Creole Wisdom

it was cold.

I knew because I had to run outside for .5 seconds from work to my car and then from the gym to my car. My iphone told me, too. So I baked chocolate molten cake with homemade whipped cream.

It was warm inside, and the chocolate cake went down oh so well. I had 2,000 layers on, too. I'm ready for the weekend, and I'm hoping to finish up any and all Christmas shopping and then get wrapping done. Maybe I'll add fabric ribbon and ties to go with my kraft wrapping paper. We'll see. It's certainly time to get festive!

lighten my mood.

My girlfriends and I held our final dinner party night of the year. Alicia and Karen are heading off to study abroad again, so I expected the night to be bittersweet.  It was only sweet, but I'm thinking that their leaving will start to sink in later. Right now I'm just trying to be thankful for all the good and "same" in my life currently. There are enough changes around the corner anyway. 

The night could of not been more perfect. I know I say that on here all the time, but this time... really it was. I made tomatoes stuffed with a mixture of ricotta cheese, fresh green onions, pine nuts, and parsley. They were mild and delicious. Karen roasted potatoes and make a divine salad with Martha's Vinyard dressing. I am now obsessed with said dressing. 

Who doesn't like a December dinner party with a little gift exchange? I had fun wrapping that wood wick candle-

 

The vanilla candle went to Katie and here's Karen's prettily wrapped treat- After I finished tying the ribbon on my gift before we ate, Karen and I were chatting away about re-using wrapping paper and ribbon. I mentioned that I just used a fabric scrap and items from my scrapbooking stash, and Kate piped in- "well I think you'd wrap a gift in fabric anyway. That's just how you'd have it." I think she knows me too well!

Later when it came time to choose, (we picked numbers and then picked gifts) Katie said, "I'm going with the Katie Harris gift wrapped in toile." Again, these ladies know me well! Can you believe that fabric is from making matching mother-daughter aprons with mom from three summers ago? Glad I save stuff :)

Here is what I chose- Isn't that the prettiest mug? I love the red inside and reindeer print. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but this stuff smells so good. I'm sure I will be able to use is it one bleak morning (six am is so ugly in the MN tundra).

A few more highlights include:

•Creative friends who make homemade chocolate covered peanuts

•Becky's adorable earmuffs that made me smile

•Passing around a sheet of freshly baked sugar cookies

•Talking about the craziest things and every topic

•Laughing so loud

•Oh Day Aki (har har har)

•Katie's winter uniform: black cashmere 

•Gibson getting so much attention from his "aunties"

•Realizing that tomorrow is my "Friday" (Praise the Lord!)

snow day... not!

Photo from last weekend, baking with my amazing mom.

So, we had our official first blizzard starting yesterday, and continuing overnight. I love it. There's just a special feeling that comes with a big snow: the potential of a day off...

Not! Nope, work went on as usual, and the kids were awful for it because we did not go outside, and I'm sure they wanted a day "off," too. Life is hard, right?

This is my first real winter with a car: kind of interesting, kind of scary. I woke up this morning to tons of snow ontop of my car, time to scrape. Right now the city has yet to plow my street, and I highly doubt our alley will get done, either. So there we go, driving in the snow- hmmm. Still, I am incredibly thankful that I don't have to step foot on a bus or slip and slide on freezing sidewalks. I commend those who bike and use public transportation, but this isn't a public transportation city (read there are too many crazies on the bus during non-rush hour times) and so in the car I go! Thank you LORD!

tacky.

So, my grandpa Bob died on Sunday. It's sad, but we weren't incredibly close. I know that he (as do I) had a strong belief in an afterlife. I am at peace with his leaving from this world. That being said, like all dramas- sometimes the most interesting things come out of tragedies:

Nothing screams tacky in the cold, tender face of death like wanting your inheritance before your father is even in the grave... lovely.

Now, to clarify, these are not my aunts/uncles, but Bob's kids from his first marriage. I don't come from that blood line. Thank you much.

Way to go grandma for standing up and saying, "we're not discussing money until January 15th."

That did not go over well. So yes, I think I'll skip the funeral and say some prayers instead. 

I will miss you grandpa Bob-

until then-

We have a huge snowstorm coming, and I [not so secretly] can't wait. Here's to hoping my work has to close and I can spend the next day or so on the couch in my pjs listening to holiday music and sipping tea. Until then I am enjoying these lovely Christmas staples: peppermint bark and oranges-

xoxo

CW

you guessed it. something new.

Two weeks ago I got a haircut. But not just any cut. It was my first time seeing a new stylist in years, since my regular one quit her job to be a full-time mom (more power to ya, but... um, who's going to cut my hair?) I turned to Karen, roommate wonder and partner in crime, who works at Maple Grove's best salon- Marc Daniel.

Result? The best haircut of my life.

Thank you Courtney. and Karen. and Marc Daniel.

Along with that change, new styling product. I'm using the curl products from Bumble and Bumble and loving them.

So thanks for your observations. I'm so happy with it.

2009 cards

My cards! So easy. I had no time to write a huge long letter this year, and the way I feel- if you want to know all my business just call or e-mail me. Bwaha! So I went with just "peace." It's a good thing. I simply designed them in photoshop, and the fonts I used were found on Kevin and Amanda. They're mostly sent out, and in Archiver's red and bluebell envelopes. Red and blue are one of my favorite color combinations! Merry Christmas :)

around home.

Christmastime is much more fun when you do not have finals to worry about. We all got into the spirit last week and decorated early. I love where I live, my roommates are hilarious and creative. The tree is up, the lights are out, and I'm excited for my first real "adult" Christmas :)

 

The larger bulbs are from my favorite, Hunt and Gather and are authentic, antique. The smaller bulbs are from home.
 

These pinecones are very, very easy to make. They just take a little bit of glue and glitter. I think this would be a fantastic project to do with kids, too. Very simple, and they pack a nice visual punch.

Don't you adore my little church? This is the second Christmas decoration I've purchased myself- it's very dear to me. I love the way it looks on Jackie's gold platter-

Because of Mr. Gibson, it was smart to do a tree just dripping in sparkly cones. That way no worries if he does (read did) bat them off. I like the organic look of it-

my (short) review

I saw Precious this evening. I had debated about seeing it, since I already knew I would have a negative reaction to it. But since I wanted to properly critique it, I needed to watch the film for myself.

I will give Precious two things: fantastic acting and great cinematography.

What I did not like about this film:

-It literally degrades the black American family. Please come and film a movie about my life, or another average black person. I do understand that these stories exist, but this could of been literally any poor person's story, but it becomes a "black thing."

-The film causes you to hate the mother. Of course, but what about Precious' father? We never see his face, and so the film places the blame onto the mother- when in reality the rape was never her fault.

-As I watched it, I couldn't help but think of how during slavery masters and much of white America viewed black women as poor mothers because a few African women has thrown their children into the water when they were taken into bondage on slave ships. This film was degrading to black motherhood.

-Much too graphic. There are other ways of getting a violent point across.

-The incest thing really bothers me, because, and I'll be frank- it's not a black thing. I'm not saying that obesity and poverty are, but incest, that's not something that happens much in the black community compared to in others...

-And I'll stay on that topic for a few more minutes, why is it permissible that the incest is part of this film, but was never even alluded to in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, when it was part of the book? Can we not "see" white actresses like Ashley Judd in roles like that?

-I hate that some of our schools do not provide the necessary means for students to thrive. I am frustrated with the disparities.

So, there we go- just a few of my thoughts on this.