LolaGeek

How bad was my week? Last Saturday morning I found out someone in China had tried to charge $500-some on my credit card. Luckily, the credit card company caught it, canceled my account, and sent me a new card. In the meantime, I had no CC for the week. (You can read a little more about this in the coda I added to my eShakti review, because I have a hunch how my number got loose in China.)

Monday was fine, GG and I enjoyed the last day of our four-day weekend by going shopping at Target and the Plymouth Meeting mall, then having PF Chang’s for lunch.

On my way home from work on Tuesday, I drove over what looked like a square black tar patch on the highway. But there was a loud “thud,” and suddenly my “low tire pressure” light came on and my car made a rumbling noise while I drove. I pulled right over and got out to take a look. One of the back tires was completely flattened. And while I had a sense of what to do, and knew where my spare tire was, I didn’t know if I had a jack, or how all that really works. So I called GG. And then I called his dad. And they both came to rescue me :o) His dad brought the big jack he uses to work on cars in his garage at home, and had the spare put on in just a couple minutes. And now I know what changing a tire entails! As we were finishing up, a PennDOT tow truck showed up to make sure everything was ok. (I guess seeing three cars pulled over is a sign that something is wrong.) I rolled home on the spare, and went out first thing Wednesday morning to get a new tire. Amazingly, they did not try to sell me any additional tires or services. The place that I went has a history of being very slow (as in, it could be you and one other person waiting there, and your car takes three hours – true story), but I was actually done in less than an hour. They had the exact tire I needed – one of them. Maybe that’s why they didn’t try to sell me a pair? And my FIL called later in the day to make sure all had gone well with the replacement. He is awesome – a definite bonus to being married to GG.

While getting ready for work on Wednesday, we discovered some cat had left a little present for GG under his drawing table. “Present” meaning “poop.” Luckily it cleaned up pretty easily, and I left the door shut and window open to air out the room. While working from home all day, I kept hearing banging noises like the cats were messing with something. I finally realized that it was the wind blowing the closet door in the room next to me. (At one point I turned around to yell at the cats, and they were actually all sitting together right behind me, obviously behaving.) I stayed home from band practice Wednesday night because after playing last week, my pulled muscle was really killing me (you don’t realize how much you use your abs just for breathing!), so since I was finally just starting to feel better again, I figured I should heed the doctor’s advice and “take it easy.” I used my free evening to catch up with work, since I’d felt behind all week.

Thursday was supposed to be a fun day because a lot of my friends were going to be in the office on the same day, which rarely happens – I call these “perfect storm” days. But, it turned out some people weren’t there, and I was so busy with meetings I could barely leave my desk all day anyway. So it was a dumb day.

Friday I worked from home again, and then GG and I had made plans to go research car stereos for him, and then get dinner. So that was our date night :o) When we got home, I watched Fringe and tried to watch Portlandia, but I fell asleep. Luckily, we record it, so I put on the recorded version, and promptly fell asleep again. Finally, I forced myself to watch it a third time in my half-awake state, just so I could say I’d watched it and go to bed.

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! Well, three or so inches of a winter wonderland, at least. We went out first thing to clean off our cars and shovel. That was a mistake – shoveling killed my pulled muscle again. I knew it would happen, but I would have felt like a mega slacker if I’d stayed in while leaving GG to do everything himself. He finally forced me to go inside when I told him I was hurting. (I think he just wanted me to get in and get cleaned up so I could make us the blueberry pancakes I’d promised.) I’ve spent the rest of the day watching TV and napping, with random bouts of housework in between. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, melting any remaining snow and ice on the streets, so I will try to be more productive then.

Last Thursday was like Friday for me and GG, because we were taking Friday off to go to the PA Farm Show. So I suggested on Thursday night that we go to the BBQ restaurant we went to before Christmas the night GG couldn’t eat because he had to fast. This time he could eat, and eat he did. Somehow I also finished my entire meal. The food was amazing, and the owner and everyone else who works there are so friendly. GG was just asking me today, what did I think would be a reasonable frequency for eating there?

So Friday we were off work but got up at our normal early wake-up time to head out to Harrisburg to meet L and S and go to the Farm Show. I think this was our third year going, and at this point we know what things we want to see and do, so we didn’t really waste time just wandering through. Also, we learned a bunch of stuff:

• You can tell a male bullfrog from a female because the male’s tympanic membranes (the circles behind his eyes) are larger than his eyes, and a female’s are smaller. The male’s are larger because they need to be able to hear each other’s calls.
• Cheese curds are pretty much the same as regular cheese, the difference is that it hasn’t been mushed into a block-shaped mold yet.
• There was a new type of nut called the Hican. These are actually a naturally-occurring hybrid, in areas where Hickory trees meet Pecan trees and they happen to cross-breed themselves. But there can be variations where it’s a little more on the Hickory side or more on the Pecan side.
• Flemish Giant and Angora rabbits really are that laid back.
• The line for vegetables will always be shortest – even if they are deep-fried vegetables.

We also saw lots of animals (both cute and huge), ate lots of samples, and ended up purchasing a lot of food too. And then there was the food hall:

Morning – no lines, lots of space to eat

Lunchtime – no place to eat, lines literally across the room

This was also a very Janelle Monae trip. GG was interested in The ArchAndroid, so I brought it in the car and thought we’d listen to it once on the way out there, and then he’d want to put his CD or radio back on. Nope, we listened to the the entire way to Harrisburg and back, probably about five times! I’m super obsessed at the moment, I wish she were playing, or, anywhere closer than Arkansas (!) anytime soon!

The rest of our Friday was pretty much spent napping. Then Saturday we napped, and watched Twin Peaks (my goal is to finish season 1 over this holiday weekend, we only have an episode or two left), and watched SNL. And today I went food shopping and then, guess what, napped!

My pulled muscle is feeling better, though definitely not 100% yet. Pretty much any time I’m sitting, I’ve got the heating pad on my lap. (And the cats just figured this out tonight…) For the Farm Show, I wore one of those heat patches that stays warm for 8 hours, and it really did stay hot that long and I think helped a lot, because I was not uncomfortable at all despite all the walking around. I still see and feel a little swelling, though. And I have at least another week of “taking it easy” ahead of me.

I think GG has a new hobby: he’s calling his own Google Voice number, speaking song lyrics, and seeing how they turn out.

He just called and recited Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome.” Here’s what Google thought he said:

I got so much trouble on my mind refuse to lose here. George tickets. Susan from my kid wicked the crew to you to push it back a black at Texas A separate Jack and slacum act now I’m ready to mike it. You know I like it. Here my favorites is in a little never be able to like me to give us a little. Louisa anesthesia major we still believe your brain, injuring it the way he I’m looking for, given what I’ve given up, X, On the blacks hear me now. I don’t know about later, but I know how to avoid the paranoid man, I’ve added I’ll be here Dear. I. We’re gonna go on in fear.

“Louisa anesthesia” especially cracked us up. By the time he got to that sentence, we were both laughing so hard we were crying and couldn’t breathe

Last week we were kind of off-schedule all week, since it was a 4-day week and also the first week back to work after the holidays. Because of our schedules, I only planned to make dinner at home one night, Thursday. So Thursday rolled around, and after work I pulled out the bean soup mix my mom had given us for Christmas. Um, nevermind… the soup needs to cook for 3.5 hours, then you add more ingredients and cook for another hour! We didn’t especially want to be having soup for dinner at 9:00, so we went out on Thursday and then had soup on Friday (our usual going out night). I cooked it in the crock pot all day Friday, and it was very good. Plus there was enough soup to eat for like four days.

On Saturday, GG worked all day, and then I suggested we use the movie theater gift card we got last Christmas (2010!) and see Young Adult, featuring the fabulous Patton Oswalt (who basically played a crippled, bourbon-brewing version of himself). It was a really good movie, a little dark and a little funny. Best movie of 2012 so far. Also this weekend, we started watching Twin Peaks. It’s kind of a pain, because GG’s friend sent us the first season on CD, so we have to hook a laptop up to the TV and watch it in kind of a mini window. Whenever we get to season 2, it’s on DVD. We’re only a couple episodes in, but so far I’ve determined that everyone in this town is sleeping with each other, and Laura Palmer puts today’s overscheduled teens to shame (school, Meals on Wheels, tutoring the retarded kid, teaching the Chinese lady English, dating like three different guys, and doing drugs?!).

Sometime over the holiday break, I pulled a muscle in my lower abs. I was feeling better and actually on Saturday while I was running around doing errands, I was thinking about how it hadn’t really hurt all day so I was probably on the mend. That afternoon, I moved our coffee table to vacuum under it, and – ugh – I felt a painful tug in that same spot. This was quite a bit more painful than it had been originally, and more of a spread out pain. First thing Monday morning I called the doctor, and got an appointment for this morning. She confirmed that I have an “abdominal muscle strain.” How do I, who does nothing active, keep getting all these weird injuries and strains and things that old people get? Anyway, I’m on prescription-strength ibuprofen for a week, I have to do stretches every night, I need to sit with a heating pad all day like an old lady, and for two weeks I have to be very careful about what I lift and use my hand to support my side if I cough. Seriously?! You don’t realize how often you use your abs, either. I can feel it when I’m trying to unscrew the lid to my pill bottle! Anyway, I’m glad it wasn’t anything more serious (GG kept asking, “What if you have a hernia?!” and even though I figured that would be considerably more painful, I googled a little bit and saw something about how a hernia might just be a dull ache and thought “uh oh” and stopped googling). Also, it was a new doctor that I saw today, and she was very nice. I just saw her because my usual doctor didn’t have an appointment until next week, but I’d see her again. They’re all in the same practice, and they don’t seem very strict about seeing the same person always…

In happier news, since I worked from home today so I could go to the doctor, I was able to sit next to my radio all day and play the Janelle Monae CD I just got. (Except for when I was on telecons. Which was actually for a lot of the day.) I heard an interview with her on NPR in 2010 when her album, The ArchAndroid, came out. And at that time, in May 2010, I added the album to my wish list. And I just bought it last week. Anyway, it’s awesome. Definitely my #1 album of 2012 so far :o) There’s a little of everything in here: orchestral, R&B, dance, retro, punk… You may recognize her single, “Tightrope,” from the Kmart commercial. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, I have a thing for albums where the whole thing works together as one piece of art (see also: Tally Hall’s “Good & Evil,” Cynic’s “Carbon-Based Anatomy”), which this one certainly does – it is actually Suites II and III of a larger work (her first album was Suite I).

For such a technologically advanced company and product, Google Voice sure does come up with ridiculous text transcriptions of voicemails. GG has a friend who for some reason can’t remember his cell phone number, so he calls on the Google Voice number GG uses for his business. This goes straight to voicemail, which means we get a hilarious transcription every time.

Example 1: GG’s friend A was calling to say that he’d be late coming over to hang out because his grandfather had a heart attack.
Actual Message: “Yo [GG], this is [A], um, I got horribly delayed today so I probably won’t be there until late afternoon, early evening, something like that, ’cause uh, there was, my mom had car trouble after picking up my grandfather with a heart attack, and everything’s all messed up. Ok, so, I guess, gimme a call when you can. All right, bye.”
Google’s Version: “Yo [GG], this is our I would be a hardly believe today so I’m probably won’t be there til late afternoon early evening so like that cos. There is But it might. Mon card for what occurred to come by. Grandfather was heart attack and My name is all messed up. Okay so. I guess. Gimme a call when you can bye. ”

Example 2: GG’s friend calls to see if he wants to get together (this one is especially ominous…)
Actual Message: “Yo [GG], this is just [A], uh, I was reaching out to see if you could do something spur of the moment but, uh, I guess now’s a bad time. All right, bye.”
Google’s Version: “Yo [GG], this is our past. I just got to see the reasons for that long. But. If you know that that’s alright. Bye.”

Well, here is yet another review of eShakti by a blogger, though it’s probably not what they had in mind. If you were not aware, eShakti is an India-based clothing company that offers the option to customize almost everything they sell, either by creating pieces to your personal measurements, or by customizing things like sleeve length, skirt length, or neckline. Sounds like a great idea, right? They seem to have offered every female blogger on the internet a free item of clothing to review, and all the reviews are glowing. But if you just search a little deeper, you’ll see that non-compensated reviews are quite negative, complaining about the experience and the quality of clothing, and there are also quite a few BBB reports on them. So I always read those compensated reviews with a skeptical eye.

So imagine my surprise when “Jennifer” from eShakti e-mailed to offer me the opportunity to select a free item of clothing to review! They must have finally come to the end of the internet! I wrote back the next day to accept the offer and see what information they would need from me and how this would work. She said that I could select any item from the site, and could try the custom sizing if I wanted. I deliberated for a couple days, trying to decide what item to choose that I would actually wear, that I could also take advantage of the custom sizing, so I was looking for some kind of button-down shirt or something (I always have a problem with those, hmm). In the end, I ended up writing back four days after I received that initial e-mail, with all my measurements for a custom jacket.

The next day, the jacket was gone from the web site. That seems to be a common problem – items appear and disappear from the site all the time. I understand that if they just have small quantities or are creating custom items, they may not have a ton of stock, but it would be nice to get some warning (e.g. posting on the item’s page when there are only 5-10 left, or leaving the item posted for a time with a “sold out” note, rather than having it just mysteriously disappear).

Since then, I received no communication from Jennifer, even though I followed up again with an e-mail a week later, asking if I should select a different item. I still hadn’t provided my address, so you’d think they would have at least wanted that piece of information.

Meanwhile, I created an account on the site and placed my own order. Per the web site, orders are shipped the morning of the fourth business day after they are placed (even custom orders), and received within seven to ten days. Though I did get an e-mail after a few days from “Gina” advising me that my credit card had been charged, looking at my account on the web site, the status was “Processing at ESHAKTI,” as of the evening of business day seven. What does that mean? Has it shipped yet? Have my custom items even been produced? Finally, the morning of business day eight, I received a notification that my order was shipping, with a DHL tracking number.

I came home on the evening of business day twelve to see that DHL had been here and wanted my signature. For clothes?! I signed the back of the form they left and stuck it on the door. Finally, on business day thirteen a small box arrived. Surely this couldn’t contain a dress, shirt, and two scarves..? But it did! Each piece was packed in its own plastic bag, and for some reason the order also included a tape measure (I sent you my custom measurements, so obviously I already have one, but whatever, I’ll take it). The scarves were in good shape, but the shirt and dress were horribly wrinkled. I’m going to have to work some major steam magic on those pieces. The fabrics were also much stiffer and rougher than I was expecting. However, thanks to the custom sizing, for the first time ever I am able to wear shirts that have a defined “area” where your chest is supposed to go, and have things actually fall in the right place (for the most part). I love the shirt. The dress has some other issues, as I can’t really move my arms, but I’ll have to deal with that because it’s otherwise fine and I don’t really want to return it. So here’s my piece-by-piece review:

Surplice Shirtdress

This dress is cute and fits like a glove. I used the custom sizing to fit it to my measurements, and with the custom styling options I kept the neckline and cap sleeve as shown, but changed the length to knee length. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are pockets! However, the skirt is a bit fuller than I’d expected, so I don’t know that I’d be able to pull off wearing it so casually. The fabric is very stiff, and it was a little tight getting on and off, despite the side zipper. Also, I can’t raise my arms with the little cap sleeves, I wish I had gone sleeveless.

Knot Front Tee

I liked this shirt as soon as I saw it, because it reminded me of another shirt I have that I like, even though it’s kind of blobby on me. Thanks to the custom measurements, this one fits perfectly. I also customized the sleeves to elbow length. The neckline is pretty deep, though, so it definitely needs a camisole or something under it. The color is beautiful, but the “cotton jersey knit” is rougher and stiffer than I expected. Also, it was really tough to get on. It wasn’t until after I’d tried it on and taken it off the first time that I noticed there was a small side zipper – I used it the second time I tried the shirt on, and it was a little easier.

Ruffled Row Scarf

I’m not a fan of this scarf‘s pom-poms, but I love the color. Today was the first really cold day we’ve had in a while, and I wore this scarf as part of my bundling and it kept me warm. But because of its bulk, I don’t know if I’ll ever end up wearing it just as part of an outfit. I have no clue how to drape it to look like the picture on the web site. Also, the texture is a little rough and it has kind of a smell to it (plastic?).

Fin-de-Siecle Loop Scarf

I really like this circle scarf. It’s completely not my usual style, but it was fun to wear out on New Year’s Eve (and a very cool-looking girl outside a tattoo shop took a break from her cell phone call to call out “Cool scarf!” as I walked past). Doubled up it’s a little awkward looking, and draped just once it’s a bit bulky, so it definitely calls for wearing the right clothes underneath. And I wouldn’t wear it for keeping warm (it was warm, but not for cold weather).

My verdict: I am not a fan of the customer service, and especially not with being led on with the promise of a free item to review. The fabrics are not what I was expecting. But if you want a really custom-fit piece, this is a reasonable option (if you consider the cost of buying an item of clothing and having it tailored). There is also no reason to pay full price, they are constantly having sales and special offers, or you can easily find a discount code via a blogger who’s partnered with them, and if you use eBates, they will give you 10% cash back. I probably would order from them again, if there was something I was really interested in and there was a good sale or discount code available. But take those compensated reviews with a grain of salt, because the experience and products are not as amazing as they make it sound.

[Edit - 1/5] The day after I wrote this, “Jennifer” e-mailed me, thanking me for my candid review, and apologizing for overlooking my last message to her. She offered to still send a sample item for me to review, so if she doesn’t lose my e-mail this time, I may still do the sponsored review. She also mentioned that people are more likely to complain on the internet than to take the time to write good comments, which I agree with, and assured me that sponsored bloggers are not provided text for their reviews, which I was not insinuating at all. I just find it fishy that all the sponsored reviews are very positive, and all the non-sponsored reviews are negative. So I’m glad to have had the opportunity to share my non-sponsored, unbiased opinions, both positive and negative. And watch for a future follow-up review from me, I hope. [/Edit]

[Edit - 1/16] The other morning I got an e-mail from my credit card company saying there was a potential security issue. When I called, they said someone in China had tried charging over $500 on my card, so when I verified that I was not buying anything in China the day before, they canceled the card and will be sending me a new one. How did someone in China get my credit card info? The last place I used it … was Amazon. But the last place before that? None other than eShakti! Now, I’m not saying they leaked my info, but… I’m not saying they didn’t. [/Edit]

So then we come to that week between Christmas and New Year’s, where you’re basically just waiting for the year to end. GG and I started out with a completely free week, and then our schedule slowly filled up.

Monday: As I mentioned, we’d planned to go out and pick up supplies for our project of the week, but then we both ended up being lazy and besides doing laundry and changing the sheets on our bed, I didn’t even leave the sofa.

Tuesday: We went out and got those supplies. Then I think I went and did a couple more errands (using Christmas gift cards!). Then we went out to Shady Maple for dinner, where we met up with GG’s brother and his girlfriend, and their old family friend and his wife and in-laws, who live in that area, and who they were visiting for the week. Mostly it was important that I go because this guy never believed that someone would marry GG, and we had to prove that I existed. It was pouring rain, and everyone was running late, bla bla bla, but eventually we got in and ate way too much and hung out for a while and then came home.

Wednesday: The day of my much-anticipated big haircut! An old friend of mine is a hairdresser and said she would do the chopping for me. GG came with me, so they finally got to meet each other. I think they would get along really well, so we’ll hopefully all do dinner or something together soon. Anyway, I am super excited about my hair, and she didn’t have to cut off as much as I’d thought to get to the 8″ requirement, so it’s actually not as short as I was thinking it would get. It’s super cute. And I mailed my ponytail away to the wig people, so I’ll probably do that from now on when I do my big hair choppings.

Thursday: GG and I made our annual trip into Philadelphia to see the holiday display at the Comcast building. We took the train into the city, and that was quite a ride… We sat down in a nice quiet area, and then this kid and his mom sat behind us. He would not shut up. And he had a comment about everything he saw out the window, as well as everything inside the train car! (Funny example: there was a poster for the musical Jersey Boys, and he said to his mom, “Do you like the Jersey Boys? I don’t like that band. I think they’re heavy metal.”) Another amusing moment was when he started commenting about the graffiti we were riding past, and saying “graffiti is bad” and all that and the mom goes, “You shouldn’t say that too loud, what if someone on this train painted that graffiti.” Anyway, the kid never shut up, but at least we got off the train a couple stops before them. (Oh also, there was some random delay that caused the conductor to call all the train guys up to the front of the train, and then we drove backwards for a bit, and just sat for a little while. But we were only like 5 minutes behind schedule when we got to our stop.) We arrived right as the show was starting, and I was semi-disappointed to see that the show was pretty much the same as last year’s (and the year before, and the year before that…), they had just filmed a couple new scenes but they were pretty much the same thing. The new twist this year was that at the end, the audience is showered with foam “snow” spraying from above. Then we walked a couple of blocks to DiBruno Brothers for lunch. We went to the upstairs cafe, where we had sandwiches and a gorgeous charcuterie board. I could have eaten just that – it was a lot of food. Then we went downstairs and sampled some cheeses with a really friendly cheese expert. And bought a couple. Then we got back to the station just in time to catch the next train home (the return trip was much more pleasant). So it turned out to be a nice day out.

Friday: MB and A came out for the day. A wanted to show GG his new guitar pedal, so after we all exchanged Christmas gifts, they camped out in GG’s music room while MB and I made our way to the Brandywine River Museum with baby R. We were like halfway there and R was just super fussy. So we stopped at a mall and MB and I had some lunch and she fed R. Once she’d eaten, she became a delightful little girl again. We continued on to the museum, and when we got there we pulled her stroller out, got her all situated, rolled all the way up from the back of the parking lot, and came to a sign, “No strollers.” Would have been nice if that information were on the web site, which I checked in advance… So we rolled it back to the car and then took turns carrying baby R around. You know what? When you are carrying a baby, people hold doors for you, move out of your way, and generally smile more. And R is a nice baby to carry. We saw the whole thing: the doll collection (crrreepy), the model train (crrrowded), the Andrew Wyeth exhibit, the landscapes, the still lifes… Then we went out to the courtyard where they were selling hot apple cider, and walked to the river while we drank. Then baby R had to eat a little more in the car. We came back to the KoP Mall where we were going to meet the guys for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to use up some of the many gift cards we’ve been collecting. When we got there there was an hour wait for a table, so I put my name in and told the guys to be there in 45 minutes. Then MB and I started rolling down the mall with baby R. She was very cranky, so MB lifted her out of the stroller and found… a wet spot. Back we went, to the bathroom for a diaper and wardrobe change! Then we were off again (after getting stopped by a cleaning lady exclaiming over what a beautiful baby R is). We walked to the other end of the mall and started heading back, but had to take another quick break to feed R a bit. Then it was time for dinner, and we were in a very dark corner of the dark restaurant, and there was a lot of food. At MB’s suggestion, I got the chicken lettuce wraps, which may be my new favorite meal there. After dinner, we said goodnight and everyone headed home. The moral of this story is, I love MB, and R is still my favorite baby, but babies are very time consuming.

Saturday: After running a couple errands, I spent the day napping in preparation for New Year’s Eve festivities. We had a very low-key celebration planned. We met up with another couple at this Greek restaurant for dinner, then returned to our respective homes to watch the ball drop on TV. Dinner was at 6, and we were there for a couple hours. We split a plate of hummus/baba ganoush/feta/etc., and then each got an entree (I had beef kabobs, GG had lamb, the other couple each got this seafood over pasta thing). Then the bill came. I wouldn’t usually write about something this mundane, but this was really a ridiculous situation and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Since we’d all gotten about the same type of stuff, we decided to split it in half. Including tip, it came out to $63 per couple. GG put in two $20s and three $1s, and I put in a $20, and that was our half. The other couple had a $50 that they wanted GG to break, so he took care of that, and then they put in their portion and we counted it up at the end. They said they had put in $70, which actually would have put us $7 over, but instead we kept coming up $6 short. Since GG’s and my $63 was definitely accounted for, obviously they had just mis-counted or not put in what they had intended. And they just sat there looking at the pile of money. I counted it again – nope, definitely $6 short. They just kept looking at the money like, “Well, I don’t know what happened.” Finally, I just pulled $6 out, threw it on the pile, and stood up so we could leave. It was so weird. I have never been in a situation like that before. I don’t know if they didn’t have the money, or didn’t believe it was from their side that it was owed, or what, but it was really awkward. If I hadn’t done that, who knows how long we would have been sitting there, counting and re-counting. We were home by 9 PM, and put on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. GG and I rang in the new year in our pajamas, with ginger ale, and went to bed shortly after midnight. It was the best New Year’s Eve ever!

Sunday: I’ve been working on little bits of my home project throughout the week, but today I did the major part of it, which took me all morning. I’ve spent the rest of the day relaxing. Tomorrow will be major part 2, and hopefully that’s it for home projects for a while. Maybe I’ll leave the house tomorrow, too… It will be my last day before going back to work, and I can already tell this is going to be a rough month…

For the past two years, I’ve been writing up these best-of lists. So I’ll try to keep it up.

Movie: 50/50
This movie was not what I was expecting, but it was much better. It was really sweet and moving, but still very funny.
Runner Up: Black Swan – I’m pretty sure I saw this in January, and therefore it counts. Beautifully creepy film, even though the black/white and mirror symbolism were a little heavy handed. I love that the ending was kind of open, though I like to believe that she died, having finally given the performance of her life.

TV Show: American Horror Story
We were turned on to this show by friends around Halloween. We got caught up and then continued watching weekly. It was sufficiently creepy and didn’t shy away from anything. As many mysteries as it introduced, it solved (unlike some shows, cough cough Lost…). I have no clue if or how they’ll be able to continue it for another season, but even if only this one season ever exists, I think it’s enough.
Runner Up: Work of Art – You can read my thoughts about this show here, but basically I think it’s one of the realest reality shows on TV, despite the poorly explained challenges, and in the end the judges made the right decision about who should win this season. I especially love the thoughtful critiques, and how the guest judges are artists known for whatever style/medium they are working with that week.

Book: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
I’d almost forgotten I read this book in 2011, but I read it in January, so it does count. I never wrote a review about it, but it is a beautiful book with a sort of unbelievable story, and the bad guy gets it in the end. I wish it had turned out differently with Jacob and Orito, but that’s the way the story goes…
Runner Up: The Help – I was probably the last woman in America to read this book, but it was very cute. My main problem with it was the way it ended – I know life doesn’t wrap up neatly, but I think we were owed more of a conclusion than the open ending that there was. I still want to see the movie, though.

Album: Tally Hall, Good & Evil
After many delays and setbacks, Tally Hall’s second album was finally released, and it is amazing. Seriously, amazing. Listen to it all the way through, and when you reach “Fate of the Stars” you will see how perfect it is. We saw them live for the third time, as part of their Good & Evil tour, and the show was great. I’m not sure what the future holds for Tally Hall, but I hope whether they are together or working on their own projects, they continue creating fabulous things.
Runner Up: They Might Be Giants, Join Us – It’s a good album. Really good. But… it had the misfortune of being released within weeks of Good & Evil, which won first place in my heart and MP3 player. And the wacko fans when we saw them live did not earn them any extra points.
Honorable Mention: Cynic, Carbon-Based Anatomy – Beautiful album, but it’s just a 5-track LP. They were awesome live, too.

Restaurant: Garces Trading Company
For the third year in a row, my favorite restaurant is a Jose Garces joint. GTC is probably the least formal of the Garces Restaurant Group restaurants, but I think it may be my favorite. We went to celebrate my birthday, and it was such a perfect evening. And did I mention… the cheese plate?
Runner Up: Chelsea Prime – Our second ever visit to this restaurant was on GG’s birthday, and it once again did not disappoint. We each cleaned our respective plates. Not to mention, the service is amazing, and there’s a nice view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Vacation: Atlantic City
This wins by default, as it was the only non-work-related overnight trip I took this year, but it was a great kind of last-minute trip (well, nothing is last minute for me, but I got this LivingSocial coupon and we just decided to go for GG’s b-day). Everything worked out great and we had a nice time, despite the questionable view from our hotel room.

My last week of work was crazy. People were trying to get stuff done by the end of the year, and what they don’t realize is that I am the last stop for a lot of stuff, and I need to do work before something is “ready,” so I was very busy trying to keep up with everyone’s requests. I actually was in the office most of last week, including Thursday, which was the last day my site was open. I’m technically off now until January 3, but I do have to check e-mail daily to keep up with stuff. Except Christmas – I did not check my work e-mail on Christmas!

On Thursday night, we were invited to hang out with a couple friends who are home visiting from Arizona. They invited a bunch of people to meet them at their favorite BBQ restaurant here (this place catered their wedding). Too bad GG was getting blood drawn the next morning and had to fast for 12 hours! It would have worked out fine if we’d been home for the evening, but it was torture for him to sit in the BBQ restaurant, which smells fabulous, and only be able to drink water! Then we all went out for ice cream afterward, which also smelled delicious, and which he also couldn’t eat. Don’t worry, I made up for him and ate quite a lot :o) The BBQ was delicious, but even better than the meat was their mac & cheese – I would go back just for that! And of course it was great to see our friends! Apparently they hadn’t told their families that they were coming home for Christmas, and surprised them by showing up on their doorstep. I wish they had taped that!

Friday was my day to do my final shopping to prepare for Christmas lunch (did I mention I had volunteered to host my family on Christmas?). There weren’t going to be a ton of people, and I had a little menu planned, but my mom kept asking if there would be enough food, so I sort of panicked and got a bunch more stuff. Then GG and I went out to dinner and picked up some more food while we were out. So I was definitely prepared for Sunday. On Saturday I did as much cleaning and advanced food preparation as I could – mixing up dips, chopping things, etc. Then Saturday night was Christmas Eve dinner at GG’s grandmother’s house. Dinner was good, and it was nice to hang out. Also, her enormous orange cat came out of hiding (he usually hides from strangers) and let me pet him (he usually growls and bites strangers). When I got home, I did a little more food prep before bed.

I kind of hate the actual day of Christmas. All the preparation and build-up, and then it feels like such a wasteful day while it’s happening. I make charitable donations for everyone as gifts, but then I feel bad that they won’t have stuff to open, so I get a bunch of little things, which feels like a waste. And I feel inadequate, like I didn’t spend as much on them, but really the bulk of the present budget went into the donations, that’s just not a tangible gift. Which is all to say… I was kind of unsatisfied with what I gave everyone as gifts this year. Except GG, I got him exactly what he wanted: a huge wide-screen monitor for his music computer. He’s so happy with it! And he says it’ll increase his productivity while he’s recording, because he can fit everything on the screen at once, and won’t need to switch between programs.

After we did our own presents at home in the morning, GG went to his parents’ house for breakfast while I finished cleaning and preparing for lunch. He got home around noon and helped me a little bit, then people started arriving at 1:00. Almost everyone had either been somewhere else already that day, or was going somewhere else afterward, but we all had a nice visit for a few hours. And there was way too much food! My main entree was a pasta salad, which I was really worried about because my mom kept pushing for sandwiches. But everyone loved it! And I made about three times too much, whoops. We also had a couple kinds of dips, with veggies and crackers; delicious crostini, which looked very festive with roasted red pepper on a white cheese topping; my grandmother brought potato salad; and my mom brought sausage balls, baked brie, and a couple of pies! Plus we had a wide selection of drinks, from beer to eggnog. Overall, it was very successful – despite the stress of preparing, I do enjoy having people over. I loved hosting Thanksgiving a couple years ago. I’d do this again.

After we had things pretty much cleaned up, and the food packed away (despite sending everyone home with something, there is still a lot of stuff left in our fridge!), it was time to head to GG’s parents’ house for more gifts and dinner. This was the Christmas of Scotch, that was all GG and his dad and brother exchanged with each other. There were also lots of jokey gifts, as well as lots of food items (GG’s parents know at this point that I don’t like getting “stuff,” so they always give me food and snacks, plus my mom gave me lots of fancy soup and dessert mixes, and GG gave me a bottle of white truffle oil).

So besides checking work e-mail and eating leftovers, we’ve got a full week of plans for our vacation. Today I was supposed to go do some shopping, but that didn’t happen. So on deck for the rest of the week is: the shopping that I’d planned to do today, having dinner with an old family friend of his (who apparently doesn’t believe I exist, because who would marry GG?!), my big haircut, our [somewhat] annual train trip into Philly to see the Christmas display at the Comcast building (plus lunch somewhere in the city), a visit with MB and baby R while GG and A play guitar for the day, and for NYE we’re having an early dinner with another couple and then going home to ring in midnight from the comfort of our own sofa. Plus there’s my home improvement project that I’ve planned for this week (because don’t I always plan a project for when I’m home from work over a holiday?). Hopefully I get everything done that I want to do.

Even though we had no plans in advance, we had another lovely weekend. On Friday, I had my site holiday party at work. It was good (though not as mind-blowingly amazing as last year), and I got to see a lot of people I don’t usually see, which is what I was hoping for. After work, I decided on a whim that I wanted to try this restaurant I’d heard of, Melt Down, that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches. Google Maps couldn’t really find the address, nor could our GPS, but the site links to a Bing map that seemed to have the right address, so we used that and headed out. After driving for an hour through bad evening rush hour traffic, it was clear that we were not headed to the right place. GG called the restaurant, and apparently nobody there knew where they were to give us directions. But they told us the name of the store they were next to, and the GPS could find that address, so we eventually made it there. And now that we know where it is, we’ll definitely be back! I had the Brie Melt Sliders and GG ordered the Ham & Cheddar Melt, which were good on their own but also delicious with the dipping sauces (our favorite was the Truffle & Garlic). GG was fascinated with their old-fashioned milkshake machine, but we didn’t order any this time – maybe next time, now that we know where this place is!

After dinner, we decided to stop by the mall that was nearby, since neither of us had been there before, and maybe we could find something to get for dessert. I jokingly said that we should get an Orange Julius – the joke being that just about every Orange Julius on the east coast is now closed. Guess what – there is a combination Orange Julius/Dairy Queen at the Montgomery Mall! It was a Christmas miracle! We ran across the mall to the food court to get our drinks before this one went out of business, too. Then on the way back to the door, we stopped by a bookstore that actually was going out of business, and picked up a few Christmas gifts.

GG went to work for a little while on Saturday morning, so I built some furniture and rearranged a room. I’m very happy with how it turned out! When he got home, I suggested that we go out to lunch, and then hit up HomeGoods for some more Christmas shopping. This shopping trip was a big success – GG had never been there before, but I think he’s decided it’s now his favorite place for gift shopping. And we got some pillows there that Katrina is completely obsessed with – I think because of the feathers inside? The rest of my day was spent relaxing in preparation for SNL, which was another good episode, Jimmy Fallon was great.

Today has been my day to catch up with chores and food shopping, laundry, vacuuming, all that stuff. I had to finish up early because there’s a lot to watch on TLC tonight: “My Big Fat Gypsy Christmas,” “Geek Love” (awesome and currently in progress), and “All-American Muslim.” Then I’ve got to get to bed, this is going to be a busy week both at work and at home…