We Are Family!



Yay, CariDee! So glad it wasn't Melrose!

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I've moved into shopping for Rob's family for presents, and it's hard to come up with neat, thoughtful gifts for everyone. I won't give someone "just anything"; I have to think really hard about it, and it can be tough. Someone once said the only gift is one that is part of yourself, and I really try to embrace that. I love love love the process of gift selecting, but it's challenging. This is on top of all the weird crafty things I like to do this time of year. So far I have a dozen candy cane reindeer, a collection of sewn felt ornaments, a few custom made gift tags, plus hand painted gift bags, and an entire blizzard of paper snowflakes (I can't stop!)

If anyone has ideas for any of the following sorts of people, I'd appreciate it:

an 18 year old brother (of mine) who mumbles a lot and is "teh cuteness".

another 18 year old who is kind of emo and plays in a band. He has a girlfriend who wears black nail polish and has lots of zippers on her strange pants (um. I'm old.)

an older woman who has EVERYthing. (times two)

an 18 year old girl who is super trendy (ugg boots, hair highlighted, all the celebrites memorized)

a 7 year old boy who is wicked hyper.

and finally,

a 21 year old girl who is kind of, but not all the way, out of her "emo, punk, "I'm so different like all of my friends" phase" and about to graduate college.

My grandma says I'm impossible to buy for, but I don't understand how. I'm registered for stuff! The exact make, model and colors of things I really want and need are on file in stores under my name... this year it couldn't be easier to buy me a present. I should register every year. (I won't. That's just tacky.)

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Last night we were part of a birthday surprise for one of Rob's friends from college. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, and his girlfriend took him to New York City without telling him where they were going, and then surprised him by having us show up in Rockefeller Center. After dinner, Rob called up another college friend of theirs working at a world famous studio in mid-town (I don't know if I should say which, because I'm not sure if we were actually supposed to be there), and we got an inside tour. I got to stand in the same room, in the exact same spot, where so many famous singers and actors have laid down tracks to songs that have gone on to burn into millions of brains (note the title of my post). I refrained from bursting into song. Prices for renting the studio are $3000 an HOUR.

Rob laughed at my first inclination when I stepped into the room: I began snapping my fingers to listen to the acoustics. "I must be rubbing off on you!" he said, and I groaned. I'm turning into an audio geek. Save me!