Soxy New Look

Everyone is going to have an opinion on the new uniforms, and I'm sure a lot of those opinions will be negative. Although I like the new uniforms a lot; more importantly, I like the Sox and baseball. They could wear floral prints for all I care. Hurry up and get here Valentine's Day!

I love these guys.

This Month's Featured Reader: Jen!

Introducing December's Featured Reader: Jen!

Here's George, Jen's cute cat that once escaped her apartment, but came thankfully came home!

Jen and I worked together for two years and ate lunch together almost every day. We were in a lunchtime knitting group and Jen never once laughed at my sad blue "scarf" (aka fabric strip) even though she had long graduated to sweaters. Jen has a quiet & admirable determination that sets her apart from most people; she's a loyal friend, the best coworker, and the best dancer I know. Seriously. She can shake it like a Polaroid picture. Here's Jen in her own words! (My questions are in bold.)

1) By day I am the female version of Chandler Bing (nobody knows what I do) …by night I either go to school, do homework and occasionally sleep.

2) I can’t live without food and water...I know, its crazy, but I would literally DIE without them!

3) Best meal I’ve ever had was in a small restaurant in France. Can't remember the name, but it was delicious! It might have had a lot to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten anything normal while in Europe, except Nutella and bread, so anything was delicious at that point. I even took a picture of my meal….

Worst meal I’ve ever had was a batch of macaroni n' cheese I made once. Yes, I completely screwed up Kraft Mac N' Cheese and in the process almost poisoned myself!

4) 3 Quirky Facts about Yourself
1. I was born in the Blizzard of '78
2. I hate coconut
3. If there is music, I will dance...even in the elevator

5) Haiku describing what you did yesterday
stressed a lot at work
ate food, drank wine with friends
crawled into bed...snooze

My City is Crappier than Yours!

I found Rob the Bouncer's blog, Clublife, via Jason Mulgrew's blog, Everything is Wrong With Me. I really enjoy reading Rob's blog; his posts are to-the-point, interesting and well-written. Anyway, he related a conversation he had with someone from South Boston and here's an excerpt:

I once had a conversation in a bar with a guy from South Boston. He, too, was a very smart guy. He, too, said something I disagreed with. He said South Boston was more dangerous than New York.

I asked him why he thought this.

He said it was because even though there were “tough guys” in New York, they weren’t as “tough” as the “tough guys” in Southie, because all the “tough guys” he knew in Southie were serial killers with dozens of bodies on them. I said this was because the serial killers around here don’t go around bragging about it, so they don’t get caught and the beat goes on.

I wanted to repost this because sometimes it seems like Bostonians and New Yorkers are always fighting to be the (insert superlative of your choice here) city; including most dangerous.

Santa Claws

On Saturday morning, Nick and I went to Smolak Farms to get our Christmas tree. We went last year, and were really impressed with their tree selection and customer service. This year the trees were all so nice, that the 2nd tree we looked at we ended up buying.

Our Awesome Balsam

We put the tree up as soon as we got home, put on the lights, but then decided to let the branches settle a bit before putting on the decorations.

While watching VT humiliate BC, the tree started to sway violently back and forth. Then, as quickly the movements started, they stopped. I peered into the tree and saw two yellow eyes staring at me through the branches.

At least it wasn't a squirrel

Initially, I thought this was pretty cute; however, I'm now over it. Dwayne's covered in sap and every time he climbs the tree about 1,000 needles fall off. Any ideas on how to keep a cat out of a Christmas tree?

Free Downtown Crossing Wine Crawl

Last night, my friends Jen, Nell and I went on the First Annual Downtown Crossing Wine Crawl. The *free* event was sponsored by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, whose mission is:

The Downtown Crossing Partnership is a partnership of businesspeople and residents who work together to address neighborhood issues with one strong voice.
Our agenda is determined by our members, who share a collective vision of strengthening our neighborhood, the business environment and the natural vitality of this exciting urban area.
From ensuring clean, safe streets to promoting area events, the Downtown Crossing Partnership’s collaborative efforts are an urban success story.

The crawl started at 5:30 at Marliave, where we received our Wine Crawl Pass, a button indicating we were on the crawl, and a holiday savings pass good at many stores, restaurants & hotels in the Downtown Crossing area. (The holiday pass is also available on DCP's homepage.) By 5:50 or so, there were about 100 people gathered and a DCP representative briefly thanked us for coming and explained that we could visit the bars in any order we wished. Each bar we visited, had a variety of wines and appetizers to choose from, along with a designated spot for crawlees. Some bars even offered us 2nd glasses of wine (Max & Dylan's was especially generous.)

Cheers! (That's my man hand in the front)

We ended up going to 5 of the 7 crawl stops, stopping by Marliave, Lock Ober, Max & Dylan's, Mantra, and then Ivy for the wrap party. The crawl was so well organized and the bars actually looked happy to have us there, even though we weren't paying customers. This event was also a reminder that there are some other places to have dinner and drinks in the Downtown Crossing area besides Fajitas & 'Ritas (which is good, but it's nice to have variety.) I had never been to Mantra before, and was impressed by the layout and cool decor. Perhaps it was a little too trendy for me though, because the bathroom stalls feature two-way mirrors on the inside of the stall doors. The bathroom was empty when I went inside, but when I closed the stall door I could see 2 other women enter and start to fix their hair at the counter. Even though I knew they couldn't see me, it was still very unsettling to see them, and I was struck with performance anxiety for a bit!

Photo taken from inside the stall. You can see the stainless steel sinks through the door.

Also, I have to admit that on my way out of the bathroom, I couldn't help but wave enthusiastically at a closed stall door. Hopefully, I didn't give the girl too much of a fright!

The crawl was a fun time with friends and much better than my last documented Downtown Crossing experience.

Femail Problems

I have all of my holiday cards written, addressed, stamped and ready to go. Is it too early to mail them out?

They're neatly stacked on my desk and it's taking all of my willpower not to drop them in the mail. Something tells me it's still a bit early though. Any thoughts?

Advent Calendar Picture Interpretation

Every year my mom gives me an advent calendar at Thanksgiving. Seeing as today's December 1, we got to find and open the first door.

Let's take a peek...

At first I thought it was a colorful turkey baster...

What is this?

Then, I realized that it was a toy top adjacent to a small beach ball. Nick, however, thinks it's a Christmas ornament. I could be swayed either way, I think. What do YOU think?