New Year's Eve - courtesy of Alma S. Photography

I took my camera to Alma & Doug's fabulous NYE party, but sadly did not take any photographs.  Thank goodness for Alma! I swiped a couple but you should go HERE to check out the rest. She's got so much talent! *and yes, I realize that I am posting about NYE at the end of January.  I missed a few weeks, so I'm trying to catch up.  Slow news month . . . :)




Love this photo - some of my favorite people in the city! (& not in the city :( )

I like this one - mid-laugh.

The Great Christmas Tree Battle Begins . . . 


So, we live in Chicago, in a fair-sized apartment.  The problem is that we have little to no storage space.  I'm talking, under beds, two closets and an extra set of drawers.  That's it.  We even store a few things in the trunk of our car when company comes.  Although I think that we manage the space well, it's pretty tough to acquire anything else without getting rid of something.  We try to purge extra clothes on a regular basis.  


The one thing that we do not have to store right now is a Christmas tree.  That is because we don't have one.  We have some ornaments and some tinsel and stockings but no tree.  We have used one from my grandmother for the past few years.  I plan on making good use of that tree again this year since, alas, I believe that I have lost the Christmas tree battle.  My husband is right . . . yes, I mean that.  We don't have the space.  It is another thing to store.  I have not thought about where exactly it would go at the end of the season.  


But. I. really. love. Christmas. 


I have dreamed of having my very own family Christmas tree for years.  I always loved and still adore my parents' 9 foot tree at home.  It is always so lovely and full of great memories.  However, all through undergrad and law school, I couldn't wait to have my own place so that I could have my own full-size tree to decorate.  The problem:  I have been out of law school going on three years now and still have not had my very own tree.  While I understand that these are first-world problems and in the grand scheme of things -- especially with a wonderful trip coming up in the future -- it is not a big deal, I still really would like a tree. 


Seeing my Christmas tree every evening when I come home from work and every morning while I eat breakfast is not a reminder of the Santa Claus parts of Christmas or gifts, or snowmen, etc.  It is a reminder of the season and of the real reason for all of the celebration and anticipation.  (The armadillo ornament that I purchased last fall in San Antonio is on the back of the tree so that it doesn't ruin the sanctity of the tree -- and it's pretty ugly. :) )  It is a visual reminder of family, friends and my faith.  I can do without the presents -- really, I mean it.  I truly have all that I need and want, for that matter.  


I just like the visual reminder.  Here's to hoping that I can still use my favorite substitute for a big tree: my Grandma's long needle artificial pine.  THAT'S  a special tree. 


OKAY . . . so after I drafted this post.  We decorated my Grandma's Christmas tree.  I can be SUCH a brat sometimes!!! 


Note to self: remember this in about a month when I'm searching for New Year's Resolutions. 

SURPRISE!!

I already knew that I had a wonderful husband.  No one needs to remind me because I am reminded every single day.  He's a great human being -- just like my daddy.  


However, my husband has truly topped himself this time.  His schedule ebbs and flows a little more than mine -- mine is more steady with fewer breaks.  Somehow he managed to get a week off in December and decided to surprise me with a vacation.  A small confession: it has always been a secret dream of mine to be surprised with a vacation.  Boy did he surprise me. 


Here were the clues: 

• you need a passport
• you will probably need boots
• and a coat
• and it's going to be REALLY cold
• you won't have access to e-mail or your phone

What would your guess have been?  

Here is mine: Canada 

(Alaska, until the whole passport thing)

No offense to the Canadians, eh, but I did not care to go somewhere even colder than Chicago for vacation.  I think this is more practical than bratty.  Regardless, I did not express my reticence to go to Canada until after I found out that we are going to . . . 

Vienna, Austria 

for reals.  I am so excited.  I haven't been to Europe since 2004, when I studied for a summer in London and traveled to Ireland, France and Wales.  Truly, it was an amazing experience.  

However, this is the first time we've been abroad together, so this trip is extra special.  I love traveling with him, so this should be just as fun as some of our other trips to San Juan, PR; Sanibel Island; Hawaii, etc.  

I feel very blessed with such a wonderful husband and best friend and the chance to take a fantastic trip during a time when Vienna is one of the most Christmas-y places in the world.  

More to come regarding his fantastic plans for us -- 3 shows, a couple of castles, some museums and, I'm sure, at least a 1/3 of the 18+ Christmas Markets in and around the city.  

Black Friday: worth the hype?

As someone who enjoys shopping on occasion, I can't say that I have ever fully understood Black Friday.  However, I can say that I detest the fact that it has begun invading the sanctity of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is about family, friends, food and appreciation.  (It is also about Americans conning the Indians into eating with them so that they could later con them into stealing their land, Kanye West - style - "Imma let you finish, Squanto.")  We visit with family and friends -- probably (if we are being honest) a little less meaningfully than in years before the onslaught of technology -- for a few hours, stuff our faces, sit around and talk while we wait for dessert, then prepare to race off to Wal-Mart for big screen televisions and Tickle Me Elmos (that is so 4 years ago).  It is utterly distracting.

Alas, does anyone else find that the day most set aside for being thankful all year is tarnished by the fact that K-Mart is open all day on Thanksgiving morning?  Yes, it's fun to look at ads and to see all of the good deals.  I am not immune to the draw of the inch-thick Thanksgiving circulars.  The problem is that immediately after we're finished giving thanks, we've moved on to indulging in pointless consumerism.  It is one thing to seek out a deal or two for a few special items;  it is quite another to purchase tons of things for yourself or others that are either unneeded or truly, if you think about it, unwanted.  I guess that I just have a huge problem with sprinting into Kohl's at 4 a.m. with a wad full of cash, ready to thrust it at the first salesperson who offers me a clock radio or Isotoners.  This is how America got into this situation in the first place!  I just think that being cognizant of where your money goes is important -- especially in an uncertain economy.  Sometimes living on less is more liberating than being surrounded by tons of "stuff."

Anyway, the point is that no, Black Friday is not worth the hype.  I think that I like, eat Mexican for dinner day or make turkey pot pie day, or decorate for Christmas day -- something a little less focused on getting more of what no one really needs.

Home - for a bit :)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I started out my Thanksgiving with a few texts (not mass -- which I HATE) to family and friends.  Then, I headed out to a greenway-trail in my husband's hometown and ran about 6 miles.  I wanted to pre-emptively burn some calories.  I don't like that gross-over-full feeling you get around 6:00 on Thanksgiving night.  The run definitely helped.  I'm looking forward to another run (or a walk if my husband decides to join me) tomorrow morning before doing a little bit of work and relaxing with family.  

We had some amazing food.  Besides seeing family, who we never get to see often enough, it felt great to be completely disconnected from our exhausting, busy, dirty, crowded, challenging, sophisticated and sometimes, foreign-feeling, lives in Chicago.  I have to admit that every time I return to the south, or anywhere in its proximity since, technically, Indiana is not the South, I always want to hide and stay for awhile.  The south is sort of ingrained in me in a way that is truly difficult to explain.  Some may interpret it as just wanting to be near my family and the people and places I know.  That is certainly part of it.  However, there is something truly good about where I am from.  The people are good.  The food is good.  Life is so simple.  When compared with our daily existence in Chicago, there is no contest.  The sheer number of steps it takes me to get from point A to point B on any given day would have been incredibly overwhelming to me 10 years ago.  That is not to say that everything about the south is perfect.  It is decidedly not perfect.  At times, it is overwhelmingly narrow-minded, hyper (dare I say, faux) religious, short-sighted and inefficient.  However, it is home.  Sometimes, I don't know how it happens, but you just can't divorce the innermost aspects of your persona from the parts of your home that are intricately ingrained in your DNA - if that makes sense.  

A preacher friend of mine once told me, if you're from Kentucky, you're either home or you're forever trying to make your way back there. 

Happy April Fool's Day! (an explanation of this day's origins)

The origins of April Fools' Day - courtesy of InfoPlease: 

April Fools' Day: Origin and History

The uncertain origins of a foolish day

by David Johnson and Shmuel Ross

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

New Year's Day Moves

Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

Problems With This Explanation

There are at least two difficulties with this explanation. The first is that it doesn't fully account for the spread of April Fools' Day to other European countries. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by England until 1752, for example, but April Fools' Day was already well established there by that point. The second is that we have no direct historical evidence for this explanation, only conjecture, and that conjecture appears to have been made more recently.

Constantine and Kugel

Another explanation of the origins of April Fools' Day was provided by Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. He explained that the practice began during the reign of Constantine, when a group of court jesters and fools told the Roman emperor that they could do a better job of running the empire. Constantine, amused, allowed a jester named Kugel to be king for one day. Kugel passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day, and the custom became an annual event.

"In a way," explained Prof. Boskin, "it was a very serious day. In those times fools were really wise men. It was the role of jesters to put things in perspective with humor."

This explanation was brought to the public's attention in an Associated Press article printed by many newspapers in 1983. There was only one catch: Boskin made the whole thing up. It took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize that they'd been victims of an April Fools' joke themselves.

Spring Fever

It is worth noting that many different cultures have had days of foolishness around the start of April, give or take a couple of weeks. The Romans had a festival named Hilaria on March 25, rejoicing in the resurrection of Attis. The Hindu calendar has Holi, and the Jewish calendar has Purim. Perhaps there's something about the time of year, with its turn from winter to spring, that lends itself to lighthearted celebrations.

Observances Around the World

April Fools' Day is observed throughout the Western world. Practices include sending someone on a "fool's errand," looking for things that don't exist; playing pranks; and trying to get people to believe ridiculous things.

The French call April 1 Poisson d'Avril, or "April Fish." French children sometimes tape a picture of a fish on the back of their schoolmates, crying "Poisson d'Avril" when the prank is discovered.

Read more: April Fools' Day: Origin and History — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aprilfools1.html#ixzz1I84Ael51

Pinch me!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

(an obligatory cheesy holiday post)

In honor of Valentine's Day - (Somewhat) romantic movie moments that would have been RUINED by technology

When Harry Met Sally 

After nearly a decade of going back and forth and it never being the right time, they finally found one another on New Year's Eve.  How irritating would it have been to have had tinny cell phone ringer strains of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" or "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul invading the moment that they finally realize they're right for one another?   I'm guessing on the song choices -- but both of those songs were in the top 100 for 1989. :)

The Notebook 


    


What if, during the boat scene where the ducks/swans are surrounding the boat, Allie Hamilton was texting her friends about Noah's ruggedly handsome good looks instead of taking it all in?  What if instead of gazing at Noah over dinner the night before, she tried to beat her high score on Angry Birds?  In every scene, it is clear that each was fully invested in the presence of the other.

Grease 





Instead of hanging out with her friends after school, Sandy chooses to Facebook her friends about her summer fling.  She tweets about staying out until ten o'clock, drinking lemonade and strolling with Danny Zuko.  Thus, she and her poodle-skirt wearing, scarf-clad friends are deprived of multiple opportunities to burst out into spontaneous song and dance in public places.  Anti-social Sandy might have missed the chance to stage a casual run-in with Danny if she had waited to see where he had last "checked-in" on Facebook.


You've Got Mail 



So you're wondering how this fits with the premise of this post? BETTER technology would have ruined the beautiful progression of the love story between Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly.  The archaic AOL instant messaging technology they used for real-time chatting was not developed enough that they were able to check one another's profiles or video chat.  Nor did they have Twitter or Facebook accounts linked to their AOL account information, as that would have likely led to one of them realizing that they were inadvertently falling for the competition.  Better technology would have kept them apart.  Sometimes not knowing everything is better . .  .(unless you're meeting men on Craig's List).

Sleepless in Seattle 





I'm just realizing that I have, quite suspiciously, listed three Meg Ryan movies.  I guess I'm implying that she has the market cornered on romantic comedies.

This is a good one.  Technology was just beginning to connect us all beyond landlines and snail mail.  If the newly-widowed Sam Baldwin had really wanted to meet someone on such a large scale, Match.com, eHarmony, or one of the other websites would have surely been perfect for him.  Never has a lack of technology been so effective at bringing two people together.  Sam's son, Noah, calls into a radio show in an attempt to find his father a new wife.  The two of them sift through tons of mail, suggestive photos, and the like, to no avail.  With the ease and wide availability of e-mail, the two would have been inundated with digital communication, possibly preventing them from ever reading Annie's letter.  One day, Noah discovers that Annie has written to his father.    The rest is history.

She does a background search on Sam (on a prehistoric DOS-based computer) and begins the process of tracking him down.  (I'll admit that technology would have resulted in far fewer near misses by both parties).  Noah, pretending to be his father, begins to communicate with Annie.  They borrow a page from an old love story, "An Affair to Remember," and plan to meet at the top of the Empire State building on Valentine's Day.  Noah flies across the country to, in turn, prompt his father to follow him. The story is a little complicated but is overall less complicated by the noticeable absence of advanced technology.

After!!

Separate bathrooms (and closets for that matter) make our marriage run very smoothly.  However, I still feel like it's my job to make sure that his bathroom is fabulous.  It doesn't hurt that my husband loves practical gifts.  He was thrilled with the results! 

AFTER

New towels, shower curtain, rug, apothecary tray, and new stoneware accessories for his vanity made a huge difference! I love cleaning with my hot pink rubber gloves but I may or may not have nearly asphyxiated myself with bleach.  It certainly smells clean in there! We're hoping to paint the whole bathroom a shade of white/blue/gray this spring when it warms up enough to keep the windows open for awhile.  

Yay for redecorating! 

Happy (early) Valentine's Day Pt. II! 

Since V-day is on a Monday and my husband and I won't really get to spend much time together, I decided to surprise him.  For weeks he has had his eye on a bathroom collection at West Elm.  His old bathroom accessories have been with him since medical school.  PLUS his bathroom is also the laundry room so it could use a good dusting.  Here is his bathroom before a deep clean and some new accessories: 

Check out the results tomorrow! 

Snomaggedon, Snomg, Snocaine overdose - call it what you will but it's exciting!

As much as I wish that I lived somewhere like Nashville right now (where the weather is decidedly different) 

Weather for Nashville, TN  - Add to iGoogle

53°F | °C Current: Showers Wind: SW at 9 mph Humidity: 89% Tue 55°F | 29°F Wed 32°F | 22°F Thu 36°F | 27°F Fri 39°F | 33°F

I will be content to simply hide in my house, fireplace blazing, enjoy the unprecedented winds, waves and snow with French press coffee and a pile of work (with a few breaks for Wife Swap, anything on Bravo and LOST dvds.) 


I was out of the office this morning for work-related meetings so I popped back in around 2:00 p.m. -- just long enough to fill a rolly trial briefcase with enough work for three snow days and cram myself onto a Red Line train. 


The mass exodus was kind of fun.  I think that Chicago needed something like this.  We've all been bummed since the Bears so graciously handed Green Bay their spot in the Superbowl.  Everyone loves a state of emergency -- when it doesn't involve anything uncomfortable like power loss, busted pipes, or other inconveniences.   If the only inconvenience is that I can't go to work, by all means, inconvenience me. 

On obligatory New Year's resolutions

Sometimes I make them, sometimes I don't.  I read somewhere that the top three NYR are:

By far, the top 3 new year's resolutions are: - weight loss, - exercise program, - stop smoking These are not mine.  I don't smoke.  I already exercise (possibly not enough but I am not a complete pessimist) and I don't really want to lose weight.  I'd like to tone up a little, though.  I don't think that it's worthy of a NYR.   I would like to stop talking so much -- I think that this is a result of being an attorney.  I am constantly persuading someone of something.  I need to listen more.  I need to want less and be content with what I have.  I need to get a hobby and stop letting work dominate my life.  However, I don't plan to start making sweet and low bras -- I was just really impressed that someone took the time to do this.  I found this as I was looking for the image below.  Seriously, stunning . . . .  I am going to read more.  Finally . . .  I'm going to give up artificial sweetener.  It may take me awhile to give up diet drinks but I'm giving up adding sweetener to my tea and coffee.  I think I can do this.   Okay, I want to go to the gym more often, too.  Happy new year!

Under pressure: Christmas Traditions

For the past few weeks, I've been mulling over obsessing about the fact that now is the time to start traditions.  I have tons of Christmas traditions with my immediate family but now that I am married I have begun thinking about creating our own Christmas traditions for our family.

Christmas has always centered around church and spending time with family over the years.  There were Christmas parties, Operation Christmas Child Shoebox projects (my church has been an area-wide collection center for over 10 years), Christmas plays, cantatas, Advent, and my favorite, Christmas hymns.  It has been hard to keep that up since I've been away from my home church in years past but I hope to revamp my efforts (even far away in Chicago) over the next few years.

My immediate family has never been apart on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.  I don't know how I'll deal with the first Christmas morning that we spend separately.  I'm hoping that we find a way to adapt without losing many of our own traditions.

We typically put up our Christmas tree in the couple of days after Thanksgiving.  We have a gorgeous 9 foot tree.  Fake, yes, but I have no affinity for real trees.  They leak sap, they shed worse than sheepdogs, and they are incredibly flammable.  I love seeing the ornaments from my childhood every year.  Among my favorites: the eskimo ice fishing in a little pond (I definitely tried to melt the pond by running it under water when I was younger), the baby carriage purchased the year I was born, my grandmother's smooth green glass ball ornament and, among others, my sister's hand-painted man who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Bill.


My sister and I always went to get the other before going to the living room on Christmas morning.  My mother always has an elaborate display with some of our larger unwrapped gifts and overflowing stockings spread out under the tree.  We never touch any of our gifts without making coffee and/or cinnamon rolls for our parents.  It was the only way that we could entice them out of bed before 6 a.m. some mornings.  We've become a little more lax in recent years but Christmas morning is always such a wonderful time to be at home with my parents and sister.  Sometimes, my sister and I woke up too early -- 4:30, 5:30 so we had to entertain ourselves in the basement with Christmas movies until an acceptable time to wake up our parents.  They have always been very cooperative on Christmas morning -- very admirable considering they probably went to bed around 3 a.m. after decorating the living room.  We sat around for hours, excitedly watching one another unwrap gifts, gorging ourselves on Christmas candy, and playing with our new gifts -- even as we grew older.

Even after reading multiple articles about Christmas traditions, I'm still not sure how exactly Christmas traditions begin.  I we could just keep doing what we're doing: decorating our home together right after Thanksgiving, choosing and sending Christmas cards, walking down Michigan Avenue to see the storefronts, the CTA Christmas train, the Christkindl market, and Macy's, baking Christmas treats, and traveling home to share the holidays with our families.  I'm sure that our "traditions" will change as we have children and move around but I think that's okay.  The important traditions will stick and the others will fall by the wayside.

Surviving the last days of 2010

Between work and traveling, I haven't had much time to breathe lately.  However, several things have helped me survive the past few months:

Our trip to Napa/Sonoma/San Francisco 

Michael Buble's Holiday station on Pandora 

Starbucks "Red" cups 

and of course my amazing family.  

Work has certainly been testing me lately. I think I'm up to the challenge -- for the moment, at least. 

Wonderful weekends like the past several weekends help, as well.  One of my best friends came to visit with her boyfriend.  We love having guests, so it was wonderful to spend a weekend bumming around Chicago with them.  My bf's boyfriend got some amazing photos at the Christkindl market: 

We even ran into some carolers during our stop at Garrett's popcorn.  Macy's was truly gorgeous. 

I fell in love with a toy . . . but my husband just wouldn't cave :) 

Of course, I took them to the Bean

We hit up Michigan Ave. and the Signature room for the cocktails and undoubtedly, the view: 

Too many wonderful photos to post but you get the idea! 

We didn't take too many photos during the karaoke sponsored by wine and tequila we sang the night before but needless to say, our rendition of the Remix to Ignition will not soon be forgotten.  

If I can make it through the next three days, I'll get to head home and relax for 6 days work-free :)