The Christmas Bandit

I think we can all agree that my niece was spoiled rotten this Christmas, but I also made out like a bandit.  Its always the years when I think I asked for nothing that I get everything I didn't know I wanted.  My family was sneeeeeeeaaaaaaakyyyyy.

I rode down to Virginia in the back seat of my mother's Honda CRV, wedged between the left door and roughly 128,345,890 presents.  I had a three by two foot space to myself.  Thankfully, there wasn't any traffic heading south at 5am, so I wasn't squished for too long.

With only three days of fun-filled family time ahead of me, I hit the ground running.  First, Erica tested my brother's hoodie strings (and patience):

Then we went grocery shopping for the weekend.  I picked up some blueberries for breakfast, not realizing that they were gargantuan, monster berries:

During the day we cooked and lounged, eventually heading to the movie theatre to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  I had no previous desire to see it, but I was pleasantly surprised - it far surpassed the last one they made.

Back home, Erica and Stella were asleep, so I channel surfed for something to watch while baking an apple pie.  I found my favorite holiday classic: The Muppet Christmas Carol!

This movie is perfection.  If you haven't seen it, you must get out and rent it before the new year.  It still counts as Christmas until then, right?

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Christmas eve arrived with all the joys of the holiday season; Pinot noir and fancy-schmancy cracked glass wine stems, and a feast!

Turkey, honey ham, mashed taters, butter herb rice, roasted veggies, cranberry sauce, gravy, and Stella Anne!

After dinner, Erica made hot cocoa from scratch.  The real deal - brick chocolate, milk, puff marshmallows, even Pirouette cookies for stirring.  We snuggled around the massive TV to watch Elf and get sleepy.

Santa was on his way, and Matt made sure to leave fresh cookies (for the big guy) and carrots (for the reindeer):

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CHRISTMAS DAY!

Stella was up early, as usual, playing with Grandma's slippers and fussing with her new kitchen set (complete with whirring tea kettle, blender, and plastic foods).

Matt, Erica, and Mom surprised me with a purse I'd been eyeing.  Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky...

Here's Momma Huston wearing Stella's new AmFam bib:

And Matt with all the makings of a classic, Huston-Elem "rubber cake."

Daddy got me a gorgeous mantra necklace:

I got Stelly-bean an Abby Cadabby fairy-in-training  outfit.  Notice the skirt and matching wings:

That night, we dined on another family classic: Ziti!  The plates were hand-drawn by my mother back when we were kids.

All in all, a very successful Christmas, indeed!

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The next morning, Stella enjoyed her breakfast in a Harajuku Mini sweatshirt from her stocking:

Then she proceeded to try on Grandpa's shirts after her bath:

Killing time before my flight, the ladies decided to hit the mall.  I had received a Betsey Johnson gift card, and we wanted to see if I could spend it before 3pm.  This did not worry me.

With my (two!) new dresses and belts in tow, I packed my bags and hopped in the car with Matt and Daddy.  Stella was kind enough to give me a big kiss goodbye as I headed off to the airport and back to tour life:

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Chi-caaaa-GO, Chi-caaaaaa-GO, that toddlin' town...

After an uneventful flight north, I landed in the Windy City and hopped a cab to the home of Katie Yohe and Lawrence Kern.  For those of you who don't know, Katie is the roommate who spoiled me for all other roommates: she has exactly the same standards of cleanliness and the same love of cooking/baking.  It took me a long time to accept that I'd never live with her again (since she has no desire to live in New York and also comes with a gorgeous boyfriend), but this blip in Chicago has given me the opportunity once more!

Here you see Lawrence (boyfriend extraordinaire) holding Chester, the long-suffering, squash-faced Persian:

Here's Chester curled below the Christmas tree:

And ruling over the household:

Thisby, Chester's partner in crime, cannot "meow."  When I curl up in bed, he slides next to me and emits a thin, puffy gasp in greeting.

Just because he's photogenic, here's Chester once more:

I've never uploaded my own video here before, but here is an attempt to show you what Thisby's meow sounds like:

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THE VENUE:

THE STREET ENTERTAINMENT:

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Wednesday evening marked our 100th performance of The Addams Family!  Management surprised us with eighty Magnolia Bakery cupcakes:

Also at that evening's performance were two wonderful friends of mine - Alee Hoffman, holistic healer and Chinese medicine enthusiast:

And Erin McDowell, college buddy and glorious stage performer:

We grabbed drinks after the show at a local pub... the only place open past 9pm.  What is up with that, downtown Chi?

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Now I am getting ready to meet Ms. Yohe at work (Pilates instructor, say WHAT?!), and then we are going to hit Mindy's Hot Chocolate for lunch.  I saw a segment about it on the Cooking Channel, and I've wanted to go ever since.  Apparently they have sorbet pops that are outstanding and dairy free!

I'll fill you in on more adventures soon.  Until then, please enjoy Thisby sleeping:

Vacation From Everything (including the blog).

Hey, friends.  Sorry for the hiatus, but vacation is as vacation does.  I'm currently in Virginia with my family, but I should fill you in on the last few weeks:

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Buffalo was the coldest city we'd hit yet.  Thankfully, the theatre was only a short walk from the hotel.  Also Thankfully, the Hyatt had a life-size gingerbread house to fill us with cheer on our way out the door.  Gil chewed through one of the windows:

He also tried to convince me that these were both healthy and cost effective:

I told him he could have them when he had his own paycheck.
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My brother hasn't been this pissed off in years:

Nuff said.

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Steve, Bryant, Buffy and I shared a hotel room for our week in Buffalo.  We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood on our way to do laundry.  We passed the scariest Santa ever:

As well as some oddly placed marble stones in front of a golden cat statue:

Buffy declined to join us on our adventure, but she kept watch over our luggage back at the Hyatt:

She was joined by Biggie later in the day.  Here he is doing his best Judy Garland impression:

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Jerry Zaks came midweek for a brush-up rehearsal.  He seemed pretty pleased with the shape of the show - changes were minor and the mood was merry.

The mood was also merry when Steve, Bryant and I got a taste of Buffalo's famous wings:

Gabriel's Gate was recommended to us by a few local Buffalonians.  Apparently the original home of the Buffalo Wing was bought out, and GG had taken over as cock of the walk.  We were midway through our heap of chicken when I got the call that I was going on in the ensemble.  Not the best pre-show food, but what can you do?

That night, our head costume mistress had a wine and cheese soiree in her hotel room.  The ladies gathered and gossiped over delicious nibbles and ample libation:

Nothing says "festive" like a fireplace DVD!

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Edison finger puppet?

Don't mind if I do.

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Friday night, we decided to hit the local Drag/Gay bar.  Lynne (our wig mistress) decided that my hair wasn't faaaaabulous enough for queens to see, so she busted out the teasing comb and wielded her Sebastian hairspray:

Next, Bryant gave me a saucy, heroin-chic look:

Having a MAC makeup artist as your roomie?  Priceless.

Here are a few of the less incriminating shots from our evening at Marcelle:

Above we have Brad's jawline.  Below we have a very special urinal.

Celebrating Matt's beard with Robbie:

Jaime, the Queen, and the ladies of AmFam:

Facial hair imitations:

The infamous Sabrina!  Midget... Black... Drag queen.

Festive in her Nutcracker attire:

Inspired by the ladies of the night, one of our own decided to take a swing at pole-dancing.  He was much appreciated by both sexes:

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The Shea's Theatre of Buffalo NY:

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The roomies and I grabbed a quick dinner of Beef on Wek at the fabulous Cabaret Bar.  Beef on Wek is thinly sliced prime rib with horseradish on a rye and salt bun.  Super delicious!  

Cabaret was completely Broadway themed.  Even the martinis were named for famous shows:

The Christmas decor was classy and simple:

And the Cabaret decor was terrific!

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On Sunday, Christy went home early for the holidays.  I donned her hat in her honor:

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So... this is not what you want to see when you're about to board a plane:

The staff claimed it was for a test.  I got home safely, so I guess they were telling the truth?
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Oh, how I've missed New York!!  The buildings, the lights, the advertising:

But before we dive into the glories of my hometown, lets celebrate the Family I've come to know and love.  Here are the photo challenges - a game we play with our sister company in New York:

By the time we finish our run in Chicago next week, the Broadway run of Addams Family will have come to its close.  I wish them all a very merry Christmas, and I hope we acquire a few as vacation swings!

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I spent the better part of my first week home catching up with my friends.  Ivy, my nearest and dearest, lives four short turns from my childhood home.  We tried to get our traditional Italian Ices before seeing the Muppet movie, but the place was closed for winter.  The yogurt shop in town wasn't looking promising... who has Activia as a flavor of the day?

To save money on movie candy, we hit the True Value drug store.  I picked up a few stocking stuffers for my family, and Ivy was hit with an avalanche of Christmas crap:

We were shocked to see Jersey Shore ornaments.  What is the world coming to?  Seriously.

I much prefer the sparkle Asian take-out container and glass cigar box:

We also picked up the holy grail of Tic-Tacs: HOLIDAY TWIST!  Cinnamon and Fresh Mint in one!

Arriving early to the movie theatre, we smelled the heavenly scent of Donuts being delivered to Dunkin. Turns out you can buy Munchkins one at a time, so we each chose two to curb our craving.  The lady gave us an extra chocolate one for free!

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This is awesome:

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Ivy and I later met up with friends of mine from the good old days:

Here's Erica and I:

Old farts that we've become, we decided to head back home around midnight.  The kids were home from school and crowding the bar, the music was too loud to talk over, and it was too late to go to Starbucks.  I sound like this guy:

Oh, Daddy.  I love ya.

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This was by the sink in the bathroom of California Pizza Kitchen:

They need a backstory...
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Friday night I met up with my roomies for dinner at Elsewhere, a delicious little spot just off ninth avenue.  I followed my heroin-chic tutorial from Bryant:

Afterwards, I attended the famous Mozingo White Elephant Christmas Extravaganza!  This year's special surprise?  Why, a fake taxidermy buck, of course!

I wish I'd taken it home and left it for my sublettor to find...

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I went to dinner with my parents at la Piazza - our favorite Italian place.  I'd love to share pictures of our FABULOUS waiter and friend, Tim, but he hasn't texted them to me yet.  Ahem.

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We had a gas leak in our house, so Daddy couldn't join me when I went to meet the newest baby of the family.  Good thing, too, cause I don't think he would like liked the look of these stairs:

He would have liked this little fellow, though!

Meet Kobe!  Son of my cousin Naomi and her husband Yaron.

Quite the looker, don'tcha think??

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YOUNG ETHAN EMBRY ON TV?!  Oh, thank you Christmas!

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At 5:30am, we packed up the car and drove to Virginia.  I had the pleasure of making the trip in a three by two foot square just to the left of Santa's entire stash:

Stella's gonna make out like a bandit this year.  Good thing she's so darn cute!

Christmas is but a few hours away, and our tree is decked out to the nines:

I can't guarantee I'll post before heading to Chicago.  Family time is precious, and I intend to drink it up! In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from my favorite Christmas tradition:

Merry Christmas!