Go-go, Gadget...Boxing Day!

After the FitBit fiasco on my birthday, (which I don't believe I wrote about...suffice it to say my highly coveted new FitBit failed to count steps on the treadmill... apparently, you must have forward motion - who knew?) the hubs decided to make up for it two times over. Not only did he give me a fancy clip-on New Balance pedometer, he also gifted me an iPod Nano which - omigod - has a built-in pedometer and is cute as a bug's ear.  (My recently replaced iPhone in the larger '6' size was proving a little too large for my workout pants pocket.) I'm sure the NB pedometer cost considerably less, but you'd never know it by the epic operating instructions.

You can't be serious, pedometer people!

The little Nano, on the other hand, is elegantly easy to set up and is so light and small, it fits inside my exercise bra where the only problem will be keeping it dry. (For this reason, I may have to purchase a clip for it.)

I am giving them both a simultaneous test run to determine which device is the better step counter, on and off the treadmill.  (And, by 'better', I mean higher, of course.) Blissfully, that is all I have to do today besides detoxify myself and watch TV.  Here's to busy-less Boxing Day!

My favorite day and night of the year

Of course, I am running behind. How far behind, you ask? Well, no gifts have been wrapped...that's right, like zero! I still have a couple more presents to pick up. There's grocery shopping left to do.  A beef tenderloin to make for tonight. Multiple dishes to make for tomorrow. And yet, I love Christmas Eve! My family is here, all snug and cozy under one roof. Tomorrow, we'll venture to Mom's house one last time for Christmas dinner with the ever-extending family. (Who knows where we'll be in 2015?) Plus, the forecast calls for light snow today!  If there's a happier kind of stress, I'd like to feel it!  Happy holidays to all.... and to all a great night!

Done!! Well, almost done!! But, happy!

Christmas smiley face

Wowzers! Where has the time gone? I haven't been here in a while, I see. On the blog, that is. It just goes to prove that you really can't do it all, no matter how much time you have on your hands.  What have I done, you ask? Well, not to brag, but I got Christmas done, thank you very much...and in record time, too!  Okay, not completely done. My mother's gift still eludes me. I have a very specific thing in mind for her new apartment door, and I can't seem to find it online or in shops. But, my goal is to get it all done before my son arrives tomorrow and, snow or no snow (we got three inches last night), I will succeed! 

In other news, I would like to heartily endorse the Verilux Happy Light as the best invention ever, next to the lighted magnifying make-up mirror. This year, I was hit with a horrible (and unexpected) case of the blues, which started around the end of daylight savings time and worsened in the last couple of dreary weeks. I don't know who turned off the sun in Kansas (our evil governor, I'm guessing), but I was in a dark funk, people. Four days on the Happy Light and I'm a changed woman. Sleeping better at night and a lot more fun to be with during the day.  Highly recommended. 

Bentonville, Crystal Bridges and 21c Hotel

The weather wasn't the best, but Bentonville, Arkansas (aka Walmart World Headquarters), did not disappoint. We checked in at the oh-so-hip 21c Museum+Hotel Friday afternoon and got a preview of the artgasmic experience we would have on Saturday at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. 

The lobby. 

The view from our room. Note signature green penguins on roof. 

Penguins magically and randomly appear anywhere, anytime. They were my favorite.

Luxury King room. A black light behind the huge bathroom mirror made for a trippy night light.

Someone found a new friend in the elevator

After a short power nap, we drove to Crystal Bridges (because it was cold and raining; you can easily walk or bike from the hotel) for "Culture Hour." $5 glasses of really good wine and cheap but delicious apps plus a jazz duo to enjoy while you take in the amazing view.

Culture Hour at Eleven, Crystal Bridges

The view through the window across the lagoon into another wing.

We had a nice dinner at The Hive in the hotel and enjoyed a stroll around the Bentonville town square. It's a sleepy town, but we found a fun bar down the street where we could watch the Kansas basketball game with a bunch of friendly Arkansans. Fortunately, the game ended well.

The store that is still lit behind the trees is the Walton Museum located in an old Five & Ten.

Dreamworks has an office here. Really. They must have some exclusive deals in the making with Walmart because, otherwise, this makes no sense at all.

The next day, we walked the 1.5 mile Crystal Bridges Trail from downtown to the museum where we spent the first two hours at a demo/talk with Bob Trotman, a sculptor from North Carolina, whom we would befriend in earnest later over wine and Italian food. Very talented and personable guy whose work depicting men and women navigating the corporate world is beautifully provocative.

One of Bob's pieces at Crystal Bridges. Second piece in video below.

More tomorrow from Crystal Bridges - and a word about the surprises of Walmartville - as soon as I sort through all my pics and do a little laundry.

Buying and selling, selling and buying.

Anyone want a sewing room to go?

I've not been on the blog much because I have become obsessed with guerrilla retailing. The goal was to clear out the old stuff in the attic to make room for new old stuff from my mom's house. To that end, I've been selling stuff on eBay, Craigslist and, by occasional Facebook posting. This week, I sold an old saddle maker's bench to a young saddle maker (that was cool) and a lot of seven old wooden spools to a guy via a double-parked hook-up with his sister downtown. ("I've got the stuff. You got the cash?") Last night, I got way too excited about an inquiry on my lightly-used office chair and almost fell off my new brand new office chair. So far, I've earned $190 for two items which I turned around and spent, almost to the penny, on a flat-screen TV with wall mount for the guest room because the Brooklyn kids are coming to stay and the room needed a technology upgrade, especially because it doubles as my home gym. We'll probably put the old tube TV out by the curb with a FREE/WORKS! sign on it. That's the way to get rid of stuff fast around here. That, and a daily trip to Goodwill.  Next on the block, an antique sewing machine stand, a 1930's Singer machine, and that delightful canoe coffee table with the glass top I purchased in the early '90's when, as my husband says, "they were passing out free samples of crack at the furniture mart."