no boys allowed in the room!!!!

idk

that makes me sound like a horribly deluded child but it was just a nicer feeling that a jolly magic fellow delivered your presents rather than mum hiding them in the crawlspace and staying up til 4am putting dollhouses together and whatnot

now i kind of feel like the opposite is kind of touching in its own weird way

I don't remember when or how I found out Santa wasn't real, and it wasn't a huge deal for me. What was a huge deal was when mum and dad said they wouldn't be doing a Christmas stocking any more, for either me or my younger brother. I was a proper teenager, I think! - around 15 - but it took all the fun out of Christmas for me, and I remember being really sorry for my brother who was around 11. The 'big presents' were nice and all, but the stocking was full of tiny, inexpensive, carefully chosen, unpredictable wrapped gifts (in a chopped up pair of mum's tights left on the foot of the bed in the small hours - I can still remember how the presents felt through the tights!) That was the most exciting thing ever, even when I knew it was mum and dad.

Christmas stocking is the best part! Our compromise with our Christmas-enthusiast parents is that Ivy will have a Christmas stocking and they can buy her whatever will fit in it.

It's hardly a compromise for me because yay Christmas stocking!

My mom made my stocking for my first Christmas and I still have it! I just found it tonight, actually.

http://i57.tinypic.com/vder07.jpg

My mom told me the Easter Bunny wasn't real when I was maybe 9 and I immediately asked about Santa to which she replied, "I'm not ready to talk about Santa yet" so I basically knew. I also kind of suspected before then because we always opened our presents on Christmas Eve like it's customary to do in Germany. We had Christmas dinner every year with my parents' friends and then went to mass. The dads would stay behind a little and put out all the presents so they'd be there when we got home from church. At some point I started wondering why I was the only kid who Santa came to a day early.

I know I've posted in this thread before about my mom and her practical gift-giving -- but let me tell you, Santa probably would've had a more magical, heart-warming aura, if "he and Mrs. Claus" didn't give me things like mechanical pencil lead, a toothbrush, file folders, a mini-stapler, and white cotton underwear. There's only a certain amount of suspension of disbelief possible, even at a young age, when your mom will exclaim, "Wow, Santa is amazing! He somehow knew that I was out of scouring pads!"

loool wow

haha that's incredible

Ha!
I still get a stocking if I stay at my parents' on xmas eve, which I have most of my adult life.

this is not on topic but i just wanted to report that i had three girlfriend hangouts in one week and they were all extremely enjoyable!! in hangout 1 we drank tea and gossiped, in hangout 2 we ate dinner, listened to records, and did our nails and in hangout 3 we went to a giant grocery store, made foods for our friends while listening to records, and then delivered the foods. it was really pleasant and satisfying to have multiple conversations with irl people who i feel totally comfortable around and there was no typing required.

thank you, friends

That all sounds so nice. I have a new girlfriend at work and she's awesome. :)

it's just really nice to relax and lol and talk about girl stuff

:D

goddamn yogurt
i want to hurl curdled yogurt at someone i just don't know who yet

http://i.imgur.com/1xsq5Ew.jpg

SO mad that fb is showing me this shit. Into that dress though.

ads suck in general, but i still blame the yogurt industry
like i don't know and don't care what jennifer hudson did that was so shocking but i doubt it had anything to do with yogurt

ugh

anyway
other than this i feel pretty great!

Oh, feelings, why are you complicated?

For the first time in... well, forever, really. Someone I have ~feelings~ for has confessed that the feelings, complicated and impossible though they might be, are, well, mutual.

There are so many Big Important Reasons we shouldn't pursue this. (The usual: age, gender, location.)

I feel kinda sick, and nervous, and terrified, and I have that 'OMG I'm going to throw up' feeling that is generally a pretty good indication that I'm falling in love (or something like it). But also giddy and excited and ????

Um, help?

! it sounds like you are doing well on your own!

My advice: throw Big Important Reasons to the wind! And allow yourself to enjoy yourself.

also relevant to the interests of some in this thread ie me and erica

http://31.media.tumblr.com/7d97218b07730fbf4314f60f544bb645/tumblr_mibhbqKoZc1qb2yp3o1_r1_500.gif

LOL!

In the "pop stars vs real boys" I think pop stars always win.

(In this case, I fear it's two deeply insecure people, and I'm trying to say to the other person "you're allowed to want this; you can have this if you really want this" as much as I'm trying to convince myself. But I'm quite convinced that they don't really want this as much as I do; and know almost certainly they think that I feel the same way.)

((I'm just waiting for the moment where they pull the rug out from under me and go "OMG, no, I was just kidding, I didn't mean any of that!"))

OK, I'll shut up now. Life is great otherwise, and I'm looking for things to beat myself up over.

branwell this may be a weird q but is there some way i could contact you privately (i feel like theres no way to ask this that doesnt sounds GRAVELY SERIOUS which this is def not)

my email btw is emilysue @ gmail

Sorry, work is so busy I check ILX like once a week these days. Just sent you an email.

responded!

hey, some of you responded to my FB thing about writing irl letters. im getting rolling on that.

if anyone else wants to be penpals, email me. i have so much stationery. so many stamps.

I was recently back at my parents' house and found the boxes where I kept all my old letters and I found a few from someone I barely remember. Found a bunch I never sent too -- that was embarrassing. I'm hungry for more irl human interaction tbrr.

OH HAI I have too many fountain pens/ink/stationery and need to put them to use.

will e-mail

I have lots of stationery, postcards, stickers, and rubber stamps. I want pen pals!

^^^does your ilx webmail work? Mine does not.

I love all of you! But I am not a good pen pal so I'll just offer emotional support and let you get on with it.

no way IO you should send me your address so I can send you random postcard! No response expected!

I love all of you! But I am not a good pen pal so I'll just offer emotional support and let you get on with it.

― Orson Wellies (in orbit), Friday, January 9, 2015 9:35 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

I'm not even a good email correspondent.

you to, carl! But I need addresses but not via ilx webmail why because mine goes to some long-dead e-mail addy. FB or other means of contact? Just get me your addy and I'm on it.

we all know mutual ppls somehow so should be workable

My ilx mail should still work.

mine should work too

I can be reached at carl agatha party at gmail.

carl I sent 2 u

you 2, sarahell

Awwwww <3

Tokyo as well! I don't want to overpromise, but it would be fun to send you each at least one lil thing because I've been meaning to a snail-mail effort for a while now!

i like mail and i like all of you a lot
sorry if that sounded unwelcoming upthread
my penpalship started as soon as i could write and carried on strong through my entire life -- i'm still a diligent email correspondent
maybe this is why i am tired -- the majority of my friendship life has been carried out in the written word
that's why i am tired of typing and writing and just want to talk

it's kind of sad really

xp quincie - sent you fb friend req so I can message you

I got your email quincie but send me your email address!

yknow what? not that anyone asked but i know that part of it is me. i am really stubbornly unwilling to let people get to know me, and i always have been.
these days, if you don't let people know who you are in a very public fashion, you are at a rather severe disadvantage in terms of friend-making. that has always been the case, but the stage feels so big now and i am so wary. i'm working on it and getting better, but it's not natural or easy for me.

anyway, thank you to anyone who has corresponded with me -- i'm not saying the correspondence was a chore, just that it feels so inadequate for my current level of need. i'm working on it.

No pressure girl but you're great and you should tell more people imo.

Just say, "I'm great! Let's be friends."

i wish it were that easy

but thank you!