Cut yourself some slack...and another piece of pie.

Oh Kids...the holidays are really bearing down now. You know how I know? Because it's really just a question of who arrives first today...my parents or the local Housing Authority. That pressure to have things looking more like they should and less like they do. Honestly, I pat myself on the back that after that observation I am still drinking coffee...and just coffee.

What else let's me know that sleigh bells will soon ring (aside from the fact that they already are at Kohl's)? I give you the infamous Suburban Mall Gangstas. Now somehow someway I find myself living in the tony little community of Bainbridge Island. As the majority of retail outlets are small and local (thankfully), if you wanna get your big box retail groove on you head on down to Silverdale to the Kitsap Mall area. Here are the native hunting grounds of these Mall Gangstas. Amid the wafting scent of Cinnabon, and more silkscreened wolf t-shirts than would seem possible in one location, lurks my nemesis. Really? I mean how old are you? Is that cap being on sideways really more comfortable much less cool? You know you're driving a Dodge Neon right? That belongs to your Mother? Is Rihanna at pitch volume really the image you're trying to project? Suffering through these throngs of overly-waisted-sag-bag pants is almost more than I can bear at this time of year. Thank goodness there is a bar at the Applebee's. On that note....This should help you get through the holidays. While I can't say I would, well, 'strive' to create a tablescape in the exact way that Amy does, it does help me to feel better about what efforts I have made in the end. Takes the edge of those self-imposed Martha standards (Carolanne...don't go into the light!). Given that I'll be up to my eyeballs with the imminent holiday, this may be it for a few days. So please all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Try to be thankful for something....but not those pants.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" "SWAK!" (That's "kiss" in cartoon language.)