Merry Christmas!

Small Confession to Make

I have a small confession to make...sometimes I draft my blogs on the weekend and schedule them to post through the week. Okay, I do this a lot. In part because I think everyone who uses Google Reader (or comparable RSS feed) enjoy getting them during the work week and also because I usually have more time to write on the weekends. So, this week, while my blog was blissfully recounting seeing The Sound of Music and having 2 days off of work, I actually had 2 more days off of work. HOME SICK

I knew Sunday night that it wasn't good. I was feverish and achy but since I had gotten a flu shot, I thought maybe I'd be okay. Nope, no such luck. Monday morning, off to the doctor I went - strep throat. Home to bed I went- tried to check in with work in between cups of tea and naps but basically, I was out of commission.

The best thing about living alone and being home sick is that no one is around to be bothered by half finished cups of tea or lots of tissues piling up. The worst thing is that there is no one to make soup or turn off the TV when you fall asleep in front of it. But, the beauty of New York is that there is delivery for just about everything so I was able to get chicken noodle soup and a vitamin C fortified smoothie brought right to my door. Fabulous!

This blog is posted live, as I am feeling better, even after working all day. Thank goodness for Z Paks and orange juice! And I better get well soon because otherwise, I don't get to play with my nephews on Christmas!!

"Free" Time

I took a couple of days off of work last week because our schedule and work load finally slowed down and I have a lot of PTO days that will expire at the end of the year that I'm not using. Initially, my plan was to read, watch Christmas movies, recover from a cocktail party Thursday night and maybe bake a little.

Of course, as I got closer to the days off, I realized I needed to get my eyebrows waxed, go to the post office, the bank, the dry cleaner, the grocery store. I also needed Time Warner to come out to fix my cable, so I had a 4 hour window to wait for them..... It was amazing how quickly I managed to schedule my free time.

I was able to finish the book I was reading, watch some cheesy TV and bake/make a TON of holiday treats, but I was in general more productive than originally anticipated. Now I'm wondering how I would have gotten everything done (including hosting a holiday party Saturday night!) if I hadn't had those extra days to both get ready for and enjoy the holiday time.

And it's almost time for another vacation...our office closes end of day on the 23rd and reopens Mon Jan 3rd- sooooooo looking forward to the break from work!

My All Time Favorite Movie

I think everyone who knows me knows that The Sound of Music is my favorite movie. As a kid, I used to watch it as much as possible on the VHS tape my parents had recorded off the TV. We used to ask out scenes with our baby sitters and I wished for stairs so that I could emulate Gretel's part of the goodbye song.

Luckily, because I'm a fan of The Sound of Music on Facebook, I found out today that they're showing the movie at this really cool movie theater in NY for the next few days. So, I was able to go yesterday afternoon to see one of the best movies of all time on a huge screen. In the fall, it was released for a sing-along special, but I wasn't able to go then, so I was really excited to catch it for this holiday special showing.

It was exactly as I remembered, but I was able to pay more attention to things like the shoes they wore and exactly how Rolf caught the family at the end since everything was large and I was paying 100% attention (you know how it is watching movies at home- checking email, getting a snack, etc) Plus, it was a great way to spend a cold Sunday afternoon.

Christmas Cards: Yay or Nay?

I know a lot of people are moving away from sending paper Christmas cards. Sure, it is easier and greener to send them electronically or not all. And with Facebook, email and other digital technologies, we stay in touch much better with our friends and family, making the annual holiday photo or newsletter even more unnecessary, but I love Christmas cards. I enjoy sending them, I really enjoy receiving them and I save ones that are particularly nice or have great pictures.

Call me old fashioned, but I like spending the time to say hello to people via snail mail around the holidays. This year, I was particularly clever (if I do say so myself) and custom made cards for all my relatives.

Check it out:

I suppose this is what someone with an advertising degree does at Christmas :)

200 Posts!

In less than 2 years, I've posted 200 times. Yay! I know other blogs are better about it, posting about 5 days a week, but I don't think I have that much to say.

Instead, I thought I'd recommend a couple of my favorite food blogs

Smitten Kitchen
Amateur Gourmet
The Girl Who Ate Everything

And not a food blog, but a blog kind of about food (and about totally wasting time)
The Lawrence/Julie/Julia project- a college guy is watching the movie Julie & Julia everyday for a year and blogging about it. Bizarre but entertaining.

I have to say, I love the illiteration of having today be 200 Tuesday :)

Ready for Christmas!

Somehow this year, I ended up super organized for Christmas and finished most of my shopping by the first week of December. I also ordered stuff online which of course always helps to get it done quickly and efficiently. But now is my least favorite part of being both ready early; I have to send out all of my beautifully wrapped packages so that I can pay for standard shipping to get them under the right trees in time for Christmas.

Although it looks like TONS of gifts, it's really just some bulky items sticking out.



 I was trying a few different ways to capture the beauty of the tree- but these are the best two shots I got. And yes, it is a fake Christmas tree. I do miss the smell and look of the real tree, but last year, when I was taking down my tree, getting sap all over, spilling water on my nice wood floors and  finding green "leaves" until June, I swore to myself I'd remember that feeling of frustration and go for a less messy artificial tree. And I have to say, with the ornaments and packages, it looks just as awesome as a real one.

A new record for me

Here it is, Friday Dec 10 and I can honestly say I haven't been to the grocery store since Sun Nov 21. That's the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Granted, I went to my main grocery twice that weekend, Costco once and another grocery store once, so I really did get my fill, but even still....

Maybe even more shocking is that I've been able to eat pretty well at home without fresh groceries. I had apples and oranges leftover from Costco, all of the Turkey Day leftovers, some cheese, crackers, yogurt, defrosted something for dinner a couple of nights. I also have had some dinners out and went out of town for a weekend which also helps.

I actually love grocery shopping and feel that I shop almost in a European way where I buy enough to cook for one for a few days. Obviously, the pre-Thanksgiving stock up is not that way at all but it worked to my advantage these last two weeks because I've been super busy with work. I also don't drink a lot of milk, which is what usually drives people to the grocery store on a more regular basis.

I think I'll be hitting the store on Sunday since I have dinner plans Fri and Sat nights. But part of me wonders if I can go a little longer...

Seasonal Treats!

I'm a sucker for holiday/seasonal flavored foods. I think there is something about the "limited time" offer that reels me in, but they are also usually flavors I love. Pumpkin, Peppermint, Gingerbread, Spicy Cinnamon (like in cider)...

My favorites so far this year:
Dunkin Donuts Brew-At-Home Pumpkin Spice coffee- it didn't taste like pumpkin, but had a nice cinnamon and nutmeg subtle flavor. I even won over some picky coffee drinkers wiht it and we finished it off over Thanksgiving. I can't wait to try the Mint Mocha coffee I bought at the same time as the Pumpkin, I'm hoping it will be a nice subtle minty chocolate flavor.

Trader Joes Peppermint Pretzel Chips- I have no idea if that's what these are called, but they are delicious! I was at a holiday party last weekend and these were put out on the dessert table. Picture pretzel chip, with white chocolate fudge and then crushed up peppermints. You get the salty, the sweet, and the mint. So good! I'm hoping Santa finds them and tucks them in my stocking so I can have more :-)

Gingerbread latte from Starbucks- I'm usually a skim cappuchino or skim iced latte kinda girl, but when it's cold and holiday time, I let myself indulge a little on a Gingerbread latte (still skim milk, but with whipped cream- what can I say, I love being an oxymoron).

Gingerbread donuts from Dunkin' Donuts- they are light and fluffy like a cake donut but with a delicious gingerbread taste and a yummy donut glaze. I have a weakness for donuts to begin with and these do not disappoint.
Holiday Flavors I'm looking forward to:
Gingerbread flavored graham crackers- these are made by HoneyMaid and I haven't tried them yet (though they're in my pantry), but I'm very curious if they'll taste like grahams or gingersnaps. Or a little bit of both. I bet they'd be good for the crust of a pumpkin cheesecake- too bad I already made one in November, otherwise, I'd be interested to try it out

Mocha Mint Coffee- see above

All the Christmas cookies I'm going to make! I have two new recipes I want to try out, plus a peppermint fudge recipe and bourbon pecan balls.

I guess I'll be making a healthy eating resolution coming January once I eat my way through all of these seasonal specials.

Yet Again....

Yet again, I have lagged in my blogging. It's for all the same reasons (busy with work, busy with life, travel etc) so I will spare you the details. Also, I'll spare you the recap of what I've been doing since Nov 12.

The good news is, I'm only 5 posts away from my goal of 200 posts by the end of the year. That will be an average of 100 posts per year. Not a great record, but it's better than nothing.

So this is a tease- a blog post of virtually no content- but it is letting you know that I have some great stuff to share coming up.

T