Zeitgeist 2011

           I love that Google puts together a little video at the end of each year to remind us of all that has happened around the world. Every time I watch this, I feel that swell of tiny tingles inside- the kind where you can't really tell if you extremely sad or extremely happy. I think that more than happiness or sadness, it should give us an intense sense of camaraderie no matter what country we live in or what social class we belong to or even what sexual orientation we identify with. We may not have experienced personally each others struggles, together we have all experienced and lived (/survived) this year.

Wine, wine, wine!

         I love these quirky illustrations done by Gemma Correll for A Cup of Jo, and I love wine! And it just doesn't get much better than illustrated wine etiquette tips!  Here are 8 great tips to arm yourselves with before heading to that fabulous New Year's eve party!

1. Fill red wine glasses 1/3 full, white wine 1/2 full, sparkling wine 3/4 full.

2. Twist the bottle at the end of pouring a glass of wine, to prevent drips (and to give it a flourish!).

3. Cheers! When clinking glasses, make eye contact with the other person. Otherwise, according to French superstition, you'll risk seven years of bad luck (read: bad sex). You also should clink glasses individually with each person at the table without crossing anyone's arms.

4. If somebody is toasting you (your wedding, your birthday, your general awesomeness), don't take a sip. Just smile and look humble.

5. Always hold your wine glass by the stem. Many people mistakenly think you only need to hold white wine by the stem (so you don't warm up the wine), but experts say you should hold red wine by the stem, too, so you can see its color and clarity, as well as to avoid smudging the glass with your fingerprints. Otherwise, wine snobs might call you a "bowl grabber"! :)

6. On the table, your wine glass goes to the right of your water glass. 

7. While taking a sip, you should politely look into your glass. (And not at another person, if you're in the middle of a conversation.)

8. The host's duty is to make sure glasses stay filled. "My eyes go to empty glasses immediately," wine expert John Thoreen says. "It's a real radar thing for me."

9. Or happily forget all the tips mentioned above, and just eat, drink, and be merry!

Ps. How to properly introduce people & the lipstick trick: how to prevent those ugly lipstick prints on glasses. I shared this trick with my mom and grandmother on Christmas eve, and they LOVE it!

(via Cup of Jo)

Thing we say which we owe to Shakespeare

(via tumblr)

        ....the man's a genius. 

Madness

(via flickr)

          The madness is over!!! The past few days were filled with cooking, and visiting grandparents and dads, and presents, and wild little cousin, and family feasts, and playing apples to apples.... and we have to wait another whole year to do it again! (Thank heaven's) My holidays were fantastic, exhaustingly fantastic. Now, it's time to sit down, drink a cup of tea (or if, like me, you prefer something more stiff) and reflect on all that's happened in the last year. New years is a really serious thing for me, and I really like to use the calm after the Christmas storm to really mull over the idea of a brand new year. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!