Snails See The Benefits/The Beauty In Every Inch

Things I Love: December '08

1. Christmas music starts early in Utah--like, the day after Halloween early. And every year I say to myself, Gretchen, you should probably wait until post-Thanksgiving to begin listening to it. Anything after that is just, y'know, excessive. And then on November 2nd I'm flipping through radio stations and I'm all, Okay, I'll listen to "Sleigh Ride" just this once and by the 5th half of my pre-sets are stations that play Christmas Music 24/7. The best part is that I'm not sick of it yet! I have a problem, but it's a festive addiction, so that's okay, right?

2. My dear bloggy friend Cuileann spent her Thanksgiving touring Iceland by herself. I've dreamed about doing stuff like that, but she actually had the courage to go through with it. She's just started to recap the trip, so you can read from the very beginning. (A very good place to start.)

3. It was love at first sight when I saw the online store for Layers Clothing. Imagine my surprise when I learned that their actual shop was only miles from my house. Layers is ahead of the curve (pun?) when it comes to fashion that is both modest *and* affordable. I'm obsessed, to say the least.

4. I didn't give Paper Towns enough attention last week during PoP, so let me give credit where credit's due. John Green, author of YA masterpieces Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, is the voice of the current generation of American youth. At surface level, his books are about boys who hopelessly love the quirky girls in their life, but deeper down, they're about identity and love and an infinite amount of other important topics. Paper Towns is ragingly well-written and hysterically funny to boot. Really, the difference between a good book and a great book is how much you think about the book after you've read it. It's been a week and a half for me and I can't get it off my mind.

5.

Enter the Oh How Lovely Shops Big Holiday Giveaway!

Go enter, because Jamie is awesome for organizing that. Also, get pumped because I've got some cool stuff up my sleeves for a giveaway later in the week.

6.I don't know what sparked my interest, but I've been consumed with the thought of adopting a retired racing greyhound. I'm not even a dog person and I want one SO BADLY. My life needs to be more settled down before this will ever become a reality, but it WILL happen someday. (Photo via Whackapedia)

7. The Big Bang Theory is the latest addition to my tv line-up. I was skeptical because it a) is on CBS and b) has a laugh track. It's like if the guys from Friends were super nerdy and hopeless with women. (Okay, I guess that does describe Ross.) The uber-geeky humor makes me proud to understand most of the references, especially when the Lil' Bro looks at me like I'm crazy and demands an explanation about what's so funny. Usually, I'm like, "You see, it's awesome because back in the 70's George Lucas had this friend......oh, never mind."

8. Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks--Is there anything more ubiquitous on Love Lists? Um, no. There is not. So I'll just sum it up in two words: Liquid Crack

9. I'm no longer a Trader Joe's virgin! We stopped by the one in ABQ and I made the fateful choice to share my pita chips with my family when suddenly the bag was empty. Blerg! I was so enamored by the design of their holiday bags that I snagged a couple for myself.

10. We held a charity auction within my Singles' Ward (which is the congregation for all us single LDS peeps) on Saturday and raised nearly $2,000 for Sub for Santa. If that doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will.