Down the digital memory lane...

For Chanukah, Deb and Eileen gave Mom a digital picture frame (full disclosure, the holiday is over, Mom has already received the gift, so I am giving nothing away). At first I was unsure of this idea, but to make it instantly useful, Deb scanned in a bunch of family pictures, including some I haven't seen in ages. She slipped a copy of the files in with my present. I offer one of the beauties below:



Here we all are in 1986, the day of my bat mitzvah. I look classic in this photo, with my eyes shut. You can see my dance proclivities foreshadowed in the big, floofy, pink (!) ball gown of a dress I wore (a steal at the now defunct Alexander's). (This dress still exists in my mother's closet somewhere. I think it would fit, but would be very frightening, except for maybe a ceilidh skit. But in 1986, when balls and ball gowns were all about fantasy for me, and not yet a part of my regular life, I adored this dress.)

Deb, I love the pictures! I love that they're electronic, and I can look at them easily at any time, fascinating chronicle of fashion, hair and eyeglass styles though they are. Arlene just sent me two boxes of family photos. Maybe we'll have to have a scanning party...

Taking the day...

Maybe people in the neighborhood are longing for a white Christmas, but I, for one needed this first truly sunny day we've had in forever.

Christmas day, and moreso Christmas Eve used to be very hard for me as a differently religious person. I always have this notion that the whole world, or the whole of my immediate world anyway, are off somewhere having a grand time with trees and presents and the romantic vision shown in movies and books. But maybe as life seems to get more hectic, I need Christmas day as a day of rest, a day free of obligation, when the only outings are to and with friends because everthing else is closed. And here and there I get the sense that for some, Christmas is no different than my holidays with family traditions and to-do, cooking, and company. It's just that more people I know are doing it all at once.

Last night I finished a book and was well into my second DVD when George called to say he had skipped out on Christmas Eve family things and he was done making cookies, so I should come over, which I did. This morning I slept in, did a laundry, continued the process of scrubbing the kitchen to de-oil it, puttered. And now there's a turkey in my oven for the Christmas dinner I'm going to later on, and hazelnuts to toast, oh, and maybe another movie to watch... Oh, and parties on the weekend to look forward to, and hopefully sunny days, and a peaceful 2009 to come.

An excerpt from my favorite poem for this time of year:

"As promise wakens in the sleeping land
They carol, feast, and dearly love their friends.
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year."

-Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day

Be merry and bright, and to quote another song title, "Happy Whatever You're Having."

In my copious free time...

...I'm going to take up paper quilling. These images come from artist Yulia Brodskaya via one of my favorite design blogs, Oh Joy. Amazing stuff!

Buried treasure...

After my Aunt Evelyn died six years ago, the task of clearing out her apartment fell largely on my mom. I remember being there to help out at least one day and sorting through books and fabric and slippers. Mom pressed us to take what we wanted, and while there were some things that I wanted, I knew there was no room for them in the one-bedroom apartment I lived in. So mom and I worked it out - I would take whatever we could pack into Aunt Evelyn's under-bed storage boxes, and someday I would have more space to enjoy what we salted away. And there the boxes stayed, safe under my bed, until they got moved to the house this year, still intact in my dining room cabinet.

Today I finally unpacked the boxes. It was like finding buried treasure.

My memory of the contents was bits and pieces of crystal, wine glasses, a set of china, and a few other things. I didn't remember that the set of china was a service for 12 with only one small dessert bowl missing. I didn't remember the cut-glass sugar and creamer set, nor the lone piece of Wedgewood Jasperware.

Today I had an afternoon with Aunt Evelyn for the first time in a while, and appreciate her gifts, bot tangible and intangible.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"

Biblical, I think, but I know the quote from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Avonlea. I think of that line often but it's seemed especially applicable for the past few days.

Yesterday was a horrid day, fueled by bad news and too little sleep and fear of my reveiw at work. But 'round about the evening the wind changed and what followed, through today, was a series of near misses:

-A phone conversation that could have gone badly didn't
-I slipped getting out of the shower this morning and somehow caught myself, not injuring my head or any other vital part
-My local commuter train, reported to be running 20 minutes late didn't, enabling me to be on time, nay, early for my 9am conference call
-For better or worse, my job is intact for another year
-My GCD evening was the predictably small week-after-ice-cream-night let down, but not as small as I feared it would be

Now all I need is a string of sunny days, but that may be just too much to ask for...

The stove of my future

Courtesy of my sister (who's going to buy this for me, I know she is!), and Williams Sonoma...

Work in Progress?

As I was walking downtown this afternoon, this door caught my attention...

Playford Aftermath, Part 2

Tonight was our last Swarthmore class of the semester. I'm so proud of my gang this year - lots of good dancing and the promise of more in the future. A whole bunch came to the Playford ball, including a few who started dancing this semester. Here we all are (Photo: Leonard Lu):

This is a photo of current students, alums, and assorted hangers-on, of which I am one. Guilt by association I suppose...

Rachel Winslow sent me the picture below last night.

This one shows my dress from the back in full length. While the whole dress is great, and oh so purple, it's really the back that makes it. You can clearly see the silver ribbon trim, but not any of the 78 little ribbon roses around the neckline and hem. (Yes, 78. Ronnie, my dressmaker extrordinaire counted).

What's next, now that the ball is over:

-Holiday card-making
-Holiday shopping
-The inevitable dance program writing
-Chanukah party prep!!!

I love the prospect of having some time to do all of the above, and maybe even solve my (lack of) heating problem, and do some house stuff.

Let me know if you want to come play!

Playford Aftermath, Part 1

Every Fall, it takes forever to get to Thanksgiving, and after that time flies with the Philadelphia Playford Ball always the following weekend. And what with ball stuff, the house to clean and house guests to prepare for, oh, and regular work and classes, I don't know where last week went. But the ball has been and gone, and I'm about over the inevitable down that follows the great excitement of the weekend.

The pictures are filtering in, but here's what I looked like with my temporary hairdo and new Jane Austen dress:

Today and tonight were the attempting to get back to normal moments - work, errands, with the added bonus of knowing that the school year ends tomorrow night for me, and all other December things, with the exception of my latke party, are fairly low-stress events (okay, maybe I'm just in denial about making holiday cards).

Tonight the most exciting thing I did was buy space heaters in an attempt to make my room and Laurie's room less frigid in light of our radiators not radiating. These are fancy heaters with timers and thermostats and everything so we can be warm at key times, but not burn the house down. I have mine on now and between it and my laptop on my lap, warmth is not far away. Calling the heating company tomorrow.

And I'm determined to keep reasonable hours this week. Off to bed for me...

In the center...

I didn't intend this Thanksgiving centerpiece to be red and green - the lady apples were an impulse buy.

This image was my inspiration:



It was more of what I was going for, but vases or hurricanes large enough to accomodate my pillar candles were not in hand, so I improvised.

Note to self, get cranberry vase filler from Pottery Barn during the end-of-season sales in January...