Merry & Bright Photos

The C9 bulbs at night shine nice & bright.

The tree canopy is trimmed too high,
so we hang ornaments from the roofline this year.

Oh Christmas Tree!
I grew up with strictly themed, tonal-palette,
white-flocked Christmas trees with only white lights.
As an adult, I'm all about the jewel tones on the living room Christmas tree.

New ornament in honor of me becoming a handy lady on the visuals / make-it-pretty team.

New double-decker ornament to commemorate our trip to London.
Nevermind that it was made in China and purchased from Pottery Barn online.

Yes, we have a mini-tree in the bedroom. Get over it.
Mini-tree features mid-century style, pastel ornaments,
and keeps the cats mesmerized for hours.

Lights & Flicks Picks

As a retail visuals minion, I decorated (and repeatedly refilled with decorations) at least five different Christmas trees before I decorated our own two Christmas trees here at ye olde 1952 House. (Photos forthcoming of living room tree and bedroom tree.) I decided that while LED lights may be better for the environment, they burn my eyes as if looking directly into a series of miniature suns, and emanate a most unpleasant visual experience. Sorry, Earth. I'm a retro C9 light bulb fan all the way. (Photos of outdoor lighting on ye olde 1952 house forthcoming.)

In an effort to get my head and self out of retail land this holiday season, here are my top picks for holiday light displays and holiday movie showings in Austin.

Trail of Lights, I can't quit you. As crazy-crowded, flappy-foot-walker-infested and chaotic as the Trail of Lights can be, I love it! Funnel cake, kettle corn, hot chocolate and enough lights to send the electricity generators into overdrive transport me to my festive happy place. Trail of Lights also offers prepaid parking and zip passes this year to help navigate the crowds (and cover costs, I'm sure).

The Holiday Film Series at the Paramount Theatre makes my movie watching merry and bright with classics such as White Christmas, A Christmas Story, Love Actually and It's a Wonderful Life shown in a historically and architecturally significant, grand setting.

While I consider New Year's Eve to be a hot mess of unbridled bad behavior/bad choices opportunities, I love fireworks. Chad and I will likely take advantage of my employee parking pass and walk down to the Austin's New Year fireworks show at 10:00 on New Year's Eve.

I haven't made it to Austin's new Royers Pie Haven yet, but it's high on my to-do list this holiday season. The original location in Round Top, Texas makes amazing pies, and now trucks them to Austin daily. Conveniently located alarmingly close to the 1952 House at 2900 B Guadalupe Street, Chad and I will be there soon.

Put a Dragon on it

Put a bird on it. No way. So cliché. Put a dragon on it. 

I added the Natori Dragon euro sham. Love it. Keeping it.

Gift Inspiration at Work

I made some cellophane-wrapped gift baskets for my retail job. It was fun to do. Place your bets now as to whether or not a single one will sell.

Upon boss-lady Kat's instruction I made a self-service gift wrapping station for customers. I love to wrap gifts. So does my coworker, Stephanie. If we're not there, knock yourselves out.

Things Need Doing

Buy a house and you will never have an excuse to be bored. You will always have something to do, and ways to dispense extra cash. The to-do list at the 1952 House grows faster than it shrinks.

• Scrub the carport ceiling and add a new coat of white paint

• Weed the back planting beds

• Remove (seriously tacky) trashbag that Chad put down in front planting bed when he ran out of blackout fabric, and replace with actual blackout fabric

• Add mulch to front planting bed

• Get the one compromised pier and one section of compromised beam under the bathtub reinforced (Yes, this is still on the list after seven years.)

• New bathtub (All 3 of my loyal readers may recall that I reglazed the 60-year-old bathtub in the 1952 House six years ago. The new glaze peeled after too many applications of Kaboom and too vigorous scrubbings. It looks worse now than before I reglazed it.)

• New windows which will cost a small fortune (Half of the windows don't open. A few have BB pellet punctures, and one window has a pea-sized hole through both the glass and the metal screen from what I can only assume was a rock kicked up by the mower.)

• Replace the elderly oven and microwave in the kitchen

Or, maybe just move to a house with nicer stuff and bigger closets on a much quieter street. Off to buy a lotto ticket.

New Bedding: Refined or Dreary?

The crazy color quilt bedding saw better days at the 1952 House, and the ancient super-soft sheets fell victim to Kenji's claws. Kenji is the worst helper when trying to make the bed. She runs around under the covers, digging in her claws for takeoffs and landings. She is no longer allowed in the room when the bed is being made. No need to call the ASPCA. As evidenced in the photo, Kenji is allowed back in to lounge after the bed is made.

Time for new bedding, I resisted my employee discount this round. (Sadly, Chad and I are both too "Princess and the Pea"/Sissy-La-La for thread counts below 500.) I combined The Company Store sheets, duvet, white shams and generously king-sized comforter with Jonathan Adler euro shams and a Greek key design Matouk throw blanket. It's a little dreary and drab after the crazy quilt bedding, but it's all so incredibly soft, that it's like sleeping on Cloud Nine.

I ordered a Natori dragon euro sham to throw in the middle to add a little lucky liveliness. I'll post a photo if it's a keeper. Kenji will likely sit for that photo session also. Her agent promises to get back to me with her availability.

Nighttime Window Peeping

Holiday 2 Floor Set is winding down. I spent more time in Snowdrift and Enchanted Forest. At this point, I'm pretty severely enchanted. I'll have interior photos of all that later. It's real nice.

Chad brought our fancy camera with a borrowed tripod from his work to finally snap some nighttime photos of the window displays at work. Let the prettiness ensue. As always, click on any photo for larger slideshow.

Oh look, it snowed in Austin. Yet there are moths and butterflies on the trees. Must be an enchanted forest meets snowdrift. 

There was no room for the 30x30 sign in this window, so I chalked a pretty good copy of the sign on the left wall. Get your gift ideas here!

This is the Market window. Market focuses more on cookware, cleaning supplies and personal care. I decorated the trees with felted veggie ornaments, wire whisks, veggie peelers, copper measuring spoons and egg separators. Check out the cookware gifts under the larger tree. I put references to staff members on the gift tags, but am not sure they noticed yet. I spied that red wagon peeking out from a shelf in the dungeon, er, I mean stock room, and just had to put it in the window. Market's signature color is red, so there's lots of red. I think about things, and like, plan and stuff.

I'm also making gift baskets at work lately. I'll post a few of my fave examples soon.

Happy Halloween

Chad and I celebrated BYOPTYOHTY by carving jack-o-lanterns Sunday night. Happy Halloween from a scary clown (aren't they all a little scary?) and the grim reaper. Sweet dreams!

I doubt that we will dress up this year. Plans for two different charity costume parties fell through this Halloween season when the charities both cancelled their events. Bummer.

BYOPTYOHTY Party

Bring Your Own Pumpkin To Your Own House This Year Party

Chad and I throw an amazing BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) Party every other year here at the 1952 House. This year is not the "other year". You are on your own, party-people. Be creative. Be safe. Have fun. 

If you want to recreate our party atmosphere:

Make mac n cheese muffins. (My recipe appears at the bottom of this post.)

Make some Morning Star Farms veggie corndogs or State Fair brand meaty (eww, but hey, it's Halloween, so get your scare on) corndogs.

Have a Halloween music playlist, or tune your Time Warner Cable TV to Music Choice channel Sounds of the Season.

Grab apple fritters from Ken's Donuts. (Starbucks also has good apple fritters for non-Austinites or Austinites who don't like driving near the University of Texas campus.)

Throw "fun-size" favorites of candy on your dining room table with some glittery Halloween doo-dads.

Carve a jack-o-lantern, or otherwise paint, bedazzle or sticker a pumpkin. *HERE* are some great ideas courtesy of the lady I want to be when I grow up, Jamie Meares.

Post a photo or it's like it never happened.

If you live in Austin and are free on Saturday, October 26, get yourself to Central Market on North Lamar for a pumpkin carving exhibition from one of the Food Network stars of Halloween Wars 2013, Gabriel Vinas.

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Here is the recipe for the Mac & Cheese Muffins I made for the pumpkin party:

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups skim milk

2 Tablespoons low-fat cream cheese

2 cups shredded low-fat cheddar cheese (1/2 cup reserved for topping)

10 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked to package instructions

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced (optional)

In  a saucepan over medium heat, mix flour, salt, onion powder and pepper. Cook 2 minutes stirring. (Yes, these are all dry ingredients.)

Slowly whisk in skim milk, then add cream cheese. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 4 minutes, stirring until thick. (It will be lumpy.)

Remove from heat, and stir in 1 and 1/2 cups cheddar cheese until melted. (It takes a few minutes. Keep stirring.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12 muffin-tin with cooking spray. 

In a big bowl, mix cooked macaroni with cheese sauce. 

Spoon into the muffin tin. Top with a slice of tomato (or not), then with the 1/2 cup of reserved shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake until bubbly and golden-brown, about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. 

Busy & Sleep Deprived

Getting up for work at 3:45 AM for a 5:00 AM start time for six day stretches for three weeks in a row is no one's idea of a good time, I'm pretty sure. That's what I've been doing since I got back from London. To make things a little more chaotic, I got my arm twisted (figuratively speaking) into learning and performing a new role for a three-act dinner mystery show down in San Antonio, right in the middle of those 3:45 wake-ups. Heaven help me, I made it through. I'm now enjoying five days off from both jobs as a birthday present to myself. I have many magazines to read, a few chores and much sleeping to do.

Photos of the new Holiday I (yes, there will be a Holiday II) floor set at my retail job:

Moss, butterflies and moody colors make up the "Enchanted Forest". This is the most beautiful directive I've seen from the higher-ups at my my retail job to date. *Click any photo to make it bigger.*

I lined the backs of bays with roofing paper and used a dry-brush technique to paint birch trees (a recurring motif in the "Snowdrift" areas of this floor set. Merchandise was then stacked on shelves in front of the trees, but kept the trees mostly visible.

This photo shows a column I painted in chalkboard paint, a birch tree I chalked, a birch tree I built out of a telescoping concrete form and paper, AND a Christmas tree I decorated. Trees everywhere!

I really loved making the birch tree poles with lit willow branches in the background, painting the birch trees and setting out the beautiful, sparkly merchandise for this floor set. I loathed making the giant pine cones out of chicken wire and cardboard (in the foreground under the table). I wanted to cry when people called the pine cones "artichokes".

Again, apologies for the glare of the glass windows. The bottom crates will be filled with firewood this week. I was instructed to use existing shelves and new crates to construct a pyramid shaped window display. I like the way it came together.

There's so much going on in this window, and it's hard to see. Left to right: more birch poles with cascading paper butterflies, a tree house sitting on seven birch risers stocked with a settee, side table, lamp, pillows, throw blanket and rug, evergreen mini trees with mulch islands and finally a pieced photo collage of a moody twilight forest for the background. Phew! So much work went into this! I have to give much credit to the corporate higher-ups in the visuals department for a meticulously planned  and beautifully themed floor set. I also owe thanks to the local visuals team: my boss and super-carpenter, Kat; my peer in making it pretty, Lori; and our fabulous helpers, Joey and Summer.

Here I am after trekking down to San Antonio in the middle of floor set madness to play "The Godmother" in a mobster-themed dinner mystery show. This is my "son", who is the same age as me. That's a wig I'm wearing. I looked pretty haggard from sleep-deprivation, but still probably wasn't convincing as a sixty-year-old crime boss.

Here's a recent photo of me with prettifying Instagram filter just to prove I don't look like anyone's grandma.

Other Places to Go

If I ever go to London again, as previously mentioned, I'll take the East End walking tour by Alternative London again, and will dine along Brick Lane on the early days of my trip. I will take a day trip to Kew Gardens, which we weren't able to squeeze into the schedule this past trip. I will spend some time in the beautifully decorated Well & Bucket pub on Brick Lane. A photo of Well & Bucket's copper-wrapped bar appears on the web page for the Alternative London pub tour. Only after arriving back in Austin was I able to google/sleuth the name of the place in that lovely, inviting photo.

Next up on my travel wish list:

Costa Rica - just to relax where rain forest meets (hopefully!) dormant volcanoes and beaches. No tour guide or activities needed. Zip lines terrify me. No thanks.

Edinburgh, Scotland - there's a giant castle there with guided tours.

Guided tour around Ireland - I want a chauffeured van with someone who knows where to go, what to do and can tell me all the pertinent history. Sometimes researching and planning a trip is dizzy-making. Sometimes I don't want to work that hard to prepare for vacation.

Road trip around Big Sur area in California - In case you didn't know, I'm a bit of a nerd. I really want to see the Winchester Mystery House and William Randolph Hearst's estate, plus the California coastline.

Previously I thought I wanted to go to Machu Picchu, Peru. Recent googling makes me think that tourists are tearing up the place just by walking around it, and I don't want to hasten the deterioration. Earthquakes and floods sometimes hinder access to the site. I get altitude sickness, and don't want to spend a vacation feeling dizzy, vaguely sick to my stomach and exhausted from lack of oxygen. Breathe a sigh of relief, Ancient Wonder, you are off the list. I'll enjoy photos and videos from afar.

Funny History and Politically Charged Public Art

Our last full day in London was my favorite, and also Chad's birthday. I brought one of his presents with me, but made him open his other, heavier presents back at home. Chad likes history, justice and peanut butter+chocolate combinations. Tower of London definitely has history, but the justice part is arguable. We foraged some peanut butter+chocolate mid-day at the coffee shop. The public art was more my thing, but Chad enjoyed it too.

We were thoroughly entertained by our visit to the Tower of London. Yes, there were tales of blood, gore, wrongful imprisonment and wrongful beheadings, but the Beefeater who led our tour made the whole sordid history really interesting and wickedly funny. Free tours start every half hour near the main entry gate, and I highly recommend them. We lucked out and avoided big crowds and long lines on the day we went. It was chilly and a bit drippy, so maybe that kept the hordes at bay. We saw the royal jewels. The size of the stones in the scepters and crowns is astonishing. I'm not a fan of jewel-encrustation, but even I had to marvel at the crazy riches. We also visited the white tower which housed the armory museum. It's a cool exhibit even if you're not a card-carrying member of the NRA. I especially like the dragon sculpture fashioned out of faux-treasure, battle armor and weapons. His name is Keeper and his wings are rifles, his belly holds replica crown jewels and he breathes out flame-shaped trails of gold coins.

We spent about three hours at the Tower of London, then walked back to our temporary-neighborhood for lunch at Bermondsey Street Coffee in the form of an egg salad sandwich, salads and the aforementioned peanut butter+chocolate bar. We rested a bit before our reserved evening walking tour. 

A slow, traffic-snarled bus ride took us to East End London with just a few minutes to spare before a walking tour covering history, culture, politics and street art. Alternative London runs the pay-what-you-wish tours. Josh, pictured above, fearless leader and street artist, gave a tour rich in all sorts of information from history to real estate to political insight into some of the more meaning-laden art. Chad and I agree that this was our favorite part of our London trip. We initially booked the East End pub tour for Chad's birthday evening, but it was a blessing in disguise that the pub tour was canceled. (We took the walking tour instead.) We feel like we got to see how non-Royal people in London live, and how tolerance for different cultural backgrounds and religions happens in modern London. One building featured on the tour has been a Jewish synagogue, a Protestant church, a Catholic church and currently a mosque during its life-span. We saw buildings ravaged by World War II still boarded up, then rounded the corner to a brand-spanking-new (totally not) affordable condo project with one-bedrooms going for a million pounds. Josh stressed that street art and public art are constantly changing, as is the real estate situation in East End. If we go to London again, we'll definitely take the tour again. It will be very different by that time, for better or for worse.

We walked around East End on our own for a bit after the tour, finding a few food trailers, passing long lines to get into thumping-bass vapid nightclubs, and passing amazing-smelling Indian and Pakistani restaurants on Brick Lane. Chad wanted dinner on Brick Lane, but I had to be a buzzkill and remind him of the ten hour plane ride ahead of us the next day and my delicate constitution. Sorry. I offered to watch him eat, but he also thought better of exotic spices before a long plane trip. If we return to London, we'll make our way to Brick Lane on day one for exotic, spicy food.

The rest of our trip encompassed the tedium of travel: packing for the return home, getting a cab to the airport, ten hours on one plane, sweating our time limit as we cleared customs in Houston and made it just in time to board the 26 minute flight back to Austin. 

Promptly upon arriving in Austin, before we even went home, we hit up Chango's for Tex-Mex dinner. Yum, black beans and pico de gallo, how we missed you!

The Eye, The Dome & The Teapot

Wednesday morning, Chad and I caught a bus to the London Eye. From a distance, the London Eye looks like a trumped-up ferris wheel. It's giant at 443 feet tall. The pods are enclosed viewing stations that can hold 20 people with a large oval bench in the center. The Eye moves so slowly that you don't feel it, taking 30 minutes for a full rotation. I got a bit of vertigo when our pod reached the very top of the rotation, and was glad for the bench. The view was amazing. Interactive screens located around the pod let you tap on a building's image for the name and a brief history. The London Eye may be a silly tourist activity, but I enjoyed it.

We walked a few blocks and caught a bus to St. Paul's Cathedral. The Cathedral was hosting an art exhibit of life-size donkey statues on parade, each donkey painted by a different artist. Some of the donkeys were elaborate and beautiful, some more political in their adornment. As for the Cathedral, I was struck by the intricate mosaics and all the glittering gold tones along the ceilings. The outer loop of a small remembrance chapel behind the choir was dedicated to the American allies of World War II. Standing and reading the words of gratitude on the plaque made my eyes a bit misty. St. Paul's Cathedral is impressively huge with many areas open to explore. A narrow, winding stairway leads up to the base of the dome, known as the whispering gallery. The vantage point from there satisfied my need for views from on high. Still feeling a bit of vertigo from the London Eye, I didn't want to climb higher into the dome.

Just across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral, we reserved a spot for afternoon tea at Bea's of Bloomsbury. Bea's felt a bit narrow and claustrophobic, especially after climbing a tight spiral staircase to our table. Chad's Earl Grey tea was divine, but I chose poorly with my smokey-tasting Lapsong tea. The tower of snacks for afternoon tea had caprese sandwiches, two scones with clotted cream and jam, two cupcakes, two little meringue cookies, four brownie bites and two blondie bites. The treats were all too buttery and a bit bland in flavor. We were offered a to-go box for leftovers, but declined. We chose Bea's of Bloomsbury, because the website claimed the atmosphere to be unstuffy and casual, and because there was a reservation available on the day we wanted. Bea's lacked the grandiose ambiance, beautiful silver and fine china service that is part of a stuffy four-star hotel, and maybe that's part of what proper English afternoon tea should embody. I still prefer the tea service at The Steeping Room in our neighborhood at home.

Feeling the need to burn some calories, we crossed the pedestrian bridge over the River Thames for the walk back to our apartment. After such an indulgent afternoon tea, we had a late, light dinner of ready-packed salads from Sainsbury's. Being able to walk easily to so many interesting and useful places certainly was an endorsement for metropolitan life. Maybe if we win the lottery...

Tomorrow, read about our last full day in London - my favorite day there.