Valeria Out Loud

Hey everyone 👋🏻 Hope everyone is having a great start to their Tuesday.

It is Tuesday, like I just said 🤭… December 20, there are four days left till the big day… If you’re Italian, you know Christmas Eve is the big day. Can’t believe that we are already here. So not into the holidays this year, which is weird for me. This whole year has been weird… But- maybe the holiday spirit will find me today.

Till it does, I’m sitting here in my robe, a big white fluffy robe by the way, about to start my day for work …but I decided I don’t feel like working. 😂 heyyy— I have vacationitis, so I’ll be wfh until Thursday afternoon …which then I will shut everything down cuz I’ll be off for the rest of 2022! Woohooo pahhhtayyy!

😂 anyways.

Since I caught everybody up last, I have been pretty busy. Seems like my 2022 motto. Busy busy 🐝. So since my last journal post, we celebrated my birthday with a fun dinner, we had my parents over for a mini celebration; both my mom and I have birthdays in December, then we had the first holiday party of the year! Which we didn’t get home from till 3A😬.

Let’s catch up!

December 14- my birthday!

Wednesday was pretty overwhelming with all of the texts, messages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter -but the best greetings I got were from my family! Who let me sleep in. 😂

My husband had planned for our kids to take my car to school, as he took the train, so I was able to take the car to have a real day off -no pick up or drop offs! Seriously, I had a great day, started off with a visit to my hair salon- to talk with one of my favorite women, who is also a December baby, my hairstylist, Jen! I had a great time, and had a couple of mimosas lol, and left with beautiful hair, as usual. She is the best.

I went shopping around, then rushed home, so I could wrap while the house was quiet, but before I knew it, my kids were walking in the door! They brought me a minty Frappuccino from Starbucks, and the first floral bouquet they’ve ever bought me! Seeing them like that touched me so much. ☺️

I hung out with the girls as I cleaned up my wrapping mess ..yes a mess in such a short amount of time. Because when I wrap in this house, my Lord, I set it up like Santa’s workshop … there’s a giant folding table mess across the entire living room of every color ribbon and bows, scissors, tapes of all types, glue guns, sparkly things, ornament toppers, nesting hay, rolls of paper, bags, tissue. And speakers blaring holiday music.

My rap name would be ‘the mad-wrapper’ …if I rapped. Ahem

So anyways… My husband came home from work ..a little bit late, so we made our mad dash to dinner! I don’t think he can ever be on time for anything in his life. I just don’t think he can do it. Lol. (Me on the other hand, am always early or on time..so his lateness is a life lesson for me… in patience 😂.)

We had a great time at dinner, lots of conversation and laughter… And sangria for me! This restaurant makes the best Italian sangria. I don’t know how to explain it to you, but holy cow. It is so good. we got home pretty late, but never too late for gifts and cards. My favorite part of my birthday is all of the creative cards my family comes up with. This year’s cards were pretty good!

The weekend

Friday night, our plans changed. We had planned a big bday celebration at our house but our youngest got ill, stayed home from school, that morning… so we came to a plan… We went out to celebrate my birthday down the street with cocktails, french fries and onion rings! I know it sounds silly, but I love onion rings so much that this idea made me happy.

Saturday morning was a perfect day. My husband went off to work at 7 o’clock at Fenway Park! And I got to sleep in until 9 hee hee. And since the house was already in immaculate condition, I didn’t have to do anything except get myself pretty because the plans were to have my parents over in the afternoon then hit up a holiday party later in the evening.

I had a wonderful afternoon with my parents, and I kind of forget what I did between them leaving and the party at night. But we had a party to go to in Hyde Park, Boston, which is about 45-50 minutes away. I don’t know if any of my longtime readers have any recall that this was an annual holiday party we were going but during Covid when the parties had to stop, they drove around to their friends across the state delivering bacon on a stick, all of the homemade cookies, candy and spiked eggnog to everyone’s house? I missed this party so I was excited to attend this year. Felt like life was normal again. 

So normal that we didn’t get home until 3 AM…😆

So Sunday, surprisingly, I did not have a hangover! And I am so glad I woke up normal because it was wrapping day, one of my favorite days during the holidays!! Our youngest daughter looks forward to helping me wrap gifts …as we have some cocoa and blare our fav holiday trap playlist (thank you Big Freedia). We finished all the gifts!

Monday is PoTteRy!

OK pottery Monday! I had such a great class I picked up my spoon and vase, and I love them so much -so quirky and so folksy I love them!

So our instructor for the past two weeks, kept telling us that she was going to teach how to guild or use like this special type of glaze that has a copper in it to highlight our pieces and she didn’t come in this Monday…and our last class of this session is January 9. So I am hoping that she gets her act together for next session 😂. I want to learn this.

Since the instructor was out, we had a freeform class. I made another spoon, different shape, and a spoon rest. But not a spoon to go with the spoon rest! Hehe

I’ve decided that the next session, which starts at the end of January, I will force myself to throw on the wheel. I don’t care how intimidating it is, I just have to do it.

It’s funny how conversations or thinking can circle back. During my hair appointment on Wednesday, my hairstylist was talking to me about how intimidating I can be. Because I am always put together -dressed nice, well spoken, very confident, she said I was beautiful blah blah blah, but it makes me think about the throwing wheel right now. Like, it’s intimidating. Why? Because I dont know it..how to touch it, it’s messy, the thought to make a blob of clay into art is unfamiliar. Scary.

Hmm. Am I scary? 😂

Anyways, intimidating is good. When unintentionally happening. It challenges us. It forces us to look past preconceived ideas. Ohmygod I wasn’t planning to go on existentially speaking here but in short…the wheel is intimidating and I’m going to force myself to get to know it ok. 😂

Me and the pottery wheel.

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OK it is time for me to go and actually work now. Blerg. 😉 At least I still have on my fluffy robe.

Thank you so much for stopping by to catch up, I really do appreciate all the support.

To all who celebrate… Happy 🕎Hanukkah! Happy❄️Solstice! Merry✝️Christmas! Happy🕯️Kwanzaa! Have a wonderful holiday week. Be safe. Be warm. We will talk on the other side.

till next post. xo