give the gift of goat.

So, a friend of ours just had new baby (as opposed to an old baby...) and while we've been stockpiling locally crafted books and toys in anticipation of this little dude for months, we kind of forgot about his mom, who we've known WAY longer. Whoops. What does someone who's just been through 9 months of what we can only imagine to be beautiful (stressful), magical (exhausting) and so special (kind of scary) want? We're gonna go out on a limb here and say... pampering? Maybe?

Being as it is that she's got her hubby on hand full-time for foot massages and bon-bon fetching for the next few months (right, Dave?), we had to come up with something else. You may or may not have noticed that we spend a lot of time obsessing over farms and local crafts. Sometimes, when the alignment of the stars is just right, these two things combine and we find... A local farm that produces crafts! Hooray!

Enter West Elm Farm, located in Pembroke, MA. A self-described "Micro-Eco Farm," West Elm is a haven for two former city slickers and their flocks of Icelandic sheep, Angora goats, and Pilgrim geese. The folks at West Elm also keep bees, from which they make these beautiful, all-natural, slow-burning candles ($19.95). A little romance for our favorite new mama? You betcha.

By now you might be thinking, "Get to the goats already!" Alright, alright. Everyone loves goats. They're cute, they have great personalities, they're walking disposals and their milk makes some of the best cheese ever. But that's not all! Did you know that goat's milk contains special proteins and triglycerides that are super-moisturizing and soothing? Hmmm... Our skin is so itchy and dry from this gosh-darn New England winter. It'd be awesome if someone put goat milk in our soap, to soothe and heal our little red elbows. Guess what? West Elm Farm makes soaps out of fresh goat's milk from their Angora goats! Look at how pretty they are! Not only that, but they infuse the soaps with lanolin, the oil found in sheep's wool that helps protect the little fuzzy guys from the elements and has been used for thousands of years as a natural moisturizer. That's pretty sweet. Since naturally super-soft skin has pampered written all over it, we got our favorite new mama a gift box of two soaps, one lavender-scented for a little aromatherapeutic sexy, one peppermint for some rejuvenation action ($13.00).

Hope y'all like soap, 'cause this is looking like it'll be our go-to gift for 2010.