Costumes From Enchanted

I went to see Enchanted at the Ziegfeld theater today. It's a beautiful, old historic theater that's a real treat to go to. Some of the costumes from the movie were on display at the theater. The puffed sleeves on the prince's costumes are ginormous!

J.K. Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard

You may have heard that J.K. Rowling has handwritten and illustrated a book called Tales of Beedle the Bard, a book that she mentions in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She has only made 7 copies. She is giving 6 of them to people who were instrumental in helping her with the Harry Potter books, and the last one she is auctioning for charity at Sotheby's. The book came to New York City to be viewed by the public for three days. We went on Tuesday. As we were walking up, a woman wearing a cloak and a tartan McGonagall-like hat came walking up to meet her friend wearing a Griffindor scarf. Now I am a huge Harry Potter fan, but the cloak and hat were a bit much.

The book is beautiful. I wish that she would have sold a cheaper version to the public. The book is handbound in Italian leather, and there are handmade silver pieces on the front set with moonstones.

And then we rode the bus home and I got motion sick and couldn't go to work that evening. I shouldn't have had all of that fresh-squeezed orange juice at Norma's.

Balloon Inflation

The balloon inflation Wed. night was insanely miserable. Because it was so warm and most of Broadway was shut down, there were crazy amount of people there. When I went two years ago with Julia and Layton, it was nothing like this. It's basically why we didn't go to the parade Thursday morning. We knew it would be awful. At least I've been twice now.


See that line of people across the road? I don't even understand where they were coming from. We were slowly shuffling our way to see the balloons.


Mr. Potato Head's foot, an ice-cream cone, and the top of JoJo's head.


Thanksgiving is brought to you by McDonald's.


Hello Kitty Supercute, a new balloon.


Scooby's patootie.

Turkey Love

Oh yeah baby, you know what I like. I love that fresh thyme, sage, and poultry seasoning. And that maple brine? Thank you.


My turkey injector--the first time I've used it. We'll see if it makes a difference.


My pumpkin cheese ball looks a little deformed. Perhaps I should just stick to hats.

And for Those of You With Less Holiday Spirit, Go Scrooge Yourself

http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=9559751863

Get Your Desk Diary On

This ad copy had me at "Savor opening lines from dozens of famous works of literature." I will be severely disappointed if Pride and Prejudice is not in there.


The 2008 edition in the popular and long-running Barnes & Noble Desk Diary series celebrates Famous First Lines chosen from a diverse selection of classic and modern novels, short fiction, and poetry. This handsome, richly illustrated planner provides a convenient weekly agenda format, monthly calendar grids, and a year of fascinating literary lore in a durable, handcrafted binding.

Savor opening lines from dozens of famous works of literature, accompanied by brief descriptive texts about the works and their authors. Also included is quiz about last lines from famous works, lists of prize-winning novels, an 8-page supplement of classic world maps, and other special features.

Go Elf Yourself!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9552634017

I could watch this all day. I think you should make your own and post them in the comments.

Christmas Movies

I love Christmas movies. Every year on Thanksgiving, I like to watch Miracle on 34th Street, because the movie starts on Thanksgiving with the Macy's parade. (Although since I've been cooking a big dinner, I haven't had time to watch it until the next day.) And every year we watch A Muppet Christmas Carol while we decorate our tree, and Heinz sings along to all the songs. And I like to watch It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve or Day. And of course there's A Christmas Story for 24 hours on TBS, which is awesome, and I also love The Bishop's Wife, Christmas Vacation, and Elf. What are some of everyone else's favorites?

Another Pumpkin Hat Hospital Photo!

Congrats to our friends JJ and Melissa on the birth of their second daughter. And again, I feel so honored that someone used the pumpkin hat for the hospital photo!

The Best Throw Ever

I have to give my mom mad props for finding these throws. They're called Serasoft throws and are available at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $20. And it's usually easy to snag a 20% off coupon in the mail or newspaper. My mom has bought these for almost everyone she knows, and I got one for Heinz's Aboulita and third-person Grandma. Apparently Aboulita loves hers so much that she keeps asking who gave it to her. And Grandma loves it too. It's perfect for snuggling on the couch, and it's a present that you can get just about anybody. And it's extremely soft.

The Best Slippers Ever

You may think it's lame to give slippers as a gift, but I think that these are the best ever. They have some hard soles on the bottom so they're sturdier than most slippers. And the fleece hugs your foot and is so comfy and warm. They're available at www.llbean.com for $20.

Stocking Stuffers from the Container Store

If there's not a Container Store in your area, you can order these items from www.containerstore.com. There's even a link for Stocking Stuffers.


This is the most brilliant of them all. A silicone cup cooley for people that you know who go to Starbucks a lot. Only $3.99. I can't decide if I want a pink or a brown one.


This pencil supposedly gets rid of scratches on CDs and DVDs. $5.99


An envelope opener; $4.99


These look awesome. You put them on the lens of your camera and it creates cool special effects. $5.99 for the whole set!


What kid wouldn't want a secret message writing set? $5.99

Stocking Stuffers and More, part 1 from Urban Outfitters

Here's some cool stuff from Urban Outfitters. I got several stocking stuffers from there last year. They have some cool retro stuff, like Peanuts and the Grinch, and kitchy items that adults my age will appreciate. I'm sorry that each photo doesn't have a link; go to www.urbanoutfitters.com and on the left, click Apartment, and then Entertain.


This is a poo-pooing reindeer. It comes with brown jelly bean-like candy.


I never had a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine, but I think that this might hold some good memories for some adults.


A key chain with sounds from the Mario Brothers games. $10


Yummy Peanuts characters lip balms. Some of them even seem appropriate for guys. $15


Star Wars games plug and play. I think it includes four games for $25.


A 3-D drawing tool. Last year they had 3-D drawing pads, which I thought were pretty cool. The drawings themselves didn't exactly look 3-D, but they looked like they were coming off of the page.


We obviously need this. It's so you can take pictures of yourself without having to do the whole holding out your arm thing. (See picture on the right.) $30, web only

Ambassador Heinz

Heinz went to visit some babies for me last week while he was interviewing for a job in Alabama. I can't believe Heinz wore his suit to visit babies in. That's pretty brave.

This is Luke. His mom, Katie, said that he had a good time and that he giggled and laughed the whole time Heinz was there. Heinz said that he would have a good time no matter who visited; he has a great personality. I guess it runs in the family.


This is Liam, Julia and Ryan's new baby. He is so little compared to Heinz's hand! Heinz said that he was cute. I think that's pretty obvious.

Christmas in New York City

I'm starting to get really excited about Christmastime this year. Christmas in New York City is very exciting, but I know that most natives are really dreading it because of the influx of visitors. The streets are definitely more crowded! But Christmas in Manhattan is fun to experience. There's the Rockefeller Center tree, of course, the amazing store windows, lots of ice skating, and the Christmas shows. We've been to most of the biggest Christmas shows, like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the complete Messiah at Carnegie Hall (we should have left after the Hallelujah chorus; next time I'd rather just go to the highlights), How the Grinch Stole Christmas on Broadway, and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. This year I want to go to Brooklyn to see the lights in the Dyker Heights neighborhood; it's supposed to be amazing. Here's a link from about.com in case you want to experience NYC at Christmas. Since this is our last year, I want to make the most of it!

http://gonyc.about.com/od/christmasinnyc/New_York_City_Christmas_Holiday_Guide.htm

The East Village

We live just past the East Village and I walked though a bit of it yesterday to stop by the library. I took a few pictures to show you some of the funky shops. Sorry they're so dark; I think my flash may have been off. There were tons of tattoo and body piercing parlors. I kept my picture taking to a minimum because I didn't want to make anyone mad.



This mannequin is holding a whip.



This clothing store is apparently for all your gimp needs.



It's hard to tell what this is, but it's an automat! Like in That Touch of Mink! It's really cute. But I never see anyone getting food from there. So there's no telling how fresh it is.

Booksignings du Jour

Today I went to two booksignings. First was Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, author and illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man, one of my favorite children's books.



Then I got to meet Susan B. Anderson, author of Itty-Bitty Hats, which inspired me to learn how to knit. Her latest book is Itty-Bitty Nursery. And I was also excited to meet Jaime, her publicist, who I found out is from Birmingham! It really is a small world. Susan did some tutorials and we got to look at her great knitted items. She showed us some of her new designs for her next book, and I can't wait. There is a reversible animal that just blew my mind because it was so brilliant.

This lipstick would help Santa find his way on a foggy night

This is some of my new makeup from the beauty sale. It's a MAC lipstick with a MAC lipglass on top. The lipstick is called Dorothy Shoes and the lipglass is called Ruby Slippers. It is fierce! I looked for these colors on the MAC website and couldn't find them. So either they're old and they don't sell them anymore or they're so new that they aren't available yet.

Heinz brakes for historical markers

I've told Heinz that I'm getting him a bumper sticker that says, "I brake for historial markers" when we get new cars next summer. I saw this marker when I was coming back from getting dim sum with Chris today. Since Heinz wasn't with me, I took pictures for him.

Makeup!

I got about $500 worth of makeup for $27 at Conde Nast's Traveler's beauty sale. SWEET!

Hello, Christopher!

Christopher is visiting New York City this week. Last night we went out for sushi and today we got dim sum in Chinatown.

Happy November!

This is Heinz's cousin Ingrid and her 5-month-old Sophia. Sophia has beautiful curls, but you can't see them under the hat.