All Aboard!

"The thing about trains...it doesn't matter where they're going.  What matters is deciding to get on."

--The Polar Express

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'Tis the Season

The holidays are my favorite time year, as they are for many others.  Each year they usually mean something different than the years past.  This year I've found I haven't over-indulged myself [yet] in decorating, movies, or even shopping.  Rather I've found myself thinking twice about the simple things, the very basic tasks, that I do everyday for myself that not everyone can do with such ease.  Buying a couple extra items of non-perishables at the grocery and drug stores.  Noticing the boxes at store fronts asking for toys for strangers and helping to fill up a little space in it.  Handing out extras of food to the man on the street who wishes a "happy holidays," but very well may not have a roof to spend them under.  It's rather easy to think twice.  The challenge is always doing it.  Once you do though you find how rather simple it can be for most.

{Image via Note to Self}

Give

This may just be my most favorite week of the year.  Thanksgiving week has a little bit of all that makes life sweet.  Reunions with friends, family dinners, delicious feasts, good drinks, and the thrill of the sale. I've always found it important this week, more so than any other, to enjoy the little things and take things in stride.  Take time to relax and give thanks.  Don't pass up any invites that may come along your way either though.  {After all it was the thousands of other invites along the way that got you to where you are.}  Most importantly though show your thanks.  Give compliments to the chefs, be the gracious guest that brings a token of appreciation, call up that friend you've been thinking of, and remember those who aren't as fortunate.  Be well.


Image via The Vamoose

Merry Holiday Season!

Maybe it seems wrong posting about the holiday season right after Happy Halloween wishes.  It's not though.  The holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas-or whatever you choose to celebrate) comes once a year, and it usually seems to have a short stay.  Maybe you get tired of all the trees, lights, and carols.  Fine.  What's always made me enjoy the holiday season is the time I get to spend with my friends and family.  It's about the timeless traditions and the people that made them that way.  So before your inner-Scrooge comes out this week when all the stores rollout their window display, stop and think about all there is to look forward to in the coming weeks.  Don't be afraid to start planning or even buying.  Enjoy it all while it's here!

Image credit:  Erin Jang

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No Failures Here

It's my personal Christmas tradition to curl up on my couch and enjoy my all-time favorite cinematic masterpiece, "It's a Wonderful Life." Every year I go through the first two hours in thorough enjoyment, watching George Bailey's life unfold thinking I'm going to make it through okay. Then the final eight minutes play, and every hug and smile from the residents of Bedford Falls brings on a tear. [I've come to find my eyes must be prepared for this event from the opening credits, as the tears come and stream down quite quickly.] While my all-time fave, I save this movie just for the Christmas season as it is more special that way. However, it serves as great reminder that we unfortunately all too often and quickly forget. Luckily though, Clarence the Angel leaves us a simple, yet profound line at the end of the movie to sum up this theme. It's to "Remember that no man is a failure who has friends." Watching all of George Bailey's friends crowd in his living room singing "Auld Lang Syne" after giving what they could to aid in his misfortune reminds us all how lucky we are. If we all have just one friend who's there to help, even when we don't ask...well, that's how we really get our wings.

Living La Vida Local

Christmastime has always brought out the romantic in me. The idea of charming storefronts and candlelights in restaurant windows, is really what make my spirits bright. However, most Christmas festivities take place in mega-malls, discount department stores, and chain restaurants. Possibly because they're ones that invade our media streams, and shape our Christmas-present concepts. One of the great things that have emerged out of these unfortunate economic times though is the emergence of creative and driven entrepreneurs. New storefronts and restaurants are popping up all over that are completely unique to the cities they reside in. Here have been a few of my favorites that have helped make the holidays a little more merry:

Gooey butter cakes are a St. Louis tradition. No one does them better than Gooey Louie Cakes located on Chippewa, just west of Hampton. They are the perfect treat to bring for a holiday party.

Bailey's Chocolate Bar is that charming spot to cozy up in after a long day of shopping. Their specialty chocolate liqueur drinks are a great way to take the edge off from the crowds. Right in the heart of Lafayette Square, it's fun and chic while remaining low key.

Need a little of this and a little of that? Find everything you didn't know you needed, but are just the perfect idea at Paste Crafts in Soulard. Even if you're not the arts and crafts type, plenty of local designers and artists have their handmade pieces for sale in this playful store.

For some yuletide spirits to catch up with your favorite pals, try Jimmy's Cafe on the Park. In the DeMun neighborhood of Clayton, they provides great drinks, good sounds, and even warm fires. Simply perfect for a holiday happy hour.

One of my favorite vocal artists is St. Louisan, Erin Bode. Her holiday album A Cold December Night has old and new seasonal favorites. Her music is great as background music at your holiday party, or for soothing sounds to get you from one store to the next. She's even better live too if you can catch one of her performances.

Hidden treasures are all over if you look out. Walk in one next time you see a new sign and see if you can't find something unique and noteworthy!

What Do I Care If Icicles Form?

It was inevitable, but very sly all the same. The first winter cold front has hit, leaving me to my standard evening garb of sweatpants and fleece jackets. Winter does not have to be so drab though. In fact it can be quite "glam." This year, most of my Christmas gifts will be in the form of donations to various charitable causes and organizations. To keep in theme of the giving spirit, I decided to comprise my remaining wish list of gifts I'll be receiving to be products that give a portion of the proceeds back to charity. At the top of my list is a most versatile item: the Vegan Wrap boot from TOMS Shoes. They're great for wearing on an afternoon shopping exursion or dressing up with some straight legs and a gray fur stole. [Okay, so I may already know what I'll be doing with them after receiving them.] Of course they'll also keep you warm while keeping your style chic and sleek this winter. Best yet, it's One for One. You get a pair of boots, and someone in need gets a pair of shoes as well. After all it's better to give than receive. With TOMS though, you can knock two snowmen with one snowball. You just may want to find some gloves though too.

Home for the Holidays

It's never taken me very long to learn from anything in life that things don't always go as planned. It took me no less than record time to once again come to this realization in having my own house. Especially during the holiday season. Being the Christmas fanatic that I am, my mind quickly filled with grandiose ideas of yuletide spirit in the form of sparkling garland in every doorway, large shiny ornaments hanging from the ceiling, and to top it all off a beautiful live Christmas tree. In the world of a recent college grad though, the term "grandiose" is just something you in hear fairy tales read from atop the corporate ladder.

My first Christmas in my new house looks a little more like this: a thin, though still sparkling, strand of garland hung from just one doorway, small trinkets placed neatly on my sparse furniture, and an artificial tree that took no less than five days to fully complete. Yes, it seems my worst fears are coming true. Christmas traditions are starting to become a little different than those in years past. A small collection of newer ornaments have unexpectedly replaced a lifetime of cherished ones that reside at my Mom's house. The funny thing about traditions though is that they are things handed down from year to year, yet it takes a person to make one and pass it down. Yesterday afternoon, with my Mom, stepdad, and grandparents all over to help try and reconstruct my fledgling artificial shrubbery, I realized something. My holiday favorites may be changing shape, but the people who gave them to me never will. And hopefully that strand of garland is the next on the list due for a transformation.

Wish Hard

The most fun part of the holiday season is that it inspires a lot of wishes. Everyone has wishes; some are big, but many are quite small. My friend Julie Zick had a wish a few years ago that those battling lukemia be given a chance for a cure. In Seattle, Washington, Anna Robinson wished someone could help her fight her battle with that same disease. Both Julie and Anna got their wish. Julie started a bone marrow drive at the University of Missouri, which has become one of the largest in the country. Anna, found a cell match that was willing to donate to her from the same drive Julie started. Both of those are just small wishes. All they require is a helping hand.

Wishes, if you look and listen carefully, are everywhere. It may be that person at work who just caught a cold, or that great idea looking for a little nudge. We all should make wishes whenever we can, because in doing so we feel better and give ourselves hope. Many wishes are, in fact, granted. Of course this can only be done by the actions and words of someone else. So maybe this holiday season we should challenge ourselves to grant as many wishes as we make. After all, it is the only other thing you can do with one.

"Kindness in giving creates love."--Lao Tzu

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*Top artwork from Keri Smith

Haul Out the Holly

Very few days are more fun to wake up on than November 1st. Plenty of chocolate can be found to eat, the scary movies are put back in the vaults, and Christmas season gradually starts make its descent upon storefronts and television ads. For me, it's a release of a little over a month of built up energy to keep from reactivating my "Christmas Music" playlist on iTunes. Even a balmy 60-degree temperature and a cloudless sky could not keep my audio players safe from the influx of Andy Williams and Burl Ives seasonal favorites.

The thing about Christmas music is you either love it or have a deep disdain for it. If you are one of those who goes into a cold sweat every time you hear it upon entering a mall, the most common reason you will give for that is it's "too happy." Ironically enough, if you are one of those who sneaks *N Sync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" on throughout the year, the most common reason given for playing it is because it "makes you happy." Well of course as most things in life, all that can be resolved in debates as this one is just to give way to preference and style. Holiday carols are most certainly not everyone's shoe that fits. For those eager elves out there though, such as myself, there is nothing more exciting than coming across local St. Louis radio station 100.3 Christmas (I think the station name explains itself), which went live today. As I once read, singing in the car is good therapy, and you will sound great doing it. Well I don't know if anything could make the latter true for myself, but I do know well over a hundred yuletide hits. So if you are one of those who runs at the sound of Johnny Mathis' voice, and you see a 23-year old brunette sipping on a Starbucks egg nog latte inquiring about claymation, beware. She just came out of a good therapy session.

A Few Tunes to Ease into the Season:

1. A Marshmallow World by Dean Martin

2. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by *N Sync

3. All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

4. I Like a Sleigh Ride by Peggy Lee

5. This Christmas by Chris Brown

Always Treat

It's not often I get the urge to bake. In fact it's next to never that I want to do anything involving being around kitchen appliances. However, if there is one thing I've learned while being in the workforce it's that people like bringing in their prized fresh-from-the-kitchen goods into the office to share. Now while I've made it quite clear to all my coworkers that I'm not the domestic type, I can't help feeling bad being the "dollar roll" girl on the Birthday potluck lunch days. So while making my weekly stop for grocery items at my local Target (because I'm far too undomestic for an actual grocery store) I came across a wonderful idea: Pillsbury Ready to Bake cookies. Perfect for the girl on the verge of kitchen anxiety. Just like a little school girl, I was so excited about having a Halloween treat to bring in for everyone that I almost completely forgot about the one essential item. The baking sheet. Once back home while taking out the box of pre-cut cookie dough, I was 99.7% sure I had never purchased anything of that nature while doing my home shopping. As luck would have it though someone, somewhere along the line must have tried to drop a hint (one that was never taken, I might add) and left one in my cabinet. So all was saved and I was able to take part in the joy of baking by placing the slices in a tidy design. Pathetic attempt? Possbily. I think one little pumpkin man even shed a tear at my puny confectionary skills. The important thing though is I can now say I am a bonafide member of the workplace. Step aside deluxe carrot cakes with homemade icing and egg souffles, I'm coming through!

Sweet Inspiration

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday by any means. Too many scary movies. Too many Almond Joys and not enough M&Ms. And too much pressure on "the costume." Thanks to college and its many tests, I have been on a three year hiatus from Halloween and the headache that is costume shopping. This year though, with the holiday night open in my agenda book, I found myself with an unexpected burst of holiday spirit and zeal. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to dress up as, but I knew just what I wanted to incorporate into my costume: a tutu. For no other rhyme or reason than it just seemed fun. Not long after, the idea of being a rubber ducky on Halloween night, was born. All I needed was a yellow top, yellow leggings, a hand-crafted duck beak, and an orange tutu. And wouldn't you know that I didn't even have to resort to my original idea of spray painting the tutu orange? Upon entering Dancewear Solutions in St. Louis, like a cone of glory, tutus of various bold colors stood before me, including the illusive orange. Thanks to the MCM clothing line at Dillards, the rest of the costume was easy (well, after walking the whole terrain of the Galleria Mall). With just a little felt fabric and some cardboard, viola!, my costume will be complete. Proof that even the biggest Halloween ghouls can find the spirit of the holiday with just a little bit of "piece-ful" inspiration.