holiday decoration extravaganza I

THANK YOU for sending me your christmas trees and holiday decorations! i'm coming home on thursday, and though i'm very excited, i'll be a bit sad to leave my tiny tree!

here is mom's adorable tree! i should give ryan credit too, except that when he put the tree together, he put the branches on upside down. i think rimmy told him to do it that way.

this is dad's pretty tree on ashmont street. it's particularly cute in this picure because stripe hasn't taken off the ornaments yet. i'm sure she thinks dad put up a big green thing covered in cat toys! i have no idea how dad ended up taking a black and white photograph. he probably doesn't either.

voilá alison and matt's menorah. it was a hanukkah present (early) and therefore does not violate any no-present rules. i love the shape, and also couldn't help noticing the little rooster guy standing next to it!

michaela sent me this picture of her and her roommate's tabletop tree. it is very cute! (my own tree is a tabletop one from target, but it does not sport such an elegant pot, plus i have to fill the pot with coins in order to prevent the ornaments from pulling the tree over.) notice the little wooden trees underneath...not a christmas present either!!!

if you haven't sent me your holiday decorations (rayball, i know you have one), it's not too late! hrzipper@gmail.com

send me your christmas tree!!!

if you are putting up a christmas tree this year, please send me a photo of it for my blog! if you don't have a tree, send me a picture of your holiday decorations!
this nativity belonged to ann, and now here it is in my little apartment. when debbie came to visit, she put my little owl guy on the top and now he is looking down on the holy family. the sheep is particularly cute with her leather ears.

last year i decorated my tree two times. i wanted my friends and family to come and decorate the tree, but they couldn't all come on the same day, so first i decorated the tree with ryan, marin, ann, maxwell, and mingus. the next day i took the ornaments off the tree, and my friends from school came over and put them on again.

a little christmas guy!

over thanksgiving, janet came to our house and gave all of the cousins a little suprise. mine was an adorable milo in maine tee...and a little guy! i think he came from the craft fair at charlotte's school. i love him! i'm not sure if he's santa or a little elf or a wizard but he has a bushy white beard and a little bell at the top of his hat. i think he's santa wearing his pajamas, before he puts on his red outfit.

speaking of little guys, flylady wrote to everyone about a little guy with cancer. his name is brandon, he's 14 years old and you can read about him on his website. we all know that sometimes this sort of thing turns out to be a scam...but he seems to be a real kid who is really having a hard time. every little bit counts! even when you are a dodo.

uh oh

i can't compose or do any more work because of this puppy cam.

my tiny tree

last night we decorated my tiny tree. max and leslie and mingus were there, as well as adam and joyce, and hannah. i would post pictures of my friends but it seems that we only took pictures of mingus! he thinks that's exactly how it should be. leslie and max brought two adorable ornaments.

if you have a tree this year, send me a picture!

The One Week Challenge-Day 7!

thank you for helping the dodo with a week of not buying. here is what I learned:

1. I was spending too much on groceries. honestly...I barely noticed not receiving a peapod delivery. I bought 1/2 lb. of grilled chicken and 1/2 lb. of ham at our little neighborhood market, and made it through the week no problem! also, it was fun to be creative and try to cook with just the food I had at home.

2. those little expenses do add up! it's a cliché but true. I spent $40 to add rubber soles to my boots, $30 at the post office, $12 on Hannah's gift...and pretty soon it's $100!

3. it's more fun to buy than not to buy. duh.

I give myself a B on the One Week Challenge. I did well on the food and drink angle...and less well on the clothes/cosmetics/accessories. when I ran out of mascara yesterday I could not think of a solution other than buying a new one. oh...and yesterday granny was real cold, and granny bought a sweater...

oops.

The One Week Challenge-Day 6

yesterday was a true test of my not-buying resolve. leslie and I ate lunch and then I went with her to newbury street. I told myself that I only wanted to see the christmas decorations and lights. I did want to see them, but that did not stop me from going to filene's basement, where I bought...NOTHING!!!!! well, actually I bought a pair of fuzzy socks for Hannah's birthday, but that's it!

now I think I'll head to Marshall's...

The One Week Challenge-Day 5

this is Lizard when I woke up this morning. he was purring very loudly. it's fun to have a temporary cat!

today is my 5th day of not buying anything! it's a record. however this weekend is a problem because I am invited to two parties: a birthday dinner for Hannah and a housewarming for Hans. I was trying to think if I could make something instead of buying, but I'm not sure what. how about an enormous butternut squash?

Ryan the dodo has to pay his student loans so maybe he should join me in the week of not buying, even though it's almost over. he is, in fact, a better self-regulator than his sister, mostly because he is very picky. it took him about a year to decide on a new pair of shoes...by that time i would have bought 10 pairs...

here is a hilarious video that Aunt Debbie found. all week I've been thinking, what would Jesus buy? probably not a sweater from urban outfitters. oh well.

The One Week Challenge-Day 4

granny is freezing and needs a hat and some more undershirts. argh. yesterday was a successful no-purchasing day, other than a half a pound of chicken breast (which was necessary since all I had in my apartment for protein were BEANS... lots and lots of beans...) also, I paid $12 to have the zipper on my hand-me-up pants (from Charlotte) fixed, which was excellent, because I felt like I had bought a new pair of pants for $12. yay! also, when Dad and I went to TJ Maxx I found a funny little holiday dress for $16 (it was in the junior section, and was made of a fuzzy wool blend with a black sequined bow on the front) which I regret not buying...

Devil: go buy it! maybe it will still be there!
Angel (glowing sweetly): this is the week you are saving money! just think of what you will be able to buy in the after-Christmas sales! oops...what I meant was, just think of how much money you'll be able to give to charity!
Devil: TJ Maxx needs your business...you alone can save the economy...

Uh oh.

The One Week Challenge-Day 3

thank you everyone except ryan for the moral support! hmph. going to new york sounds great like fun especially at this time of year when the christmas decorations are starting to go up. they are free to look at! hitchhiking does not sound like as much fun, but you can take the megabus for $1. then i could hang out with all the bums at port authority who are, um, doing free things, too...

unfortunately yesterday I did make a purchase: a small latte for $2.85. now i have to give $21 to charity. I also spent $30 at the post office mailing an application. argh! that is where the money goes.

last night when I came home it was an interesting challenge to make dinner without buying groceries this week. this was my cheap let's-eat-what's-in-the-fridge dinner:

pinto bean soup with garlic, onions and celery
polenta
laughing cow lite cheese
an apple

it wasn't bad!

do you have any cheap meal ideas? i also have lots of chickpeas, and a gigantic butternut squash...what would you make with what's in your fridge right now?

The One Week Challenge-Day 2

thank you for your comments! yesterday i succeeded in not buying anything, but i secretly wished that i were going to bed bath & beyond with alison. today will be more challenging because i have more free time; yesterday was busy with teaching and classes so i didn't have time to fall off the wagon. it's a good thing i don't have an iphone because i would probably use it to buy things online during class. last night i already wanted to buy a necklace from anthropologie. oops.

since most of the things i like to do cost money (shopping, eating out, decorating my apartment) i am trying to make a list of FREE activities that are fun. send me your ideas, please!

Fun FREE things to do

Go to Peets and drink the free sample coffee
Do the same thing at Whole Foods
Look online for what I am going to buy...next week!!! (evil cackle)
Play with Lizard
Watch videos of puppies on YouTube

THE ONE WEEK CHALLENGE

Day 1

it is hard for dodos not to spend. this is my experiment to see if i can make it for one week without buying anything. it's an expensive time of year and i want to make sure i have enough money to buy christmas presents, but also, this is an experiment to see where all my money goes. that is one of the mysteries of my life. not that there is a whole lot to begin with, but it seems to disappear very quickly. i suspect that, other than the larger purchases i, er, sometimes make, my money disappears in tiny increments that i don't keep track of (a coffee here, a printer cartridge there...)and that is a dangerous thing. anyway, this week i will blog every day and report on the status of the experiment.

at the the end of the week i will donate $20 to Food For Free. every time i make an illegal purchase, i have to add a dollar to that amount!

does anyone want to try it with me? do you have any words of advice?

here are the rules:

no clothes
no jewelry
no shoes
no music from the itunes store!!!
no books
no electronics
no puppies


allowed purchases:
prescriptions
toilet paper
box of produce from boston organics on wednesday

here we go...

lizard is here

a very cute kitty named lizard is staying with me this week! he belongs to my friend danny and his wife jennifer. last night he figured out where the fridge was, and ever since, he's been trying to open it with his paw. danny and jennifer are vegan, so the food smells in my house just might be blowing his tiny little mind! right now he's asleep on top of my remote control...

cranberry follow-up

thank you for the cranberry ideas! this morning the NYT had an article about them. maybe i should send them my recipe. haha.

i love cranberry-orange bread, so that sounded like a wonderful idea, but i didn't have the right ingredients, or the right shaped pan to bake a little loaf of bread in.

so...this is what i came up with, and believe it or not, it's GREAT!

microwave cranberry sauce

ingredients:
cranberries
sweetener (i used honey)
cinnamon
orange zest
orange juice

either cut the cranberries in half or poke them; otherwise they will explode and turn the ceiling of your microwave pink. i know this from personal experience.

put them in a bowl with the sweetener and grate orange zest over them. squeeze some orange juice, sprinkle cinnamon and stir.

microwave for 2 minutes.

that's it! ;)

cranberries?

my produce box from boston organics arrived as usual on wednesday, and i was surprised to open it and find CRANBERRIES. the produce this fall has been abundant, and i have learned to cook turnips, callaloo greens, and pea shoots, and to eat an impressive quantity of squash...but i was puzzled by the cranberries. aunt debbie suggested boiling them with some agave and making cranberry sauce, and my friend hannah even told me that you don't have to boil them, just put them in the blender with some honey and orange zest. this morning i put them (and some pears, and stevia) on my yogurt, which tasted...healthy.

what would you do with them?

HOPE

i still can't believe it.

VOTE VOTE OBAMA VOTE VOTE OBAMA VOTE

who are all those other guys??

we also had some interesting ballot initiatives here in MA. I voted NO, we should NOT eliminate our state income tax; YES, we should decriminalize possession of a small amount of wacky tobacky; and YES, we should phase out greyhound racing. this was followed by a confusing question about Israel that I had to read several times, but since it also said 'THIS INITIATIVE IS NON-BINDING' I voted YES and left it at that.

On the way back from the polls, a driver failed to stop for me as I was crossing the street, and yelled out the window "use a crosswalk!"...while I was IN THE CROSSWALK.

Fingers crossed!

VOTE

Rimmy says

VOTE FOR OBAMA

happy halloween!

leslie and max and i carved these pumpkins. mine is the one on the right. he's "special."

it's a special day!

¡cumpleaños feliz mamá!
te queremos!
xoxox

the results are in

what do you think?

are there any actors that look like rimmy? maybe this guy:

iceland

i love what iceland looks like. i've only been there twice, for a total of a few hours, in the airport; i flew through reykjavik on the way to amsterdam, and during the whole week in amsterdam i looked forward to going back to the reykjavik airport. when we landed in iceland it looked like we were landing on the moon, or on venus, or in middle earth. this month's anthropologie catalog was shot there, which made yours truly want to (what else?) buy something. my little winter coat is from an icelandic company called 66north:

the z is back

<--before haircut
my hiatus is over and i am back! i'm sure everyone was waiting with baited breath...anyway, i loved my new haircut so much that i was inspired to blog about it. my awesome hairstylist is brian at shag:
http://www.shagboston.com/

brian is awesome because he is an amazing hairstylist and also because he's from maine. according to the website, shag salon is a "rock'n'roll experience," which i can attest to, since i was offered a glass of wine with my haircut...at noon.
<--after haircut

a little warm guy

my birthday is in two weeks but it started early because marin gave me this little warm guy. i love him. he is made by grampa's garden, which is a maine company. he is brown and soft on one side and printed with dogs on the other. marin has a purplish-blue one that is a cat. they have rice inside as well as some cinnamon-ish substance that makes them smell like oatmeal, and you heat them in the microwave. their purpose in life is to make our necks feel better. i think rimmy needs one too!

i found my chocolate bunny

today is the anniversary of jesus' rising from the dead (a long time ago) and marin's being born (27 years ago). we had brunch and all of us, even mimi, hunted for our chocolate bunnies. ryan and i found ours last. the brunch was delicious, and i ate too much, but did not drink enough...

i guess when you're 88 you get two cakes: correction

this sunday mimi turned 88 years old. rimmy thinks that's still very young, since he's 98 in dog years and still playing with his toys. mimi looked fabulous for her brunch party, and janet made not one, but two cakes. i was jealous until i found out that one of the cakes was for betty, who had to miss her original birthday party due to illness. that's a relief, because choosing between a coconut cake and a carrot cake would be tough! for my birthday, i'm going to need two cakes too: one for me, and one for everyone else.

happy birthday mimi and betty!

thumbelina

since charlotte has a cute horse on her blog, i decided to put one on mine, too. thumbelina is the smallest horse in the world. she tours the country visiting sick, needy and disabled children. she is not as cute as elena (or rimmy) but she is not far behind. wouldn't you be happy to see her?

http://www.worldssmallesthorse.com

the trouble with spring

elena looks ready for spring in her pink dress!


the poll closed and the results are in: 50% of you voted for bringing out the spring clothes when it starts to get warmer. 25% voted for spring break, and the remaining 25% went for 'when you get sick of winter clothes.' spring can be both a welcome and a troublesome time. it's lovely to see the little crocuses come up and the days start to grow longer. however, here in new england, the reality is that spring is still just as cold as winter, adorable as those tulips and daffodils might be.

hence, our conundrum: what does one wear in new england in spring?

here are some ideas:
brightly colored shirts and jackets
dresses, but with a big sweater over them
cheerful flowered long underwear (beneath your winter clothes)

tell me your ideas, and don't forget to take the new poll!