Shopping for Thanksgiving Eve

Every year we do a big night out on Thanksgiving Eve where we hit up the clubs and dress to the nines. Supposedly this is the biggest going out night of the year because most people have Thursday off and maybe even Friday. Danny told me to buy him a dress shirt because he didn't have time to get one himself. I ended up getting him a shirt that looks like this in a chocolate brown.

The brand is Alfani from Macy's and I must have gotten it on a one day sale because I got it for $19.99 and the website says $29.99. Yay!

November wedding

Today was Danny's cousin's wedding that I had been anticipating so much because this was the first wedding we are able to attend together in two years thanks to his new schedule. I had fun except for the fact of a terrible DJ who played bad songs and we had to leave a little earlier than everyone else. Here's a pic of the lovely fondant cake baked by one of Danny's aunts.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I finally finished this book! I had renewed it from the library FOUR times because I just couldn't find the time to read. Once I hit the halfway point, I finished it in 3 days. There's been tons of press and reviews on this book, but I do want to add that this a love story for people who don't like love stories. Niffenegger gives you the time and date throughout the book so you can keep up with Henry's time traveling, and once you get used to this system it is very easy to understand that he is 40 in the present and uncontrollably traveling back to the 80's to meet up with his future wife as a child. I actually reread the first two chapters after I was done to see all the events that are alluded to in the beginning that you could never understand without reading the whole book. I want to see what happens to Henry's daughter, Alba in her time travels. Maybe a sequel? In the meantime I am anxiously awaiting the movie version starring Rachael McAdams that is supposed to open in '08.

Don't talk to me

Today was a very exhausting day for me that involved driving to downtown Cleveland after work in pouring rain, getting stuck in rush hour traffic both ways and parking in a random downtown lot. I was a little early for my appointment so I stopped into Starbucks to waste time. I ordered the Holiday Gingerbread Cake because I didn't want to be stuck with a cup of coffee that I couldn't finish. I told the "barista" that I wanted the gingerbread cake. She replies "You can have it, but it's not gonna last long, that's how good it is." It took me a whole 5 seconds to understand what all these extra words were. Just give me the cake, I don't need your commentary about it girl!

Edit: Then I find this site which tells me that I just consumed 480 calories and 16g fat by eating that cake. Great!

Come on Heather!

The title of America's Next Top Model this week was called "The Girl Who Starts to Lose Her Cool". Obviously this was geared toward Heather, who screwed up the three sentences she had to say at the student designer fashion show at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. The girls were also picking on her at the house about something silly like using the showers. This led her to take weak pictures at the burning car photoshoot in the desert. Come on Heather, stay in the game! You can do it! I think she's absolutely beautiful and also brave for going on this show and talking about her Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that impairs social interaction and emotional development. All of the judges love her which is a huge plus in her favor also. I can't wait for next Wednesday to see Heather do a Cover Girl commercial. I have a feeling it's going to be painful to watch!

Martha Stewart The Art of Weddings: Cakes

This show is from 2005 and I had already seen it, but I was sucked into watching it again. Featured is NYC's Sylvia Weinstock, the lady with the huge black round glasses, among other amazing cake designers.

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?