Christmas-ing with Kay!

Today I took off work and grabbed Kay to spend the day together in Phoenixville. We ate at Tai Me Up, which is fast becoming a favourite of mine!, then to The Colonial Theatre to see Die Hard on the big screen. Kayla had only seen bits and pieces and I was so happy when she said she loved it. Her fave scene was towards the end when Hans is on the roof and McClane finds him. In an instant Hans morphs into a wimpy American and Kay was really impressed by how fluid Alan Rickman was in flipping from Hans to Bill Clay to Hans. (I love the scene in the bathroom where John is telling Officer Powell what he wants his wife, Holly, to know if he doesn't make it out of there alive.) After the show we put on Johnny Mathis Christmas tunes and drove through the backroads of Chester County looking at, and judging, people's holiday house lights. We ended the evening with Kay's fave Mathis song, the one I played for her all those years ago and left a lasting impression. It's so incredible to have one of the kids in my life actually like something that I introduced to them. She's the bestest.

Our fave home in Media, PA!

December FaceTime with Natalia in Honolulu

Earlier this week I FaceTimed with Natalia. I was braving the 23 degree weather in multiple layers, my feet in a Happy Heat pillow stuffed with a microwaveable heating pad, a heating pad on my lower back, a shawl around my shoulders, a hat, scarf, and a blanket on my legs. Natalia? Yeah, she was in a bikini. 

Early Bday for Bishop!

This New Year's Eve Bishop turns sixty. In honour of the big day, I bought him sixty gifties. Most of them were silly, like Post-It notes, toothpaste, cookies, and an oven mitt, but I did score him a few solid goodies and he seemed to like everything. Go me! Yesterday we both had the day off work and he came over to hang out, bring me his homemade soup (Bishop's love language is food) and that's when I forced him to open all of the gifts well in advance of his big bday. 

(He spotted Buddy the Elf and declared, "that is the only film I can tolerate that man in." Ha!)

The List:

1978 Incredible Hulk lunchbox

Toni Morrison Field Notes notebook

Kate Gabrielle pin - Go Hug a Landmine

BlueQ Swedish dish towel - Normalize Losing Your Shit

BlueQ kitchen towel - Multi-Task Master

Preserve toothbrush - light green

Happy Tooth toothpaste

Cocofloss - Gelato Affogato

BlueQ oven mitt - DJ Stove Top

BlueQ socks - I'll Take One Order Of Woods, Two Large Lakes...

Betty White stamps

Ooly ninja erasers

Ooly comic book pencils

Bahamadia albums on cd - BB Queen and Kollage

Young Black Teenagers on cd

John Wick's car - matchbox size, of course

Browndages

Browndages - Young Icons

DarnBooks green floppy disk notebook

vintage holiday Borders travel mug

Ooly blue pencil sharpener

BlueQ Grumpy Old Man gum

Basquiat magnetic bookmarker

Hurraw! coconut lip balm

The Bitch paperback by Jackie Collins

John Lewis hardcover edition of Carry On

yin-yang bookmark

lined Post-It notes

Nubian Heritage - Raw Shea Butter bar soap

mason jar with his 60 best qualities on coloured paper

BlueQ pencil case - Welcome to the Shit Show

black Sharpie marker

two-pack black Sharpie pens

vintage Halston necktie

Ooly multi-pen

Does this handkerchief smell like chloroform? handkerchief

W.A.S.T.E. muted horn pin

Ooly and a homemade Time Travel fortune teller

Fishs Eddy heart like trinket tray

BlueQ handy tote - Packin' Snacks 

BlueQ shopper tote - I Have A Bit Of A Plant Problem

Trader Joe’s burlap tote

Stanley handle travel bottle with initials

Grape Nehi

Peach Nehi

Orange Nehi

Lush bath bomb - Mystery Machine

Lush bath bomb - Scooby Doo

Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies

Jiggie cassette tape puzzle (with handwritten mix on the back)

Everyone lotion

Woody's Jawnament

1940s recipe cards

Trader Joe’s organic Pink Lady apples

Jennie's Coconut Bites

Snickers

PayDay

Herr's potato chips

Uncle Eddie's Vegan oatmeal raisin cookies

Ritz crackers  

M&M is at it again!

Lucy's Elf on a Shelf got her again! M&M and friends crashed out on her when she was asleep, had their photo taken and uploaded it to be her iPad's background. Genius!

Baking Machine

This holiday, at least so far, I baked nine batches of cookies. The chocolate chip ones turned out spectacularly and I think I need to make at least three more batches since I still need to deliver cooks to Aunt Berne, Melanie, and Lauryn. 

Books & Cooks Tour 2025!!

I was so freakin' happy that Jax wanted to continue our silly tradition. This year we delivered my homemade vegan cookies and books to Xavier & Mary, Dave, Stacey, & Lucy, MeMom & Pop, Bishop, Uncle Alan & Ann Marie, and Kayla & Kenny. I drove while Jackson played DJ and we kicked back to Nirvana, Deftones, Pearl Jam, Rush, Incubus, Sam Cooke, and Ozzy. Oh, and I made him listen to Taylor Swift's All Too Well (the ten minute version, of course) and he stated, "I like her as a person. But I hate her music." All I could think was, "Uh-huh. I used to think that very same thing...." One day I'll turn him to the bright side and he'll appreciate her greatness. Anyway...we had a grand time together. The highlight for me was just before I dropped him off last night to my in-laws. He wanted to listen to Smells Like Teen Spirit one more time, saying he misses playing that glorious song. He put it on and I ordered him to drum along to it on his legs and got a personal performance while driving down 295. That kid is so crazy talented. Here's the best photos from this year's tour.

Snowfall and Cookie Dough

'tis the damn season - Taylor Swift

Cookie Road - The Julie Ruin

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - The Civil Wars

Christmas Starts Tonight - Olly Murs & The Ordinary Boys - Olly Murs

The Christmas Song - Carpenters   

Snow - RHCP

Christmas in Herald Square - Tony Bennett

Cold Cold Ground - Tom Waits

Wonderful Christmastime - The Shins

Christmas Is Going To The Dogs - The Eels

Winter Wonderland/Let It Snow - Midler & Mathis

Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald

Every Christmas Eve/Giving - Johnny Mathis

Winter Weather/Winter Wonderland - Mel Tormé

Frozen Pines - Lord Huron

Winter Light - Linda Ronstadt

Amy's Christmas Album Collection

Stratford Winter Wonderland

Back before Marina lived in South America and then got married and had a kid, we were nearly inseparable. She now lives about twenty minutes from me but I only get to see her maybe two or three times a year. I always thought that when she grew up we would still be best pals and hang out tons. But it seems once people get hitched and have kids, their spinster friend get pushed to the background and eventually is thrown away entirely. I've had a long time to work through this and even though I miss what she and I once had, I absolutely love stumbling upon an old video of us from back in the day. This one is from Christmas Eve 2010 when we were driving around nearby towns to check out Christmas lights. Man, we had some great times together!

Happy Holiday

How hysterically adorable is this Christmas card that my cousin Alina made in 2012?!

It's Christmastime, Snoopy-Doop!!

Oh my gosh!!! These are thee cutest doughnuts to ever exist!!!!!

May's Christmas House

I saw these festive Spark matches when I was with Autumn in Ohio and had to buy them. 

My hopes and dreams of late are entirely of having a safe, quiet home, far from neighbours and noise. Since I'm obsessed with Instagram pages that have anything to do with houses, this one post about the Christmas house that best suits people based on the month of their birth made me click on it to see May's. I will so take this as my own. Note that there's not another living soul as far as the eye can see. Just me and Denver, my gorgeous horse that never bites and also mucks out their own stable. Amazing!

(photos kidnapped from rickusloveschristmas on IG)

November 2025 Donations

LesbiVeggies

It's been over a year since LesbiVeggies closed their Audubon location and it's been rough without their fabulous vegan cuisine. When I saw on Insta a plea for some cash to get the new place in Woodbury open, I jumped to throw some money their way. We are all desperate to see them open!

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

October 2025 Books

* Horrorland: The Horror at Chiller House ¹ by R.L. Stine - This was a quick read/listen and it was actually really good! Just the right amount of creepy to ease me into the month of all things spooky.

* The Best Halloween Ever ¹ by Barbara Robinson - Decent, but not as cute as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

* Graveyard Shift ¹ by Stephen King - Of the five short stories, Graveyard Shift, The Man Who Loved Flowers, The Last Rung on the Ladder, Night Surf, and Jerusalem's Lot, I only skipped Night Surf. It got too dark and I said "Nope!" The other four stories were really good and very spooky. 

♥ ‘Salem’s Lot ¹ by Stephen King - A favourite of mine that I must listen to every October. 

♥ Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne - I'm determined to read all of Dunne's books before my fiftieth. This novel in the form of a memoir was about Dunne's time spent during the Simpson trial in Los Angeles. I was a senior in high school during the infamous Bronco "chase" and at seventeen, I could care less about a low rate actor who used to be an athlete and then murdered the mother of his children and a friend of hers. I wasn't sure I'd like this book, but I was riveted! I feel bad, but I kinda think Dominick Dunne is fast replacing Henry Rollins as my favourite writer...

♥ The Exorcist ¹ by William Peter Blatty

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.