Christmas and Bond - James Bond

Hope everyone is having good holidays! I'm finally getting a break the night before David, Gerdy and I head back to NYC as we're watching a James Bond marathon as rented from the library. I've hit most of my favorite Cleveland eating spots - Joey's Pizza, the American Tavern, Yours Truly, and tonight Village Square Pizza - so I pretty much can only sit here and blog!

I took a break from my computer - but I did cheat now that I have my free PDA from Nokia and Cingular...yippie! Yes folks, free. I was going to use Christmas money for a PDA now that I am a free agent aka contractless, so I researched the PDAs and learned that the sexy Trios have not-so-great sound, and I had no interest in a Blackberry for some reason, so I looked up Nokia and found its Nokia E62 had good reviews and a $50 special with Amazon, until I called Cingular to talk to someone about it, who told me that Nokia itself was offering the Nokia E62 for free with a 2-year contract!

Was that not the longest sentence? So I signed the 2-year contract and the PDA is mine...

But, onto Christmas, which was very eventful partially because it was David's first sleep-over Christmas, at which he was in high demand for paddle, golf, pictures, food and more food. David scored with a Christmas gift to my dad - a remote controlled Mosquito helicopter which was matched by a gift from my Nana - another remote controlled helicopter. So, without further adieu, here below my first animated .gif to illustrate the remoteness of the men in the family!


(that's my dad on the right flying the little white helicopter all around the room, which is pretty much all any male did who came over, and the helicopter did make it to my grandparent's to fly around their china dinner set)

Then, click here for the battle between the Evil Punching Snowman that showed up in our stockings as they battle the two helicopters in a "dogfight" looking quite like King Kong...it's our debut onto YouTube!


But onto more exciting things...stockings...my most favorite part of Christmas morning...


Santa found David and delivered a stocking with goodies in it, including a spaceship spin toothbrush and an Ohio State mug.


My brother and his stocking...


My sister at her annual stomping of my brother on Christmas morning with a newly added glass of Airborne to keep us all healthy...


And we finished it off with delicious bottles of Layer Cake, the velvety Shiraz grown from a century old French vine in Australia. We'll be hearing more about this yummy bottle, but in the meantime, you can ask your local wine store if they carry it. If you like a smooth red, you'll like a glass of this...


This was PRE-Christmas, but Oliver wanted to come and I had to include it...

I think that's all for now! I'm going to finish this night of Bond and get ready for the drive back to NYC...

Happy New Year!

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Happy Holidays! Christmas Card

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Unmarried Live Togethers Discriminated Against at Christmas

Unmarried Live Togethers are facing more tough times this year, battling through tense family telephone round-robbins. Females are often the hardest hit by such situations, as for some reason, daughters can do more damage than sons. During holiday homecomings, families would prefer the co-ed existence happen off of the family homestead and exist out of site at a hotel or a family farm. In Burton. Where there are murders. See the Burton Blog for more on the false sense of security of serene Amish country (because that is where this Mista will be staying - at the family farm - if co-habitation happens over the holiday).

Bridget Jones didn't have to deal with such situations, as she just didn't live with someone (sorry, Bridget). Director Julie Taymore may have something to say, being that last I checked, she was "happily unmarried for 10 years," which by now would be happily unmarried for 13 years or so. Bridget had to deal with Smug Marrieds at dinner, and while Unmarried Live Togethers consider Joyful New Moms with Adorable (and Growing) Babies and grandparents who think they will die before seeing a marriage.

Fortunately, discrimination seems to stop at the bedroom, as this writer's boyfriend has been invited to attend the great family Men's Luncheon, where men are men and sit around predicting important things like who will win the Super Bowl and what stock NOT to short (some Mista readers will know what unfortunate male family member of mine was advised to short Google without consulting his knowledgeable granddaughter on the matter). They must have needed a strong Sports Authority figure, who in a secret life is actually a sports "color" commentator who colors the game with fun facts like which player was deserted by their father, and which was slighted for the Heisman in 1998, etc. (ok, I made up that Heisman part b/c I don't know any colorful facts and the boy is out rollerblading).

Like common highschoolers, Unmarried Live Togethers are forced to abide by parent's rule if they want to celebrate Christmas under one roof, as opposed to being shipped off to Amish country. Even if they are almost 30 or nearly 43. And like common highschoolers, sneaking around upstairs is an option taken by many. And does anyone ever consider the Grand Pets in all of this? Schlepping back and forth from Amish country to "home."

Maybe we should unionize. That would make Republican fathers really mad (most of whom have such rules in the first place, so I suspect that many of us Unmarried Live Togethers who are facing such discrimination do indeed have Republican fathers, who can join a support group I started for my dad called D.A.D - Dads Against Democrats).

Conclusion? Look for sales of Baileys and vodka to be up this season as polite daughters sweetly drown frustrations in tumblers over ice.

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Christmas So Far...

Let's look at the little pile of Christmas accumulating on my desk:



Homemade AppleButter from TN that I got at Thanksgiving for Grampa and Someone Else,
chow chow for cousin with dog, teddy-bear sleep mask for some lucky Mista reader, lambskin for a brother-in-law of a Mista reader that will hopefully turn into a cigar holder today, silkcreened Notebooks by Saturate from the Curiosity Shop, and a Barista Starbucks French coffee press for Dad who has finally switched from Folgers and a dirty drip machine because a restaurant owner in Garretsville, OH told him to - forget that I'd advised him of that 6 years ago after working at a French cafe in Charleston! So now he gets a good one. But you could also get one at Amazon.

Can I tell you what I love about online shopping at little shops? They give you surprises! The Curiosity Shop included a Fortune Telling fish that curls up in the palm of my hand! If its head moves, that means one thing. If its tail moves, that means another. For me, they both moved, and it flipped all around! So it's meaning I'm In Love, Passionate and Fickle, all at once!

Speaking of In Love, David set up quite a nice tree, and even decorated the bottom with wrapped presents! So exciting. Number of time Oliver has knocked it over: 1.5. And speaking of Oliver, here he is, swimming in polkadotted tulle as I tried to make FashionMistas...




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David at Ikea Getting Cabinets?

I slyly told David that I wanted wall shelves with doors for my fabric for Christmas - ok, I tried to be sly, but sly wasn't working. So I get a call from him today, asking if by chance I were to get shelving for above my desk, how necessary are the glass doors...? Before hanging up he told me he was going to finish his Swedish meatballs...busted! David's at Ikea...

Could it be...



or


or


Or none?

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Stress Relievers :: Sunkist and Bikini Waxing

...first published on the Ladies Who Launch blog as a response to the weekly question, which this week is how everyone relieves stress...

Stress relievers for me, or so at first I thought, was eating big chicken burritos, carrot cake, Sunkist, or tall-half-caff-one-pump-vanilla-lattes, but then I remembered that those things all make me really groggy. Even Sunkist, but the orange soda is really more of a reward, not to be confused with a stress reliever (note to self), as it can pretty much put me to sleep with sugar overload.

Here's my stress reliever list:

• Bikini waxing. I'm not crazy, but you go in to a girl you know (preferably at an Aveda-affiliated salon), under a haze of Aveda candles. If the ripping of those strips doesn't whac you out of a stress zone, I don't know what will. I just always feel really great for some reason afterward. However, I am now lasering, but I still get the same affect. Could be from lots of bubbly talk with the esthetician whose main focus is making you beautiful.


• Salsaing to Estoy Como Nunca by Eliades Ochoa in my living room, a cd I found in the give-away pile of my building and just luv. A great remedy on the iPod on a subway ride home as well.


• Vacuuming with my super compact and fun Eureka to Bonnie Raitt's early bluesy album, Takin' My Time.


• Quiet time. Very valuable. If you live with a boy or a girl or a husband, this may need to be negotiated. I find that bribing with good, cream sauce-based dinners is a good bartering chip to be used against “the game” or “the stats” or “highlights” however “quick” they may need to be on (but try to serve on time).


• Cooking creamy dinners. I invented my 3-cheese mac and cheese after a very depressing time at a temp agency office while testing in Word and Excel when I first moved to New York. It was raining and I didn't want the rest of my life existing in Excel, so I had a little breakdown that involved serious cooking when I got home. Now I make Excel work for me. It knows who is boss and can induce states of euphoria when used properly.


• Jogging. The endorphins and oxygen to the brain is really important. And you might as well buy some cute jogging clothes. The last thing I bought were running skirts...


• Yoga. I don't do it all the time yet, but every time I do, I'm much more centered.


• Backgammon. Especially when you beat your live-in boyfriend or girlfriend or husband. Unless you lose because you're watching Men in Trees.

I have to go serve that creamy dinner now, but you get the drift.

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PS: My New Pink/Brown Desktop Wallpaper

A form of this image had been in my head for a while, and out it came when I designed the background for the new webpage for ReelInvitations.com. So, I expanded on it and just let dogwood petals fall where they may! Enjoy this free new desktop wallpaper from Katie James...

Click here to grab it from Katie-James.com!

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Heelys Roller Shoe- I Want!

All I want for Christmas is two wheely roller shoes! David, who I never give enough credit to for listening and being alert, picked up on my squeel for wanting the roller shoe when this little kid zipped by...




I am SO wearing these to work, IF I get them. Just think of all of the time I'll save from walking normally!

Get the ones above from Shoes.com. Check out other styles or put it on your wish list at Amazon...

Happy wishlisting!

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Silkscreened Christmas

Silkscreening is on the brain. That and softly colored prints that I can't get out of my head (see newly designed desktop wallpaper).

Shh, don't tell David that I'm getting him this silkscreened tie for Christmas from the cool designer who has other great stuff, CYBEROPTIX:


This just in! I just bought the one on the right - olive - and it is being custom made right now. I feel so special.

And if you paid attention to Daily Candy today, you saw a silkscreened notebook by Saturate. Yum! Stocking stuffer! I think I'll get one from the Curiosity Shop for someone in my family who I cannot mention b/c they read the blog...


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Brocade Clutch from my College Roommate!

Ooh, check out these purses from Allison Abney! One of my old college roommates from Charleston! Her purses are in my favorite store down there, Metropolitan Deluxe. That store is worth moving back to Charleston for, I love it so. I really should be making a desktop art for Katie James, but I'm sidetracked! Can someone tell David that I want the purple clutch for Christmas? Thanks. :)

Lotus Baby - this is the brocade one that I want


Bronze Baby - but I also want this one!


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Progress on the DebtOMeter

Love paying bills when the money is there. Yes folks, I was able to get out the big scissors tonight and cut some of that red thermometer away. This darn cat took a chunk of real money when we went to the vet today to get his official shots, so that's his Xmas present for a looong time. Click here for a picture of the DebtOMeter in a super nova...

PS: The funniest part about Oliver getting his shots today was that they made him lethargic, but he still tried to bug Dinah while she was sleeping on the couch. So he sneaked over and pulled a spring attack on her...his poor front leg (where the shot happened) failed him, but he did no deter, and continued to press into Dinah in the most pathetic way! Usually he grabs her with both arms. It was too funny.

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All Clean from Caffine

It's official. I've gone 2 straight days with no caffine, and no Advil. But I'm not gonna lie. This morning I work up with a strong urge for the tall-half-caff-one-pump-vanilla latte. Even as I write this I can smell it!!

I stopped drinking it for many reasons, and they include:

• Don't need it, I'm pretty much awake when I'm awake.
• I get the shakes if I don't eat, and then I've proven capable of consuming a bunch of brownies.
• CAFFINE WITHDRAWL HEADACHES. This was the main one. Even in TN for Thanksgiving, coffee was made, but it wasn't Starbucks, so I think it was a little weaker, and I got a withdrawal headache even after I drank it. So dumb.
• Sugar dumbs my brain, and I like my sugar in my coffee.

Shoot. This is really hard not to leave the office right now and get a red cup of Starbucks. Half the reason I like going in there is because of their super lovely graphic design on the cards, cups, napkins, etc. It's always an inspiration.

Ok, leaving to get lunch. We'll see how I do.

PS: I think this cup is Asian. It's from this blog...

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One Tree, One Tear

Um, surprise tear jerker! I had written off One Tree Hill, as Dan was getting wacko and the plot kind of lame. Last night I forgot that it was Wednesday and that I was home and that it was 9:30pm, so I turned it on and saw who I first of all thought were professional basketball players, then I saw Haylee say she was having a boy (paleez, high school, and that's ok, but in One Tree it's normal) and I was just stuck standing there, watching the confetti and Payton look so happy which never happens. Then I kept trying to leave to turn the oven on for my dinner, and the out of the blue the accident happened! I don't even know who Dante is/was! And I really cried when whats his face came running out and they couldn't talk and then he fell over. Goosebumps right now.

David, meanwhile, was watching #1 Ohio State basketball against the Tar Heels in the other room, having his own emotional roller coaster. Needless to say, it was 10:15 by the time I was ready to break away and turn the oven on, so I had donuts for dinner.

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Free Wireless from Jet Blue at JFK

Honestly, there is nothing better than getting to the airport in one piece, if not severely disheveled and taken apart, only to come to the end of the airport rainbow and find a pot of wireless. Not sure if it's in other terminals, but JetBlue is so hooked up to computers right now, with about a bazillion kiosks that you must sign in at before handing your luggage off. It is worth the fricking $55 cab ride to feel like a real and civilized person, blogging and reading Elle.

Luggage-wise, the people here at JFK must not wear a thing. I'm seeing nearly flat carry-ons - with room. They don't look like they're going to baggage claim. It's Thanksgiving week, so they must be traveling for at least three days...how could they not have checked??

Before I left (and the taxi was coming in 10 minutes), I saw that I am starving poor Oliver. Didn't read the feeding instructions on the catfood, and so didn't see that I need to give him twice the amount Dinah is getting. That meant I was low on canned Merrick cat food and literally called on all of my days of not running this week in the morning, and sprinted the 5 blocks to the pet store to quickly stock up - and back. Which got me thinking. Oliver and Dinah need a very stylish cat carrier. Here's what I've found so far whil sitting in JFK listing to the wonderfullness of cheesy old love songs by Vanessa Williams in between boarding calls.



Ahh! Got to go...boarding all rows!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Stop Me - Oliver on the Bike

Can't stop taking pictures of Oliver! He's too crazy. Not sure how long he was out in the world as an ophan, but he certainly is a scavenger! He's as bad as the worst begging dogs in Central Park. Just two nights ago, he just stole a chicken bone from my plate before I threw it away and was munching on it.

Here's the little acrobat:

More pictures of Oliver.
First pictures of Oliver.

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Bijou Me My Chi

While hearing the story of how my brother got engaged (as told to by my brother while we strolled through Union Square), I bought a pendant from a girl in Union Square market who was a metal-worker with arthritis in her hands. The pendant was to seriously align my chi and combined two stones for super alignment. She combined a piece from upstate New York and a piece that she dug up in Arizona that magnifies whatever it touches (and we all know how I love Arizona). She wound metal around it in swirly shapes, and secured the pieces together. But, it was just a pendant, and I have no patience or experience in making a necklace for it, and I wasn't about to just wear the generic black nylon cord that came with it.

So, I emailed my designer friend Lourdes at Bijou Boutique down in Florida and she jumped right onto the challenge! Our brains went through a bazillion ideas, keeping the focus on the pendant, making it not to difficult to use (since it needs to align my chi and keep the energy of chi-ness free flowing), and be a style that will last.

I was pickier than I realized, but Lourdes was always patient and coming up with new ideas. I couldn't decide if I wanted it short or long, so Lourdes proposed some leather cord - in baby blue and chocolate brown! - put some decorative silver beads around the clasps, and gave me a multi-level necklace. I can hook up the three cords any way I want, so can have it short or long, and in whichever color combination. Pictured here is just the blue cord, as it was a Friday work-day and I needed something simple.

More at BijouBoutique.com:

So, if you're like me and appreciate making necklaces but don't actually do it, go to Bijou Boutique and see what she can custom design for you!! And look for Christmas presents while you're at it! She's got some new pieces in there!

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Ikea Wardrobe and Dysons

Am relaxing and watching Gray's, and see two products I must discuss. The Ikea wardrobe in George's father's hospital room was once in my room, then it became a TV closet, and then probably firewood. But I also have the matching half-wardrobe with shelves, and it rocks even more. It has become my linen closet now that I have two closets in my bedroom (and David gets one of them) and a front hall closet that is stuffed and overflowing with umbrellas and rollerblades. Love it.

Then, the Dyson commercial. I loved the Dyson, for a long time at first at least, because of the accent from guy who invented it! I loved the way he said: "It never loses sUction." Something about how he said it in his accent just convinced me that the giant piece of plastic would not lose suction. For $400, and now $500, and who knows when the price will rise again, I almost bought it just for his accent! So, if Dyson people are scanning blogs for what we're saying, hear this: Bring the inventor with the prototypes and the accent back. I don't trust this generic guy, and I'm more happy with my Eureka.

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Announcing...Oliver

After one Saturday of lounging, pawing, hissing and trouncing, we have decided to keep the new kitten. As he is quite good at stalking Dinah on his hind legs with his forepaws outstretched and ready to grab, we have named him Oliver the Terrible. We can't even catch on camera the times he spread eagles and flies from the couch to trounce Dinah!

This is a picture-fest of Oliver, but Dinah is forever my muse.






Of course, we would not keep Oliver if Dinah was unhappy. Truth is, she is consistantly curious about him, plays with him, and came right over when we were clipping his nails (he meowed-and-meant it for the first time) to make sure he was ok.













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LWL Post: A Wannabe "Mompreneur"

Originally posted on the Ladies Who Launch Blog. The blog topic of the week was "Launching Moms" and this is my post for it. Not being a mom of human children, my own love bugs are to the left, and a great inspiration.
Ladies Who Launch, Ladies Who Launch Blog

I grew up knowing I wanted and needed my own business while I raised children, which is why I borrowed the "mompreneur" term from Michelle Rubin of Willow Creek Baby. I had no visions of a wedding dress or a huge diamond. Just me working somewhere, doing something I loved. My mother raised us directly (with the help of our dad) while carrying out different jobs, like selling children’s educational toys (that was a fun one), selling Sunbeam things, and for the past 15 years has been a rep for lines of clothing, most recently Doncaster and Elana.

So I grew up with her always doing something, and being there for us at the same time (even if that meant picking us up late from basketball practice!). I also loved money - counting money, saving money for a bike or Cabbage Patch Kid - and was taught that if I wanted the money, I had to work for the money. I also didn't want to depend on a man or a marriage to have that money, just in case he wouldn't be there the whole time, which brings us to today. I'm a 29 year old mother of a super smart German Shepherd/Chow named Gerdy (that a former fiance of mine abandoned due to our breakup! so glad to get that out of the way!), a regal cat named Dinah, and now a new kitten named Oliver the Terrible who just had to run in front of me as I walked home from the subway the other night. They are true inspirations to me, and two products so far have been developed for them - the Chow Chow dog treat bag and the FashionMista (a fashion mouse for cats).

I only know how to do what I love and what makes me happy. It took a little while to figure out what that was, but I'm learning the combination and it's filling me with joy. At my mom's encouragement, I took a class in fashion design at FIT which turned into an accessories business called Katie James, which is expanding into website design, and then there's the FashionMista blog which has its own plans of a redesign and boutique of unique designs.

So my 'plan' is falling into place, which is to have a business set up so that when I have children (if I'm so blessed), a system will be set up for me to work in. For my 9-5 day job, I manage the website of a nonprofit specializing in educating women and health professionals about the best maternity care, so I'm set. I've also recognized, as was testimony from so many of these launching moms, that being a mompreneur makes you plan your time and actually get things done instead of procrastinating...something I always suspected. I also suspect, though, then when I become a mom, all of these plans will fly out the window and a new situation will present itself. So I eagerly look forward to the day when I am balancing both and gaining new inspirations.

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Uh, oh...Found a Kitten...

...and took it home. It leapt across my path Tuesday night to play in some ivy at the base of a tree plotted in a sidewalk in between Broadway and Amsterdam at W. 104th. I stopped, turned, and looked at a woman standing behind me who had also stopped. We looked at each other, and that was it. I bent down and scooped up the kitty after it fearlessly sniffed my hand.



Gerdy and I walked back the scene later and taped signs all over the area, but no one has called. The kitten is litter box trained, and knows all of the good things that come out of the kitchen and from a can of food. And he loves the sparkly tail on the FashionMista.

But, Dinah and I had a talk, and she told me that she'd like to be the only queen of the house.



Plus, I think this little thing is a guy kitten, and I've temporarily named him Jazper, because he's got a lot of pizzaz and thinks he's already a prince around the house, challenging everyone to swatting duels.



Gerdy just stares at him when he does it, and Dinah is not amused.



So...I'm looking for a good NYC home for Jazper! Write back if interested! Or comment!

But look out...he/she is a bit crazy...






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Ladies Who Launch LIVE Event

, by FashionMista

first published on the Ladies Who Launch blog

Is it too late to blog about an event that happened a week and a half ago? Yes, I'm going to vote as usual and try not to do much damage in the booth, but am the most excited about the potential ban in NYC on trans fat in restaurants. Don't think that's an issue for the ballet, but I'm a fan of the ban. Hopefully the next one will be nutrasweet. Anyway, my to-do list was so long the weekend after the event, that my blogging fell off of it! I was to cross everything off in one Saturday, and got about 7 of the maybe 22 things, so everything else went on hold.

So now that it's Halloween, I've reinstated the Incubator's mantra of "Do one nice thing for yourself each day" and indulged in some mini milky ways and turned on Gilmore Girls, (which was a reapeat of maybe the first show of this season, but I've so far missed them all so it's fine).

It was like Christmas morning when I got home after the LIVE Event. I had a bag full of goodies (free pair of Naturalizer shoes, Jonathan hair shine, a face peel from md skincare, and gobs more of little deals at womens' businesses), new business cards to file and websites to visit, and new dates to put into my Google calendar (LOVing the Google calendar).

Not only did we get goody bags and hear from the varied experiences of valuable speakers, but my brain was overflowing with new ideas and insights from other women. I had the pleasure of picking Wedding Bee's brain on blog advertising and generating traffic (write, write, write), to Glam or not to Glam with Chicks and Giggles, the new world and future website for Reel Invitations (dvd wedding invitations), and more Katie James strategic alliances with The Matchstick Group.

In between the fabulous speakers, we could indulge in chair massages compliments of State Farm, and go shopping in the Ladies Who Launch marketplace downstairs, where everyone had the cutest displays and polished designs. I held off from participating as a vendor, but now that I've done my first market down in Soho, I'm ready for another challenge. Here are a couple highlights from the LIVE event marketplace:

Ichiche
Definitely unique, beautiful designs of jewelry. Put one of these necklaces on and you're transported to another culture.

Bleach Letterpress Designs by Smith Banfield
I'm a sucker for letterpress cards, and Smith's are gorgeous. Even the card she gave away with her information on it was beautiful.

One of the fun parts about Ladies Who Launch is that there are these surprise women who are a part of it. As I was talking to my dyn-o-mite PR friend at Red Branch PR, I spotted a high school classmate who I hadn't seen in 5 years! I dashed over to her and we chatted and chatted. I can't wait for the next event, and I think there is an Incubator event coming up, oh, and I've got an acupuncture session tomorrow with Acupuncture Remedies...ta ta for now!

PS: just ordered my free Naturalizer shoes...yay!

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