Waiting in line outside of Nordstrom

Today was the third time that Janie’s met Santa.  Their first meeting was when she was three-months old.  He made a stop over at the mall in Bellingham and Janie, not yet being suspicious enough to be concerned about sitting on a stranger’s lap, sat calmly while her picture was taken.  The next year, at 16-months old, she looked up at Santa and screamed.  I still ordered the picture, had it framed, and take it out every Christmas with the rest of our decorations.  The next two years, at just over 2 years old and just over 3 years old, we strolled casually by Santa’s house and suggested that maybe she would want to go visit him, but Janie was adament that she didn’t want to and to avoid more childhood trauma than necessary, we skipped it.

This year, at just over 4-years old, Janie is very curious about Santa.  She knows he lives at the North Pole with his atlers (reindeer) and that he has elves.  Beyond that, there are many questions- How does he know where we live?  How does he know what to bring me?  Does he know that I like princesses?  Does he know Meg is a baby?  How does he get in the house?  Why does he leave the presents under the tree?  What does he eat for lunch?  Do his antlers get his lunch? 

Next in Line!

The four of us ventured downtown late this morning and after a quick lunch, got in the Santa line at Nordstrom.  Although the line didn’t look too long, we were informed that it would be about 2-1/2 hours to get to the front of the line and at 3pm, the current Santa would be replaced by “The Diversity Santa.”  Weird, but true.  And even weirder that the family in front of us decided to come back when Diversity Santa wouldn’t be there.  After a long two-hours of being hit in the ankles by the  stoller of the family behind us, switching Meg back and forth from Josh’s arms to mine and back again, and keeping Janie’s spirit, excitement, and courage up, we were rewarded with our visit with the big man himself.

Santa greeted Janie and Meg by name and they had a long, in depth conversation about what she wanted for Christmas (a yo-yo and a princess flashlight), what she was going to leave him for a snack (cookies for him and carrots for the antlers), if she’d been a good girl (yes) and what she does to help mommy and daddy around the house (everything).  It was a truely magical visit for Janie.

Meg on the other hand, is still a bit unsure. 

Josh and I have been so excited this year to start sharing some of the Seattle holiday traditions with Janie and Meg.  Although we were in Seattle last year, Meg was still a tiny little thing, with not enough fat on her skinny little premature body to brave the chilly temperatures that last December brought. 

On Friday night, we bundled up the girls and Gamma and Bobop and headed downtown to Westlake Center for the tree lighting.

It was very hard to wait, but Janie and Meg were so patient…

And Gamma and Bobop were pretty patient themselves…

Eventually we were rewarded for our patience with a beautiful glowing Christmas tree.

I am 27 years old.  I have been married for six years and haven’t lived with my parents in eight.  I have two children, a mortgage, and a full blown adult (ish) life.  But I have never made Thanksgiving dinner.  Sure, I’ve helped peel potatoes, or brought a salad, or done the dishes afterwards, but for the first time, Josh and I together were braving the meal from start to finish.

We intentionally planned a simple, traditional menu.  Turkey.  Stuffing.  Cranberry sauce.  Mashed potatoes.  Gravy.  Sweet potatoes.  My folks brought down pies and green beans.  With extensive and detailed emails from Josh’s mom, family members on speed dial, and a brand-new garbage disposal installed by Josh the night before, we started cooking when Josh got home from work and pounded out as much as we could in advance.

Today went off without a hitch.  The turkey took almost two-hours longer than expected, but once it came out of the oven it was perfect.  The turkey drippings yielded 8 cups of gorgeous yummy gravy.  The only regret is not adding all the bread to the stuffing earlier in the day, which made it a bit more moist than we would have liked. 

Basically, we kicked Thanksgiving’s ass.

This is such a sweet little top and looks perfect tucked into a pencil skirt and then bloused out a bit at the waist.  I’ll take one in purple and one in black, please!

I don’t like Oprah.

Okay, there.  I said it. 

I feel so much better.

I need a dress for Josh’s work holiday party next month.  I thought it was going to be a lunch, but just learned that it’s a dinner at a downtown hotel- hooray for having to get a new dress!

Here are my top picks… (All from Anthro of course, considering I get a sick discount)

Uffizi Dress

Maybe a bit boring, but classic and cute with some opaque black tights and black heels. 

Palmary Dress

This lady is lovely.  Navy, again, with black opaque tights and heels.  Hot.

Calliope Dress

This one has a Grecian drape to it.  Very pretty and an unexpected color.

Gregorious Dress

I think that this dress will fit me really well and it screams COCKTAILS to me.

Iskaldur Dress

Is this one too casual???

There’s something about this Lace-Edged Cardigan that does it for me.  It’s nothing special, but I want it to wear over a pretty little camisole with jeans and some high-heeled brown boots.

Are you on Facebook? 

Katie is on Facebook.  Josh is on Facebook.  Josh’s mom is on Facebook.

Everyoneis on Facebook.   I mean, it is the new MySpace afterall.

The combination of Facebook and my Blackberry is lethal.  I no longer mind sitting in traffic or getting to school a bit early to pick up Janie when there are status updates to be read and new pictures to be viewed.  There’s nothing like finding (er, stalking) an old boyfriend’s profile, spending the evening delving into his current life, and being so thankful that he is, in fact, an old boyfriend. And what better way to kill some downtime at work than searching for people you know on Friend Finder?

Obviously, I am a Facebook advocate.  I love reading that Whit is going to Panera Bread for the 8th time today, that Josh wants a beer (again), that Kelli is still awake at 230am even though we’re going for a run at 5, and that Anne is making comments about having a penis.  I love reconnecting with people that I’ve lost touch with- from college, high school, and elementary school even- who are now living all over the world with their own families. 

Some people are very reserved about their friend requesting tactics and really think about what adding a particular friend may mean to their Facebook life.  Not me.  I friend request everyone.  We had health class together in 7th grade?  REQUEST!  You were that guy that one of my girlfriends slept with the summer of our sophomore year in college?  REQUEST!  You used to date Josh?  REQUEST!  I saw you at Starbucks on Queen Anne last week?  REQUEST!

Tomorrow morning, the girls and I are meeting up with an old friend from SPU who I haven’t seen in over five years.  She and I were in many of the same classes together and shared an OCD tendency for a good blue pen and an organized calendar.  She left SPU before graduating and I’ve always regretted losing touch.  So when I saw her on my “People You May Know” section I was so excited (REQUEST!) and even more so when I came to learn that she lives just outside of Seattle and has two boys just a bit older than Janie and Meg, respectively.  I’m really looking forward to being reunited tomorrow, meeting her boys, and catching up.

Until next time, check my status.

Guess who’s first birthday party was featured on the Totally Tabletops blog?

Check it out here.

You know how when you run into someone that you haven’t seen in a while and for no particular reason, just that you’ve both been busy and living your lives?  There’s always that awkward conversation… Oh my God!  I haven’t seen you in so long!  How are you?  What have you been doing?  Oh, that’s so great.  We should totally get together soon.  It’s been way too long.  We need to catch up.  Let’s go get coffee next week.  I’ll call you.  Do you still have my email address?  Blah blah blah. 

That’s how I feel trying to write a post tonight.  So, let’s get this awkwardness out of the way and move on with our relationship.  Let’s start getting together over coffee or a late night glass of wine after work.  Let’s recommit to spending some quality time together and get back on track.  I know you’ve been busy and I’ve been busy, but let’s not slip into that horrible “we used to be super good friends and now we’re just acquaintances” thing. 

More soon.