Ho Ho Ho

Thanksgiving has come and gone, so I am ready to embark on the holiday season in all its sparkly glory. I ventured into our scary attic and pulled everything out, so the decorations are up. Last week I was grumbling about Christmas music being played too early this year, but I successfully avoided it and am now listening to pretty much these three songs on repeat.  So while I’m at it, I’d like to talk about how amazing these videos are (well, two out of three anyway:)

There are so many awesome happenings in this video.  The first one is obvious: NICE SWEATERS. My favorite part is the epic 80s dinner party.  These people have sparklers in the cake and its not the 4th of July.  Genius!  I love when George Michael’s ex-girlfriend casually brushes her hand across the brooch on her jacket, foreshadowing the the upcoming flashback scene.  Because ten seconds later  they flashback to last Christmas when he gives her his heart….and that fabulous flower brooch.  For those of you that may have wondered how anyone could possibly not know that George Michael was gay, take a second look.  They ALL look like him.   Also, if you skip to 2:18, you may agree with me when I say that I think those girls are like 16. I think the one on the right may have braces.

*If anyone is able to replicate that brooch, or know someone who has, please let me know ASAP.  This is very important.

Ok, so this video is clearly the one that I was referring to that does not classify as amazing.  Everything Mariah does is pretty cheesy (or just bad) but this video is less brutal than usual. It’s probably the puppies.  Or maybe it’s because she’s actually wearing a fair amount of clothing.  But I think it’s actually because the song is so good.  As soon as I hear this song every year I get so excited.  Ava loves it now too.

And my personal favorite:

Forget super committees.  Let’s get back to charity super-groups instead. And look – its George Michael again! The best thing in this video is obviously the hair.  There are some serious haircuts in here.  Bono’s haircut alone makes me stop and stare. He looks like he’s got some sort of animal in there.  And if you skip ahead (you know you love this song too much to skip ahead) to 3:38 why don’t you hit pause and take a gander at the skunk-like number that guy is sporting.

And look at Sting.  Just look at him.  There is nothing in this world hotter than 1984 Sting.  Not sure if I could deal with current Sting (too much talk about tantric sex,) but I would go back in time in a heartbeat for that. He is just so cool.  But poor Paul Weller must have been in a bad mood.  He was the only one that looked like he wasn’t having any fun.  Perhaps he was pissed Simon LeBon got a solo and he didn’t. Now, if anyone can tell me who the guy with the really cool braid is in the back, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sunday Pins

A day late and a dollar short, but I just didn’t have time to get to this yesterday. I actually had a late night on Saturday night for once and then we went to a birthday party yesterday for one of Ava’s friends.  Not to mention that I’m THIS CLOSE to finishing the rest of A Storm of Swords.  So I was busy nerding out. But here are my picks for last week.

White bean and roasted mushroom soup.  I took a break from kids stuff and nerding out to make this last night.  It was easy to make and super yummy.  I recommend.  Added bonus: My husband hates mushroom so I have lunch all week this week. Instructions are here:

http://shewearsmanyhats.com/2011/10/roasted-mushroom-soup/

How precious is this little girl? And this backyard chalkboard is a great idea.  If I don’t forget (which is more than possible,) I’d like to make this a springtime project.  Instructions are here:

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/inspiration/outdoor-chalkboard-reader-project-124426

This picture makes my heart happy.  Look at that dog.  He is smiling.

There’s no link to go along with this one unfortunately but I am dying over this skirt.  The color, the texture, the comfortable, yet cool vibe.  Yes, please.

Confession

I hate Walmart.  Like really hate it.  I also hate Black Friday. Yesterday there were a variety of reports about Walmart shopping insanity.  A woman in a California Walmart was pepper-spraying people to get at their “door busters.”  Twenty different customers (including kids)were hurt.  In another store, displays were literally ripped down.  In South Carolina, someone opted to wait in the parking lot a try to rob a person at gunpoint instead. I love a good deal too, but really?  Year and after you hear about people getting trampled and they still allow it.  There has got to be another way people!

But even when you take Black Friday out of the equation, I hate Walmart. I realize that I live in a sizable city and have a large variety of shopping options and not everyone is so lucky.  So no offense to any of those that don’t.  My grandmother lives in a rural area of southern VA so we frequent the Walmart down there because its more convenient.  But I still hate it.  Everyone has seen those “People of Walmart” emails that circulate the net, and I swear to God I’ve seen some of those people in the store.  Not only that, but the people are all rude.  I get pushed out of someone’s way every freaking trip.  The last time it took every fiber of my being to not turn around and lash out in a redneck rage of fury.  Its like there’s some sort of evil magic in the air making good people go bad.  I bet those people in the emails looked just like you and me when they first started shopping at Walmat.  And every trip they inhaled that dust and each time it made them a little worse.  A few years later they’ve gained 75 pounds but never bothered getting new clothes, thereby leaving them with with midfriff shirts and gut spillage and neon pants that can’t quite cover their butts.  Makes sense, right?  I see no other explanation.

A couple of months ago we were having a lazy Sunday and I was having a catnap while Ava napped.  My husband came in the room and said “let’s go to Walmart today.” I initially thought I must be dreaming.  “I want to see what kind of deals they have.  See what all the fuss is about.”  I don’t know if it was because I was half-asleep or because I was just utterly confused at my husband wanting to shop at all, but I agreed.  NOTE: I am taking a deep breath right now just remembering.  It was so awful.  It looked just as run-down as the one at my grandmother’s and even the people looked the same.  Why are people wearing overalls in the city?  And why were there seemingly thousands of people in the store? I get claustrophobic in crowds and you literally had to fight your way through the aisles. Perhaps it’s not always that bad and I’m just that lucky, but that was it for me.

Two things happened when we left the store. (1) My husband apologized and said he’d never makes us do that again. (2) I became suddenly aware that I never bothered to change out of my sweatpants before leaving the house.  I have inhaled too much Walmart dust in my lifetime and I swear to you all right now that I will not be returning ever again.

 

Thankful

I am thankful for so many things.  My daughter, my family, my friends, my dog that follows at my heels everywhere (and I mean everywhere) I go, my favorite boots, my Jeep that I just put a bijillion dollars into, and also for dear, precious, Bret McKenize and of course, Kermit the frog.  I can’t wait to see this movie.

Happy turkey day folks.

Winter Is Coming

No, I’m not complaining about the cold again, I ‘m talking about my current obsession with Game of Thrones.  This series is actually called A Song of Ice and Fire, but people recognize Game of Thrones because it’s on tv.  The books have somewhat taken over my life. My husband and I nerd out talking about them all the time. He has just finished the third book and I’m trailing a few hundred pages behind him. He has been forced into silence until I catch up.  Each book is 1000 + pages so the series is a bit of a commitment.  But I’ve always been committed to being a nerd, so no problem here.  And now that Harry Potter is done I have a replacement.  Sort of.  No, that’s not true, nothing will ever replace Harry Potter, but I digress.

There are so many frustrations I want to voice about the third book (A Storm of Swords) but I don’t to ruin anything for anyone. I had a friend ruin part of this book for me (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) and I was less than pleased when it turned out to be true. But if you have some time do read this series.  I have not been able to put them down.  I’m so invested in the characters (although that’s not necessarily a good thing.)

Also, I just want to throw out that fantasy readers get a bum rap.  They’re all supposed to be fat dudes with greasy hair that spend too much time playing World or Warcraft and not enough time showering.  But what’s wrong with a little magic I say?  I will happily school any of you in Lord of the Rings trivia (and then just as happily take a shower mind you) any day.  So if you have a little time to spare, I highly recommend you pick up these books.  And for now I leave you with this.

Note:  I realize that posting a picture of the author does nothing to help my cause regarding fantasy readers.

 

Sunday Pins

The cold weather is settling in and I already hate it.  I wore the puffiest coat I own this week and all the guys in my office laughed at me.  “But I’m COLD.” Every year it seems to get a little bit colder and every year I hate it a little bit more.  A few more years here and I swear I’m heading south. I did just book a trip to Florida in January. It’s for work unfortunately, but at least I’ll have a bit of sunshine this winter.

So today’s pins are all beachy, just to remind myself that winter won’t last forever.

Big Sigh over here.

Life In Perspective, or Something Like That

A lot changes when you have a child.  Ok, everything changes.  But things have continued to change for me over the past two years.  And some things that I didn’t expect.  One, I turned out to be a pretty decent mother (so far anyway.)  It’s helpful that Ava is pretty agreeable I guess.  But I think its more because I actually enjoy being a mom.  And also because I know my limits.  When I went back to work and had to leave Ava with a nanny I was anxious, terrified and miserable.  But Ava is thriving there and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be counting in french by now if she were home with me all day.  My nanny is actually amazing and she and her family all love Ava.  And she (we) love them. Plus, I’ve come to realize that I need my grown-up time during the day.  I have a lot respect for stay at home moms because I don’t think I could do it.

Speaking of work.  I’ve gotten to a point where I actually kind of like it. Not love it, but like it.  There are obviously “oh, my God I don’t want to go days,” but that goes for everyone. Not only that, but I feel like my job is going places.  And that really only came when I started to enjoy it.  I think it shows.

I’ve had to make some serious decisions over the people in my life in the past two years.  There was a point in my life when my friends came first, before boyfriends, family, anything. I still love all of my friends dearly, but these things obviously change. I’ve had to take a step back from certain friendships. I seriously no longer have the mental capacity to deal with everyone’s drama.  I wish I did, but I just can’t do it. I am naturally prone to becoming anxious and I realized that I was letting other people’s problems affect me. Not only that, but even now, when I have absolutely no drama in my own life, I’ve found that some people have still been saying things about me behind my back. I feel like a 16 year-old just saying the words “talking about me behind my back.”  I don’t often go out and see people and there are some that still actually try to create drama for me by saying completely ridiculous things about me.  The weirdest part about it is that I’m not even upset.  If that’s the way you want to behave, fine. It’s your life. Although I would obviously prefer to be left out of it.  The most recent example of this resulted in me calling  one or two of my closest friends and then I actually laughed.  It doesn’t even matter.

I am surrounded by people – friends, co-workers, family – that are going through incredibly difficult things in their lives right now.  Break-ups, job nightmares, illnesses and other equally icky things.  And while I remain true to my hater-self, I honestly have nothing to complain about.  My life is far from perfect.  Sometimes I don’t have the money to buy everything I want, sometimes I don’t have time to get everything done and sometimes I skip the gym and eat a billion cookies and then beat myself up for an entire night.  I’ve had so many ridiculous goings-on in my past, that normal is pretty amazing to me.  I am happy with my life. I have real love and experience real joy. I feel like things are falling into place for the first time in my entire life.

It’s Saturday night and I’m sure some of my friends are out having fun and I’m sitting on my couch catching up on my shows from the week. And I am completely content.  In fact, this hater is downright cheery.

 

 

Really?

To the guy who stopped on the busy street corner to blow a snot rocket – really?

To the woman wearing jeans and a bikini top at the gym – really?

To the guy in training this morning that followed up his wearing the really short pants with large, neon blue and black striped socks with moons on them by asking ONE MILLION freaking questions and keeping us all late- REALLY?

To Tyler Perry who just cast Kim Kardashian in his upcoming “The Marriage Counselor” movie -WTF?

Thank God its Friday, because folks has gone crazy, ya’ll.

 

 

Secret Santa

It’s that time of year again and I’ve been searching high and low for gifts for this year’s secret santa with the girls.  Have you ever gotten a crappy secret santa gift?  I think we all have.  I once worked in an office that was pretty terrible. So every year I try to be a little creative.  Why waste your money on something that no one wants? We generally have a no gift-card rule.  Gift cards aren’t any fun anyway.  I just think its nicer if you put a little thought into it.  Here are some cute gifts I’ve found for $30 or less.  I may or may not have purchased one of these bad boys already.

I love these guys and they are only $10.  Head to the grocery store and grab the cookie ingredients, throw it all in a cute bag and you’ve got a creative (and usable) gift.

http://www.iloveuma.com/ninjabreadmencookiecutters.aspx

Sephora is kind of a no-brainer for the ladies. As is nail polish. This set is $28 and perfect for the holidays.

http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P299437&categoryId=C17604&shouldPaginate=true

As much as it pains me to link to an Urban Outfitters gift (see here for clarification: http://wp.me/pROJ9-7R  ) but these are really cute.  It’s $4 over the limit, but I feel like the $4 might be worth making someone happy.

I love these guys.  $29 and VivaTerra is all about green living.  What’s not to like?

http://www.vivaterra.com/gifts-1/hostess/owl-mugs.html

I have one of these at home, although this one is a bit nicer than mine.  These are great at keeping your necklaces untangled.  $29

http://www.westelm.com/products/cast-metal-jewelry-tree-c381/?pkey=cgifts-50-under

Cable knit hat from the Gap.  Cute, yet practical for $30.

http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=863043022&tid=goaff3117708&ap=2&siteID=goafcid150

Cornholio

Ava just went to bed a little while ago and I’m sitting here catching up on Beavis and Butthead from last week.  That’s right, Beavis and Butthead.  Don’t judge.  (Just kidding, judge me if you want.  I’m cool with that.)  The original Beavis and Butthead series ran from 1993-1997.  A.k.a. my MTV years. So it was only natural that I would want to watch the new series. Right? Should I be over this?  Probably.  But I can’t help it. Mike Judge is such a genius. Watching Beavis and Butthead make fun Jersey Shore makes my whole night.  I was practically in tears the first episode.

Please people, do not stop yourselves from watching this show because you think you’re an adult and should not be watching this crap. It can’t really be worse than subjecting yourself to another Real Housewife show, can it?