And a BIG Xmas to you too!

Betty thought I needed a Dr. Pepper lipsmacker upgrade for Christmas.



Speaking of Christmas... I learned from Twitter of all places that "Christmas is abbreviated to 'Xmas' because X is the Greek letter Chi, the first letter of Christos." Huh, interesting. And all this time I just thought someone at some point in time (I figured Hallmark) just got lazy.

Also for your enjoyment... Christmas lights gone wild! I don't know why but the snowmen make me laugh. One of our bloggers explains how it's done.

The Massage Oil Store

While scouring Wheaton Mall yesterday, I tried desperately to find a Christmas gift for my brother and his wife. I'm seeing them on Thursday night so I thought it would be easier to give them their gift then, instead of shipping it to them for Christmas, which didn't give me a lot of time to spare.

Like a banshee, I ran through the mall with a mental list of possible items: some nice kitchen things, maybe some exotic teas (does my brother drink tea?), chocolates? Having failed at Macy's -- it lacked a home section -- I was frantic to find something, any store that might sell thoughtful and appropriate "From sister, To brother," things before the mall closed.

An adorable boutique caught my eye as I ran past Borders Express. Cherry wood cabinets, glass bottles, adorable boxes tied up in ornate ribbon and flowers... in my shopping insanity, I thought maybe it was a chocolate shop, or a specialty cooking store and the glass bottles were full of olive oils from all over the world. It wasn't until after I walked in that I knew I was wrong, very wrong.

I found myself surrounded by lavender, chamomile, sensual massage oils (from all over the world, at least I got that part right), body scrubs, organic hair products... and more. I tried to back out but was caught by the shopkeeper, who had just run in overjoyed to see someone looking around (I was the only one in there).

"Hello, welcome to Said Store. I'm 'Tom,' are you looking for anything in particular?" said a man I would have never expected to work in a store like this. Picture Vernon Davis with Ne-yo's voice.

Freaking out and caught off guard, what I wanted to say was, "Nope, sorry, this isn't what I'm looking for," but what came out instead was something like, "I.. uhhh.. was.. um... looking for something for my brother... and his um... wife... but I don't think... um."

"Oh for your brother and his wife, well how about some nice massage oils. We have several different, sensual oils..." said the Ne-yo Vernon Davis, trying to be helpful.

"Um. No. Definitely.. ew. No, they like cooking? Yeah ... so I don't think... umm." I frantically looked around, picking up various items, trying to make small talk, all the while pounding on my brain to think of a way out without being completely rude. I somehow settled on one of the bottles that looked safe (it was in a spray bottle and turned out to be hair conditioner). "Oh this smells nice."

"Yes do you know what sort of hair texture your brother and his wife have? Because these products are excellent for..."

Okay, now that's just weird. "Haaa, no. Um. Well. This is a lovely store. I'm going to.. um.. give this some more thought. Thanks. Bye!" I stammered before turning on my heel and running away. I think the guy tried to give me a card or something as I was rushing out but I'll never know for sure.

It was then I knew I was done Christmas shopping. Done.

Macgyver Lunch

Wooden coffee stirrers make semi-usable okay chopsticks...

GLOW! Love, UMD

University of Maryland put out its annual holiday greeting video: 'Let Your Inner Turtle Glow".

Watch it HERE.

It's... ummm... cute.

I like how you have the option to download this song to your ipod or to your cell phone for a ringtone. I also enjoyed the alternating shots of Maryland celebs with random students: Maryland celeb... random student... Maryland celeb... random student...

Ugh, GAP carolers

Thank you, Tad for finding this holiday jem. Best line of the article by far...

"Plaid? Really? That’s the hot new thing? Lumberjack chic? Are we all gonna get together this year and make pancakes? I’m not buying a plaid shirt for $45, not when I have 37 plaid shirts that I owned back in 1992 sitting comfortably in my attic."

Now Is the Winter of GAP’s Very Plaid Discontent, NBC Philadelphia

Now I don't know much about advertising, but I completely agree with Magray because I remember John Krasinski for rainbow scarfs and 'Mellow Yellow' cords. Sad.

But even those weren't as bad as GAP's 2009 theme, 'GET CHEER! C-H-E-E-R! WOOO.' Not to mention that the "how cute are these boots? How cute are these boots?" song gets stuck in my head all the time like I'm a substitute teacher being held captive by a preppy private school Kindergarten class.



Ahhhhh make it stop!!! Also, I never in a million years would have known they were saying 'moose' had I not looked up this video.

A Dollar Tree Christmas

Speaking of Christmas trees...

I decorated our apartment for Christmas for $6. SIX DOLLARS!!! That's gotta be some sort of record. Just excuse that the artificial tree was a hand-me-down from Tad's parents, and the adorable plush snowman holding the wreath was a gift from a neighbor, and the snowflake ornaments were made from printer paper I had lying around that was probably about $5.95 a pack at some point... but still... SIX DOLLARS!!!

Who knew Dollar Tree could be such a treasure trove of cheap but half-decent christmas ribbon, decorative balls, garland, even Christmas lights!?! And then they had Santa bells, and wreaths and gift wrap paper for your front door... it can get dangerous when everything is marked down for $1 each.

When I began contemplating buying an entire village of ceramic cookie cutter houses and ice skater figurines -- not to mention my mom was at my side, encouraging me and saying "oh my goodness, how cute!" -- that's when I knew I had to get out of there.

I think the end result wasn't so Christmas-on-your-face as I had envisioned, still a few steps up from last year though.


Paper snowflake and ribbon made into bows are my ornaments. I'm such a crafty little girl scout.

Garland on our balcony. Along with our poor tomato and herb garden



And finally, I couldn't let the wine rack feel left out.

Wasn't it appropriate that the day I finally got around to taking these pictures was also the day it snowed? Tad heard somewhere it has snowed in the D.C. area every Dec. 5 for the past 5 years. Crazy right?

It's been a nice weekend too. I met up with Erin, Simone and Allie after work at Mayorga Coffee on Friday to hear one of Allie's coworkers, Juliet Lloyd, perform. I was a nice way to unwind. Juliet is a singer/songwriter who has had her music featured on a few tv shows, including The Hills, and I thought she had a similar sound to Sara Bareilles, only sweeter.

Saturday was spent playing in the snow and braving the elements to head over to Nick's Christmas party extravaganza in Ballston (my homemade cheese ball shaped like a pineapple was a huge hit). I know, so domestic. But certainly, Christmas is in full swing around here.

National Christmas Tree Lighting

For the first time ever, I was able to not only attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting in front of the White House this year, but I was able to see the national tree up close, in person. A D.C. holiday staple I had never experienced until last night and it was spectacular.

Work graciously let me work an early shift to go to the event -- we had to be through the security gates by 4:30 p.m., crazy right? Who is usually off work and available to head down Pennsylvania Ave. at 4:30 p.m. a Thursday? -- and it was a sight to behold. Over 7,000 people showed up!



Everything looks better on JumboTron, don't you think?

Our friend Daozhong got very lucky and won five tickets online a few weeks ago, but was unable to go so Nick and I gathered some old friends and coworkers to watch the show.


Randy Jackson (one of the judges from American Idol) MC'ed the event -- he said 'dawg' at least twice -- and the show included performances from Sheryl Crow, Common and a few others.


Not to mention the Obama family were the ones to 'get down to business' as the president put it, and flip the light switch.




WATCH IT HERE (you can hear me counting down):


It was a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit because the show was silly with holiday cheer -- Michelle Obama read T'was the Night Before Christmas on stage, a chosen 5-year-old read her letter to Santa... then Santa showed up to finish the show with a sing-a-long (and then that's when we left to go to dinner).

I was really impressed with how many lights and ornaments were on the tree. So many, that you almost couldn't see anything but a cone-shaped white blur. The night overall was a fun and different way to spend an evening, and it certainly put me in the Christmas spirit.

Parents and Technology Part III

Recently, my dad discovered that you can set your text messages to type in all caps all the time.

He says it makes it easier to type. The rest of us suspect it makes it easier for him to read.

This is sort of funny because he writes in all caps all the time naturally when he writes notes and such, but it also comes off as his yelling at you via text, even when he's obviously not.

"WHAT TIME ARE YOU MEETING US AT THE AIRPORT?"

"NO HEAT UPSTAIRS SO I TURNED ON THE SPACE HEATER - REPAIR GUY COMING TOMORROW."

"GREAT TO SEE YOU! SO GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT DOWN. LOVE YOU"

It's like my very own Dad News Ticker!

So Much Giving

I'm still rolling myself around from all the Thanksgiving food I ate, but I have to say that it was one of the best holiday trips I've had. Didn't miss any flights. Wasn't delayed. No traffic. No drama. Just a lot of moving around.

I was in Chattanooga, TN with my dad's side of the family again this year for the big turkey day. We kicked off the feasting Wednesday night at a BBQ place downtown called Sticky Fingers (my little sister, Leslie, bought a tshirt that says "Come Lick Our Bones" to prove it) before heading over to Aunt Doris' (Dad's sister) for coffee and way, way too much decadent dessert.

My parents don't believe in sleeping in, so up we were with the sun on Thanksgiving day, back over to Doris' with our cousins Mark and his daughter Sydney for a light breakfast and to watch the Macy's parade - one of my sister's high school friends was in the Towson marching band this year. For the big meal, we were joined by a bunch of Doris and my Uncle Ival's sisters and friends for Thanksgiving, Southern Style: Turkey, beef brisket, ham, creamed spinach, sweet potatoes, three different kinds of rolls, stuffing, green beans, and so on and so forth. Not to mention two countertops of desserts. All chocolate.

At one point in the afternoon, I was charged with playing with my 5-year old cousin Syndey, who I convinced coloring quietly was much more fun than playing 'loud growling cats.' Here are snippets of our conversation for your enjoyment...

"It's a French bear. You can tell because it has a mustache."

Sydney: "I don't like pink. It's waayy too girly."
Me: "I don't like pink either."
Sydney: "Well then you can't use the pink marker because you don't like it either."

"I want to practice writing now. Tell me what to write. Only three-letter words please."
"How about... 'cat'?"
"That's to easy!"
"How about... 'dog'?"
"That's too easy!"
"How about... 'cow'?"
"That's too easy! Here, I will write them so I can teach you things."

"I want to show you my hair ties! (She pulls out a huge box of hair ties and sorts them by color and amount of sparkles. She picks up a extra frilly hair tie). This one is my favorite even though it's way too pretty and fancy."

"Sydney, how old are you?"
"I'm 5 and a half."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm 23 and a half."
"Uhh that's not a real number. You're too old."

Our last full day in Chattanooga was on Friday. No, we did not go Black Friday shopping, I mean not really. We did see people camping out the night before in front of Best Buy, and two car wrecks outside of the Wal*Mart parking lot. Insanity.

We spent the day at my older sister Kate's house with her husband Brian and my niece Sara Jane, who is only 6 and already reading Harry Potter (I know because I was asked to 'please, please, please' sit and listen to her read. I was actually really impressed). We eventually loaded up and meandered down to a sort of art district where we "Black Friday shopped" a small street fair and a few boutiques. The evening was wrapped up with eating dinner at the (prepare the snooty accent) fabulous Chattanooga Country Club and watching the Christmas-light decorated boat competition on the Tennessee River.

I think Leslie said, "We never said what we're thankful for," half a dozen times this weekend, but we never did. I'll tell you that I'm thankful we came home on Saturday and not tonight so I had all day to lay around, eat Thanksgiving Take 2 (my mother couldn't resist cooking her own T-day dinner and we weren't complaining) and help my parents get the house ready for Christmas.

No, in all seriousness, it's been a hectic year for me and I couldn't have gotten through it without my fabulous, and always supportive friends, and forever loving family. It's hard to believe we're pretty much half way through the holiday season and it's only going to get fuller, faster and crazier from here and I'm grateful for it all.

It's getting weirder by the day

Two days ago, Tad and I received our first "Save the Date" wedding invitation that was addressed to both of us. They're good friends of mine. Tad has only met the couple one time.

A few days ago, a coworker asked me at a work happy hour, "So what does your husband do?"

Two weeks ago, Tad asked his mother to please send me this recipe for one of his favorite dishes so I could learn how to make it, to which she replied, "No way! Not until you put a ring on her finger!"

A few weeks ago, my mother asked me, "Would you and Tad like to host Thanksgiving this year at your place?" and when I responded, "Uhh, are you out of your mind?!" she said, "Oh okay, well will you be spending Thanksgiving with his family or with us?"

We're thinking we're just going to hold out as long as possible -- at least until we win the $100 bet with Erin that Tad will propose to me by my 25th birthday. She says yes, I say no way -- then elope and tell everyone a few years later.