It's The Most Wonderful Time...

This year I'm just not in the mood for Christmas.  I want to be in the mood.  I want to be excited about Christmas.  I want to think about things that are pretty, shiny, sparkly, and whimsical.  I want to enjoy the prospect of being able to start again with a new year, and, maybe, unlike year's past, a new me.

Last week, my company had one of the many holiday parties scheduled for this year.  This one was department-specific, and happened to be in good ole' New York City.  In my mind, New York is quintessentially Christmas, and visiting the "city that never sleeps" at this time of year usually gets me to feel more holiday-ey.

The stores are all decked out with unbelievable displays, bars and restaurants are filled with people gathered with friends, the Union Square holiday market is in full swing, and Times Square and Broadway are filled with tourists catching shows and having dinner before making the pilgrimage up to 48th St and 5th Avenue to catch a glimpse of the world renowned Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.  That larger than life fresh cut tree that's draped in millions of twinkling lights, looking over an ice skating rink where new loves hold hands trying not to fall down with an audience of thousands looking down upon them and parents try to teach their children how to glide across the ice with ease.  Opposite the plaza from the tree, stands Saks Fifth Avenue, whose facade is lit up with decorations that blink to a chorus of classic Christmas carols.  To get to 5th Ave from the tree, you have to walk through a canyon of lit up angels with trumpets in hand, making you feel like all this grandeur is just for you.  It really is magical.

So, since I haven't been quite up to the holiday madness this year, I decided that I'd meet up with Greg after my work holiday party on Friday, and we'd go up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree to get me into the Christmas spirit.

Well, all I can say is, it was kind of disappointing.  I don't know what happened.  It could have been the fact that I had imbibed quite a few glasses of wine and was more on the drunk side of sober, or it could be the fact that I'm getting older, or it could have just been the crowds of millions constantly bumping into me as I tried to take a peek - but the tree just didn't do it for me this year.  I took a few pictures with my phone - but as stated above - I wasn't exactly stone cold sober (and the people were bumping into me) so all my pictures came out kind of blurry - but here's the "best" of them:

Not so impressive, right?

Here's a picture taken off the official Rockefeller Center website (gives a much better illusion of the "magic" that the tree brings to life):

And here's an even better picture taken by some random person, whose picture I found doing a quick Google Image search:

In my mind, that is the tree I should have seen.  I think our first mistake was trying to see it from the side rather than from the "Angel" point of view - meaning we entered Rockefeller Center from south of that canyon rather than facing the crowds heading directly into that area.  I'm all for getting away from the crowds, but that seemed to be the fatal flaw.  We didn't even really see the angels, and we also didn't see the Sak's Fifth Avenue facade - leaving my holiday spirits in the same rut they were in to begin with.

I have a few more days to get my act together and get my Christmas spirits high.  I just found out that my Mom won't be working on Christmas Eve, so hopefully me, my sisters, my brother-in-law's, my Mom, and my nieces can all gather at my sister's house early on Christmas Eve to sing carols and drink holiday sangria together.  And if holiday sangria can't do the trick, I really will be worried.

Happy Holidays!

Guilty Pleasures

There are several things in life that I absolutely love, yet feel somewhat ashamed to admit for any number of reasons.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving and expressing my gratitude for all the "little things" in life, here's a list of my most secret (or not so secret) indulgences:

#1 - Grey's Anatomy

I started watching this when it first aired - you know, when George and Izzy were still on the show - when it was actually good.  It's not that great of a show anymore - hell - it's basically a prime time soap opera.  But, I LOVE IT!!!!  And I soo sooo soooo want Christina and Hunt to get back together already!  And Mark and Lexie need to come back from the dead to marry each other like they should have for the 6 seasons they were alive and in love without admitting it to anyone but themselves. That kind of stuff happens in soap operas - and not just the ones that air on Telemundo either!  AMIRIGHT???


#2 - Nutella

Yep, I'm just like the squirrel around this stuff.  Get me a small jar and a spoon and I could finish Nutella off within an hour.  Add a jar of peanut butter to that mix and I'd finish it all in 30 minutes or less.  No Joke.  I think I might be addicted.  Are there support groups for this stuff?  *wipes the chocolaty smear off of mouth*

#3 - Facebook Stalking

This is self-explanatory enough as is.  I had a hard enough time deciding to put it up here, I won't bore you to death about all the graphic detail I now know about several folks I went to High School with and family members whom I've never met.  Let's just say that I'm good...very good.  Muahahahaha...

#4 - You Scream, I Scream, We ALL SCREAM FOR:

My freezer pretty much always has some sort of frozen dairy confection enclosed - and I will eat them, at any time of day, without abandon.  What time is it?  ICE CREAM TIME?  You bet your sweet arse it is!  The picture shown above (as are all included in this post) were found using Google image search - but it looks like a delightful trio of flavors I would be honored to slurp down would I be given the option of including three flavors on one chocolate dipped sugar cone!  Oh the insanity!!!!

And, finally, my favorite!

#5 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Why, yes, those are the Knights who say Nee!  And you must bring them an shrubbery!  A rather nice one - not too large, nor too small.  And if you don't they will continue to say Nee, Nee!

'Tis nothing but a flesh wound!  Come back here you yellow bastard!  I will bite your legs off!

 

Come back and I will taunt you a second time!

Happy Thanksgiving to One and All!!!!

NEE!!!!

For Love of Family...

It's been a long time since I've blogged...but I have a good excuse for my naughtiness.  I was studying for the Professional Engineer's Exam - an 8-hour, 100-question all engineering test that required all my time, energy, concentration, and will power to prepare for.  So, forgive me for not having the ability to think about anything other than chemical formulas, Bernouli's equation, or proper sizing of wastewater treatment systems for the last few weeks.  Yeah, my life was pretty darn exciting for the entire month of March.

BUT...like all things, good and bad, that day has passed, and now I am able to go back to my normal, witty, charming self.  I know you were all missing me so much!

Highlighters

It's pretty bad when people at work nickname you ANYTHING.  My *almost* decade of work experience has educated me to understand that people are very creative, and will use all readily available information about you - including your educational background, marital status, diet preferences, personal habits, and fashion sense to come up with some pretty accurate nicknames that perfectly capture your persona at work.

Personally, I know that I have been nicknamed by co-workers on several occasions - and anyone who works in an office environment and thinks they haven't been given a nickname is just fooling themselves.  The nicknames I know of are:

Clarice - Apparently I reminded someone of Jody Foster's character in Silence of the Lambs when I was trying like hell to keep up with some pretty messed up stuff going on at work and I had to have several conversations with people who were practically geniuses about the topic I was working on.  Despite the thoughts conjured up about working with a delusional cannibal, this nickname is actually my favorite.

Young Sarah - Which is pretty obvious - I work with a bunch of middle aged men and I (at the time) was a 20-something trying to figure it all out, and

Stompin' She-Beast - OK - this one was given within my first 2 years of employment, by a group of my peers, who had to listen to me moan and groan about all of the problems I was having with my boss.  At the time, I wasn't confident enough to approach him with my issues and develop a way to work around it.  So, instead, I would let my frustrations build up to the point of explosion then go to lunch with "friends" and let it all out - apparently with LOTS of GUSTO!

Kale-iciousness

My sister, Lindsay, sent me a recipe for Lentil-Lemon-Kale soup that I'm super excited to try this week.  I'm hoping for a delicious, tangy soup that will pair perfectly with some whole wheat garlic bread (gotta have my carbs!).  OK, I admit, being this jazzed over making soup is just a tiny  bit ridiculous.  But I can't help it, I just love food! And trying new recipes...especially ones that are somewhat healthy, that help me to justify the 3 cups of ice cream I am sure to imbibe as a "snack" the night that I make this beaut...makes me giddy.

Here's a pic of the soup Lindsay sent over...it looks delicious to me, and I totally can't wait to try it!

Friday Funday (Freedey Foondey)

I know that many of you have been just dying to know how to say, "Can someone please pass the ketchup" they way that the Swedish Chef would.

For your info, it's: " Cun sumeune-a pleese-a pess zee ketchoop"

You're welcome.

*If you're not laughing out loud right now, please have your sense of humor checked out by a professional IMMEDIATELY!*

Thanks to StumbleUpon, an awesome new website that has random stuff about your interests mailed to you regularly, you too can come up with fantastic phrases a-la Swedish Chef by visiting this website where you will find a translator tool for translating English into Swedish Chef, Jive, Valley Girl, and Pig Latin.  Yeah, Pig Latin!

It's pretty awesome. Have fun wasting time with this little piece of web genius!

Happy Friday and Happy Early Presidents Day to Everyone! 

Or, as I like to say:

Heppy Freedey und Heppy Ierly Preseedents Dey tu Iferyune-a! Bork Bork Bork!