Wednesday, December 26, 2007

3:13 PM - it's not extravagant spending if there is no sales tax

...and hilarity ensues

This year I decided to have a quiet Christmas with a little bit of retail therapy for myself. Then I got carried away and booked myself time at the Golden Haven Spa in Calistoga. Um.

One thing I should point out is that it was only after I made the booking that I looked at where Calistoga is on the map. So... I spent a lot of the day yesterday in the car. Still, it was a really relaxing and fun time, because nothing says "Happy Holidays" quite like maneuvering your pale, naked body into a bubbling vat of sulfurous mud. Ho ho ho! The whole things was quite a process.... First the mud bath with facial mask, then I sprayed myself off with a hose (I was behind a curtain, and the attendant was simultaneously spraying down the rest of the room, which I could imagine might also be effective for hosing down livestock) before dipping myself in a hot mineral water jacuzzi bath thingy. Mmm. Then I got to take a nap (they call this part the "towel wrap") in a room with an awesome candle fountain ($19.95 at Online Discount Mart!) before having an hour massage.

Also, my friends decided to have a spontaneous holiday party that evening, but all of the grocery stores were closed... so I did all of that mineral detoxifying and then we had a banquet of Chinese carry-out. Yay!

All in all it was a great end to the year. How was your holiday?

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

1:17 AM - name that poet

I heard a fly buzz when I died

This was taken at lunch today. It's the only picture where my eyes weren't closed... and of course I look fantastic.

Monday, December 03, 2007

11:29 AM - synthetic holiday cheer, plastic snowflakes

this is how bad it's gotten

As some of you know, last year I decided to start a holiday card tradition. Of course, being me, I decided that every year I would design my own holiday cards and get them printed, rather than choose a canned card. Part of why I do this is that I prefer a card that is religion-neutral, and the other part is that it gives me a creative outlet. Yay!

Also, as some of you may know, last year I got an exceedingly late start. I told myself, "You need to start this in November. You need to send them to the printer on the weekend after Thanksgiving." Did I follow my own advice? No. And of course my drawing is rusty, so this year's card took so long and was so discouraging at the beginning that I almost gave up. I finished the cards late last night, and as usual, once I was done, I basked in the glow of my work and thought about what I good job I did. I am awesome, I love me. Etc.

It didn't stop there, though. Last night, I was thinking about the card as I went to bed. Half-asleep, I suddenly found myself trying to defend my design to Project Runway's Nina Garcia. "It's not elegant, it's not sophisticated...." she said, and I countered with something about it being intentionally whimsical and fun.

Um.

Anyway, I'm not going to preview the design here in the blog, but if you feel you should be on the list or you have changed your address, get in touch!