the (most) wonderful season

There are certain songs that truly put me in the Christmas mood. It's amazing how much the radio influences the spirit of the season. Painfully overplayed year after year, the honor roll is:


"Last Christmas" -George Michael
"All I Want For Christmas Is You" -Mariah Carey
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" -The Pretenders
"Happy Christmas (War is Over)" -John Lennon
"Winter Wonderland" -Eurythmics
"Santa Baby" -Madonna


True, these aren't the classics like Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole. But these are the sentimental tunes of an 80s baby, and I love em.

With December around the corner, things here are steadily busy but thankfully not crazy. I need a small surge of energy to finish two papers before the semester ends next week, and I'll have until the middle of January until the Spring semester starts. Maybe once classes have ended I'll have the brain power to think up some creative Christmas gifts :)

Update on wedding planning: So far I've seen two ceremony/reception sites, both gorgeous. Unless I win a small lottery, the first is most likely not going to work out! The second is much more practical, and has invited us to dinner this Saturday so we can sample the food; it's a French-American cuisine. I'm sure I'll continue to realize this throughout the planning process, but it's very easy to get carried away and go over budget. I think I can stick to my guns though ;)

while eating turkey

Last night Vaitl, Jon and I had our own Thanksgiving feast. With a generous coupon from Butterball, we purchased a ready-made turkey for only $1. After only 1.5 hours in the oven, it was deliciously warm and juicy, with semi-crispy skin. We sat around the small kitchen table exchanging our family holiday traditions, and musing about the fact that we've been in Philadelphia for almost six months. Getting here seemed so hard, but we did it and I know we're each so thankful for that.

i'm in a short film!

A small cameo, but an appearance nonetheless. Check out "Our California Adventure" under my Suggested Reading links to see the video.

In other news, here's a picture from the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) black tie event that Jon and I attended with his parents:


Just outside of Philly, the event was held to induct new officers for the 2007-2008 year. Jon's dad is the President of the Pennsylvania Chapter so it was an honor to be there for something so meaningful to him.

the 23rd year

"It takes a long time to grow young" - Pablo Picasso

I hope I live to a wrinkly age. I imagine what a 9oth birthday might look like for me. Party hats, "Love Shack" by the B-52s (which by then will be a major oldie), lots of chocolate chip cookies and possibly a pinata. It will be a grand celebration just to be alive.

This past Monday I turned 23, which doesn't feel much different than 22. Jon took me out for the most fabulous birthday dinner in Center City on Saturday. I could never be a vegetarian on the basis of Capital Grille's lamb chops alone. Perfection, with a side of cranberry sauce.

Besides making my parents feel old, turning 23 is kind of surreal. I'm officially older than my parents when they got married and had me. I'm one year away from getting married. I'm ten years older than my teenage birthday...whoa! What did I even do for my 13th birthday?

Unlike most women, I welcome age. I live by the "like fine wine" mentality, and that it only continues to get better. Ask me if I feel the same way when I'm 90 ;)

scary Halloween

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty" 

-Mahatma Gandhi

My mom has never been a fan of Halloween. It's her second most hated holiday after Valentine's Day. There's something about delighting in fear and horror that creeps her out. I guess that's why some of my most famous costumes were a French maid, a flapper, a tiger, and, yes, Rhoda from the 70s. (See picture for reference). Fairly innocent, wouldn't you agree?

Unlike my mom, I grew up loving Halloween. Every year my elementary school had a parade, a highly anticipated event for me. I'd go to bed with my costume laid out at the foot of my bed, and hardly slept because of all the anticipation. Don't even get me started on trick-or-treating. Free candy from strangers never seemed so wonderful. There used to be this guy who lived down the street, and would go all out in his costume as the grim reaper. He'd sit motionless on his front step with the bowl of candy just a few feet in front of him and wait for a courageous trick-or-treater to come close enough for a piece. It was both unbelievably frightening and thrilling at the same time. 

Halloween seems to have lost its innocence, if ever it had any. I imagine from a parent's perspective, it's a nervous holiday. For law enforcement, it's probably a full day of pranks and vandalism. According to the UPS guy who dropped a package off for my neighbor, all drivers were not allowed to leave any packages outside on Halloween. Philadelphia certainly puts a new spin on the holiday. 

Sadly, this past Halloween proved to be a tragic day for a Philadelphia family. A police officer was shot and killed when he intercepted a robbery at a Dunkin' Donuts. The incident happened only a few miles from LaSalle, so my class was cancelled as the school and general area were in lock down. The city is up in arms as the manhunt continues, especially since this is the third police shooting in a short amount of time. What the heck is going on with our world. 

Please pray for the Cassidy family and the city of Philadelphia.