Sketchy Santa=Awesome

Visiting Santa. It's a rite of passage. Personally, my fondest memory of visiting Santa (there are very few) went a little like this:

Circa 1990, I'm on a covered wagon ride through the parking lot at Spring Creek Village. All of the kids are taking turns sitting on Santa's lap, telling him they want the latest Jem and the Rockers Rocker or Pound Puppy. I waited patiently until it became my turn:
Santa: "Hi sweetie, what's your name?"
Me: "Jill"
Santa: "And what do you want for Christmas."
Me: "Well, I'm Jewish."
Santa: (whispering) "Me too."

Hilare! Anyway, only semi-creepy, wholly endearing. Check out
Sketchy Santas for all sortsa Santa weirdness fun.


Did YOU see Santa this year?

Hope you got what you wanted!
Pia The Pig

You've Been Awesome

Merry Christmas to you all! I am hitting up the movies and Chinatown in Richardson with my family (and many, many other Jews tonight), but wish you all a fabulous day.

Hope Santa was good to you!

And how incredibly adorbs is my nephew Jack in this photo from last Christmas?

XOXO,
Pia The Pig

Wrap It Up!

I am a gift wrap whore. I literally have 40+ rolls of paper lying around my not-that-big-house. It's okay. Not everyone feels this way. It takes time. While I could dedicate an entire blog to the beauty of The Gift Bag, there is always something classy about a beautifully-wrapped box. Here are some gorgeous gifts and wrapping ideas courtesy of a new blog I just found (a gift in itself!), Brunch at Saks.

Music sheets, a ribbon, and some extra small bells make for the perfect gift wrapped present!


A little newspaper and a few ribbons will give you this chic, flower topped gift:


Get out your watercolors, crayons, markers, etc. and let your imagination go:


Read more here and here.

Enjoy. Remember, presentation counts! (Even though such gifts will be ripped open in just seconds. They'll pick yours out first!)

Merry Christmas Eve!
Pia The Pig

It's Not Too Late For Something Awesome!

It's Christmas Eve! So, the stores are closing early today and you forgot one last present and can't fathom walking anywhere near the mall. I get it. Time to make BOOB COOKIES!

Of course, these are just thumbprint cookies (an AWESOMELY classic crowd-pleaser), but I can't help from think they look a little like boobies. (Sidenote: am I the only person that feels weird about eating Sprinkles cupcakes because of this same reason?)

Anyhoo, I made a bunch of batches of these the other night and they are awesomely easy as well. And, I certainly won't tell if you need to sample a bunch of Hershey Kisses just to "make sure they're fresh" as my dad would say.

Here's a recipe, although I just cheated and followed the very simple one on the package of pre-made peanut butter dough. Yum!

Don't forget to add a sparkly ribbon!

Great for Santa, too!
Pia The Pig

Hello (Again), Lova!

Can't Wait! I will wear something SPARKLY!
Pia The Pig

Giving Is Glorious...And Awesome

This idea from ad agency Mother London is fabulous. he London agency sent out a spam-like email to a couple hundred people, telling them they win $10k if they respond with their full name and full and verified bank details. One man did, if you believe it, and the guys at Mother showed up at his house with a suitcase full of 10 large and gave it to him (which he turned around and donated to a charity). Enjoy!



Giving IS Glorious. But what would YOU really do with $10,000?
Pia The Pig

My Totally Self-Indulgent Wish List: Part 1: Cats and Candy

I love you all. I think most of you have holiday greetings being delivered to your mailboxes today or tomorrow. IN CASE you wanted to drop a holiday greeting off in MY mailbox, here's my first official "This Looks Awesome. Want." Holiday Gift Wish List.



Cat Bandages. Because "Meow" is only one more syllable but way more than twice the fun as "Ow."

LOL Magnetz. WANT. In case you haven't noticed, I love LOLing at LOLcats. But now I can make my own using Bert's photos on my fridge?

And for Bert: Kittiwalk Carnival. Because who doesn't love a carnival? AND, as many of you know, Bert loves to play outside and now he could not only play (without me freaking out) but have a freaking CARNIVAL? WANT.

Gummi Lights. AMAZEBALLS! WANT TO EAT AND LIGHT UP.

OMG. Because who hasn't wanted to sit atop an ice cream sandwich? While eating one? My mind and ass could possible be blown. Together. A Chrismakkah miracle.

More coming later.

I've Been Nice! ;)
Pia The Pig

EPIC.

And...scene.
Pia The Pig

Vampire Love

For all of you Twihards out there, I have rounded up a few gifts for you, like the AWESOME Women's Love Story tee that generous AAAD Reader Pablo bought me for Hanukkah. This would be a hit for about 68 of my friends. LOVES IT!

But first! AAAD Reader Pam's long-awaited New Moon review.

I suppose you could say I am mildly obsessed with Twilight. I’ve read the books twice, seen the original movie hundreds of times and own lots of merchandise (my favorite being my life-size cut out of Edward). I even have Twilight The Game (yes, they turned the movie into a board game). So, is it really any surprise that I would among the thousands of women waiting in line to see the midnight screening of New Moon? Yeah, didn’t think so.

I thought this movie was much better than the original. Mainly because New Moon is my favorite book of the series and the movie stayed pretty true to book (10 points for director Chris Wentz!). The acting overall is better (no stuttering KStew or accent slip-ups from RPatz), there were some nice CGI effects (water sequence, not the wolves), and a buff Taylor Lautner is given at least 30 minutes of screen time without his shirt on.

OK, now to the parts I could have done without:
1) The Sound of Music-esque running-in-the-woods sequence. I mean, really? The 1800’s costumes were laughable, as was seeing the two run around barefoot in the forest. Can we say foot fungus? Gross.
2) Taylor’s first chest reveal. “Oh Bella! You’re bleeding, so let me strip off my tee so you can use it to stop the bleeding.” Yeah, that really happens. Couldn’t he have just ripped a part of his shirt off vs. the entire thing? It’s not as if we would not be able to admire Taylor’s 35 lbs of extra muscle later in the film. Jeez…
3) Matrix fighting sequence in Volterra: To me, this was that scene that declares “Hey, look! We have more money to do slow-motion fight scenes. In your face Catherine Hardwick!”
4) Jasper’s hair: WTF? Since when did Jasper begin channeling Greg Brady? Let’s hope the stylist shows this guy more love in the next movie, since he’s more pivotal in Eclipse.
5) Jasper’s constant look of constipation: Someone get this man some Exlax. STAT!

With that said, I will probably see this one more time in the theatres and be one of the first to get the DVD in March 2010. Will this movie win any awards? Outside of the MTV Popcorn Trophy or Kids’ Choice Award, probably not. But it’s silly, cheesy and just plain fun. And, did I mention 30 minutes of a shirtless Taylor Lautner?

Thanks for the review, Pam! What did YOU think?

For all of you Team Edward fans, why not add a Twilight Wall Decal to your bedroom as you dream of Edward?

Just look at the swoon!

Pia The Pig