Almost time, almost time!

((click for video!))

Countdown to Beirut

Tonight, I'm seeing Beirut in concert. I may squeal like a silly school girl. So, in honor of the
thrilling night ahead of me, I shall countdown some of my Beirut faves, complete with vids.
What a fun way to spend an afternoon! I should start on my love letter to Zach Condon's hair.

((click for video!))

Turkey day

I really shouldn't just run around and not address Thanksgiving in all its wonders. In the morning, we started off with the Macy's parade and Mom making turkey and my making pumpkin country muffins (more on those later!). The parade was mostly silly, per usual, but the highlights for me included: Dan Radcliffe and the cast of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," The Rockettes (yay tapping!), and Neil Diamond on a float. Count it!

Then it was time for football — GO, PACK, GO! — and food. When the guests started arriving, all was right and well and the house smelled divine. Aunt Kal brought the sweet potatoes (prepared with brown sugar cashews and peaches) and brussel sprouts. Uncle Pat's Kelly (though home sick) sent along mashed potatoes for us all. Mom's friend Julie made a from-scratch pumpkin pie (well, at least the filling was). And Mom and I? Well, the aforementioned turkey and pumpkin muffins, but also cranberries, stuffing, dinner rolls, gravy, and Mom's twist on green bean casserole (if you like water chestnuts and buttered cracker topping, you've come to the right place!). Heavenly feast, and we all were thankful for it. Later, around dessert time, Uncle Mike and Katie brought pies from Door County — a cherry and an apple — and Aunt Kal sprung a pecan pie on us as well. Satiated? Full? Stuffed? Bursting? Just about, yes. This really might be my favorite holiday.

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

After "Holiday Inn," somehow — with all of the Thanksgiving hullabaloo — my family
found the time for the Charlie Brown Christmas Special (or whatever its proper name
might be). I must say, it warms me up inside, that Charlie Brown does! Snoopy dancing
on the piano and the sound he makes after kissing Lucy are arguably some of my favorite
moments, but in the end I'd have to say that Linus' explanation of Christmas takes the
cake. Enjoy!

Bent objects

Funny and fabulous stumbling from the Bent Objects blog by Terry Border:

So this is Holiday Inn...

Last night, Mom and I started the Christmas season (well... almost-Christmas season) off with "Holiday Inn." This is the perfect movie to kick off your Christmas movie-watching (and at our house, we've got a lot of movies to get through!). Why? Well, mostly because you can convince Dad (or at least get him to pipe down) that it's a holiday movie — not a Christmas movie. "We could watch this on the fourth of July!" — "Yeah, yeah...," Dad replies. While he sat through it, maybe even chuckled now and then, mom and I grinned the entire time, quoting things like "I'm Linda Mason" and "Boy, do I go for those! Why they're great on... on... or even plain!" Need another reason why "Holiday Inn" is so great? It's sentimental in a nostalgic, old-timey way — but not in a Christmas magic way, which might be going a bit too far on November 21st. Those days are yet to come — boy, do I go for those!

Whimsical wedding pretty

Courtesy of Ruffledblog — I'm busy adoring this ring...
and the whimsical accouterments of this wedding.

Bit of magic

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Imagine

Ringing, singing

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head,
"There is no peace on earth," I said
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

'Til, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
_ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Christmastime is here

It's that time of year... Let's kick it off with one song, video, quote, or other
magical Christmas whatnot (at least!) per day, until the day. Happy Holidays!

Castles in the sand

I've switched to my Christmas Cheer blog style, courtesy of The Cutest Blog on the Block, and yet I'm so taken with this beachy scene that I can't help but share it — Can someone build me a life-size sandcastle akin to this one? That would be lovely.

Today, I have a Western-themed work party and then dinner with my parents, The Boyfriend, and my boyfriend's parents (no pressure!). So I have to be honest: I'm most looking forward to tomorrow night. Mom and I have a date for a fish fry and "Love Actually." The holiday season, I feel, will truly be upon me starting then — Hooray! Let's get in the spirit. Stay tuned.

Stumbled astronomy

Today at work there was supposed to be an astronomy viewing in the parking lot after hours, but it was canceled due to cloudiness. So I suppose this image I stumbled upon will have to suffice for today's glimpse outside the stratosphere.

Melted snowman stumbling

Here's one to file away for Christmas
cookie baking, courtesy of Crazy Domestic.

Mid-week pretty: China's fashion week

((From the Deng Hao Haute Couture 2012 Collection, presented
during China Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 in Beijing, China.
Thank you, TLo! Where would I get my Pretty without you?))

Hear this:

((Prints courtesy of Penny Wishes on Etsy))

Lovely lady

Life has a wondrous way about it. Yesterday morning, my mom said that the sunrise was just breathtaking — she'd taken Pip Squeak out for a walk and was soaking in the glory of the early hours and said a silent "Thank you for this beautiful day" to God.

I woke up as usual and headed into work only to get an email on my phone as I headed into the office — an email from a dear friend who had been somewhat absent in my life of late. In it, she attached a picture that she said reminded her of me (see left). My heart was warmed, and I said a silent prayer of thanks for friends — and for people like Roald Dahl who say such wonderful things.

It wasn't too far into my typical Tuesday routine when the phone rang — my mom. I thought maybe she was calling to suggest a lunch date or to tell me something small but thrilling. Wrong on all accounts — it was my grandma. She'd passed away in her sleep. I was floored. This woman — this vibrant, beautiful, enchanting woman — had been as alive as ever just a few short weeks ago when my mom and I made her tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and we all watched "My Sister Eileen." We put granny smith apples on the sandwiches, as we'd seen in a Martha Stewart magazine, and Grandma kept commenting with every other bite, "Ooh! There are apples in here! I've never had a sandwich with apples before!" (She was a bit forgetful, but that was her greatest fault at 88 — and that's saying a lot.)

It's funny that she picked November 1st — All Saints Day — as her day of departure from this life. Her beautiful soul is now free to be honored with all other saints and angels. This was a woman who adored her family, lived life to the fullest, and constantly reminded me to settle only for the deepest, truest love with some wonderful man — a man as wonderful as her husband and my grandpa. What will I remember most about her? Let me count the ways. Her favorite flowers — Gerber daisies. Her favorite color — coral. Her ability to laugh at herself and to jokingly scold her sons for their goofy ways — only to break down into fits of laughter in the end. She was giving, devoted, and honest. Proud of her family — her eight children, her faithful husband, and (as she often recounted) her adoring parents whose love for each other truly shaped her world. And she, in turn, shaped ours.

My Uncle Charlie said yesterday that while he's at peace with her passing without suffering, it's the silence that will be deafening. Grandma was such a glowing presence — the nucleus of our large extended family who lit up the room just by being in it. It's ironic that her passing might bring us even closer together, with sons and grandsons and great-grandchildren flying in from all across the country. In a way, this makes her passing bitter-sweet. She will be missed, but she didn't suffer. It won't be the same without her, but the rest of us will be together for a few days, and that is something I will cherish always.

On my way home from work yesterday, a song came on the radio — the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?" Sometimes in college, when I missed my other grandma (my mom's mom, who passed away in 2005) terribly, I would put my iPod on shuffle and beseech her spirit to send me a message with the next random song. On more than one occasion, I recall being blown away by the message she sent me — be it real or fabricated in my mind, it always was a lovely thought that someone could speak to me through time, space, and music. So yesterday, when this Flaming Lips song came on 88.9, I couldn't help but be brought to tears — it was so fitting, so beautiful, and felt like such a real message from my just-passed grandma that the magic couldn't be denied. The lyrics are as follows:

Do you realize — that you have the most beautiful face?
Do you realize — we're floating in space?
Do you realize — that happiness makes you cry?
Do you realize — that everyone you know some day will die?

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round

Amazing isn't it? And for me, while the entirety of the song is amazing, the line "instead of saying all of your goodbyes" really stood out, because I didn't get to say goodbye to my grandma. The last time I saw her, I remember giving her a very speedy farewell and scampering out the door, impatient to go home and get to bed. This song — again, be it true magic or pure fabrication in my mind — is her way of telling me that it's okay. To just live my life and soak up the good things — like emails from dear friends or glorious morning sunrises. And life doesn't end — death is just an illusion — just as the sun doesn't really go down, it's just the world spinning 'round. So another day, another grandma in heaven — but I must say: My grandma sure picked a magical way to bow out of her truly magnificent life.