“It’s Christmas time in the city…”

Well, only one week until Christmas. The shopping district downtown Seattle is adorned with white lights and bustling with holiday shoppers, and the financial district has been twinkling with green since Thanksgiving. I’ll admit that, even with the snow over the weekend, I’ve not been in much of a holiday mood this year.

But all that changed when temps dropped to the mid-twenties this morning, and I was greeted with this view from my office:

The crystal clear air and view of the snow-topped Cascade Mountains* reminded me not only that Christmas has arrived, but how much I love life here in Seattle.

And with any luck, we’ll have another glorious sunset like this:

If this keeps up, looks like clear skies for Santa and his Raindeer!

For more reasons why winter in the Pacific Northwest is breathtaking, head on over here to see pics of the recent snowfall in Portland, where my Scomerican friend is spending her holidays.

*In my hurry to type this post *ahem* while at work, I had a brain fart. Those are the OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS, as pointed out by an old friend. Uh, how long have I lived here?!

It’s My Party… (aka: The one where I get slightly bummed about something totally frivalous and stupid)

Our Regional Managing Partner sent out an email this morning announcing that, because of the current economic situation, all of our holiday parties were being canceled this year. Yes, I agree that this is a good decision and a prudent business practice. And yes, I’m on board with the idea that in the wake of recent layoffs, spending $500,000 as a region on holiday parties is more than a little frivolous and, quite frankly, a slap in the face to those that have lost their jobs.

But dammit if I’m not a little bummed out! This has always been a HUGE event for our office, and I was looking forward to seeing my colleagues get hammered and make fools of themselves on the dance floor. There’s really only one time a year when a girl can get all gussied up in her prettiest party dress, grab a date, and party hard on the company’s dime (read: OPEN BAR). I was well prepared to do my part in the “eat, drink, and be merry” category; and as for the dress? Well, the dress was going to be SMOKIN’.

Ah well–my 30th birthday is coming up. Maybe I’ll save the dress (and my liver) for THAT party…

This means more candy for me then, right?!

 

Absolutely Nothing…

Today I had the day off, so what did I do? You guessed it! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! Here’s a little run-down on how “Absolutely Nothing” went, for those of you just dying to live vicariously through me:

6 AM: The alarm that I forgot to turn off wakes me from a dead sleep. I curse.

8 AM: Awaken from a dream about work. Strange. Discover the cat is asleep and snoring in the laundry basket…not just asleep, but rather BURIED under all the laundry. Perhaps he was cold–wonder why. Roll over and go back to sleep.

10 AM: Drag my butt out of bed after having spent the last 45 minutes staring at the ceiling and daydreaming. Cat still in the laundry basket.

NOON: Showered and dressed, internet sufficiently surfed for the morning, I decide to get some coffee.

12:30: Arrive at Pete’s Coffee by Greenlake. Order my Cuppa Joe, and settle into one of the vacant leather chairs with my Kindle. The thing I like about Pete’s is that they don’t have obnoxiously loud music blaring over their speakers, the CD’s of which they are also trying to shove down your throat by the register. (Uh, can someone say “Starbucks”?) I read in peace for an hour.

2 PM: Back to the condo, after having sufficiently drained my wallet at the pump. Settle down for some grilled cheese (I feel 5 years old again) and a couple of episodes of the X-Files.

4 PM: Consider watching Oprah. Consider also stabbing out my eyes and ears with a sharp object. Opt for some more Internet surfing instead. Updated Facebook page, did some cyber stalking, and read the remainder of the latest Scientific American that I bought last weekend. (No I DON’T understand what they are talking about half the time. Yes, reading it DOES make me feel smarter. Sure, I’m half convinced it boosts my ‘geek cred’…but whatever.)

5:30 PM: Here I am. Writing this whilst nursing a caffeine headache and wondering where the day went. And what to read next. Hmmm…..any suggestions?