Holiday Crazies

Dear hearts, when is it too early and/or too much? Honestly, I appreciate anyone with the drive to start decorating for the December holidays the second the sun rises on the day after Thanksgiving- Xmas isn't even a full month away sometimes, and it's fun to have the decorations up as long as possible. The other holidays in the month, well they have a rotating beginning, so decorate early and often, right?

Yes! Why not? I'm beginning the search now. Last Xmas I remember reading about a decoration that stopped traffic- a dummy was rigged to look like a person who'd slipped off of the roof while hanging decorations. I am daring myself and the world to find the best and worst of this year's decor and post the most exciting of each and to comment on just when enough is enough (if ever!). Happy holidays and happy hunting!

Are We Getting a Little Crazy about Social Media?

I’m starting to think we may be going a little batty with the social media. Yes, I know, I know. It only took me how many years to figure this out?

But here’s the thing. It never seems real until you catch yourself doing it. In this case, I caught myself hopping on to Facebook the minute I finished a project I’d been working on sporadically for the past three weeks just to announce that I was going to see how much homework I could grind out before bed.

Really? Is this my life? That the most exciting thing I have to share with the people I know is that it’s time to do my homework? Or is it just indicative of how the Internet is curing our innate need for privacy through social media sites like FB and, oh, say…this blog? LOL!

Review: Speak Now, by Taylor Swift

Last night's illustrious stop to Wally World (the one that yielded the knowledge that the entire hat industry needs to be fired) yielded other goodies as well. Namely, an extremely cost-effective version of Taylor Swift's newest album, "Speak Now."

My daughter-L-has a huge thing for Taylor Swift. And by "a thing", I mean she begs me to put on Taylor Swift the minute we get in the car. Since this is the first Taylor Swift CD I've actually gone out and bought rather than just using and abusing the power of YouTube, it's driven me nuts on more than one occasion!

But she's been stalking this album since we heard it was going to be released, so I told her we'd pick it up. I approached it with a grain of salt at first, then dove whole-heartedly into the deep end.

With tracks like this one on the album, who can blame me?




Now, this is a big swing for the normally upbeat Swift. Her songs have a much more organic, homegrown sound to them this time around, as opposed to the heavily flavored techno, pop and country that have been so prevalent on her other albums. Some of them, like this one, tickled me right to the bone. Others missed the mark. And there's a number of times where she warbles like a bird when she should have held the note, as though she was taking her voice for a test drive. Not very Taylor.

But fans who are willing to set aside the memories of some of her other songs and appreciate this album for what it is-a unique step forward for a young woman flexing her songwriting muscles on her own for the very first time-will really enjoy this. And a number of people who haven't cared for her earlier works will find this a huge step forward.




Tracks

1) Mine
2) Sparks Fly
3) Back to December
4) Speak Now (Truthfully, easily my favorite song on the album)
5) Dear John
6) Mean
7) The Story of Us
8) Never Grow Up
9) Enchanted
10) Better Than Revenge
11) Innocent
12) Haunted
13) Last Kiss
14) Long Live

Hellos and Hockey Games

Taking my oldest-I'll call him C-to the hockey game tonight. Now, here's a lesson for all of you out there with kids. When you're tempted to let your husband make all the arrangements and just fill you in, fight the urge. Seriously. As we almost found out, it can end very, very badly. Like, wind up in wrong stadium 2 hours away from the city you're supposed to be in badly.

Why? Because C and his dad thought they were going to see a whole other team play. And until midnight last night they had no idea whether or not C was supposed to be spending the night or if he was coming straight home after the game.

Have to love the grown-up version of telephone.

Of Hats and Hyacinths

I'm thinking today is definitely a day for a warm spiced chai. Or maybe an apple cinnamon. Why? Because it's COLD! I don't know about where you are Vee, but up in New York there's a wind whipping by my window and a healthy layer of frost thinking about taking shape on my windshield.

That healthy layer of frost led me to a whole new dilemma today: What to do about the fact that the kids have managed to lose most of their winter wear? That question drove me to the sacred walls of WalMart at o'dark hundred to scout the aisles for some thermal hats and ski gloves they'll be able to wear when the snow finally stops thinking about it and decides to dump down en masse.

I live in the snow belt of New York. Snow gear should be easy to find, right? Right?

That foolish, foolish conclusion led me to my second dilemma of the day: The realization that 90% of the people who make hats don't live anywhere where there's actually snow. I have tissue paper that's warmer than some of the hats I saw!

All right, so that might be a teeny, tiny exaggeration. But the hats I saw that weren't a lovely shade of puke brown wouldn't have stood a chance against the 20 degree weather and whipping winds (and 3 feet of snow) we can reliably count on every winter. It was a complete waste of time and money.

Bottom line? When did winter wear stop being about staying warm and start being about looking nice while your toes turned blue? I'm holding out for the thermal wear. There has to be a ski shop around here somewhere. In the meantime, it's scudies and mitten clips for everyone.

Is There Anything Better Than Hot Tea and Cool Friends? Yeah, We Didn't Think So Either.

I'm sitting here, in the dark, with the laptop backlit and a cat pretending to snooze at my feet. All in all, not a bad way to spend the evening. But there's something even cooler than snuggly cats and the power of the Internet sitting at your fingertips, and that's having the chance to share those experiences with friends.

Welcome to Tea's 4 Two, where Rae and Vee and anyone else that wants to join in get together to talk movies, food, books, politics, husbands, children jobs and tea. We hope you'll join us often. After all, tea's 4 two...but tea 4 three is so much better!