Christmas Report

For the most part, this was a relaxing Christmas. I stayed at home this year--after the snow issues of 2006 and the plumbing issues of 2007, I decided not to risk a third year of Christmas Travel Fun. I did take 3 days of vacation in addition to the holiday--Friday was my only work day this week! Well, someone had to be in the office since the company was officially open. Things were extremely slow at the office, even though I did end up with 2 sales calls, one at my office the other at his.

I spent my mini-vacay mostly hanging out at home and running a Christmas-related errand or two. Like Monday. DF's main gift had arrived and was ready for installation: he bought winter tires and rims for my car. The Blizzaks are supposed to enable me to stop on ice, which is a regular feature of winter weather here in the high desert. I realize this is a thoughtful gift, but just a wee bit too practical.

The other gift was for both of us--he ordered wild Alaska salmon, shrimp, and king crab from FishEx. Yum. Through no fault of theirs, the fish was not delivered timely. FedEx had it on the truck on Christmas Eve but neglected to drop it off at my house. So, we are waiting for the replacement order to arrive on Tuesday. I was able to salvage the king salmon and the scallops (FishEx substituted them for the shrimp) and we'll eat them soon, but the crab got pitched.

My sister and brother-in-law sent some tops, all of which fit. My favorite is the Ralph Lauren silk/cashmere sweater on the right of the picture below. I love printed sweater knits, and this one is a subtle gray/olive/plum paisley. I wore it to work on Friday.



DF had to work at the hospital on Christmas Day, so I had the day to myself to sleep in and putter about the house. I actually did something sewing-related, cutting out a couple of patterns that I'm planning to start sewing up this weekend (more on that in other posts). For dinner, I made roast beef with roasted vegetables and my grandmother's heirloom Cranberry Salad recipe. Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever made roast beef!! I used the NY Times Cookbook's instructions as my guide, with added references to some other recipes I had pulled from the Food Network.


Of course, I've been shopping. I mean, if DF's going to be practical, someone has to provide the fun stuff. And that would be me.

• Another box arrived from FabricMart this week with some awesome winter fabrics: double faced wool jersey, shearling, double faced taffeta and fleece. (Can you tell that lately I have a fascination with double faced fabrics?) I also picked up a lovely piece of merino wool jersey and a black and white boucle. Darn those box specials they keep inserting with each order! They are too tempting.





• I allowed myself to be led astray by Talbot's and got a gray paisley wrap skirt. Actually I got two of them to test for fit, so one is going back. I'm still having post-traumatic stress over the last store visit, so I shopped on the internet. I'm not sure if I'll return the second skirt to the store or UPS it back. Here's what it looks like:
  
  



• My hairdresser was having a jewelry sale at her salon, so I got the silver bear fetish necklace I've been eyeing for the last few visits. At $20, I had to have it. This is a beautiful piece, heavy with a lot of detail:





• Oh yeah, I also succumbed to J.Jill while at the office yesterday. Several pairs of jeans and a couple of sweaters are on their way. At an additional 40% off of already marked-down merchandise, hmm, well, I do wear jeans a lot...Yes, I'm rationalizing. But really, I'm going to slow down with the shopping. In 2009.