My Favorite Christmas Song

I've finally managed to put myself back into the Christmas spirit! Hooray!

In honor of that, I thought I'd share my favorite Christmas song...

Wait for it... wait for it...

Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters from his White Christmas album.

Now, what's your favorite Christmas song?

A Bit of Randomness For Thursday

Random Note #1: I generated my "Top Words of 2010" on Facebook which are pulled from my status posts. Here are my results:

1: Love - used 22 times
2: Jesse - used 17 times
3: Weekend - used 16 times
4: Happy - used 14 times
5: Brown - used 13 times
6: Tonight - used 12 times
7: Morning - used 11 times
8: Night - used 10 times
9: Sweet - used 10 times
10: Nyc - used 9 times

Not too bad. For some reason I thought I'd been more bitchy than I actually was. Apparently not.


Random Note #2: Black Swan looks awesome and I hope to see it this weekend.




Random Note #3: I've been mentally pre-occupied lately, which is what I blame for not doing any good design posts and also being in a not particularly great mood.  Must remedy this situation very soon. (I know I keep saying this...)

I googled "mentally preoccupied" and this is the image that came up.  Interesting.

Random Note #4: I'm missing Columbia, SC very much at the moment. The holidays always bring this about.

Columbia, SC (Image courtesy of City Data.)

Random Note #5: Everyone is having babies. I am thankfully excluded from this.

Again, I googled "Everyone is having babies" and this image came up.

Random Note #6: There is apparently a serial killer in Brooklyn.

Another image courtesy of Google.

Hello There, Beautiful

My man will be playing Edgar Allen Poe in The Raven, which will be released in 2011.

Image courtesy of The Huffington Post via my friend Kellen.

Be still, my beating heart.  Oh John, I adore you.

Read the article here or IMDB info on the film, The Raven, here.

Weekend Recap: BAKING MARATHON!

This weekend, I baked. A lot. And I had a little furry helper, who didn't leave my side the entire time:

I love baking, especially during the holidays. It's so calming and just puts me in the most festive mood! I also love to share my baking, so my co-workers will either love me or hate me tomorrow (pending on how they are feeling with regard to ingesting large amounts of sweets).

I made...

Peppermint Bon Bon cookies (Left) and S'Mores Cookie Bars (Right)

Peanut Butter S'Mores Bars

I also made some Chocolate Chip Meringue cookies, but didn't get a good photo of them.

It was a really nice and relaxing weekend filled with awesome smells (from baking and some great candles we bought) and watching lots and lots of cheesy holiday movies.  I'm excited that Christmas is almost here to spend time with family and friends who I don't see nearly enough.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!  

Baby, it's cold (and rainy) outside...

My entertainment for this cold, rainy December morning upon which I got up way too early, it's pouring out and my Internet isn't working even though it says it is includes coffee, reading Slaughterhouse-five, watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and watching my cats dueling on the windowsill.

Not too bad of an alternative, if I do say so myself.

Oh yea, I'm also way overdue for writing a good design post. Sorry folks. It's coming, I promise!

Chai Hot Chocolate?! Yes please!

I saw this recipe today on Design Crush courtesy of Epicurious. It sounds simply delish and perfect for these chilly winter days.

Photo courtesy of Design Crush.

Chai Hot Chocolate

• 4 cups low-fat milk
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli)
• 10 cardamom pods, coarsely cracked (If you can’t find these, don’t give up! Just use a little cardamom powder, or some extra allspice.)
• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice, cracked
• 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
• 6 quarter-size slices fresh ginger plus 1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
• 1/2 cup chilled whipping cream

1. Combine first 6 ingredients, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and ginger slices in medium saucepan. Bring almost to simmer, whisking frequently. Remove from heat; cover and steep 10 minutes. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

2. Meanwhile, whisk cream, remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, grated ginger, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in medium bowl to peaks. Add more sugar to taste if not sweet enough for your taste.

3. Strain hot chocolate. Ladle into 6 mugs. Top each with dollop of ginger cream.

NY Times "The Hollywood Issue"

If you haven't watched "14 Actors Acting" on the NY Times Magazine website in the Hollywood Issue, you are missing out.

It's beautiful concept that is flawlessly executed. Beautiful cinematography, excellent actor selections, such as Javier Bardem, James Franco, Michael Douglas, and Natalie Portman to name a few.

Please watch them, I promise its worth your time.





























Original Link: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/12/magazine/14actors.html?src=fbmain#index

A Little Giggle for Friday Morning

My kitten, Abigail, hasn't quite figured out the workings of our new glass coffee table.

Unofficial Gift Guide for Holidays 2010

I didn't intend to make a gift guide, but I've come across such great things via the great interwebs in the last few weeks, I figured I'd share them with you all... and hell, they'd make great gifts!

Enjoy!

Living Retro by Andrew Weaving - $18.84

Clothbound Penguin Classics from Anthropologie - $20.00

Chocolate Pie Chart by Mary & Matt - $20.00

Cowl Scarf from Black Haired Broad on Etsy - $30.00

Sweet P Luxury Bath Set from Sweet Petula on Etsy - $42.00

Retro Modern Pet Bed from Kittyville on Etsy - $79.00

Lumi Candleholders from CB2 - $2.95 to $4.95

Couple Pillow from K Studio - $160.00

Extra Ingredient Apron from Anthropologie - $38.00

The Savoy Cocktail Book - $13.57

Framed Cross Stitch from Bombastitch on Etsy - $40.00

Elements of the Perfect Shave Kit from The Art of Shaving - $100.00

Go Team!

This past Sunday, sweet hubs and I ventured to the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey to attend our first pro-football game - the NY Giants vs the Washington Redskins.

Sweet hubs is a big NY Giants fan, so we made sure we dressed appropriately, in our fanciest Giants wear.

I loved seeing all the tailgating outside of the stadium - I think that's the thing that I loved the most about getting to go to a pro-football game - seeing the fan's enthusiasm. It's so contageous!

Sweet hubs is totally stoked!

Even though our seats were in the nosebleed section, they still had a fantastic view of the game.  I don't think there are any bad seats in that stadium.

We were so cold (the temperature was hovering right around 30 degrees with 20 to 30 mile per hour wind gusts) but had such a fun time!

And best of all, the Giants won! 31-7! Take that, Redskins!

Occasionally...

Some days, I feel like this:


Mixed with a little bit of this:


That is all.

A Little Something for Your Monday Afternoon

Have a look at a very neat little stop-motion video I came across earlier today on the great interwebs.

Enjoy!

The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

An Arctic inhabitant is fascinated by the sudden appearance of a mysterious box.

Music by Ihor Dawidiuk http://www.ihordawidiuk.com

Tim Burton's Reaction http://vimeo.com/17229245

Where Were You Five Years Ago?

My Omaha, Nebraska gal pal, Wendy Townley, recently wrote a short essay about where she was five years ago.  I started thinking about where I was five years ago as well, so here's my own recount of where and who I was.

Job Wise: In December of 2005 I was working in my first real full-time job in television at a post-production house as a motion graphics design assistant.  Over the summer I had moved to NYC and started at another post house, but the facility shut down three months after I started (bummer!).  I was working a lot of long hours, but loving my job.

A Few Memorable Moments: Sweet hubs and I were stoked to see our first snowfall living in NYC.  That was a great day.  I took my first trip to Philly with some girlfriends, which was a blast.  The MTA strike happened shortly before Christmas that year, which is something I'll always remember - it was totally weird.  There's no other way to describe that - talk about the worst commute to work ever.

Looking back at my life in 2005, I had to go back and read in my journal.  I used to write so much more than I do now!  That is one thing I regret that I've stopped doing so often.  It's nice to look back and see how I was feeling, what I was thinking and how I viewed my daily life.  My mind was a lot less cynical and a lot more open and gentle.  I was just finally adjusting to being a REAL adult in the sense of moving from being a student to doing my first REALLY big move and getting my first real career-worthy job.  I was still learning so much and still so eager to find the next intellectually stimulating experience.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't necessarily lost all of those qualities, they're just a little less... vibrant than they used to be.  I think that just comes with growing up - the sparkle gets a little dull.

So maybe after seeing the difference between 25 and 30, I need to find a way to put the sparkle back into my outlook on life.  Maybe that's my New Year's resolution for 2010 to 2011.

Where has my sparkle gone?  I think I have a little exploring to do.

Sweet hubs and I in 2005.

Sweet hubs and I in 2010.

My Holiday Wishlist for 2010

I was watching Good Morning America the other morning (as I do every day before work) and there was an author being interviewed during a segment by the name of Dan Buettner, who has recently written a book called Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way.

Description from the author's website:

In THRIVE, New York Times bestselling author and explorer, Dan Buettner, reports on the surprising findings from his five-year global study on the keys to personal happiness. In addition to sharing his extraordinary accounts of the happiest people on the planet, Buettner examines how their unique lifestyles correlate to their extraordinary well-being. Finally — and most important — Buettner details how to incorporate these powerful characteristics into our daily routine so that we, too, can THRIVE.

This book is not typically something I personally would seek out to read, but I found his interview very interesting and may end up reading the book. During the interview, he made a good point about holiday gift giving, which I am in complete agreement with. They were discussing the different types of gifts that people exchange and Mr. Buettner said that instead of exchanging tangible items, its so much more meaningful and longer lasting to buy an "experience" for those you care about rather than buying items that will merely clutter up your home or life.

You can view the interview below. The part about holiday gift giving starts around 2 min 12 sec.



That being said, what do you prefer to give for gifts? To receive?

My personal feeling is that unless you know for a fact someone wants / needs a specific item, an experience gift is the way to go. That or something to consume, which would still be in the "experience" realm.

Over Thanksgiving, my mother asked me what sweet hubs and I wanted for Christmas and I honestly couldn't think of a single thing that I NEED at the moment. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things I want, but they're just that - THINGS.

So my holiday wish list is short. This is what I have so far:

- A Barnes & Noble Nook - I'd really like a Nook because I'm an avid library user. Living in NYC, I have access to one of the best library systems in the country and my tax dollars have definitely been spent by my utilization of the system. The Nook (as far as I've been able to tell from my research) is one of the few e-readers that work with the library system. I read every day on my way to and from work on the subway, so this would definitely be a well used gift for my purposes.

- Financial contribution to a future vacation - Sweet hubs and I love to travel and we're always looking for our next vacation, which currently we're thinking of attending the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender in April with some friends, so this would be in the experience grouping.

Image courtesy of the Viva Las Vegas website.

Yep, my list has two items. Like I said, short, but sweet. I'm going to give it some more thought, but I sort of like the fact that I don't need anything. It feels very uncomplicated and simple.

What do YOU want to receive this holiday season?