Is anyone really reading blogs today? Here’s a short New Year’s related clip that I love. It really does seem “long, long ago.” See you next year!
Auld Lang Syne: "The Routine"
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Can’t Catch Me…
My son Oliver has recently become obsessed with The Gingerbread Man. He bursts into spontaneous quotes at random times and I’ve started to hear the “run, run as fast as you can – can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man” song in my sleep.
His preschool class had been reading and acting out the story in December and even had a little Gingerbread Man holiday party before Winter break. So at least I know the root of this new mania. And honestly – it’s pretty cute. His garbled version of “run, run as fast as you can” always makes me smile.
I only worry about what will happen when he returns to his class in January and they have moved onto a new book. I wonder if Oliver will try to stage a Gingerbread Man coup d’état. I wouldn’t be surprised given his aversion to change. Either way, I expect some indication of alarm (“What? No Gingerbread Man? What are you trying to do? Ruin my life?”)
In fact, I worry about all of my children and their reaction to the disappearance of holiday decorations, treats and DVDs. We have been rockin’ around the Christmas tree (literally) for about a month, and I don’t think they remember what life was like before. I thought that their obsession with Halloween pumpkins was bad – but that was nothing in comparison to LIGHTS! Every day after I pick them up at daycare, I have to take them on a tour of the neighborhood light displays. Their daycare provider lives in a predominantly pre-fab neighborhood where people think nothing of displaying 50 plastic lawn ornaments (none of which have anything to do with the holiday season), so you can only imagine what they can do with holiday lights and inflatable snowmen, santas and various cartoon characters in holiday garb. To be fair, the kids will sometimes yell for pumpkins – but that’s only because some of the houses still have a few plastic jack 0’lanterns on display.
Luckily for me, I can distract Oliver from this defection of holiday cheer with Gingerbread Man videos. Chris has started pulling up these clips on YouTube, so now the little weirdo demands to see them every time he catches sight of a laptop. Okay – so maybe “luckily for me” isn’t entirely accurate… But I try to drink from the “half full” cup of insanity that seems to come with unlimited refills.
We have found some really bizarre ones, which are surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) some of Oliver’s favorites. Here are a couple (if you are not familiar with the story, I suggest watching this old school version that Oliver also likes):
Lately, I’ve been feeling a little bit like the Gingerbread Man. Everyone is out to get me. Just kidding! (Sort of.) But I do feel like I have a frightening number of responsibilities chasing me toward inevitable doom. Or at the very least toward an even bigger holiday weight gain than I expected. Stress eating + holidays = “fat clothes” coming out of their closet hibernation.
I meant to take last week off from just writing, but all of the last minute work projects, holiday events, children home from daycare and the never ending disaster of my messy house have taken their toll. I haven’t read or commented on any of my favorite blogs. I haven’t responded to e-mails from friends. I haven’t caught up on any of my prime time television viewing… I’m a holiday slacker. But as I said before – the holidays are almost over. So no more running. I’ll just let it all catch up with me and hope that I don’t get eaten alive.
Don’t forget to enter the jewelry giveaway! Comments open until TOMORROW, Tuesday, December 30 at 9:00 p.m. EST.
"Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?"
It’s Christmas Eve and Chris and I are watching Elf. Now I could say that my favorite Christmas movie is It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street or even A Christmas Story. That would sound better. But it wouldn’t be true. My favorite Christmas movie is Elf. I never get sick of it. It makes me laugh, which makes me happy. which makes me smile. Which is good because “smiling is my favorite.”
Here are some clips I found on YouTube. Happy Holidays!
We Won’t Be Sending Out A Holiday Card This Year Because…
Sigh. Maybe next year.
*Items of note:
While fully cooperative in saying “cheese” for most shots, Oliver wanted to look at himself in the dark window to my right – not into the camera.
Eleanor was just a little too enthusiastic about the activity and was hard pressed to “keep her hands in her lap for mommy.”
In that second to last picture, George is in fact saying “watcha talkin’ bout Willis?”
That white stuff that you see in their mouths are altoids. I said it was candy and used them as bribes to get everyone to stay seated.
These are the best pictures out of the 100 that I took.
Don’t forget to enter the jewelry giveaway! Comments open until Tuesday, December 30 at 9:00 p.m. EST.
Are You There Blog? It’s me Kathryn.
Of course no one really calls me Kathryn. But Kate didn’t have enough syllables to sound like the old book title. Either way, that’s how I feel about my little space on the internet. When I have something on my mind, I come here to work it out. And the rest of the time, I just take it for granted that my outlet will be here waiting for me.
This week has been a true commentary on how easy it is to get caught up in life and not make time for this exercise in self awareness. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I delve deep. That’s me in a nutshell: deep. No – seriously – I am.
But I haven’t had time for deep thoughts this week. I’ve been too busy baking cookies for work and trying to get my holiday season act together. And what I have posted has been pretty limited. Let’s review: a drawing, an announcement that this week’s drawing will have to be postponed due to technical difficulties and a diatribe on my new favorite saying, “surprising happiness“. Oh right – and cute guys lip synching. Like anyone who saw that hasn’t been watching their YouTube videos over and over this week… Chris and I can’t get enough (although his favorite is the robot girls…and he says he doesn’t like club music…)
Very little substance. Very little effort. Very little excuse. So THAT’S my Friday Confession for this week. I am L-A-Z-Y. Instead of feverishly writing my heart out in between putting batches of cookies in the oven, I’ve been watching Netflix DVDs of Beauty and the Beast (more on that later) and The L Word. I just can’t seem to muster up any interest in picking a topic and writing about it. Case in point: this post. What exactly am I writing about anyway? If I was someone else reading it, I’d be thinking: “blah, blah, blah…link to something I wrote recently…blah blah blah…link to something I wrote somewhat recently…blah, blah, blah…link to something I wrote months ago…blah et cetera, et cetera, et cetera (name that musical – Anymommy!)
Oh right – and I’ve just had several glasses of wine for dinner (not WITH dinner – INSTEAD of dinner). So I’m currently under the impression that I can write about nothing and be incredibly amusing at the same time. I blame Seinfeld. And cheap Kenwood Merlot.
Ironically enough – I’ve had had some interesting things to write about this week. First – last Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting the amazing Katie from My Hotwheels. I knew she was strong and courageous from her blog, but I had no idea she was also a total babe. She and her adorable friend Keriann met me for lunch in DC last Friday, and I’m madly in love with both of them. Not because they are so lovely (which they are) – but because they are hilarious. We talked about everything from Twilight (I’m a novice, while they have read all the books and seen the movie), to our special needs children, to Keriann’s aversion to hiring a nanny to help her with her three/going on four small children (consensus: get over it and get the nanny Kerrianne). This lunch could have been it’s own post – but I was lazy and posted YouTube videos instead. As my more experienced blog friends would say, “FAIL.”
Then, I had a crazy week at work. But I don’t write about work. Because I don’t have an anonymous blog…and I don’t want to get fired. But I will say that I volunteered (i.e. SUCKER!) to bake cookies for client calls this week. As a result, I had to stay up late to bake and writing in my blog was put on the back burner (and that was TOTALLY a pun, by the way).
This baking project could be labeled “full cycle.” Not only did I contribute cookies (and THE BEST cookies I may add) – I was also put in charge of packaging. “Put in charge” meaning that I arrived at work this morning and was given materials to wrap and embellish all of the cookie trays (because no one else was “any good at that.”) I was fairly pleased with my results until I got to the last cookie tray and ran out of wrapping materials. Since staff would be picking up trays for their meetings at any minute, and I didn’t have time to purchase more wrapping materials, I had to be creative. Initially, I was stuck with several scraps of what I had used for the other trays. One of my co-workers dropped by to ask me how it was going and I told him that I was having a Project Runway moment. I had limited resources, and it was “make it work” time. After wandering around the office and joking about various unorthodox wrapping materials, a more realistic co-worker suggesting just reusing a tin that had come to us as part of a holiday package the previous week. Snore…but practical. Crisis averted.
Since my post “about nothing” is starting to get kind of long – I won’t get into any other little stories from the week. They’ve come and gone and I’m still here. Still lazy. And I didn’t even ATTEMPT to do a holiday card. What can I say? The holidays bring out the teenager in me. All I want to do is bring a book (currently Twilight) up to my room and read for hours under the radar of “the grownups.” Unfortunately, I’m Mommy now, and personal time is not allowed. If I can’t close the bathroom door without inciting a toddler siege, then I certainly can’t hole up with a book.
And since next week will be devoted to taking care of our little monsters, I’ve decided to take the week off (kind of like this week – but without the attempt to make it seem like I’m actually doing anything). The only exception will be Monday when I will FINALLY post my good friend Christy Wood’s jewelry giveaway. I had to be patient with her earlier in the week when her computer crashed and she couldn’t update her Etsy shop. But by this coming Monday, it will be ready for public viewing. I’ll then post the last giveaway on December 31.
Sorry that my post title was so much better than the post itself – but that’s generally the way it works out anyway right? And I’m literally falling asleep on my keyboard, so I have no hope of even rewriting this. I’m pretty much done. For the night. At 11 p.m. I’m such a grandma…
Check back on Monday for another December Giveaway, and have a great holiday week!
Sorry – No Writing of Substance Today. I’m Too Busy Watching YouTube Videos.
My good friend Amy over at Doobleh-vay always finds the best stuff. Like THIS. And after watching it about 20 times, it occurred to me that I could check YouTube to see if these talented (and weird) lip synchers had anything else. I wasn’t disappointed.
Sadly – embedding was disabled for my two favorites, so I couldn’t feature them here. But I highly recommend B&B’s version of Growing Pains and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling. (and I was just talking about the Top Gun premiere…)
So here is my runner up choice (with “able” embedding):
Where did they get the old school Lite Brite? I feel old just knowing what what that is…
And for for something really trippy – check this one out.
While perusing through these gems, Chris (oh yes – he got sucked in too, and so did my three year old for that matter) and I stumbled across this:
I dare you to try to NOT watch the whole thing. Not only is that impossible – it’s likely that you will feel the need to watch it again (and again and again…) And Oliver (my three year old) was really into the “robots” – so it’s fun for the whole family!
Okay – I think I need to watch these a few hundred more times, so that’s it for tonight.
(And I apologize for the delay in this week’s giveaway. I swear – it’s coming soon! So check back later this week.)
Surprising Happiness
Ever get bizarre spam e-mails that are obviously written by someone who doesn’t speak English? I mean e-mails that are supposed to be written in English of course, but you have to assume that the spammers are sitting with their translation books and no working knowledge of English grammar when they draft these gems.
I think it’s safe to say that if you have an e-mail address, you get spam. But aside from a few rogue financial support requests from Nigeria or compelling anatomical enhancement promotions, most of this junk mail gets caught in spam filters. So the few that do slip through the cracks are easy enough to spot and delete.
The other day I got what appeared to be an e-mail from my friend Roberta. Now if I had been paying attention to the subject line (“Nice shopping for you!”), I would have realized that it was spam. But I just saw her name and opened it. Here is what it said:
Nice shopping for you! i would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electornic products. Now the company is under sales promotion, all the products are sold nearly at its cost. They provide the best service to customers, they provide you with original products of good quality, and what is more, the price is a surprising happiness to you! It is realy a good chance for shopping. just grasp the opportunity, Now or never!
I love this SO MUCH that I am actually going to include a link to their site: Click here – IT’S NOW OR NEVER! [Update: I took out the link. A very smart friend pointed out that it’s probably not a good idea to have this kind of link on my blog – not knowing where it comes from and all… My judgement isn’t always the best.]
This gets funnier every time I read it. And it’s funniest if I read it out loud, in character. I decided this after reading it to my husband. To actually get into character, I imagine a very earnest young Chinese man (“surprising happiness” reminds me of fortune cookies) possibly on a late night infomercial from the 80’s. But I don’t actually do an accent. Because, you know – that would be in bad taste.
I have been thinking about this e-mail message for days now. The words “surprising happiness” pop into my head frequently, and they make me feel kind of…happy. I mean – who would think that spam mail could be so pleasant? But for some reason this one is. I love the idea of surprising happiness. Because, honestly, I find that most of my happiness in life is somewhat unexpected.
I’ve never been much good at the sappy, Hallmark card moments. I tend to feel embarrassed and unsure of myself – and far too aware of any eyes that might be watching. Sure, I know what to say and do, but it’s like reading a script, and I just feel like a big fake. I do much better with peripheral moments that don’t involve expectations for emotions or reactions. I don’t mind the spotlight – but I’d prefer haunt the perimeter.
I’m probably one of the few people I know who would rather be a bridesmaid than the bride. I’ve done both, and I’ll tell you right now that the bridesmaids have far more fun. They get to lounge around eating the food that everyone tries to push on the bride. They get to sneak in a cocktail before the ceremony. They get to spend the entire reception on the dance floor without any concerns about greeting every friend and relative to thank them for coming. You get all of the perks of being in the wedding party, but none of the stress and responsibility of the bride. None of the expected Hallmark tears of joy that I can just barely squeeze out on command.
So in wandering awkwardly away from the more mainstream contexts for happiness, I inevitably bump into random moments of humor, interest and tenderness. Random happiness. Surprising happiness.
Sometimes it’s a facial expression of my husband’s that makes me laugh. Sometimes it’s a story that my mother tells me. Sometimes it’s the sight of my twins holding hands as they walk down the stairs. And sometimes it’s the realization that my three year old has decided to disrobe in the car while I’m driving. Whether it’s something that makes me laugh, cry or just feel incredible joy – it’s all the more special for being unexpected.
You never know when you’ll have a moment of surprising happiness. So you have to be ready to drop what you’re doing and just embrace it. Some of the best things in life are fragile and fleeting. And that’s what makes them so precious and worthy of our undivided attention. There will be many moments of surprising happiness in life. And no two are ever the same, so you really do have to “just grasp the opportunity.” It will always be “now or never.”
The Christmas Tree Nazi
As I write this, I am huddled in my semi-warm winter coat, alternately shivering and rethinking my statement that the original windows in this house are so much more charming than new ones would be. Writing while shivering in a thin winter coat makes me feel like something out of a Dickens novel. Which makes me feel very literary. Or poor.
Either way, I get a warm inner glow every time I glance to my left and see the festive splendor of my own blazing Christmas tree. Yes – the lights are on, and will remain on whenever I am in close proximity to my tree. If need be, I’ll turn off every light and electrical appliance in the house to make up for this gluttonous attack on the earth’s waning resources. I’ll even turn down the already insufficient heat. I love my tree just that much.
As you may have guessed by now, I can decorate the hell out of a Christmas tree. It’s one of my great talents in life, and every year my home is graced by yet another Christmas tree triumph. This is one area in which I throw any sense of humility out the window. I’m can confidently claim that my Christmas tree kicks your Christmas tree’s ass.
You are probably thinking that my family is very lucky to have this kind of genius on their side. Well – I don’t know if they’d agree. You see the price that everyone pays for my mad Christmas tree decorating skillz is that they don’t get to have any fun with it. And that’s my Friday Confession this week. I am a Christmas Tree Nazi.
Brief disclaimer here: I am not in any way supporting or condoning the Nazi movement. My children are not joining the Reichs of Hitler Youth and I am not a racist psychopath with mommy issues. I’m basing the title “Christmas Tree Nazi” on the famous “Soup Nazi” character from Seinfeld. So on the almost impossible chance that you have never heard of this character and had no idea what I’m talking about – please be assured. I am not an actual Nazi.
That out of the way – I am a total bitch when it comes to my Christmas tree. I have definite ideas about where the ornaments should be placed and how the various colors and styles should be distributed. I like a symmetrical tree. A messy looking tree doesn’t bother me if it’s in someone else’s house (it in fact, just reaffirms my own superiority in the tree decorating realm). But the idea of a haphazard looking tree in my own home makes me die a little inside. The only way to achieve the level of perfection that I demand is to be very rigid and controlling, and even strategic about the tree decorating process. And believe me – I’ve got this covered.
I can currently get away with excluding my children based on their ages and lack of attention span. But I know that they will eventually want to participate. I just plan to cross that bridge when I come to it. And possibly buy a “kids’ tree” for them to do with as they like. Their father has fond memories of decorating his own kids’ tree with Star Wars action figures. So I expect he will be supportive my multiple tree plan. In fact, I’m sure he’ll be happy because he’s not currently allowed to help decorate our Christmas tree either. He may as well be one of the kids. The first year we had a tree together, I had to linger behind him rearranging his more bizarre ornament placement choices.
So the Hood family tree decorating tradition does not include the sound of laughter, storytelling and favorite Christmas carrols. There are no childish squeals of delight when someone finds the perfect spot for that favorite ornament (okay – maybe a few, but only if I’m really excited). And there is no closing ceremony of a tiny hand placing our angel at the top.
Instead there is about an hour of lights detail with meticulous care taken to make the tree appear to glow from within. Then there are about 20 minutes of bow placement. And finally, unlimited time is devoted to the actual ornaments.
My ornaments are packed away so carefully that the box would most likely survive a three thousand foot freefall from a cessna flying over rush hour traffic. Since they rarely break, I have finally accumulated enough to transition out the “filler” ornaments (plain gold balls from Michael’s) that I had to use for my first tree. I really do love my delicate antique ornaments and dread the day that they are pushed aside for the kids’ school project ones involving dry pasta or styrofoam.
But I also know that when that day does arrive, I will embrace it with the same pride and enthusiasm I apply to their current toddler achievements. Such as figuring out how to take off their pants and run around outside before I realize they’re gone. Just kidding – I really will be proud of those pre-school ornament projects. And after an appropriate amount of oohing and aahing, I will direct them to the kids’ tree where these masterpieces can be displayed to their best advantage.
Look – I know this sounds really obnoxious. But it IS a confession. So that should earn me at least a few good person points right? Being able to identify the problem and that being half the battle and all… But to give you a sense of where this Christmas tree decorating hubris is coming from (just a sense since no picture can truly do my creations justice), here is a picture I took yesterday:
And here is another one without the flash:
Photographer, I’m not – so like I said, these pictures don’t really capture the magic of this year’s Christmas tree. But they do capture the completely neurotic obsession with perfect symmetry which is at the heart of this psychopathic holiday behavior. And as far as holiday photography goes, capturing the true spirit of the Christmas Tree Nazi is half the battle.
Since My Blog Has become a Community Bulletin Board Today…Another Announcement: Kathin Argiro Trunk Show in DC
Seriously! Recipes, giveaways and now a trunk show announcement? I’m all over the place! But I’ll keep it short.
I just heard from my favorite NYC designer, Kathlin Argiro that she will be in DC this weekend for an Inaugural Ball trunk show.
Here are the details:
Kathlin Argiro
and
White Graduation Gown Trunk Show
Saturday, December 13th, 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, December 14th, 12 pm – 5 pm
BONUS! 10% off ALL Fornash merchandise!
www.fornash.com
Inaugural Ball Trunk Show
and
White Graduation Gown Trunk Show
Saturday, December 13th, 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, December 14th, 12 pm – 5 pm
Featuring Semi-Custom Evening Gowns
Choose your Silhouette, Fabric, and Trim
Come view the collection and meet the designer at
Fornash
The Shops at Georgetown Park Mall
3222 M St., NW
Second Level, Suite W-229
Washington DC, 20007
202-338-0774
Private fittings with the designer, by appointment only:
917-543-1773
BONUS! 10% off ALL Fornash merchandise!
www.fornash.com
And NOW back to our regularly scheduled program…
Almost As Good as Cake Recipe: COOKIES!
A long time ago, my friend Nancy and I offered to make desserts for a holiday party we were attending. She suggested that we use a cookie recipe she got from the Italian grandmother of one of her childhood friends.
We made the cookies, and then life as I knew it changed forever (as far as cookies go, that is).
We continued to make these cookies every holiday season after that. Even now that we’ve lived in different states for many years (and for a while on different coasts), we still maintain this holiday cookie baking tradition. As far as we know, the cookies don’t even have an official name. We call them Italian Christmas Cookies – but that’s not really accurate. They are not supposed to be holiday specific – we just choose to reserve them for holiday baking.
The cookies have become famous among people that know us and know of us (and are usually referred to as “the cookies”). And the coveted recipe has been gladly provided to anyone who requests it. We are also famous for our generosity.
I mentioned these cookies recently in one of my posts and wasn’t surprised to receive requests for the recipe. Instead of e-mailing it out upon request, I thought I’d just post it on my blog. So honor of the season of giving, I’m giving you…the gift…of Italian Christmas cookies. I know! Last week it was Redneck Neighbor, this week it’s cookies, every week it’s December giveaways… What can I say? I’m a giver.
But back to those cookies…
Italian Ricotta Cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the following in a bowl (in order):
1 stick (8 tbs) and 1 tbs butter
*Note: Cream butter before adding other ingredients.
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
Arrange tsp size drops on cookie sheets (space 2 inches apart)
Bake for about 10 minutes
*Notes: The original recipe states 15 minutes. But it came from an old Italian lady who was probably working with a 1950s oven, so I doubt more than 10 minutes is necessary. I’ve found that my cookies are done in 6-8 minutes. They can burn easily so make sure to check them early. Since all ovens are different, I suggest doing a test batch of a few cookies the first time you try the recipe. They should remain pale on top but will be firmer to the touch when done. If you notice them browning a little – they are definitely done.
Makes approximately 48 2-inch cookies
Icing (optional – but HIGHLY recommended)
Warm 1 tbs and 1 tsp of skim milk in a sauce pan
Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and ¼ tsp vanilla
Once the mixture has thinned (should be thin enough to drizzle over cookies), it is ready to use.
*Notes on icing: This icing dries very quickly, so you have to use it immediately. I’ve had the best results when I’ve kept the saucepan over a very low heat and held cookies over the pan to ice them. Just watch your fingers. Molten sugar can give you a nasty burn. Also try to be exact about the measurements – whenever I add a little extra milk the results are disastrous. If it’s too thin it won’t dry. Finally – I usually make a double batch of icing for each single batch of cookies. I’ve never been able to stretch the original icing recipe enough to ice all 48 cookies.
Enjoy!