anywhere is…. – Page 144 – my scramblings & ramblings

Christmas Time & Christmas Meme (Pictures)

12 December 2007 / christmas, meme, pictures, survey

Put up the tree today. 🙂 There’s something nice about small trees. They’re so easy to decorate. I hadn’t even taken the thing apart really. Just stood it up and fluffed it out a bit. Plopped on the garland and the lights, and when Aidan got here, hung the ornaments with him. Good times.

I’ve been playing with the manual settings on my camera (FINALLY, after having it for 20 months!), and while I still have a lot to learn, I’m excited about how much more flexibility I have with photography. I’m also scared that I’ll screw up pix a lot more. :O Like those sparkle things on Aidan’s face in the above picture. What the hot banana is that all about?

Festive Experimentation

And time for a survey! 🙂

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both! I like to wrap, but gift bags are pretty and reusable! 🙂

2. Real or Artificial tree?
Artificial. I have a cat.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually the first week of December, but I got sick this year, then went to NYC. So, today.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever I get around to it. I try to do it soon after the new year.

5. Do you like Eggnog?
No.

6. Favorite gift you received as a child?
Oh man, let me think! Barbie Dolls, and the Hanging’ Tough Live video. 🙂

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
I think I do? I do have an ornament that I keep up all year round.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My stepfather.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Aidan and Adam.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
Dunno.

11. Christmas Cards?
Yes.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I LOVE The Christmas List. After that? Hmm, A Christmas Story. A Christmas Carol.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
A bit before Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever ‘recycled’ a Christmas present?
I may have for a white elephant thing.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My mommy’s dressing, greens, and mac & cheese. And raspberry chocolate chip cookies!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear.

17. Favorite Christmas Song?
We’ll start with Transiberian Orchestra ones first:
Christmas Canon
Christmas Canon Rock
Wish Liszt (Toy Shop Madness)
Next, Harry Connick, Jr. songs:
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
I Pray on Christmas
… and these randoms:
– O Come O Come Emmanuel – Carter’s Cord (It’s FREE on iTunes right now—’til 12/18/07—so go get it!)
– Emmanuel, God With Us – Amy Grant
– These Are The Special Times
– God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (the 98º one)
– Agnus De, the Michael W. Smith version. It’s not really a Christmas song, but it fits.
– Christmastime – Michael W. Smith
– The Prayer
– Angels We Have Heard on High (the Joan Osborne version)

And and…. of course, You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. 🙂

Oh, and I like the ones Mariah Carey sings and Sarah McLachlan and Jewel and Nat King Cole and … OK, you know what? It’s going to take me too long to answer this question. I have 218 Christmas songs on my computer That’s 13.4 hours.

HEY, I also like the I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas song. Anyone have it and want to share? 🙂

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home?
I’m the young, unmarried one, so I’ll be traveling. Adam, Aidan, and I are going up to see my mom.

19. Can you name Santa’s Reindeer?
A few of them.

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree?
Angel. Always an angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
It depends. This year, I opened some on Thanksgiving!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
It goes away so quickly.

23. Shopping…Mall or online?
I like to go out and shop. No paying for shipping that way. I remember when they were really trying to push online shopping, back in 1999. EVERY place offered free shipping, and I didn’t have a car. It was the best thing ever. But then, online shopping caught on, so it’s not as much fun anymore.

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?)
I have an apartment, so I only decorate inside.

25. Favorite Christmas cookie?
Raspberry chocolate chip. I need to get some raspberry chocolate chips and a new cookie sheet so I can make them!

26. Do you own Christmassy clothing or jewelry?
I have a couple pairs of socks. 🙂

27. Do you believe in Santa?
Santa rocks, dude.

‘Til next time.

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New York City… Center of the Universe (Pictures)

10 December 2007 / adam, new york city, pictures, sick, vacation

Hey there! I’m safely installed in Columbus, and plan to remain in Ohio for the rest of 2007. After last night’s/this morning’s travel fiasco, I can say I’m relieved that I don’t need to fly anywhere for awhile. I’m sure the bug will be biting in about a month or so, though.

Anyway, if you’re a regular reader, you know that my adorable fiancé Adam (adamselzer) flew us to New York City for the weekend. The arrangement was to meet at JFK airport at about 8:25pm or so. Well, both of our flights got delayed due to weather, and when Adam landed (about a half hour after I did), there was some drama in actually finding each other. After a long, long subway trip to Brooklyn (where we were staying), we finally got to our destination, and crashed.

And then I couldn’t sleep. Blah.

You know you want to see pictures!

Woke up Saturday morning, and my digestive system was acting quite unstable (due to the meds I’m on). However, I was not going to let that stop me from seeing New York. We hopped on the subway and got off at Times Square. That subway station is crazy. CRAZY. Apparently, my face when I first saw Times Square was a big, open-mouthed smile, probably not unlike the face I made when Adam proposed to me. I mean, WOW. Lots of flashing lights and signs and big billboards and people and people and people.

Oh my Lord, were there people. Not too many in Times Square. 5th Avenue, however, was another story. Quite.

THERE WERE LINES TO GET INTO ABERCROMBIE & FITCH.

Not even right.

Anyway.

Guess what! 🙂

The biggest ass Christmas tree I have ever seen.

There’s me! 🙂

Penny Harvest Field
http://www.commoncents.org

Adam

Central Park

Remembering John Lennon
** see wlotus‘s LJ for a really excellent shot.

Central Park

Adam & Me in Central Park

I got to meet and hang out with wlotus!!!!! She is soooo much fun! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Pretty star on 5th Avenue

I dunno. It’s just cool.

Times Square, at night.

Wanda, Adam, and I took a break from all the walking and stuff to see the movie Juno.

YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS MOVIE. It is brilliant, amazing, funny, just… it’s so good. Everyone should go see Juno. I can’t stop quoting it.

Rent was amazing. Troy Horne was amazing as Tom Collins (I didn’t get a chance to say hi to him, unfortunately, watchwhat), and the actress who played Mimi really did a great job in that role! I enjoyed it a lot and REALLY want to see it again. Really, really. 🙂

Yesterday, Adam and I CRASHED. We spent the day hanging around the flat and napping and watching Christmas cartoons. We walked around the corner and got lunch at a deli. That night, we hung out with Nadia, and I left for the airport at 8:30ish. Hired cars are a beautiful thing in NYC. Cheaper than cabs and WAY quicker than subways and trains. Anyway, my flight was to take off at 10pm. We had no crew. The crew was stuck on a delayed flight from NC. We didn’t take off until about 11pm. Got to Columbus and couldn’t land because of really bad fog. So, we circled and circled and circled until the fuel ran out, then we flew to Cleveland. Sat in the plane for a few hours until the fog in Columbus lifted. I couldn’t sleep at all so I ended up calling confusified and talking for more than an hour. I was dropping my stuff on my floor at home at about 4:35am.

I flew jetBlue for this trip, which was a new experience for me. I’ll tell you what, if I’m going to be stuck inside a plane for whatever reason, I’d want it to be a jetBlue plane because they have DirecTV and XM Radio at every seat. You know how I don’t have cable? Boy did I get my fix last night/this morning! I watched American’s Most Smartest Model, ET, House Hunters (and other assorted HGTV shows), and I flipped between South Park and oh Lord, I don’t even know what else. Plus, the flight attendants passed out water and snacks. And jetBlue has GOOD snacks like Doritos and organic chocolate chunk cookies. The entire plane is leather seats, lots of leg room, and they even give you free headphones. I rather enjoyed flying with them, and I’m sorry that they’re leaving Columbus next month. No more jetBlue. 🙁

This trip has completed numbers 65 and 74 on my 101 in 1001 list (which needs to be updated big time)!! YAY!

I can’t even believe how much I have traveled this year. Chicago in February, Chicago and San Jose/San Francisco in May, Chicago in June, Atlanta in August/September, Chicago in September, San Francisco in October, Atlanta in November, New York City in December. Am I missing anything? 🙂 I’m so glad I have friends who like to send me places. 🙂

See ya!

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Happy Mail!

10 December 2007 / books, christmas, friends, yay

I got my mail today, and there was another surprise package from Amazon!

Thanks, 1of7mikey, for the Leven Thumps book! You should have seen how excited I got when I opened the package! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Travel

10 December 2007 / new york city, vacation

Barring an emergency…

I am SO DONE with flying for awhile.

Story soon.

ZZZzzzZZZzzzZZZZzzzZZZZ

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UNCynical

5 December 2007 / christmas, friends

Okay, random packages from Amazon can really help a girl’s mood.

Thank you so much mandibaby for the CD and the book for Aidan! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hope you feel better soon.

**luffs**

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