The Supreme Court has ruled that there cannot be a Nativity Scene in
the United States’ Capital this Christmas season.
This isn’t for any religious reason. They simply have not been able to find
Three Wise Men in the Nation’s Capitol.
A search for a Virgin continues.
There was no problem, however, finding enough asses to fill the stable.
(p.s. while this is a joke, it’s also true.)
I want these sooooooo bad. But they don’t have my size :( I asked the girl at the J Crew store at Stanford yesterday and I think she kinda snickered in my face. Apparently they were quite popular. You’d think for all the money I spend there, they could click their heels and a pair would appear for me! Damn…
There's no place like home!
IMO, every girl needs a pair of cool red shoes and a red coat. I have my coat – and these would have been perfect! Plus J Crew is having 30% off orders $150+ sale right now! Oh well. I did accidentally buy a a new black coat there yesterday. I have NO black winter coats. Wha?? I have a closet full of coats with no black one?? I do have a charcoal grey long cashmere coat that I love but that doesn’t always fill the need for a black coat. I have purchased several from J Crew over the past few years but always sent them back as they weren’t right. But yesterday in the store – there it was! And these red shoes would look SO cute with a cute black coat! Oh…and of course a cute outfit underneath the coat :) I bought a sparkly black tank too. Now I need a place to wear them! Hiking with the huskies probably doesn’t require a black sparkly tank top :)
They have these red flats in my size. I am debating on these…cute. But not as cute as the pumps.
Cute. But not AS cute....
But if anyone sees a pair of these Mona pumps in red sparkly in 7.5 at your local J Crew – get them and I will totally buy them from you!!! :)
Just unboxed and washed my 4 new champagne flutes!! They were a housewarming gift from one of my best friends in the whole world. She says housewarming gift – I think she just loves to buy presents and make people happy :)
Rather funny that I, she who loves bubbly sooooo much, doesn’t already have some nice flutes. But I bought 60 simple glass flutes for our wedding reception years (and years and years) ago and have just used those since I had them to use. We have tons of nice wine glasses in both houses but just my cheapo flutes. Plenty of them…but still…a girl should have a nice set of flutes for her bubbly :)
These are the Riedel Platinum Band flute made specifically for Williams Sonoma. Most of our wine glasses are Riedel so everything is nice and matchy :) And they are made in Germany (another notch in my “don’t buy or own Chinese made crap” belt!) I love them because they are pretty. The thin platinum band around the rim makes them different from the rest. It’s not super-duper noticeable or gaudy – just a nice, delicate touch of different.
Hopefully she will make the trip up to Tahoe one of these days and get to drink out of them with me!!!
mmmmm......yummy
So pretty….I think they deserve a nice bubbly to be opened tonight while I decorate my Christmas tree!!!!
I love Christmas. I love winter generally but I think the Christmas season is the best.
I don’t love idiots who try and get on some soap box about religious tolerance or PC-ness. There is not single damn thing wrong with saying Merry Christmas, sending out Christmas cards, having a Christmas tree.
If you don’t celebrate Christmas because you are Jewish, Muslim, Kwanzian (just made that up) or a Pagan. Good for you. I don’t care. And when you say Happy Hanukkah or Happy Ramadan or whatever – I don’t get offended. Hey – celebrate. Be happy. But don’t try and rain on my parade by insisting we don’t say Christmas because it’s some kind of -ist.
This country was founded on Christian religious beliefs. I am not Christian or Catholic or any offshoot. To me Christmas is not really so much about the birth of Jesus or a time to spend time in church. It’s totally fine if it is for you though. To me, Christmas is about friends and family and feeling happy and putting up my Christmas trees and singing Christmas music every day from the Friday after Christmas until January 2nd. I get the religious aspects of it and respect them and people’s right to believe them. That’s another reason our country was founded and is so great. So if someone wants to put a manger scene up, THAT’S OK. That’s what Christmas it about to them.
For me it’s about bundling up in a big coat with sweaters and scarves and boots because it’s cold out, hopefully with some snow. About walking around the Stanford Shopping Center with all of the stores decorated and lights twinkling everywhere. And almost everyone in a better mood. Unless you are there at like 4pm on Christmas Eve – those people are a bit harried.
It’s about planning and eating some yummy meals that you don’t let yourself have year round. About smiling at total strangers as you walk down the street and wishing them a Merry Christmas. It’s about going to a party or 2 and having fun with friends, family and co-workers. It’s about getting a red cup at Starbucks and hearing the Christmas music playing in there while you warm up from the cold.
It’s about buying a present for someone that you know they will love and wrapping it and putting it under the tree and having the lights sparkle off the wrapping paper. It’s about coming home from work and turning the Christmas tree lights on and just sitting around the tree enjoying it.
It’s about watching It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Rudolph and The Grinch for the umpteenth time and still enjoying every minute of them. And of course new classics like Elf and Love Actually :)
If kids are around, it’s most definitely about Santa Claus and his reindeer and Frosty. And making Christmas cookies.
I could go on listing more things that Christmas means to me. But the point is that if you are such a jerk that you can’t understand and allow people to enjoy these things without making a frackin’ ruckus about the Christ part in Christmas, you are the one with the problem. I don’t care if you celebrate Hanukkah. Or Ramadan. Or Kwanzaa. Or Winter Solstice. Or don’t celebrate anything at all. Do it – have fun with it. But don’t wreck my fun.
So when I say Merry Christmas to you, smile and be happy. As will I if you send good wishes to me. But if you find yourself offended by someone wishing you a Merry Christmas, I think your heart and soul are basically empty voids. And stay the hell away from me.
On the surface, thankful for a lot.
Down deep, thankful for a few friends that are always there and 2 huskies that have gone through a lot but are always there to make me smile.
Last weekend I found myself craving an Egg McMuffin while out a long hike. I think the combo of starving, exercising and cold weather was makinmg me crave yummy, comfort food :)
I tarted thinking, I can make that at home. A healthier version! What I needed was something to make the egg perfectly round like McDonald’s is. Hysterically (to me anyway!), a friend of mine posted a pciture of a hoemmade Egg McMuffin on Facebook the next morning! I was like – hey!!! See – it can be done! So I asked how they made the egg part. My friend’s wife bought a little doodad at Crate & Barrel. Ok!
The following Wednesday, I ended up at Bed, Bath & Beyond to get some GMCR K cups for work. And I remembered my egg quest. BB&B HAD to have one! Sure enough – they had 2 different kinds. A set of metal ones with little folding handles and then a single one:
Joie Egg Ring
I liked it mainly because if the little chicken face :) So I bought both (not very pricey) and figured I’d test them out. The Joie was $3.99 at BB&B but then add sales tax. Amazon has them for $4.27.
So I tested both out this Sunday. I used the Joie and also one of the metal ones. They both worked well, although the Joie didn’t stick to the egg at all and the metal one was a bit of a challenge getting it to come out without wrecking the shape. I used PAM on both. Also, the metal one has a little place near the folding handle where egg gets stick so you need to soak and then use the sprayer or a toothpick or something tiny to get it out. The Joie cleaned up very easy.
So I VERY excited to have my new little kitchen gadget. I think I will buy another 1 or 2 Joie rings. It was a super easy breakfast to make! And I used cage-free brown eggs, Canadian bacon, a slice of sharp cheddar and a Thomas’ English muffin plus a little PAM on the egg ring. That’s GOT to be healthier than the McD’s version! And I think tasted just like it but less greasy!
YUM!
Of course I bought those same-shaped hash browns at the store and baked them because I LOVE those from McD’s and I’m guessing they are healthier or at least the same calories badness. Pretty sure McD’s probably drops their’s in to the deep frier. I baked these even though I’m sure the pan frying method on the package was delicious :)
I just read a story that Ashton Kutcher turned over his twitter feed to his management company. So…what’s the point of having it now?
To be clear, I don’t like Ashton. I think he is douche. I’ve always thought he was a douche. Long before his cheating or replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men (which he doesn’t do well.) BUT, I appreciated the fact that he tweeted a lot and seemed to use the medium to connect with fans. He seemed genuine about that at least.
But now, because he tweeted something stupid, and got flamed for it, he disconnects. #fail
He is a celeb living in a very small, protected bubble. So it’s absolutely no surprise to me that he didn’t know anything about the biggest headline for the past few days (Joe Paterno.) I seriously doubt the guy is sitting around watching CNN or Fox News in the morning. Or picking up a paper on the way to the office. My husband doesn’t watch the news. He is not on twitter. And he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about college football. So he also knew nothing about the story. He said he saw a headline and didn’t think about it again.
And while I enjoyed bagging on Ashton for saying such a stupid thing because…well…I don’t like him much…it seems ridiculous that this much has been made of it. It was crystal clear he didn’t know what he was talking about. Anyone who thinks he didn’t know and was deliberately being an insensitive jerk is an idiot themselves. So call him out for being a bad fact-checker. Call him out for being out of touch. And definitely call him out for being a cheating bastard who is no Charlie Sheen (let’s think about that…) But that’s about it.
And turning over his twitter account to a management team? I think the whole reason people follow celebs on twitter is for them to be themselves and say inane, honest or random things. In the story I just read, one of the PR guys says he would rather his clients, whose tweets go through a vetting, tweet 1 or 2 times per month and say “something of meaning rather than endless prattle every day.” But I disagree. I think people follow celebs FOR that prattle. Otherwise, it’s just a soundbite. Or a story in People or US. And then who really cares about them on twitter at all?
Do I think Ashton is a tool? Yes. Am I on Team Demi when I don’t even really like Demi? Yes. Do I hate finding myself defending 1 word uttered by him? Yes. But I do defend it. Jeez – the guy is a douche. A clue less douche. But hardly worth the vitriol thrown at him on twitter last night (although I did find some of them amusing – especially the misspelled ones calling him an idiot.)
Seriously people…words are words. Stop placing so much importance on words. Actions mean more. Words, pretty/misleading/false/hopeful/hurtful can be uttered by a complete boob. And often are (see Washington DC.)
Storm got his ultrasound/liver check-up today. I am always a stress basket before he gets it. As we were in the waiting room, he was entertaining the other patients’ humans and staff with his howling. Cuts the tension in a doctor’s waiting room, that’s for sure :)
The nurse said they would likely have to shave his belly which made me sad. He finally got all of his fur back and had a GREAT time in the snow and I didn’t want him to have a cold, naked belly again right before winter :(
But turns out they didn’t have to! His oncologist said they just spread his fur apart and got the jelly on his skin and checked in 3 spots around the liver as well as straight on. And he is ALL CLEAR! No tumors, no nodules, no dark spots – nothing. YAY! The doc was in back telling all of the other doctors and nurses to come up and see Storm as she couldn’t believe how awesome he looked and how fast his fur came in.
I guess one of the doctor’s saw us at Mavericks and had told Storm’s doctor that he looked great WITH fur. She said she didn’t actually recognize that it was Storm until she saw Angelus with him and recognized him first. Our doctor said she was excited to see him coming in today but had no idea it would be with this much fur!
We spent about 10 minutes as doctors and nurses came up front to ooh and aah over Storm which he didn’t mind at all :) And we don’t have to go back for another check-up until February!
My little Stormtrooper :)
One year ago today, I was at home watching football. Then I got a call that would forever change my life. My little brother was in a coma, had no brain activity and was not expected to make it, so I needed to get on a plane now. To say I was in shock would be an understatement. I don’t think I had a clear thought for a couple of weeks after that call. Plus at the same time, Storm had just gotten a 2nd tumor removal surgery where they basically removed half of his liver. He was barely just recovering. Really universe?
I went out there. Husband stayed home to take care of Storm at my request. I simply could not stress about Stormy too. It was a rough trip that I made it through kinda sane because of friends and extended family. Friends booked my trip, talked to me, listened to me, flew out there with me. Long distance friends called other local friends who stayed with me while I sat with and said goodbye to my brother. Friends came to the hospital to be with me and made sure I got out of there when I needed to. My mother in law came down to be with me and went with me to deal with the funeral home paperwork. More friends planned a quiet get-together which acted as a memorial for Jonathan and to help me say goodbye. They were all friends of mine who I’ve known forever and they knew Jonathan too so we were all pretty shocked. I truly do not think I could have dealt with that trip without all of them and I hope they all know what they mean to me.
I broke my ankle in April. On April Fools Day. I remember that exactly when I stumbled down the hill that I was thinking to myself that I needed to hike up to Hawk’s Peak and spread my brother’s ashes. But now a broken ankle kept me away from hiking for a long time. Ironic. Maybe the universe knew I wasn’t quite ready in April.
Not sure I’m ready now. But are you ever really “ready” for this kind of stuff? I think you just suck it up and deal with it. There are still plenty of days I’ll think “Oh, I need to tell Jon that.” It happens in a split second. Kind of like that portion of a second when you wake up from a dream and think it’s real only to realize it’s not. And then I get sad. I miss him. Certain movies, actors, characters in books, songs, whatever still make me think of him. But the intense sadness is getting less. Replaced by melancholy maybe?
But I try and snap out of it quickly by focusing my thoughts elsewhere. You can’t wallow. You can’t always think about it. You need to focus outwards. To other things. Work, hobbies, friends, the best huskies in the world, exercise, favorite TV shows, movies, books, whatever. But continuing to be sad will kill you.
It’s now November 7th. Exactly one year. It snowed this weekend. And it about 19 degrees out. But with more snow and colder up there I’m sure. But it is sunny. Blue sky day. I always wanted him with me and away from Florida. I know he would have liked it.
So today seems fitting. But this time, I am going alone. No husband, no friends, not even any huskies. I think I need to say a final goodbye and let him go by myself. Spend a little time at the top of a mountain remembering the fun and good and letting go of the sadness as much as I can.
