The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My parents came to Chicago for Christmas this year, since all of my siblings and I are here now. Highlights for me included watching It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas, "lighting" the Yule Log, an excellent roast made by yours truly, and a rousing game of Catch Phrase, where the four of us girls DOMINATED the four males in the family. We had a merry old time feasting, celebrating, laughing, playing games, and spending time with each other.

Oh Christmas Tree

When we were in Princeton for Thanksgiving this year, we also picked up a tree. We went with TK's parents, Madeline (his lovely niece), and Molly and cut down a beauty.

My Dad and Me

Today is my dad's birthday, so I'll send him a shout out! I think it is interesting how a person really is a combination of their parents or caregivers. It's pretty usual for a girl to see all the ways she is like her mom and for a guy to see ways in which he emulates his dad, but I think it is telling when similarities with your parent of the opposite gender are evident.

There are so many things that he's instilled in me which I think I take for granted or assume are just my own individual characteristics when they really are from him. He gave me a love of camping and being out in the woods. I still love playing with Legos because he would come home from work and play blocks with me all the time when I was a little girl. Through his selfless example of devotion to his family and hard work I believe I am a more giving and hardworking person than I might have been. He has taught me leadership that is wise and fair. He's taught me to appreciate out-dated and cheesy Christmas movies. As a Christian, he's shown me how to think outside of the box as far as who God is and who God loves. He's shown me a bigger and more diverse God than I would have known just from my own experience. We both love soundtracks to music. We both like wine. We don't take ourselves too seriously.

Happy Birthday, Dad...I'm glad you were born not so long ago so that you could have such an impact on the world and on me. I love you, Daddy-poo!

5-9-0

Well, what can I say? It's the end of the season for the family Fantasy Football League, and I've come up short of making it into the playoffs...very short. To be honest, I ranked third (out of 10) in total points in the league so my team did very well. At least 5 of my losses were games where I just happened to be matched up against the team that scored the most points that week, and had my match-up been against the majority of the other teams in the league I would have easily won.
Tough luck, sister! Next year I'll hope for better match-ups/providence so that I can boast in my game. It was my first year, so I'm not too ashamed. Tom Brady was my only player that was consistently good and Pittsburgh's defense wasn't horrible, unlike some of my other draft picks.

TK and his sister Janine are both in the playoffs this weekend, so I'm hoping for them both to make it to the championship. I'll come back next year with a vengeance!

The Daring Book for Girls

In the beginning of this past summer I wrote about a great new book I had found called The Dangerous Book for Boys, and was wishing there was one of equal interest that little girls might also enjoy. Look now further because it has been published! The Daring Book for Girls brings the excitement and hands-on fun that the Boys book had, but with some added refineries and girl-focused chapters.

This is a modern day reference book for girls filled with information on so many delicious topics, I wish I had it while growing up. Its practical pages show girls how to do everything from paddling a canoe and making a toolbox to pressing flowers and playing hopscotch.

Some of my favorite chapters so far include Queens of the Ancient World, Putting Your Hair Up With a Pencil, French Terms of Endearment, Women Spies, Boys, How to Negotiate a Salary, and Books That Will Change Your Life.

Written in a similar style as the Iggulden's book, the words are nostalgic and the pictures are reminiscent of a less electronic age. The book is also intentional in its global entries and includes chapters on different languages and cultures that they encourage girls to learn more about. While it presents opportunities and ideas that girls might not have considered for themselves before, it does not go overboard in any extreme feminist agenda that would look down on or disrespect males in general. There is plenty of nail-painting, sleep-over, and beauty advice.

My only warning to those thinking of purchasing the book is that there seem to be a few more references to the occult in its pages when compared to the Dangerous Book for Boys. Like it or not, palm reading, playing Bloody Mary and Light as a Feather Stiff as a Board are things that girls just do at sleepovers. However, some parents may not want to promote these types of things as equally as they'd like to encourage other great feats of daring and adventure presented in the book.

Overall though, it is a fun read and I think it would be a great resource for any girl - or boy for that matter!

Jimmy John's ...no me gusta!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Jimmy John's is not the place for me. I'm not one to use this blog to go on a pessimistic rant, but I'll make this one exception. A couple of weeks ago, a Jimmy John's restaurant opened across from North Park, next to the Starbucks. I wasn't pumped about its opening because 1. their subs are below average and 2. I wanted a Potbelly or Chipotle to open up instead.

The fact that almost anyone could go to their local grocery store, buy an Italian bun, iceberg lettuce, and sandwich toppings and get an end result as good or better than their subs is only one of my annoyances with this establishment. Another would be the atmosphere of encouraged obnoxiousness found on their signage and in their employees. I've never been a fan of too many antics to try and force a customer to "have fun" in any business.

I'll take a Southwest flight, but I don't want to play any games with the flight attendants while we scramble for plane seats. I'll go to Cold Stone, but I'd rather not leave a tip, lest the entire staff breaks into a song for the tipper. I refrain from ordering a shake at Potbelly because it often results in a screaming match between employees to make sure the shake is being made...size, flavor, you name it, they'll scream it. Call me crazy but I just like to get my food and get out.

The other day I thought I would give Jimmy John's one last fighting chance, and - I kid you not - I walked into a nightmare of all my pet peeves realized. The door hadn't even closed behind me before about 10+ workers (squished behind a small counter) all gave me a big hearty hello all at once and then continued to say "welcome," "hi," "how are ya," "hola," in extremely random and intolerable silliness. With what I'm sure was a look of confusion on my face, I proceeded toward to counter, to read over the menu and see what I wanted. At this point, the man who must have been the manager literally came from behind the counter to stand beside me doing a song and dance the entire way up. He ended with extended jazz hands and a request for my order. I said I wasn't ready yet, could I look at the menu? "Want to tell me and then I'll tell her!?," (referring to the girl at the register) he asked with bubbling excitement. WHAT!?!?! Then he told me that I should get a #12. When I decided I wanted a #4, the girl asked if I wanted cheese for an extra charge. A $1.20 extra charge. I told them I'd just go somewhere else.

You'd think they would have turned off the antics when I wasn't responsive to their attempts in the beginning. Maybe they are just supposed to be weird. It's just so not my style. What I want to know is 1. do people actually like Jimmy John's food and, more importantly, 2. do people really enjoy the strange mix of customer service on steroids and "fun" in the workplace when you're just trying to get a meal? It just seems a little ridiculous to me - maybe I'm just super boring.

Holidays on Ice

In my Readers Advisory class we've been required to annotate and book talk several titles over the semester, and last night's class focused on graphic novels, bestsellers, and audio books. I presented Holidays on Ice, one of my favorite things to read every Christmas. It is available as an audio book and nothing beats David Sedaris reading any thing at all!

This book is a hilarious compilation of six short stories that all take place during the holidays. Retelling the misadventures of his dysfunctional family, his full-time job as an elf at Macy’s department store, and other strange situations, Sedaris presents an entertaining and comedic look at the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Because the audio-recording was narrated by the author (who is a qualified performer), one can only assume it is in exactly the tone and style that was intended when it was written. While not every author should or could narrate their own work, this one can. Sedaris’ dry reading of the text alludes to the boredom and mundaneness of his life in a side-splitting fashion.

Whether you read this book or listen to it, it matters not. One of my favorite parts is "The Santaland Diaries," where the author recounts his days as an elf (named Crumpet) at Macy's department store in New York City. I highly recommend this sardonic, irreverent, non-heartwarming, holiday memoir.

This makes a perfect Christmas gift for almost anyone on your list! Check it out through the following links - Buy it! Borrow it! Listen to excerpt! (click on "Santaland Diaries")