Christmas Sweaters Day 4 & Christmas Nachos

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Not everyone celebrates Christmas with jewel-toned reds and greens. In some places in the world, bright colors are used because December is a warm summer month. If you live in one of these places, I want you to know that there is a sweater for you. There’s a Christmas sweater for everyone.

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To celebrate our southern friends, I made a platter of Christmas nachos for dinner. Okay, these are not really Christmas nachos made with love while thinking of others. These are delicious nachos made with only me in mind. Me, me, me. I am so selfish. I hope I’m not on the naughty list this year. Do you think Santa could be bribed with some nachos?

Day 19: Father Christmas and Faux Fur

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Happy Christmas Eve! I’ve been saving a special new sweater for this day. Faux fur, pearl beads, and wooden buttons! Oh my! I’m pretty sure that the guy on my sweater is Father Christmas, but there’s an 8% chance that he is actually the Ghost of Christmas present. I’m accessorizing Father Christmas with some Christmas tree earrings I bought last spring. They were clearanced down to $3.

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Definitely worth $3

I had to take this sweater off as soon as we finished taking pictures because it is 80 degrees here today. This is the hottest Christmas Eve I’ve ever had. Is it warm where you are? I love the cold, so I’m pretty bummed about this weather. I especially can’t wear my sweaters when it’s this hot! 😦

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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?

 

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.

 

 

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?

 

Day 8 & Weekend Watched List

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Here I am stylishly enjoying some good movies.

 

During the holidays, Jono and I try to watch as many Christmasy movies as we possibly can. I love classic films, so Jono surprised me this weekend by renting Christmas in Connecticut (1945). We really liked Christmas in Connecticut, but I’m going to save a full review of it for after we watch the remake.

Christmas in Connecticut came with a special bonus, the short film Star in the Night. While Christmas in Connecticut was an enjoyable movie, it was not as well made as this little gem in the DVD’s special features. I happened to marvel at the brisk pacing for an older film at the same time Jono, a film editor himself, remarked upon the cutting edge editing techniques which seem quite modern for a classic.

Of course this piqued my interest, so I did a little Internet sleuthing about the movie. Star in the Night was made in 1945 and won an Academy Award. It was directed by Don Siegel, the director of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Dirty Harry. Don Siegel was formerly an editor, and it’s clear from the filmography of Star in the Night’s credited editor that Don Siegel was the mastermind behind the cuts.

I think that we may add Star in the Night to our regular Christmas rotation. What about you? What are your favorite Christmas movies? Did you watch any this weekend? And, more importantly, did you watch them while wearing a Christmas sweater and fuzzy socks?