over the river and through the woods

merry christmas eve everyone!!

have you notice that i'm obsessed with the holidays yet?

at first, christmas landing on a wednesday seemed like a big fat pain.  now that the time has come around, i'm loving it!  it's like a hanukkah-lenght christmas celebration!  weeks of christmas is definitely more fun than just one day.  last weekend we partied with my half of the family and next weekend we get to do it again with steve's!

we both got extra days off work this week (sadly they don't overlap) so we're going to pack in all the holiday cheer we can between our family sandwich.  i couldn't be more excited about spending christmas morning with steve and bert.  even though i know i'll just be playing santa for myself, i can't wait to stuff our stockings, play some carols, and curl up with claymation christmas specials and some form of breakfast casserole before we head to my aunt's for christmas dinner.

last year on christmas eve, steve and i marinaded, broiled, and topped with pan-fried onions two incredibly delicious steaks while we played christmas carols in the basement of his fraternity's empty shared senior house.  we've decided to make our christmas eve steak night a new tradition.  

it's pretty great to have so much love coming from all directions while we start our new little family... new traditions are the name of the game now that everyone's merging families this year!  i'm sure glad ours is as delicious as boursin smothered beef.

merry christmas to all and to all a goodnight!  and happy holidays and mini-vacations for those who do not celebrate christmas!

xoxo-ho-ho-ho

word count: 36,443

it's the most wonderful (cold) time of the year

happy december (again) everyone!

we're getting in the seasonal spirit these days!  steve and i both LOVE christmas, and our place is as festive as our budget and tree-toppling cat will allow.  we are still busy bees these days, no less in honor of holiday time, but it seems like we're chugging toward a pretty awesome year the closer we get to 2014.

our landlords are offering a prize for the best decorated porch.  it's on neighbors.

we've hit a few wedding planning milestones this weekend, and we headed back to portage to celebrate steve's mom's birthday, and to get my childhood bedroom emptied out enough so my parents can work on converting it into something else.  i stumbled across enough old evidence from my creative high school days, i'm hoping to share some of it as soon as i get a chance.

for now, we're operating in future-tense mode: planning is the key word for the next couple weeks.  with any luck, we might know where we'll be moving soonISH, and then the world might start blurring from spinning a little too fast.  hope everyone is having as much fun as we are getting in the holiday spirit!

word count: 36, 443

becky's holiday guide to better-than-santa-gift-giving

this is my grandmother (and my uncle) with a twilight poster.  probably one of the most hilarious christmas memories i have.

content recycling disclaimer:  this was a post i published on my other blog last year around christmas time.

Gift-giving is one of my favorite activities.  I am pretty sure I enjoy giving gifts slightly more than receiving them.  This may sound pious and altruistic of me, but be not deceived.  Gift giving is a competitive sport, and one that I have definitely started playing to win.  Few things are more awesome than giving someone the best gift they received that year.  It says to the world, “I am caring, insightful, personal, generous, and quite possibly omniscient.”  Santa?  Who the eff is Santa?  Your gift wasn’t constructed by the slave labor of midgets, it was hand selected by moi.

Clearly nothing can make me sound as self-possessed as I do discussing gift giving.  But in honor of the season I present to you a list of tips on how to up your skillz as a gifter.  Tis the season to get gifty, and all my Christmas shopping is done before black Friday.  Come now, you can’t say you have nothing to learn.

1. No gift cards.  Christmas would not be complete without my brother’s annual rant on gift cards, and while I can’t say I relate to his theatrics, I will admit I agree with him.  Unless, of course, the gift card has been requested, or you have an EXTREMELY close relationship with the recipient, and KNOW they will welcome the shopping spree, well, a gift card isn’t the worst gift, but you’re never gonna make it to a final four gift bracket with a little snip of plastic.  At best a gift card is a weak substitute for cash, and at worst you have given someone an errand.  You have said, I didn’t know what to buy you, but I care more about how you spend my money by restricting where you can use it, than I do about giving you what you want.
2. Join private sale websites.  Private sale sites like myhabit.com (owned by amazon) and hautelook.com (owned by Nordstrom) put high quality luxury gifts into a more reasonable price range.  Yes, I know, it’s the thought that counts.  But isn’t it terribly thoughtful of you to willingly endure regular spam email so that your friends and family can have awesome Christmas gifts?  Their sales cycle in and out too so if you don’t see anything Aunt Cindy would like you can always check back the next day and get a good deal on something excellent like this.
3. Choose function over fashion.  Decorative accents or fashion accessories are dangerous territory.  There are only 2 people in the world for whom I would feel confident buying a gift with no function other than looks.  One is my boyfriend of three years (whose need for decorative objects is minimal), and the other is my sister, with whom I share an apartment.  You don’t need to start buying everyone drill bits, but making sure your gift actually DOES something will make up for any discrepancies in what is “cute.”  Odds are good your cousin isn’t going to tell you she thinks your taste is heinous.  Even if she does, she’ll probably still bust out an ugly set of luggage tags in a travel pinch more frequently than she will those hideous throw pillows you bought her.  If you MUST go decorative, stick to holiday themed objects (like tree ornaments, for example).  That way nobody will be scrambling to find those ugly earrings to wear upon your arrival, your gift will be temporarily displayed with all the other junk.
4. Ask yourself if he’d rather buy it for himself.  This question can divert all kinds of gifting missteps.  It can help prevent personal preference problems like the ones I discussed above (for example, she’d probably rather buy her own fragrance than have stinky perfume for free).  Or, perhaps you, like me, are one of the less affluent gifters on your holiday guest list.  This can put a lot of gifts off limits to ensure what you buy isn’t going to serve as junky inspiration for a shopping trip.  Don’t buy a cheap bargain fleece throw that barely covers your recipient’s legs if you know they would prefer to drop the $40 it takes to buy one of these bad boys.  Certainly if they are of the mind that a blanket is a blanket by all means go with the bargain, but if you are worried you are skimping on quality they consider necessary, go a different direction.
5. Tread lightly with DIY.  Some homemade gifts really cannot be beat.  Mrs. DC’s candied pecans, my grandma’s homemade caramels, something hand knitted, crocheted, or intricately sewn.  Others… well… hate to break it to you, pinterest, but nobody wants a mason jar full of sugar and olive oil labeled “body scrub.”  Homemade gifts are fine when the thought really is what counts.  Don’t forget that just because you made it, that doesn’t always make it thoughtful.  Be personal and think about what others genuinely would enjoy receiving, not what you would be easiest and cheapest to give.

happy december everyone!

word count:  35,770

a brief reflection on thanksgiving 2013

we had a very happy thanksgiving and plenty to be thankful for.  we've reached a time in life when the holidays are really starting to change.  we're merging families, starting new traditions, and it feels like everyone around us is starting new a new chapter lately.

at risk of getting uncomfortably personal, gratitude is something that has become a much bigger part of my life in the last four to five years.  i have mentioned before my history of depression and it is something that has irrevocably impacted my perspective, my worldview, and my attitudes towards others (things which are still constantly evolving over my lifetime).  we all experience gratitude differently, just as we all take things for granted.  to me, it is impossible to list the infinite things for which i am thankful.  not in the sense of "there's too much to say," but in the sense that i am literally grateful for all that has happened to me.

as much as i am thankful for steve, and bert, and my wonderful family (old and new) i am thankful for depression, and dirty dishes, and traffic jams.  i am thankful for broken limbs and broken hearts.  i am thankful because literally everything in this world that has affected me has led to the beautiful life i am so lucky to have.  the concept of what happiness truly is, is new to me.  there is no state of permanent bliss manufactured by those fortunate enough to have endlessly wonderful things happen to them.  there is only what is and all is temporary.  if we are lucky enough to value our own lives, we should be thankful for all they contain.

time is not linear, space is not empty - eiko & koma

word count: 35,770

happy halloween!! (quick picture post)

i eventually learned this sign on my cubicle is actually intended for our accounting director whose office is through the adjacent doorway... or so they tell me...

are we having fun yet?

my office gets pretty enthusiastic about seasonal decor.

my grandma and her cowgirl neighbor!

pumpkins meow and writer nerd updates

happy friday y'all (look!  i've managed to blog two days in a row now!  i must have lots and lots of free time again right?  ...right????)

okay, maybe i'm still feeling a little swamped attempting to find invitations as pretty as these ones for less than $9 a pop.  thank goodness the weekend is tomorrow.  the bags under my eyes are getting a bit too persistent even for clinique quick-corrector concealer (a travesty i say)!

bert is also one pissy monkey these days and will not stand for the idea of me getting a full night's sleep, no sir.  he isn't coping well with being left alone on weekends (sorry cat that's the reason we got you--a cat, instead of a golden retriever puppy.  deal with it).

in other news, our halloween pumpkins have apparently been bothering the stevedore with their lack of being cut open.  last night he caved to temptation (or perhaps he just wanted to entertain bert so he'd let us sleep through the whole 7 hour night) and carved bert's little pumpkin into the cutest cat-o-lantern i have ever seen in my life!  i sure am lucky to be marrying a guy patient enough to carve those intricate little whiskers.  you've got to be patient to sign up for a lifetime with little 'ol me (especially a sleep deprived version).

but now, for my totally self-centered, self-important, self-satisfied news:  i have officially passed the 100-page mark of my work in progress.  i haven't had a chance to celebrate, but it's really a very exciting accomplishment for me (i suspect there might be an extra big glass of wine for me tonight).  i could go into all the details of how proud i feel, but in order not to sound like a twit, i'll keep my comments to this:  if you've ever considered punching self-doubt in the face with a creative endeavor, i highly recommend it.  it's stellar.

now let's just get through these last few hours til the weekend is officially here.

word count:  30,726

the winds of change

well it's officially too cold to go to work without a jacket anymore, and let me tell you that is the opposite of awesome.

autumn is so bittersweet.  a warm sunny fall day in michigan is as close to perfect as this place gets, but they are few and far between the cold, rain/snow mix days that remind you winter is a six to eight month season round these parts.  on saturday we got one of the nuggets of indian summer and we tried to stay outside as long as we could until we met up with my family to celebrate my grandma's birthday.

with the official end of summer over the weekend, it feels like everything has switched gears entirely.  it's hard not to notice the seasonal changes when hoards of college students are constantly around.  now is the time when the huge outdoor parties begin to shrink indoors.  people are more fashionable now until they have to begin hiding under layers of wool and down-filled parkas.  i can't say i'm excited for the freezing weather ahead, but with a few exceptions, now until christmas is typically a time of year that completely flies by.  perhaps its the inclusion of steve's birthday right around thanksgiving, or the fact that our dating-anniversary falls between thanksgiving and christmas, but we rarely get a chance to come up for air until the new year once october rolls around.

through all this, the thing i'm trying to focus on most is getting back at that dusty word document known as my work-in-progress.  though the thrill hasn't quite worn off of getting engaged and moving in together, the novelty of it all doesn't quite clog up my brain as much as it had been doing.  now that the weather is taking it's uglier turn, i'm hoping it will be easier to stay busy with indoor projects like my writing.  a busy life is a recipe for writers block, but i'm optimistic that the holiday stress will seem small compared to all the madness we've been through lately.

word count: 25,024

i heart seasonal decor

winter has really been getting to me this year.  i am pretty sure i could eliminate snow from the rest of my life and feel no remorse.  the other morning when heading to work my car had a frozen lock.  after busting through the passenger side door and shimmying my way over to the driver's seat i opened my driver's side door from the inside.  this ended up being a big mistake as the latch became frozen inside the door and i had to drive about halfway to work holding the door shut until the car had warmed up enough to loosen the latch.

*frown*

so, in an effort to cheer myself up yesterday, i decided to pack away the big wooden glitter snowflakes i had hanging in the front window and make something cute for valentine's day.  heart garlands seem to be all the rage on pinterest so i thought i'd make one of my own.  it definitely makes the front room cuter, but i'm still waiting for it to melt the ice outside.

(cardstock hearts painted red with acrylic.   smaller cardstock hearts hot glued in the middle with sharpie letters.  strung together with white thread.)