Thankful for family

Thanksgiving has always been a time for family, and I was thankful that this year, Brent and I were able to spend it back in Michigan and Ohio with our families.

Brent's family tradition has always been to spend Thanksgiving at his grandmother's house - his mom's mom - and I am thankful that I had been able to experience that tradition with him in the past. But his beloved grandmother, who I loved dearly, passed away earlier this year. So though we couldn't be with her, his family took some of the traditions they had there and transported them to his parent's house. Though it of course wasn't the same, it was still so great to spend that time with family.

Not so great was the morning after, when we decided that it was a good idea to participate in Black Friday. Now I know it's supposedly so-named because stores bank on that date as the starting point to get their books back in the black, but I think it's quite appropriate because it can then be in the same category of the Black Plague and other such horrific terms.

Brent and I started our morning at 4:45 a.m. in the line at Target. Normally, we would have gotten in line at Best Buy or Circuit City, but since I told him he wasn't allowed to buy the 50-some-inch plasma TV he wanted, there was nothing else at either of the stores we were dying to get on sale this year. So, we ended up at Target so Brent could look for a Nintendo DS to give me for Christmas, we could get a few new DVDs to enjoy all winter, and we could find some toys on sale for his nieces.

But unbeknown to us at first, when we got up to the doors, we accidentally got in line toward the front (it snaked around a few times and around to the other side of the building). But since no one called us out on it, I quietly convinced Brent to stay where we were. Sure, sure, it wasn't quite ethical, but it was Black Friday, so rules go out the window! Besides, everyone got in - we just got in more toward the front, and even with the madhouse of people who are grabbing everything in sight, we actually ran into Brent's mom and aunt, who had gotten up an hour earlier to make it to Kohls at 4 a.m. So the four of us tag-teamed the rest of the way, which was necessary among the madness.

But I will hand it to the stores. Though it was Black Friday, they were surprisingly well organized. Signs were posted, areas were roped off, and shopping carts were lined up facing the electronics so people could grab them as they ran!

The sales were great this year, and after going to Best Buy - AFTER the early rush - Petco, Bath & Body Works, Kohls, Old Navy, and Bed, Bath & Beyond, all before 8 a.m. we ended up getting all of our Christmas shopping done. And on Nov. 28. SCORE!

The rest of the day was spent with my family - including my Aunt Carol and Uncle Tom - at my parents' house, where we had a blast playing Taboo and just hanging out together.

And since my parents were heading on vacation on Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend and Monday morning were spent with Brent's family, which is great because we got to spend time with our nieces, who are growing up too darned fast.

Gotta love the holidays!

But I've only been married for FIVE MONTHS!!!

Without even knowing it or consciously planning on it, I've become a stereotypical housewife.

Since September, I've been enrolled in a three-hour watercolor art class on Tuesday nights. There's very little actual instruction, several demonstrations, and then some one-on-one time with the instructor as us students work on our own projects. The photo I've included is of the very first painting I've ever done. I painted from a photo I took of a little island near the shores of Lake Tahoe. Not too bad for a first try!
For two hours on every Monday night in November, I head to a knitting class, where we'll be taught how to make a scarf and hat.


Once a month on a Monday or Wednesday night, I'll head to the monthly meeting of the Upper East Side Book Club, the members of whom were kind enough to welcome me even though I live on the west side of Manhattan.


Other Wednesday nights are spent at the Abs, Back, and Butt class at the gym with Janine, my gym buddy, and Thursday nights we go to the gym's rebounding class.


Occasionally, I'll volunteer at the United States Humane Society and will soon be starting to play basketball in the winter league I joined last week.

Apparently, this is what happens when you have very few friends, no kids, a husband who works ridiculous hours, and only a part-time job with lots of free time on your hands!

It was supposed to be a hat, I swear!

As I mentioned before, a friend and I enrolled in a knitting class because both of us have always wanted to know how to do it. I took a single class about a year ago with my mom, but it wasn't enough instruction for me, so I decided to give it another try for a longer period of time.

I knew at the beginning of the class that we'd be taught how to make a scarf and a hat. What I didn't know was that I'd be taught by a very flamboyantly homosexual male knitting instructor, which was a pleasantly fun surprise! He has 20 years of knitting experience - he picked it up to have something to do while on the road when he was a dancer - so he has been quick to say "STOP" when I do something wrong.

We started with the scarf, which he taught us how to do, but the majority of the work was supposed to be done at home. This week, we finished up the hat.

I ended up with a multi-colored, knitted condom.

When I finished it in class, my instructor was the one who pointed out that fact to me. Not that he really had to.

Not that it would fit anyone's head, but the instructor told me to do a smaller version of the hat we were supposed to make because I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the entire human head hat in just a week.

So while I was admiring my first knitted something, I announced to the class that it would be a nice Christmas gift for my husband. I'm sure he'll love it!

Where else but NYC would you...

... be sitting in a bar with its windows open on a random Thursday evening and hear bagpipes being played before watching the guy in a kilt playing the instrument calmly walk by alone on his way to God knows where.

Maybe it's because I am a dork, but I thought it was clever

I love Halloween and love to dress up when I get the chance.

Brent does not.

So it was a challenge for me to try and figure out a way where we could dress up for this Halloween party we were invited to in Connecticut, but not actually dress up.

Some ideas I was tossing around included the lame idea of us wearing all of our college sportswear and going as college football fans. Boo.

But since I love a play on words, I came up with this idea:

Both Brent and I would wear blue from head to toe - matching blue long-sleeved shirts and pants - and would each wear a name tag. Mine said "Jean" and his said "Gene." Therefore, we would be...

A PAIR OF BLUE JEANS!!!!!!

HAHAHA! I thought it was clever.

For the record, Brent agreed to this idea after we mentioned it to his college buddies, and they thought it was a good idea.

However, it totally backfired because once we got to the party, we saw that virtually NO ONE ELSE was dressed up - not even the hosts - even though the invitation clearly said "Be sure to wear a costume!"

So since we were essentially wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts, albeit matching, it didn't look as if we were wearing costumes. And since we knew only a few people at this party, people gave us funny looks when the host introduced us as "Brent and Erika" because we were wearing name tags saying "Gene and Jean."

So we not only confused this sophisticated group who was mostly sipping wine and nibbling on catered finger-foods that were being cooked on-site by a hired chef, but we also looked like total dorks with the same name who felt it was necessary to wear name tags to a party.

Talk about your ultimate backfires.

The monster mash!

This weekend rocked. I have many favorite things, and this weekend included two of them: Halloween and my good friend Sarah.

I was thrilled that she chose the weekend of Halloween to come into the city for a visit because I was dying to go to the NYC Halloween Parade, which is listed in the book 100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss because it's the largest Halloween shindig in the country.

Two million other people checked that off their list as well because it was estimated that that's how many were in attendance for the city's 35th annual parade. Geez Louise!

Though we were late, and missed about half of the parade, the half that we did see was nothing short of phenomenal.

Anyone dressed in a costume could be in the parade if they lined up ahead of time, and the streets were packed with floats and tens of thousands of marchers who donned costumes that ranged from ghoulish creatures to friendly cartoon characters. My favorite was the Michael Jackson impersonator who was followed by dancers monster-mashing to Jackson's "Thriller" in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the album's release.

Other good ones included Brangelina, a girl dressed as the Mona Lisa and holding herself in a photo frame followed by a friend dressed as da Vinci, and a guy dressed as an innocent schoolgirl who would lift up his skirt to show a giant penis.

I was shocked at how creative some of the costumes were - many of them looked like they took weeks to prepare followed by hours of time spent actually getting into them and applying the makeup.

And maybe it shouldn't have been such a shocker, but I was surprised at how many political messages were being spread. Sure it's close to the election, but it's Halloween, and supposed to be a good time.

Not that we didn't have a good time! Sarah and I enjoyed just standing there (about three people deep!) watching the creativity pass us by. Afterward, we walked around looking for the bars participating in the Halloween pub crawl, but ended up getting lost, so we just wandered around the city and caught up with each other. At one point, we wandered by Madison Avenue, and since Sarah was wearing a sweatshirt that also said Madison on it, it warranted a photo. Obviously.

Trick or treating was great fun as a kid, but Halloween can totally be a great time as an adult too.