Comments (35)

By kilax, December 24, 2009 6:14 am

We’ve been searching for art for our dining room for a few years, but we’ve struggled to find anything that suits our tastes. And our dining room looks so sad and plain (I apologize for the nasty photo taken with flash).

We knew we wanted three pieces, and possibly a theme that tied together, but we couldn’t find nature scenes that weren’t cheesy or graphic prints that were “us.”

A few weeks ago, I saw some simple graphic prints in the art shop across my office and fell in love. The problem? One print was about $150 each (with frame), and that was after the 50% off discount! I snapped a photo and sent it to Steven, to show him what I had in mind.

And he suggested we buy canvases and do it ourselves! Yes, I was skeptical*. BUT, we bought the canvases this weekend, and Steven painted them on Sunday! And voila! We now have art! We are counting this as our holiday gift to each other, and I couldn’t be happier to finally have something hanging in our dining room. I think they turned out great! (And guess what? Steven used our house paint to paint them! So the colors definitely tie together!)

Do you have art hanging in your home? How did you choose it? Did it take you a long time to find the “perfect” piece(s)?

*Due to my lack of artistic talent, not his.

Comments (32)

By kilax, December 23, 2009 5:58 am

Yesterday was Steven’s birthday, and even though I had to work, I wanted to make the evening as special as I could!

What do you do to make your loved one’s birthday special?

On my train ride into the office, I got off quite a few stops early to go to Steven’s favorite bakery (Deerfields) and pick up some of his favorite donuts for him (yes, the same donuts last year’s donut tower was made out of)! When I got off the train, the conductor said “Leaving so early?” When I told him I was going to the bakery, he said “Deerfields? I LOVE that place! I would hold the train for you if I could.” Ha. What a nice guy. I wish he could have held the train for me! Luckily, the bakery is right by the station, so I walked there (in the snow) and back and caught the next train. I made sure to pick up donuts for two of my coworkers too!

Steven picked me up after work, and we went to Red Robin for dinner. Red Robin is actually my favorite restaurant, but Steven wanted to go there since we hadn’t been for awhile. I love it because they have two different kinds of veggie burgers and BOTTOMLESS Vegan Steak Fries! Of course, the veggie burgers aren’t vegan, so I get the Red’s Rice Bowl without the fried noodles on top. I still love going there because I think it is great that they cater to so many diets. They even have a great tool online for calculating the calories in your meal.

Onion Rings

Red’s Rice Bowl (actually on a plate)

Whiskey River Boca Burger with Fries

Plus, the give you free ice cream on your birthday (after they sing you an obnoxious song of course)! You can’t beat that!

Steven opened his gifts before dinner. I gave him Pictionary, the same lego calendar I got Lauren (it’s so cool!), his favorite Christmas Tree Cakes, and a little monkey (we have an inside joke that he likes monkeys). A few days ago, I told Steven not to go in my closet because I had a small present in there for him that was not wrapped. So during dinner, I said, “Oh no! I just realized I left that unwrapped gift at home! You will have to open it later.” and acted all sad. But it was a trick (more below).

After dinner, we went bowling. Fun fact – we used to be on a league so we both have our own bowling balls and shoes.

I was a bit rusty – it’s been awhile! We bowled three games and Steven’s top score was 190 and mine was 132.

Steven had one of his donuts when we got home.

Is it salmon flavored?

The glorious inside of the donut

After he finished the donut, I gave him the “little gift” that was in my closet – which was really a HUGE gift that I could not have taken to the restaurant.

I got him the weight stand he wanted, and get this, I only paid a fraction of the price it was listed for on amazon! We have a reward program at work, and I used my points to get $80 worth of amazon gift cards to use towards his gift. Score! It felt good to get Steven something I know he really wanted AND needs!

The new weight stand (before, the weights just sat on the floor in this spot)

I hope Steven enjoyed his birthday – I know I enjoyed it!

What what your perfect birthday day be like?

I actually got mine this year– I got to spend the day on the river, relaxing, then eat vegan chocolate cupcakes and cake!

Comments (26)

By kilax, December 21, 2009 4:56 am

Every time I’m about to hit “publish” on this rant post I have drafted out, I end up with some surprise I’d rather blog about. First it was from my mom, and then last week, I got a wonderful surprise almost every single day! I think this is a sign from the universe – save that rant-y post for January, Kim… have some holiday spirit…

I received the first gift was from my blogger buddy Gina on Monday. I have been blogger buddies (well, we call each other blogger sisters) with Gina and Courtney for over three years. We write group emails almost every week, exchange holiday and birthday gifts and cards, and hope hope hope that the three of us can meet up someday (Gina is in New York and Courtney is in Texas).

Appropriately, Gina sent me Julie & Julia – the movie about Julia Childs and the blogger Julie Powell! I had not seen the movie, and I was so so excited when I opened it! She sent it along with vegan popcorn and a thoughtful card. How lucky I am to have a friend like that?! Steven and I really enjoyed watching the movie. It made me hungry though!

What does Data think of Julie & Julia?

He likes it!

Then on Wednesday at work, one of my team members brought in holiday treats for us all. She was thoughtful enough to make me vegan gingersnaps!

Isn’t the packaging cute?

Nom Nom Nom. Looks like something you’d buy in a store!

On Thursday, I received Lindsay’s copy of The Reader, which she is loaning me. I sent her a book of mine to borrow, so we are doing a fun little exchange.

And then Friday a holiday package from Lauren arrived (we participated in Morning Runner’s blogger gift exchange). WOW. Lauren HOOKED ME UP! DUH! How could I have forgotten she works IN a running store???!!! She sent me Saucony socks, Adidas headbands, a “run” keychain, and some prickly pear cactus candies which I am super excited to try. Isn’t that the best gift ever?! I really got lucky in drawing Lauren’s name. I have been having a lot of fun getting to know her through her blog. I love how down to earth she is and the great attitude she has. Check her out if you don’t already read her blog!

On Saturday, there was yet another package, from Courtney, wrapped in adorable “Meowy Christmas” paper!

And inside of an adorable Santa tin! What could it be, Data and I wonder…

Homegrown pecans! WOW! I cannot imagine how long it took to shell all of those! What a thoughtful gift! Steven and I are thinking about using them to make baklava!

Yes, I show Data all of the packages. He is curious.

We also received a ton of holiday cards this week, many from thoughtful bloggers, along with those from family and friends. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

How lucky I am to have received all of this? Who am I to even consider ranting about the small things in life when I have such a wonderful network of supportive friends? I am so grateful for these relationships! And I am grateful for each and every one of you who take the time to leave comments and develop an online relationship with me. It really makes my day to read your insight and feedback to my ramblings! Thank you!!!

Have you received any surprises lately? Does this time of year make you stop and think about the things in life for which you are grateful?

Comments (31)

By kilax, December 16, 2009 4:17 am

There was an interesting article about bad gift-giving and how it can be straining on marriages this Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal. I found it humorous, but also, disappointingly sexist – both for men and women.

The article gives the classic examples of “bad” gifts given to wives from their husbands – vacuum cleaners, over-sized sleepwear, cooking pots, golf clubs, etc. Those stories are always good for a laugh or two.

But I felt like the whole article made men sound like thoughtless idiots who don’t listen to their wives, think twice about what they are getting them, or care if they are given a “bad” gift. It made women sound like they are overly emotional about receiving a “bad” gift, elusive about what they want, and the perfect gift givers.

Well, I always say “stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason,” but come on*. I know this isn’t true in our relationship. Since we’ve been together (7 years) I have not been able to get Steven the “perfect” holiday** gift. First it was an XBox. Then a printer. Specialty items for the Saab. A nice watch. A Garmin. So on and so forth. Run-of-the-mill things. How do we measure the worth of a gift? By the excitement of the person opening it? By how much they use it? How much they talk about it? If they thank you?

Steven has given me amazing, thoughtful gifts. Probably the most amazing was the first thing he ever gave me – a handmade box for holding my drawing pencils. He made that!

So, I am not anti gift-giving or saying I am awful at giving gifts, but… maybe it’s not all that important, in the long run. Maybe it’s not something worth getting upset about. Maybe we should just be excited when someone was thoughtful and generous enough to get us something. You can tell when it is sincere and from the heart, not matter how good or “bad” it is.

What do you think? Are these gift-giving stereotypes true?

*I would love to see this article include some examples of same-sex relationships as well. I wonder what the gift-giving stereotypes are there.
**Steven, it doesn’t help that your birthday is THREE days before Christmas!

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By kilax, August 18, 2008 5:37 am

Our one year wedding anniversary is two weeks from today – on September 1st (Labor Day).

We haven’t planned anything to celebrate, besides the tradition of eating the top of our wedding cake, which has been sitting in our freezer, in plain site for so long, I am surprised I have not devoured it already.

What I’m (we’re, really) wondering is, do people following the anniversary gift-giving traditions? For example, the “traditional” gift for one year of marriage is paper, and the modern gift is clocks. Does the wife actually give her husband something made out of paper – tickets, a painting, whatever – or a clock, watch, etc.? Yeah, it’s a silly question, but it must be tradition for some reason.

What did you do to celebrate? Or what would you do?