in a world of pure imagination

Well, my friends, pastrami you were promised, and pastrami you will be given.  It seems a fitting way to finish off this challenge that I took up with my mother…with even more pictures of food. :)  But I keep saying that I would talk about this, so now, I am.

This is Langer’s hot pastrami sandwich, world famous and renowned as one of - if not the - best pastrami sandwich in the world, possibly the universe.  We stumbled upon Langer’s while talking the long way through town one day, and after looking it up, discovered that it was known to be even better than pastrami found in NYC.

It lived up to our expectations.  Just look at this gorgeous meat.  Not only that, but the rye bread is fresh baked right there, as well as homemade coleslaw and Russian dressing.  If you are ever in the greater LA area, you definitely have to try one of these sandwiches.

On a slightly more bittersweet note, this is my last post for this year’s challenge, everyone.  As we close in on the new year - only twelve minutes left, now - both my and mom’s daily creativity challenges come to an end.  I’m so glad that I was able to help my mother keep up her promise to herself to make it through all 365 days of the year doing nightly blog posts, as well as to keep the promise to myself to do the same thing.  I’ve had so much fun doing this, even if it was tough at times to think of things to do or to work up the energy to make the posts.  Thank you to everyone who has followed me through the past half-year of endless creativity!

That’ll be all, then, everyone.  Time to turn on the TV and see the ball drop, heralding in 2012.  Stay tuned for news on the possibility of another daily goal for the new year…

Until then, enjoy the pastrami. :)  Sleep tight, everyone.  Happy New Year.

I am sick again today, unfortunately.  It seems that I’ve somehow managed to catch a second cold without fully healing from the first one.  It figures.  So between that and the full day that my designated adults and I had today, I’m just too tired to share any more than this picture of me standing with the enormous art portfolio that we found.  It was on the side of the road with a “free” sign hanging off of it.  Gotta love unexpected finds like that.  As you can see, it is nearly bigger than I am, and I can barely pick it up comfortably.  Mom had to get a picture before we stuck it in he storage barn because we laugh every time we look at it.

That’s all for tonight, then, everyone.  Sleep tight.  I hope I will, even with this miserable double-cold.

Today was a great day, especially because it included the most delicious pastrami ever created.  But that, my friends, is a story for tomorrow, because I feel like telling a different one tonight.

These little paper houses are a part of the Christmas decorations that mom, dad, and I made to spruce up the hotel room for the holidays.  While drawing with me in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve Eve, mom reminisced about the house ornaments that we sewed last year.  I said in return, “well, we’ll just have to make paper ones this year”.  This, of course, spawned another idea in my head…

And so we all drew little paper houses, and I lined them up in a row on a lampshade in the room, as a little good luck charm to help us find a house of the non-paper variety to live in. :)

I love waking up in the morning and seeing our little Christmas corner, even if Christmas is over, now.  It’s my favorite time of year, and I’m so glad that we were able to have such a nice one this year.

Well, it’s getting late here on the West Coast, so I’ll be falling asleep soon, I’m sure.  Hope you all have a good night.  Sleep tight, everyone.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  We had a wonderfully relaxation-filled day here in our little winter hotel wonderland, after a hard night of wrapping our last-minute gifts for each other and decorating the room to give it some special Christmas cheer.  This morning was so much fun, sitting around and opening presents together while we listened to Christmas music, our family tradition.  We even got calls from family members, which was one of the highlights of the day.

Above is one of the gifts I gave mom.  On her blog for years now has been a little button that says “Joon - stronger than pain”.  I don’t even remember why she has it, but it’s made us laugh for so long that now I’ve got myself referencing it on Christmas presents.  And here is what was inside…

Collector’s edition Mickey Mouse Band-Aids!  As my family is a big supporter of Walt Disney and his ideals, and mom tends to get lots of little cuts and scratches, especially on her fingertips, so when I saw these, I just couldn’t resist getting them for her.  She even let me use one earlier today - I have mysterious cuts on both of my thumbs that are very uncomfortable - and I have to say that, after getting a peek at the designs, I am rather jealous of her. ;)  They’re very funky and very mom. 

Of course, I got her other things besides Band-Aids, including junior mints, (which dad got her also, unbeknownst to me,) raisinettes, and, of course, how could I pass up the ever-famous Christmas Pineapple tradition?  (A tradition that I decided to start last night.)  And I got some wonderful things from both parents, including a toy Mater (from Cars) from my father and a Hoops and Yoyo sticky note pad from mom.  It was a great Christmas with just wonderful little gifts!

Can you tell I love Christmas time, especially when I get to talk about all the present-trading that goes on on the day itself? :)  That’s all the teasers you’ll get for tonight, though, everyone.  I’ll most likely share more photos of gifts tomorrow night.  Until then, sleep tight, and a merry merry Christmas to you!

Here we are, everyone; Christmas eve!  My wonderful parents and I spent our day doing all sorts of fun things - including last-minute cheap-and-easy Christmas shopping.  I actually love shopping for people on a frugal budget, because it means the gifts you find are all the more special because you really thought about getting them.

It was a wonderful day, and all the gifts we found, topped off by some that my brother and sister-in-law sent along, and a special one from my family of good friends back in Texas, we ended up with quite the nice pile of presents under our Christmas Snowman, (as we never got around to getting a mini Christmas tree. :))

I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow morning and have all that Christmas cheer be the first thing to greet me.  We really managed to bring the holidays into our hotel room. <3  I hope that you’re greeted by Holiday Spirits tomorrow, too.

Sleep tight and a merry Christmas, everyone.  See you again tomorrow.

We had another very full day today, all sorts of things went on, and we’re all exhausted now. :)  But my cold is getting better, which is good news.  This is a photo I took from the balcony of one of our possible new homes, using my fancy phone camera.  It takes a pretty good picture, don’t you think? ;)

Today is what we call “Christmas Eve Eve” in my house.  I can’t believe Christmas is so close!  This month has gone by so fast.

I’m too tired to type anymore tonight.  Sleep tight, everyone, see you tomorrow.