New Festive Nails

I guess doing my nails has become somewhat of a WED night thing recently.  I was going to do green with white Christmas trees, but somehow the Konad stamper wasn't picking up the image on the plate.  It'd always be half a Christmas tree instead.  Maybe it has something to do with the Konad special White Pearl polish?  I haven't figured that out yet, but that didn't stop me from going with plan B- green with a silver leaf pattern.  Base coat: China Glaze in Starboard (2 coats). Silver: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Silver Sweep. Bundle Monster plate #205.

ZooLights

Shopping: New York and Company sent me an email this morning to alert me to their holiday sale: 50% off everything!  I also got a coupon in the mail: spend $100 and get $40 off.  It was too good of a sale to pass up.  I ended up being there for about an hour, making sure that I didn't miss anything.  At the end of my visit, I walked out of there with a new pea coat, a dress, and 4 tops.  I felt very lucky today!

Lunch and Movie: After New York and Company, I met up with Beth for lunch at Noodles and Co. and then hung out at her place with Lilly and watched The Five-Year Engagement on RedBox.  I enjoyed the beginning and the end, but there were parts in the middle that I thought were unnecessary and awkward (or maybe unnecessarily awkward?).  My favorite scene was the Elmo/Cookie Monster conversation at the end of the movie.  I'm glad it was in there; it pretty much saved the movie for me.  Overall, it was an entertaining movie, but nothing I'd see again.

ZooLights: It wouldn't be the holiday season without ZooLights for me.  I went last year and the year before that.  I guess you could consider it a tradition by now.  I met up with Meg and Robyn for dinner at the Woodley Cafe and then walked off our dinner at the Zoo...along with the gazillion people that were there with us.  That must have been because of the nice weather and the fact that it was Saturday.  The new carousel was a nice addition.  We sat and watched it for two rounds, trying to make out what animals they chose to feature.  The clam and cuttlefish got no takers both times, sadly.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi: Taking yesterday and today off from work has worked out really nicely.  I took my parents' to go see Life of Pi at the movie theater.  The director is Taiwanese, so of course, they were interested.  The fact that it was mentioned in Time Magazine's 10 best movies of 2012 didn't hurt either.  While I thought the cinematography was amazing, the movie was too deep for me.  You know, like parents dying, feelings of isolation and abandonment, hanging out in the middle of the ocean with a tiger that probably hates your guts...yikes.  The moral of the story being how there's always something in life that you might not like, but you have to deal with anyway is a good lesson though. 

Banana Bread: I had 5 bananas that looked like they were at the end of their life span.  Fortunately, it was the exact amount that I needed to make some banana bread. I followed this recipe, and added chocolate chips because everything is better with chocolate, in my opinion.  Like the pumpkin chocolate chip pound cake that I've baked before, this banana bread is quite dense, but quite yummy.  I'm glad that I'll be seeing some friends tomorrow so that I can share this loaf with them.

New Nail Polish

At the office: Conversation at work...(I was working in the main building, rather than at my desk which is located in the building across the street).

Policy Director (walks by and backtracks): "Weren't you here yesterday?  (Yes...)  Have you been displaced?"
Me: "No, I just like being over here."
Policy Director: "Oh, ok." (continues walking...)

Shopping: I had a good shopping day at Marshalls today.  I got a whole bunch of Martha Stewart stickers for $1.50/set and then right after I checked out, a whole selection of nail polish caught my eye.  Ooo, that was trouble.  I picked out a few and tried the grey color tonight.  This is my first Orly color...the specific brand is Color Blast.  I really think they should have called it "cement" rather than "reflection."

New Nails: Base coat: Orly in Reflection (2 coats). Red: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Racy Rouge. Bundle Monster plate #203.

I thought this rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" is so cute!

Custom Order Update

So...yesterday, I told you about the custom order that I received and finished.  Amazingly, today, I was able to meet up with the buyer and do the exchange. I think that promptness is important and appreciated in the buyer and shop owner relationship.  And while I don't expect it to be within 24 hours, I appreciate that she was available after work to pay me for the cards that I made.

I made a tray of brownies on Monday night...and right now, there are like 3 pieces left.  Thank goodness there are people around that will take them off my hands!  Of course, I had to eat some of them for quality assurance purposes.

Speaking of baking, I sent out a cookie exchange email across the organization this afternoon.  Many people accepted the calendar invite, so that was encouraging.  Hopefully that translates to people actually bringing stuff in 2 weeks from now.

2012 Craft Show #3 and a Good Etsy Day

Craft show: On Saturday, I did my 3rd and last craft show of the season.  I had been looking forward to it all season because I think it's my third time doing it (they didn't do one last year due to construction, but I'm glad they made a come back!).  The table fee is low, and the people that run it are always super nice.  I got a few people that said, "Oh, I bought cards from you last time.  I'm so glad that you came back!"  I was irked that there were some people that were selling things that came out of plastic bags.  I was suspicious that they were not handmade, but after further inspection, the crafts are handmade in another country (places in South America and Vietnam) and sold at the show.  Yes, that's handmade, but not handmade by the vendor.  Not the same...

Good Etsy Day: I woke up to a sale today.  The extra Stampin' Up sets that I got by accident at some crafty yard sales sold, so I made a little profit there and someone else can enjoy them.  Then I sold an elephant happy birthday card. AND THEN, I got a custom order for 10 origami dress cards from someone that I met at the 2nd craft show that I did season.  Whoo hoo.  The order's done, so now all we need to do is arrange for pick-up and payment.  Extra money in my pocket, woot!

Skyfall

Was amazing!  I had wanted to see it when it first came out, but when I found out that some of my friends (Robyn, Meg, Maria) wanted to see it, I thought it'd be better to wait until after Thanksgiving when everyone else could make it and tonight worked out for everyone.  The first theater that we went to, there was something wrong with the time that was published online and in the theater, so we got there 15 minutes late and the chances of getting good seats would have been slim.  We decided on another theater that was showing it about an hour later, and I'm glad that we stuck with the plan to go see the movie because I really liked it.  I can't decide if I liked it more than Casino Royale, but it's close!