The holidays as depicted in photos

Here are some great photos that accurately depict my 2008 holiday season…good times.

I love miniature things

 

My niece loves sushi

 

Christmas play time

 

My glorious table

Best. Wine Cover. Ever.

I found this at CVS for the economical price of $2.99. Nothing says Christmas like a wine bottle wearing a tiny winter hat, snowflake sweater, and cold weather scarf.

Glorious.

Merry Christmas

Get a load of these trees!

A few trees if you please!

Just wanted to showcase some of the Christmas trees that gave my holiday an extra boost of festive feelings.

Belongs to my bro

Belongs to Fitz and I

A lil Charlie Brown

Christmas is actually all around

Ahh…the holidays.

Fitz and I just returned from a delicious breakfast at Yolk, and now I sit here, digesting strawberry crepes, reflecting on the magnificent Christmas I was so fortunate to enjoy. This is truly a time for recognizing all of the blessings in one’s life, and I have so very many.

I keep writing and re-writing what I want to say and how I want to say it, but my words don’t seem to be cooperating with my thoughts today. So I will just say this- for my family and friends…the love I feel for you is immense and glowing bright. It has lit a path for me in darkness, and because of this light I see so clearly now. Thank you for all that you do and who you are, for my life is most certainly better because of it.

Last night Fitz and I watched one of our favorite Christmas movies: Love Actually. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times and there is one dialogue scene that never fails to induce goosebumps:

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. It’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy but it’s always there- mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the twin towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate and revenge- they were messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion…love is actually all around.”

Lastly, for my father…this Christmas was the most special because you are here, and because you are healthy, and I also think because God has long term plans for you. You are the bravest of all…and I love you sooooo much.

A message for you: Live in grace

After 50,000 hits, 401 blog posts, endless random complaining, a few glasses of wine, a heartfelt bit of thanks, and a delicious Lean Pocket for dinner…I have a little something to share.

My assistant gave me a really beautiful Christmas gift yesterday. It was a necklace with a charm featuring a tiny pair of wings. This piece of jewelry is titled ‘Grace,’ and with it came a lovely message that seemed appropriate to share:

Grace
Make a wish and put on your necklace. Live in grace. Be kind, thoughtful, and conscious. Remember to give thanks for all the world has given to you, and take nothing for granted. Let your necklace be a reminder to honor yourself as well as others.

Perhaps lately I have felt a little lost- it’s understandable, I’ve been treading on unknown territory. But this message of grace put me right back on my feet, in a place that felt really secure and reminded me that I cannot lose faith that good things happen everyday.

As I sit here typing, reflecting on the past year, I’m astounded to think of the curve balls that have been thrown my way. The elation that arose from success, the tears that came with the difficulties, and the joy that came from the many surprises…all of this…is life. Sometimes the messages we search for are sitting right in front of us, just waiting to be noticed and embraced. And well, sometimes your assistant just gives you the message in the form of jewelry. Oh, and did I mention that my assistant’s middle name is Grace?

So that being said, as we move forward (in the dual journey of blog and life), here is the message I stand by: let’s live in grace. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones and thank you for stopping by and getting all ethereal.

Necklace: Dogeared

Quote of the day

“You can only blame your problems on my world for so long…before it all becomes the same old song.”

Fall Out Boy
The (Shipped) Gold Standard

***What is it about Fall Out Boy songs captivating my attention span?! Click on link above for the good tune.

And now, deep thoughts

As I stood on the underground el platform this morning, waiting for my chariot (a.k.a. the crappy blue line), I noticed how old and decrepid the train tunnels are getting- it’s pretty gross (this is by no means, a revelation). After closer consideration, I became transfixed by this one spot on the wall, discolored by something that was clearly leaking for way too long.

And then it hits me. I know why I’ve become fascinated with this weird stain on the wall. If you tilt your head at just the right angle…it looks like Barf from Spaceballs.

And that concludes this episode of deep thoughts…

Disclaimer: I do not own this image. Image Courtesy of Starpulse

50,000 hits, people!!!

Back in September I told Fitz that I was going to aim to have my blog reach 50,000 hits by Christmas. This number was purely suggested as a joke, as it is clearly beyond my wildest dreams- after all, I’ve only operated this blog since March (a grand total of nine months). To think I could drum up that many loyal readers was not practical- it was downright silly. I feel like I just recently celebrated my 15,000th hit….50,000 is just…well it’s just remarkable!

So imagine the elation building within as my blog now creeps toward that mark…yes, that’s right, I’m on target to reach that number fairly soon. Whhhaaaaat?! I know, it’s true, I can hardly believe it myself.

What should I do when this milestone occurs??? Typically I run around performing wildly unpopular dance moves in public (a.k.a. the ‘happy dance’) and scream all sorts of joyful nonsense. Perhaps I should up the ante. Maybe sing Lionel Richie songs for an unsuspecting crowd? Learn to juggle? Become friends with cool people, like the 9-year-old who wrote a dating book on how to pick up girls? Ask the government for a bailout? (I don’t really need it, but who couldn’t use some extra cash?!)

Stay tuned. I will be moon walking in the mean time.

This post is for my mom, ya’ll

Happy Birthday to my mom! She has driven me to about a million dance classes, sweetly cooks my favorite foods (shrimp pasta, eclair cake, chocolate chip cheesecake), and sends me awesome books on special occasions. Raise the roof! (I’m not kidding, I’m really raising the roof right now)

The photo below was taken as the Garvey wedding this past April and includes said mom, Aidan, and my sister’s fiancee Mike working his best photo crashing skills. And my mom is that tan because she lives in Florida.

I hope you have a great day, Mom!

Check it

John Walsh: A hero finally gets justice

If you know me well, you know that I’ve always been fascinated by forensics and studying true crime stories. Yes, I know that seems like it comes out of left field however, my dad was a former police officer and worked for the county coroner so maybe that’s where I get it.  What I’ve learned is that we, as a society, need to understand how and why these crimes happen in order to prevent them from happening again. Fortunately, modern science and DNA testing have done wonders for investigations seeking justice, truth, and closure.  I’ve read many books and watched countless documentaries…and one story I came across has stuck with me for years and years.

It’s the story of Adam Walsh.

Adam was six years old and shopping with his mother at a local Sears store when he disappeared. She had agreed to let him watch two older boys play video games while she shopped a few aisles down for a new lamp. He was never seen alive again.

Adam’s father, John Walsh, took action. Abandoning his career as a developer, he became an advocate for victims’ rights and spurred the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. As a result of this, he was approached to host the television show, America’s Most Wanted. Furthermore, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act and the Code Adam program has been implemented as an internationally-recognized ‘missing child’ safety program.

John Walsh’s remarkable efforts have captured criminals, saved lives, and brought justice to many families devastated by child predators. His son’s disapearance changed the way police searched for missing children. 27 years later, the case of Adam Walsh has been closed.  It is only fitting that years after assisting so many, the Walsh family can now feel a sense of justice with their son’s memory.

May we all be inspired by John Walsh’s relentless ambitions to help others in dire circumstances.

New Moon, New Jacob Black?

MTV has released interesting information regarding the casting of Jacob Black for the New Moon film.

I am not on Team Jacob, but this article has me rooting for Taylor Lautner. I genuinely feel bad for the guy- he is getting elbowed out of the movie and I think it’s undeserved. Yes, I know, he wore a $3 wig from Spencer Gifts in the first film, but I actually kind of liked his friendly rapport with Bella (save for the creepy ‘appear straight from the forest’ scene at the end- I could have done without). Special effects can do wonders for Jacob’s storyline in the new film and it’s a shame if he gets fired because Summit Entertainment doesn’t want to cough up a little money for that.

Then again…I’m reminded that the movie making business is not so much about art, as it is about making money, honey.

***UPDATE: Wouldn’t you know that as soon as I publish this B, I find that a release date for New Moon has been scheduled. Nov. 20th, 2009!

Yet another reason why I rock

I put together a table. A TABLE!!!!

The benefit of marrying someone like Fitz is that he knows me and knows ALL about me. He will push me to do things because he knows I can do them, even when I doubt my own capabilities as an all around bad-a$$. This can be both a good and bad thing…case in point:

Fitz bought a dining room table and chairs at Target. I believe it’s called the “Carlisle Collection” (in espresso if you must know) and if you know Twilight, you know that I approve. Fitz assembled the two chairs himself. Tonight he lugged the massive box containing the table into the great toom and said, “Okay, go for it. I’m going to fold some laundry.”

Um…como, what? I have to put together the table…by myself? Solo? Just me? As in all alone? With no help? While using a *%$#^ing  tool box???!!!

Sigh.

So I start pulling apart the box and attempt to make sense of the little tools and hardware kit, styrofoam flying around me, all the while mildly complaining, worried that I will somehow screw this up and ruin the table. Turns out…I’m frickin’ Bob Villa.

Don’t worry…pictures will follow. And for the rest of eternity (or however long a Target dining room table lasts), I’ll be able to say, “Oh that table, over there? I put that together.”

Yay!

And…I’ve had enough

Grrrrrrrr!!! I am sooo not happy that I was posting the wittiest, silliest, and downright AWESOME-est holiday blog post only to have Internet Explorer get all unresponsive on me. NOT cool, bro.

The gist:
1. I’m in A-town with my dad.
2. Family is aplenty (I love you all and it was beyond special seeing you this weekend)
3. By the numbers- I have assembled five Christmas trees, yet haven’t bought a single gift.
4. Can you tell that I have not had any coffee today???
5. Being someone that only gets a zit about once every 18 months, I am mortified to see that I some how have TWO that sprung up in one day.
6. I am attending my niece/goddaughter’s recital this afternoon. Mini ballerinas- yay!!!

That’s all. Peace.

***UPDATE: Turns out that hours later, my super awesome draft from earlier (that I basically deemed dead) is now showing up in my drafts folder. Thanks for nothing, WordPress.

New Moon on fast forward with new cast?

Hmmm…I’m really quite surprised at the revelations about the upcoming New Moon film. EW reports on all the details here.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

My initial responses:
1. The budget is only $50 million??? Sure, that is a lot of money but special effects cost a lot of money. To show a human bursting out of his skin and morphing into a werewolf?! Excessive sparkling? FILMING IN ITALY??? Um…yeah. Good luck with that.

2. Summit Entertainment wants to give Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) the axe. I’m not going to lie- as much as I talk trash about Team Jacob, I think Taylor was pretty likable and funny in the first film. Now if only they could have found a better wig for him…

3. Chris Weitz has reportedly been offered the opportunity to direct New Moon. This makes me both hopeful and disgusted. Hopeful because he directed “About a Boy,” which was a phenomenal film with Hugh Grant that I absolutely adored (I saw it in college at some weird and creepy campus theater but that’s besides the point). Disgusted because I was hoping that a female director would be chosen. Sophia Coppola, anyone? Before you overreact think about Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides. She knows the angst of being in love.

4. Whomever is chosen to direct New Moon will have to report to duty on December 15th. FYI…that’s four days from now. Are you people INSANE? That wouldn’t even be enough time for me to pack a suitcase and brush my teeth.

Stay tuned…

Patricia Blagojevich is all “F-this and the F-in Cubs”

Whoa. Seriously, like Joey Lawrence from Blossom.

So the Tribune spills some pretty nasty alleged tidbits today regarding Illinois’ First Lady, Patricia Blagojevich. I mean…the corruption charges are one thing. But what is with the Blagos dropping f-bombs like it’s going out of style?! It’s not only crass, it’s offensive. Don’t believe me?

“Hold up that (expletive) Cubs (expletive),” she is quoted saying in the background as her husband talked on the phone, authorities alleged. “(Expletive) them.”

Meanwhile, Obama is all like, ‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out…’

Ah, politics. And you wonder why we’ve become so cynical…