our house is a very very very fine house.

As I sit here in the house I grew up in, at my mother's desk in the kitchen, with my dog at my feet, James Taylor singing in the background, I feel at complete peace. This is what I love about being home. It's a feeling that can't be recreated anywhere else in the world.

I especially love my house at Christmas. My mom is even more of a Christmasophile than I am, it's genetic. Everywhere you look there's a "touch of Christmas." Every shelf, lamp, window, railing, and dresser has something Christmas on it, and I just think that's fabulous. Even though Christmas day has come and gone, Christmas won't really be over for me until I leave this house on Sunday.

What makes this Christmas even more bittersweet is that this is most likely our last Christmas to celebrate in this house. My parents are putting it on the market in a few months, and I am, in short, devastated. I know that it's the right move-- the house is far too large for 2 people and it doesn't make any sense for my parents to continue to live out in the 'burbs, but I'll just continue to view it as a necessary evil.

I love walking around barefoot on the extra-plush carpeting. I love my Backstreet Boys posters, remnants of my teenybopper days, still hanging in my closet. I love the sound of my dog's nails clicking on the hardwood floors. I love falling asleep to the sound of Allison Krauss, James Taylor, Patsy Cline, or Motown playing over the house speakers. I love seeing our childhood playhouse through the trees in the backyard. I love the copper bartop on the basement bar and the way it smells. I even love the "weird room" where no one ever goes. I love the dogwood tree outside my bedroom window. I love eating dinner on the back deck. I love the ridiculous amount of counter space in my bathroom. I love just about everything about this house, and I'm going to freak out when it's not home any more.

home sweet home.

Still very MIA and for that I apologize. I'm officially back in the ATL and it is divine. Slept till 11:30 today, still in my hoodie, watching Wizard of Oz with the sibs and reading about weasel coffee. Pretty typical night around my house. I'll update again soon but I just wanted to tell all of my readers MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you have a fantastic holiday full of family, fun, and all those other good things.

shoe-gasm.

Hollywould Lauren Glitter Lace Pumps. $29.99 at target.com (and Kiki's choice for holiday party footwear!)

Seychelles Don't Waste My Time. $83.95 at zappos.com

MaxStudio Zera Pump. $158.95 at nordstrom.com

BCBGirls Sherir Pump. $97.95 at nordstrom.com

i recall, central park in fall...

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. No, I do not have a new fantastic job that's taking up all of my time, or even a spicy romance to keep me occupied. Nope, I just haven't gotten around to writing lately. I've been semi-filing all of these great blog ideas in my head and then they escape soon after. I need to start keeping a journal. That sounds crazy, though. A journal for my online "journal." Not gonna happen.

Anyway, I guess I can recap my fantabulous trip to NYC this past weekend. I decided to take the train up on Friday afternoon to meet the madre and padre in the city. They were there for a business thang and staying at my dad's BFF's crib in Midtown. Schmancy. This was my first time taking a train outside of Europe or the shuttle to BWI, so I was pretty excited. I just LOVE train stations. Union Station is one of my most favorite places in the city, I could spend hours there. Maybe it's because I went to my first black tie "big girl" party there when my sister graduated from college. It was incredible, they had the ENTIRE thing rented out with circus performers and the like. But I digress. I grabbed an aisle seat next to some chick, said a quick hello, fished a crossword and my iPod out, and settled in. Over the course of the trip, and I'll note this was AFTER I bought her a beer, I realized this chick could not have been older than 15. Oops. I should have known when she pulled out her obviously library-version of The Joy Luck Club, but hey, I re-read Catcher in the Rye last year, so I justified it. Towards the end of the trip, after I had apparently made the wee one a bit tipsy, she busted out a black and white splatter-covered notebook (y'all know the kind I'm talking about) and frantically started writing in it. Disclaimer: I am a snoop. A big one. I can't help it. Anyway, after a bit, I couldn't help myself and I peered over to see what she was writing about. Well folks, she was writing about ME. It was so bizarre. I couldn't read the whole thing without being super obvious, but I did read "older cool girl," "my first beer ever," and "I'm so excited to tell Stef!" So yay, go me. I corrupted a little girl before I even got to NYC. This trip was going to be a good one.

I arrived at Penn Station and immediately received an appropriate NYC welcome: about 9 of NYPD's Finest manhandling some guy who was screaming at them for being racist. I'll note here that all parties involved were white. It was a great night, brisk but not terribly cold, so I decided to walk to the apartment rather than hop in a cab. There's no better way to see the city and I immediately felt the rush of being there. I made it to the apartment around 10:30 and met up with my cousin to head down to the Village. We proceeded to get some tapas and caipirinhas and then went to the Pyramid, and fantasmical gay club that plays 80's music. After the price shock wore off, I had a great time. Also met up with one of my boys from college and partied, quite literally, all night long.

Saturday's hangover made shopping a bit more difficult, but I still had a great time walking along 5th Avenue and SoHo. Bergdorf's really is divine, especially that $800,000 necklace and bracelet set that I saw. No, I'm not kidding, that's not a typo. $800,000 for a blue calcydon bauble. Insanity. I wasn't able to find a single thing worth purchasing and was a bit upset to see so many chains around, but I guess that's just what's happening everywhere. I'm so sick of Banana Republic. Ugh.

best day EVER.

December 5th is just about the greatest day of the year. Better than Christmas, even. I promise.

Not only is it the Annual Day of the Ninja, but it is also the day that, in 1933, U.S. Congress overturned prohibition!

I suggest you celebrate appropriately.

daily randoms.

1. The weekend was a fantastic shitshow: exactly what I needed. It included 2 trips to Matchbox, a coworker's holiday party, many many hours of latenight/early morning Wii playing(good lord it is incredible), mid-afternoon naps, Christmas tree buying and decorating, a latenight milkshake run to Potbelly's, seeing an awful movie with the roomies (August Rush-- don't waste your money!), a couple of rounds of losing miserably at Buck Hunter (so against my morals), a trip to the absolute boonies of Maryland, and some crazy pictures to remember it all. Love it.

2. At said coworker's holiday party, I saw, quite possibly, the worst-dressed couple in the history of the world. I'm not kidding. He was dressed in late-90's Levi's (why would anyone wear pants with the size visible to everyone?!) and some shirt that I can't remember because of the following accessory: a fanny pack. I shit you not. Here we are in a classy studio apartment in Dupont Circle and there's a guy sporting a leather fanny pack. I didn't even know those things still existed... it's like a coelacanth for 2007! I was really tempted to walk up to him and ask what was inside. When I didn't think it could get any worse, I saw his girlfriend turn around and had to bite my lip... hard. She was wearing typical mom jeans with Merrells (bad enough as is) but the real kicker was her sweater. Beyond being thin enough to show all of her bulges (although she was relatively toned) and way too short for her hi-rise mom jeans, it had....I shit you not.... a knitted-in margarita emblazoned across the chest. I've been hunting on Google all day in an attempt to find a photo that even neared the grotesque-ness of this top, but alas I cannot find anything to even begin to compare it to. It was just.... awful.

3. Winter has officially set in. We're predicted to get 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow, which is a big deal in these parts. The wind was absolutely out of control yesterday.... I thought my ears were going to fall off. Note to self: find attractive and fashionable earmuffs. I had to wait about 25 minutes for my bus to arrive last night (damn you, Metro!) and of course when it finally arrived it was PACKED. I came to a conclusion as I was nuzzled up against complete strangers. Men should not get out of their seats for women because women are the weaker sex and they just might faint if they have to stand for more than 10 minutes. No, men should give us their seats because we are (on a whole) shorter. Even though I am just shy of 5'6" (and usually am in heels), it is insanely uncomfortable to hold on to the overhead rail. I'm fine when I can find a vertical pole (get your mind out of the gutter) but if I'm stuck in the middle I nearly have to stand on my tippy-toes to reach. To all of the 6-foot tall men who were enjoying your seats last night, I ask you to please consider this next time you see the ladies with their arms straight up above their heads. Oy.

4. If someone would like to get me these for Christmas or just because, I'd love you forever. They're a mere $50, which is unfortunately still far out of my don't-spend-any-money-on-myself-in-December budget. Size 8.5, please. Thanks :)