wrapping with maps.

I have this conflict with wrapping paper. I love meticulously wrapped presents and can spend lots of time in fancy paper stores. I also hate how inherently wasteful the process is, both monetarily and in actual paper waste. You can spend a lot of time and money making something look pretty, only to have it torn apart in seconds, leaving a pile of paper that can rarely even be recycled. (Or in my case, you carefully open any present with superior paper, in the hopes that you might use it later but you never ever do, are you kidding yourself?)

Maybe I haven't mentioned this here, but anyone who knows me knows I love maps. My shower curtain is a map, I have a map under plexiglass on my coffee table, and I collect them whenever I have a chance. I especially like old maps with countries that don't exist anymore, so I of course jump at the chance to grab any old atlases that are about to be thrown out at school.

The last atlas I got is relatively large, and I've been cutting out map pieces to decorate postcards and such. But at the rate I'm using it will be with me for years, so I have a new plan: map wrapping paper! Alright, so it's not super Christmasy. BUT it is pretty, it's reusing old things instead of throwing them away, and it's maybe teaching people geography while they get gifts. (maybe.) I wasn't even sure of what to wrap yet, so I made one of those gift wrapped boxes that stay wrapped forever, which is nice in and of itself. It's the gift box that keeps on giving!

coat conundrum, part 2.

About a week ago, I ordered this coat from J. Crew. I had a 20% off code for the night only, I could get it in tall aand with thinsulate, so it seemed like the right thing to do. When it finally arrived, I put it on, looked in the mirror and sighed. It just wasn't right. I wasn't sure why, but it wasn't good. I whined to friends online who assured me that it probably wasn't that bad, why not take a picture and show us? So I did, and the results were the same: something was off with the fit. I sighed some more, promised to return it, and quickly deleted any pictures posted. For some reason, I felt embarrassed that I had bought a bad coat, even though it's not my fault! The pictures were cute! Other coats in the store were cute! How did this one go so wrong?

So, we're still on the lookout for the perfect coat that doesn't exist. I did move one of the buttons on my formerly way-too-boxy tweed thrift store coat to give it a little more shape. It's not fabulous, but better.

the side effects of winter: part 1, the gym.

The winter this year has turned me into a total baby. I can't stand the cold, and I don't have enough layers to keep me warm wherever to go. The cold weather has even driven me to a horrible thing: joining the gym.

The thing is, I'm a runner. I step out the door and go. It's free (save the cost of apparel and shoes) and fast and it works. And I could run the same route four times a week and not get bored because there's always different people and different cars and different light. But this just doesn't happen in the cold, when it gets dark at 4:30, when there are unplowed sidewalks all over the place. So, reluctantly...to the gym I went.

There is the good and the bad. The bad is mostly that I'm moving but I'm not going anywhere, that the scenery never changes, and that I have to pay for all of this. Something seems wrong with that. The good is that it's not cold, I can sort of read the New Yorker on the elliptical (which is also better for my knees), and can catch conversations like this:

(scene: locker room, where the girls swim team had just finished practice)

Girl 1 (presumably Nina): Someone left the shower on!
Girl 2: Nina I can hear you!
[Nina returns from showers]
Girl 2: Did you turn the shower off?
Nina: Uhhhh....[turns around to amend the situation]
Girl 2: (in a sing-song voice) Nina, turn the shower off because that wastes water which causes global warming which makes the glaciers melt!

(Cute, but I think I'll try to avoid the locker room around that time from now on.)

Some random stuff, in numerical order.

1. My new favorite blog is Strange Maps.
   
2. I am making Christmas presents. Normally whenever I made something I immediately post pictures on flickr and blab about it, but no. Recipients of the gifts could be reading this! (Note: they largely don't, but they could.)
3. Though I did make a bib for my niece and decided she needed to have it right away.
4. Sometimes I get flustered because I want to make things for myself instead of other people. Such as this purse made from old pants.
   
5. Not to mention, something about the holidays makes me want to buy tons of things for myself.
   
6. Pictures of Christmas cupcakes, you say? Try here.
   

coat conundrum.

With the first major snowfall expected to arrive this weekend, it's time to face the facts:

• Winter is here.
• It was 10 degrees today.
• I am pretty much always cold.
• I don't like muttering "fuck" every morning when I head out the door.
  
• The last time I spent more than $50 of my own money on a coat was..well, never.
  

With all of these in mind, I figured now is the time to spend some hard earned money on a coat that is cute and warm. And hell, it's even okay to splurge a bit because coats are important in Minnesota.

Sounds easy, right? No. The problem is simple: cute coats are rarely warm. Coats built for warmth are always lacking just a bit in fashion. They look similar enough, but something is off and you can tell at first glance.

But I was (am?) determined. I started looking at J. Crew, and found some promising coats that I wouldn't want to buy without at least trying a few on. Which is how I ended up at the Mall of America tonight strutting around the store in this:

Yes, it's very cute. It's green and adorable and it feels like it is made out of NOTHING. And so I very sadly put it back on the rack and sighed, and moved on, emboldened to find the perfect coat.

I stopped at Macy's and immediately walked past the grays, browns, blacks, and creams. I needed color and would not settle for anything less at this point. Okay, or maybe patterns, like in this one:

Maybe it was just me acclimating to the mall climate, but somehow this one felt warmer. And it is rather cute as well. But I still can't shake the fact that I would be paying what I used to pay on rent for a coat that just isn't that warm. Perhaps that's the sacrifice we all make: cute and cold, or warm and dowdy.

in praise of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far. It has everything a good holiday needs, and none of the extraneous stuff that cloud other holidays. The commercialism and crowds of Christmas are already starting to wear on me. New Year's Eve is fraught with the pressure of having the perfect party, the perfect bar, along with the perfect outfit to start the year out right. Valentine's Day...well, the idea is nice, but it tends to make the coupled feel guilty, and the single lonely. But Thanksgiving is only about family or friends and food. That's it. There's no need to worry about presents, or a lack of a significant other, or what shoes to wear. All I need to worry about is what vegetables to include when I roast a giant vat of them, and that's actually fun.

Things to look forward to: mashed potatoes with peas and carrots, stuffing with cranberry sauce, leftover turkey sandwiches, and a brand new niece who will most definitely be mauled by relatives.

a short list of things i used to be more afraid of.

• Spiders.
• Making my own salad dressing.
• Foam soap.
• Homemade tomato sauce.
• Riding my bike on heavily trafficked streets.
• Running outside.
• High heels.
• Make-up.

you laugh too much at dumb jokes.

I was trying to keep an open mind about you, but something was off. My suspicions were confirmed when I made a silly joke of average to below-average hilarity. Now, most people would give a slight chuckle at the pun, and honestly, if they didn't laugh at all I wouldn't be offended. But you didn't stop at the polite chuckle, you laughed just a little too much. I think you may have even snorted in there. And after you finished laughing, you went into an analysis of why this really-not-that-funny-joke was so funny. It was already beyond dead, and you killed it two or three more times. Is this what you always do? A four minute recounting of everything that's only mildly humorous? Sounds exhausting.

down with plastic bags!

The internet is both wonderful and embarrassing. On another, unnamed (and ahem, unlinked) site not unlike this one, I have maintained a blog type thing for over six years now. Six. Years. Now, most of it is locked and tucked away just in case some old friend stumbles upon it and wants to read my deep thoughts on the world and cute boys at house parties. Sorry, pal. While there is some embarrassment to looking through these old entries, a scant few stick out as being...okay. Such as this rant against plastic bags, written five years ago. I'm posting it unedited.

today the girl at the grocery store did not ask, "paper or plastic?" and before i knew it my $30 worth of groceries were in SIX PLASTIC BAGS. that's six more plastic bags that i can add to my ever growing pile of plastic bags. they invade my closet and even though i reuse them as trash bags, i cannot keep up with the influx of bags. they suck because unlike paper bags, they cannot be easily recycled along with normal paper products, nor can they be used as wrapping paper, or any other useful purpose one could think of. they are so flimsy that baggers often feel the need to DOUBLE BAG, which makes the whole situation worse.

the worst is when you buy something like a tube of toothpaste and the evil earth-hating clerk attempts to throw it in a bag as you dig for change in your wallet and in the midst you notice and say, very frantically, "no, that's ok, i don't need a bag" and they look at you as if you are insane because EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET LOVES FLIMSY, IDIOTICALLY STUPID PLASTIC BAGS THAT SERVE NO PURPOSE OTHER THAN TO TRANSPORT ITEMS TO YOUR NEXT DESTINATION. and although they are sometimes necessary for that, that doesn't mean i won't continue to abhor plastic shopping bags for as long as i both shall live. the end.

Why this trip down memory lane, you wonder? I'm thinking about getting some reusable produce bags. And it got me thinking about plastic bags in general, and how even though I'm using envirosax pretty religiously these days, I still feel a bit weird about it in some places. Although maybe this means I need to stop shopping at stores like Target and only go to the co-op, where my reusable bag sparks a conversation with the cashier. But really? Some things never change. I still hate plastic bags just as much as I used to, only now I have many more options to deal with it.

diy, for food and craft.

Craft

Sew, Mama, Sew (which I only recently discovered) is listing ideas for homemade holiday gifts all month long. Ack, what a fabulous idea! Of course, in order to finish presents by Christmas, I probably should have started them in...oh, I dunno, April?

One of the gift ideas that I would rather make for myself is this lunch bag. While trying to make sense of the directions, I managed to find a video on how to make a messenger bag out of plastic bags. Neat!


Food

Inspired by this question [What cooking do you do diy?], I finally made my own granola using this recipe. It turned out pretty well and was so easy. I also am very intrigued by making my own yogurt, since I like to eat it a lot and I get mad at all the non-recyclable yogurt containers I have. So, that's something to think about.