Jackie Kennedy and the biggest dinosaur

Today I ventured over to the Field Museum, to see the Jackie Kennedy exhibit. I also saw the giant T-Rex fossil named Sue, the Tibetan exhibit, Gemstones and Jade exhibits, and Pacific Island cultural exhibits. I had to skip the rest, because I was pretty pooped.

The Jackie exhibit was a historical look at Jackie's famous dresses during the Kennedy years, and how her grace, diplomacy, and style influenced America and the world. All the dresses were exquisite, and the stories and letters were enchanting.

If you can't make it to Chicago anytime soon, you can see the featured dresses at the Marshall Fields site. Each dress was presented in context of the events that she wore them to. The exhibit also included audio and film footage, as well as written letters from Jackie to foreigners. She was fluent in at least Spanish and French and would address other countries in their language whenever possible. I found her devotion to her family and to the preservation of art and culture very touching. It's hard for me to imagine another First Lady with that kind of grace again in our future.

Going through the exhibit, I am amused by the shrewdness of the museum to take advantage of how some of Jackie's style is in vogue again. Of course when you finish looking at the dresses, they spit you right out into the gift shop. This was very effective on me, as I purchased a poster and a replica Jackie Kennedy button. Also I didn't buy this, but I thought this little decorative tile was very clever. I think it would make an awesome Mother's Day gift.

Even though I was utterly pooped, I trudged on to make my $25 entry worthwhile. I checked out the other exhibits and figured I'd be back another time to see the animals. Afterward, I taxied over to Marshall Fields at Water Tower.

They had even more Jackie Kennedy souvenirs, so I bought some greeting cards with fabric mini-replicas of Jackie's dresses on them. Feeling inspired by the exhibit, I tried on a silky pink suit by "Nipon Boutique" on sale. It was cute, but when would I ever get to wear something that nice? Easter? For a wedding? Plus I do already own at least 3 pink coats. But I don't have a shiny one! Hmm...

Playtime at Christmas

The best part of Christmas is watching the children have fun. My cousins have cute little kids who actually play nice together. Here are my favorite moments:

Jordan tells Alex, while playing War of the Monsters, "Okay, let's play so I beat you, and then you beat me, and then I'll beat you, and then I let you beat me, and then I'll beat you... Okayyyy?" After which, Alex proceeds to kick Jordan's butt in the game, while Jordan yells, "Stop iiiiit! You're supposed to let me beat you!!"

Micah (22 mos. old), thinks he can play DDR. He stands on the mat and bounces like he's dancing.

Katie (4 yrs.) shows Peyton (20 mos.) how to stand with legs apart, and bend over upside down. They do this together, like a mirror, looking at each other between their legs.

Zachary (3 yrs.) shows me his toy doctor's kit, which includes a half skinless plastic human torso, so you can see his insides. It also has a bag of pretend tools including a syringe, which Zachary proceeds to point at at the plastic torso's eye! He thinks the syringe is an eye-dropper. I almost explain what it is supposed to be, but then I decide it's best he doesn't know.

Alex beats all the grownups at all the PlayStation games, except for DDR, where Cousins Sam and Johnny do pretty well.

Katie bakes "bakin'" for Peyton. (See previous blog entry.) Peyton happily eats the "bakin.'" I ask Katie if she's going to be a baker when she grows up. She says no. I ask her what she wants to be, and she says "Ummm, I wanna a be a doctor, like mommy!"

Toby (5 mos. - the first "child" of my brother and his wife), a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, likes the squeaky bone I got him for Christmas. He also likes to sleep belly-up, like a person.

Katie's Baked Special

My cousin's daughter, Katie loves to bake. She learned to do it at school. But I couldn't quite figure out what she was baking...

me: Wow Katie, what are ya doing? Katie: I'm bakin'! me: Bakin'? What are you bakin'? Katie: I'm bakin' bakin! me: Bacon? Katie: yeah, bakin'! me: ? But what are you bakin'? Katie: I'm bakin' bakin'!! Me: You're baking bakin'? Katie: Yeah! Me: Ohh. (Katie rolls out the dough with her pint-sized rolling pin) Me: Well you seem very good at that. It looks hard. Katie: No... but sometimes, sommmeetimes, (as she pushes the rolling pin harder) It's a little... bit hard. But it's pretty easy. Me: I wish I could bake so well. Katie: You can!

Then Katie took some cookie cutters and made shapes of a lion, a monkey, chicks, a butterfly, ornaments, a snowman, and stars. She made the little ones for her baby cousin Peyton.

This is little baby Peyton. What a cutie!

Then Katie carefully poured little sprinkles over each one. Then her mom put it in the oven, and they came out nice and golden in just a few minutes. Then she sorted out the ones for Peyton and put them in a paper bag, and handed it to her.

Katie made a purple monkey for me. This "baking" sorta tasted like a sugared cracker. Not bad, for a 4-year old.

The gift of giving bad gifts

I thought people giving bad gifts at white elephant parties had a cruel streak, but back in the days of mean-spirited kings, real white elephants were given to enemies as a burden, disguised as a gift, to drive them into bankruptcy!

Last night i was lucky enough to score some a cute little package of appletini cocktails at a white elephant party. I had to steal it from someone after someone stole my paper lantern. But then i got home and dropped it on my foot and then to the floor. I think i'll have a drink now.

Holiday wonders (in flash)

Feeling stressed from all your holiday shopping, travel, and dysfunctional relatives? Try slinging Santa or perform penguin dives, Olympic style. See if you can beat my Santa throw of 334.3 meters or my penguin score of 30!

Hello Kitty Cruiser bike, luggage, and other awesome products

This year at work for the annual Family Giving Tree charity, I gave a girl her Christmas wish: a Hello Kitty CD Player. I am hoping someone will get me the Hello Kitty Braun toothbrush (which I saw at Target).

Isn't this Hello Kitty bike mega-cute? Not only is the bike retro-styled, with hello kitty faces in the tire tread, but I love the orange and blue and the surf theme! Too bad it's just a one-speed. They also carry one in pink.

I'm also happy to see that Sanrio now carries a larger version of my red Hello Kitty luggage. They also have the cabin-sized one in silver! Not only is it sturdy and easy to find at the baggage carousel, but people compliment me on it all the time, and Hello Kitty's face is winking! I am also amused by their plush doll speakers. Sanrio designers are geniuses.

Merry Christmas to me!

My boyfriend and I decided to buy each other bikes for Christmas. We are hoping we will get some exercise out of it (coinciding with New Year's Resolutions) and spend some time together enjoying life outside of a cubicle.

Neither of us had remembered riding bikes since maybe junior high. My very practical boyfriend tried out hybrid bikes, while I was focused on getting a comfy retro cruiser bike, preferably in lightweight aluminum and a decent number of speed options.

First I tried two very cute pastel Electra cruiser bikes, with white seats. The first was pink, in a 3-speed. But as I started to ride the bike, I realized there were no handbrakes. I thought, "How do I stop this thing?" And then I remembered my childhood pink one-speed Schwinn, and realized I merely had to kick the pedals backward.

Then I tried a 21-speed baby blue Townie with handbrakes. I thought the handlebars were oddly high up, but maybe the bike shop didn't realize they had to adjust it better for me.

Finally at another store, I tried a the Raleigh Retroglide 7, which had a very vintage look, with 7 speeds and a very comfy seat. My boyfriend opted for a used Marin bike.

But when then we realized that the bikes wouldn't both fit in the car, so we had to bike home from the store and drive back to fetch the car. Luckily there are some very pleasant bike trails nearby the Stanford campus.

Now all I need is a basket, streamers, and an ejection seat, and I can have my own Pee-Wee-mobile!

I like your bone structure

Three people have forwarded this to me, because somehow they all predicted I would love to see the skeletal renderings of cute cartoon characters. Well, they were right. Isn't it nice when your friends know you so well?

Conceptual art? Innovative knitting? Toy? Uhhhh...

What on earth do you think this is? Knitty.com normally shares a lot of fun and cute patterns for knitting, but then my friend found this on their recent issue!

I guess it's cute, in that wacky feminist kind of way.


Of course, this is not the first person to make organs cuddly. My super-talented cousin, Bill, once designed a popular plush doll called Gus Gutz, where you yank his cuddly plush organs out through his mouth. Sadly, the toy is now out of production, but you can try ebay if you want one! It makes an awesome and unique gift, just in time for the holidays!

Cutest new family member

Meet Toby, my brother's adopted child (my nephew!). He is a named after the Swiss chocolate, Toblerone, since he is a Swiss Mountain dog. I hear he weighs about 55 lbs. but is not full grown yet. Look at his big puppy paws!

I will meet him in Chicago on my holiday break! I hope he will be well-behaved enough to not push me down, because I'm a wimpy little person.

Another reason to fear exercise

Normally, I like poodles. But in this video, I find them disturbing.

(Thanks? Nicole?)

Thankful in Ohio

For Thanksgiving this year, I ventured into the hometown of my "Canton-ese" boyfriend. Okay, he isn't Chinese, but he is from Canton, Ohio. My Aunt Susan loves to confuse other people by telling them that I am dating a Cantonese boy.

Canton's claim to fame is the Football Hall of Fame. Football is not my thing, but wacky midwesterners are, especially those who give me some insight into the mysteries of my boyfriend's mind.

Upon arriving to the family's house, we get out of their big shiny white bling-bling Escalade with gold trim (Later my boyfriend's mom laments how she doesn't have spinners on her hubcaps), to be greeted by three little happy-yappy dogs. All are hopping around sniffing and licking people's hands. The Yorkie (Lucy, pictured to the left) nearly pees on my shoes out of excitement.

The two other dogs are a mixed-breed, Lois (resembling "The Dog" stationery) and a Coton du Tulear, named Rosie, who looks like my old dog, the late Squeakers, but with straighter hair:

Squeakers (Poodle)	Rosie (Coton)	Lois (?)

This year, my bf's mom has gotten an early start on Christmas decorating, so I get a preview of the usual holiday glamour. The parents take me on a tour of the house, and every room is seriously decked out in red, green, gold, and snowy/ribbony/holly/glittery accents.

My bf's mom excitedly demonstrates an animatronic dog with a Santa hat who sings different carols if you yank his paw. Even a large bucket of dog toys are xmas-themed, and each dog has its designated xmas collar. The place was like a holiday showroom for decor. Looking at this, I realize how half-hearted my own family's Christmases were. (Then again, I was raised a Buddhist.)

I am beginning to understand my boyfriend's need for minimalism.

Despite any political or religious differences, I do like my boyfriend's family a lot. Here are my top 10 reasons, in no particular order:

I always wanted a younger sister. My bf has four of them. The dad indulges the mom in her obsessions (decorating, dogs), even if it kind of drives him crazy. They like to give each other compliments. Big T (oldest sister) got a lot for her baking (see chocolate cake, pumpkin cheesecake & pumpkin pie to the left). They even compliment themselves! They have very attractive genes. (One of the sisters was a Rockette and will star in the new musical, Good Vibrations.) They are lots of fun at Scrabble, even when they cheat. (My bf and I won anyway) They have funny little dogs that are clean and relatively well-behaved, despite the nervous peeing. They like to treat themselves, be it a Manhattan (the dad's drink), hot cocoa, an cute skirt, grasshoppers (mint shakes), cheesecake, or an Escalade. They are a warm and loving bunch that loves to laugh. They love cheesy-ass puns. My bf's dad is the master, and my bf is a Punster-in-training. They are pretty good at Karaoke!

That's right, they like to karaoke, thanks to me. After Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out my Karaoke Revolution games, volumes 2 & 3. My bf demonstrated a rendition of New York, New York, and when he offered his mom a turn, she said, "I want's something JAZZIER!" So she picked Oops, i did it Again.

She started swingin' the mic around, and boppin' to the music, but she was forgetting to sing!! Eventually we got her to remember, and the parents did a duet of I Got You, Babe, in which the mom flipped her hair, in a Cher impersonation! The dad sang Sweet Home Alabama, the two eldest sisters sang "Oh What a Feeling," and then we made the youngest to sing Oops with her boyfriend. My bf and I sang Take my Breath Away. Yay for new holiday traditions!




As for the Canton neighborhood, it reminded me of the the suburbs of Chicago, except for the occasional beer barn. Lots of cute big houses with big lawns and shopping malls, with larger stretches of land between them.