The Office Present Dilemma

Last year was my first Christmas at my work. I didn't know how they worked the present situation on the last day of work before Christmas so I just bought presents for my two female managers. Well my desk filled up pretty quickly with presents from EVERYONE. I felt like an ass because I didn't have presents for all 8 people, but I didn't know and nobody told me. Well it's that time of year again and I'm debating how to do this office present thing cheaply this year. I turned to my favorite site, etsy.com and I came up with two options.


1. Gingerbread Body Lotion - Body Wash - Holiday Gift Set from seller aBreathofFrenchair. $6 x 8 people = $48 + Shipping USPS Flat-Rate box for $8.95 =$56.95

2. 15 hour Votive 3 Pack from seller gabrielsaunt. $12.50 x 3 sets = $37.50 + 6.50 shipping = $44 plus I get an extra candle since there is 9!

Option 2 is clearly cheaper but Option 1 doesn't have to be wrapped since it comes in a gingerbread gift basket. I think the price is still going to persuade me to go for option 2 and I will painstakingly wrap all those tiny votives. That's what Christmas is all about, right?

Congrats Chef Michael Symon

on winning the Next Iron Chef!. Finally someone from Cleveland has gained national recognition! I'll be rooting for Chef Symon on future Iron Chef episodes.

I went to Crocker Park today which is one of those lifestyle center malls which means that it is outdoors. It was raining and I got soaking wet! I had it in my head to go there so I didn't care that it was raining, I was on a mission for a black cartigan sweater to go with my dress. I failed miserably. I don't know what's up with fall fashions, but I hate everything! I went to Banana Republic, White House/Black Market, H&M and Urban Outfitters. If I even found a black cartigan, it was $30 and not exactly what I want. I am hoping to spend $15-$20. Why is this so hard!!!!!!! I am going to try again at some lower end stores. I WILLl triumph over the fall fashions!!!!!!!

Weird

Today I decided to take my dog on the long walk, the one where you come home sweating and need to drink a whole bottle of water to recover. While I was walking back, some guy in a SUV on the other side of the street yells to me, "Where's the high school?" First of all I was wearing headphones, my pajamas and being pulled by a crazy dog. I think it's on Mill Road I told him. Who does that anymore? With mapquest, gps, cell phones, who asks random people for directions? Just thought that was a little weird.

Fabulous Food Show

As a last minute thing I was able to go to this because Danny's restaurant was one of the booths in the Grand Tasting Pavillion and he was helping his chef do demonstrations. All of the food vendors were there giving out samples and while eating a sample of parmesan cheese with truffle oil, a chocolate filled pizzelle and then butternut squash filled ravioli I was thinking that I was going to pay the price later and sure enough, I had a stomach ache after it was all over. I also tasted about 7 different kinds of tomato sauces dipped in bread and had a wine flight of 6 diffrent wines. It was great to experience all that gourmet food in one place, but I wouldn't pay the $30.00 admission fee on my own accord. Rick Bayless was demonstrating last night in "Kitchen Stadium" (Danny and his other chef's nickname for the demo area) but I didn't sit down to watch because that was during my overdose on samples.

The Office: Survivor Man

While watching this episode of The Office, I blocked out the dumb antics Michael was doing in the wilderness and instead focused on Jim's birthday party saga. You have to actually work in an office to appreciate the huge dilemma that Jim was facing. He tried to combine everyone's birthday into one designated day and have one huge party. Everyone agreed because he was in charge, but deep down inside they all wanted their own special party with special cake and recognition. They wanted Michael singing "Happy Birthday" to them in a high pitched voice, no matter how silly it is.

Good times at the Wall

Unlike Dane Cook, I actually had a great experience today at The Wall (Wallgreens). I went in for mascara because mine is so old it's starting to make my vision blurry. The rack of Jane cosmetics caught my eye as they were buy one get one free. As I was looking at them the cosmetics cashier said "Can I help you with anything?" I'm thinking here we go, I'm about to get bothered. I said my usual "No, I'm just looking". She said to go to her to check out when I was ready. Along with the mascara I was deciding between LIpKick Ribbons and Liquid Lip Color because I really wanted a new lip gloss and it was FREE, but it's so hard to pick one from a drug store without trying it on. I opted for the Liquid Lip Color in Touchy because the LipKick Ribbon compact looked too bulky and two of the colors it contained I knew I would never wear. I went up to the cosmetics cashier and told her I was ready to check out. She was the most pleasant person ever, and she gave me FREE SAMPLES! She gave me a sample of Neutrogena Acne Stress Control, and perfume samples of Celine Dion's Belong, Britney Spears' Curious, and Flair by Revlon (which stinks already, I can smell it through the package). I was on a shopping high as I walked out of The Wall! And I paid $5.30 for everything!

Election Day

I voted. I really didn't care about electing the councilmen committee at large or whatever it is I voted for, but I wanted to make sure I was still registered and everything went smoothly. Now I know I'm good to go for the 2008 presidential election next year, which I feel is very important to participate in. Now I'm cold brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Why is winter coming so fast this year?