Today is an exciting day in The Jazz Hands Family, as another one of us has joined the blogging ranks, and in true form, joined it big time.
Today my brother Ryan launched "Life On The Red Carpet." It's actually much more than a blog -- a landing place for his growing business in PR and event support, from charity dinners to red carpets, in NYC and beyond.
Everyone knows Ryan as a talented Broadway dancer (even though it should have been me on the stage at the Winter Garden theater). But he also has a long tracker record in talent booking, management, and event support, including for some pretty big names, like this Naomi person???
I love getting early morning calls from him where he shares the latest adventure about life working the red carpet. This site is an extension of that, along with a dose of how to navigate life in front of and behind the camera, mixed in with his unique take on pop culture and a jet-setting life.
I enjoyed working with him in the months leading up to the launch (yes, I taught him everything he knows abotu dancing AND blogging;)
We spent many afternoons and evenings when he was home in Birmingham sitting at DoDiYos and working on the blog over feta dip. (OK and a few glasses of wine.)
Here he is during one of our marathon blogging sessions at my house. (Gatsby provided excellent ideas, I provided coffee.)
"I am secretly convinced that in my past life I was a fabulous African American female dancer named Yolanda. I'm talking Studio 54 go-go dancer with huge hair, Gold Lame unitards, and big hoop earrings. I'm not kidding. When I was growing up in Florida most kids spent their afternoons swimming in pools. I spent mine watching Oprah and The Wiz on repeat. My poor family had to ease on down the road with me about 10 times a week."
In that post he also goes on to show his serious side in writing about his work with Verizon during last year's "How Sweet The Sound Is" tour. The tour was designed to find the best Gospel Choir in the country, and while enjoyable, it was months of tough work.
Here he shares what he learned:
"Sometimes we forget that there is so much positive change happening in the world. That's the best lesson I took away from this tour. No matter how bad you think your life has gotten or how low things may seem, you have the power to flip it."
Yeah! Conrats to Ryan for flipping it many times over. Now, guess it's time to make my long-overdue blog re-launch happen. Social media silbling rivilary!
Check out his blog, and follow him on Facebook at My Life On The Red Carpet and Twitter @lifeonredcarpet.
Of my 34 years, I've spent 18 of them, half a life, interviewing people for a living. (OK, I spent more time at USC writing about moody postmodern Irish poets, but I spent plenty of time in the summers cutting my teeth as a newspaper intern, so that counts!)
But today I did one of the most, if the not most important interview of my life -- interviewing Dad for the StoryCorps Project.
For those not familiar with StoryCorps, it's a non-profit that travels the country and offers people the opportunity to quite simply tell their stories. In short, you bring a partner and ask anything of him or her in the span of 45 minutes while sitting in their tricked out Airstream (more about this in a moment). Participants are then given a CD and their stories are archived in the Library of Congress, with some of the best being played on NPR.
Their motto: "Every Voice Counts."
***
I've been a big fan of their NPR broadcasts for years, and was excited when StoryCorps announced a visit to Birmingham. So, when tickets went on sale, I was sitting by my computer, nervously hitting the refresh button to get a spot. (It's a good thing that I did, since all the spots were taken within a few minutes.)
I didn't think twice about who I would interview. My Dad is such a great storyteller, and despite the tales he's told me and shared on his blog, we'd never sit down and done a formal interview, never mind a recorded one. He seemed a little trepedatious, but I promised that I wouldn't throw him any crazy curve balls.
Preparing the list of questions was tough -- there were so many subjects I wanted to cover. Going over that list was like a flashback of our family's life, and more than a few tears welled up when I got to some of the more difficult questions.
Against the advice of some, I actually shared the list with him. I get why in general it's not good to do this (and as a journalist I rarely share). But I asked Dad if he would feel more comfortable getting a general outline and he said yes, so I respected his wishes. (It worked out well for us, but I also understand not wanting to compromise the spontaneity too -- everyone has to decided on the best strategy for theme.)
***
We arrived a few minutes early to the shiny silver Airstream parked outside the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and were greeted with warm welcomes by a young woman who would help facilitate our discussion. The first step was filling out paperwork. (On a side note, I thought it was interesting that they listed "transgender" as a category -- right on. Not sure about the difference between "gay" and "queer" -- meant to ask aout that.)
I was getting really nervous at this point, mostly because I wanted to get the interview right -- and because I'd never interviewed my Dad before. Before we got started, asked him how he felt:
Before we knew it, our host was ushering us into the Airstream, which felt a bit like hallowed ground. The Airstream! We were lead to its studio, which takes about half of the space (the other half has a small space with a desk and seating). She closed the door and was great at explaining what would happen.
Dad and I sat face to face in a booth similar to that of a restaurant. In fact, she stressed several times to think of our talk as a conversation that would take place at a kitchen table, which is always good advice. She advised me to just use the question list as a guide and to feel free to go wherever the story took us.
We were asked to turn off our cell phones and advised that any noise, including the shuffling of papers, would be recorded. (She even took away my beloved pen cap -- they know what they are doing!) We were also given small cups in which to pour our drinking water. Shhh...
She explained that she would help us keep time by giving simple signals when we were reaching 10, 5 and one minute points. I also put my father's watch on the table to help me gauge time. And we were off ...
(Note: both of these images were taken afterwords.)
The conversation flowed effortlessly. We talked about questions I'd prepared -- about how a boy who grew up in New York ended up in Alabama, about his time at Woodstock, about the evolution of technology and its influence on his life, and advice on how he did such a great job of raising three kids (ahem).
But we also talked about things I hadn't planned for, like the state of his religious beliefs (I seriously didn't know I would ask about this) and the time he could have gotten a full ride to Harvard (wo.)
There were many other things we shared too, which were recorded on a CD and handed to us right after we finished. Some of them are a bit private to talk about now, but we might share later. And heck, you can look it up in the LIbrary of Congress to get the real skinny.
***
Why did I think it would be so difficult to interview Dad? Maybe, in addition to admiring him so much and always wanting to make him proud, it's because I knew that long after we're gone, great-great-great Shaws and Streets could listen to the recording and learn about this great person's history -- and our family's history. That's pretty serious stuff.
At the end we were both pretty relaxed, and posed for photos that they take to go along with the recording. We listened to the CD in the car before he dropped me off, and the audio was remarkably clear.
I'm eager to hear about the experiences of others who participate in Birmingham (and elsewhere). Thankful to have been given this opportunity.
And wanting to record more stories of my family, with a reminder that sometimes the best stories are right in front of you.
I am convinced: every four year old boy needs a British postdoc.
Nate is captivated by "his" postdoc.
Robert has been exceedingly patient, including hours of playing Wii (under the tutelage of an often bossy instructor). And this morning he had to deal with early morning cries as Nate didn't feel well.
Did I mention he has also smiled in the face of two hurdling pugs who snort in his face?
I've waited for more than a week (since Christmas morning) to make this big announcement: I am going to be an aunt! My sister, Megan, and her husband Ricky are expecting my first niece or nephew in July.
They broke the news to us on Christmas (though Mom and Dad has known for a few weeks) by giving us T-shirts:
My brother's says "World's Hottest Uncle (Stare If You Must):
Mine says: "Disco Aunt"
We're super excited for Megan and Ricky and the fact that we'll have a new baby in the family -- without having to be sleep deprived ourselves. Plus Nate will have a cousin, a big first for us too.
Here we are at our annual Christmas dinner. Next year there will be one more in the Jazz Hands Family!
Everyone has all gone home, except for Ryan, who decided not to return to the puddle of snow that is NYC. So tonight it's me and two CDs full of photos from Christmas that Dad burned for us. There are some really great ones in there, like these:
Nate playing with this super cool puppet from his Uncle Jack.
And him discovering the big boy bike under the bookcase:
Then, later, taking it for a spin during an unprecedented White Christmas in Birmingham.
Plus catching snowflakes with Grandma and Grandpa, which was equally fun.
Dad is so good about saving all these photos and burning them for us, as well as bringing up prints (he's a popular guy at Sam's photo processing lab). This year as a gift he even gave us all thumb drives with all the photos of Christmases throught the years (and DVDs of all the Flip movies we recorded - a huge project).
I love all the photos and the stories behind them. Right now, though, I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to share my personal stories. Tweet a photo? Write a blog post? What kind of blog post?
Here's a snippet of one -- Dad reading "'Twas The Night Before Christmas' on his iPad" on Christmas Eve?
And the goofy hat that Mom got for Ryan ("to stay warm!") that we all passed around and tried on:
Even Gatsby.
Then there was Nate ringing the bell for everyone to come sing "Happy Birthday" to the Baby Jesus.
And more Gatsby.
Soon it's going to be a new year. I'm launching a new website and am wondering ... what's the next chapter of this story? How will I share it?
What do pepole want to read about? Pugs with furry hats? How do they want to read it? I want to know. And in the meantime, I'm just going to put one letter in front of the next.
Nate is fast asleep, round two. His first round was during Christmas Eve Mass, when he fell asleep despite the Ray Manzarek - meets Moog - tribute from the keyboard player.
It was a lovely service really. In the school gym, which as the priest pointed out, made sense since Jesus was born in a barn.
We returned to our house to eat a big Italian dinner from Nino's -- a tradition for our Irish family. Then Ryan, Nate, and I did a little dance to Rhiana's "Hard." and we all sang happy birthday to Baby Jesus. It's what we do.
In between we tracked Santa through Norad on our phones, and dad read Nate "'Twas A Night Before Christmas" from his iPad -- some new traditions.
Now that the sugar plum has gone to bed, Santa has arrived.
The last thing Nate said before going to bed and checking his list:
I love watching TV segments about reducing stress at the holiday. Oh really, I never thought about taking deep breaths and scheduling time for a bath to relax. (To be fair to my TV friends, I know what it's like to get that assignment and groan a little bit. I had to do the same thing once upon a time.)
Stress is a bit of an area of expertise of mine. Let's just say I've had a lot of practice. Say, when I had to go to a certain office during my vacation last week. Twice. But now I've checked out for vacation for real, and just have Christmas & family fun coming up. No stress there, right?
In honor of the most wonderful time of the year (ahem), I bring you my secrets to a stress-free less holiday. Some I've recently discovered; others are tried and true remedies. And yes, I know they aren't applicable to everyone, but it's what helps get me through ...
1. Make candy that involves pounding the hell out of candy canes: Peppermint Bark!
We made it for the first time last night (after I'd eaten ever last crumb from a co-worker, as well as a tin from Costco) using this recipe from Savory Sweet Life.
My duty: to whack the living daylights out of candy canes. And unlike other kitchen duties that involve high temperatures and finesse, I excelled!
Before:
After:
Crushing up the candy canes was actually therapeutic, and the end result was delicious. We're rolling around after eating half of it last night going to give some away as gifts.
2. Skip sending Christmas cards
Even typing this I feel a little sacrilegious. I've never had a year where I didn't obsess over my Christmas cards, i.e., hiring a designer friend and spending countless hours concepting and scrutinizing fonts and layouts. It kind of goes back to my "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing better than anyone else," philosophy, which I've been working on dissembling, much like candy canes.
I do believe in the tradition of the mailed Christmas card, the feel of the paper and photos of their families.
The truth is, I scrutinize images and layouts and words every single day. It was more of a stress this year, and I wanted to put my energy toward other projects. So I didn't do it. And I'm sure no one is standing at their mailbox crying because I've ruined their Christmas. (If they do feel bad, they can read my dad's amazing Christmas letter to hear about our family. It's posted on his blog.)
Oh wait, that was hugely stressful. (Yes, preschool parents who didn't RSVP, I was shooting you a look during our children's Christmas program at school.) But the kids enjoyed it, and I got to eat all the leftover peppermint bark. See #4.
4. Move your peppermint bark-filled body.
To quote my favorite Richard Simmons line (from one of his records that my mother owned in the 80s): "You put it there/now lift it up and put it down." For me, that's starting to take Pure Barre and going back to yoga. (Even if my yoga teacher did say during class last week, "Well thats remarkable, Erin, especially since you haven't been in three months. Busted by the yogini.)
5. Stock up on bagel bites.
They are my specialty. One year during Christmas when we ran out of food I pulled them out. We opened presents eating delicious bite size morsels of goodness. Just like Grandma made. And you can get them in packs of eight zillion at Costco. I am totally serious.
6. Schedule time for champagne for the soul.
Chicken soup is ok, but champagne is better. Last weekend I got my winter blonde highlights and today I spent the day at Ross Bridge Spa with my good friend Amy. (Birmingham residents get 20% off on Monday and Tuesdays - score!)
Ross Bridge is one of our favorite places to get away, and what better time to do it than when everyone else is running around trying to do last minute things? One of the best things about Ross Bridge is that when you get a service you can take advantage of the spa facilities all day long, including the jacuzzi, steam room, and quiet room.
I had the Highland Foot Scrub/Scalp Therapy. It was divine, and the day a great pause from the hustle and bustle.
[For the record, I made Amy wear the hat. But she was so blissed out she was ammenable.]
7. Drink!
I kid, I kid. In moderation, of course. One of the most memorable events of the Christmas season was last week when I went to a friend's house for our first annual "Bows And Baileys." Two of our resident mixologists created amazing conctions based on seasonal liquers, and we practiced making decorative bows.
It was all very civilized, but drinking things filled with cinnamon and chocolate and coffee sure was fun.
8. Have a snowball fight
I know what you're thinking: I don't like cold. It's true. The fabulous thing is that there are lots of places to access fake snow. We had a blast at Gaylord Opryland's "Snow" exhibit (which officially does not allow snowball throwing, although some little person of ours bent the rules).
And said little person was equally thrilled to play in the "snow" at the McWane Center's "Winter Wonderland" exhibit yesterday. There's just something about snow, especially when enjoyed in 72-degrees controlled temperatures.
9. Give to someone who really needs it.
The past few days I've been thinking a lot about the work of The Blogess. This Texas-based blogger offered 20 $30 Amazon gift cards through her blog to people in need. She got more than 500 requests. All of those people have been helped, thanks to the generous outpouring of her readers.
10. Bake a birthday cake (or pick one up at Publix).
As long as I can remember, every Christmas Eve after Mass my family gathers round and sings Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus. At times I played the flute, clarinet, saxaphone, and accordian. Now I just sing, and have introduced the tradition to Nate.
We inherited Birmingham's best Santa from my friend Jennifer. For years, she threw a party at her house for her daughter and daughter's friends, during which Santa would show up and surprise all the children.
Each one had time with him, sharing their wish lists. And of course, their doting parents had time to take plenty of photos. The party was always a special day for our family from the time Nate first attended at eight months old.
(He's told us that he cherishes this photo of him and Nate from their first Christmas together.)
This year we took over the party. We booked Santa months in advance (he starts filling his calendar for Christmas parties in August). I've been cleaning and decorating and trying to get things ready for weeks.
Way more difficult than I ever imagined.
So it's well known that I love entertaining, especially cookingthrowing parties. The only thing is, I also have a crazy demanding job (that I adore) & have been sick. So it's come down to the past two weekends, and the help of some good friends, to pull it all off.
I think we did. I'm not used to having a house filled with children, so when it was all over I had that post-wedding feel, like so much had gone into it and I wasn't really sure how it turned out.
There was some frantic last minute chocolate covered Oreo making (covered in gold bling - inspired by this Couture Parties post), and Jingle Juice mixing. There were multiple trips to: Target, Publix, Ross, Pier One, TJMaxx, Costco ...
But the kids squealed when Santa walked in the door. And so did a few of the parents ...
So, here's the party. And I have to say, to share this is a big deal. I have a critical eye when it comes to, well, everything, but especially things like this. Then I have to remember I'm not an editor here and that this won't be in a magazine.
This is what life's like without a stylist. (Makes me appreciate the stylists I work with even more.)
Come on in to the Santa Party -- the dining room. Yep that's a Buddha. He chills out with the nativity set:
I set up an area in the kitchen for the kids to paint ornaments and color. (The aluminum trees have vintage ornaments from my mom and various thrifting finds.)
That held their attention for a while. Until this gentleman arrived:
And he came bearing ... presents!
He's pretty amazing, with kids of all ages.
I was actually surprised how quickly how many people didn't RSVP which made it difficult to figure out pacing the kids went through their lists and photos with Santa.
That was fine though. At the end, he read "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and gave each child a special gift. He also told them that on Christmas Day to look aroud and enjoy their family -- that was love all around them.
When we were all done, and everyone went home, we spent some quiet time with Santa and the pugs. He was very happy to hear the story of Gatsby. Merry Christmas indeed. Love all aroud.
Santa visited our house this afternoon. More to come. For now, here's a video of him reading "'Twas The Night Before Christmas." Even the parents were a little starstruck ...
I'm taking a break from hanging ornaments and making cheese balls (hmm, who knew). Tomorrow we host our first ever Santa party, during which the man in the red suit will come to our house, surprising Nate and a few dozen of his closest friends. 4 year olds, a house full of vintage ornaments, and loads of sugar. Good times.
I've been cleaning and decorating and shopping non-stop to get ready, with a heavy dose of work and being sick in the middle of it. So for the past 48 hours, I've been raiding my closets trying to find the right serving pieces (thank God for Homegoods) and a gold tablecloth (thank you Ross), there's not a whole lot more time to fuss. Thankfully.
Nate and I decorated our family tree tonight, and we chilled out on the couch. This was the view:
Totally candid. Gatsby!
Curled up on the edge of the couch it looked like he'd always been here. Then in an unreal turn of events, his "sister" Lolita jumped up right next to him and snuggled up, just like she did with F. Scott.
(Shane and I keep saying we're going to get Gats a Red Solo cup, because F. Scott loved to play with a Solo cup our first Christmas. Also the year of a notorious Christmas party that ended up at the Nick with a Neil Diamond tribute band. Some things have changed.)
It only lasted a second, but there it was. The stockings were hung, and the pugs were snug.
Garage Sale America The companion website to Bruce Littlefield's brilliant book about the magic of garage sales.
Bureau of Communication Wacky pre-worded communcations for every occasion, including "Happy Divorce" and "Grievance Letter" with Ad-Lib type room for your own special personalizations.
Jancee Dunn Blog Pop culture/rock critic wrote a great memoir about being a writer for "Rolling Stone" and VJ for MTV. Most importantly, she hits the 70s and 80s right on the head, particularly with her descriptions of JcPenny's, where her father spent his career. Her blog has great photos from 70s Penny's catalogs, as well as links to her essays, etc.
Disco Museum Brilliant. Check out the entry on Paul Jabara, a fairly unknown singer songwriter who wrote for Donna Summer and more. He was also the person who created the red ribbon to bring awareness to HIV.
Roadside Architecture The author spends much of her time traveling across the U.S. taking photos of giant faux food displays, neon signs, fairytale villages ala "Rock City," old diners and malls and pet cemetaries. Nothing short of genius and addictive.
Bad Fads After buying a squishy porcupine type toy for Shane and I -- I mean Nate and I -- to play with, I remembered the wonderful Koosh Ball of the late 80s. Shane didn't remember this, so I Googled the term and came up with this great page -- the Museum of Bad Fads. Excited to see that there is a reference to Sea Monkeys, my personal favorite. Though they are not a "fad" -- they are a lifestyle!
Dead Malls The guys that run this website travel the country documenting malls of bygone times. I love it!
Florida's psychic to the stars Gary Spivey has an amazing silver afro and a gift for seeing the future. Of course he's from my homeland of the greater Tampa Bay Area, Florida.
Graham Nelson Minnesota baby extraordinaire and son of Alisa!
Nat Reads Natalie writes about books, movies, and life in Birmingham.
Nikko's Blog Nikko is an American ex-pat living in Madrid. I met her through Cliff.
Hugh's News Blog of an exceptionally talented Dad, grandpa and Yankees fan. In-depth commentary on said Yankees, grandson and state of the world in general.
Moms Rising This site advocates for moms to decide how they want to raise their kids -- whether it be to work outside the home or to be a SAHM. Most of all, it's about fair, equitable conditions in which one becomes a mom and the chance to raise healthy kids.
Mojo Mom A site that helps moms reflect on the fact that they are actually people, not just baby-making beings.