One lovely day during the Season, Mom and I traveled a great distance* into Philadephia to see the sights. We saw: The Holiday show in the Comcast Center lobby, which was delightful. It would also be a great place to pickpocket all of us tourists, who are staring upward with slackened jaws. The light show at Macy's. I try to see this every year and it always makes me smile. If you've never done it before, do it before the Comcast Center show, because it's a bit lower-tech. The tree at City ...
Merry Christmas from the Dee-luxe Apartment in the Sky!
This was taped to the door of the mailroom downstairs. (language, bad spelling) Mind you, I had a fall wreath stolen off of our door last year. While we did patrol the building looking for it, wishing cancer on someone is a bit much. Which is why we'll hopefully be moving soon. ...
The ghost of #tbt yet to come
My blog's elevator pitch: Good intentions. Lots of promise. Zero follow-through. Things are chugging along. Holiday parties are being had, cards are being written, boxes are being wrapped, cookie recipes are being stared at and put away. But someday, I'll have decent #tbt photos! :) ...
O Christmas tree
*clears throat* Oh Christmas tree! Oh Christmas tree! Thy leaves are so unchanging! We bought you, tree, from QVC Thy leaves are so unchanging! We chose you from our comfy chair while shopping in our underwear, Oh Christmas tree! Oh Christmas tree! Delivered in a box, to me! Oh Christmas tree! Oh Christmas tree! Aluminum and plastic! Oh Christmas tree! Oh Christmas tree! Assembly is fantastic! You bring such joy from far and near And look the same from year to year Oh Christmas tree! Oh ...
Throwback Thursday: Cube decorating
I'm going to say this was December of 2010, because I wasn't sitting in that spot in December 2009 and I didn't have that hair color or bangs when I started at TNP in January 2012. I could have sworn I posted about the Post-it note (not a sponsor, I suck, blah blah) wreath here, but I can't find it. We didn't have tall cubicle walls at the C-P, so by the end of my tenure there I was staring at that bland gray wall all day. (Which I think was painted a sickly green later on, thanks GW.). To ...
A grownup Christmas list
Don't worry, it's not the sappy song, although we really could use some more common sense and love and a lot less knee-jerky insanity. *ahem* Hello, family! It has come to my attention that I'm difficult to shop for, even though it seems all I do all year long is point out things I like. So for your convenience, I have created a wish list on Pinterest. Click the "See on Pinterest" part at the bottom to see the whole thing. Follow Kimberly D. Russell's board Kim's Wishlist on Pinterest. If ...
Merry Christmas!
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men. I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom Had rolled along the unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men. And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace on earth," I said, "For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men." Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth ...
Cookie tally & work holiday wrapup
The cookies are done and I sang "O night Diviiiiiiine" as I shoved the cooling racks into the dishwasher and put the mixer back up on top of the fridge. Here's the final tally: Two batches of gingerbread people One batch of peppermint swirl cookies Two batches of sugar cutout cookies, artfully decorated by WM Two batches of peanut butter blossoms One batch of spritz (cookie press) cookies One batch of chocolate chip cookies (I don't like how they came out but others like'em) Two ...
Friday Five: Mother Goose, May I?
Happy Friday! I watched The Sound of Music Live last night on NBC. I think Carrie Underwood did a great job singing the songs. Her acting wasn't great. I was VERY excited to see Stephen Moyer (aka Vampire Bill) as Captain Von Trapp, but his accent was slippery and he never looked like he had feelings for Maria other than "MUST PUNCH ALL THE THINGS." Most of the kids were okay. Usual garden-variety big lunged and creepily-precocious theater kids. Realizing (unlike many others) that this was an ...
Christmas in the cube city
My desk at TNP faces an aisle, so I get a little bit of eye-level flat area to decorate. I think I have 80% of of it covered. My shopping is done with the exception of the most difficult parents to buy for, Mr. Quiet and Ms. I Only Want a Card. (note to self: buy card.) I did the majority of it online this year, a first for someone who loves going out to shop. It was partially because the Cyber Monday deals were pretty good and partly because regular department stores don't carry cool niche ...
Throwback Thursday: Christmas Eve 1983
I love the Throwback Thursday Instagram hashtag (#tbt). It's an inspiration for me to scan the big box of old photos that I've had forever. I wish there were more people my age and older doing it though, because seeing a bunch of "me in my Jonas Brothers teeshirt at 3yo!" captions is a bit depressing. And us Olds have a lot more history to "throwback" to, if you get my drift. That's why when I found this photo I knew it would add a bit of #AARP to #tbt. This is Christmas Eve in my ...
Cookie roundup 2012
And cookie season is over! Phew! I made six different types of cookies this year. The first kind was 10 dozen candy cane kiss cookies (detailed here). Six dozen of those went to a cookie swap, and the remaining 4 dozen were brought to workplaces and devoured at home long before Santa began to pack his sleigh. This is the tray I brought to Christmas dinner. Clockwise from top: Brown Sugar Cookies, Glazed Lemon Cookies, Sugar Cookie Cutouts (I used a franken-recipe this year), Snickerdoodles ...
