Super Bowl Update

Hi there! Happy New Year! I trust you've had a good year-end celebrating the holidays and enjoying time away from the regular work routine. Here's another opportunity to experience something different...

You (and your family and friends!) are invited to our traditional New Year's Day sale at Renee's on Saturday, Jan. 1 from 11 am to 4 pm. For one day only, everything in the store will be discounted 20%! This discount is available to anyone who comes in during the sale. If you've been hanging around the house during the holidays, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for to get out and about. What a great way to start off the new year.

We look forward to seeing you!

--renee

I'm really excited about resolutions this year. The last few years I've written long lists of things I want to get done and then cross them off the list as I pursue 'em. It's worked well and I'll continue to do it. But I wanted to share a few of the stranger/sillier ones from this year.

1. Grow my hair longer than I've ever had it in my life! This is going to be interesting. I haven't cut my hair since... August, I think. I must have cut it right before the Fringe run of my show, which was also right before Lin's wedding, and I had planned to get it cut in October before my birthday and the marathon, but I never did. And not it's grown in A LOT from what it was. So I think I'll just let it keep going. It's a pain in the ass to maintain, I don't know how ladies with long hair do it. On days I don't put a lot of effort into, I very quickly look sorta homeless. So I will have to make it priority in 2011. The longest I've ever had it was almost chin-length in my freshman year of college. Which was a loooong time ago. Let's see how far I take this before I chop it off again. Tom Brady will show me the way.

2. No cookies. No soda. I love cookies. I love soda. But they are not good for me, and once I start in with them I have no resistance and they are all I want to eat. They are out of the diet as of January 1st. Nobody who knows me thinks I can hold out on cookies for very long, but I need to get back into fighting shape. I've gotten a little soft this holiday season. Bye, cookies. It's not you. It's me. Well, actually it's you.

3. Take the physical challenge. I need a new athletic goal. I've not quite determined what it will be. But I'm determined to determine it. I've done the ING NYC Marathon 3 years in a row now, and I've applied for a 4th go-round, but if I don't get in, I'll need a new challenge. I've already been skydiving. Maybe bungee jumping? I'm sort of terrified of that. Maybe I'll do that... Tennis lessons? Hmm... I'm looking for something.

4. Write Paris blogs. I went to Paris six months ago and I took lots of notes about my trip and I planned to write it all down like I did with Rome, but I had all these other things to write. But starting this January. January I will write the Paris blogs!

5. Be Nice. I'm enjoying my (early!) 30's and while I ain't a kid no more, nevertheless I've felt myself experiencing some life growing pains as of late. It's made me grouchier and moodier in my daily interactions than I'd regularly care to be, so I plan to put some extra effort into returning to more Owen-like state of civility in the coming winter months. It never hurts to remember to be nice.

There are more, of course, but this is a good sampler. Here's wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to everyone out there on the interwebs. Let's go after what we want with renewed vigor starting this January! Dreams come true, bitches. Oh, thank heaven. It's 2011!

And so 2010 comes to a close. What a year it's been. Here's a quick look back.

Remember the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? Sure you do! That was THIS YEAR! I know, it doesn't seem like it, but it was. There were a lot of great stories that came out of the Olympics. Shawn White, Apollo Anton Ohno, Lindsey Vonn and Evan Lysacek I'm looking at you, but not only at you. So many great champions, and it was also really great to hear the Canadian National Anthem sung so many times in victory by the proud host country. OOOO CAAAANADAAAAA!!!!!

This year I saw a lot of movies. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was my favorite movie of the year, but almost nobody saw it but me. Netflix it, y'all. You're missing out. Toy Story 3 made grown ups cry on its way to becoming the top grossing movie of the year. Everyone became very focused on spinning tops in Inception. 3-D movies were all the rage. Dragons were trained. Island's were shuttered. Titans clashed. Disney called Rapunzel "Tangled" so people would go see it, and it paid off. Sex and The City 2 was universally hated. And in the end, we learned the kids were indeed all right.

"The Bed Intruder Song" Youtube video took a news story about an almost rape, and made lemonade out of some really nasty lemons. Cee Lo Green gave the world one of the most amazing songs ever written which I spent many a day dancing in and out work listening to on my ipod. The Glee Cast dominated the charts by singing songs that were already dominating the charts. They also did a fun live concert tour. Lady Gaga wore meat dresses and made long-form music videos and went from someone I really wanted to punch in the face to someone who was kinda totally awesome. Bieber Fever exploded. Miley Cyrus imploded. LiLo went about as crazy as you can go without actually dying.

Roughly 37 million Hollywood icons actually died. Betty White lived it up like no one else. Simon Cowell left Am.Idol. Mia Michaels returned to an All-Star Season of SYTYCD. I broke up with Project Runway for good. Lil Russell lost back-to-back seasons of Survivor. The first All-Female team won at The Amazing Race. Lots of people (but not me) watched Jersey Shore and Teen Mom. Lost came to a mythologically frustrating, but emotionally satisfying conclusion. After months of drama Jennifer Grey finally vanquished Bristol Palin to the mirroball trophy on DWTS in an emotionally satisfying conclusion. True Blood focused on Vampires. Twilight: Eclipse focused on werewolves. The Walking Dead focused on zombies. Tiger Woods focused on apologizing for having 18,000 mistresses. The original Law & Order was inexplicably canceled right before it became the longest-running prime time drama in history. Jay Leno stole back The Tonight Show from Conan O'Brien when Jay's horrible new show tanked. Team Coco was born, Conan went on live tour and then got a new show on TBS. I'm with Coco.

It Gets Better became a national movement to help Gay Teens survive bullying and discrimination. Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed. The 9/11 First Responders Bill finally passed Congress. Health Care reform finally passed on Congress. Prop 8 was overturned in California but is still extended indefinitely awaiting appeal. There are still roughly 83 wars going on across the world and none of them are going well. We continue to pray for our troops in harm's way and hope they can come home soon. Mid-term elections gave the House of Representatives to the Republicans but less than half the country is aware of it. Witchypoo Christine O'Donnell lost her Senate bid. So did Crazypants Sharron Angle. Michele Bachmann remained at large and was actually named to the House Intelligence Committee (!!!). Wikileaks had a field day declassifying all sorts of documents. There was a lot Tea Party anger, right wing fear-mongering, left wing hand wringing, a huge trumped up fight over building a cultural center a few blocks away from Ground Zero and a very nice rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear organized by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held in our Nation's Capital.

The world faced horrible natural disasters with the earthquakes in Haiti, the volcano eruptions in Iceland and the Gulf Oil spill that raged on and on. This is just to name a few. The Chilean miners were trapped ungerground and eventually, amazingly rescued. To close the year out, some big ol' storms dropped non-stop rain in California and dumped multiple feet of snow across the Eastern Coastline right at the end of the year creating quite a mess for everybody who was traveling for the holidays.

This year we also learned about vuvuzelas, met Paul the Octopus and cheered for Spain's World Cup win. At least I did. Also good for Sports in Spain? RAFAEL NADAL. Our Hero fought his way back to the No. 1 ranking, winning the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open along the way to complete his career Grand Slam. I still can't believe I was at Roland Garros for the French Open Final. I went to Paris! Yay! Also the Saints won the Super Bowl, The SF Giants won the World Series, The Lakers won the NBA Finals, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, and did I mention how well Rafa did this year??? I love him so much. But credit where credit is due, Roger Federer won the Aussie Open to begin the year and the Tour Finals to end it. Roger and Rafa also made this amazing video which still makes me smile whenever I watch it.

So that was the year at large. When I personally look back at 2010, I will remember it as being one of the most artistically satisfying years of my life so far. I started things out with a Die Vampire, Die! Workshop run by Susan Blackwell. It put me in a great creative mindset going forward. I sent my play into the Fringe Festival through Mind The Art Entertainment, got to do some singing on stage, took some improv classes where I met a great girl, had The Timing of A Day get accepted into Fringe and then we were off and running from like April to September. Putting up my first show in New York was a grueling, exciting, informative, scary and wonderful experience. I feel so lucky for the friendships that were made during the production and the existing ones that were strengthened through the process. The outpouring of support from people was so so soooo appreciated. To create something and have it put up on stage was a dream I always had for myself, but one I'd increasingly felt would not happen. But now has! And the show did really well for itself. And the experience brought into focus for me for what I want to continue to pursue in 2011. Since the end of Fringe, the production team has been working really hard to bring the show back and we look forward to making that a reality in 2011. I've also taken the last couple months to write three 10-minute plays and another full length one, on top of my blogging and, you know, work. So I'm keeping the creative inspiration going and continuing to write. Also I found time to see 30 performances by friends this year, plus 16 Broadway Shows and NYC Ballets. Looking back over the playbills and tickets stubs, everybody did a lot of great work this year. Super Inspiring!

There were plenty other personal highlights: another NYC marathon run, my delightful trip to Paris, my cameo in LMM's viral wedding video and lots more. For all the good things, there were a lot of painful times too, and the thought that keeps popping up in my head is that challenging times and painful experiences should not be allowed to prevent us from seeing the many blessings around us or experiencing the joy that can still be had. I take from 2010 a sense of accomplishment and an awareness that there is so much more work to be done.

Bring it, 2011!

Christmas and giving go hand-in-hand, so it only makes sense that our Christmas party would involve some charity donations. Our Christmas party in downtown Atlanta was a night of dancing, fun, and socializing! The party was at The Gold Room, and the club was rented out specifically for us. Everyone had to bring a toy to donate to Toys for Tots to enter the building, and there were Marines there to collect all of the toys.


We had another charity event the next day for the Operation Smile charity. This is a charity that we have been providing on-going support for. There were different contests and competitions for everyone to participate in, such as foosball, shuffleboard and raffles, and all of the donations went to the charity. The party and charity events in Atlanta helped us end the year on a positive and energetic note and we are looking forward to starting the New Year with the same mentality!

Martha note: I'm resting my brain until Monday, January 3rd, so no blog posts this week.

Happy New Year to us, every one! All good wishes for much joy and peace in the coming year!

Have a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

We are all out there together, on the vast Ocean of Life, sitting on our surfboards, most likely worried out of our minds about something – which is, I do think, the general human condition. Then, someone yells, “Surf’s up!” We turn toward the horizon and there it is: the holy tide of Christmas. 

Suddenly, we’re scrambling into position on our boards; and, full of joy, thinking of nothing but catching that giant wave.

Martha note: Wishing you the merry-ist of winter holidays from all of us who have the good fortune to work at WMRA.

Dear Amazing, Incredible Customers and Friends,

Thank you for giving us the gift of another busy, exciting and profitable holiday season at Renee's! Every year my heart is touched by your generosity and high spirits. Your dependence on and trust in me is affirming and inspiring.

I will be thinking of you tomorrow evening and Christmas day as you wear clothing from Renee's and open presents under the tree that were chosen from Renee's. I hope you feel confident wearing your clothing, and are pleased with presents that were selected especially for you.

We would love to meet your friends and relatives. Please stop by next week with your guests for a relaxed holiday shopping experience downtown Everett. Let us serve you something to drink, and tell us all about your Christmas celebrations and special meals...

Marlene and I send you our warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday. May your new year be blessed with peace, good health, love and joy.

Gratefully yours,
Renee

Hey Y'all. Just an important Christmas Time Charity shout out. As I was preparing to go out and do some last minute shopping, I saw a report on good ol' NY1 this morning that Citymeals-on-Wheels is WAY below their normal donation levels for the holiday season. Citymeals-on-Wheels raises private funds to ensure no home bound elderly New Yorker will ever go a day without food or human company. Last year, contributors helped bring over 2 million nutritious meals to 16,232 home bound elderly in every borough of New York City. In addition, over 1,500 volunteers collectively spent 62,000 hours visiting and delivering meals to those seniors in need.

I just made a donation online, and it's really easy. It's only 6 bucks and change to provide a warm meal and some company to a person in need. I know times are tight, but please consider making a donation. One hundred percent of all public donations go to the preparation and delivery of meals.

If you want to find out more information about the organization or make a donation, go to http://www.citymeals.org

Happy Holidays!

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives in Hawaii for his holiday vacation.(Lum/Pool NYDailyNews.com)

The New York Daily News began the article accompanying the above picture by saying,

President Obama didn't have much to be thankful for last month, but it looks like he'll have a Merry Christmas after all.

The Commander in Chief can bask in the glow of big legislative wins as he spends the holidays in Hawaii, and a new poll shows 56% of the country approves of the job the President has done this month working with the lame-duck Congress.

Only 41% disapproved of how Obama worked with Congress, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll published Wednesday.

This, just a month after his administration's self-styled thumping.

Jonathan Capehart began a "PostPartisan" column today in The Washington Post this way:

"I am persistent," President Obama said in his "How ya like me now?!" press conference. "If I believe in something strongly, I stay with it." And he has enough legislative victories in this lame-duck session to prove it. The deal on tax cuts and the extension of unemployment benefits. The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." A new START treaty with the Russians. The passage of the first changes in food safety laws in more than 70 years. And a law to provide for the health care of those who put duty first in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

 Today's New York Times lead editorial proclaiming that "The Senate Surmounts Politics," begins by saying,

Wednesday was not a good day for Senator Mitch McConnell’s single-minded project to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Over the minority leader’s objections, 13 Republicans joined every Democratic senator to ratify the New Start nuclear arms treaty with Russia, reducing the size of the countries’ nuclear stockpiles and making the world a safer place. The 71-to-26 vote was the capstone to what now shapes up to be a remarkably successful legislative agenda for President Obama’s first two years.

I have always loved Gloria Steinem's retort to the reporter who, 30 years ago now, on the occasion of her 40th birthday told her that she didn't look forty. Ms. Steinem famously (and accurately) replied, “This is what 40 looks like -- we’ve been lying for so long, who would know?” 


Haven't we for years been clamoring for our elected officials to forget politics and actually accomplish something for the public good?  So, is this what's finally happened in the last month?


Or has government been dysfunctionally political for so long, who would know?