Christmas Loot

Good morning!

We lived! Christmas is over! Long live Christmas! Matthew and I spent most of yesterday after I posted about Ru watching the fourth season of Eastbound and Down, drinking palomas, and eating entirely too many servings of vegan mac 'n cheez. I have to admit that I'm a little bit worse for wear after our day long bacchanal, but dragged myself into work this morning in the bitter cold for the one more day I have to work this week. My weekend-off foruitously lined up with the holiday, so I'm out Fri-Sat-Sun after today! YES. I'm going to spend all day tomorrow sleeping in and playing with my new Christmas spoils. First off, we don't have a holiday photo from this year (because I'm lazy), but here's one from last year, taken by Chad McClarnon at his now annual holiday party:

Don't we look festive! I have a doozy of dress to wear to the McClarnon seasonal soirée this year, but it's not until this weekend (two words: Bob. Mackie). I am looking forward to Saturday!

So-- what did Santa leave you on Christmas morn? I'm not to the point in my adult life where I scorn the pleasure of being completely spoiled on December 25th with commercial goods. Here are some of the things Matthew got me for Christmas this year:

1) Bee Gees Lunchbox:

Not that I've been wanting one of these since seventh grade, but I have been totally wanting one of these since seventh grade. There was an article in a local "indie" publication called SMACK, circa 1997, about all the amazing things you could find at thrift stores, and in one of the photo insets, was this lunchbox. Just sitting on a shelf at the Salvation Army. For all I know, the photographer brought his late seventies' lunchbox into the store and planted it as a "ringer" retro good, but nevertheless, I have ever since spent at least a fraction of every Metro Nashville thrift store visit secretly hoping I'd find one. Matthew scooped this one up for me from Ebay! I reiterate: I am so spoiled. After seeing honest-to-God Barry Gibb appearing on The Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch on that Fallon-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live (!!), we have been playing "Nights on Broadway" nonstop in the house for like a week. "I had to folllllow you....though you did not waaaant me to....but that won't stop my loooooovin' you..." has been blasting on Spotify an almost embarrassing majority of the time I've been off work this week. Viva los Bee Gees! I am exicted to start taking my lunch to work in this, most impractical of vintage lunch containers. Don't be jealous!

2) Czech dangle mummy earrings

I may or may not have left a link to an ebay auction in a Facebook message to Matthew. I'm only sorry that I'm not sorry-- how freakin' cool are these?! Combining the curse of the pharaoh with the Theda-Bara-silent-movie-ishness of dangle earrings, I have not been so excited about earrings since he got me a pair of encased-in-lucite-crab-earrings (see here) one Valentine's day. They're not here yet as the auction didn't end in time for holiday shipping, but you'd better believe they will be featuring large in my accessory wardrobe from the moment the postman delivers them until well into the new year. Expect a lot of dramatic head-tosses to draw attention to my ear adornment. Yay!

3) A Surface RT!!

I kind of feel like someone's grandma who was gifted an unbelievably au courant gift for Christmas. Matthew and his dad and April threw in on this laptop-meets-tablet device and I am still trying to figure out how to use it. Shouts of "Bibi, where is my email? What if I want to read a book? How do I close this tab?! How come I can't install Silverlight!" have been ringing through our home since dawn yesterday, but I have managed to watch Chicago Hope while cooking (score! Usually I would just have to blast the speakers on the computer in the den to have audio-accompaniment to my culinary endeavors!), read a 1929 issue of Photoplay, download some scary ebooks from the library, record myself singing along to a karaoke version of Cher's "Just Like Jesse James", and set the screen to a photo of Joan Crawford. Not bad, not bad. Matthew installed a PacMan app on it last night, but I haven't tried that yet. Hopefully, I will learn how to use this device before this time next year, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Alternately, I have to say, the things I was most excited about giving as gifts this year:

1) Transporter from Star Trek: Next Generation:

Yes, I dang did get this for my sister and her husband for Christmas. It was sitting on a shelf in the toy section of the Great Escape on Charlotte, with the price written on a yellow sticky note. Under the price? The capital letters, simple description: "IT WORKS!!". I didn't know exactly what "it works" meant in this context-- Matthew and I joked with the guy behind the counter that it should be way more expensive if it actually works, maybe we should call the Smithsonian, etc, etc-- but once Sus popped in the C batteries (isn't that a flashback? IT RUNS ON C BATTERIES), we were surprised and delighted to watch a stand-in pink Power Ranger figure disappear before our very eyes! Sus has a Picard figurine but I couldn't figure out how to get her to bring it without ruining the surprise, so a bendy doll of Kimberly stood in for an Enterprise crew member. Check out this video on Youtube to see the thing in action...I thought they would use some clunky "switch the chambers" thing to create the disappearance effect, but it's something to do with lights and mirrors, and it looks REALLY neat!

2) It's a Man's Man's watch...from Timex:

I got Matthew a pretty neat vintage early 80's gaming console for Christmas (which deserves its own post, another day) as his big present, but I was also excited to give him this retro-looking watch from Timex as another in our parade of holiday gifts. Doesn't it look like something Michael Douglas would wear in Wall Street? Because his store doesn't have a large, visible clock near his workspace, and he's not able to use his phone, my poor little guy often loses track of time at work, and I thought, "What could be more practical, old school, and manly, than a Timex digital watch?" It beeps on the hour, features an indiglo face, and draws stares from his coworkers. "Is it some kind of Pebble?" No, it's just a time piece! But a neat one, and next-to-the-console, probably the most well received gift I've ever given my now-husband.

There were more gifts given and received, but these are just some of the highlights. What a Christmas it was! I'm ready for tomorrow so I can get more time to tinker with my toys!

So! Did you make off like a bandit this Christmas? Give or receive any amazing gifts? Have any holiday traditions that bear recounting? 

That's all for today, but I'll see you tomorrow for Photo Friday! Happy day after Christmas! Talk to you then.