Over the summer, during a conversation with a fellow book lover who is also a movie/television lover, I made a big realization. I was missing out on a whole lot of great storytelling. Before this summer, we watched Modern Family, the news and the Daily Show. After this conversation, I decided that some things had to change.

Now mind you, we have certainly not turned in to T.V. junkies and if truth be told, I am watching most of my T.V. while sweating on the stair mill or cooking dinner (thank goodness for Netflix and Showtime Anytime), but we have added to our repertoire for sure. And my friend was right. There is some really good stuff out there.

Here are some of my recent favorites and please do share yours…

I just finished Season 3 of Homeland. All I can say is when will Season 4 be here? And am I the only one who has a hard time keeping track of this show and reality? Just the other day, there was news of a disturbance in Iran and I really thought I know exactly what the solution could be…

When I finished Homeland, I was in serious withdrawal. A lot of people had suggested Breaking Bad but I watched the first episode about a year ago and I just couldn’t go any further. It was just too dark and depressing for me. If you are a fan, feel free to try and convince me though. I keep hearing that Breaking Bad is the best out there.

In the meantime though, I have begun Scandal. I am only about halfway through the first season so no comments with spoilers please. I am just loving it. It’s like The West Wing meets Law and Order. What could be better than that?

And for laughs, we are watching Arrested Development and I don’t mean the new ones that showed up on Netflix this year. I mean the original ones. Please don’t laugh. We know how woefully behind we are but we are having fun catching up.

So, any other suggestions? And as you can tell, no suggestion is too obvious. Clearly…

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The lead up to Christmas felt super rushed this year and frankly, I can’t believe that the holiday has already passed. Good thing I have photographic evidence that it all happened!

The season began with our annual cookie baking day at Rob’s parents.

And then on Christmas Eve, we took my mom, as part of her Christmas present, to the totally amazing New York Botanical Gardens Train Show. This visit deserves a post of it’s own. The exhibit was incredible with hundreds of New York City buildings built entirely out of plant parts. Unfortunately, the grown ups enjoyed it more than the girls but they did light up when they saw their beloved Yankee Stadium.

After the train show, we ventured into Manhattan to see the Christmas tree. After a simple trip on Christmas Eve last year, we were a bit surprised by a much more crowded city this time around but we still managed to soak in the magic.

After returning home and before heading to Rob’s parents for the traditional seven fishes Christmas Eve dinner, we actually got Daisy to sit still for a picture. A Christmas miracle perhaps?

We ended the night with our reading of the Night Before Christmas. I love doing this as we read from the same exact book that I grew up reading.

And then there was Christmas day and presents. Caroline has always claimed to hate surprises so imagine her shock when she actually enjoyed receiving a few this Christmas.

 

 

This year also marked the first time that there were a few breaks in between the tearing of paper to enjoy the moment.

And of course, there was the reminder that perhaps Daisy hasn’t undergone some type of miraculous Christmas transformation after all.

 

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“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.”

-John Lennon

For more moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause and remember.”

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I obviously meant to post this yesterday!

But anyway… Merry (Belated) Christmas to all who celebrate and Happy December 26th to all!

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“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

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Over the weekend, a college friend of ours, CAM, died after a five year battle with a rare and painful form of cancer. He leaves behind his wife Becky, another college friend, and three young children. I have been struggling with how and even if to write this post. My heart is heavy and we have not been in close touch with CAM and Becky in recent years. We have followed their journey through other friends who have remained in close touch and through internet updates. I find myself overwhelmed with thoughts of those friends and family who are suffering a much closer loss than we are.

I think back to CAM and Becky in college, the time when I knew them both best. Young, healthy, happy and strong. I picture them at their wedding, radiant and so clearly in love.  I also remember their wedding as a day when the bus we rode from the ceremony to the reception got lost. By the time we arrived at the cocktail hour, there were more cocktails than food but that is a post for another time. We remember arriving at their wedding having just been recently engaged. In the midst of CAM’s day, he wanted to talk about our engagement. He wanted to take time to talk not about himself, but about us. That was CAM.

I could easily write about CAM and Becky’s spirit, their dedication, their love. I could write about the incredible community that surrounded them during these past five years. I could write about the power of friends and family. I could write about the healing power of faith.

I started this post with the standard phrase. I had written ‘CAM lost his battle.’ And then I sat and looked at that sentence and it felt wrong. I deleted it. I wrote it again because he had lost hadn’t he? Cancer had won. A wonderful woman, three dear children and countless friends had lost a wonderful husband, father and friend. But it still didn’t feel right.

To ever say that a man as caring and strong as CAM had lost was wrong. While is true that the world has lost him, we have also gained so much from his time with us. We have gained love, strength and faith. Cancer did not win and CAM did not lose. CAM came to this world and he gave it all he had. He led a big life. A meaningful and powerful life. He won.

Rest in peace, CAM. And peace and love always to Becky and their sweet children.

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“We are all cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”

-Ray Bradbury

For more moments, visit Amanda’s Soule Mama where she describes her Friday posts this way, “A Friday ritual. A single photo-no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause and remember.”

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It’s time for some Old School Blogging thanks to Elaine at The Miss Elaine-ous Life. And this month’s it’s the Holiday Edition.

First things first: 1 Holy Night or 8 Crazy Ones? (Do you Celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, both?)

Christmas for us.

Peppermint or Chocolate?

Chocolate. But I could also say peppermint and chocolate together. But not peppermint on it’s on so much.

Sing us into the Holiday Season, what is your favorite Carol this time of year?

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Sugarland.

Tell us about a Favorite Family or Personal Holiday Tradition.

I’m going to decide that something can count as a tradition even if this year will only be our second time doing it. Last year we went in to Manhattan on Christmas Eve morning. The city was completely empty. We were able to stand right in front of the Rockefeller Christmas tree, watch the skaters and look through store windows without the crowds or the noise that make Caroline and I so uncomfortable. With all the crowds removed, I finally understood why people find NYC to be magical at Christmas time. It truly was so we will be back again this December 24th.

That magical moment? Your favorite scene from a Holiday movie

We just watched The Grinch so I have that final scene in my head. I love the ending song and Max the dog is just too darn cute.  Whenever Daisy gets a haircut and her hair is a bit too short we call her Maxine cause she looks a bit like the Grinch’s Max.

Kissing under the mistletoe?  Who do you hope is standing underneath (We know it’s normally your spouse, if it did not have to be, who would you choose?)

Ok… so if not Rob, than Bradley Cooper. Funny and cute, just like Rob of course.

Swans a swimming, lords a leaping, golden rings; which gift of the 12 days of Christmas would you like most?

Gosh. I just read the lyrics to remind myself and quite frankly, I’m not sure I would choose anything. There are lots of birds and loud instruments involved but if I had to choose I guess I would go with the partridge in a pear tree because at least I would get pears out of the deal.

Play Secret Santa, what inappropriate gift would you love to give this year?

I would give everyone a copy of We’re the Millers. There’s really a lot of inappropriate stuff in that movie but a ton of it is awfully funny.

Martha Stewart or the Grinch? What is your decorating style? 

I strive for Martha. Don’t we all?

What is ONE WORD that defines the holiday season for you? 

Family. And cookies.

If Santa could assure its delivery, what’s the first thing on your holiday wish LIST?

After he promised economic equality and excellent education for all the families and children in America, I suppose I would ask for the outside of our house to be painted. I still miss the color of our house in Richmond. After all the work we did on the house this summer though, I don’t see this in our near future but maybe Santa could make it happen.

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Caroline has been asking for a phone for as long as I can remember. And for Instagram for about a year now. We are holding firm for a bit longer and this weekend, a New York Times article gave me a bit of back-up. The cover story in my favorite Sunday Styles section was The Agony of Instagram by Alex Williams. The article sites example after example of super successful and creative people who feel great about their lives until they check their Instagram feeds. I love the phrase Williams uses when he says that users “feel suffocated by fabulousness.”

We have all been here both with Instagram and Facebook. Recently, for example, I jokingly asked a friend to please just once post pictures of her children arguing instead of having an amazing time with their huge family surrounded by well, ‘fabulousness.’ In truth, though, I don’t know anyone who posts anything other than this ‘fabulousness’. Who, after all, likes calling attention to the drab, to the boring, to the less than perfect?

After reading The Agony of Instagram, I looked back on my own Instagram feed which I thought might not be all that fabulous. We don’t after all, eat at five star restaurants or take exotic vacations. But… my feed in a similar way does not tell the whole story.

By way of example…

The picture of the NYC skyline that I could see while taking a walk with a friend? Lovely picture. Amazing view. True. But after the walk through a very hilly part of our town, my shins were so sore that I couldn’t work out for days. I did not post any pictures of that.

The picture of Katherine at Wicked? So perfect. And such an amazing day in the city. Except all that is the story of what happened after the epic temper tantrum caused by too little food and too much noise. No pictures of that either.

A beautiful picture of our first accumulating snow? True. But I also had to cancel plans that I was really looking forward to because the roads were sort of sketchy. I didn’t post any pictures of me crossing fun things off my calendar.

And the adorable cat snuggled with Katherine? He’s cute. But he’s also nuts and loosing bladder control. We have thrown away at least four pillows in the last few months seeing as he prefers to pee on pillows these days. I chose not to create a collage of the pillows we have lost to feline urine.

So there you have it. With all the fabulousness comes some things that are slightly less than. I choose to believe that there are stories behind nearly all the pictures that we see on social media.

Anyone else want to share?

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Anne, at Modern Mrs. Darcy, hosts a wonderful monthly reading round up called Twitterature in which writers are asked to create short, Twitter-style reviews of their recent reads. It’s a fun and easy way to learn what people are loving and in some cases, leaving.

Here is my list for this month.

Mary Coin by Marisa Silver. Recently I was asked to choose my favorite read of the year at Great New Books. One of my fellow GNB writers grabbed Me Before You before I got a chance so I chose Mary Coin, a fabulous read about an iconic Depression era photograph, the woman who took the picture and the subject of the photograph. Highly recommended.

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell. This book left such an impression on my that I couldn’t wait for Twitterature to write about it. I wrote this post the day after I finished reading. It’s a hard book to review because after you’ve finished almost everything seems like it could be a spoiler.

Divergent by Veronica Roth. A post-apocolypitc story with a female protagonist. I think I waited to long to read this book and had heard too many great things about it. I liked it but couldn’t stop comparing in to the Hunger Games. I also had a nagging feeling that the author was picturing a movie script as she wrote the book which is always a bit of a disappointment for me.

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