Bikes on Mantles...

With the holidays upon us comes tree trimming and outdoor lighting and in my case, attempting to make homemade ornaments for my friends. 

Well so far, they're not so great. 

I mean heck, if I'm hanging Xenergy cans on my tree, imagine what that box of ornaments I'm sending you looks like...

Ok, so maybe I need to spend a little more time with Martha or Nate next year but I'm still adamant that trees and decor should reflect you and/or your family. 

For example, my parents have a brown piece of construction paper that is the size of my preschool foot, with light brown construction paper "antlers" that are the size of my preschool hands and of course a red fuzzy nose just for good measure. 

It's an ornament I blessed them with (my first go round) at preschool, and it still, very carefully gets hung on their tree each year. 

Some people have those really nice looking tress, that usually sit in those really nice looking (hardly ever used-sometimes even forbidden) front rooms that the world can see as they walk down the sidewalk... While the real Christmas tree, complete with the homemade ornaments sits in the real living room where the real people live. 

Well... I don't have a nice front room with nice unused furniture, therefore I do not have nice, but meaningless ornaments either. 

Therefore... you can probably gather that I also don't own a lot of fine art, or heirloom statues to adorn my mantle either. Nor should I. I mean really... do I seem like the Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn living room person? I'd have that stuff broken in no time... klutz.com
And yet... I still find myself looking at all their nice stuff...

It dawned on me as I was writing the Christmas card this year, that all the pictures I was including were pictures that included bikes. No cute professional holiday pictures with the dog or beach shots of that non-existent get-away... because, let's be honest... we don't have either of those pictures. 

We have bikes. 

And so instead of scouring the thrift stores hoping to run across an abandoned Pottery Barn vase I can pawn off as my own... I've embraced that it just ain't gonna happen...
 I've been fighting this for awhile now... but without any new purchases this year, I suppose it was bound to happen.

Fine... just put it on the mantle. 

However... if Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel were to design a bike... I'm pretty sure this orange and gray, accented with vintage leather handles and seat... would be it. 

It's the Trek District

Even their logo says... "Where fashion meets functional"

According to recording Great, and classy... artist Ke$ha... "We are who we are" :)
ha

A little kick in your Christmas step

So it seems everyone is posting pictures of their Christmas trees online this year...

Well, before you judge my tree, let's paint a little picture. 

I'll be Bob Ross... you be, the awestruck PBS Saturday afternoon viewer. 

Some people say I'm hyper - I prefer energized.

Others might call me A.D.D. 

 Maybe it's just that I can think outside the box, and bun, the bag....look squirrel!

:)

I suppose it's true...when I wake up in the morning, my mouth usually opens the same time my eyes do.

That being said, every once in a while I need a little pick me up.

Coffee is ok, in a pinch but it can make my stomach feel ill.

And most energy drinks just have that weird aftertaste.

Most... energy drinks. 

I've become rather enamored with an energy drink I tried a few years ago. 

One night I was desperate...  I had to go out to the clubs. 

It sounds awkward just remembering it, and I'm sure my face echoed the sentiment. 

You see, normally, when the sun goes down... I go down. As in, asleep. 

I am not... a big 'clubber'

Part of my "job" is to keep the dance party going on the finish line at our big races... and I have found one energy drink never lets me down.

 It's pumped full of B Vitamins, it doesn't have a weird aftertaste and no weird jittery feelings either. 

So... you're probably wondering where I'm going with this....

What do you do when you've vowed not to buy anything new for a year, but you don't really have cool ornaments, and your'e a little impatient 

(maybe because you've already made a load of crappy homemade ornaments for the poor souls who are friends with someone who can't buy you a sweet, new, real gift?).

.. you rummage through the recycling. 

My recycling happens to have a LOT of shiny Xenergy cans....

I'm hoping since they're the official energy drink of the UFC... it doubles as a security system for any peeping toms. ha

pulling straws...

The power went out yesterday in Southern California. It was creepy for a little while, until all the neighbors started coming home early from work... we all inventoried what we needed to eat up, who had enough propane in their grills, whose stoves were gas so we could boil water, we even strapped on the headlamps and made snickerdoodles in our gas oven! The next thing you know, everyone is noticing how bright the moon is, and we're having conversation... that isn't distracted. A few glasses of wine in we took a walk around the neighborhood. 

 People were out on their porches, grilling as well, outdoor table sets that probably hadn't been used since the first day they came home were lit with candles. Even random conversation was taking place. We were swapping pieces of information we'd all gathered from here and there and confiding in each other that this was actually kind of fun. 

Aside from making a list of all the things we were going to pull from the fridge when we risked opening the door for 10 seconds, it was actually very calming. 

In our group at least, cell phones were on their last bars... and word was spreading we wouldn't have power until late the next day. At first, it was almost uncomfortable, innate to reach for that phone every few minutes only to stop yourself, realizing you really shouldn't waste that last bit of battery just to check the news feed on Facebook. 

It was a sad reminder for me, that I've become too engrossed with all that. I like to keep up on exciting events in my friends lives, but sometimes I find myself so involved with everyone elses... I forget to experience the ones in my own. 

A really great guy I went to high school with committed suicide a few days ago. On the outside, he was one of the happiest guys you'd ever met... and everyone agreed... according to the hundreds of wall posts that have popped up over the last few days. But "liking" someones status isn't the same as a smile or a pat on the back in person. A comment on a picture isn't the same as re-telling the story behind the picture... and getting a genuine reaction. Changing a status from "engaged" to "married" isn't quite the same as witnessing the vows in person. 

My friend Mike was well loved - but I'm afraid the words on the screen on his Facebook page aren't enough. It's more important to be...here. now. 

I found myself distraught this morning that I pulled the last straw from the box to put in my Xenergy. Until I realized, I hadn't drawn the last straw at all....

Prioritizing.

Is today worth using the good conditioner?

 If I'm just going to shower again later, should I wait to put on lotion?

That's when you really start to appreciate those products that do three things in one. 

 For example...
I have one face lotion that is supposed to be a super hydrator. 

Then, there's the lotion that's a moisturizer and has a bit of a tint in it - for days you need a little color.

And one time... I bought some sort of under eye moisturizer that has gold flecks in it... I'm confessing... let's not add insult to injury - I'm sure it was a gimmick and I bit... hook line and sinker.

But then... there is the Aveeno moisturizer, tinted, SPF 30 that does it all. 

After buying all the others of course I found the one I prefer... too bad. Already got suckered into all those other products and now more lessons learned. Each and every time I put on face lotion that doesn't do it all, I will become more and more loyal to the ones who do, and well aware of those that come up short.

Or how about shampoo and conditioner? I love, love, love the smell of Salon Selectives. 

I know! I was as surprised as you are that they still make the stuff! I bought a very large bottle of it for fear it might never be seen again. 

Yep - that's a 32 ouncer. 

It's not the best product on the market, but i love the smell (we've had this discussion)... therefore, I've decided not to use it on days my hair needs to look good. 

Do you see how much thought has to go into all this??

 I was hoping the stock would slowly diminish but I'm afraid I'm going to have half used bottles of all different kinds of stuff, because they're all needed for different reasons.... uggh. 

"It's all about priorities" - my dad always says. I'm sure he's rolling his eyes over prioritizing my toiletries, but welcome to the confusing world of being a girl :)

In the end - I'm learning that I should stick with the stuff that works. Prioritize my purchases and I wouldn't have this problem. Be strong and don't get sucked into purchase I don't really need. 

And I'm learning that there is always a full stock of body soap in the dispenser at the gym - so if I do run out completely of body wash - which is likely... I guess that's a good reason to visit my friends over at the good ol' YMCA. And they sell Xenergy!!! that's "a whole nother" post. (click on that link and you'll learn something today)