Thanks, Christmas!

It's been a lovely holiday - lots of time relaxing with the furry/feathered kids and enjoying being home again in Alameda.

We'd like to thank our sponsors - we couldn't have done it without you.

• Super-Elastic™ Waistbands, Inc.
• Sweatpants Unlimited
• SexyFleece™ Bathrobes
  (The Original 'Blanket' With Sleeves AND Pockets!)
  
• Tempur-Pedic® Mattresses
• Ugg® Boots & Merrell® Slides
  
• Castello de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon
• Tanqueray® Gin
• Skyy® Vodka
• Cinzano® Vermouth
• Trader Joe's Spanish Olives
  
• Don Julio® Blanco Tequila
• La Piñata 3 (Alameda)
  
• Trader Joe's Brand Unbleached White Flour, Granulated Sugar and Chocolate Chips
• Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss™ Ice Cream (Dark Chocolate, Mint Galactica and Cappuccino)
• Hershey's® Miniatures
• Volvo Cars of North America, LLC
• The Year Without a Santa Claus
  
• Band of Brothers Marathon on Spike
• Diners Drive Ins & Dives, Holiday Editions
• Mad Men Season 1, On Demand
• Deadliest Catch Marathon
  
• Steven Seagal: Lawman
• Alameda Theatre
• Hulu.com
• HDTV
  
• Peet's Coffee

See you all next Christmas!

Merry Festivus!

Have a rockin' great holiday! Like Rooty, we're running behind this year, but that doesn't mean we don't love you.

We're thinking of you, and it's the thought that counts, right? Right. So enjoy all our warm, cheerful thoughts - we don't have them often.

And as a special gift, Nikita caught a moth and ate it for you - isn't she sweet? Now that's a gift from the heart.

OK then, have a wonderful Festivus and we'll be back soon.
Love to all y'all!

Shopless Friday

And what a lovely day it was. Slept in after staying up too late - we were wondering, lying in bed at 1:30am wide awake, is ham loaded with amphetamines? - and spent the whole day in our sweats catching up on reading and listening to music (or playing lots & lots of games, because that's someone's job and he needs to stay current on all things gamey).

And in the afternoon, I took a nap. Then I had some pumpkin pie & coffee. Then I did some dishes and after that, read some more. Didn't leave the house, didn't buy one single thing - not even online - and we won't be shopping for any Christmas crap.

This will be our third year of Festivus with our added feature of the "No Stuff Christmas," which means no store-bought gifts of any kind. The exceptions being gifts of consumables and even better, consumables bought from companies that do good things for the world, like Greyston Bakery and Jennifer's Homemade- different Jennifer, but just as fantastic.

Better still, no "gifts" at all other than the gift of getting together for games like Celebrity Taboo or Who Took My Pants?

Thanksgiving Already

Crapatoa - it was just summer a few weeks ago. On one hand, I don't mind, because with Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year all flying by in a blink, it's that much faster we'll be back to springtime and summer.

I like the golden light of late afternoon summer sun, not needing a jacket, wearing flip flops everywhere, iced coffees, and the smell of grass after it's baked in the sun all day. I don't enjoy being cold or the short days and long nights.

But in the spirit of Thanksgiving, there *are* things I enjoy about this time of year and life in-general, so here's my list of what I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

• espresso at the push of a button
• friends who make me laugh so hard I cry
• Jeff & Randy's amazing hospitality
• cozy fires and hot cocoa
  
• Dennis Richmond
• our Tempur-Pedic mattress
• smart coworkers
• The Onion
• rescued cats
• Henry, the talking bird
• fizzing codeine
• my car with heated seats
• bands like Cake and Weezer
• Timothy Olyphant
• books that make me laugh out loud
• making pictures
• Wal-Profen
• vitamin C
• working at home
• living in one of these
  
• supportive, funny family
• KFOG radio
• good health
• Calvin & Hobbes
• Dottie's True Blue Cafe
• La Mer products
• David's bizarre sense of humor
• being regular
• the interweb
• Charlie Day
• Steve Carrell
• Stephen Colbert
• Bret & Jemaine
• chocolate frosted chocolate pop-tarts
• water
• Life in Hell
• very good tequila
• good clients
• Dean & Deluca
• swimming pools
• Louis'
• room service
• Mr. Toots
• guilty pleasure TV
  
• happy hour @ Schmick's in Seattle (PDF, 77KB)
  
• faded 501s
• UGG boots
  
• Bronx Beat

I'm sure I'm forgetting many other things, but this seems like plenty for now. Happy Thanksgiving!

All Hail Festivus

This might be the best Christmas since I was 7 years old. Not because I'm drinking enough spiked nog to once again believe in Santa, but maybe because this year we decided -- with full family support and agreement -- to not buy any gifts. Food items are allowed, but no "stuff."

Without the stress of shopping for umpteen people and worrying about the ginormous cost of that, it's felt more like Christmas this year than in the past 20 (or 30, if we're being truthful about age).

And this relaxed, festive feeling comes without taking time off work. You can't miss the energy of the season when you're downtown around the decorations, shoppers & tourists. Ice skating at lunch helps, too, as does driving around town to see the decorated homes.

Even though it comes up faster every year, we've been able to slow down and truly enjoy it before it's gone in the blink of an eye. Time for some more nog.