I think my favorite thing about each new year is getting a new planner. It's so clean and inviting-looking, just waiting for me to fill it up with schedules and assignments and fun activities. This year I bought myself a beautiful red Moleskine half weekly planner, half notebook. Originally $20, reduced to $10 and wound up being just $5 with a coupon. Sweet deal! I've already filled in birthdays, a few appointments, the start of school, some upcoming social events (Disney on Ice ZOMG!) and the first week of January! I know that I'll definitely use it for work and school, but I hope to fill in the notebook pages too, with who knows what. We shall see!

New Years Eve was quite excellent. I went to a party over at Brad and Jenna's and had a good time. I wasn't sure if I'd know anyone there other than Brad and Jenna, so I talked Jack into coming with me, which was a good move. We both had fun. Turned out I knew a couple of other people, and met some cool ones too. Jack wasn't antisocial and weird either, so it was good all around! We were the first lame-os to leave though, at about 1am. Everybody had started the more serious drinking, which I wasn't up for and Jack won't do. Still had an excellent time though.

Some conversational highlights from the evening:

Sean (to everyone who would listen) - So...chunky ketchup? Yes/No?
Everyone - Ew, no!

Sean (again, to everyone who would listen) - Say you have two pieces of wheat bread with a slice of white bread in the middle. What do you have? A bread sandwich. Now, what happens when you add lettuce and mustard? Is it still a bread sandwich? Or is it a lettuce sandwich? This is all about the naming conventions of sandwiches you guys...

Josh (to Jack) - Hey, whatever your name is. Darnit I can't remember your name at all. Quick, do something to distinguish yourself!
Jack - *juggles some cookies*
Everyone at the table - Ooooo.

New Years Day was nice too, as I sat around in my pajamas all day just because I could. It's been a very long time since I've had a day with zero obligations, so I decided to take full advantage of it. The last few weeks have been go-go-go with the holidays and visiting with FRIENDS yay! The whole gang from high school was all back in town, so we went out which was fun. I spent quite a bit of time with Lindsey too, who was home from NYC for a week or so. We did a lot of shopping. I think our major accomplishment was spending all of the giftcard that I got from my Uncle for Christmas....a giftcard for American Eagle. I'm quite sure his new wife picked that out, because she obviously knows nothing about me. A) I am not 14 years old and B) I am most definitely not built like a ruler. My brother also got one and we just sort of stared at them, wondering how we'd possibly spend them.

Anyway, Lindsey and I went to the American Eagle in the local mall and had zero success. I had resolved to just order myself some accessories or something, but we wound up driving out to Coral Ridge in Iowa City a day or two later, so I looked at the AE there. To my surprise, I scored big. I found a gorgeous dark purple long sweater-coat thing. It's warm and pretty and actually fits nicely. It was also on clearance, score! I wanted to make sure I used all my giftcard, so I ended up overspending by a few dollars and got a cute pair of patchwork pajama pants, which I am quite happy with. So that was definitely the unexpected win of the Christmas season this year.

calm G. Love - Sneakster holidays