat open & no gloves. This is not our fathers' January!

Love this set! The colors are lovely. I thought of you yesterday when I stopped by at Marshall's and saw a bunch of Tignanello bags!

Please no snow! It's been so mild so far and I'm hoping it stays that way. Have you tried ebay? I get lots of stuff from there that usually a season old and for a quarter of the price.

Me, too, @parmelia! I want to get a crossbody bag before R & head to NYC in April so I was browsing eBags & Zappos yesterday & found this bag - which I really, REALLY want (along with the one I used yesterday) but I can't justify the prices so I guess I'll start hitting TJ Maxx & Marshalls repeatedly in the hopes that a classic Coach-style crossbody bag will be there before we go. It would just be soooo much easier to buy one online... sigh.

@sadie Great boots, but the bag is my favorite!