From Vera Wang PJs to Charles Dickens

…a few random thoughts this Christmas evening…

*Christmas is over, and I can finally breathe….I took a relaxing shower and slipped into my new black Vera Wang pjs I bought myself last week.  I saved them for Christmas.  To me, there’s something really necessary about having new pajamas to wear on Christmas.  Silly, yes, but oh, so essential.

*Every time I walk into my disaster-of-a-bedroom my  thoughts immediately go to taking a day out-an entire day, and tearing it apart and sorting through every single thing with a fine tooth comb and really paring down.  The goal-to make my room a haven instead of the hell it’s been.  This week.  You wait and read.  It’s gonna happen.   🙂

*A few days ago I blew the dust off my sewing machine and managed to find my favorite Folk and Whimsy doll pattern,  Matilda Peabody.  She was calling to me. So I dug out my muslin, pressed it and began the creation process.  I’ve  finished her body….now comes the fun part.  I really love this doll because she’s a big girl, with very shapely arms and legs and she’s a fun twist of  Victorian meets prim.  I am hoping she will imbue me with the urge to begin redesigning dolls again.  Doll making is what I do well, and I’ve got a lot of practice making dolls.  But still, I want to get better.  I’m looking forward to having Matilda around to inspire me.

*I absolutely love Burl Ives Christmas songs.  To me, his voice is like pinecones and evergreens.  When I hear Holly Jolly Christmas and Silver and Gold, the songs send me back to how it felt to be a child at Christmas.   With that,  a sting of sadness quickly follows behind.  Its a sadness because I miss my dad.

*I realized a few months ago that I no longer remember what my father’s voice sounded like.  As hard as I try,  I can’t remember it.  That makes me very sad.  He’s been gone since 1982.  Time has a way of playing nasty tricks on one’s memory.

*Strawberry Jello pies are desserts from heaven-especially if they gel firmly.  My mom can make them perfectly. I can’t.  No matter what I do, they never solidify….always mushy for me.

*Today I ate a strawberry pop tart (but the organic, Trader Joe brand)-HEAVEN.  It’s been YEARS since I had one and instantly it tasted like being a kid….now I remember why I loved them so.  I want another one now.

*Yesterday, on Christmas eve I popped in my favorite Goodwill Store  just to see if there were any goodies left.  I was in the mood for a quickie treasure hunt.  I love white ironstone pitchers and I spotted a tall one with a lid sitting on a metal shelf.  I picked it up, took a quick glance at the bottom and was delightfully surprised to read the words POTTERY BARN SNOWFLAKE.  Score! I paid $4.99 for it.  I was so happy, I skipped to my car feeling like I just got an early Christmas present.

*Rose Salve is the best stuff.  I tried it after I read that Sarah Jessica Parker considers it one of her top 5 or 6 favorite beauty products.  Like Sarah, I apply it to my lips every night before I go to sleep and it keeps them soft and the dryness away.  I love the smell.  Not only is the salve great for lips, after the stitches in my toes were taken out after my foot surgery I applied the salve to my scars to heal them.  It worked like a dream!  I highly recommend you try it.  I purchase mine at Bath and Body Works.

* For the last 5 days, I’ve had this song stuck in my head.  A few days ago, my husband was playing random Elton John songs and this one came on.  I hadn’t heard it in like 20 years.  I forgot how much I loved it!  Since then, it’s been looping through my brain relentlessly and it’s the first thing I think of in the morning when I wake up.  Actually, it’s this part, “I’ve got John Wayne Stances, I’ve got Errol Flynn’s advances, and it doesn’t mean a doggone thing.”

*This new year my hope is to teach myself Adobe Illustrator and learn French from Rosetta Stone software.    I’m thinking, if I end up going to Paris anytime soon (yeah, right) I’ll need to speak the language,  so I better get on it.

*Surprisingly, I didn’t get ONE of the things I asked for in my Santa Baby Christmas List.  {{sigh}}

*Tonight I’m really in the mood to dive back into Great Expectations.  I’m  past the half way point and I’ve been taking way too long to finish it.  I hope to make a serious dent.  Good night all.  Dickens is calling me.