Plaza Lights

   A pretty night on the Plaza, and I planned to walk and shop after getting my hair cut tonight. Little did I know, all the shops were closed by 7 pm Friday! If retail is suffering, don't blame me. My cute new haircut & I were trying to help.

Metaphorically Speaking...

   I snapped this photo as I drove home, just as Florence & The Machine's "Shake It Out" ("It's always darkest before the dawn") started. I wasn't familiar with the song, but found it haunting—and inspiring—and turned up the volume.
   There was a dark, heavy storm cloud directly above me, practically pressing down on me with an incredible weight, and extending far in front of me, with just the tiniest sliver of daylight on the horizon. But I could see that the light was beautiful, and burned so brightly...
   A cloud of large, dark birds emerged from the trees next to the highway, swirled above me in a chaotic mass, then broke and flew together toward the brighter sky, just as the song hit its crescendo. It all felt like a perfect metaphor for my life at this moment... I need to keep focused on the road ahead and get my head out from under this cloud.
   True story. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. I just observe.

Happy happy holidays

   The sights of the season are everywhere! Here are a few images that make me happy:

Ginny has some gorgeous pictures of lights:

   More than half of the cards I've received so far are from my team's personalized product (and since many are flat, I had to find a new way to display them):

Maureen's adorable daughter Braelyn is a little suspicious of Santa:

And Patty & Olivia posed after going to see the Nutcracker:

Wrappin' for the pets

   I am having a bit of a hard time getting over jet lag and am still on Hawaii time (4 hours behind KC time.) Apparently the dogs have the same problem, because they were happy to sleep in today as well!

   Jo from the Humane Society emailed this morning because she needed some volunteers to fill a few remaining gift-wrapping shifts down on the Plaza. If HSGKC fills all the spots for two weeks, the Plaza is making a $7500 donation to the shelter! Happy to oblige, I shook off my jet lag and worked from 2-5:00 today.

   There were many shoppers out on the streets when I arrived, but apparently none of them were having their gifts wrapped... so I spent the first 2 hours and 15 minutes doing prep work for later shifts. I started by tying metallic ribbon to Christmas light bulbs; each package we wrap will get one on top. I'm told that these bulbs were formerly used for the Plaza lights! Here are the boxes of finished bulbs:

   During the last 45 minutes of my shift, I had three packages to wrap! The Plaza Customer Service supplies high-quality paper printed with a Moorish pattern to echo the decorations on the buildings, and a coordinating diecut gift tag, in 5 colors; thick, silky, white ribbon, and of course, the bulb. I was very careful to follow the instructions they supplied, to make the gifts look perfect. Here's my first one (note how the tape is conspicuously free of pet hair, unlike when I wrap at home):

   After my shift, I was in the holiday spirit and decided to shop a bit and enjoy the Plaza sights. People were everywhere, the lights were on, and a dozen horse-drawn carriages were about. It was SO COLD outside—especially after just returning from Maui—but I still managed to have fun. (And I bought a couple of cute winter dresses. Retail therapy is a great cure for vacation withdrawl.) Here are some photos from this year's lights, courtesy of The KC Star / Mike Ransdell:

Snow, snow, and—oh yeah, snow

Now is the winter of my discontent. (And by that I mean, I am really getting ****ing sick of this snow!!!) You know it's bad when it's almost up to your knees, and you can lose your dogs in the backyard!

Stuck behind a snowplow. (Hey, at least they're finally plowing!)

A little Tim Burtonesque, don't you think?

Night Lights

Some funky shots of street lights & cars at night. I love the randomness of the designs, and how abstract everything becomes. (They look like art to me, so I titled them.)

neon

neon squiggles

congregation

flock of doves

lonely highway

flying "J"s