High Five for Friday

Linking up with High Five for Friday today!

1. Got up and made it to 7AM spin class this morning. LIKE A CHAMP.

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 2. Of course, whenever I go to the gym before work, I start my day feeling like a four year old who broke into the Pixie Stix factory. Until 11AM.

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3. I am one Secret Santa gift away from being completely done with my holiday shopping. I can't wait for everyone to open their gifts so I can post about what I got them - I feel good about my choices this year!

4. There's a chance that SK and I are going to be spending Christmas in DC - I'm taking the weekend to start menu planning in case I've got to whip up a festive dinner!

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  5. I'm still keeping an eye out for a holiday gift from me to me -- I think that if I have any extra cash at the end of the month, I may pick up the ever-so-popular Naked Palette. Any fans out there?

What do you guys have going on this weekend?

Christmas Things I Do Not Understand

This is the post where you're all gonna hate me!

Okay, okay, maybe not hate. But there are some things about Christmas that people hold sacred that I just do not understand.

I'm not saying these things are wrong or bad. In fact, they look sort of fun. All I'm saying is that being a Member of the Tribe, I grew up without Christmas, in a very Jewish town, and didn't ever learn what an Easter basket was until I went to college. (The Easter Bunny brings it, apparently!) So it's not that these are bad things, they're just things I never participated in growing up. It's more like you're all in on some joke that I don't get. And while in my adulthood I've tried to counteract my anti-Christmas upbringing with holiday overload in December (see: Chrismukkah party; love of holiday themed anything;etc.), these things below are things that I'm still left scratching my head over.


Take, for example, this beloved movie:

To be fair, I've never seen this movie, so I'm aware this is not a fair post. However, our local WB affiliate would run commercials for it what seemed like every other minute when I was growing up. They ran them so frequently that I can still narrate them. From what I can gather, this kid has some annoying relatives. Why do I want to watch a movie about them? Then he gets a bunny suit. Then he gets his tongue stuck to a pole.Also there is a leg lamp that people freak out over? And yet, people go nuts for this movie.

Then, there's Elf.

I've actually seen this one, and Will Ferrel is pretty funny in it, even after 2 hours of the same joke of him running around in an elf suit. But it immediately loses points in my book because it prominently features Zooey Deschanel singing a twee song and then Santa's sleigh takes off because of her Christmas spirit and joyful melodies? I'm not sure I get it. Am I a Grinch? Maybe I'm a Grinch.

Another thing we never did growing up was send Christmas cards, or holiday cards. Then I got to college and realized the entire Western hemisphere sends them.

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This shouldn't really fall under the category of "things I do not understand," because I think it's a really nice tradition. However, I never did anything like it growing up so I don't send them today. Am I doing something wrong?  If they are supposed to be a snapshot of your family life this past year, am I supposed to send a card to show people what I've been doing? This concerns me, because if I'm being honest people would be receiving a card of me, in sweatpants, eating Puffins on my couch in solitude.

So, there you go. Confessions of a Jew in Christmas season.

Go on, hate on me in the comments. Merry Christmas!

Party Tips by Little B

So, our Chrismukkah party was a great success. You haven't heard anything about it yet because my old bones needed an extra day to recover. Let's just say that I broke my three drink rule on more than once occasion this weekend. Little B, you're not what you used to be.

(Of course, if "what you used to be" was a person who willingly used Sutter Home Rose in your games of beer pong, that might not be such a bad thing.)

Anyway, without further ado: How to Hold a Successful Chrismukkah Party.

1. If you are feeding a crowd, don't kill yourself. Buy the boxed mix. I swear, it'll be okay.

        

2. Provide a festive "tablescape," in the words of Sandra Lee. If you're like me, the thought of Sandra Lee makes you gag and you just call it decorating. Dreidels = gambling and chocolate, always a fun time!

3. Welcome any and all thematic treats your guests may bring. These were our friend Matt's creation - cream cheese, sour cream, lox, onion and capers on rye bread, or Jewish breakfast spread. Delicious!

4. Provide fried food.

5. Let folks go nuts with the tree decorations.

6. Gaudy ornaments can be fun. Just go with it. (This is SK's newest and most favorite ornament. I'm not exaggerating when I say its the size of my face.)

7. Make sure to include Hannukah so it doesn't feel left out.Also make sure that your Costco box of oatmeal is in the background so the Quaker Oats guy doesn't feel left out either.

8. Make sure your neighbors don't forget about Hannukah either!

9. Unless these are your neighbors, who seriously know how to do Christmas lights right.

Happy Chrismukkah, every one of us!

Friday Five: Chrismukkah Party!

Tonight's the night - the Chrismukkah party!


When SK and I started dating, we started a tradition of eating latkes the same night as we decorated his tree (I like to say it's to appease my grandmother,who is rolling over in her grave at the idea of me decorating a Christmas tree.)

Last year, we invited a couple of Jewish friends of ours to celebrate with us, and they were so delighted with the idea of trimming a tree that we invited them back this year. Soon word had spread to some more of my fellow MOTs (that's Members of the Tribe) and they wanted to partake in all the forbidden Christmas pleasures as well. And thus, the Chrismukkah party was born!

I'll be back with a full recap on Monday, but for now here's the menu, Fridy Five-Style!

1. Mulled Cider with rum. A holiday party necessity!

2. Mulled wine. Too much mulling? No such thing, I say.

3. Latkes. Of course. Normally I like to make them from scratch, but to feed a crowd tonight I'm going to cheat and use boxed mix. Sorry, Mom. *source*

4. Candy Cane Joe-Joes from Trader Joes. The pinnacle of all holiday treats!

5. The Tree. Okay, it's not a menu item, but it's an integral part of the festivities!  (This is last year's tree. We've decided to name this year's tree Piney the Elder. #HistoryNerdPuns)

Merry Chrismukkah, Everyone!

Malbec, You Delicious Bastard

A few weeks ago, BHB wrote a post on life lessons that haven't sunk in yet. You know we all have them -- things you know, but when presented with the situation, you still do the opposite and think it'll be fine until the next day, when you are cursing yourself for your hangnail/poor dye job/you name it. At the time, I told her that my rule of thumb (does it count as a rule of thumb if I seem to never follow it?) is that depending on the situation, that 3rd glass, or 3rd bottle of wine, is almost never a good idea.

Last night I met my good friend Dan at Tel'Veh, a new wine bar near Mount Vernon Square. Since Dan's been working in the Southwest for the last few months, we had a lot to catch up on. Tel'Veh has a great happy hour special, which fortunately for me (or unfortunately, depending on how my headache is doing) included $6 wine specials. 

Anyway, I let Dan talk me into breaking my 3 drink rule, confident that now as a mature near-28 year old, I could handle it. It would be different this time.

...Which is how I wound up wide awake at 2:30 AM, watching the world's most annoying family on Property Brothers and nursing the mother of all red wine headaches.

Malbec, you are one delicious bastard.

The Hills Are Alive...with HORROR.

So as you probably know, NBC announced Friday that it had cast Carrie Underwood to star as Maria in their live version of The Sound of Music, due out next Christmas.

Don't get me wrong -- I love Carrie Underwood. I'm a huge fan of her music, I think that she seems to be a genuinely nice celebrity, she's a charismatic performer, and I wish they could bottle her personal style and sell it to shorties like me, because DAMN.

HOWEVER. Carrie Underwood, Queen of Country, as Maria, spirited nun-to-be turned child-charming-governess turned love-struck employee torn between her devotion to Jesus and the charms of the Captain turned back to nun-to-be turned blushing bride turned Nazi escapee?

To me, The Sound of Music is perfect. We don't need a new version, an update, a re-do or a more modern take. We just all need to sit down and watch the original again. And again. And again.

Can a new version capture the romance and longing in the Captain and Maria's first dance?

 Or the tenderness in their first embrace?

What about Christopher Plummer's devastating charm and ascerbic wit?

 And of course we can't forget the children. Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Brigitta, Marta, Gretl. Oh yes, and Kurt. God bless Kurt!

My finger!!!

These are only a few of the amazing elements of the original movie. My favorite things, if you will. But these aren't even the tip of the iceberg. I could probably write an entire post on the Lonely Goatherd.

So when I think about NBC making a new version? With a new Maria?

 

 How do we solve a problem like that?

 

Friday Fancies - Dress Yourself!

Borrowing from my Chrismukkah Wish List for this week's Friday's Fancies...The outfit above is one I'd wear on a chilly casual Friday like today. Perfect for heading from the office to a cozy dinner out in DC!