Milo's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa-

Come down the chimney over the fire but don't get burned. Never!  Bring presents please.  Skiers and skaters would be great. Please bring presents for Jude too. You have to be Santa to come down the chimney.  And loved.  Enjoy the cookies, milk, and that's it.  Give your reindeer the celery and carrots. 

I love you, 

Milo

Christmas Pics Part 1: Pre-Christmas

Goodness gracious alive, have I fallen behind as a blogger!  I've had pictures and stories for the past two weeks about which I've thought: "I gotta blog about that!," but in the end, I've been swept away in Christmas festivities and family time.  But I'm back at it, and have some pictures to share!  These are just pre-Christmas pics (before I came home to Georgia on the 20th); Georgia pics coming soon!

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday.  Tell me about what you did/ate/gave/received!

me & Jen at the Union Square ice rink:

oh how I love San Francisco at Christmastime!

view of the ice from the top of Macy's (p.s. it's open till Jan. 16th!)

downtown San Francisco

Matt opening Christmas gifts from his mom :)

holiday crafts with Claire and Jude!

a very festive cable car: again, how I love SF at Christmas!

stockings at my house

stockings at Matt's house (I KNOW!  Some are for pets . . .)

I'm in Georgia for two more days, and until then, I'll be missing these three handsome boys something serious:

Merry Christmas, etc.!  I'll be back with pictures from Georgia ASAP.  Hope everyone else's Christmas was as wonderful as mine.

Hello from the Trenches of Final Exams

I will return to the blog world (and the human world) after semester grades are submitted tomorrow at 3 pm.  In the meantime, a red pen will serve as an extension to my right hand, and while I'm grading said finals (and various other assignments I'm behind on), I will be simultaneously stressing about the fact that I haven't finished writing Christmas cards, still have shopping to do, and have to get my house in order before I leave for Georgia on Tuesday.

Hopefully by tomorrow my desk will no longer look like this:

Hope everyone is having a less chaotic holiday season!

Why Am I Still Single + Giveaway Winner

Matt's roommate, Molly, has introduced us to a wonderful new world:

Gone are the days when VH1 simply showcased music videos that were slightly-less-edgy than those on MTV, as we are now living in the days of increasingly silly reality TV.  But the silliest thing about this show isn't its subject matter . . . it's the host's name.

I mean, either she seriously pissed her mother off while in utero, or maybe she intends to be an advocate for kids who will surely be ridiculed in school for their names.  Either way, how awesome is it that her name is SIGGY FLICKER?

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Siggy's name isn't the only entertaining thing about the show.  There are hot twin stylists, sassy date-scouters, and uppity clients who can't be pleased no matter how hard you try.  Plus, last week's episode featured this guy.  I wonder why he's still single?

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Thank God for mindless entertainment.  Sunday afternoon, Matt had the audacity to flip to the Discovery channel.  I immediately got all pissy and wanted to chirp, "TV is not for educational purposes!  It's for watching Siggy Flicker find dates for folks with ridiculous hair styles!"  

I mean, hey--I spend my days teaching high schoolers about the Prison Industrial Complex and its stakes in poverty, racism, and oppression in general . . . suffice to say I need some levity in the evenings.  Cue Siggy Flicker!

**Thanks to all who entered the Lilo Prints giveaway!  The winner, chosen by random.org, is . . . 

Chic 'n Cheap Living!

Emailing you right now with details.  Congrats!

Hells Angels with Hearts of Gold

This weekend was brimming with excitement.  I had my favorite Burmese food, saw experimental art & music with Matt, attended a holiday party in Berkeley with dozens of my favorite people, and had two separate encounters with Hells Angels.  That's right.

Late Friday night, I headed to the Ruby Room with my roommate and some pals to meet up with an old friend of hers from high school.  Imagine my excitement when, upon leaving, I brushed past at least four Hells Angels at the door!  Of course I postponed my exit, and chatted them up about the authenticity of Sons of Anarchy for 20 minutes (they approve!).  One of these guys was the Vice President of the Santa Cruz chapter, and the other was the Treasurer of the Oakland Hells Angels.  Pretty bad ass.

Even more thrilling was what Matt and I did Sunday morning.  We headed to this divey watering hole in Santa Rosa:

Wagon Wheel

where we attended the 13th Annual Sonoma County Hells Angels Christmas Toy Run!  The bikers collected toys from 9 to 11:45 am at the Wagon Wheel, and then commenced their annual ride, ending up at the clubhouse (where they invite the community and local underprivileged kids to come pick out toys for Christmas).  

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Suffice to say, I was giddy the whole time.  They had a biker dressed up like Santa (!!!) and the sweet sound of Harleys in the background.

vroom vroom

I'm willing to post this terrible picture on the internet

since I'm posing with a Hells Angel

my favorite shot of the morning--HA cut!

Isn't Matt such a good sport for indulging me in my obsessions?  He even admitted that he had fun. ;)  And see--goes to show you that just cause someone's a 1%er outlaw biker doesn't mean he doesn't care about the children.  Right???  Heehee.

p.s. have you entered my giveaway?  Only one more day to enter!

Giveaway: Lilo Prints

In the timeliest of manners (just in time for Christmas!), my dear friend Lindsay has opened up an Etsy shop!  She makes subway art-inspired prints and other original, gicleè prints, the proceeds of which will go toward college funds for her adorable twin babies.

Lilo Prints on Etsy

Lindsay's description of her prints:

"All giclée prints by Lilo Prints are printed on high-quality, eco-friendly, acid-free fine art paper. Printed with professional archival pigment ink."

Lindsay has generously offered one Bicoastally reader a $25 shop credit.  You can choose from one of her designs, or request your own quote/kids' names/etc. in the color of your choice:

Lindsay sent me a print with one of my favorite quotes, and I can't wait to hang it in my office:

Here's another of my favorites:

if I had a kid, I'd hang this print in his room!

And one for couples/families:

Aren't they neat?  And if there isn't one that suits your fancy, you can request your favorite quote/saying and Lindsay will whip it up for you.  Perfect for your home/office, or if you're feeling generous, as a Christmas gift!

Each of the following counts as one entry:

1. Be a follower of Bicoastally 

2. Follow Lindsay's blog, Undomestic Chica

3. Tweet about this giveaway (@clairekiefer, @undomesticchica)

4. "Like" Lindsay's Etsy shop on facebook

5. Favorite Lilo Prints on Etsy
6. Blog about this giveaway/Lilo Prints

Pretty please leave a separate comment for each entry, so that I may be able to use random.org to pick a winner.  I'll post the winner a week from today.  

Lindsay is offering 10% off anything in her shop with the code CLAIRE10 

Chewy

I have an obsessive personality.  I've been known to listen to a song on repeat for a month, google every minute fact about a celebrity crush's life, binge watch whole series of tv shows.

One of my obsessions is Jude Freitag, son of my friends Cari and JJ (and whom I babysit, along with his brother Milo).  Witnessing him discover language is amazing and hilarious.  Most recently, he's been saying a word that is SO FUNNY.

chewies

These are Jude's vitamins.  He calls them "chewies."  And when he says "chewy," I crack up.  Here are some of the many videos I have taken of me trying desperately to get him to say it:

Prettttttttty adorable, right?  Luckily, Matt is as obsessed as I am.  Therefore, we've basically been saying "chewy" (or as Matt thinks is the most accurate spelling for Jude's pronunciation: "chwee") to each other for the past week, sending each other tweets, audio notes, emails, etc. all referencing this one, toddler-uttered word: chewy.


PS: stay tuned for a giveaway tomorrow!

Tree-hugging & Egg nog-guzzling

Yesterday, the first of December, something beautiful happened: we got our Christmas tree!  Jen and I had her brother RJ and Matt over for a properly festive evening, complete with spiked egg nog, jazzy Christmas tunes, gingerbread cookies, & lots of decorating (and we ordered Thai food, since I'm still not ready to cook yet after the Thanksgiving marathon kitchen sesh).

there it is!  I think that's the one, anyway . . .

all done up

Matt doing the honors

close up

I'm so excited!  And I've loved reading all about your Christmas trees, too.  Keep 'em coming!

For the next month or so, you can find me on my couch, gazing at the tree.  My dear friends Heather and Serkan (+ baby Rowan!) are coming over tonight to hang out with Matt and me for some long overdue catching up, and I'm so excited to show off the new fir.  It's Christmas on 55th St.!