I Love (this) Monday

In a matter of hours I have become a huge fan of train travel. Sure,
there's the obligatory person with the phlemy cough, but so far it
smells way better than a plane. Plus so many other things are better
than air travel. I got to keep my shoes on and bring excessive amounts
of liquids aboard. Parking is free, and there is no drink cart running
over my foot. For added delight, the conductor looks like he walked
off of The Polar Express.

I miss looking out at great exspanses of clouds and peering at the world below through the holes, but the whole not-going-to-fall-out-of-the-sky is fair and good trade-off.

Merry Times

It has been half a month since my last post, but all the shopping,
merrymaking and living have filled every minute. Above is my parents'
lovely tree as they celebrated the first Christmas in their new home
that we were working so hard to remodel this time last year.

Despite being coerced to a church service where hot candle wax ran
down my pinky, it was really wonderful spending time with our
families. My niece got Blendy Pens, and we had fun coloring together.
It took me a while to realize that you twist them, but she knew.
Buzzword was a fun new game my sister-in-law picked up, and I did a
couple rounds of No Sleep Til Brooklyn on Guitar Hero.

The gifts we gave were well received and B and I got some nice things,
too. Each year we try to pare down, and the simpler it gets, the
better.

Tiny Plastic Containers

You know what's awesome? Tiny plastic containers. They're incredibly cheap and cheaply made, but oh, how they will improve your life.

For years our vanity has been a minor disaster, well mildly disorganized. The nail file, the tweezers, the toothpaste, a mirror, potions and lotions have all lain willy nilly in the drawer. They probably had a fine time of it - this one cozying up with that one - then suffered the drama of the toothpaste thrown hastily down to crash relationships apart. No more. I have put an end to this madness. The toothpaste lays with the floss in a long, thin container. The nail apparatus and tweezers get along in a square jobby. It will be a pleasure to start Monday morning in such an ordered state.

Niebu Everyone!

Okay, you might think I'm pretty geeky to learn I think this is the coolest thing ever, this Neibu. I could tell you what it is, but it's best you find out for yourself here.

Try Something New

Yesterday I did a couple of things that I've been meaning to try. 1. Get orange streaks in my hair. 2. Blow hot glass. These have both been on my to-do list for some time so knocking them both out in the same day was kind of cool.

First, the orange hue came out awesome: like fire. What isn't awesome is with my current part, it's all hidden under the top layer of my hair. I didn't get it styled before I left so it was wet and I just figured when I blow dried and styled it at home it would show up nicely.  I was really unhappy, but then B and I went to go see Bolt and that hamster made me forget all about it for a while. Today I parted my hair on the opposite side which isn't so natural for my cowlick, but the orange looks fab. This may work out after all. For days I want less orange I can just style it the other way. We'll see. I may still call the stylist and see if she can't offer me something to make it look more like the picture I showed her. I thought we were on the same page, but it didn't quite end up looking like that.

Blowing hot glass was really cool - and scary. "Don't suck in!," I kept telling myself. A friend at the studio was showing a couple of us how to do it. We used 1/4 inch hollow tubes, built up glass on the end (picture putting two bird nests together to make a ball), got it all dully orange in the flame and then blew! I blew a hole right through mine eventually and thin glass was flying all over like pieces of confetti. Too funny. With help, I got it all melted back together to try again and and that's when an interesting thing happened. I heard a low vrooming sound - what I thought was a vehicle going by outside - and felt the tube start to vibrate. The sound was coming from the tube! Glass makes a musical hum. 

And Now Back to the Show

It was kind of an impromptu thing to sign up for a holiday show, and I'm just about to head there. If you like handmade artisan jewelry from glass to metal work, here's the info.

On the Avenue

Horse drawn carriages, grilled chestnuts, carolers, quaint shops: The Park Ave Open House. Every year I've missed it for one reason or another, but the planets aligned tonight! Highlights of the evening were: 1. A new visual for frozen fish. 2. Cinnamon gelato - it's like eating cold cookie dough 3. A lei of garland from the Hawaiian florist and a free book written by the man who works there about his Hawaiian heritage

It was so cold (see frozen fish) that B was physically shaking so we missed the tree lighting ceremony to seek food and shelter. I was unsympathetic. He knew we were going to be out in the frigid air, and dammit, I was trying to be festive. My holiday spirit has been sorely lacking so any damper on it brought out that green monster, you know, the one who steals Christmas from Whos. The damper was short lived as we warmed up with some chai and tasty sandwhiches. It was a great night to be cold together.