Day 18: Ho, Ho, Home for the Holidays

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It’s pretty close to Christmas, folks! To celebrate I’m wearing a brand new (to me) sweater with a fuzzy Santa. He makes me feel festive. He also makes me feel a little dizzy in this hot and humid weather. I did not wear him for long.

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Many of you are planning on going to your childhood home for the holidays. My parents retired to Arizona when I was in college, but my husband’s parents still live in the house he grew up in. He loves to go home and play video games on his favorite couch. My favorite part of going to anyone’s home for the holidays are all the Christmas goodies. I know Santa Claus would agree. I love to eat everything from cheese popcorn to chocolate covered Oreos. What are your favorite Christmas goodies?

The 17th Day of Christmas Sweaters: The Christmas Goose

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Whenever we spend Christmas with the in-laws, we make sure to go see the Christmas show at The Carolina Opry. Jono and I both love music, and The Carolina Opry has amazing singers and musicians. They also have beautiful Christmas decorations.

 

Pretty, right? It was very crowded as you can see. I didn’t take any pictures during the show because it’s annoying when the person in front of you is taking pictures during the show. (Those pictures aren’t going to turn out well! Just put your phone down, okay? Also, it’s worse when people use their iPads.)

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Anyway, I wore a brand new sweater today. It features a delicious Christmas goose. Okay, I have never eaten a Christmas goose. Have you? Have you ever been to The Carolina Opry? Let me know in the comments!

Mani Monday: Manic Matching

Sometimes you have to match your nails to your Christmas sweater. Why? Mostly you do it because you’re on vacation and have nothing better to do. I wished I had picked a brighter red to match my sweater better (say that 3 times fast- sweaterbettersweaterbettersweaterbetter), but I grabbed these colors as an afterthought as we were heading out the door the other day. The red pulls a bit burgundyish on me. It is OPI’s Red Fingers and Mistletoes. The green and silver topcoat is OPI’s Fresh Frog of Bel Air.

Today I have mostly been running errands and watching Christmas specials with the family. So far today, we have watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Holiday Celebration with Mickey and Pals. (The latter is a volume of 9 classic animated shorts.) What did you do today? Are you rocking festive nails? Do you like your nails to match your clothes?

 

My Vest of Many Colors

Dolly Parton may have patches on her britches and a coat of many colors, but I have sweater vest of many patches. That’s pretty close right?

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I’ve spent most of the afternoon addressing Christmas cards because the early bird gets the worm. 😉 Have you already sent out your Christmas cards?

Sweater Vestivus for the Rest of Us

 

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It was tree trimming day at the in-laws’ house. They have a beautiful, vintage, aluminum tree. This obviously goes well with my beautiful, vintage, sweater vests.

If you want to look festive for your next Christmas party, a Christmas sweater vest is a good way to go. A sweater vest gives you a festive look while also keeping it casual. It’s a very low-key sweater commitment. You can throw it over a tunic or minidress like I am here. Do you like sweater vests?

The Ol’ Twofer

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I received some sweaters as gifts after I started The 20 Days of Christmas Sweaters this year, so I actually have a couple extra. There is only one thing to do when this happens. You must wear two sweaters at the same time. Great Scott, this is a genius idea!

Note the cute buttons on my velour snowmen vest.

I want to write more, but I have a bit of a Christmas emergency on my hands. Apparently, some of the online orders I made last weekend didn’t actually go through. (Is this an internet connection problem?) I even checked my credit card transactions, and these gifts appear to be made up in my head. Okay, not really. I shouldn’t order Christmas gifts after midnight because our horrible internet company is always doing something to the connection then. Don’t they know that after-midnight hours are prime web time?! Now I have to figure out replacement gifts because some of my thoughtfully chosen gifts are out of stock. 😦 I bet this never happens to Santa. Are you all finished with your Christmas shopping?

Jingle Bells, Cougars Smell

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Today my wonderful husband took me shopping at Hobby Lobby because my also wonderful sister-in-law gave me a gift card to this craft store mecca. (I really like to start crafts and never finish them. It brings me great joy.) He walked around the miles of craft supplies, pointing out stuff he thought I’d like. It was pretty adorable. Usually Jono loses me in stores because I tend to be blocked by other shoppers who are bigger than I am. He really appreciated the jingle bells on this sweater that helped him find me. Ha!

I am very lucky to have a thoughtful husband who encourages me to go shopping with my gift cards. (Hoarding gift cards bring me joy as well.) Also, Jono dances well and looks cute in a holiday sweater.

Jono’s good looks can get him into trouble though. Let me tell you about an incident at the Dance Studio yesterday. It involves a cougar and some racism.

We arrived at the lesson a minute or two late. Our dance instructor, who had taught our last lesson, recognized us and called us on over when we got there. With him were the two older gentlemen who also have been regulars at the beginner classes, an elderly Taiwanese man and a slightly younger, balding Asian man who is old enough to be my father. A new student was there too. She was wearing a sleeveless, high-low, see-through tunic over a tank top and mini-skirt with dance shoes and leg warmers. I could see her squinting at Jono through her purple glasses, and I knew what was going through her greasy blonde head. This cougar thought she could steal Jono from me.

This was funny for a couple reasons. First of all, no one can steal Jono from me. I do not say this out of conceit from my looks or charms. I say this because Jono is a committed husband who believes marriage is forever. (Also, he loves me. Duh.)  Second of all, though this lady was in good shape for her age, her age was quite out of the range my husband would ever consider dating if he were single. She must’ve been about a decade older than him. Jono is not 19, so a decade older is not really much competition for me.

Back to the story. The lady looked at the bald Asian man she was paired with and pushed him away from her. “Oh, is this your partner?” she cried cattily as if Asians could only dance with other Asians. She started moving towards Jono. “No,” I replied while giving her my world-famous stink eye.

I might’ve commented on her racist remarks, but the cougar suddenly caught the eye of our dance instructor. He had seen it all, and he looked at her with a disappointed and slightly superior eye as if to say, “That was so racist and thirsty that I am embarrassed to have even witnessed it.” This look so shamed the cougar that she went back to her original dance partner (who really deserved better).

After our lesson was done, Jono asked me why the cougar had thought he was gay and the older Asian man was his dance partner. I laughed.

 

 

Wearing a Winter Wonderland

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While it may be balmy outside, I can still pretend it is winter by wearing a wintery sweater while I am cooking. Here I am making some bone broth. I drink broth everyday ever since I tried the GAPS diet last year. I was having digestive problems, and bone broth for breakfast really helped my stomach settle down. (Also, I cut out dairy. Boo.)

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Anyway, the weather finally cooled down to the sixties today. What’s it like in your hood? I’m really jealous of you if you have snow. Send some my way!

I Want a Snoopy Sweater for Christmas, Charlie Brown!

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Exactly one year ago, I started the 12 Days of Christmas Sweaters 2014 with this same sweater. I just happened to wear it today because we had plans tonight to watch “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!” (Seriously, I should get a kickback from ABC for all the free advertisement I give them.)

If you are a frequent visitor of lifeintheme, then you know that I am a big fan of Peanuts. Snoopy and the gang remind of watching TV as a little kid with my younger brother. So of course I went to see the new Peanuts movie when it came out.

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I thought the movie was very well done. I was uneasy about the computer animation, but they really tried to keep the same tone as the other Peanuts movies.

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It was also very well marketed. Peanuts was everywhere, and I bought it all! Okay, I didn’t buy the expensive Peanuts Coach purses. I did buy the Peanuts nail polish and Happy Meals though. Also, it is very fun to Peanutize yourself.

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What do you think? Does it look like me?

Mani Monday & Nine Ladies Dancing

 

 

 

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It’s the 9th Day of Christmas Sweaters, and I just so happened to go dancing! This is a picture of me outside the studio. I gave Jono the gift of dancing lessons for our anniversary this year, so we went to a group lesson tonight. This may seem like a selfish present, but don’t be fooled by stereotypes. I am not the dancer in this marriage. Also, I had to dance with many strangers who had sweaty hands. Yuck.

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Those guys were lucky to hold my well-manicured hands. This beautiful Mani Monday color is Chita by Zoya. I didn’t notice the label called it a “Pixie Dust” until after I painted my nails. It is a textured glitter, but it is not thick and goopy. Also, it was beautiful after one coat. I tried a second coat on my pinky, but I really couldn’t see much of a difference.

Sorry I couldn’t get any pictures of us dancing. It would’ve disrupted the lesson. It was really fun, and I can’t wait to go to our next lesson. Have you guys ever taken dancing lessons?