Scattered Shots before the Holiday

Tonight, I'm heading to visit my sister for the Holy Day. A couple of observations about this Christmasy season:

• I've got to learn to travel better. It always stresses me out. Mostly because I make umpteen unnecessary lists and check them 3 million times before packing. And then I always pack a little extra. I gotta learn to be like my photographer friend, who travelled in China for two weeks with a single carryon. I'm going to be gone for 4 days and I feel like I brought 1/2 my closet with me.
  
• Personal inventory post coming again soon. I have to check and see how I've been doing with those resolutions I made oh, about this time last year.
  
• I'm going to be a student again in -- count 'em -- 8 months. Whew. I'm so not ready.
• I am however, ready to be surrounded by my friends again -- Veronica, Soraya, Darby, Jarrod, and everyone else in the DMV -- I'm looking at you.
  
• Though I'll have friends a plenty, I have a feeling this won't be like undergrad. At all.
  
• I'm glad I got my Christmas shopping early. But Oyin, tell me why did I order from you on December 3 and JUST GOT MY ORDER TODAY? Everyone else I ordered from was able to give me my purchases within days. Failure to you, Oyin. Failure. (Amendment: Setta B pointed out that everything Oyin makes is handmade, so it results in a little bit of a delay in shipping. So I guess I'll give them a pass.)
  
• I think I'm going to spend the first quarter of 2010 selling things that I'm purging from my house. Where do you guys sell? Ebay? Etsy? I could use some money for school and I need to simplify my life so it's easier to pack come fall.
  
• I think that's it. Merry Christmas!
  

Oh, Christmas Tree

I was going to put up a tree this year. I promise I was.

I went to Target and bought a thrifty artificial one -- that is still in the box on my living room floor.

I have ornaments, including the ones Jessie and I exchange each year.

But, with less than a week to go before Christmas, and me literally days away from traveling to NYC to visit my sister, I realized it wasn't worth it. Plus, all the presents I had so lovingly wrapped for friends and family were shipped off (at the cost of $50!) or otherwise delivered last week.

So again, what's the point?

Thankfully, the BF and his roommate, the Magic man, were decorating their tannenbaum and allowed me to join them. See the Christmas pin in full effect??

We decked Magic's 7 foot tree. His reasoning for getting such a large tree? "If you're taller than your tree, it's a Charlie Brown tree."

I disagree, obviously.

We strung the lights and hung the bulbs all while the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory played in the living room. (Aside, have you seen that movie? Gene Wilder, though not as disturbing as Johnny Depp in the remake, is pretty peculiar. And the oompa loompas? Absolutely fantastic.)

We had to make sure we broke out the tinsel and fake snow, Gigli was in the house.

We'd hung all the bulbs and admired our work. All that was left, was to hang the star. But being that Greg got the most ginormous tree he could find, there were some technical difficulties.

Four hands were able to finally get the star in it's rightful place. Just when we thought we were done...

The candy canes!

Greg and I hung the peppermint treats high enough to keep out of Deuce's hungry grasp.

Here's the final result:

Merry Christmas, indeed.

I *heart* Jessie Bonner

Jessie and I send each other Christmas presents every year.

It kinda started during our first Christmases as working adults. Jessie came to RI to spend the holiday and we had the Bestest Christmas ever.

That year, we started the tradition of sharing an ornament. Each year, we alternate sending an ornament to the other person, and keeping an identical one for ourselves.

Anyway, last year, Jessie decided to start a new tradition it seems (let's pray it's not though). She gets me Christmas pins.

Yes. Those tacky, red and green, light up, shiny, glittery, Christmas pins that pop up this time of year. Last year's pin was kinda classy.


I got my Christmas pin from her for this year, today.


Yes, that is a transgendered snowman/woman in a tulle skirt with heels, purse and a hat. You see it right.

As is custom, I put the pin on as soon as I ripped it from it's packaging. I'll be wearing it all day today, and probably at any Christmas themed function (such as decking G.Lee's tree) I attend. Oh, the pin will be in full effect.

So, Jessie's gift reminded me that presents are fun. Like, I always laugh when I get something from her. And I love that. She sent me this the weekend of her birthday. Yes, she gave me something on her birthday! And I love it.

You see the potatoes this man is packing? I heart him, too.

Anyway, I gotta get back to work, but I just wanted to post a quick ode to Jessie and her fantastic presents and how great she is. Because she's super fantastic. You should have a friend like Jessie in your life. Promise it'll make yours better.

A quick post

Because someone is getting antsy.

• I went home for Thanksgiving -- my first trip back to Michigan in nearly a year. It was great. I got to spend time with my family and friends and eat all of the foods I can't get in Rhode Island. I got Big John's Steak and Onion, Yaya's Chicken, and even managed to smuggle some Faygo pop and Everfresh fruit punch and Better Made chips in my luggage! Yes!


• While I was home, I got my hair pressed. I feel bad because my hairdresser had to fry my hair to get it straight (i also got a trim while I was home) but it was nice to have the curls back. However, I'm not sure if I want to subject my hair to that kind of treatment on a regular basis. Here's a pic to the right. And don't clown me. I'd just gotten in to Flint and then spent hours in the hairdresser while she tamed my hair. I was tired. And you can see it. *shrug* But my hair is LAID.
• While I was at home, my niece celebrated her 10th birthday (shoutout to Kiera). So the night before, she was playing with her sister, Kyla, who is 3. Here's the exchange:
  Kiera: Kyla, tomorrow is my birthday.
  Kyla: Tomorrow is you birthday?
  Kiera: Yeah
  Kyla: Can I get in the pool with you?
  *Sighs all around* Kyla's birthday is in August, so she thinks everyone can get in the pool on their birthday. Sorry, holmes. It was about 30 degrees on Kiera's birthday. Pool's gonna have to wait about 6 more months.
• I got someone to switch my Christmas night shift with me! That means I get to spend the holiday with my sister (you know, the antsy one?). I'm pretty excited. This will be the second Christmas that I've done without my family. One Christmas I spent with a friend's family and the first Christmas was, well, the Bestest Christmas Ever. This just might have to be the Bestest Christmas Ever: Redux. Because it's going to be serious.

Okay, that's enough for now. I've got to get back to work!

Who you calling Black?

Today is not for half-steppers.

I had my first Black Friday experience today. Unfortunately, I was a miserable failure at it.

My sister, Kinra, planned to head to the Birch Run Outlet mall at midnight to catch all of the savings. I told her I'd head with her, and then travel to Detroit to stop by Target and Kohl's as well.

I was not at all prepared for the mayhem that would ensue over the next few hours though. The day started off fine. I came to Flint to have Thanksgiving dinner, visited some friends, saw my granny, played with the kids. By the time I started getting sleepy, around 10 p.m., I knew I was in trouble: my sis wanted to leave in like 30 minutes for the outlet. I made some calls and watched some TV until we were ready to go.

Then my phone died. And my charger was in Detroit. Not a good look.

We pick up my sis' friend and head to the outlets. Thankfully, there was a line on the expressway exit that took us 30 minutes to get through. So I took a nap. We pulled up to the stores and jumped out running. First stop, Banana Republic. I skimmed the racks like a pro, trying on skirts and dresses in the middle of the showroom. The entire store was 40% off. So the $160 I spent could have been a lot more. Score one for Talia.

Meanwhile, my sis headed to Nike and some other stores to get stuff for my nieces. I looked around a few stores and met back up with them. We headed to Polo, Columbia, Carters and a bunch of other spots. At Columbia, I waited in line in 20 degree cold to get into the store, only to find that the one thing I wanted to get - they were out of.

We finally leave the outlets and drop my sis' friend off around 3 a.m. Kinra and I hit the road and head to Kohl's near Detroit, which was opening at 4 a.m.

We roll into the parking lot at 4 on the dot and there's a horde of people pulsing at the door. The doors swing open and the stampede begins. We see people running from their cars. By the time we park and head to the store at 4:10 a.m., people are already leaving the store with coffee makers, cool touch griddle pans and portable

We were sorely unprepared. We wander around the store for a moment while the line to the registers continues to grow. I get lost. and since I have no phone, I wander trying to find my sister. We finally connect and get in line. We stayed there for about 40 minutes as the registers inched people out of the store. By this time, I'm slowly withering.

We buy our things and my sister heads to Meijers. I ask what the purpose is.
"Just to look."
Cool. I'll stay in the car. BAD MISTAKE. If you're doing Black Friday, suck it up and do it. Because once you start sleeping, you won't wake up. My sister ended up going to Meijers, Toys R Us, K-Mart and Target. I ended up reclining the passenger seat and catching some serious Z's with the car engine running. IT kinda made me mad because I wanted to go to Target, but it was our last stop. So by then, I'd been asleep for at least an hour. And there was no way I was getting out of the warm car to walk in the cold air and stand in an aggrevating line for hours.

My sister did though. Se ended up in Target for 2 hours trying to get a Wii. She waited and when she was almost to the counter, found out they'd sold out. One person was at the counter, another (who wasn't getting a system) was in front of her, and then it was her. So she was pissed.

She came to the car at 8:20 a.m. She drove straight to work. I dropped her off and headed home. I plugged my phone up and fell in the bed.

In retrospect, I think it was worth it. We got some fantastic deals and as I sit here at 6:48 p.m. on Black Friday, I have nothing else to buy for my nieces and got some great clothes for myself. I also got gifts for my friend's kids out of the way. So now, it's just immediate family I have to worry about. I probably would have not run to as many stores (maybe just the outlets and Target), but I think that I will definitely do it again.

And here are a few tips I'll likely employ in the future:
1. Wear comfortable shoes that are easy to slip on and off (especially if you're trying on footwear. I wore kneehigh flat boots. Comfy, but hard to get on and off in a pinch).
2. Wear thin, tight clothing. This comes in handy when you need to try clothes on but the line to the dressing room is parallelled only by the line to check out. Thankfully, I had on skinny jeans and a white longsleeve tee (I shed my big sweater in the first store) so I slipped in and out of skirts and dresses and never saw the inside of a dressing room.
3. Take a nap. Seriously. You'll need it. I didn't nap, but I also figured we'd turn in way before we did. By our second destination, I was a wreck: irritable and not alert to all of the deals I could have gotten. Not productive at all.
4. Eat well. Shopping is a high fuel activitiy. Make sure you leave time inbetween destinations to grab some food. And keep drinks and coffee/tea on hand. It's cold outside and walking makes you thirsty.
5. Have a partner. At the bigger stores - or the ones with better deals - have one team member stand in line while the other shops (quickly). Exchange places. Continue the tag team until you make it to the front of the line. It'll make things go by quicker and you'll get so much more accomplished.
6. Have a gameplan. BUY THE PAPER ON THANKSGIVING. And actually look at the sales papers. Know what you want to get from what store. If possible, go to the store the day before Thanksgiving to familiarize yourself with the layout if necessary. This is not the time for leisurly shopping. Try it and you'll end up standing in line for hours.
7. Charge your cell phone. My phone died and it made it horrible to try to shop. I had to stay with my sister or wherever I was instead of being free to roam and look. Black Friday is not the day you want to loose your party, or find out a friend was already in line while you were looking for them and now you have to get in line all over again. It's just not cute.
8. Be in it to win it. There's to be no half-stepping on Black Friday. Once you start, suck it up and finish it. You'll be happy you did when you make it home and realize you have nothing else to do for Christmas but wrap your bounty and sip eggnog.

Talk about thankful

I got to come home for the first time in almost a year this week as I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.

I got into Detroit on Wednesday afternoon and headed to Flint the next morning with my sister and her kids. We filled up on my mom's cooking (ham, yams, greens, stuffing, fried turkey and black eyed peas) and promised we'd have dessert (peach cobbler, pinapple upside down cake, cream cheese pound cake) later.

Afterward, I went to go visit my grandmother and took some peach cobbler to her. We talked for a while - during which time i realized she is getting old. She's refusing to go to the cardiologist they referred her to (it's too far, she says), and her hearing is beginning to go. She's in her early 90s, I believe, so she's still super functioning to be so old. But it was kind of hard to see her starting to wither a bit. I made a mental note to call her more and visit her whenever I can. In fact, I'm coming back to Flint on Saturday, so I'll visit her then as well.

I came home and called my boy Karrington, from high school and he dropped by for a cool minute. We chatted for a bit and then he said he'd be back before I headed out to brave the Black Friday sales in a few hours. In the meantime, I played with the kids, took pics and watched the American Music Awards on my mom's DVR.

As I watched Rihanna and Neo perform, I glanced at the end table and saw the picture I'd taken with my high school senior prom date. (My senior prom photo, right, sans my date.)

"That was a cute dress," I thought to myself. "It's still in there. I wonder if I can fit it?"

It was sort of a challenge to myself. I'd tried the dress on at least 2 other times: freshman year of college and senior year of college. Each time, I could barely get it on my body, let alone closed. Still, I hadn't been able to bring myself to give it away. And everyone had been saying lately that I'd lost a lot of weight (yesterday, my sister saw me in my underwear and said my stomach looked "crackish" because I'm thin. I sighed.), which I can't see, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I had nothing to lose after all.

I went into my room, which my mom has now converted into an office (there isn't even a bed in there anymore!) and pulled the dress down from its hanger. My sister was on the computer and called me crazy for trying to put the dress on. I just laughed and slid the beaded number over my head.

I stopped laughing when it went on without struggling. I looked at her and smiled. "Can you try to zip it?"

"You out your damn mind," she said, fumbling with the zipper. Then, it happened. I looked up and this dress - the one I'd bought a size too small (a 4) in 2001 because it was the only one of the dress left - was on my body. The straps dug into my back a little. And the chest could be adjusted. But, overall, it it didn't look bad. My face lit up and I screamed "I CAN FIT MY PROM DRESS!"

My sister looked at me, shook her head and turned back to the computer. I ran into the dining room to show my mom. She laughed. I grabbed my phone and called Julian. He laughed. I sent out a mass text to at least 5 different people. A few laughed. Nothing was funny. This was a milestone.

I put the dress - along with my dress from senior ball at Hampton - into a garment bag and put them on top of the rest of my stuff to take back with me.