Oh, Christmas

Let people know if your HOLIDAY PARTY is going to be a t-shirt and jeans kind of shindig...because no one wants to be the overdressed asshole(s).  This is what we wore to a party...no one else was even remotely dressed up. 

OK, I'm done complaining for now.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, but this year it seems a little forced.  I really am trying to get into the spirit...my house is decorated, we went downtown to hear Christmas carols, we attended a White Elephant party, I drank eggnog (eww)...but here are a few things that make me happy and will hopefully help your holiday gift giving this year.

My 'white elephant' gift this year was pretty clever if you ask me.  I bought an affordable lunch box from Old Navy and filled it with my homemade Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares.  There was a little wiggle room left on top of the squares, so I filled that with Chocolate Chip Cookies.  It weighed a ton, but it was a sweet tooth's dream come true!

Old Navy lunchbox

 

I'm not a big, fancy ribbon or bow person, so when I wrap my gifts I like to add things to the simple ribbon I do put on the gift.  You can buy a whole box of cheap ornaments for under $5.00 at your local home goods store, or you can buy holiday candy or chocolate to decorate your gift. I normally choose Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark Squares because they are very seasonal.  You could also use candy canes...I'm not a huge candy cane fan because straight peppermint reminds of a foot scrub, but a lot of people like them.  = )

Here is how I wrapped The Husbands 'white elephant' gift:

Another thing I did, which may or may not become a gift for someone, wasn't super cheap, but definitely didn't break the bank.  A while back I picked up some 'made to look vintage' Vogue postcards for a dollar at Borders because they looked really cool.  I've been waiting for some picture frames to go on sale and low and behold Bed Bath and Beyond had a great sale on some wood frames.  They were $6.00 each, which is a pretty good deal if you ask me.  I had to cut down the postcards a little, but overall they turned out really great.  This is definitely a gift you wouldn't be able to pick up anywhere, but has unique charm to it.  Enjoy!

Now I'm going to wrap all of our presents...maybe that will shock me into the Christmas spirit! 

BOOM

I bought a deck of Boom Boom! Cards a while back, probably a year ago...at least.  Boom Boom! Cards are like "random acts of kindness" assignments, which doesn't really make them so random...oh well.

Rules of the Boom Boom Revolution:
1. Register your deck online - done
2. Complete the assignment on the card (26 to choose from) - 2 done
3. Go online and write about the experience...reactions, feelings, blah blah - 1 done
4. Pass the completed card on to someone else for them to complete - 1 done
5. Hope the person you passed the card to actually completes it and then goes online and writes about it - none done
6. Track how far your card goes - never going to happen
7. Complete the deck - = (

So, the first one I did was pretty basic, or so I assumed.  I had to buy a stranger a cup of coffee.  It's really hard to do that without someone thinking you're hitting on them or that you're just a total freak.  This assignment took me 4 days.  Finally I found a dad-looking guy to buy coffee for.  I was at my regular coffee shop before it closed and became a fucking AT&T...yuck!...the gentleman target was in line behind me while I was paying.  This one really only works at a coffee shop that stays busy because there are at least 2 employees; one ringing you up and one making the drinks.  The barista behind the bar asked him what he wanted before the barista ringing me up was finished so I told her to put what he ordered on my card.  I knew her because I was a regular, so she just rolled with it.  Apparently I picked the wrong day to do my good deed because he was ordering for 3 other people!  The barista just kept looking at me like "should I keep putting these drinks on your card???".  I paid for all the drinks...it was around $16, but it was totally worth it.  He was shocked and speechless and grateful.  When he finally composed his thoughts, his words were jumbled and awkward.  He asked what I did for work, if I lived in the area, if my parents knew how great their daughter was, why I did this, if I knew how much this made his day and how he couldn't wait to tell his co-workers and lastly what my name was.  It was sweet and actually made my day!!

The second one was less fulfilling.  The assignment was to reconnect with someone you lost touch with or had a falling out with.  I invited an ex-friend for coffee.  This friendship ended over a guy...which is just stupid, but whatever.  I needed some liquid courage for this meeting so went for a drink with some great friends from work.  Some advice - going to a bar with friends before meeting someone who wasn't a good friend to you is not a good idea (I was 17 minutes late and the bar was only a block away).  It was awkward and forced, but moments of it were kindly familiar.  I think I was expecting an apology or some sort of acknowledgment of bad-frienditis, but received neither.  I'm not sure if I have a false sense of the kind of friend I am, but I was sure there was some small void in her life without me in it.  It sucks when a relationship ends without explanation, but when a friendship ends with that relationship and you lose 2 people you were close with it kind of stings.  And by "kind of" I mean it is a thorn in your foot that hurts every time you take a step and no matter how hard you try to find the thorn you can't.  This "assignment" did not leave me feeling as great as the previous one.

There are 24 more acts of kindness that I have not yet completed and there is a good chance that I won't attempt any of them.  HOWEVER, there is a deck of these cards that is geared toward tweens/teens and I think it would make an awesome gift.  The assignments are much easier and are things they can do at school, like eat lunch with someone sitting alone.  So nice! http://boomboomcards.com/

The end.
 





   

pause...rewind...play

With Christmas and the season of gift giving fast approaching I started to think about gifts that used to be considered "thoughtful".  These gifts didn't cost a lot of money, but you knew someone put a good amount of time or effort into it.  For example, your favorite homemade dessert, a personal drawing/painting/photograph, or a personalized mix CD.

A well planned mix CD was a thoughtful gift in my book because there was some real work behind it.  You had to look through all of your CDs, pick the perfect songs, and then burn them one at a time onto a blank disc. Lets not even dig up the days of making someone a mix tape.  My god...what a nightmare.  Do you remember sitting by the radio waiting for your favorite new song to come on and then quickly recording it all the while trying not to tape that annoying DJ talking right up until the song started? 

OK, so there was a big difference between regular, mix tape/CD making people and me.  So, my first serious boyfriend was during high school and I thought we were the greatest couple ever.  I mean he was good looking and nice to me, my friends liked him and my parents didn't...what could be better, right?  Well, he is not The Husband, so we all know how that relationship turned out.  Anyway, I once made him a mix CD, but with it came a binder.  Oh yes, a binder!!  What was in that binder you ask??  Well, the lyrics to every song that was on the mix CD...obviously (and some pictures for that added personal touch)!  I'm pretty sure we weren't dating at the time, so I didn't want to give him the wrong idea, but it was a lot of songs that had some sort of meaning. A lot of thought went into every song on that CD.   I do remember the work that went into typing up all of the lyrics though, because this was before lyrics.com.  If I was lucky the CD had an insert with all the song lyrics, but I'm never that lucky.  There was definitely a lot of pause...rewind...play going on.  I remember having the hardest time with all the weird lyrics to Stairway to Heaven.  I should be more embarrassed right now, but I no longer have any shame.  Sometimes I just made shit up if I had no idea, like he EVER read the binder...

Speaking of making up lyrics to songs, I find The Husband doing it all the time.  Well, he isn't making up words as much as he's pretending to quickly mouth the words he doesn't know.  A few examples of our lyrical improv are:

I was a highway man
Along the coach roads I did ride
Thorn and thistle by my side

Chiggity China the Chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain starts lickin'
Watching X-Files with no lights on
The dolly may's on
I hope the smoking man's in this one

And one of my personal favorites from an old friend...

Simmian the whale  (oh the whale)
Simmian the whale  (oh the whale)
Simmian my whale
(that would be Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root)

If you're still reading...this is your chance to tell me what lyrics always throw you off.  I know it's hard to think of things on the spot, but I have faith.