Here & Now

Christmas Past.

It is inevitable: Christmas itself flies by.  The moments between all that preparation and the close of the actual Christmas celebrations are so brief.  It's what makes Christmas so special, yet what makes Christmas seem like it is done before it has even begun.

Some highlights from Christmas 2007 - which will go down in history as a delightful holiday year:

1. Outdoor Time.  Not too much, of course, but some time spent at my grandpa's farm where the fresh snow made and sunny day made for a great mini snowmobile ride.  I am such a sucker for fresh snow.

2. Family Christmas Celebrations.  First the Carlson's (way before Christmas, it felt!) and then the Walsh's.  Traditions weaved throughout both of the family celebrations: hockey games, looking at lights, the youngest kids passing out presents, sit-down dinners. 

3. Home for the Holidays.  John and I made it to Stillwater on Sunday night and together with Mom, Dad and Jenna, we were simply lazy: playing Scattergories, watching movies, hanging out by the tree and in front of the fireplace.  Christmas Day was more of the same, with a little Santa Jim and fresh fat snowflakes mixed in. There is no place like home.  Especially for the holidays.

4. Dinner party.  A lot of haggling on dates left me a little anxious about having a few people over for a Christmas dinner party just after the 25th.  But I had no reason to be - the evening ended up being just right.  Good company, good food, good times.

5. Christmas on Summit.  My first Christmas in my own place.  The tree is my favorite thing of the entire apartment and it was so nice to open a few presents beside it.   

I am wishing today that New Year's was one more week away (even though I have accepted that Christmas has passed - I have started the slow removal of Christmas decorations).  I am a sucker for the traditional new beginning of the year and I fully subscribe to all of the fresh starts it brings.  I am not sure I am ready, though, for this new year right now though: I am not sure how to phrase my resolutions.  I have intentions circling, to be certain. I read a few great ideas online today: scrapbook a page a day in January, a photo-a-day for 365 days and then I picked up a few books yesterday: French Women Don't Get Fat and The Best Life Diet.  Yet I am not sure where my heart lies right now.  And, truth be told, I'm pretty tired for some reason.  I'm not feeling the vitality that is usually associated with the new year.  I have a few hours to get it together so I can start 2008 off right. 

Before that, one last time for 2007: Happy Holidays.   

very merry

Just days before Christmas...and the preparations are being finalized.  I love these last few days - the anticipation is so great.  Church at the Cathedral this morning, snow swirling outside, breakfast at Bread & Chocolate, DVR tapings playing on the TV, the wrapping table spread out, the apartment cleaned up.  A very merry Sunday.

Merry Christmas.

Around the Corner

As I walked on the treadmill today at the gym, I felt the first stirrings of the new year.  Granted, Christmas is still 4 days away, but something was in the air making me think of the change to come with January 1st.  This is the first I have thought of it, beyond work meetings.  Its figurative, really, the shift into the new year, but there was something very refreshing about that predictable, age-old feeling of a fresh start today.  Added with 20 minutes on the treadmill -- the second time since July 11, 2007 -- and I felt pretty good as I left Uplift.

The gym sparked most of my thoughts on fresh starts.  I'd like healthiness to really be a part of 2008.  Then turning the calendar at work and saying I would be back on January 7th played into things.  I planned a business trip to Atlanta for the end of January today and thought, not for the first time this week, how fast January is going to go.  During my time at the gym, I got the perspective of that I'd like to be in control of 2008 - rather than be caught unaware of things being so crazy, I should plan for it.  Then I will learn to accommodate.  I want mindful spending to come into play in the new year, and I am going to take some of my upcoming vacation time to set up a plan. 

Fresh starts also causes for reflectiveness on the last year.  Pushing the treadmill to 3.4 MPH (I am a walker, not a runner), I thought of the word I had chosen for 2007: create.  I wanted to create a life worth living, back when I chose it.  I surprisingly kept this word in my head throughout the year.  While it was not a traditional resolution, it certainly created the awareness of one within me.  I feel most proud this year of these creations: a home, a career, a relationship.  And I really like that I learned that creating a life I love can be as simple as lighting a candle, putting on Michael Buble and taking the time to make dinner....not something I fit in too often, but one of my great joys of the last year, spured from the "create" mantra. 

A word/intention for 2008?  I don't quite have one yet.  But my thoughts on where I want to go in 2008 will stem into one.  I have a few days yet to think of something....it's back to the Christmas - spreading good cheer, family events, twinkling lights - mentality for a bit longer. 

Christmas in NYC

So if I had to pick one favorite thing about New York City at Christmas, it would be Rockefeller Plaza.  Seriously amazing during the holiday season!  We approached on Sunday and half way down the block to where the buildings part to form a plaza (just a few feet from Radio City Music Hall, another NYC great), the crowd thickened.  By the time we turned the corner - and got our first glance of THE tree - we were shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other folks.  While the GE building, which towers far above all of the other skyscrapers in this section of town, was by far larger, the tree seems to rival with it as decorated as it is.  It glows with millions of lights (new this year: blue lights), attracting all attention.  The star at its peak seemed to be at least 1 entire story - amazing in its own right.  Below the tree the skating rink was hidden by the crowds, yet Christmas music from a live band rose from it. Across from the tree's home, there was the famous garden that graces most pictures from Rockefeller Plaza.  From the vantage point of the tree, the angels and greenery lead to a well-known NYC landmark: Saks Fifth Avenue.  In the holiday spirit, the building glows with huge lit stars.

The Plaza was only more illuminating and enjoyable the second time we visited, Tuesday night when the crowds had thinned out and it was possible to get a good look into the skating rink.  Throw in a foggy evening and it was mystical in some ways.  We were headed out of the Plaza, on the Saks end, when its blue and white stars began to dance to "Carol of the Bells."  The entire population on this block of Fifth Avenue stopped as the music filled the air and the snowflakes flashed and swung. 

Beyond Rockefeller Plaza, there is plenty else to enjoy in NYC.  Bryant Park Holiday festival, ABC Home Store, multiple Christmas markets, Dean & Deluca, Henri Bendel, Central Park skating rink, "Wicked" (one of the best musicals I have ever seen - it is still, one week later, resonating), Grand Central Station, the shop windows, Times Square (where I only need a minute with all of that energy!) -- even walking to the Chase Manhattan Building, via Starbucks of course, to begin our work days, seemed like a happy task in the city.  The New York Stock Exchange was one of the most surprising Christmas delights -- an enormous tree (on a pretty tiny street) at the entry and the pillars of the NYSE lit up as an American flag.  The Financial District is a maze of buildings and the NYSE is at a big of an odd corner, I think.  To look between blocks of buildings to see a Christmas tree and lights...well, it's pretty cool.

My goal in NYC this time was to shop.  I explored Soho a few times, Union Square twice, Fifth Avenue for an afternoon.  While I didn't come home with too much (most of my Christmas shopping was done by this time), it was the exploring that was most enjoyable.  Henri Bendel was my favorite NYC shop discovery this trip. 

The story of the week, beyond all of the sights, was definitely the adventure of getting back to Minnesota.  A mix of snow and ice led to 13 hours of travel from door to door...it was good to be home!  But I will always remember Christmas in New York!

Snowy Tales

At about 1pm today, I noticed that the flurries from this morning had actually continued.  "It's supposed to snow as much today as it did Saturday," my co-worker casually mentions.  It is?!  Three hours later, I find myself digging out my car, still a bit shocked that this was the fate of the day.

Last year, I made it through March without a good snow that forced me to re-learn the ins and outs of St. Paul Snow Emergencies.  With it being December 1st this year that the first one was called, I opted yesterday to stock up on necessary snow items: snow pants, neck gators, weather-proof gloves, long underwear.  I also dug out my boots, my heaviest jacket and my hat.  Bring on the snow!

Welcome December.

The Christmas spirit is in the air...and now the calendar matches my holly joy attitude.  Welcome, December.

• A start-the-season-off-right snowstorm, so perfectly delivered on a Saturday planned for bundling up.  I turned on the tree at 8am, set up the fireplace DVD, opened the blinds to watch the snow fall and I haven't left the apartment since.
• I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday - and was so thankful when I realized that it was only Saturday.  It was so motivating!
• Using the snowstorm as a good excuse to bury in, I used today to do all of my creative Christmas presents preparation.  I actually accomplished everything on my "crafty Christmas" list.
• A gift from my trip to Rochester: I had Hunan Garden Chinese food (still the best. ever.) to eat all day.
• I just felt like it: homemade chocolate chip cookies.
• While I am currently fighting a battle between what's smart (not paying for cable television) and what I really want (cable), which makes all TV slightly unsatisfying, I did find myself quite happy to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular Special on NBC tonight.