Retail Baby

Yesterday my friend came up with a new catch phrase, "retail baby" to describe me. I think this term is quite fitting and I'm also not really sure what it means. I do, however, see this term being popular on the streets. It has huge potential. I could see two catty girls talking about a co-worker: "She is such a retail baby. That's why she got the promotion."

Let me explain... I'm a "retail baby" because I've got retail in my blood. There's no fighting it. On my Dad's side of the family, I'm third generation to have worked retail. My grandpa worked for JCP for 40 years. My two uncles followed in his foot steps and my dad sold shoes and swept floors there in high school. I even had an old mannequin when I was little. My mom worked for Marshall Field's at their State Street location in the bed and bath department. We talk retail at the holidays, too. As for me, I've got 5.5 years of retail fun under my belt. That's six holiday seasons. I still have my sanity, too. Yeah, I'm a retail baby.

Thanksgiving

nataliedee.com
I am so excited for Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. Mainly because it's one of the least commercial of all holidays. Oh, and the food. It's the one day of the year where I can eat my weight in cranberries, mashed potatoes, dressing, and turkey. This year I am excited that I have Weds. off and I don't work until 5 on Friday. My Dad thinks this means that I can partake in the Black Friday shopping craziness. I am hoping to avoid that. The only exception might be an amazing deal at JCP. That is my only exception. It would seriously have to be Fire Sale prices, though.

Dia de los Muertos

Tonight I went to the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, for the non Spanish speakers) show at Altered Esthetics. It was wonderful. And totally just what I needed. I've had a long week and I didn't get to do anything for Halloween, which bummed me out because I love Halloween. This, though was a much better way to celebrate. I've loved Dia de los Muertos since I was 12 and I learned about it in Spanish class. As I've mentioned before, what I like about this holiday is that you celebrate someone's life and not their death. In Mexico, people build an alter on their loved ones' graves and bring ofrendas (offerings) of their favorite foods and posessions. They put marigolds on their graves, as well. Vendors sell sugar skulls and dancing skeletons. It is such a beautiful way to remember your loved ones. This just makes sense. I don't think our loved ones would want us to be suffering because they are gone. Since my mom's death, Dia de los Muertos, has taken on more personal meaning for me. I look forward to it each year and usually use it as a day for quiet reflection of memories of my mom. So, tonight, it just really seemed appropriate for me to go to an opening of a Dia de los Muertos show since the anniversary of my mom's death was this past week. I haven't had much time for any sort of reflection, which was slowly eating away at me.

The artwork was great, a wide variety of interpretations of Dia de los Muertos. For me, the most powerful was the alter that someone had built for a loved one. It was just very touching. I felt like I knew this woman. Lots of bright colored paintings of skulls and flowers. The photography of Mexican Dia de los Muertos celebrations were cool, too. There was also pan de los muertos (bread of the dead), which is bread that is shaped into a skull. I haven't had it in years. Probably since high school Spanish. It is such a good mix of sweet and plain (I'm not describing it very well). The gallery was decorated with marigolds and tissue paper flowers that added to the affect. There was also a candle light procession around the block. This is was such a good time for my quiet reflection.

Even though, I've worked through my mom's death, I still need to have my yearly closure of reflecting back on what a great person she was. It is just something I need to do every year. This show gave me the chance to do this and to see that I am not alone in celebrating a loved one's life.

The show is extremely well done and worth taking a look at. It runs through November 29th. I highly recommend it.

Move Over, Martha

I am not Martha Stewart. I'm often seen as the anti Martha. because I am not very domestic. The first time I brought a cake I made to work, I shocked everyone. It's not that I don't like to cook, I just rarely have the time. Today I took the time to make some chili using my mom's recipe. It is seriously the best chili I have ever had. And it's so simple to make. Did I mention that there's lots of leftovers, too? That's best part.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup green pepper
2 15 oz. cans drained Kidney Beans
1 Tablespoon chili powder
dash of salt and pepper
3 cups tomato juice
Add a couple of drops of lemon juice
Dash of cinnamon

Directions
1. Brown meat and onion.
2. Add everything else. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serve hot-- I like to top mine with a bit of shredded cheese and oyster crackers. It is the perfect meal for fall.

Jelly Beans!

Yesterday I was at Target waiting in line at the checkout when I was sucked into an endcap display: Easter Candy, more specifically jelly beans. I love jelly beans. Even the black ones. I had to buy a bag. I know that they are so sugar filled and not good for me, but I couldn't resist. I was drawn to the bag of Brach's Classic Jelly Beans. I blame it on nostalgia. When I was little, my mom always bought jelly beans for Easter. Being the thrifty mom that she was, she would buy them in these huge Brach's 2 lb. bags. For some odd reason, she kept them in the front closet. The bag never lasted very long . Maybe a week. It was our thing, too. Just my mom and I. My Dad isn't a big fan of candy. My mom was a pretty cool mom and sort of a kid herself. She let me have as many jelly beans as I wanted. I never gorged myself on them. I would eat small hand fulls throughout the day. My mom loved the black jelly beans. She would dig through the bag to find them. If my Grandpa was around, the two would fight over the black ones. I liked to eat them in certain color combinations: orange, pink, purple and yellow and green. Every year we always had this huge bag of jelly beans. (Ok, two or three) It was a rite of Spring.

As I was looking back on Easter's past, I realized that I have really come a long way since my mom passed away almost 10 years ago. I can recall these traditions with as sense of fondness and happiness . As recent as two years ago, I probably would've broken down in the middle of Target and not known why. It's great to finally be at the point in my life where I can looked back at these memories without all the sadness and pain.

In the true tradition of Easter's past, the bag if jelly beans I bought is almost gone. My mom would've wanted it that way.