Happy Monday! I am still crawling through the solstice misery, but hey! It’s Christmas Week! So that’s cheering 🙂
This is where you get to ask me anything you want (except this week, when I am reminding you again that it can only be CHEERFUL things). And if you have any questions at any point this week, you can just swing back here and ask them.
Now, question for you! Simple one, What are you doing for Christmas?
I am hosting my parents! Should be fun, the three of us in my little apartment, having take out for Christmas Eve dinner and pastries from the bakery at the end of my street for Christmas morning breakfast. And then maybe Christmas afternoon my Dad and I will go see Star Wars together. Or, take naps. Either sounds good.
Bigger question of course, is what are you doing New Years Day? Can/do you want to join me for a tweetalong?
dontcallitbollywood 
Awe. I love your Christmas plans! I will be in Chicago with my husband’s family. We usually prepare a traditional Ukranian meal for Christmas Eve, so lots of pierogies/ vareniky/ pelmenis, golubsti, sausage with sauerkraut etc – ya know, very diet-friendly food. Then Christmas day, we will have Christmas ham with a whole bunch of sides.
I am going to try very very hard to join you on the War tweetalong.
Now, question for you, hows that D3 coming along? I finally sucked it up and started taking it again and it has made a huge difference. That and walking outside given that it is in the 40s in December in Chicago, which is basically a Christmas miracle!
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I forgot my D3 again for an unknown number of days, and then last night I got really depressed again, and I made myself a bowl of cereal with a lot of D3 sprinkled on top.
And I also have been enjoying the crazy Chicago weather! Yesterday I had to get last minute Xmas stuff at Target, and instead of doing a 10 minute drive, I made it a 30 minute walk. Lucky Little Albie Dog has also been getting remarkably long walks lately. And I already put on the Christmas schedule, sometime around afternoon naps, a very long family walk through the neighborhood. Also, oo oo! You could come see Goood Nwwwwwzzzz with me on Friday! Because I can’t seem to sucker anyone else into coming with me! Or, you know, not. Because the poster is a giant sperm attacking people.
Your Christmas Eve dinner sounds delicious! And you are making me rethink my take out plan, maybe I go to a European type place….
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 8:42 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I want to see Gooood Newwwzzzz with you so badly. Even if it sucks overall, it’s so much more fun to watch it with someone. But my SIL is off that day and I think she wants to do some sort of a girls’ day. I’ll keep you updated though. And of course we leave to come back to DC Friday evening.
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Yes, let me know! I don’t think I can take it alone.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:54 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Have you considered getting a light box? I’ve heard from friends that it can really help. https://www.amazon.com/Simulated-Sunlight-Spectrum-Portable-Aluminum/dp/B07L332B52/ref=asc_df_B07L332B52/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309818709826&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16760980111895535481&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030984&hvtargid=pla-611487659206&psc=1
Christmas is going to be very quiet for us. Just dinner at home for me, my son and husband. I’m making a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dinner with garlicky roasted park, rice and peas, coconut eggnog and flan for dessert. And on Saturday friends of ours are having a holiday party so that will be fun.
I really wish I could do the tweetalong! My plans aren’t 100% set so if I happen to be around I’ll jump in.
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Yep, have one of those! Set up next to my couch where I usually sit. Once I am back in my little happy apartment, everything gets better. It’s just the morning and evening commutes, plus the 3-5 stretch at work when it gets really dark outside. Hmm, maybe I should bring my lightbox in to work? It feels silly, because my office is already sooooooooo bright, but maybe just making it that extra bit brighter would help.
Oooo, your dinner sounds nice too! Heck, I’m doing take out, I could get sauerkraut and sausage, and also coconut eggnog and garlic pork, it’s just a matter of finding restaurants on the same driving route.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:43 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Definitely take the lightbox to work. If the light isn’t 10,000 lumens it isn’t strong enough. And yeah, Chicago will have Puerto Rican restaurants where you can get takeout. You might even be able to buy pasteles which are a kind of pork filled boiled dumpling. I can’t make it here in Los Angeles, sob.
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Hmm. My drive home takes me past a Cuban restaurant, a Mediterranean restaurant, and a place that has Poutine. I could combine all three into the Perfect Christmas Eve Dinner.
And you’ve convinced me! I’ll drag the light into work after Christmas. Or maybe order myself a new one for the office for Christmas.
(and now you have given me a fun quest, find Pasteles in Chicago!)
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 12:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh oh and Ukranian Village has delicious peirogis and sausages. Not sure if it is on your way but we generally buy some of the stuff from there.
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Maybe I just drive up and down Western (longest street in the city) acquiring awesomeness from every neighborhood?
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 1:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Chicago has also the highest number of Polish emigrants and they surely have some good pierogies.
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I just have to find the right Christmas Eve service, and I feel like I could get all the Peirogies I wanted in the meal afterward.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 2:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My Christmas plan: enjoy family and eat as much as I can without feeling sick. I already started eating all Christmas dishes my mom is doing because I leave on the second day of Christmas and there is so much food and so little time 😉 Yesterday I had bigos (sauerkraut + meat) on breakfast and pierogies on dinner.
On 26th we are going to Cracow, because my husband hasn’t been there, and 2 days later we have our flight home.
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Oh man!!!! I can get frozen pierogies at my local grocery store, but I know it’s not the same.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 1:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Heading out on a long long journey to the US, where I will be incredibly jet-lagged for nine days and then turn around and come back. I wasn’t consciously anxious about this trip, but last night I had a dream where I volunteered to sing Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo in front of a bunch of people on a cruise ship. Even in the dream, I knew I didn’t know the lyrics. And then I stood up in front of everyone and they were all Anurag Kashyap. So maybe it’s getting to me. I hope I’ll be able to join for War, and maybe even stay awake.
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This is a terrible dream! And now you have inceptioned it into me and I will dream the same thing tonight, the HORROR.
Good luck on your journey, I am sure it will all go fabulously, and you can enjoy the wonderful US based Prime subtitles while you are here.
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I’m watching Baaghi and starting to think all those blinds about Hrithik and Siddharth Anand bullying Tiger were really “director and costar request actor to actually act.” When Shraddha Freakin’ Kapoor outshines you with her emoting, something has gone terribly wrong.
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You know they recast Shraddha for the sequel? Probably because she was outshining him.
Also, after you watch Baaghi, you have to watch Varsham with Prabhas. And then Tezaab with Madhuri. And then Streets of Fire with Diane Lane. It’s a remake of a remake of a remake, like a turducken.
Oh, and also the Korean “Raid” movie, but that’s just action not plot.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 10:18 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh man, Christmas really snuck up on me this year. It always does, but this year moreso, maybe because we’re not hosting, I got a bit too relaxed. Tomorrow we’re going across the street to our neighbors’ for Nochebuena, big Christmas Eve dinner. It was going to be just three families but it grew to something like 16 adults and 9 kids. Then on Christmas we’ll go to my uncle’s place for dinner, they’ve been hosting the same group of friends for years and years, everyone but my cousin is about 20-30 years older than us so that’s the opposite of tomorrow night on the sedate end of the spectrum. I still have all the presents to wrap and feeling guilty for not getting my husband a proper gift. He’s doing all the cooking tomorrow too while I work. I’ll have to make it up to him for Reyes.
Haven’t been able to think far enough ahead to New Year’s Eve. If I’m around I’ll join. I watched War with the kids while working on work stuff, very distracting. Would be fun to see it with the DCIB virtual crew.
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I blame the calendar! Late Thanksgiving, and a midweek Christmas, is just the pits. I managed to do all my “has to be done by a week before Christmas” stuff without any problems, but when it got to the “has to be done 1-2 days before Christmas”, somehow I just lost track. My presents aren’t wrapped, my bathroom still needs to be cleaned, vacuuming is a distant promise, and I have laundry draped on drying racks all over the apartment because I forgot it wouldn’t have time to dry before tonight if I did it on the weekend. I’m thinking about just stringing Christmas lights on everything and calling it a day.
Your two dinners sound really nice, and hopefully the kids will run themselves out at the first one, and be all sleepy and mature for the second one.
Hopefully you’ll have nothing going on New Years Day and you can snuggle up and join us! I need to figure out a start time and stuff, oh well, I’ll do that after Christmas.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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100% in the “oh well, I’ll do that after Christmas” club!
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The problem is, I keep putting stuff like wrapping presents and finishing decorating and figuring out Christmas Eve dinner in the “oh well, I’ll do that after Christmas” pile. But no! That’s in the “oh wait, I have to do that BEFORE Christmas” pile! Which is getting to be a very large pile.
At least this year I went with no handmade gifts, which is a massive time saver.
On Tue, Dec 24, 2019 at 9:06 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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