Project 289 - Day 277 :On The 6th day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

Today's ornaments du jour - yes I am aware it's tautology in two languages at once but it sounds good so I will let it slide - are my travel ornaments from this year. I tend to accumulate a number of souvenirs when I travel, the most popular being fridge magnets, but I also tend to end up with lots of Christmas ornaments especially ones dated the year I'm traveling.

Strictly speaking they don't fit the popular culture theme, but I am prepared to make exceptions where the ornaments has a sentimental attachment of some kind, and these most certainly do. The Sausalito one represents the group I was in San Francisco with - my friend Warren, and his friends, Jason & melinda, and Warren & Leith - while the New York one was picked up by Warren for me because, well, I just thought it would be funky! He did very well getting me a very cool ornament....

...... and the Teletubby? What on earth could LaLa possibly represent? Well nothing directly, but the last time I was in San Francisco before this year's trip, I picked him up, everyone's favourite gay Teletubby, at Pier 39, right in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf. I don't usually remember where I pick up the majority of my ornaments when overseas but I remember him quite clearly and so he makes today's cut of traveling ornaments.

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Tonight was a wonderful night. I celebrated my friend Peter's birthday a few days early with a group of his friends (many of whom I have met before), starting with drinks and nibblies (what a fabulous word!) on his balcony lined as it was with bauble strewn pot plants,before we moved on to a delicious, and cheap, dinner at what was Thairiffic but is now Thai Face (or as we wholesomely christened it, "Thai Faeces"). 

The conversation and wine flowed smoothly, and we ended up with a few new people coming to Symphony in the Domain and a dinner invite or two.

Absolutely lovely, and once again my beautiful guy ended up as the Designated Driver, making the Christmas Lush? Hmm how times have changed! LOL Must drink water.....

Project 289 - Day 276 : On The 5th day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

Today, awash with nostalgia (let's hope it doesn't stain the clothes), I am going to feature 3 of the ornaments that were there at the very beginning of my tree decorating in 1992. Armed with a newly bought 4ft tall plastic Christmas tree from K-Mart and freshly discovered Hallmark Christmas ornaments, I decorated my first tree and placed it proudly in the lounge room. 

It is entirely possible that I stood there for ages admiring it (we Christmas junkies can get a tad obsessive, it's true), and it started a now 17 year tradition of going all out at Christmas time, and a serious ornament buying fetish that shows no sign of abating anytime soon.

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Who doesn't love their team's yearly Christmas lunch? OK maybe it's not as thrilling as the big party for the whole company, but I like getting together with my team mates, kicking back over a yummy meal - in this case at Nick's Bar and Grill at King Street Wharf - and exchanging Kris Kringle gifts (I got a decent gift this year - 3 types of T2 Chai Tea - YUM!) over a wine of three..... great day, great spot, and great conversation.... Merry Christmas team....

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Tonight was a lovely special night when my beautiful guy and I celebrated Christmas. The plan had been to do the full Christmas dinner (I am guessing so since my beautiful guy had been secretive in his plans!), exchange gifts, and celebrate ahead of him heading to his folks in Melbourne on the 20th, but other events, and an insane work schedule meant the plans had been to be curtailed somewhat.

What we ended up with was, I think, every bit as delightful. I collected him at Sydenham station since the buses were on strike today and he had no easy way to get home, we collected his goods and chattels (and a pile of enticing looking gifts, which were mine and which I ended up carrying to the car!) and headed back to my place before setting off for Posh Spice (passed the house above all lit up for Christmas), our favourite Indian restaurant in Newtown, and most likely, the world. (Yeah it's hard to say that when you haven't been to every restaurant in the world, but since that's unlikely to ever happen, I'll stick with hyperbolic statements for now!) Dinner with my guy was as lovely as ever with lots affectionate hand holding (not in the curry!), eye gazing, and a sparkling conversation that veered from the voter enrollment system to the day's events, and just plain silly talk that had us laughing, and we walked home hand in hand for the gift exchange.

I can't think of the last time I had a set of Christmas gifts that were an out and out total surprise but my guy managed it with me not expecting the soundtrack to "Where the Wild Things Are", a journal made from one of my favourite childhood books, an artwork bought at Glebe markets made by an artist who uses recycled materials, and a Bose iPod docking station! Wow that last one blew me away since (a) it costs a lot but (b) I had talked about it only in passing one day and did not think for one second he would buy it for me! 

I surprised him too though with an iPod Nano (which he endearingly started referring to as his "Nanna" which had 8 GigaWatts of memory! He can be so cute sometimes and makes me laugh often), a case for it, a funky Tshirt I thought he'd seen me buy at the markets but somehow he hadn't, a small artwork he had seen my buy but had adored, and a Wicked calendar.

This all took place at midnight but it was fun, delightful, heart warming and lovely to share such a special time with him, and share the delight of being surprised by our respective gifts. He is everything I ever wanted in a guy, and I meant every word when I wrote on his card, that he is the best gift of all, and the one I treasure most.

Project 289 - Day 275 : On The 4th day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

So I am a pop culture addict right? Like those wackos on the Crunchy Nut but obsessed with pop culture anything..... well almost anything... anyway, one of the shows I absolutely adore for it's wit, extreme boundary pushing (they go so far outside the box, they're nowhere near the packing plant anymore!), and great sense of fun is The Family Guy.

Not everyone's cup of tea granted, and it can be a mite controversial (massive understatement of the day!) but I love it, and so it made great sense to give Peter (the Dad), Stewie (they very gay highly articulate baby) and Brian (the anthropomorphic dog and voice of reason) a place on my tree. 

Project 289 - Day 274 : On The 3rd day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

From the moment I saw them on Sesame Street, I loved the Muppets, a love affair that only intensified when The Muppet Show debuted on Aussie TV in the late 70s. The Muppets were, and are, hilariously fun and irreverent (which makes the fact that Disney now owns them - and Pixar for that matter, another run-against-the-grain entertainment powerhouse - all the more remarkable!), and just gosh darn cute!
They fit the theme of my tree perfectly and so today for your viewing pleasure, here's Animal, Gonzo and Fozzie doing their thing on my tree!

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Two very cool Christmas-oriented things happened at work today - yes note the weird unsettling juxtaposition of 'cool and 'work.... almost Twilight Zone in its eerieness right? - the first being that I won the decorating competition at work! Well, strictly speaking the Commercial team, but since I pretty much bought all the ornaments and put them all up - at great anti-OH & S risk to myself by teetering on chairs to reach the roof panels -and came up with the overarching theme, I figure that it's my prize after all! I was magnanimous in victory however and gave credit to my colleague Bill who drove me to the local mall twice, and helped me with an idea or two. I also, quite selflessly, gave up the prize of two boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolate to the entire team entire the Scrooge-like Bah Humbug group who didn't contribute any money at all (but who then bizarrely rapturously congratulated like I had placed a man on the moon with their help!) so I got bask in all the creative glory and feel like a fabulously giving human being. Score!

The second cool thing was that I got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time in 40 years - well the Marketing manager's lap but for the purposes of Christmas he is Santa and dressed as such - to get my Kris kringle present. I could have just jumped onto him like a fellow gay boy at work did and try to French kiss him, but I figured that may place me on the naughty list - or maybe not.... Santa may be in a very large bear-like closet - and I couldn't risk it. Not just over a week out from Christmas!

Project 289 - Day 273 :On The 2nd day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

Today's look at Andrew's pop culture-laden Christmas tree features some of my fabulous Grolier Sesame Street ornaments, all bought on Ebay some years back (although I did just pick up Big Bird a few days back, which was exciting.....yep, I know I need to get some semblance of a life....but till then....), and evoking all sorts of lovely memories for me.
While I adore Bert and Ernie (top), and Oscar the Grouch (rendered here as one of the ghosts of Christmas), my favourite Sesame Street muppet of all time is the ever adorable, funny, goofy Grover. I was given a large puppet of him in my pillow sack as a child for Christmas, and the Golden Book I treasure most is one featuring the ever heroic, Super Grover, so it's only natural that the Sesame Street ornament I love the most is one of Grover.

Project 289 - Day 272 : On The 1st day of Andrew's Christmas, I Decorated the Tree With....

The Twelve Moose of Christmas.

Modeled on the Twelve Days of Christmas, this wonderful set of... surprise, surprise!.... twelve moose ornaments is delightful and an ongoing sign that I, for reasons I can't even fathom, am obsessed with moose at any time of the year, but especially at Christmas.

Ah, why question it.... they look cute, capture an aspect of Christmas, and have given a certain whimsical quality to a tree that is not short of pop culture eccentricities. I love them.

Project 289 - Day 271 : If You Go To The Woods Today....

..... You're in for a big....well in Sydney Park, it could be anything really!

But today it was Andrew and Stephen's Fabulous Christmas Picnic! It was BIG! HUGE I tell you! And so was the portable table that we hauled into the park over the hill from the car park, along with a tent, food, esky (or a 'chilly bin' as my new Zealand friends termed it!), rugs, and a fabulous decorative piece that hung down from the centre of the food, conceptualised by my beautiful guy and brought into being in a creative workshop in his lounge room that very morning.

But all that hauling of picnic-oriented good and chattels was eminently worth it as we sat the table and covering tent up near the trees, set out the rugs (in the wonderful shade) and relaxed back for 5 hours of great food - my baby's quiche was delish! - great conversation, and the sort of languid time with good friends (and a dog, Aroha!), you rarely get any time, let alone in the middle of Christmas madness.

Yes it was a lot of work but oh so worth it!

My beautiful guy and I finished off the day with a spare mini quiche we'd made, some chilling on the balcony with cold drinks (after hauling everything back over the hill and out of the park!), and some snuggly staring at the Christmas lights on my tree. I was exhausted but very happy with a wonderful day.

Project 289 - Day 270 : Crumpets, Glebe.... and a Quiche Named Manuel

This morning when we slept in was about as chilled and relaxed as today got.

The moment my beautiful guy and I stepped out of bed, the clock was ticking FAST, and we barely had time to eat some crumpets at high speed (with juice to wash them down!) before dashing out the door, and going to Marrickville Metro for grocery shopping (served, I might add at Woolies by a sullen sick-of-life gay man who was so grating that I wanted to slap him by the end of scanning our goods!) for all our picnic goods for the next day. That delightful task done, my beautiful guy headed back to his place to iron tablecloths and table runners while I screamed across to Glebe to buy one of his Christmas gifts, some more groceries (how can anyone forget they need toilet paper? I mean seriously!!) before we reunited at my place for quiche making (which involved me dicing onions with finesse and frying them to golden perfection, and some very intense spinach squeezing by my beautiful guy... best not to ask, but no, it's not a fetish!), a power nap (super power nap as I barely lay down before I was up again!), showers and some more dashing out the door to grab some wine for a Christmas present before we dashed further afield to Glebe and a Christmas party!

PHEW!

Thankfully things slowed down nicely at the party, at the home of a delightful couple we know, Bill and Ian, where we were treated to high alcohol content vodka jelly shots, yummy food (chipolatas, sushi etc), fabulous Christmas decorations, and sparkling fun conversation with a great range of Bill and Ian's wonderful friends.

It is always a good thing when all that frenetic hummingbird-like activity yields these sorts of delightful nights with good friends..... now I just need to stop flapping my wings for a second...

Project 289 - Day 269 : The Calm After the Frenetic Storm

Today AOP, the annual crazy budget process that involves long hours and insane schedules, finishes for my division and not a moment too sooon. Managing the diaries of my bosses, a challenging task at the best of times, becames exponentially more difficult during the lead up to AOP, and I am beyond thrilled that not only has it run its course but that's its done so on a Friday when all I have to do is chill at home with my beautiful guy.....

The work Christmas party is on tonight and they have turned the campus into one large full on Summer Party, with beach balls festooning railings, brightly coloured bech umbrellas strewn artfully on the lawn and Josh Pyke performing on the main stage. I won't stay for long but I will go and at least have my two free drinks before boarding the bus for home....

I actually ended staying for 2 hours and had a ball! I enjoyed my two wines, walked around a campus thronging with people, the environment completely changed from the usual day to day ordinariness, stopped and chatted with all sorts of people I don't usually have the chance to catch up with, and soaked up a very laid back, fun Summer vibe.

Very cool, and a perfect Friday!