Lady Gaga totally stole my look. Mine is circa 1977.*

*LG photo from here.

My family has a crazy tradition -- crazy fun that is. My great-grandma made it up. On Christmas Eve, you try to say the words, "Christmas Eve Gift" to everyone in your family first. If you succeed in this quest, they are supposed to give you a small, inexpensive gift. We all loved this tradition when we were kids. My very fingers would tingle in excitement as I'd creep out of bed, way before sunrise and wait to jump upon the rest of the family as they all awoke. "Christmas Eve Gift!" I'd exclaim as each one emerged, exultant but not too loud so as not to awaken the others and therefore give them the upper hand. I was not always successful in surprising everyone, and my grandma has always been the best at it, almost never getting caught.

As technology advanced and we scattered to the four winds, the tradition almost died. It was too easy to email or text right before going to bed in the wee smas of the Eve. This made me incredibly sad, as it's such a fun thing to do, building the excitement for Christmas all the more. (All of this excitement never aided in my falling asleep any faster Christmas Eve night. I was always awake way past my bedtime, much to the despair of my early-rising mom.) But this year, I decided that you don't let something die because of changes in the world, you let it evolve. So utilizing Facebook as my tool, I tagged my family in a note that said only, "Christmas Eve Gift." After posting it, I jumped up and down, fist pumping, screaming, "I did it!" and laughing maniacally. (Yes, I am a geek. I cheerfully admit it.) Hopefully, they'll take it in good fun and the tradition will continue, evolving to our ever-changing communication techniques.

Christmas Eve Gift everyone! I hope you have a good one, and a glorious Christmas Day after that. 

I’ve always loved hats. I look good in them, too. In high school, when others were worried what our peers would think of their outfits (you know, Guess jeans, LA Gears, etc.), I was sporting a pretty pimp-ass fedora.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my boldness. I can’t hold my head high enough to carry-off a hip headpiece. What happened? I’m not entirely sure, but I want it back. I want to wear millinery splendor again.

Maybe I just need one of these beauties?

Slouchy hat.Pillbox hat.Hummingbird hat.Cloche hat.Hot pink woman’s hat.Top hat.Black Straw hat.Fedora.

My Charles and I were invited to a holiday party this last weekend by a friend in the biz -- one of the reps for a natural food company. Now, I post healthy recipes everyday on my work's Facebook page and cook almost exclusively from food purchased at the store. So it may not come as a surprise that when I found out this party was a potluck, my contrary nature surfaced. Then I read a blog from TheThirtySomethingBride sharing a kick ass recipe she got from one of her friends, and my plans for what we were bringing to the potluck were cemented -- Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies. The saltiness and the sugar with the peanut butter -- a little piece of Heaven is in those cookies. Make them. Seriously. Make them. Plus, there's an added bonus that the natural foods part of me noticed right away -- they're gluten free!

I'm beginning to recover from the post funeral malaise and am ready to blog again. It took me a tad longer than I had anticipated, but I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. We're reminded of my Charles' dad each day when we gaze at the greenery leftover from one of the bouquets we purchased for the funeral. It's pretty in its own right, but it was gorgeous when it was a backdrop to two dozen yellow roses.

My Charles and I are staying busy. I finally finished painting the new wall in my office. I find painting rather therapeutic, so it gave me some very needed Zen time. I opted to use the last of the gray paint left by the previous owners to paint my office. I still need to pick up some glossy white for the trim and built-ins I have yet to build as well as a light silver for the ceiling for a wee bit of sheen. We've been waiting for a dry, clear day to pick up the subflooring so we can (finally!) begin to install the floor.

Now we get to some new news since the stuff about my office has been months in the making -- my Charles and I will be working on two houses, ours and the one that he and his brother inherited from his dad. We need to get the Concord House (their dad's house) cleaned, painted, and maybe slightly updated for selling. This is more of a monumental task than it sounds as my Charles's dad was a -ahem- collector. We've spent hours removing radio controlled planes, and we still have to do magazines, old bills, and decades of other types of acquiring.  I'm not going to post pictures of how the Concord House looks currently. There are plenty of shows specifically about overwhelming amounts of stuff. Instead, I'll take photos after we've gotten it cleaned but before we do any other work, and you guys can follow us on the journey of making our house a home and making that house ready for a first-time home buyer. It should be a long, hard ride, but it should be an interesting one. Are you ready?

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately. My Charles' dad passed away last Monday. We took some time off and said our goodbyes. I'll be back to blogging later this week. Until then, know that I love you.