Sunday, December 23, 2012

An Elf Cap On A Happy State Of Mind

It's been a busy week! A boy (uh, make that 'young man') with a birthday, shopping, baking, wrapping for Christmas, and getting ready for last night's Risky Whippet gig. I went a little overboard making the gig a real Christmas party--we gave away a present after every song. At first I was just going to give away a few autographed books by a certain local author, but then I got carried away and pretty soon I had enough "real" presents to cover all 3 hours of music.

People were, like, Are you serious? thinking there had to be a catch, but I think it made me the happiest person in the room. (Well, I was playing music in a band with my kids and husband, which is an Are-you-serious? sort of situation to begin with, but the gifts were like an elf cap on my happy state of mind.)

Clearly  most of you couldn't attend the Risky Whippet party (I would have loved if you could have...and would have brought more books!) but I will leave you with a link to a little sample (below) of the "family band" in action. Merry Christmas to all of you, even if you don't celebrate it :-)

Risky Whippet does "Birthday" by The Beatles

23 comments:

Kylie said...

Love it! Giving out presents after each song was a great idea! Wish I could have been there!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Ky

Gabrielle said...

That's really cool how you gave gifts after each song!!! And I hope every body have a Merry Christmas!!! :)

Ryan said...

Ah, man.... if I realized you were playing yesterday, I'd have come out to watch!

-- Ryan, currently wandering around SLO

Yusa said...

Where was this? I wouldve so gone... I LOVE you outfir. It's amazing. Getting into the Christmas Spirit i see. Have a great Christmas! Or whatever it is you celebrate. Sinterclaas is over so... nevermind.
--Yusa

Gabrielle said...

I'm soo excited I got all the Sammy Keyes books for Christmas!!! :D

Isabel said...

Like Yusa I don't celebrate Christmas but I LOVE looking at the happy faces! I love your outfit! When will your family perform next? If you can, post it here so maybe we could party with you! That would be so cool! Wish I was there. Anyways have a merry Christmas, or have fun with Sinterclaas!

Isabel said...

I checked out the video and Wendalin Van Draanen, you are an awesome singer!

Wendelin Van Draanen said...

Thanks!
Elf shirt: $2 Goodwill find (I had to add some bells, but so what!)I wore it running yesterday, too. It was silly, but fun.

A copy of Sin City landed on my desk! So it is a real book...and will be out before you know it. So excited!

Jingle, jingle!
W

Gabrielle said...

By the way Wendelin I read Flipped and watched the movie. And they were both great!!!! :D

Wendelin Van Draanen said...

Thank you Gabrielle :)

I was thinking about this group on my run this morning...nice thoughts!

Unknown said...

I lost count a little but it's somewhere between 10-12 days until January 8th!!=)
That's funny you wore the elf shirt running=)
Yes she's a great singer! I'm glad everyone there had fun=)

Yusa said...

Haha Goodwill never let's down. I got some shoes there yesterday. OMG my mom told me i had to get heels and so we went shopping for them. Heel shopping is the WORST. I walk in them like stilts. And they kill my feet. My feet were cramping up. They are not meant to be bent that way! I was so glad when i got back into my soft boots... Never again...

Wendelin Van Draanen said...

Yusa--chuckling over here. You sound like Sammy :-)

Kylie said...

Heels are terrible. Dress too. I had to wear a dress last year for a major presentation (breaking my record of a year and a half of not wearing a dress/skirt) and the only way I allowed my sisters to put me in a dress was if I got to wear my dirty orange converse. Other wiseI had to wear heels for a whole day, at school, that is filled with stairs. I am so glad that I fought my way out of that one. I bet those boots felt quite nice.

I read somewhere where people get high-heel implants. I am not sure if it is true, but if it is how gross is that they people get high heels permanently put on their feet.

Yusa said...

Wendelin -- Haha thanks. But seriously. Not fun.
Kylie -- I wore a dress with Hi-tops and i since it was long and to my ankles i felt like sammy in AOD. :)
Hey i think Kat Mcnamara would play a good Heather... It's just these people are perfect but too old already :(
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=fTuuL6O_9NuFcM:&imgrefurl=http://girlvsmonster.wikia.com/wiki/Myra_Santelli&docid=-Q-c3qWVKpnr3M&imgurl=http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121006133627/girlvsmonster/images/8/80/Myra-full.jpg&w=466&h=302&ei=h8jfULjzBsHhiAKQ1oGQAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=747&vpy=115&dur=2414&hovh=181&hovw=279&tx=120&ty=92&sig=109803172511785104801&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=217&start=0&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:22,s:0,i:160

Unknown said...

Ya she would make a great Heather!

Kylie said...

I have had to wear a skirt since then for a funeral and I also wore some black converse. After I had a few people laughing and some smiling because they were saying that when I get married I will be wearing my converse.

Kylie said...

Oh and if she was younger I could see it

Gabrielle said...

I always buy dresses but I never wear them. And I don't wear high heels, except for a pair of boots that have heels that I wore once. My sister loves high heels and I don't know why she likes them so much,they look so uncomfortable.

Yusa said...

Well they do make me taller... but its not worth it....

Jessica said...

I love how happy and uninhibited the crowd and the band are. "Dance as if no one were watching, sing as if no one were listening, and live every day as if it were your last."

I've worn heels as a bridesmaid (twice), but they're silly. Shoes are tools. They should be comfortable and supportive.

Kylie said...

Yes I agree. Another good quote is: heels are a male invention designed to make women's butts look smaller... and to make it harder for them to runaway. (She's the Man). Althought while it is uncertain about who invented high heels and they were first seen in Egyptian burial grounds worn by both men and women, I still like the quote.

McKensie Miller said...

GOOD GRIEF, YOU'RE A GOOD SINGER!