Love Actually Is All Around

It's Christmas time.

How do I know?

Well, there are a few clues that have found their way into my musings.

#1) Thanksgiving is over and done with. Mine was spent with family that I haven't seen in years, and although that makes for awkward conversations because you often don't know what the heck to talk about to someone you haven't spoken to in a decade, especially when there are 60+ people present, it also means that, heck, you get to talk to people you haven't in ten years! It's a strange thing, when the elders in your family transform from the important and aloof head honchos to something closer to peers - people who you can really talk to.
That's a problem with our world here in the break-neck-paced US of A. Not many people really talk to each other.
Anyway, all in all it was good times. And T and I neatly avoided both offense and tummy aches by having just a little of the holiday carnivorous fare. (bring more collard greens my way, they were AMAZING)
Being a vegger isn't easy at holiday time, lemmetellya.

#2) When we arrived in Hazleton on Friday, after a morning of Black Friday shopping (up at 3:30 and back in bed by a quarter to seven - there wasn't much I needed this year in stores. Ebay's now my best friend. Seriously. Not to mentioned things remembered, red envelope, overstock, etsy, can you tell I'm shopping online? SO convenient), and an afternoon of driving (barely skirting the Nothing, Never Ending Story style, and happy to only have a little hail splashing our windshield), the lights and decorations were up! I gasped in delight at the town center's tree, glowing from bottom to top, and I cooed in delight at the sweet holiday reminders hiding in sweet places all over T's parents' house. Warm and cozy. Just right. Especially when I realized that I'd left all of my winter coats down in Richmond. I thought I'd cry. It was a sad moment....

#3) I'm wearing my winter smell as of roughly two weeks ago and LOVING it. It's the little things, ya know?

#4) We watched Love Actually last night. After I watched it, laughing and crying, for the first time in '04, on a warm Floridian couch after the movie had been rented from Netflix (I'll admit it, I was late on the Love Actually bandwagon but I've made up for it since), it has been a permanent staple of my holiday season. Christmas hasn't started until I've seen 11-year-old Sam say "let's go get the sh*t kicked out of us by love"... It may not make sense, but it's the way things just are in the noggin. I need some Hugh Grant dancing to the Pointer Sisters, and I'm ready to go. His particular limp-shouldered-shuffle reminds me of my Dad. Sorry Hugh.
And Dad :)

So, as described above, the Christmas season has officially arrived for me. What about you? What are your go-to signs that it's time to break out the egg nog and peppermint bark?

Today's quote:
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
~Anais Nin

Photo Retouching!

Over the past year or so, I've gotten lots of comments about the pictures on my blog.

Well, the truth is, I am not an awesome photographer.
(not even close)
But what I AM good at is retouching.

So, I'm offering to retouch photos to make some extra cash this holiday season, what with travel and all.

Here's the deal.
You send me a photo (email, of course, at charismb@yahoo.com),
including some notes in the body of the email about what you want done to the photo (clear skin, make colors pop, make it black and white, vignette, etc.),
And I'll retouch it for you, emailing you the new photo when complete.

The price will be $25 per photo, and that'll be taken care of via paypal.

Turnaround is quick, and this is great for holiday photos, especially since it's so popular nowadays to send out family photos on your holiday cards!

Anywhoo, here are some before & after examples:

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Interested?
Questions?
Email me :)
charismb@yahoo.com

Today's quote:
"A merry heart is like medicine for the soul."
~Joyce C. Lock

Book Review: The First Rule, by Robert Crais

When my package arrived in the mail a week and a half ago, I was excited and slightly nervous. After I randomly posted a review for French Women Don’t Get Fat on my blog, I’d been asked (again, randomly I suppose) to review a similar book in my spare time.
I’d been excited about that one’s arrival too. Then it came, and I was stuck on page 7 for a month. Page 8 took me three weeks to get through, and so on.

The book was horrible.

So bad, in fact, that I’m not mentioning it, or its author, because I don’t think anything is worse (not to mention classless) than to smear somebody on my blog. That said, I won’t lie either, so I was left in a quandary.
I literally COULD NOT read more than a page of the book without sighing in disgust. Seriously? I thought. So I sent an email asking what to do. “Sorry about your quandary!”, I received in a reply, “Can we send you another? Just to make it up? No pressure!”

Of course I accepted, and a weekish later, The First Rule arrived. I don’t ordinarily read this sort of a book. It’s a thriller, with an ex-mercenary hunting down folks who killed a friend of his. There are fight scenes, and prostitution rings, and a warehouse full of Chinese rifles, not to mention a stolen baby. Lots of drama. And who’d’ve thunk someone could write an exciting fight scene?

Anyway.

The book started out slow. I couldn’t quite work up a liking for the main character, named Pike (very warm and fuzzy), for quite a while. He was dry and a little cheesy, like the book. But not in a way that put me off, rather in a way that made me chuckle. That particular kind of cheesiness is par for the genre, and it reminded me what I was reading.

So for a couple of days, I picked up the book here and there and finished a chapter or two at each sitting. I like short chapters. They make the already fast pace zoom by even more quickly, and give a feeling of matter-of-factness that fits nicely with the gritty subject matter.

By my third or fourth day reading it (being about 1/3 of the way finished), I decided yesterday morning to just finish the darned thing. Why not? I had some time to kill, it was Sunday, and I may as well be able to right the review, no? Oh, and one other reason. I COULDN’T PUT THE FREAKING THING DOWN.

As I said, I don’t normally read this type of book. And the reviews on the back cover called it both fast-paced, and slow building. How can a book be both? I still don’t know if I could figure the answer out enough to put it in a bulleted list, but I can say that Crais definitely knows how to merge the two aspects into a fun and exciting book.

There were some twists in the second half that I didn’t expect, and maybe I had to read a couple of paragraphs over again because of the tangled plot, but I don’t consider that a bad thing. I like dense story lines.

So, the big question. Should you read this book? Well, if you want something life-changing and inspirational, then no. But, if you want a nice escape and a fun read, absolutely! I may just have to pick up another book or two from this series…

Chapel Chatter: Tip Topper

Earlier this week, my very first wedding-related order came in.
(yay!)It was the cake topper from Willow Tree. It's called "Promise."
I've always loved Willow Tree and the moment I saw this one I knew that it was the one.
The clasp of the hands, the tip of the heads, the serene feel. It's just so US.
So done. And done.
And now it's only a matter of time before I break out my paints to gently adjust the color of the statue to more truly reflect T and me a bit better...
(don't worry, I was an artist in a past life. I won't screw 'em up, promise. Pun intended)
And the best part? After the wedding, I actually WILL use it as a decoration in my house. So it's a win-win!
Happy Friday!

Today's quote:
"The music is different to each of us, but how beautiful the dance."
~Flavia

Traipsing

This weekend, we went for a couple of mini-hikes around Richmond.

Camera in purse, I didn't want to miss the opportunity for some nice shots before the leaves all fall.
My little brother took us around to some spots he knew, such as Belle Isle, where the water was a little too high to get more that 200 feet along the path.
(that's what happens when it rains heavily for a WEEK. Another result is that I'm still lovin up the sun, three days in to blue skies...)
Ward (my little brother, who's now much bigger than me. It's weird) was a trail blazer, checking out all of the soggy paths for me before I went forward. My shoe choice was not all that intelligent - loafers that squelch if I look at a puddle...
But, while resting, we did end up getting a shot or two for the signing book at the wedding.
Then, yesterday, we went to Maymont just to take pics for that reason and got just about nothin. Oh well, we'll try it again later this week.
Until then, I'll be working away, wishing I was closer to the blue skies than on the other side of a pane of glass, tethered to my laptop...
Today's quote:
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." ~Beverly Sills

Just Because It's....Sunday?

...actually it's Saturday night, but close enough to Sunday in this noggin of mine...

No, more like because it's gorgeous.

And gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. Non-wearing-off goosebumps from the same song, now that's a rare and valuable thing.

Enjoy :)



Note: maybe I'm approximately seven thousand years behind the curve, but this is a new song to me. Either way, as of now I'm officially obsessed with it. Done and done.

PS: Allison Crowe is amazing. Well, obviously.

On a bored Wednesday night in Richmond...

Not to mention, a chilly and rainy and all around make-you-wanna-stay-indoors-at-all-costs night......chilly beverages from Trader Joe's hit the spot.

Just sayin.

Today's quote:
"A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake
and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves
with each step I made. the acoustics of this season
are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed,
are as crisp as autumn air."
~Eric Sloane