Recipe Tuesday: Margarita Ice Cream

Feliz cinco de mayo! Did you know that Cinco de Mayo is actually celebrated in the US more than it is in Mexico? Well, it's true, at least according to this website. I may not be chicana, but I am all for any holiday that involves copious amounts of alcohol consumption. (Fun fact: I speak really poor Spanish when I get drunk.) Here's an easy and delicious Cinco de Mayo recipe: Margarita Ice Cream! The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson, and yes, it contains liquor.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup lime juice
2 Tbs tequila
3 Tbs Triple Sec
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups heavy cream

Pour the lime juice, tequila, and Triple Sec in a bowl. Add in the powdered sugar and stir until dissolved. Add in the cream and whip until thickened but not stiff. Pour into an airtight container, seal, and freeze overnight. Enjoy!

Words cannot describe how yummy this stuff is...it's creamy and sweet, but with a tart little bite to it. Plus: it's the easiest ice cream ever!

Happy Birthday, Will!

Today is the 445th anniversary of the birth of the Bard! To celebrate, the mayor of Chicago has declared today "Talk Like Shakespeare Day". For more info, visit Talk Like Shakespeare or the Shakesprearean Insult Generator.

How will you be celebrating?

Recipe Tuesday: Green Pea Cilantro Spread

Today's recipe is green, in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I found it on Chocolate and Zucchini, an amazing foodie website.

Ingredients:
10.5 oz. shelled green peas, frozen or fresh but not canned
1 drop cilantro essential oil for cooking, or a small bunch fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons whole almond butter
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 dash Tabasco sauce
Salt, black pepper

Steam the peas, then mix everything together in a food processor. You can add a bit of water if it's too thick. Store in the fridge, and serve on crackers or wheat crispbread.

My mods: I didn't want to shell out the $11 for a jar of almond butter, so I used peanut butter. It gave the spread a peanutty taste, which I tried to cover up by adding more of the other ingredients. I used a bit more Tabasco (I use the green sauce, which is milder than normal Tabasco) and some lime juice, in addition to more cilantro (which I LOVE, so I always over-use it anyway) and garlic (ditto). It actually made a pretty interesting spread. My roommate loved the bite from the Tabasco.

It's not my favorite thing I've ever made, but it makes a pretty decent appetizer.

Even if it does look like baby food...

Pie update: Mom loved it, but she's borderline diabetic and didn't want to keep the rest of it in the house. I took the leftovers (about 3/4) to work with me, which made my fellow teachers very happy. I did realize, though, that it needs to be refrigerated after it cools. I can't wait to bake another one!

Christmas

I hope everyone had a happy holiday. I spent yesterday with my mom and stepfather (my sister was at her in-laws'; we'll see her for lunch on Sunday). Our tradition is to have a small dinner and open presents on Christmas Eve. Even though Mom swears that I'm not getting anything else, Santa always finds something to put under the tree Christmas morning. :) Then we have a late lunch with turkey (tofurkey for me!), mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, etc. Then Mom and I go to a movie while my stepfather works around the house. This year we saw Valkyrie, which was really good!

Now for pictures:
This is the stuff I got from my parents. We agreed to not spend a lot of money this year; Mom wanted our gifts to be handmade. I got a tin of popcorn (yum!), a cookbook (yum!) with a hundred dollar bill stashed inside (yay!), and a reusable shopping bag full of yarn, crochet patterns, and some new, smaller hooks (this was the gift left by "Santa"). See that blue pillow? That's what my mom made for me, and it is awesome. She called it a "quillow." It's the biggest project she's finished since she started quilting, and I'm so excited that it was for me! It's a pillow, but instead of stuffing, it's filled with fabric.
The fabric can be unfolded from the pillow (but it's still attached to the pillow fabric), and it turns into a blanket!
The top part is a terrycloth-like material. Mom made it so that I can take it to the beach with me and use as a blanket there. She also added a strap, so that when it's folded up like a blanket, I can carry books, sunscreen, etc. in it like a bag. I love it!

I also got some cool stuff from my Secret Santa through the Friendly Book Nook's Christmas Book Swap. My Secret Santa was Leah, who posts at The Friendly Book Nook.
She sent me some yummy chocolate and mint candy (which probably won't last long!), a foot scrub (which I could really use - being a teacher, I'm on my feet all day), a notepad (which is now sitting next to my computer) and a copy of Donna VanLiere's The Christmas Promise (which is now sitting on top of Mt. TBR). Thanks, Leah! :)

One last gift: I actually got this one a few weeks ago. My best friend and I went to an art show and I fell in love with one of the paintings there. Actually, several of them were great, and I really need to write a post about the artists we saw. But, there was one in particular that I just couldn't stop staring at. The painting itself was over $1,000 - way too much for me to spend. Luckily, we noticed that the artist, Timothy Michael, also had some prints for sale. He had ONE LEFT of the painting that I was so enamored with. I kept picking it and up and putting it back down again. Then this other woman started eying it, which made me nervous. I really didn't have the money to buy it myself at the time, so my BFF bought it for me as a Christmas gift. Bask in the wonderfulness of my first real piece of art:
I have no idea why I find this particular painting so great - it just really speaks to me. The color isn't great in this photo; if you visit Michael's website you'll probably get a better idea of how it's supposed to look. This piece is off to get framed, so that it can hang on my wall and make my other pictures jealous.

So, how were your holidays? Did Santa bring you lots of books and toys? I hope everyone had a safe and fun time with their loved ones. :)

Twas the night before Christmas Eve...

For some reason, the holiday spirit hit me in a big way yesterday. I spent the evening hours baking and making eggnog!


And, since I know how much everyone appreciates really easy cookie recipes, here you go:

Lemon (or Strawberry) Bites:

Ingredients:
1 box of cake mix (the lemon works best)
1 container of Cool Whip or other whipped dairy topping
1 egg
powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix the cake mix, Cool Whip, and egg in a large bowl. The batter will be very sticky! Using a spoon (or your hands, if you prefer), drop balls of batter into the powdered sugar and roll them around until they're covered. Place on a greased baking sheet about 1.5 - 2 inches apart, and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. The strawberry ones don't take as long to bake, for some reason, so keep an eye on them. They should be fluffy and brownish on the bottom. Let them cool on a baking rack, and enjoy!

Sesame-Ginger/Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies:

These cookies start out as the same batter!

Ingredients:
1 egg + 1 (extra) yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a small bowl, mix the egg + yolk, vanilla, and salt. Mix the butter and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg mixture, and pulse or mix on low speed until well blended. Add the flour and continue to pulse/mix until smooth. Divide the dough in half and place into two separate bowls.

For the Sesame-Ginger: Mix in 1/2 tsp. ground ginger and 3 Tbs. minced crystallized ginger. Form into a 9 inch long log, then roll in 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes.

For the Chocolate Hazelnut: Mix in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Form into a 9 inch long log, then roll in 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice dough 1/4 inch thick, and place slices on the cookie sheets about 1/2 inches apart. Bake 12 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown. For even baking: about halfway through, rotate cookie sheets from top to bottom and from facing the front of the oven to facing the back. Cool on a baking rack, and enjoy!

My mom gave me this recipe; she says you can use other mix-ins and coatings. If anyone experiments, please leave me a comment so I can hear what combination you used. The Sesame-Ginger, as strange as it may sound, is actually really good!

As for the eggnog, I got that recipe from Susie Bright's Journal. She's currently guest-blogging on BoingBoing, one of my favorite blogs, but I found the recipe through Modern Cottage, which has tons of great recipes and crafts.

Happy Christmas, everyone! I have a few book reviews I'll be posting later, then I'm off to my parents' for traditional family stuff. Happy baking!

Which Reindeer Are You?

You Are Blitzen

Always in good spirits, you're the reindeer who loves to party down with Santa. Why You're Naughty: You're always blitzed on Christmas Eve, while flying! Why You're Nice: You mix up a mean eggnog martini.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

An eggnog martini sounds gross, but I did have a gingerbread martini this week that was pretty tasty.

Best. Ornament. EVER!

I have this tradition with some of my friends from the MAT program I completed this summer. There are six of us who managed to get teaching jobs near Milledgeville, where we went to grad school, and every week we get together for dinner and tales of teaching (the good, the bad, and the ugly). A few weeks ago, we decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange, rather than having everyone worrying about getting a gift for everyone else in the group. I unhelpfully listed "books" as my desired gift, because I'm a voracious reader and really not that picky. Lo and behold, my friend Annie pulled my name out of the hat (literally!) and pretty much picked out the perfect gift:


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which I've been wanting to read anyway) as a GRAPHIC NOVEL. It's too awesome, and I'm insanely pleased by it.

"But wait," you say. "What's that small green folded thing in the bottom right-hand corner?"

That, my blog-pals, is the second-awesomest thing I got tonight. See, every week, we pick a different restaurant. This week, someone suggested Chinese. Not my favorite, but lord knows I talk them into eating Mexican enough, so whatever. I actually really enjoyed my Spicy Bean Curd, and I have enough leftovers for the next 2-3 days. We were leaving to pay, and I noticed that there was a Christmas tree near the cash register decorated with origami ornaments. On closer inspection, I realized quite a few of them were Yoda! I asked the guy at the register if I could buy one, and he told me to take one off the tree gratis, provided I come back to eat again. How great is that?

A closer look:



And just cause that guy was so nice: if you're ever in Milledgeville, Georgia, and looking for a place to eat, I highly recommend Lieu's Peking Restaurant. Maybe next time I'll talk him into teaching me how to make one of these myself.

I'm a Performer!

I've taken Meyers-Briggs personality assessments before, but I can never remember what they classified me as. This one is oddly on the mark, though:


(Click for a larger view)

From the Typealyzer, found via Joanne.

In other news, BoingBoing has a holiday gift guide featuring comics and graphic novels and Neil Gaiman is having a contest, of sorts, to promote The Graveyard Book. I'm off to help set up a display at the tiny public library...

Booking Through Thursday: Thankful

Today's Booking Through Thursday question:

Today is Thanksgiving here in the U.S.
Now, you may have noticed that the global economy isn’t exactly doing well. There’s war. Starvation. All sorts of bad, scary things going on.
So–just for today–how about sharing 7 things that you’re thankful for?
This can be about books, sure–authors you appreciate, books you love, an ode to your public library–but also, how about other things, too? Because in times like these, with bills piling up and disaster seemingly lurking around every corner, it’s more important than ever to stop and take stock of the things we’re grateful for. Family. Friends. Good health (I hope). Coffee and tea. Turkey. Sunshine. Wagging tails. Curling up with a good book.
So, how about it? Spread a little positive thinking and tell the world what there is to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for:
1. My family. I love spending holiday time with them. This is the first year my sister (the newlywed) is getting to host Thanksgiving, so I came down yesterday to "help" (i.e., play with my nephew and watch her clean). Mom's coming later, and then we're having a big dinner with both families (us and Sis' in-laws). Should be interesting...
2. Literacy. I love reading, and I love writing. I'm thankful that I can do these things, and I'm thankful that I can help others do these as well. Which leads me to...
3. My job. I love being a teacher. I've had some crap jobs - retail clothing store sales associate, dishwasher, grocery store deli clerk - so it's great to finally be doing something that 1) utilizes my degree, and 2) makes me happy. Especially in the current economic climate.
4. My friends. These guys pretty much fall under #1, too, but they can have their own category as well. My roommate is great (and keeps us well-stocked with baked goods), my fellow teachers are a wonderful support system, and my non-teaching friends are always there when I need them. My blogging friends rule, too; it's nice to know that someone besides me actually reads these missives and gets something out of them. :)
5. Technology. Seriously, where would we be without the Internet, iPods, cellphones, digital cameras, etc? I take my Nintendo DS with me everywhere!
6. C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine. I am addicted to this stuff. It's amazing. I actually have, like, 10 different flavors in my bathroom right now (there was a sale not too long ago, and I stocked up) and I always have at least one in my purse. Yum!
7. Last but not least, tofurkey! Or just tofu in general, I suppose. I don't eat meat, but I love having something to sink my teeth into while sitting around the table.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Check out Booking Through Thursday for more opinions.

Happy Turkey Day!

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving! And for those of you outside the U.S., I hope you're having a great Thursday! :)

I was in charge of the cranberry sauce; here's my recipe:

1 (12 oz.) bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice (I prefer the pulpless kind)

Put all the ingredients in a medium pot and heat over medium-high heat until it starts bubbling and the berries start to burst open. Stir and continue heating until the berries are all split and it turns a lovely reddish color. Take the pot off the burner and let cool, then put in a covered dish and chill until it's time to serve. Yummy!

Bonus links:
Neil Gaiman's cranberry sauce recipe.
Dietribes: Cranberries
Crochet holiday pie hats! (I am so making one of these for next year!)

Weekly Geeks #25: Holiday Gift-Giving Guide

This week's WG challenge: a books-based Weekly Geeks Gift Giving Guide!

1. Think about the books that you and people in your life love. It’s best to use more obscure books, because we’ve all heard plenty about the more popular ones.

2. Come up with categories, based on relationship, personality, or whatever else you like. I think this is easier to do once you have your books in mind; you can then just assign categories to those books.

3. Post your own gift giving guide! Add short blurbs about the books, just enough so that your readers can determine if it’d be a good gift for people on their list. Don’t forget to come back and sign Mr Linky.

4. Visit other Weekly Geeks, and if you like their guides, maybe add links to the bottom of your own.

I know it's late, but I was really excited about this WG theme and wanted to share my ideas. Here goes...

For that friend who made sure you were registered to vote and then pestered you endlessly about how great Obama is:
Anything by Christopher Buckley. The man is a genius at Washington satire. His most famous novel is undoubtedly Thank You For Smoking, which was made into a pretty awesome movie starring Aaron Eckhart (pre-Batman). He has plenty of other great books, too.

In Boomsday, Washington spin doctor and nighttime blogger Cassandra Devine comes up with an unusual way to help defray health care costs. Supreme Courtship, Buckley's newest novel, has a reality show judge being appointed to the Supreme Court. Little Green Men examines what happens when a Beltway insider finds himself abducted by aliens. And for the feminist, Florence of Arabia, in which the youngest wife of an Arabian prince decides to use TV to help women all over the Middle East gain their freedom and independence. Optional: print out a few pages of The HuffPo and use them as gift wrap.

For the reluctant reader:
The 39 Clues #1: The Maze of Bones, #2: One False Note (available for pre-order; it comes out next week), and Card Pack #1

This is a pretty smart idea. The 39 Clues is a mystery series about Dan and Amy Cahill, siblings who have been chosen to find the Cahill fortune. But they're not alone! Several different descendants are also on the trail, and readers can play along. Each book (there will be 10 in the series) comes with 6 collectible trading cards (350 are available in all) which can be registered on The 39 Clues website to help unlock puzzles, games, and more clues. There are special prizes for each country, so no one has an advantage. There are also Card Packs, which have 16 random cards (there are 56 total in this first series), including at least one rare or ultra-rare in each pack. Sounds confusing? Your Pokemon- or Naruto-obsessed son/little brother will understand, and have a field day with it.

For the Jimmy Buffet fan/environmentalist:

I've sung the praises of Carl Hiaasen before, and I'm going to do it again. The man is funny, and his love for Florida is evident in his novels. His YA novels (Hoot, Flush, and the soon-to-be-released Scat) are perfect for middle schoolers, and there's sure to be something in his other novels for the adults in your life. If you live in the UK and enjoy musical theater, why not buy a copy of Lucky You and include tickets to the show as a bookmark? Actually, a great way to package any of these would be to get a metal bucket and stuff it with one of the books, a copy of Songs You Know By Heart, and a few Coronas. Your beach bum friends will thank you.


For the comic book lover:
Everyone loves Fables, but there's another Vertigo comic that's equally amazing: Y: The Last Man. In the near future, a plague kills off every animal on earth with a Y chromosome. Yorrick Brown, English major and amateur magician, is the only male on the planet to survive, along with helper-monkey-in-training Ampersand. The books follow his adventures to find his missing fiance and to discover how he survived the plague.

Other graphic novels: Watchmen (read it before you see the movie!), or, for those who are already fans, Watching the Watchmen. Fans of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series will get a kick out of The Little Endless Storybook, The Dead Boy Detectives, or Death: At Death's Door.

Some other random ideas:
My family is making gifts this year. I've bought a few books for gifts, but the majority of my shopping will be spent finding supplies for these:
Cake in a Mug - put all the dry ingredients in a plastic baggie, include the instructions, and gift it with a thrift store mug. Instant yum!

If you're crafty, Lion Brand Yarn has some really cute amigurumi patterns up on its site. I made this penguin for a friend of mine in no time. There are tons of other free amigurumi patterns available, plus projects for kids and ideas for pets.

I'm also a big fan of mixtapes - er, mixCDs now, I guess. My Secret Santa gifts this year will include my awesome holiday mix, which features Christmas songs by Atlanta area bands. A good place to find music is last.fm: search for the type of music you want, and it lets you listen to full-length songs. It also has some some free mp3 downloads, which is nice. Sign up for an account, and it learns your musical taste and starts recommending stuff to you. Pretty sweet.

Christmas already?!

So, after all the drama I had this weekend, I figured the rest of the week would be cake. And then I found out that my great-aunt died. She was 101 years old; she lived a very full life! The funeral was yesterday and I was somewhat hesitant to go, mainly because the last time I took a day off my fourth period class took advantage of the sub and went completely crazy. This time, I went overboard - silent reading, ten pages of worksheets, and I asked another teacher to look in on fourth period for me (he has planning that period, and we have a lot of the same students, so he was happy to oblige). The funeral was nice, under the circumstances; I rarely get a chance to see my dad's side of the family, and I enjoyed the chance to catch up and reminisce about Aunt Hazel . And my classes, by all accounts, were well-behaved and worked hard.

Now, on to the Christmas-related postings. I signed up for two Christmas swaps this year:
Dewey and Nymeth have organized the 2nd annual Book Bloggers Christmas Swap. Details are here.
And The Friendly Book Nook is having a Christmas Book Swap. Details are here.

Not Christmas-Swap-related, but still a good idea:

I'm actually pretty low on cash this season (who isn't?), so the majority of my gifts will be homemade. For my "big" purchases, though (family and close friends) I will be buying books, and you should think about doing it, too. The Buy Books for the Holidays Blog has more info and bookish gift ideas.

And with all the drama from this weekend, I completely forgot all about last week's Weekly Geek post. I will get around to announcing a winner soon.

More "Thriller"!

Wouldn't you know, after I posted last night's ode to the greatest Halloween song ever, this showed up in my Google Reader:

(via I Am Bored by way of mental_floss)

And here's a "Thriller" wedding dance, courtesy of Fyrefly:


Maybe next year I should do a "Thriller" Halloween countdown or something...
FYI: More book-related posts coming soon. I just started Paper Towns a few days ago and am getting through it pretty quickly. Because it's so awesome!

Thriller

I love Halloween. One of the best parts? All the "Thriller" covers and remakes that start popping up this time of year.

Exhibit A: This guy recorded 64 different voice tracks to create a completely A Capella version. It's amazing, to say the least.
François Macré - Thriller (reprise A'cappella 64 pistes)

(via Neatorama)

Exhibit B: A group of French students filmed this lip dub at their community college. What is it with the French and "Thriller"?

Lip Dub IUT SRC Rouen 2008
by arcanes-prod

(via Videogum)

Exhibit C: Well, I couldn't find the EXACT video I wanted for this one. See, at last week's football game, the opposing team's marching band played "Thriller" during their halftime performance, which was awesome enough.* But then, the entire band put down their instruments and did the zombie dance! Ashley and I were in heaven, and I actually stood up and cheered when they finished. Probably a no-no, given that they were, you know, the opposing team, but it was so incredible I couldn't resist. I couldn't find a video of that exact performance, but this one is pretty similar.


* Full disclosure: when we first saw the color guard, they were wearing black velvet cloaks with the hoods pulled up. I turned to Ashley and said (way too excitedly), "Do you think they're doing a Harry Potter-themed show?" To which she replied, "I was thinking Twilight." We are dorks. Dorks who enjoy marching band performances much more than football games.

Peachtree Road Race

A week later, and I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the Peachtree Road Race. This was the first year I was actually able to be in the race - my mom did it two years ago, she and I both applied last year (and were denied), and we didn't make it this year, either. Fortunately, a friend of hers decided not to go and agreed to sell me her number. Unfortunately, I had stopped training. It really wasn't too bad, just a little over six miles. I didn't even notice "Cardiac Hill" because it was nothing compared to the steep hills in my old neighborhood. The best part was getting to do it with my sister, Liz, and my friend Jen (this was her fourth PTRR). We didn't take a camera with us, but my sister had one on her cell phone.


The starting line, way in the distance...
There were over 55,000 people running this thing. My number put me in group 3, but Liz and Jen were in group 8 so I went with them. The race started at 7 am, but the groups were released every 20 minutes or so, so were stuck waiting around for almost 2 hours. Liz had a stopwatch and pedometer on her phone, too, and she had to restart them four times. We kept thinking, "Okay, we're REALLY going this time!" and then we'd walk about 10 feet and stop again.


FREE BEER!
One of the best perks of being in this thing: random strangers stand on the sidewalks to cheer you on and give you stuff. We hadn't even completed the first mile when a bar started giving out beer - at 9 in the morning! Jen and I ran to get some, and my sister joked that it would be the only time we'd actually run for the whole race. That wasn't entirely untrue.

My mom called to see how we were doing right after this picture was taken. She wasn't quite as excited about the drinking-beer-while-completing-a-10k as we were.

Some people dressed up:


We weren't sure if this was a tribute to Reno 911's Lieutenant Dangle, or just some guys celebrating Pride Week, which was also going on that day.


Guy in a banana suit. Don't know why, but I'm sure he was sweating like crazy...
There were also girls wearing t-shirts declaring their love for Clark Howard, a local radio personality who runs every year. I didn't see him, though. I also missed the pub crawlers, although I saw them two years ago when Mom did the race. Those guys are hardcore; they walk all 6+ miles, stopping at every bar along the way. I'm sure it takes them a while.

And finally...


The finish line!
It didn't actually take us 3 hours. According to Liz's pedometer, we walked 15,675 steps (or thereabouts) in an hour and 48 minutes. I'm not sure if that includes all the stopping-and-starting at the beginning, but it certainly gives me a time to beat next year.

Happy (Early) 4th!

Have a happy July 4th, everybody! I'll be running - aw, who am I kidding? - walking in the Peachtree Road Race tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Bugs the Easter squirrel

Happy Easter! Today was very eventful. Mom and I were up before the crack of dawn to go to sunrise service, and Liz, the Chad, and Hunter came up in the afternoon. After a thoroughly exciting Easter egg hunt, Liz, Mom, Hunter, and I played Monopoly (longest game EVER, especially when you let a 3rd grader play banker), while Ralph and Chad supervised the smoker (ew). A baby squirrel, which had fallen out of tree, wondered up to Chad. We didn't touch it (rabies and whatnot), but he managed to get it into a bucket and we left it under a nearby tree with plenty of acorns. He seems to be doing okay. Meet Bugs, the Easter Squirrel:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What better way to celebrate than by dying your dog's fur green?



Poor Hercules. Sadly, I think he's getting used to it. He had a green head for several months last year.

In other news, I have an interview at the high school on Wednesday. Whoo!

Happy Single Persons Awareness Day!

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but this Valentine's Day wasn't nearly as craptacular as I expected it to be. Work was fun, and there were actually a few very amusing moments throughout the day. We started the day off with a mini-party in the breakroom, with cakes, cookies, candies, and coffee - pretty much any "c" word you can think of that had enough sugar and caffeine to keep us peppy and motivated. I spent the morning running around, handing out Harry Potter V-day cards and trying to ride out my sugar high.

Right after we opened the store, I saw a young guy (probably about 14 or 15) walking around, looking confused.

Me: Do you need any help?
Young Guy: *stares at my breasts* Yeah, those Dooney & Burke purses you have sitting out, are those the only ones you have?
Me: (slightly amused) Yeah, I'm sorry. Was there something else you needed?
Young Guy: *still staring* No, that's ok. Thanks.

I had to resist the urge to either slap him, or to snap my fingers, point toward my face and say, "Hey, my eyes are up here, dude." To be fair, I was wearing my V-day shirt (it's pink, says "FLIRT" on it, and only cost $5 at Target), but it's not like it takes 5 minutes to read one word.

Another amusing thing actually happens pretty regularly (at least since our sliding glass doors broke, and we had to put a sign up saying, "THESE DOORS ARE BROKEN, PLEASE USE SIDE DOORS"). Every once in a while, someone power-walking up to the doors won't notice/read the sign, or they'll be walking too fast to stop in time, and they walk right into them. So that's always fun. One time, we were still in our morning meeting when this woman practically ran up to the sliding glass doors and we all had to try not to laugh at the confused expression on her face. Another thing about the sliding glass doors; people seem to forget that they don't work when they're leaving the store as well. They'll just stand in front of them, waiting for them to open. Eventually, they notice the sign or just give up and use one of the side manual doors. You never realize how lazy people really are (how hard is it to use a manual door?) until you see something like that. And it may seem mean to laugh at something like that, but if you've ever worked retail and had to deal with bitchy people during a major holiday season, then you'd probably find it funny, too.

Also, we made Valentine's Day bags a few days ago. Like you did in elementary school, remember? When everyone decorated a paper bag with hearts and stuff and then you gave out cards and your teacher always made sure that everyone had a list with everyone's name on it so no one would feel left out? Yeah, anyway...my bag started out pretty generic. There were paper heart cutouts we could use, so I glued one of those on there, then cut out an arrow and pasted it so that it looked like it was piercing the heart. Then I decided to draw some blood dripping down, and ended up with a little puddle of blood on the bottom of the bag. The reactions to this object d'arte ranged from "cute," to "interesting," to "morbid." One ASM just assumed it was a political statement (because I'm a bleeding-heart liberal, I guess), which I thought was funny. I tried telling everyone it was "emo," but since only one other coworker even knew what I was talking about, it wasn't that funny. Oh, well.