Happy Holidays!!!

Even though Sami and Wylie are content playing with paper balls and empty boxes, I couldn’t resist getting them a Christmas present.

And once I bought it, I couldn’t resist giving it to them early!

It is an adorable knit octopus-on-a-rope from Target and not only do I love the look of it, but the cats love playing with it!

And I think we’ll be playing with it quite a lot during the holiday break since I’ll be at home with them for almost two weeks – yay!!

So until I sign back in next year, I wish you and yours the happiest of holidays and a wonderful New Year!!

Wylie

Sami

25 Holiday Songs…With a Twist!

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, I handed my iPod over to Miguel so he could load it up with my favorite holiday songs!

And while he was at it, I asked him to put together a list of HIS favorite holiday music to share with all of you!

1) “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas album

2) “All my bells are ringing” by Lenka - The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs album

3) “Auld Lang Syne” by Salsa Celtica - El Agua de la Vida album

4) “Baby, It's Cold Outside (Mulato Beat Remix)” by Louis Armstrong - Christmas Remixed album

5) “Candy Cane Christmas” by Darius Rucker - Candy Cane Christmas album

6) “Carol of the Bells” by Celtic Woman - A Christmas Celebration album

7) “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C. Greatest Hits album

8) “Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” by Nat "King" Cole - The Christmas Song album

9) “The Christmas Waltz” by She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas album

10) “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Red Baron Remix)” by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra - Holiday Lounge - The Christmas Remixes album

11) “Deck the Halls” by Cuba L.A. - Latino Christmas album

12) “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Diana Krall - Christmas Songs album

13) “I'll Be Home for Christmas” by Katharine McPhee - unbroken album

14) “It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé - Christmas album

15) “Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad” by Michael Bublé duet with Thalia - Christmas album

16) “Mistletoe” by Colbie Caillat – Mistletoe album

17) “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Brian McKnight - The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year album

18) “My Favorite Things” by Tony Bennett - Snowfall - The Tony Bennett Christmas Album album

19) “My Only Wish” by Jessica Simpson - Happy Christmas album

20) “Santa Baby” by Madonna - A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 1 album

21) “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” by Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town album

22) “We Three Kings” by Pink Martini - Joy to the World album

23) “What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? (Mangini vs. Pallin Remix)” by Ella Fitzgerald & Frank Devol Orchestra - Verve Remixed Christmas album

24) “White Wonderland” by Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics album

25) “'Zat You, Santa Claus? (The Heavy Remix feat. The Commanders)” by Louis Armstrong - Verve Remixed Christmas album

Petition for Cats in the Workplace

The leaves are off the trees, it’s getting colder every day and our neighbors across the courtyard have their Christmas lights up on their balcony.

So it is definitely starting to feel like the holiday season now…which is good, because Thanksgiving is only a few days away!

It also puts me in the cleaning mood, which is good because Miguel and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner again this year!

Fortunately, I am off from work this week so I have plenty of time to get the apartment in order...and perhaps sneak in a few naps with my favorite cats!

Wylie

Sami

Petition for Cats in the Workplace

Today has been a good day!

Tonight is a little bittersweet though because tomorrow I return to work (and a “routine”) after being on vacation for two weeks.

But this holiday break has been just what I needed to wind down after a hectic year and prepare myself for all that is to come in 2011.

The one thing I will miss the most is getting to spend so much time with my little family at home…during which I forced my cats to pose for their holiday portraits:

Wylie and reindeer

Sami and Santa

Merry Christmas (or in other words, Feliz Navidad)

My mother Is Catholic and my father is Jewish - which means that I was one lucky kid who got to celebrate double the holidays while growing up!

So I hope those who celebrated Hanukkah earlier this month had a wonderful “eight crazy nights” (thanks Adam Sandler)!

And for those celebrating Christmas today – Feliz Navidad!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy holiday season surrounded by many family and friends.

Holiday Dresses, Christmas Trees & Gingerbread Houses: Part 3

After tree hunting, my boyfriend and I hosted our first Annual Gingerbread House Extravaganza.

And even though I didn’t know what to expect because I’d never made a gingerbread house before, I was still psyched to get started!

And yes, I can see where some might think this is a lame way to spend a Saturday night – but I swear it was so much fun! I mean the toppings alone were enough to convince me that this needed to become an annual tradition!

And our little gingerbread village turned out awesome – even though my boyfriend turned his into a XXX shop and my sister incorporated a decapitated gingerbread man in hers.

But I’m attributing these poor decisions – and the ridiculousness that ensued afterwards – to the massive sugar high we were on from the start!

The ‘before’ shot

A few of the toppings – yummm!

My masterpiece!

Note the gummy bears riding the polar bears

My boyfriend’s gingerbread porn shop – sigh

We nicknamed this one Barbie’s Outhouse

My sister’s gingerbread house came complete with crime scene

The village!

Holiday Dresses, Christmas Trees & Gingerbread Houses: Part 2

On Saturday, I went hunting for the perfect Christmas tree.

What constitutes perfect you may ask? Well that’s actually a short list:

1) The perfect tree must be real
2) The perfect tree must be taller than me
3) The perfect tree can’t take up too much room

That last one is always hard for me to abide by though since I love nothing better than a big, rotund Christmas tree!

But this year, I tried my best to go for a skinnier tree that would allow us to move around our apartment with ease. Of course when we got it home and in the tree stand, I started bemoaning the fact that it wasn’t large enough.

But over the past week, it has grown on me and I’ve come to realize that it’s actually the perfect size for our petite home. Now we just need to finish decorating it!

Every outing turns into an impromptu photo shoot with my boyfriend

My sister stakes her claim

The winner!

Phew, it fits!

I’ve never been into bugs but this ornament has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid

Ironic ornament

This one is just freaking cute!

Holiday Dresses, Christmas Trees & Gingerbread Houses: Part 1

This past weekend was so chock full of holiday festivities that it put me right in the Christmas spirit! And it all started off with my company’s holiday party on Friday night.

As usual, I headed to the mall the day before to find something to wear. Normally this stresses me out to no end, but I remained calm this year because I knew I had a few extra things in my closet that I could pull together in a pinch.

But truly I wanted to find something festive to wear, so I decided to try my luck at the mall during lunch.

And can you believe I actually found the perfect little black dress by Rachel Roy? I know, I was pretty shocked myself when I found it!

I felt so fancy the following night when I got all dressed up with my boyfriend. Which made me wonder, why don’t we do this more often?

Oh yeah, I only have the one dress.

The dress!

I didn’t notice the animal print at first - which was a good thing!

The skirt detail is what sold me – and Sami liked it too!

Procrastinating Christmas

With only ten days until Christmas, my intentions for this evening mainly consisted of working on my gift list and doing some online shopping.

Alas, I can barely keep my eyes open after a couple short nights and a busy day at work so the shopping will have to wait yet another day.

I guess there’s always room for improvement on the procrastination front!