Too Soon?

Is December 2nd too soon for Christmas music? Oh I think not!

Here is this year's Holiday Pandora station,
created on 12/2, still at the top of my Pandora list --

Taylor Swift's "Holiday Collection" + Michael Bublé's "Let it Snow" + Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas" + Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" = Best of the best Christmasy song mix!



Martina AND Kelly AND 98 degrees?! Does Christmas music get any better than this?!

I love it.

December = Visitors

Mom came for a visit last week!

She brought her friends, Ms. Betsy and Ms. Earnestine.

They did a lot of exploring and were very cultural. Good thing Mom has been here so many times that she can navigate the city by herself. I just joined for the fun things!

The week went by so quickly and we had a blast. Even though it was rainy and gross on Saturday. And the Hell's Kitchen traffic almost made us miss Memphis on Saturday night. We did some things that I hadn't done before and of course a lot of my favorites.

I always love visitors and I really love Mom's visits. Especially at Christmastime!

I really love the Christmas Tree at Rock Center

And the ice skating rink

View from the Top of the Rock

It was a lil bit chilly at the top! But the city at night? Incredible.

The fantastic Radio City Rockettes will absolutely put you in the Christmas spirit!

West Village dinner at Extra Virgin - one of my faves!

Van Gogh's "Starry Night" at the MoMa

Sunday Morning stroll through Central Park

the challenge: complete!

coming off of this "a blog a day" challenge,
a few things i've learned about myself from NaBloPoMo --

1. i am not a very good spontaneous writer. i did best during the weeks when i planned out what to write - or had half-written posts ready to go. ok, maybe i already knew this about me - i am a planner. and a list-maker. i can't escape!
   
   
2. when i'm busy, i get stressed that i won't have time to write anything worth reading. exhibits a, b and c.
   
   
3. my favorite posts were the ones i spent the most time on.
   
   
4. my mom's favorite post is the one i wrote while laying on angie's bed, annoyed with myself for having nothing to say on day 18. figures.
   
   
5. elizabeth and jamie's blog carnival was the best part of this whole month. i loved reading other posts on HOME and being introduced to new blog friends.
   
   
6. perhaps bethany and i should just share a blog. we are entirely too similar. please don't stop reading my blog if you also read hers. i swear we're different. really, we are. :)
   
   
7. i was constantly thinking about what i'd write next. i think i will be more productive at work in december. (and get more sleep!)
   
   
8. sometimes it's harder to think of things to say when you know you have to say something. anything. i still have a handful of half-written posts that i have yet to finish. i mean, i guess that counts for something?
   
   
9. i have a lot of incredible blogger friends. they write hilarious, entertaining and insightful things. and i always enjoy reading what they have to say.
   
   
10. i know just enough html to be dangerous. good thing i'm a resourceful googler.
    
    
11. i like to write. of course i knew this before i started a blog. but through this month, i have rediscovered my love for writing. i remembered that do kind of have a way with words. and it makes me happy.

so the 30 blogs in 30 days challenge is over. i think it's safe to say that while i did enjoy NaBloPloMo, i am pretty happy that it's finished. it's tough to commit to writing something everyday. i had to try hard not to make posts sound like diary entries. (although, it may seem like that's exactly what i did...but i really tried not to!)

ALSO! this is my 100th blog post! 10 months of blogging, 100 posts. hah, you would have thought i planned it to be so balanced. if i had, i would be an even better planner than i thought i was!

day 30

it's day 30 of NaBloPoMo! 30 posts in 30 days! (or 31 posts really)
i made it! and i'm exhausted.

here's my calendar for the month of november. notice anything?

there are only about 2 days with no dots. dots = things to do, places to go, people to see. november has worn me out. and NaBloPoMo has worn me out. there was so much going on in november. i won't lie, sometimes it was hard to keep up.

so goodbye november and welcome december! wait, who am i kidding? december has the potential to be just as crazy as november. and in all honesty, i like being busy. so i guess can't really complain that much.

welcome december!

Necessities

I love the smell of clean laundry. And clean sheets. And a clean room.
I hate cleaning. And I hate laundry. Unfortunately both are necessary evils. Ew.

But once I've actually motivated myself to bust out the broom, swiffer mops and put away all the piles of stuff that have somehow gathered in my room, I really like the finished product. It's like a whole new room. And it smells pretty. Oh, and it's even better when I manage to get my room cleaned AND my sheets washed. A rarity.

I realize now as I write this that those of you who don't live in NYC don't really understand why this is such a big deal. So let me just break it down for you....

1. I have to haul my laundry across the street to the laundry mat to wash it. I don't usually wash clothes, sheets, towels in the same weekend because, well because it's real heavy. Once I carry everything down 3 flights of stairs and across the street, with my detergent and fabric softner, I have to wait. Wait for washers if there are none free, wait for the wash cycle, wait for a dryer. Haul wet clothes back to my apartment to hang dry in my room. Add more quarters to the dryer because it never fully dries everything in the first round. It's a process.
   
   
2. I have hard wood floors. And area rugs. And they both get very dirty, very quickly. So I have to really commit to cleaning. There's no halfway doing it. I hate it.

So you can see why it's quite the accomplishment to get all this laundry and cleaning done in the same day. I feel super productive and proud of myself once I've finished.

I'm sitting here tonight in my clean room filled with the fresh smell of laundry. My down comforter is fluffy on my freshly made bed. It's cozy, comfy and calming.

I guess the swiffering and laundering were worth it, necessary evils. Sigh.

Reflections from the sky

I guess you could say that I am a frequent flier.

Mostly for visits to Texas and during holidays, but still I fly more often now than I ever did growing up. The flight to Dallas is over 4 hours. The flight back to New York is only 3 hours. I'm sure there is some scientific logic for this, but I find it perplexing.

I like the morning flights out of DFW. There are never lines. There's something quite calming about being in a quiet airport. I go through the familiar motions without pausing to think.

I print my boarding pass at the self check-in kiosk using my AA Advantage number that I know by heart. I have my Texas ID ready for the security line. I rarely check luggage anymore with the new fees. Even though I'd rather not deal with my suitcase, no point in paying to check a bag. And carry-on is faster anyway. No waiting on the other end.

I pull my laptop out of my big carry-on bag, set it into a tub with my shoes and toss my baggie of liquids on top. I swing my suitcase onto the conveyor belt. Followed by my coat, bag and bucket. I'm usually faster than the others in line. This morning I skipped the woman in front of me. She was taking too long.

I slip my shoes back on and my laptop back into my bag, grab my coat, pull up the handle on my suitcase and I'm off. I head straight for Starbucks at gate C13. Grande skinny hazelnut latte this morning should do it.

I grab a seat at C15, always C15 for the morning flight. I sip my coffee, check my email, oh yeah, it's Saturday. I don't have any emails to check. So I watch as people gather at the gate. It's blatantly obvious which people are going to New York for a visit and which people are headed back home. Northeasterners don't do a very good job of blending in with Southern travelers. Or is it the other way around?

I board at the end of group 4 even though I'm usually group 5 - I sit as close to the front of the plane as possible. But I'm impatient and I board with group 4. I expertly toss my bag and coat into my seat, carefully set down my coffee and swing my suitcase into the luggage compartment above my row.

I settle in to my window seat. I always choose the window seat. As we take off I like to look out at Texas. I find myself picking out familiar landmarks from the sky. Dallas is in the distance. Lit up by the morning sun. I follow the highway I know to be 121 to find Grapevine Mills, Fellowship Church, and Coppell High School. It's early, none of the stores are open yet, not many cars on the roads. I can see for miles.

It's a beautiful morning. I watch how the sun glimmers and dances on the lakes and rivers below. Except for a few wispy clouds, I can see everything. Cities and towns emerge from the flat green country as we fly. I gaze out into the sunshine and I let my mind wander.

I think about all the times I've flown out of this airport over the past few years. How each time brings a different emotion. I used to think of this as leaving home behind. It made me sad and slightly uneasy, like I was flying away from comfort and into unknown. But now, being LGA bound feels more comfortable, more like I'm heading home. I guess now that I have an established life in the city, leaving Texas doesn't feel so temporary anymore.

I never get tired of watching the New York skyline come into view. I watch as we fly over Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There are more trees than Texas. I see the outline of the shore with sandy beaches and how the Atlantic Ocean stretches out into the distance. We fly over Brooklyn and Queens. The houses are so close together. I notice a group of streets curved into semi-circles close to a park and how easy it is to pick out cemeteries from the sky.

The city sparkles in the distance, just as lovely and magical as ever. The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the cluster of sky scrapers in lower Manhattan. I can't see the Statue of Liberty this morning, we must be flying in a different way than usual because of the wind.

I smile. This feels just as familiar as seeing the Dallas skyline just 4 days ago. Both lit up with the winter sun. Both welcoming me back.

And then we land. And I go through the usual motions of grabbing all my things, thanking the flight attendant and hopping into a cab.

"Where are you going?" the cab driver asks.
"Manhattan please." I say.

I smile. And slip on my sunglasses.

Heisman Please.

I am kind of in love with Colt McCoy.

Especially after last night's showdown against the Aggies. He (and the Horns) were pretty great. Career-best great, even.



I think this article in today's Dallas Morning News pretty much sums it all up: McCoy's Heroics Heisman Worthy. My favorite part -

"When someone's chasing me," McCoy said, smiling, "I'm real fast."

The Horns 49 - 39 victory takes us 12 - 0 to next week's Big 12 Championship against Nebraska. (A game that my Dad will be attending at the new Cowboys Stadium. Surprise!)

And then? Then I'd be so bold as to say that we're off to Pasadena - Rose Bowl Bound! For an SEC showdown that I can't wait to see!

Hook 'em Horns!


p.s. Dear Angie, please remember that we are BEST FRIENDS and if there were anyone that you would want to share the Heisman presentation ceremony with, it would be me. And if you could puh-leez work some magic to get me into event with you this year...well, I don't know how I'd repay you. But I'm sure that we could come up with some sort of agreeable compensation.