OVO

Someone's bad luck is our good luck, and so tonight Nolan and I inherited (for a small price) tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's "OVO"!!! What better way to wind down this last week before the holidays!

I also have this link to share of our floor "cookie elves" from our party yesterday. JibJab has made incredible progress with it's elf yourself tool over the last few years!

Luck, be a lady...

I'm one of those people who just doesn't ever win things. Which is why I am one of the few people on my floor who don't invest in lotto scratchers. Because when I realized that my chances of actually winning are about 1000 times lower than the average person's, the only thing I'd be scratching out would be my eyeballs. So I shouldn't have to preface this by saying that I was feeling pretty good about being runner-up in the hat contest this morning at our HR holiday party. We wrapped over 300 presents for needy kids, and then used the wrapping paper scraps to make hats. Not too bad! And my theme was called, "Lady Holiday":

However, it is also not surprising that the person who actually enlisted someone from the safety department to LIGHT THEIR HAT ON FIRE beat me out. If I was in that crowd, I would be hysterically cheering on the chick with the flaming hat over the one who looked like Santa threw up on the chubby wench at the Renaissance Faire.

It hasn't been a great day for the figure. First the delicious food at the holiday party, and then our floor Cookie Exchange:

And with only a few days left until I leave for Mexico...such a shame to throw away all those hours I spent at the gym.

bestest.

As you can see from my previous post, cleaning up after the Christmas party was something I was DREADING after work yesterday. And Nolan had emailed me asking if we could have a date night and all I could think was “this cleaning is going to ruin it!”. So imagine my shock and delight when I walked up to the front door and saw that our Christmas lights were on…furthermore, when I walked into the house, candles were lit and it smelled warm. And then I saw the pile of folded clothes on the bed waiting to be put away. And that the dishes were completely washed AND dried AND put away. And the trash was taken out. And leftovers were packaged in the fridge. And hot water was ready on the stove for a hot cup of cider for me. And my perfect husband was waiting for me in the living room. So we went on a nice walk, grabbed Tuttimelon and chatted, and then because we were feeling sappy, we opened our Christmas presents for each other early. YES, we RUINED CHRISTMAS, and it was GLORIOUS.

So then we sat down and played a nice long game of Carcassonne and I sipped my mulled wine in another attempt at sleeping as well as I had the night before. Best.night.ever.

I have been so cold, that not only have my chilblains made their annual appearance (hello, misery!), but I shiver while waiting for the muni EVEN bundled up. So I have started wearing leg warmers. Under my pants at work, over my pajama leggings. And let me tell you: what a giant scarf does for your neck, leg warmers do 5 times that for your legs. Amazing. I'm going to go buy more today!

Tomorrow is our floor's cookie party, so tonight Nolan and I are slaving away trying to make fancy cookies and coming up with interesting recipes. Any ideas?

I also have to add that I've recently invested in a highly recommended product and I will do the same for you and tell you right now that it will change your life if you are as lazy/busy as I am!

Oscar Blandi dry shampoo: I didn't have time to wash my hair this morning, and thought it would be okay since I am hitting the gym at lunchtime, but I needed a quick fix for my (temporary!) unclean hair. I saw Nolan's eyes light up when he saw this product, too, and I am fairly certain this will be the lifesaver during the holidays and traveling to and from Mexico. I hate unwashed plane/travel hair. Now: no more! Here's the link if you're interested!

party in the USA!

Yesterday we hosted our Christmas party, and let me just enlighten you on what I learned this year:

1.) Even though homemade (alcoholic) eggnog is very impressive, it is also very expensive, and when you dump cups of bourbon and brandy into it and only half of the huge bowl gets consumed, it's basically like dumping money down the sink. Note to self: next year take Nolan's advice and buy cartons of eggnog (hard and non-alcoholic) instead of making it.

2.) If you have an oil fondue going, don't leave it out overnight or your house WILL smell like In-N-Out the next morning.

3.) Make people take their leftovers home with them. Alternately, prepare to have only leftovers for the next week.

4.) Buy a bigger trashcan.

5.) Paper plates.

6.) (this one's for Nolan) If you are sick, don't eat tons of greasy food regardless, and then have to get up hundreds of times during the night and regret it all.

On the upside, our little friend wasn't there to wreak havoc last night, as I took him up to Placerville to begin his winter vacation there while we're in Mexico next week. So that was a plus. Downside: our bed was noticeably colder without him. Sniff.

Speaking of which: it's supposed to be raining at least part of the time in Cancun, but I'll take 80 degree rain on the beach over 30 degree rain on the nasty SF streets ANY day. Good thing we still have our ponchos from Europe, woo!

merry holydays

Yesterday the muni lost power downtown, so a little before 6 I was standing on the 30-degree, windy San Francisco street with dripping wet hair from the gym, a heavy bag, and no bus in sight. Plenty went right by because they were super crowded, but I ended up taking a random one that only went halfway to my house, and then walking home. Almost 2 hours later I walked through that door, and man, I have never been so grateful for a nice warm hot dog. I know everyone says SF has a great Public Trans system, but seriously I have been on public transportation systems in some of the busiest cities in the world: Paris, Rome, London, New York, Washington D.C., etc. San Francisco can't hold a candle to ANY of those, and in my mind, if I would consider paying for parking downtown every day instead of taking pub trans, something has got to be fixed...

Other than the inhumanely freezing temperatures in San Francisco, I've found that it just doesn't feel Christmassy here. I can't wait to move to an area where there are seasons (imagine that!) and holidays again. Plus I'm tired of having to say "Happy Holidays" when really I want to say "MERRY CHRISTMAS". Oh, America.

gingerflesh

Today I was reminded that I'm not in the country anymore--when I left the gym at lunch, it started hailing outside, and everyone on the street starts yelling, "omg, it's SNOWING!" and pulling out their iPhones to snap a picture and immediately post it on facebook. I didn't have the heart to yell "It's hail, you idiots!". I even heard one girl on her cell phone saying "well it isn't sticking yet, but..." and I sniggered as I walked past, secretly hoping she would be watching out her window all afternoon wondering why it never stuck.

This morning on the muni I was thoroughly engrossed in my book, and when we got to my stop, I was so confused--I could have sworn I was on my way HOME from work and that it was Friday...not that I was on my way TO work on a Monday. How depressing. I need to get more sleep tonight and not let Milo hog the bed.

Last night I was making gingerbread cookies for our small group, and also to make our house smell delicious and Christmassy, and instead I singed off my armhairs on the stove and our house smelled like burning hair/flesh instead of warm delicious gingerbread. So, Merry Christmas, Hannibal Lector.

tuttilicious

Tonight has been spent furiously wrapping presents, eating leftover curry and Tuttimelon, and trying to find a good movie to match my mood to watch. No luck so far, so I'm thinking of reverting to Slumdog Millionaire, which somehow in my mind ends up lumped together with favourite feel-goods like Pride and Prejudice and The Tenth Kingdom. I'm nothing if not quirky.

Speaking of Tuttimelon; they just opened one 2 blocks from my work, which means my paychecks will have a new home :(

Quote of the day (from Thanksgiving):
*while driving up to Placerville*
Nolan: "Why can't I drive AND play videogames on my iPhone?!"

lots!

Well. It's been awhile. But I've been on vacation! I guess it's not even worth offering excuses. So, in lieu of a bunch of long stories, and because I'm tired, here are tons of pictures to EXPLAIN why I was away :)

Because I was:

Running a 5k with my family on Thanksgiving morning:

And making gingerbread houses:

Ylehsa took pictures of Nolan and I (these are favourites!):


And we went Christmas tree hunting with our families:


I've been busy! So don't hate! I'll be back in business soon.