Gift Wrap Up

My family has Christmas traditions. One of which involves our yearly choices of wrapping paper. As soon as some of us were wrapping gifts on our own and out of the house (think college and beyond), we have chosen to classify our gifts with color and design. Each of us picks a single, statement worthy paper that will designate which gifts originate with which family member. We each handle it a little differently; I choose what I think will look best as an assembled stack of gifts. Sister Middle chooses her favorite personality design. Sister Youngest chooses the ugliest kitschy illustration paper she can locate. Ma and Da use gift labels that are still marked with "From : ?".

(Side note to parents, I don't know if I've ever stated out loud that I know it's you leaving the "?" gifts, and not santa. Don't stop now though!)

I am approaching the 2010 decision. Here are the current contenders. I won't post which I use until after Christmas...I won't spoil it for the fam! Any favorites?

Madline Double Sided Gift Wrap by Smock

Marimekko® Mustikkamaa Gift Wrap

Marimekko® Kantele Gift Wrap

Snow & Gram - Winterberry Paper

Christmas Folk Trees Wrapping Paper

Snovita Gift Wrap - IKEA

Trick or Cheap

First Halloween in the new house! Now, I love little trick-or-treators but have never lived anywhere where a bunch of them come around. Last year, in our condo, we got ONE trick-or-treater, at about 9:30pm.

Needless, to say, I started getting really excited when 6 out of 10 houses in the neighborhood were decked out with in Halloweens finest. I mean, really decked out. This is the house right across the street.

Notice Chucky hanging from the ladder

Therefore I assumed we'd be inundated with little ones Halloween night. We have NO halloween decorations, as typically I find them slightly literal and overwhelming.  Still, I wanted to do something to welcome tick-or-treators to our home.

So here's the cheap little decorating we did.

Brown Lunch Bags, Flameless tea lights, pen, and scissors = $4.99 in additional purchases (for the tealights)
I cut little halloween shapes out of the bags (takes 10 minutes...or more when you are also watching TV)

Moon and stars, cat, pumpkin, bat, spider, ghost.

And we set them aglow on our front steps. I ended up having to put golf balls in the bottoms to keep them from blowing away.
...........

BOO!

Meet...our Home

So here it is! Our first house, oh yes, in it's original state. I have big plans for you house.

Our dear house has already earned nicknames...The Cube, The Venue...we lovingly get to call it home.

That doesn't mean we love all of it! :) We're going to be painting, dying, sewing, decorating, trimming, planting, grouting. We're also going to keep track of the transformation here, so if you're curious, or simply interested in seeing our stumbling first attempt at home ownership :), come back again!

Breaking the Self-Imposed Book Rule

I LOVE stories. I LOVE books. I have to read almost every night to get to sleep. Because of this, over the years I have accrued my Favorite Books. My Favorite Books have really old ugly covers, bent out of shape. They have a shelf to themselves. I read them over, and over again. These are the books that accompany me on business trips; a little consistency with newness all around. As I am someone that always likes to try new things, these books are really the only form of entertainment that I come back to regularly.

My Favorite Books (In Approximate Order):  

1. Treasure Island, Robert Lewis Stevenson 
2. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
3. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Emmuska Orczy (I'm may or may not be a little embarassed)
5. Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
6. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
7. The Best of Isaac Asimov, Short Stories by Issac Asimov

Hm, what do these have in common? Adventures naturally, told with beautiful words. Imperfect characters that create incredible circumstances. Overcoming. Love. Trial. Faith. Sacrifice. Joy. Mystery. Humor. Creative characters. Human condition.

Books traditionally only make it to Favorite Book status over the course of several years; they are time tested. BUT. Announcement, breaking Lisa news. I think I've just added another, in record time. In a matter of one month, the Hunger Games trilogy has been inducted. I have already read all three books twice, and decided that, in addition to everything from my list above, the trilogy also has war, culture, food, rebellion, symbolism, love triangle, family, destitution, fashion....these books have it all.

Artwork by Marbi, courtesy of www.Mockingjay.com

       8. The Hugner Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins

Only time will tell if it stays on the list. It may fade to second tier as I change, like Pride and Prejudice did, but I wouldn't be breaking the rules if I thought it was going to do that.

Moral of the story; read The Hunger Games!

The Art of Living in Cincinnati

I love moments that remind me that I LIVE already in a city where adventures, culture, and community can be experienced. I've learned that, for a city of it's size, Cincinnati is passionate about the arts, and supports, participates and honors them all. Not only is Cincinnati going to be hosting the 2012 World Choir Games (the first ever American city to do so), but smaller events happen all over the city. Two examples:

http://vimeo.com/15898724
The Paint the Street event in Over the Rhine (one of my favorite neighborhoods in Cinci). Sorry, they don't allow the vid to be embedded.

And also the Splash Dance (more often called flash mob) on Fountain Square, the central hub of downtown. The image below was used on the Cincinnati Fine Art Fund fundraising post cards this year. The spectators were great at this event....but the dancers were even better. Members of the Cincinnati Ballet coordinated and led the dance themselves.

Image Courtesy of The Cincinnati Enquirer

You can see my girl Amy in the second group that starts dancing; blond in the white shirt. All of the music is by Cincinnati musicians and groups!



Moral of the story : do you know your city?