I took this mirror self-portrait to show off the new necklace I purchased expressly for holiday-related events this month.
I forgot Basic Photography Rule #1 (reflective surfaces and flash don’t mix), so it appears that I am a magical sorceress, holding an entire solar system in the palm of my hand.
Infinite power suits me, don’t you think?
(Necklace from Art Effect, my favorite store in Chicago.)
Last Friday I took the day off and got some Christmas shopping done.
It’s funny because normally I find Christmas shopping to be somewhat frustrating and stressful.
And normally I find Michigan Avenue to be somewhat frustrating and stressful.
But the two of them together are actually a pretty awesome, Christmas-y good time.
It’s a pathetic amount (by Chicago standards) and will be completely gone in a few hours, but this is officially the first snow I’ve seen this season!
Fantastic. Now that we have that over with, can we just and move on to warm weather and summer now?
No?
(source)
It’s possible that while flipping channels around 7 pm last night, I may have come across Michael Buble’s Christmas special on NBC.
And somehow the TV ended up staying on that channel for the whole hour.
I don’t know, it was weird!
(source)
I was the person on the brown line this morning who was sniffling every 20 seconds and then had a nasty hack-fest of a coughing fit before exiting the train.
Yes, my hands were used to wipe my nose and cover my coughs (what choice did I have??), and since I was standing, those germs were inevitably transferred to the metal handrail I was holding to be enjoyed by the next unlucky person to come along. Hopefully that person has a robust immune system.
Uggghh. People like me disgust me.
This is my formal apology. I’m gross, and I’m sorry. (I don’t know if you could tell, but I was giving myself a dirty look the whole time.)
Now I’m going to go swimming in a vat of self-loathing Purell. Because your health is important to me.
I needed you today.
You, and a Z-Pak.
Last Saturday, we met up with some college friends at Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza for some German beer, bratwursts, gluhwein (hot spiced wine in a boot!) and some good old fashioned Christmas-y fun. Then we headed to the Beer Bistro in the West Loop for – you guessed it – more beer! (And they also have a pretty amazing goat cheese and pepperoni pizza.)
But let this be a lesson, my friends, that extreme fun does not come without a price.
Because thanks to a lingering cold and talking too much, I now cannot speak. At all. And it’s not for lack of trying. However, when I do attempt to vocalize something, it sounds less like human speech and more like some sort of animal who is gargling and suffocating at the same time. Words are unrecognizable. Thank God I’m a skilled mime. (No I’m not.)
But Saturday was totally worth all of the sympathetic looks I’ve been getting at work today. I mean, I got to drink out of a boot – again – and I think I can safely say that drinking out of footwear is now my preferred method of (de)hydration.
Long live das boot!
I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, so today you get three fantastic posts because I pretty much always have something to say.
Right now I have two things, actually:
1. For those of you who love eye candy and a good online magazine, the December issue of Matchbook is out! Thanks to Ashley for introducing me to its sheer fabulousness.
2. Subway’s 6-inch veggie, meatball and cold cut combo subs are only $2 for all of December! This is great news for those of us who get the veggie sub for lunch at least twice a week and happen to be on a budget this month.
Smiley faces all around!
Drinking ginger peach tea, catching up on my blog reading, listening to Christmas music, people-watching and giving tourists restaurant recommendations at the Argo Tea on Rush and Pearson.
Because every time I ask him what he wants, he says “nothing.” And that is not acceptable.
Christmas is a time of sharing, thoughtfulness and selflessness. And how dare he deny me the joy of giving!
So since he is being super unhelpful, I have no idea what to get him. All I know is that it has to be inexpensive (or he’ll tell me he would have rather just kept the money and that I should be boiled in my own pudding! Or something like that) and better than the electronic dart board I got him five years ago that he still hasn’t even taken out of the box.
I tried consulting the gift guides that have been popping up on blogs and in my inbox lately, but I’m getting the feeling that the people who compile these things don’t really know my husband at all. Their suggestions are either super expensive or impractical.
For example, what is with every male gift guide including a flask of some sort?? Yes, it’s a very masculine item and might be considered a “cool” gift, but how many men out there actually use a flask? Regularly? Who aren’t alcoholics?
(source)
Attention men who read this blog: First of all, do you exist? Second of all, is there any reason why you would use a flask like this besides to look like a tool who is trying not to look like a tool? Is a flask actually a good gift for a guy? Am I missing something here?
Also, if anyone has any non-flask gift ideas for men, I’m all ears!
Carlie Crash 