Snow Day/A List of Lists

view from my dining room window (doesn't it make you want to jump?)

test-driving my new snow boots

losing a snowball fight

We woke up to Irish weather in New York yesterday. "Irish weather" used to mean pelting rain, but this year it means snow—lots of it. I spent the day ploughing ... through a few feet of snow outside my door, a box of Roses, a new book, and Lego instructions. It was the perfect snow day, and also the perfect day to catch up on some of the "best of" lists popping up about the place. Of course, I'm far too snowed in mentally to actually compile my own list, but here is a list of lists making me feel like I am in touch with what's going on at home ... until it's a new year and I'm behind again!

The Telegraph's Five Best New Irish Acts (Villagers, Babybeef, Solar Bears, The Cast of Cheers, Adebisi Shank).

The Irish Times Page Turners: The Books We Loved Reading in 2010, the books that earned pride of place on some well known Irish shelves this year.

The Irish Independent's So What Did You Read This Year?, a list of favorite books from well-known Irish personalities. 

Nialler 9's Irish Albums of 2010 Poll Results (the results as well as the full list of 124 contenders is worth a look to see what a great year it was for Irish music).

The Irish Times: After the Headlines, the Reflection, Six Irish men and women who made the headlines in 2010 reflect at the end of the year.

IrishCentral's The Irish Sports Stars and Stories of 2010.

Movies.ie's Best Irish Movies of 2010 roundup.

Ireland.com's Top 10 Restaurants in Ireland.

I'm sure there will be more lists as the week winds up/the year winds down, so I'll keep an eye out for any others of interest. Now, back to eating/making videos of my cat/sleeping my way out of this blizzard ...

John Lennon is singing to me "And so this is Christmas. And what have you done?" Not much John Lennon, but I've been sick all week. I've been planted on the couch, hugging a pot of tea, and warming my arse to the glowing Christmas tree (which looks warmer than it actually is). I spent the week sleeping,  shopping online, and feeling sorry for myself because my kids don't know how to make tea. Somebody, please call Social Services. 

I'm finally feeling a bit better today and will be taking full advantage of these few days before I have to face "Another year over and a new one just begun." Many of my week's to-dos (make mince pies, make Christmas pudding, learn a Christmas song on tin whistle, knit a tea cozy) have been bumped to next year's Christmas list—which at first felt a bit depressing but now feels like a neat and tidy gift sitting under next year's tree.  I haven't done much John Lennon, but I know that as well as questioning what I had done you were hoping I have fun, so I will focus on that this Christmas Eve with ice-skating, hot-chocolate-drinking, shopping, painting my nails red, wrapping gifts, and drinking Santa's stout. I hope that wherever you are, you are also focusing less on what you have not done, and more on the fun!

Nollaig Shona Duit/Happy Christmas to you and thanks for stopping by!

xo Jac

Merle O'Grady

Save me from myself. 

Merle O'Grady jewelry is thirty percent off right now at My-Wardrobe.com. Just sayin' it might be a nice way to treat the most important person on your list (ahem, you!) to something nice to kick off the New Year!

The List

"It doesn't hurt to put it on the list" I heard my seven-year-old say to his friend as they sat to write their letters to Santa the other day. Dog? It doesn't hurt to put it on the list! Swimming pool? It doesn't hurt to put it on the list! iTouch, iPhone, iPad? Hey, it doesn't hurt to put it on the list! Movies, mansions, 64 crayons (a mercy item), flat-screen TVs ... their lists grew long as their dreams gained steam, and much as their lists did hurt Santa, I didn't have it in me to burst their bubbles—dreaming big sounded like so much fun! So, instead of worrying that my kid confirms multiple "Kids these days" theories (as well as the suspicion that I am raising a chancer), I have decided to practice reckless wishlisting, because ... well, it doesn't hurt to put it on the list!

1. This oak, ash, and walnut table made from sustainably managed forests in Ireland, by Irish designer Gearóid Muldowney of Superfolk.

2. Some (as much as you can carry) tough-but-chic bling from Macha Jewelry.

3. A large python and leather tote (for travel/work) and a small woven leather duffle bag (for lunch/nights out) from Pauric Sweeney.

4. Breville Pie Maker so I can make Mince Pies, mini apple pies, and meat pies; Williams-Sonoma.

5. A wool and chiffon peekaboo dress (to show off my abs from the boxing class I will take in January) from Irish designer Emma Manley. Oh, a stylish wool-and-leather cape, too, (for February when I turn back to jelly.)

6. A wild wool dress and georgette blouse from John Rocha.

7. A handknit and personalized teddy bear by Dublin-based KnitByMommy.

8, 9, and 10. Okay, I'm running out of steam here. It's really not as much fun as I thought—too much built-up guilt and not enough imagination. For 8, 9, and 10, I will borrow from the boys and just say iPad, mansion, and dog.

I'd also settle for slippers and pajamas.

Follow You Down to Red Oak Tree

James Vincent McMorrow is definitely my favorite artist of 2010 (and he has first dibs on the title for 2011, too). Here he is singing on the streets of Montmartre after playing La Cigale.



He makes me want to sing, plan a trip to Paris, grow a beard, and follow him down to that red oak tree ...

Yes We Can't!

From iconic to ironic: Shepherd Fairey's instantly recognizable "Hope" poster gets a breath of fresh/funny air with Turtlehead's "Yes We Can't" t-Shirt, featuring Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen. (If I designed this t-shirt I would add a disclaimer : "This t-shirt is for ironic wear only; do not use to spread despair!") 

Definitely a contender for St. Patrick's Day.

Turtlehead.ie, $26/€25

Avoca Spool Scarf

Love these 100% lambswool Avoca scarves available online at one of my fave stores (for creating personal wishlists), Terrain. I normally think about Avoca in Duty Free in Shannon Airport where the idea of reupholstering a yet-to-be-sourced vintage armchair in soft and lovely Avoca blankets competes with the idea of me sitting on my existing sofa wolfing down Butlers chocolates. Butlers chocolates are usually two-for-the-price-of-one while Avoca offerings are usually one-for-the-price-of-two, so I usually pad my thighs and wishlist by choosing the chocolate as my traveling companion.

Enough about me and Duty-Free; these Avoca scarves would make a lovely gift for a nice neck on your giftlist. (I hope you buy one so I can feel better about swiping the idea of wrapping scarves on a spool!)

P.s. How cute are these chocolate Christmas treats from Butlers?

So Here It Is, Merry Christmas!

I'm getting my Christmas tree tonight so I'm busy getting in the Holiday spirit today. In my imaginary world, "getting in the Holiday spirit" means I've been planted in front of a roaring fire all day, drinking rich hot cocoa, and holding hands with the carolers who came to my door. In the real world, I've been planted in front of my computer screen, drinking too much tea, and holding hands with the school nurse who doesn't know how to handle a parent who under-reacts to a seven-year-old's claims of illness ("a blast of fresh air and he'll be fine!"). 

Minus the roaring fire, handcut marshmallows, and touchy-feely carolers, I'm cramming for my tree-finding expedition with Christmas music; I love Christmas songs and love to be surprised by new versions of old favorites. I was delighted to see that Carosel recorded an acoustic version of Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody; it's a simple and lovely version and makes me want to drink mulled wine, knit socks, and bake reindeer-shaped cookies for the school nurse. Yay! Holiday spirit!

Carosel's Merry Christmas Everybody

We Want Blood, The Mighty Stef

With lines like "Well, I'm drunk as a parish priest on the lies that you told us" and "Hey Mr. Politician, it's time to depart," The Mighty Stef's We Want Blood, "a universal song of disgust at the powers that be" might just be the soundtrack to Ireland 2010, the reaction to Budget 2011 (announced today in Ireland), and maybe even the new national anthem.

 
Warning: there's a little "colorful" Irish language if you have sensitive ears.

No one likes a downer, especially this time of year. I'm usually more interested in dipping cheese cubes in christmassy musical fondue a la Cliff Richards, Shakin Stevens, Band Aid, and Wham, but this year, I'm feeling The Mighty Stef's grit and anger, and its peddlars-of-pissed-off influences like The Pogues, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, and The Rolling Stones.
The Mighty One's new album,  TMS and The Baptists,  was released at the end of November, and contains "nine new songs of sin and redemption where hope and hopelessness walk hand in hand down the wet streets of Manhattans Lower East Side to the dingy graveyards of Berlin where the record was conceived, written and recorded." 

I'm planning much sin and redemption over the next few weeks so this is exactly what I need to be listening to.

Free download of We Want Blood on Facebook (click "Shop Now" tab)
TheMightyStef.com

Tea and a Thought: Pro(ductive) Bono

I had a lovely three-hour tea-time with a friend yesterday catching up on all that has happened since we last saw each other, a year ago. A year is an awful long time so we both had to talk at the same time to catch up in three hours. Sadly, I have several friends I don't see often enough for us to be able to talk one at a time, and it just makes me wonder, "Where does the time go?" and "How does Bono do it?" (Not that this is an entirely unnatural train of thought, but to clarify, I had just heard an interview with Bono when I was lamenting being too busy to see friends regularly.)

Bono seems to do it all; he saves the world, entertains the world, and has tea with world leaders in his spare time. He breaks his back touring, has three new albums ready to roll (a rock album, a dance album, and a meditative psalms album), and to be sure he covers all genres in your music library, he's been working with the Edge and Julie Taymor on a soon-to-open-and-way-over-budget rock opera, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

 

Oh, and he showed up on the back of my magazine this morning, too, getting his  Next Top Model on with his wife in a charitable Louis Vuitton ad campaign shot by Annie Leibovitz.

I'd hate him if it wasn't so cool to hate him.

Of course, who knows if Bono actually manages to see friends with all this gallivanting? Sigh, I bet he does. Anyway, I guess the point is that if he doesn't it's because he's busy for real, not busy in a vague/uncharitable way like I am. Of course, he probably doesn't sleep, hence the 24/7 sunglasses. I could do it all (or at least the carrying-the-Louis-V part), and see friends, too, if I didn't sleep for eight hours every day and sometimes spend two hours watching home improvement shows. I should be more like Bono.

(tick tock, tick tock)

You know, "Be more like Bono" just became Resolution #1 for 2011. Actually, it's really the only resolution I need, as all my other resolutions (i.e., "wear leather pants") are implied. Wow, 2011 is going to be great!

I wonder if Bono has a therapist? Maybe I should get a head start there ...