beginning to feel a lot like christmas

snow fight in delaware

spent the past weekend in delaware. in the midst of family, some holiday shopping and feasting, the christmas feeling is finally slowly creeping in. even before i got to drop off my bag inside the house, i was already out in the yard playing in the snow with my nephews and the neighbor. not that there's no snow in new york but somehow the snow in delaware is less filthy and much better for throwing at people.

i also got santa claus's present. 2 weeks early but it's great nonetheless. a new 15" powerbook which is absolutely nice to use. quite a drag though now that i need to transfer all my files from the old laptop to this one. but im not complaining, there's more things to worry about. like how i managed to spend almost 90 bucks just on chocolate presents for bringing back to the philippines. how could such junk food be so expensive? but anyway, was great finally being able to shop for presents. just a few more and im done with all the people on my list. of course whether or not the list is complete to begin with is a whole different story.

sent out an email to my siblings a few days ago as well as to what id like to receive for this christmas—told them that i don't want any thing really. no shirt, no shoes, no toys, no gadgets, no things. i can easily get those for myself in the right shape, size and color. instead, what i want are experiences. nothing store-bought. nothing to lug back to new york and cram into my already cluttered room.

in this vein, i had a nice dinner with the family in delaware at jasmine. nice food, nice ambiance. felt like mercer kitchen, except a tad less hip, a bit brighter and that i wasnt paying. i really liked my seaweed salad. and the healthy fish and sweet potato main entree. the mojito wasnt bad either. and the very rich and suggggarrushy chocolate mousse in the end was really good. best of all of course, was the having dinner and sitting around a table like a family part of it. (of course, i did get a few things from my sister aside from the dinner out experience. the sweater i could use for that pretentious harvard student look so im not complaining.)

if the past weekend's any indication, i have a strong feeling this holiday season is going to be a great one.

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art directors club party tomorrow night. should be a good one. overflowing booze and overblown egos. killer combo. ha..

On tap for the evening: Great photography from around the world projected all night / Dancing to a funky DJ / Jamming with a top-notch jazz band / Free spirits & great food all night long.