Stuffed

Now THAT was what I call a holiday.  No rushing around, packing or unpacking, sitting in airports or cars, but rather sleeping in (8:30 some days!  How crazy are we?), taking long walks, eating loads of good food, watching movies and doing some leisurely online shopping.  It would have been greatly enhanced if our guests could have made it, but Allison and I had to make do with exchanging frequent text messages and emails. 

Our Thanksgiving feast turned out pretty much spot-on, including my inaugural attempt at pan gravy (I usually rely on, uh, Heinz to provide the gravy) and of course the leftover casserole has been brilliant, and OH, how I will weep when it's all gone tonight.  I also would HIGHLY recommend this dessert, which is as good straight out of the fridge on days 2 and 3 as it was warm from the oven on TG day proper.  I think it even beats Paula Deen's Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cakes, although to be sure I think I would have to do a side-by-side comparison.  

We played some Scrabble, watched "Love, Actually" and "White Christmas" and ventured out for some Black Friday shopping, although we left the house well after noon and didn't go to any major retailers other than the Gap and J Crew, so we didn't exactly uncover any great deals (seriously, there was NOTHING on sale at J Crew, wth?  Not that I can fit into any of their clothes at the moment, but still), but we perused a holiday market and the Scandinavia House shop and the Time Warner Center and bought ourselves some exciting stuff like kitchen towels.  Then we came home and shopped online for actual gifts for other people. 

Speaking of which, I remain uninspired for a Wow Gift for anyone, but especially for Joe.  Last year I got him a Keurig, which was pretty much the best gift ever since he uses it at LEAST once a day, EVERY SINGLE DAY, and absolutely loves the convenience of it and the many delicious coffees that he can try in K-Cup form.  For our anniversary (I think?), I got him a wee Canon digital camera, which also gets a great deal of use, and I'd gotten him a Flip video camerasome time ago that he will FINALLY get to play with come March (there's really not much to film until the baby enters the mix).  And of course there have been clothes, books, DVDs, assorted vintagey memorabilia (Stork Club ashtray, framed post card from Jack Dempsey's, that sort of thing) -- and, a couple of years ago, the gift certificates for a session with a famous running coach and a training session at Gleason's boxing gym, both of which I was so smug about yet which NEVER GOT USED (am still bitter), but this year there's nothing jumping out at me. 

He ALWAYS manages to get me an awesome Wow Gift (trip to Mexico, trip to see Allison, my DSLR, first edition of "To Kill a  Mockingbird"), and I feel like I never measure up (though one could argue that this year I'm trumping all other paltry gifts with, you know, CARRYING HIS CHILD, but that's such a cop-out).  So, I don't know.  I have some ideas floating around but nothing that makes me go, oh, YEAH, that's IT!  Fleh.

Yesterday I went for my maternity massage at the Mandarin Oriental, and it was appropriately blissful, such that I almost MELTED out of there.  I also got a haircut at a salon I hadn't been to before, and the guy basically told me I have been doing EVERYthing wrong vis-a-vis my hair, which is why it has been looking like dog poo for some time now -- specifically, I have been brushing it before it's dry (causing breakage and damage) and not embracing my natural curl by scrunching it and/or using a diffuser.  Well, I walked out of there with BIG TIME CURLY HAIR, as is evidently now its natural state (I always thought of it as more wavy than anything else, but nay, it is CURLY).  It will take some getting used to, but if it stops looking frizzy and DEAD, I guess I will learn to love it.

And today we went to the Met to check out the Vermeers and the Robert Frank exhibit, along with about eighty million of our closest friends.  What is it that makes people want to get so CLOSE to the art, I want to know?  In the Vermeer room, it's like they were trying to LICK the paintings.  (Joe:  "It's not a scratch-n-sniff!") 

Anyway, that was our Thanksgiving weekend in a nutshell.  We have now put out a few Christmas items to kick off the holiday season.  Since we're going to Seattle for Christmas, I'm not sure if we'll get a big tree, but obviously we need SOME form of cheer up in here.  I am going for an Olde Worlde sort of thing, it seems, with the carved Santa (we found this woman at a flea market who makes Santas, and this one was of course the biggest and most expensive one, and I LOVE HIM and his sad face), the Swedish angel chimes and the Danish elf. 

I have also been having strange urges to throw a Christmas party involving a cookie exchange and a Yankee swap.  Is this a nesting instinct kicking in?  It's so odd.  Instead, maybe I will see if I can actually manage to write, address and send my Christmas cards before January this year.  Turn over a new leaf and all.  Ambitious, this. 

Comments

[Christina]

That sounds like an ideal Thanksgiving weekend to me. Absolutely Ideal. And I want to see the new 'do - post a photo, pretty please?

[beyond]

omg i grew up with those candle angel chimes. yours looks brand new, may i ask where you got it? i'd love to get my parents a new set.

[terri]

Curly hair? Must see picture! And I love the decorations. Love them. Santa looks wise and not sad. And the Danish elf is precious. Cannot wait to see you....23 days!

[Lawyerish]

Beyond - I got the angel chimes at the holiday shop at the Scandinavia House, which is on Park Ave and 38th St. They have tons of cool stuff (the elf is from there as well). The chimes were just 14 bucks!

Christine and Mom - I will try to take a decent hair shot soon!

[Lawyerish]

ChristinA, that is! Sorry, typing on my BlackBerry.

[Swistle]

Fewer photos of stemware, more photos of curly hair kthanx.

[JoanP]

Gift for your hubby: Don't I remember that he likes books from a previous 'help me with a gift idea' post? Why not get him an Amazon Kindle--I am getting one and am SO excited. Then he can carry around loads of books in his hand, and easily buy new ones without adding book clutter (not that books are really clutter!) to your home.

[Sharon Jorgenson]

your t-day mirrors ours - wasn't the best time yet??

[Lawyerish]

Swistle - I will get on it! I have not yet been able to achieve the same level of curl as the hairdresser, but I will attempt again and snap a photo. Just for you! :)

Joan - The Kindle would be great since it would eliminate our extreme storage crisis -- we are overrun with books as it is -- but he is a reading purist and does not appear to be enthused about reading on-screen in the slightest. Le sigh.

Sharon -- It was indeed a very great time! Glad you had a nice one, too!

[Angela]

The angel chimes are a blast from my past as well. I just loved watching them go around and around, faster and faster, when I was little. Mostly they did that only when I blew on them to help them along, but I always got in trouble for that!

[H]

We had the angel chimes too and it brings back so many memories! I'm glad your weekend was relaxing.

[Christine]

That sounds exactly like our Thanksgiving only trade your peas for green beans. Freaky.

Also everyone's beat me to the picture request, so welcome to the curly hair club. :)

[Beth]

Curly hair club indeed! You may find it's easier to maintain, and thus more mothering-friendly. ;^)

I love your Christmas decorations! The Danish elf makes me smile. :-) (See?)

[Sarah]

I can't help but notice that all the recipes you cite in recent entries each involve AT LEAST a full stick of butter, sometimes two. YUM. Can't go wrong with that. And how cute is that elf's itty bitty cable knit sweater??