So, I started taking a Krav Maga class at my gym. It's Israeli self-defense. I figured it would be good for getting strong, getting out my aggression and getting good at defending myself. Since my gym is at the 92nd St. Y (like the YMCA but for Jews), I was afraid that, like all the other classes I've taken, it would be filled with old Jewish ladies and that it would be kind of a wussy class.
So I show up tonight and I'm the only female in the class.
I guess I'll get really good at defending myself against dudes who are bigger than I am!
Last Sunday, D. and I went to the Guggenheim to see the Richard Prince exhibit. It was pretty hit-or-miss. There were some cool things. For several items, Prince spelled out jokes amid a mess of collaged paint and print, like this:
(from old porn)
and this:
and this:
(from Jimi Hendrix checks)
and this.
Another series of his that I liked was his "Nurses"-themed set.
However, more and more often I find myself going to modern art exhibits and ending up frustrated at the lack of effort most artists today are putting into their work. What is the freaking point of slapping acrylic paint on a car hood and putting it on a literal pedestal? Ooohh, it's so symbolic. Gag me. The paragraphs-long pretentious yapping required to explain its "critique on modern culture" is what should be framed and hung.
For New Year's Eve, Dustin and I had dinner with his family at his parents' loft near Union Square.
It was like Thanksgiving all over again!
But with a Mexican flair (the tablecloth, and hot sauce).
Good times.
For the occasion (and the party following dinner), I wore one of my favorite shirts, this little black number with a lacy back, paired with my heavy silver stitched broken heart necklace.
Post-food coma, we went out to Brooklyn to the home of Claire & Aaron, who threw a small fiesta for Wesleyanites and their significant others.
Harris and I had a heated discussion over which was a better word: coquette or tart. (i prefer coquette.)
People socialized, got caught up on each others' lives, and told of their best and worst moments of 2007.
Not to mention canoodled. There was some definite canoodling going on.
As midnight approached, everyone cheered their countdown of the final moments of the year.
And kissed at that moment when the world becomes new again.
And popped the champagne, of course!
We insisted to Matt that he shouldn't pour water on an electrical fountain; it seems like an oxy moron of a gadget just begging for disaster. But he confidently filled it and it was, indeed, fine.
Dustin found some fellow facial hair fellows.
While I chatted with Beth and had some wine.
We realized that, save for one or two people, this was a party of couples. Pairs everywhere.
Carolina and Howard.
Harris and Tovah (she, his new girl, was listed as one of his best memories of the year).
The hosts, Aaron and Claire.
Matt & Althea.
Derek & Liz.
And of course...
Some people just couldn't resist the urge to do the twist.
This is kind of freaky, actually:
And at the end of the night, we watched each other go forth into the newborn night via the surveillance camera hooked up to C&A's TV.
The next day, Dustin and I tried out a supposedly amazing dining joint, Big Nick's Burgers. It was extraordinarily old-New York-ish, like a diner that should be in Times Square.
They had dozens of signs and photos on the wall of 80's stars, most of whom I'd never heard of.
I insisted my photo not be taken, but Dustin went against my wishes, so he ended up with a be-scarfed jenna.
Happy 2008, everyone! I hope this year treats you right. I hope this year treats ME right. 8 is my lucky number, after all.
Alright, kids, here is a very long post. Just gonna get the whole Christmas deal out in one shot. Lucky you!I arrived late on a Thursday, exhausted and on week 4 of a month-long cold, to this beautiful sight:
I quickly settled into a relaxed routine of sleeping, sitting around and hanging out with family members. On Saturday, Nathan arrived and he and Mom met up with me and Tom at a gentlemen's store that was having a half-off sale. Nathan got carried away with the newsboy look.
... while Tom tried to convince Mom that luggage slashed from $400 to $99 was a good deal.
And Nate perused the suits. I convinced him to buy some new threads.
Later that afternoon, I met up with my beloved Kerri so we could catch up and start planning our trip to Italy for this March!! Kerri actually wrote down: "Saturday: Buy Groceries."
We drank Italian sodas (though I've never been sure what makes them Italian) at one of our favorite old college eateries, the Coffee Plantation.
Afterward, I went to my paternal grandmother's house for family shenanigans. Most everyone was already there and drinking punch (grape juice and Sprite).
Dad and I took pics of each other taking pics of each other.
Soon enough, Greg arrived and joyous Christmas cheer filled the air.
And we ate. Yes, all of us still sit at the "kids' table."
Christopher and I kept ourselves amused the same way we did when we were nine: by rubbing our feet on the ground to gather static electricity and then command the tinsel on the tree to float to our hands.
We took our yearly (ever-growing) family photo.
We got some gifts from G-ma. Nate was wowed.
You could really tell who's O. Snapp and her siblings in this family merely by the way we all simultaneously grumbled and made under-the-breath jokes when Aunt Nancy got up to read an email joke out loud. She got us back by sitting on Nate.
Which befuddled me.
Then it was time for the ever-wonderful "Gift Exchange," known to the rest of the world as the White Elephant game.
Some people got some cool things. Apparently Greg got a miner's head lamp.
I got a squeeze ball to improve my golf grip. I'm sure it will come in handy. (no pun intended. but sarcasm was.)As I got ready to leave, April (yes, the weather woman) insisted we take photos together to document our mutual appreciation for bright red, and our mutually impeccable fashion sense. In the end, it just kind of looks like I'm posing with a local celebrity I just met on the street (or at a Christmas party).
The next day, I treated my mom to manicures. She deserved something pretty to look down at after her hand surgery.
We both got bright red (imagine that!).
That night the boys and I went to Dad and Dana's house for holiday celebrations because we weren't going to get to see them on the actual day itself. Just as we sat down to dinner, all of the lights in the neighborhood went out. We ate by candlelight, and opened gifts by it too.
It was rather romantic.
Luckily, as they're both avid campers, Dad & Dana had a multitude of high-powered flashlights to alleviate the situation.
Huzzah! The lights came back on and I kicked Nathan's butt in cards.
Four-Star Fine Family Fun!
I noticed that in the guest bedroom where I slept, Dad kept an old photo of me as a wee one, which used to hang in his office until his recent retirement.
Hey! That mug reminds me of another beloved face:
The resemblance is astounding. Speaking of resemblances, as we got ready to go hiking the next morning, my brothers both delicately informed me that I looked like a gay boy. (their words, not mine.) So I gave them the lesbian stance.
You heard me right: we went hiking. Me, hiking! D&D's house is at the base of the Superstition Springs Mountains, so we took a Christmas Eve Morning stroll.
I was, for once, the only one not wearing dark red.
I put on my Led Zep shirt instead. We walked for two hours and got a little further into the base of the mountain. It was exhausting.
Back at Mom's place, we realized that sometimes, you just wanna sit around and look at a big ol' snowglobe, you know?
Our tree, which my Grandma and Aunt Marsha had helped my manually-crippled mother decorate, came out beautifully.
My mom remarked on how some people have perfect and homogenously decorated trees, which are nice, but they lack that special personal touch, you know?Like, this ornament is not that awesome, but I made it myself, AND we'll always remember how bad my bangs were at age 10.
And how cute Greg was at age... every age, actually.
I love this little guy. I think he's from the '60s or something.
Those people who get all of their ornaments at Crate & Barrel are really missing out on showing off their dedication to whatever collection they may have, as I did with my childhood obsession with "Snow White."
We got this Sugar Bear ornament from a cereal box about 15 years ago. Seriously. And the musical function of it still worked until about 2 or 3 years ago.
And this is just perfectly appropriate for this year and my TVGasm recap of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Christmas Eve found us playing Cranium together, all 5 of us, and as always, Mom broke out into such hysterical laughter that she had to leave the table and almost fall onto the floor.
This was my impression of Shrek. I don't think Greg was amused.
Christmas morning finally arrived and we all sat around the tree in that sweet family way. I know that someday we won't all be able to be in the same place on Christmas, but it's nice while it lasts.
Greg got two cool "Grindhouse" posters.
Nate and Tom each got some hoodies, courtesy of their favorite uptown girl.
After the traditional distribution of gifts, we had our traditional Christmas morning feast. I made pancakes, and the boys made meat-related things.
We were blessed with Grandma's presence later in the afternoon, and since last year we didn't see her on Christmas, it was quite the joyous occasion.
She and Mom realized they were wearing the exact same shoes.
We all showed off our gifts to her like little kids. My mom had gotten the Urban Dictionary from Tom, and let me tell you, it was hilarious to hear Grandma read some of its selections out loud. ("We cookin' up some hot, fresh defs up in here. Holla!")
I just realized that Greg and Mom have the exact same hair color.
We retired to the living room, where Mom obtained an angelic halo.
And G-ma doled out some gifts of her own.
Impeccably styled for the day, Grandma was surprised to receive an almost exact match to the shirt she was wearing that day. (so was Mom, who gave it to her.)
Lovely!
We ate more.
Mom and G-ma were adorable, and I can only hope I was looking into my future.
After such a long day, we were all pooped. Mom and Tom decided to be totally cute about it.
The next morning, I woke to find my family huddled together, looking at pictures of us as kids.
Awwww. I almost can't take all this cuteness anymore. Let's move on to the material things in life. For Christmas, I had gotten a watch from Mom, which was lovely, but just not quite right. So we hit the day-after-Christmas sales and I selected this gorgeous timepiece.
Too bad I lost my thumb there.
Oh! There it is! In other news, here's some random stuff. There's this place in Gilbert, Joe's Real Barbecue, which has been there since the days of the dinosaurs, and is the most small-town-feeling place you can go. I swear, the joint was crowded as heck and yet everyone who walked through the door was greeted by someone else already seated.
Since my mom is retiring, I wanted to see her class one more time, so we stopped by the hallowed (and empty) halls of RMHS.
Ooooh, here's my favorite part of this whole blog. There's this pizza place I used to love in AZ called Buono's. I recall it being the best pizza I've ever, ever had in my life. And I maintain that after living in both Italy AND New York. See, with white pizza, people usually just replace the red sauce with olive oil. But this place uses garlic butter. GARLIC BUTTER. Oh man. I was afraid that I was remembering it as something much better than it could possibly have been, so I insisted we have it for dinner one night. Mom and I picked up the pie, because they're too far to deliver. It looked the same as it always did.
Totally New York.
Well folks, I'm here to tell you, it WAS as good as I remember. Maybe better. I literally moaned as I had the first bite.
Damn it was good. The next day, Mom and I went to a ladies' lunch with Grandma, my Aunt Marsha, cousin Erin, and maybe-someday-cousin-in-law-to-be Wato.
After that, Mom and I roamed around some places in downtown Phoenix, like this cute garden-and-kitsch shop.
... which was right next to The Purple Heart, an AWESOME Mexican shop, where I picked up many Mexican items that I could never get in New York, and a gift for Dustin.
And last, but certainly not least, I spent my last night in Arizona hanging with Kerri and taking goofy pictures of ourselves.
Just like old times. Well, there you have it. That was my wonderful Christmas vacation, full of relaxation and devoid of work and stress (unless you count arguing with my brother as stress). My dad even let me borrow his car for the week, which was kind (and brave) of him. It was a grand old time, and now I'm back in the bitter cold of Arizona and at work... but it's not so bad. I had a good break for awhile there. I'll post about New Year's Eve sometime next week. Until then, welcome to winter! love, *jenna*
