My BFF

For Christmas Break...
I know, I rarely let my friends be cuter than me. I made an exception in this instance. I also tend not to wear make-up, put on responsible clothes or brush my hair when I am on vacation. As evidenced below....
Ugh, she is such a camera hog. That crazy dog. She is also really strong. And kinda heavy (shhh... she is a bit sensitive about that.) Both of these things prove problematic given that she likes to sit on my lap.
At the moment, her favorite hobbies include playing with plastic bottles, sniffing trash cans, following me through the house, laying on her new doggie bed and whipping Shamu through the air. Warning: get to close and you will be hit with a slobbery splash zone.
Yes, our dog has a stuffed shamu. This should be of no surprise to anyone. Now if I could get her to pay rent, she could totally move in with me. I will not mentioned that my dad said she is a total Greene girl. Which came with a "good luck getting one of them to pay rent!" Thanks Dad.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

We take Greene Christmas very seriously. Not only is it "Greene" Christmas, it is "green" Christmas. Complete with a recycling bin in the living room. And it has been that way even before it was the trendy thing to do. In the past, we would reuse the paper, but my mom just "can't find durable quality paper like they used to make." So, now it is off to the recycling bin. Note: ribbon and boxes are reused. And there was definitely a crunch for boxes this year. Thank you Emily for the gift I received that was oh so nicely packaged in a tampon box. Yes, it's true. She did. Personal hygiene packing aside, here is how the Greene gifting system works.

Clearly, gifts must be wrapped is a presentable fashion. The packaging is half of the present.


They also must be wrapped using the family member's designated paper. Gift tags are an unnecessary nuisance. This system eliminates the need for them all together. Unless of course you use the random Chinese take out box to wrap something. Then you need to use a gift tag. (I am willing to bet that my mom never saw that there...)

Here Emily is demonstrating the art of rolling the ribbon (to be used again next year). And she is displaying her paper for 2009. Side note: pelting ribbon rolls at others is a fun holiday pastime.

This system has worked beautifully for years. And my mom can coordinate all of the paper to be aesthetically pleasing as the gifts that lay under the tree. We truly have it down to a science or an art. I'm not sure which actually applies in that setting. Well, we almost have it down. You see, this year, my dad was so proud of the gifts that he wrapped. At least, he was so proud until he realized that he wrapped them all in the same paper. The yellow paper with holly to be exact. The paper designated for all of my mother's gift. Major Greene Christmas faux paux. So, he found himself with a bit of a dilemma. Does he rewrap all of the gifts he just wrapped and waste paper. Or... ::gasp:: does he use a nearly forbidden tacky name tag?

Well, since he is my dad, he did neither. Here was his solution:

He decided to cut a tiny square of paper to label each present. So now, this one clearly (sorta) belongs to Sarah.

Not quite the Martha Stewart Christmas my mom had envisioned. But it got a great laugh. In a Charlie Brown Christmas kind of way.

Now if only there was some way to reduce the noise level that the combination of competitive natures and super mario brothers creates. We are thankful that there is no homeowner's association to upset. And the police have only been out to the house twice.... I think my mom placed the anonymous complaint.

Thing-a-mabobs

On Saturday, I got a very exciting letter in the mail from the State Attorney's Office. How often can you say that? I mean, usually my interactions with the SAO are less than exciting....

But Saturday, I got gold. It appears that a case of interest to me is scheduled for plea in Janaury. That's right....the State of Florida v. The GIRL that broke into our house!

Yes, they caught at least one of the criminals who busted up our front door and walked out with the goods. And it appears that involved in the heist was a girl named Ariel. A girl with 38 some odd counts against her. (Yes, I am internet savvy. I looked it up.)

So, as I am telling this great and exciting news to the Monday Night Dinner crowd (all blog readers/writers, btw), Eva busts out with...

"Stop. No. Her name is Ariel. Like, Little Mermaid- Ariel?"

And then continues with, "I can just see it. She walks into your house, flips her hair and busts out with...

'Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, The girl who takes everything?"

I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got who's-its and what's-its galore
You want thing-a-mabobs?
I've got twenty
But who cares?
No big deal.
I want more...."

Oh, how I just love that Eva. She gets it. That's right Eva. I mean really, who steals? Who steals?

Jumping

There are days when I am polished, sophisticated and the epitome of professionalism. I impress myself with how put together I am.

And then there are days when I am not.



Nothing like a little reminder from a friend to keep me grounded. To, well, keep my head/ego out of the clouds. But not out of the cloud bounce.

Tis the season...

Last week the party of the year (at least in my little circle) took place. As always, it was epic. The fashion and style was top notch. The Lady Gaga songs brought the dancing. The food was unreal. And the cameras were clicking. As evidenced by the sampling to follow. Cari, Jessica and Karen really outdid their selves. I mean where else would you see faces like that. (Note to my mom- Angie is wearing a lovely bib necklace. Very 2009/10. Very on my Christmas wish list. You have 5 days.)
I didn't post this picture to blackmail Jessica. I'm not usually that cruel. No, it is posted to highlight in the far left corner the spinach artichoke dip that I am responsible for making each year. Angie passed on the recipe to me. It is a must make. Have I ever lead you astray?
See. Everyone just looks so darn happy. But this night took a turn for the worst when first Karen realized that her phone was missing. Oh, then Cari's phone was missing. Wait, what... and Angie's. And Jessica's. Something was amiss. (Quite literally.) Suddenly the few remaining party goers were tearing Cari's house apart on a mad search for missing phones. It seemed the more we looked, the more we found missing. Such as Jessica's wallet. Yes, it was no longer in her purse.

Well, Cari suddenly remembered that she left her phone with her boyfriend. So, he stopped back by the house to return it. For a brief moment, we thought that maybe our greatest fear (the one no one was willing to speak out loud) had not occurred. But when nothing else turned up, we slowly accepted the reality that there was a thief among us. A thief among friends. Such an unsettling thought.

As we sat in Cari's living room, exhausted, we reflected over the events of the evening. Our accusations kept landing on one person. The one who was a friend's guest. Well, to make it worse a friend's new boyfriend. A guy who successful creeped out nearly everyone at some point in the evening. So how do you tell a friend that you think her boyfriend is bad news? Or...what if he really didn't do it? While that is not likely, we all have a terrible taste for him in our mouths and have no ability to trust him.

So what do you do? How do you tell a friend that you think her boyfriend is a super sketchy slime ball? Without concrete evidence, that makes for one sticky situation.

But..... Cari's house sure looked great!

This is Katie.

I am jealous of her. This is why...

The views expressed in this video...

May or may not be my own. I am going to throw out a general sensor for the nature of the video. It is not for young eyes or old consverative ones. But I HAD to rep the Tallahassee video shoot. Enjoy the local scenes and FSU and FAMU students. (Hmm, not really sure how well that represents us...)

Yesterday

You all know what happened. It resulted in this.
And this.

And this.

So, Julia and I decided that we needed these.
Cupcakes make everything better.