things that made this Christmas spectacular:
1) Cousin Susie on Christmas Eve. There is one guarantee when Doug's family gets together. Someone will get spectacularly drunk. That was cousin Susie. There are fun drunks, and bad drunks and everywhere in between and I am glad to say that Susie was so much fun to be around. When she wasnt grabbing me, she was telling Doug that she would disown him if he ever let me go. Thanks Cousin Susie for a spectacular time.
2) Stocking stuffers. Im sure I've mentioned it before, but Doug's family has the tradition of giving away free stuff they've collected throughout the year as stocking stuffers. Half the fun is finding which stuff can be the most outrageous or will resonate each other. This years highlights were:
- wrapping Leo's mail (Doug's brother in law who we bought the house from, he hasnt quite gotten all of his mail forwarded) and watching him unwrap it
- getting a talking Penguin Toy from McDonalds from Doug's mom. She could've given it to the one year old, but I won out instead.
- the picture of Doug circa 1986 in his suit and tie. I'm guessing it was a 3rd grade picture. He hadn't quite grown into his hair or ears yet.
3) Watching Doug's godson (he's about 18 months old) run into the house with his pajamas and elmo slippers. There are few things better than watching kids experience the magic of Christmas.
4) The malicious Uno game. All Christmas goodwill and cheer go out the window after a few beers and a losing score in Uno.
5) Opening up my childhood Christmas ornaments that my mom packed into the boxes. I cried tears of joy when I was reunited with my Baby Jesus ornament on Christmas night. It really made my day complete.
6) watching Doug open up his gifts. It really is better to give than receive. Bringing joy to someones life who brings you joy year round is truly a great gift.
and finally
7) The letter from Santa I got Christmas morning when I woke up. I'm sure Doug thinks that I'm completely bizarre for leaving out cookies and milk (or eclairs and hot cocoa as it was this year) but he played along with all my little reindeer games. And when you believe, magical things happen.
even though this is my first Christmas away from home, I've been trying to make it as home-like as possible. There is no baby jesus ornament hanging on my Christmas Tree, but I do have lots of beautiful ornaments that shimmer and shine (Doug even let me buy sparkle ornaments, Hurrah!) There is no homecooked meal, but I did manage to bake until my hearts content yesterday and then got up at 5:00am this morning to finish off the last bit of Biscochitos. The result? Im feeling very excited about everything that Christmas has to offer..it may not be the same exact as I would get at home, but Im keeping on to old traditions as well as making some new ones too.
I gotta say, this wasnt bad for my first time. Doug bought me the worlds largest rolling pin (and it was plastic too) but I managed to overcome and I'm really proud of the end result.
Im not one to brag (okay okay), but I do make a great chocolate chip cookie. They had no chocolate chips left at the grocery store last night, so I went with the chunk and was not disappointed.
Lets pretend this is a good picture because it really doesnt do the Cranberry Orange bread justice. Remind me next year to invest in a food processor because chopping cranberries is really not my forte. They're round and rolly. And Im messy.
So the cookies are sweets are baked, the presents are wrapped, the wreath is hung and the tree is sparkling....I think I'm ready for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones!
Things I learned in 2008: Volume 1 - How to Save Money and become Fiscally Responsible
How does one go from broke (a little exaggeration) to buying a house in a year? I have a little advice that has helped me along the way.
1) Don't charge stuff on a credit card that you're not able to pay off within 30 days.
2) Pay your credit cards off every month. Interest will kill you. It will also screw up your fico score. On the other hand, if you pay off in full, youll see your FICO score jump
3) Find a credit card that will monitor your fico score every month (or invest in a service that will monitor your fico score every month). Its like stepping on a scale, you can see if you really screwed up for that month.
4) Figure out what your #1, 2 and 3 goals are and where you can scrimp. I used to eat out for lunch 4-5 times a week. Now its down to 0. I really dont miss it all that much. Make a plan on how you'll afford 1, 2 and 3 and don't deviate from that with stupid purchases.
5) Generosity by its definition is giving of what you have. If you dont have the money to spend on a gift, then find other ways to honoring a person you love. I figure that no one would wish for me to go into debt by buying them that Luby's gift card, so there will be other presents to give.
6) The second that bill gets in your hands, open it up, get out your checkbook, write the check, put a stamp on it, and put it in the mail pile. You'll be able to sleep better at night knowing that all your bills are paid.
7) If you can, pay off extra money in loans (car, mortgage) etc.
PS FICO scores count. A lot. Instead of trying to say how unfair it is, just try to raise the score as much as possible.
WInter officially started this morning around 7:00am this morning. Chicago seemed to greet it with open arms as we braved the walk to the car at six degrees below zero. That was just the air temperature, no wind chill involved.
Thankfully its decided to warm up to one below zero, which is a balmy 27 degrees below zero with the wind chill.
I have a sneaking suspicion that we may be ordering delivery tonight
one of the things I love about travelling is exploring other people's version of what normal is. It never ceases to amaze me the wonderful things people do on a daily basis. I remember being awestruck in Paris at the Louvre. The museum was mostly overrun by kids ages 4-18 that were there on field trips. Take a moment to imagine, for a second, that you get to view Picasso's and Van Gogh's at least once a year for the first 18 years of your life. Moving all across the country always had me with a new experience. In San Diego, I could see the beach from a hill near my house. In New York, we'd go on field trips to Revolutionary War sites and yes, even into the city. Now that I'm in Chicago, I need to remind myself not to take these new experiences for granted even though it seems like groundhog day sometimes. The view outside my window at work has the skyline complete with the Sears Tower. The largest building in all of North America. I pass it at least a dozen times every day, but I never stop anymore to stare. We get snow twice a week these days. And even though its a hassle and can take me 2 hours to go 10 miles, its beautiful to stare out the window at night and see the snow so perfect and white.
Reflecting towards Christmas, I'm a little freaked out by not spending the holidays with my family -- we have our own little traditions and meals, but I keep getting excited about all the new traditions I'll experience. Decorating a tree that looks nothing like our Christmas trees in New Mexico (apparently they dont ship the Blue Spruces from Colorado, damn). There will most likely not be any tamales either. But I will be surrounded with a different set of people who love me just the same.
It always seems like the end of the year goes by so quickly. It seems like I was just in Albuquerque celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and now Christmas is a mere 9 days away. I've been sort of silent lately, but that's because I've been working on a ton of projects at home. We set up our Christmas tree (Doug let me buy sparkle ornaments!), we shopped till we dropped for a few weekends. And I'm happy to announce that my 3rd (is it only 3rd) annual year end mix is complete!
I seem to have an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to music. I started this mix process way back in October and picked a few dozen songs that I had listened to over the year. The mix is usually littered with some old favorites of mine along with artists discovered on a half a dozen sites I peruse like the Fuel/Friends blog, Paste Magazines website and my new favorite "Slowly Going Bald". From October to today, I make the heartwrenching decision to take out songs that just don't fit, rearrange the playlist at least 71 times and listen to the playlist on my ipod, burn a disc, listen to it in my car, and have imaginary conversations in my head about people telling me how great my year end mix is. The whole point to all of this madness? How do I know I'm done? When I don't notice the cd has played in its entirety. That's magic. Why? Because that means everything fits. There's nothing sticking out. Its perfect the way it is.
Today, it was done. I'm frantically burning cd's for my friends in an attempt that they may actually get them before Christmas...but if not, perfection can wait. And what is perfection to me? Its usually two parts Josh Ritter, mixed in with one part David Ford, Ryan Adams, Joe Purdy and Matt Nathanson. Shake vigorously and wash down with a Newcastle Brown Ale. Rinse and repeat.
this will likely be the last blog for another week or so, as Doug and I are headed back to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving festivities. There we'll get to tackle such projects as eating tamales, setting up toy trains, taking family pictures and playing tirelessly with my three nieces. 2008 has been a great year so far. Especially with tough economic times, I feel truly blessed to be in a good place right now. Here's a very partial list of what I'm thankful year this year.
I'm thankful for a man who loves me unconditionally and without reserve. I've never laughed so much, been so happy or loved so much. He's the kind of guy who will walk me out to my car in the morning and scrape all the ice off my windshield, just so I don't have to sit in a freezing car for five minutes. The one who exchanges text messages with my mom, trades stories with my dad, and misses his very first Thanksgiving with his family so he can be with mine.
I'm thankful for my crazy, hilarious, sometimes disturbing mom (also known as "the mayor on the other side of the line"). If she didnt push me out of her womb, I have to believe that we'd be the ones out for happy hour every weekend sipping on margaritas and outdoing each other with our witty banter. We truly have fun together, and the older I get, the more I appreciate her.
Doug's family. Its an awfully tough job to live up to the amazing family I have, and they've really taken me in like one of their own. I truly enjoy being around them every time we get together. They took me out to a Mexican restaurant last day for my birthday, knowing I would be missing home. They've made this transition to Chicago seamless and enjoyable.
My friends littered all across the country. Why? because virtually any time i need a friend, someones around to shoot the breeze. It also helps when you're trying to plan a getaway and you have friends in Orange County, Long Island, and OhioIndianaLouisianaNewYorkandwithanyluckChicagobytheNewYear (I know I'm missing lots of states in there David).
Jordan Catalano. Mostly because no list of mine would be complete without a mention of Jordan Catalano.
So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there, hug your loved ones tight and stuff yourselves silly.
and back to your regularly scheduled adventures in San Diego.
Previously our young hero and heroine were eating fish tacos in the lovely seaside town of La Jolla, CA...aaaaaand action.
Friday night we got in without a hitch to San Diego. It was late, and we managed to scarf down some martinis and spring rolls before bed time.
Saturday morning we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and head to the Wild Animal Park. It is much much much better than the Zoo, but it also has grown to three times the size. Walking in the 94 degree heat of Escondido was more work than fun, but I did manage to see a few rhinos, tigers, springboks and other various animals.
Soon after that we found ourselves in the deep throes of a quilt store. Not just any quilt store...the "Quilt in a Day" studios. Eleanor's studio! Okay, so my mom watches quilting on PBS and it was her life time dream to visit the store. That mom of mine, I can't ever tell if she'll be stripping or sewing. Ironically enough, the book she bought at the quilt store was called "Still Stripping after 25 Years".
Saturday evening brought us to the fabulous "Stone Brewing Company" that friends Craig and Jen introduced me to. With an extensive beer list (were talking more than 30 beers on tap and probably twice that in their bottle selection. Doug drank giddily while the rest of us paced ourselves between beer and food. Did I mention that he ordered a "40 clove garlic chicken". Yeah, not a great time to share a bed with a loved one. Proving his party prowess, we got back to the hotel and Doug promptly fell asleep by 7:30pm. Fancy!
Sunday morning, after ohhhh 12 hours of sleep, we got up and went to the Broken Yolk Cafe, which boasts "we've got Huevos!" It was a fabulous fabulous place in Pacific Beach that was perfect for breakfast. I had a delicious california breakfast burrito with eggs, bacon, cheese and avocado.
We also took a drive to the old neighborhood which was more getting lost and convincing ourselves that this was ACTUALLY the house we lived in than reminiscing about old times. I guess that's what 15 years out of San Diego will do to you.
Sea World was next on the agenda, which was actually pleasantly surprising. I remember loathing going to Sea World because they NEVER changed the shows, and lets be honest folks, how many tricks can Shamu do?
Call me when he can go fetch a newspaper or something. The seal and sea lion show was the same, but the other shows were pretty satisfying and somehow my parents kept seating us in the splash zone. There's nothing like being wet and smelling like fish. One of the lesser known facts about Sea World is that you can get free beer (thanks Anheuser Busch)
I of course was the odd one out that picked the Belgian White (Shocktop?) over the American or Winter Ales.
The rest of the time we really spent at the beach. I managed to get some pretty fabulous shots of the beach at sunset if I do say so myself. More eye candy below
If you're wondering why there arent many pictures of me, I blame Doug's mad camera skills. Geeez.
There are few things better than a California Sunset.
And what's life without a little food porn?
Doug and I finally got to cash in our trip to San Diego that my parents gave us for Christmas last year. We couldnt have picked a more perfect time. While leaving Chicago at 40 degrees was pretty rough, we managed to survive the 85-95 degree temperatures all weekend long. There will be a longer recap, but I forgot my memory card at home. So for now...this picture pretty much sums up the trip
Researchers agree. You can't go to San Diego without consuming at least two fish tacos.
PS. Points to whoever can guess the lyrics in my title.
Just got this letter today. You still have time to donate here.
Dear Alicia,
Thank you for supporting the young musicians at my school! Because of your donation, their individual music styles will be allowed to shine! Not only that, they will be able to share their work with their friends and family! Your generous donation will prove invaluable as they begin to realize their creative potential. Thank you for you support!
