'Tis the season

The most amazing thing happened the other day.  After staying at the office a few minutes late,  I left in the throngs of rush hour.  Normally I don't mind waiting, but I had forgotten both my book and phone, so the only thing I had to help pass the time was the soft sounds of a subway musician.  I'm starting to think that the local music conservatories force their students to perform at the subway stops for some weird artsy performance credit, one time a young girl with a key board was singing Abba tunes...  

Back on subject, three trains had passed, stuffed to the brim with disgruntled business casual folks.  If I wanted to get on the next train, I was going to have to get aggressive.  Then the train whistled and in rolls the CTA Holiday Train.  It was BEAUTIFUL! Everything I dreamed it would be! While I am a little sad that Santa wasn't in my car, it was probably for the best since I am 30.   My willpower was at full strength as I did NOT jump up and down screaming "Christmas Train! Christmas Train!!" like a young Justin Bieber fan or Elmo.  The train car was decorated beautifully, complete with peppermint/cinnamon/pine inscensed air.  Usually I am anti-air freshener as they are full of icky chemicals, but I was riding the CTA.  Anything above the usual eau de stale air and bodily fluids was a welcome change.  Needless to say, I took the train an extra stop, and it changed my ho-hum seasonal affective disordered day into a great day that made me excited for Christmas. 

Each year, I search a little harder to trigger Holiday Cheer.  It shouldn't be so difficult with the lights, the generosity, and when else can you justify decorating your house with bean bag reindeer? My husband might think never, but even he is not that much of a Scrooge! Yet, Christmas is the reminder that the wonderful Childhood Christmases are in the past - I should have known it was all downhill when I received towels as a gift in high school, and LOVED them!  As my family has grown older, we have spread out.  No longer are we all within the same ZIP code, let alone the same state.  I was so fortunate to grow up with my extended family nearby.  My grandparents always made Christmas extra special.  With the pajamas, cookies***, topped off with a visit from Santa Claus himself, Christmas was my favorite day of the year!  Now, as it becomes the next generation's turn to create Christmas magic, how can we thank our grandparents for all of those wonderful years?  (I am hoping that blogging about it is a first step!) More importantly, how do we continue to make Christmas time a positive time of year instead of a time of constant complaints and pepper spray? (Luckily there there hasn't been any pepper spray at our family functions!)  Perhaps a ride on the holiday train is just what the doctor ordered. 

I'm not sure why, but I am obsessed with these silly S & P shakers!

***The cookies are actually made by my mother, a fact that I would have left out if she wasn't going to read this!

PS: If anyone is game to watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol, I am totally game!

PPS: If you want to watch a really sad Christmas movie, watch The Family Stone,  There is something  cathartic in a good Christmas cry!  (Am I right, or is that the SAD talking?)  Although, thinking of those darn Whos in Whoville singing around the town tree, is a great way to open the floodgates!

PPPS: Even though I can't stop listening to the Glee Holiday soundtrack, here is a hilarious look at Christmas music.

http://jezebel.com/5866390/december-madness-the-tournament-to-crown-the-worst-christmas-song-ever-marches-on

So I'm a little obsessed with my dog...

I spent a majority of this past weekend on the verge of tears. Fortunately, I did not experience a life altering tragedy or watch an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition marathon.  Instead I read the New York Times Bestseller The Art of Racing in the Rain. This book was a Lifetime movie for dog lovers.  And... well... two of my favorite things are melodrama and man's best friend. (If I had a Favorite Things episode, the audience would leave with a Nicholas Sparks DVD box set and a puppy). My favorite part of the book has to be the voice of the narrator, Enzo, the family's terrier mix.  (Please insert Best In Show sound clip "God loves a terrier" because I lack the tech skills and copyright). I couldn't put it down, although I'll admit I glazed over a lot of the racing references. Enzo's  endless dedication to his family is absolutely compelling.  I am one of those crazy saps that honestly believes our pets can relate to us on a human level, and I'm glad that Garth Stein was able to write about it! I believe kibble and belly rubs are fair trade for constant devotion and companionship! The human animal relationship is much simpler than adult relationships.

Although, like many adult relationships, I met my dog online. I was web browsing at the office (I was waiting for a document to load, I swear!) and I came across his picture.  It was love at first click. With his little face and small stature I knew he would not be at the shelter long, we had to act fast. The next afternoon my husband and I met the little guy who would make our world a little brighter, and it was terrifying. At least you have nine months to mentally prepare for a baby.  Also, it's acceptable to put diapers on a newborn! But, I'm pretty sure parenthood is much more difficult and overwhelming in every other aspect. Not that I've randomly researched private school tuition or anything like that.

A year later, it's hard to remember how we went through endless rolls of paper towels, or what it was like to come home to a quiet house.  A long day of working hard for the kibble is eased by coming home to an out of control tail on thirteen pounds of excitement. Especially when that ball of energy curls up into a ball of cuddles while you read a great book.

P.S. I know I didn't fill in my tag line here, but here is a link of something so wrong it's right.  These will be perfect for my dog themed vacation house!

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod134540090&parentId=cat40350756&masterId=cat40510812&index=33&cmCat=cat000000cat000553cat40510812cat40350756&isEditorial=false

P.P.S.  If you want a link to some cute pups in need of home check out PAWS Chicago.

http://www.pawschicago.org/adoptions/dogs-available-for-adoption/%20

P.P.P.S  Here is a link to a selection of photos of my dog, I'm pretty sure this is not what Steve Jobs had in mind when he put a nice camera in the iphone.


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.611589492819.2142817.22803056&type=1&l=c7a9e67f48

Halloween Movies

When it comes to Halloween movies, one movie truly stands out above the rest.  I'm talking about the cinematic masterpiece Teen Witch. What other movie combines 80's hair, white dudes rapping, a locker room dance number AND magic? None come to my mind, and I watch a lot of Disney Channel. Something is pure fun about Louise's transformation to "the most popular girl". I definitely wish I had the power to transform my awkward best friend into super rapsterette! What a great way to make random plot twists all make sense...Magic!!!  (I would describe them, but I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone, or make myself out to be a crazy person!)

My view of Halloween is slightly off kilter, it's a combination of being squeamish about blood contrasted with a deep love for costumes and fun sized candy. Many people enjoy Halloween for the opportunity to embrace guts and horror, but I find that part unsettling.  I'm unable to distance the fantastical finished product from the idea that someone somewhere created these terribly violent gestures that make up the genre. Violence for the sake of violence just doesn't appeal to me, rather it makes me sleep with the lights on for weeks at a time! It is difficult to embrace a genre of movies based on the worst aspects of humanity, and it's even crazier that these movies are so successful there are endless sequels!

That's why I love Teen Witch, it is all camp without blood, guts, gore, or chainsaws! (The closest person to a psychopath is Louise's younger brother, and I'm sure he grew out of it.) So if it's wrong to consider Teen Witch my favorite Halloween movie, then I don't want to be right!

~Kristen

Want to see what the cast of Teen Witch is up to nowadays?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098453/

Robyn Lively ironically played Kelsey Winthrop- Liz Lemon's high school tormentor!  Although that might only be ironic in the Alanis Morissette way.


I also really wanted to have "Finest Hour" as my wedding dance, unfortunately vetoed by my husband...

Young Adult Literature

If reading young adult literature when one is clearly an adult is wrong, then I don’t want to be right!   The book that kept me in my pajamas this morning was E. Lockhart’s The Boyfriend List.  The novel is the first of the Ruby Oliver series, and I love Ruby!  She is the smart, self-obsessed, accidental hipster to which women can either relate, or wish they could.  (I am more of the later, being that I was terrified of the opposite sex well into my 20’s.  Luckily, I got over that and am now living in wedded bliss.)  Either way, we can all empathize with Ruby as she learns personal validation comes from within.  As teenagers we learned that we need to be confident in our own choices and, more importantly, that everyone is too caught up in their own world to notice your shoes, earrings, new hairdo, etc. (However, this doesn’t stop me from making purchases in case Oprah and I ever become friends, or arranging flowers in case Martha Stewart ever pays me a visit, but hey, everything is simpler in theory than practice!).  With Ruby Oliver and her other novels, Lockhart creates insular high school universes, where the characters struggle to fit in and stand out at the same time only to learn that the world is a pretty big place. 

While I often read books written for intelligent audiences, (I don’t know how that Danielle Steele novel got on my shelf, I guess I will just have to read it!) I love reading novels written for young adults.  After all, it is difficult to escape the insularity in life, be it the office, volunteer organization, country club, or in my case, the dog park.  The simple lesson of YA novels – that the world is a big place, so just try and be a good person - are endearing to me. Reading these books is experiencing high school again, but better because I finally learned how to use a curling iron, and that whole confidence thing to boot!  As I approach my thirtieth birthday and live with my daily adult responsibilities, I am appreciative of the Young Adult genre for allowing me to escape to a time when my biggest chore was feeding my cats and eating McDonald’s didn’t make me fat. 

P.S. Of course not all young adult literature is about the daily struggles of being a teenage girl, and I enjoy those as well!  (Thank you Hunger Games for providing readers with Katniss, who is a young woman with R-E-A-L problems!)  

P.P.S.  Did anyone else follow the Wall Street Journal article about how teen lit has become too dark?  To quote Cher Horowitz " Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence in the news,  there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value."

P.P.P.S.  I have not been compensated financially by E. Lockhart or any of her affiliates, but would seriously like to be her friend.  

Here is a link to E. Lockhart's website:
http://www.theboyfriendlist.com


And here is a link to a discussion on Young Adult Literature with real experts:
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/14/137174977/the-dangers-values-of-dark-teen-lit?ps=rs