i don't know why i love the etrade baby so much, but i do. check out this reel of outtakes:

i had work to do tonight, but got distracted looking at these awesome photos of celeb outfits in 2008 from msn's 'undressed' column. wow, there are some real winners in there!

if i had tons of money, i would throw an inauguration party, and would serve Zingerman's Barack-y Road Gelato. yum!
instead, i'll be in NYC for work next week. it's supposed to be about 50 degrees colder there than it is here. ick!

i love this photo.

in honor of the end of 2008, i thought you might want to check out this great slideshow on flickr of end title cards.

happy new year, everyone!

fave things of 2008:


restaurants and foodstuffs:
- Spicy Thai chips from Kettle chips
- Barolo Restaurant, at the bottom of our hill here in Pacifica
- Hint Water (even though i know bottled water is evil, sometimes i need something with some flavor in it but don't want sugary soda, so this is the best)

memories:
- starting off the year with a little trip to Kauai, one of the highlights of which was the drive to (and time spent on) Polihale beach
- attending Ann & Andy's wedding in NYC in May
- taking my mom on vacation to Saugatuck
- finding out we're expecting a baby boy next April!!!
- big, huge dinner out at Zingerman's Roadhouse for Steve's birthday in October
- traveling to Europe in Nov/Dec
- baby showers thrown by my friends (Erin & Carrie) and family (mom & mother-in-law) in Michigan in December

we were joined by some fabulous new additions:
- Naomi Wolosin
- Calder Law
- Claudia Ryder
- Mercer Bora
- Maxine Rosaen
- Tyler Rogers
- Gretchen & Rhys Ransford (who came in just under the gun on New Year's Eve)

music i dug:
- Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend
- Attack and Release by Black Keys
- Accelerate by REM (especially Supernatural Superserious)
- the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz (yes, I'm cheesy)
- the song "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson (yes, I'm really cheesy)
- A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector (i had been wanting a copy of this for a few years, but it wasn't readily available on amazon.com, and then when we were walking through Heathrow at 7 am this december i saw it for sale and finally got it!)


fave books i read this year:
- Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
- Who Moved My Blackberry? by Martin Lukes
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (favorite book this year)

-----------------------

i'm sure 2009 will be full of lots of great things and big changes for us -- and i'm excited about it. bring it on!

in honor of the holiday season, i wanted to share a couple of holiday videos to help get you in a festive mood:




and, although it's less of a holiday tune, there is the classic "o-mazing grace". don't stop before 2:12 -- it gets better.

omg, what a cute baby!. how in the world can it's mother not be in love?

i know these don't really go together at all, but i really dig these shoes from chanel:


and eskimo sweater from autumn cashmere:



...which just goes to show you that i'm waaaaaaaaaay too susceptible to things that i think are funny vs just stylish. if i could afford to have chanel shoes, i would have to get some sort of stylist so that i don't wear things like these together, since i'm sure it would look awful.

hooray for sharon! she was featured on TV for her business, the betty brigade. hopefully that will bring in even more business!

apparently, a man in florida assaulted his girlfriend with a sandwich. it doesn't say in the article what type of sandwich, but steve pointed out that it was most likely a club sandwich (ba-dum-pum)

if only this were real...

what a great campaign from the outdoor advertising association of america this is:



i just hope somehow that this works, and that our country becomes more unified than it's been in recent years. wishful thinking???

i have such amazing friends!
a couple of my long-time friends in michigan have offered to throw me a baby shower over the holidays, and a number of other friends have weighed in with suggestions and advice on what baby products to register for (seriously, unless you go and look, you'll have a hard time imagining how many types of strollers there are!)
tonight my friend courtney went with me to a local baby gear store (and she brought along her adorable and sweet-tempered three month old, calder). she walked me through every section of the store, giving me lots of great advice. hooray for friends!!!

my friend zal pointed out this video to me. it kinda creeps me out, but i got a real kick out of it nonetheless.
then zal said "that guy reminds me of my dad"...
it *definitely* creeps me out to think that the next time i'm up in the middle of the night with some weird pregnancy feeling (craving fried chicken, for example), i'll think of zal's dad.



also, if you want to see the most ridiculous banner ad ever, click here.

i was laughing out loud...


YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

i had a kinda crappy evening. this cheered me up:

steve just let me know about this breaking news: a stick has been inducted into the toy hall of fame. i've always known that kids love non-toys as much as toys, and it's true that sticks are generally pretty awesome toys, but the display they built to show a stick in the museum is a little bit silly.

check it out! my NYC roommate, tiffany, is in the NYTimes for her awesome recycling projects!
go, tiff, go!

well, thank goodness obama won. nice that it was a real mandate, too! i wish i'd been in grant park last night. my brother and his wife were there, and i'm anxious to see their photos. what an amazing night! soooooo many amazing images, but i like this one from tribune a lot:



i'm more than a little bummed about the results of california's proposition 8. i feel a bit guilty that i didn't help with it in any way (joan and kevin, who did a bunch of volunteer work on it, are totally my heroes).


on the plus side, keenan pointed out that bacon beat fries, which should have been a 'given', in my opinion.