The Start 2 A Busy Weekend

Although the holiday season does not officially begin until later on this week, preparation for the month long eating/shopping bonanza for me begins today.

A good college friend from NYC will be coming into town Tuesday evening and staying with me so most of today, I will be cleaning the apartment and looking for a new couch…good thing Design Within Reach’s semi-annual warehouse sale is going on today.

Not only that; local shops here in my neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine will be participating in the nationwide campaign to shop local. So to support my fellow local chop owners, I will be obliged to begin my Christmas shopping early.

The Holiday season is also the season for giving back, so in the middle of my shopping escapades, I will be stopping by the Butts Family Foundation’s 21st Annual “In The Garage Sale” on 13th street in OTR. It’s a great rummage sale put on each year where proceeds to help feed needy families for Thanksgiving.

Much to do and so little time to get it all done.

Moving N2 The Holidays With A Balanced Chai

The new job has been stressing me out, but its a good stress if you can believe that. You have to have a little bit of bad and good stress in your life to stay balanced.

I have been working out more to combat the effects of the little bad stress that I have, which has put me in a better mood than I have seen in quite some time.

And despite the stress, of work and the fact that single life is not all that its cracked up to be, I have been in better spirits that I have been in a long time. So much so, that I think I will break out of my usual grumpy Holiday mold and put up a real Christmas tree in the apartment this year, which I have only done once in all the years that I have lived out of my mother's house. I may even decorate it...just kidding.

Of course I will be stringing up pop-corn and purchasing new ornaments for the tree, complete with presents udder the tree. They will mostly be for me due to the fact that I generally never get X-mas presents from anyone else. I may even get a gift for my roommate and cats as well.

In addition to making this year's X-mas as FABULOUS as I feel, I will be reconnecting with the traveler in me ewhich I have let slip away. Though I know the necessity of saving money, life is WAY too short to just sit on your wallet like you are trying to hatch an egg.

Needless to say, with friends and family swarming into town for the Holiday season, and my renewed since of adventure, awesome pics are down to pike to make this blog pop!

Another Christmas Come And Gone

This year was the very first time that I hosted our family's Christmas party...

I made my famed garlic cheese mashed potatoes and tried my hand at my grandmother's sage and onion stuffing. A number of other family members chipped in by bringing a dish or two.

Here are some pics from that happy occasion.

Happy Holiday's From The NAMjA

I hope that you and yours are spending a very Happy Holiday. Here are some not so normal views of Downtown Cincinnati that I snapped while I was walking home for the gym. 20 cool points goes to the person who can identify them...

Downtown Cincinnati "Lights Up The Square"

I am so glad that I took off work yesterday.

I made a valiant effort to work the day after Thanksgiving, but with family and friends coming into town, it got a bit too over whelming, so Wednesday afternoon I informed my supervisor that I would be taking Friday off.

I spent the Friday with family and found some great bargains at some of the stores that we hit up. The best one being the 4 GB flash drive that I found at Staples. Usually this mega memory stick runs for a cool $80, but Friday morning I was able to pick it up for only $20!

Can't beat that.

In the evening, I took in the Light Up The Square Celebration that officially rings in the Holiday season here in the Queen City. The following are a few pics for the evening.

It was great to see Fountain Square so packed with people, but the proceeding of events could have been changed up a bit.

It took abit longer than expected for Santa to arrive and when he did, the crowd was so ready to leave that they began to chant "Light-The-Tree!"

Once the tree was lit, the crowd started to immediately head out. I guess they forgot that there was a fire works display scheduled immediately following the tree lighting.

After the events, I was able to stick my head into Nada, which will be opening next week. It looks amazing! I can't wait to partake. I then grabbed a cocktail and a light dinner at Sung, the new Korean place downtown. I have to say, its good but Riverside still had my vote.