Broken Bells

I love music. All kinds, all the time. I would definitely call my taste in music eclectic. I have a little bit of everything. But my favorite CDs are the ones I can listen to all the way through and love from start to finish.

Even better is when I stumble across a gem one way or the other. It's like finding buried treasure. Only, unlike a chest full of gold, this treasure I like to share. Family, friends, anyone who will listen.

So that's what I'm doing right now.

I discovered Broken Bells sometime in mid-2010. I heard "The High Road" on a shopping trip in Hastings, meandered over to the screen that was playing the video so I could catch the name of the band. I realized I recognized the name—I'd seen the CD only a few days before next to the register at Starbucks. I decided to take that as a sign.

I immediately went over to the music department and found a copy of the CD. I forked over my money (Okay, you got me—I used my credit card) and popped the disc in my car as soon as I got in. I was enjoying it so much that when I got back to my apartment, I didn't want to get out of the car.

Since then, I've only grown to love it more.

I'm terrible at describing or categorizing music because I like so many different genres. So instead of trying to explain it only to fail, I recommend heading over to iTunes and previewing Broken Bell's self titled CD. I don't imagine you'll regret it.

I know I didn't.

The Night Santa Came

Christmas at my house is always my favorite time of year. I love the way my Mom decorates our house. It's the epitome of warm and cozy, inviting and festive.

But on Christmas morning, there's something extra-special about it. It's a little warmer, a little more vibrant, a little more exciting. And it doesn't matter where we are. It's been this way at each house we've lived in. It's not about the place; it's about the people who inhabit it, and who make it what it is. Ever since I was a little girl, the room with the Christmas tree has been the room. When the Christmas tree isn't up, it becomes the room that the Christmas tree will be in. There's something about Christmas that's just particularly special to me.

And Christmas Day 2010 will definitely go down in the books as one of the top five best Christmas Days yet.

Tucker is ready to open presents.

It started out like any other Christmas does for us. The first thing I did upon waking was look for my Christmas stocking. Because that's where the candy is! I said good morning and Merry Christmas to Mom and Dad, got Tucker all excited at the prospect of opening his presents, and ogled the wrapped boxes, gift bags, bows, glitter, and tissue paper spilling out from under our tree.

We had a relaxed breakfast, all of us anticipating the soon-to-come gift unwrapping extravaganza. In my family, the actual unwrapping takes much longer than it would if not for the fact that each of us—myself, my Mom, and my Dad—have cameras. We're like the ultimate picture-taking family. While one of us opens a present, the other two snap away. If two of us start to open presents at the same time, one will inevitably slow down, so that the actual present-reveal isn't simultaneous, thus making it difficult to capture the moment on camera.

There really isn't a downside to this unique Christmas Day tradition; at least not that I can see. It in and of itself makes the whole present-unwrapping last longer, and we never find ourselves lacking in the photo memories department.

I'd guess between the three of us, we have at least three hundred pictures*. Overkill? Perhaps. But better too many than too few. You might think I'm exaggerating, but...I'm not.

*Upon uploading and sorting through pictures for this post, I have learned that we have 354 photos from this Christmas. 

I am not joking.

I was the most excited for Mom to open the silver scarves I got her. It had been my mission—a few days before Christmas, I was frantically searching. Mom's only stipulation for the scarf she wanted was that it be silver. I ended up finding two. I bought them both. One is a more understated silver scarf. The other, a fun sequined scarf. Not only was I excited for her to open her present and find that I had managed to come up with a silver scarf, but I was also excited for her to find out she got not one, but two of them. (Fortunately, she liked them both!)

Scarf #2.

Scarf #1.

It was a great Christmas for us. We all got stuff we wanted, with a great mix of stuff we weren't expecting. None of it was unwanted or disliked.

All of us were having a great time. All three of us are huge fans of goofing off. Christmas is no exception.

When the package is just as fun as the present.

I was doubly excited when I got a brand new bottle of my favorite perfume, J'adore. I had run out a while ago, but still had plenty of some other scents, so I didn't think I could justify spending the money for a new bottle. But I'm so happy I got more! I absolutely adore J'adore. No pun intended.

I also got an adorable shirt from my Mom! A shirt boasting the Greek letters of the International English Honor Society I was inducted into last semester. I really love it. It is too freakin' cute!

Sigma Tau Delta, represent!

But more than the perfume, more than the pile of video games, the candy, the clothes, the highlight of my day—my season, in fact—was the letter.

The letter from Santa.

How many of you guys can say you got one of those?

After we had finished opening presents, and were re-examining our loot, we heard the doorbell ring. Confused as to who would possibly be dropping by unannounced on Christmas, I went to the door. It was there that I found the letter.

Apparently, Mr. Clause and Tucker became acquainted when he was entering the house through the chimney to deliver presents. Tucker, the lucky pup that he is, had a delightful conversation with Santa and he got to meet Rudolph. In all the excitement, as he was leaving, Santa realized he'd forgotten my present in his sleigh. Already running behind schedule, Tucker quickly informed him that it would be alright for Santa to leave my present in my car, and that the faithful pup would let me know to look for it there.

Sure enough, when I went out to my car, I found my last two presents!

What I found in them blew me away. Santa really outdid himself this year.

It was a brand new iPad, and a case to boot!

I was floored.

I had mentioned wanting one, but in no way shape or form expected to get one. Especially not so soon.

But my favorite part is the inscription on the back.

I may as well go ahead and admit that I totally teared up a little when I read it. My parents have always been so wonderful and so supportive of my ambitions to write, and I never cease to appreciate the fact that no matter what, I know they back me up one hundred percent.

As excited as I was about the iPad—and let me tell you, it's no exaggeration to say I was doing a happy dance and jumping for joy—I think the most heart-warming and meaningful part of it is the inscription and the meaning behind it.

I'm undeniably thrilled with all of the presents I got this year, but most of all I am thankful—so thankful—for my parents, and how much they love me, and the fact that I was able to spend this Christmas with them again.

After all, Christmas isn't really about presents anyway.

Though it's several days late—more than that, really—the sentiment is still close to my heart; I hope all of you had a wonderful and very merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve: Lights, Presents, Action!

This Christmas has been so wonderful. As well as a delightful combination of busy and laid back. I'll only briefly apologize for the lateness of this post, which I meant to have written up within a couple of days of it happening. But I'm a college kid reveling in a break from course work and class attendance, so I got lazy and am just now getting to writing it up.

I had been looking forward to Christmas Eve almost as much as Christmas Day for several months. My best friend Matt was flying in from NYC for break and we have a tradition to go Christmas-Lights-Looking and have a present swap the night before Christmas. We'd been talking about it for awhile now. Living in Texas, we've spent some Christmas Eves bundled up in the car, cranking the AC so we can pretend it's actually really cold outside, but this time Mother Nature took care of the AC for us. The fact that it was raining a little didn't dampen our spirits at all.

We convened around six to swap our presents, which is always a blast.

Our presents, about to be swapped!

We had quite the haul this year. A few things we each were expecting, but several great surprises as well! And, of course, as is typical with our escapades, we documented the whole event on camera.

Matt tackles the task of unwrapping.

Official NY Starbucks card! Straight from The Big Apple!

Custom coffee mug. Thank you, Hyperbole and a Half.

SPONGEBOB. I love.

Our collective haul.
I'd like to note that the whipped cream and pie crusts are particularly exciting.
We've been talking for years about throwing pies in each other's faces.
This year, it will happen. Obviously.

Up next on the agenda—Christmas-Lights-Looking. We piled into my car and headed out. Our first order of business was looking for a place still open and selling hot chocolate. Unfortunately, Starbucks was already closed. So we drove to Sonic to ask if they had hot chocolate. If not, we had decided, we would be getting chocolate shakes and pretending. Ironically, when we were informed that they did indeed have hot chocolate, we were disappointed we wouldn't be getting shakes.

But it's Christmas. Well, Eve. But still. So we got both.

Can I just say, Sonic hot chocolate has got nothing on Starbucks hot chocolate. It was more like drinking a thin, liquified snicker-doodle. Not sure what made them think they could call it chocolate. Our shakes, however, were quite tasty!

Then we spent an hour or so driving around to look at Christmas lights. We subtly took pictures of our favorites. Most of the pictures are blurry since we hated to be obvious about it—I know I'd feel a little weird seeing someone taking a picture of my house, even if I did have pretty Christmas lights up. But our intentions were pure—no ulterior motive. Just a few blurry reminders of some of our favorite light displays.

Then we headed home. I dropped him off at his house to spend time with his family and I went home to my own.

I know a lot of families open presents on Christmas Eve. Mine is not one of them. When I was a kid, I was allowed one present early, then on Christmas Day came the miserable wait between waking up at the crack of dawn because IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING, GUYS! and the moment when my Mom, Dad, and Super Granny were up, finished with breakfast, and ready to gather in the living room by the tree. Looking back, I'm not sure how I survived. So many hours of anxiously staring at the presents in hopes that the time would pass magically and we could open the presents right away.

At least I had my stocking to tide me over. Candy, candy, candy. And usually a horse figurine and some Lip Smackers. I kind of miss using that stuff.

All in all, Christmas Eve was a complete success. And I went to sleep eager to greet Christmas morning.