Shmabelmas 

    Happy first day of Shmabelmas! And welcome to

shmabelmas.online

a new web-based shmabelmas experience. This site will be the hub of all updates and activities for the next 27 days. 

    To start with today...

    I'm very sorry you're sick dear. Nevertheless, we will venture forth into shmabelmas with no fear, and adjust the following few days as needed. Check back here each day to see new posts relating to that day's shmabelmas activities, and keep and eye out for future updates and improvements to the site that may be of interest ;)

    For now though, all you have to do for this very first day of shmabelmas is prepare for some breakfast in bed, and summon your appetite for a very special lunch and dinner later on today.

    Your weather forecast for today: 88 degrees and sunny, it's a hot one!

    Good morning love, and welcome back to shmabelmas.online. As alluded to in yesterday's post, this site will not just be the hub of all text updates, but it will also unlock new features as the month progresses. Today's shmabelmas gift, for example, is contained in an update that's been made to the site - can you find it?

    I hope that you are continuing to feel better today, and that you can head into tomorrow excited for the freeking weekin. Your weather forecast for today is: 68 degrees and mildly cloudy, should be a lovely day.

    Hello dear, and welcome back to your birthday web zone. Today, I am feeling sentimental about the years that we have passed side by side, and specifically about the countless meals we have shared together, cooked alongside each other, and prepared for one another. It's a very important gesture in our relationship, I think, whether we're eating from the same bowl of tater tots on our couch or out at the bistro. And I'm not the only one that believes in the power of cooking...

    That's right. The face of America's Test Kitchen, and the chef that's now allowed to use all the knives on camera, is here to help present today's shmabelmas present. Becky knows you're hungry for more ATK episodes, and she pulled a few strings at home office to get us access to the archives

    Simply navigate to this link and input the gift code:

8WZDL0679T68

We'll be able to watch the entire back catalogue of Test Kitchen episodes, as well as access to the recipes and equipment recomendations (recomendations that may feature in future shmabelmas days).

That's it for today. Your weather forecast is: 58 degrees, with light rain expected throughout the day. Bring your rain coat with you!

    Hello  - apologies for the hour of the alarm this morning, but we are going to want to be up early to avoid the lines at the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, our destination for today. We're going to drive up, Dunkin Donuts breakfast in hand, and go see some of the best flowers this Spring has to offer. We'll picnic in the park after we walk around a little, and I have a place in mind for lunch on the way home. It's going to be a high of 53 degrees today, with some potential for rain in the forecast, so we'll pack some umbrellas for the road. 

    This outing was reschuled due to sickness, and in its place today's gift is an ATK recomended OXO brand Mandoline Slicer.

    One of the great pleasures of being your partner is keeping a house together, and collaborating to make a home out of sometimes limited space and resources. I like to think that we've developed a sort of style that is not overstated but still ties together the sensibilities of coziness and functionality - our record player area, our petite espresso machine, our leather couch. These are ultimately just objects, of course, but nonetheless I feel a real sentimental attachment to them and what they represent in our journey into adulthood together. Your gift for today is hopefully something that will serve as a minature reminder of our home together, no matter where we end up in the future.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 65 degrees and partly cloudy, an ideal California weekday.

    This one won't need much introduction... It's charms! Believe it or not, I actually have fond memories of waiting in Beadnicks while you sorted through scores of tiny little critters and doo-dads. Watching you scour through ever so many bins searching out the perfect new friend was quite endearing. We'll have to go back next time we're in Chicago, but in the meantime, todays tokens will have to do.

    On a somewhat related note, I can also give you a slight hint as to one of this weekend's plans; you'll want to pick a cute charm to wear on Sunday, as part of the itinerary includes a meal at a sit down restaurant.

    Your weather forecast for today is: sunny and a high of 76 degrees.

    Your present for today is moist, tactile, and weighs about 25 pounds. And no, it's not Bug and Abi taped together.

    Seeing you develop your craft of pottery over the past couple years has been a delight. Every piece you bring home is a treasure, and at times I resent their eventual departure to other recipients. It's exciting to think where you may go next in the pottery world, and I'll be anxiously awaiting what comes out of the kiln next. Signed, your biggest fan.

    Weather forecast for today: 76 degrees and cloudy.  

    It has officially been 1 week of Shmabelmas - how is it going? Please address any comments and concerns to admin@shmabelmas.online - your feedback may even be read!

    Today's gift will reveal itself at some time later in the day. Here is a cryptic clue: 💡⚡️🔦🕯️☀️✧˖°.🏠

    Your weather forecast for today is: 69 degrees and slightly humid.

    Good morning dear - today's shmabelmas gift was planned entirely by your son, but perhaps not the son you would expect. Before you receive it, however, you need to solve a puzzle. Can you guess where these photos were taken? The solution to that riddle is also the answer to what we are going to do this Saturday. Let Poley know once you think you have it.

Your weather forecast for today is: 67 degrees and partly cloudy.

    Hello shmabel, and welcome to the weekend. I'm sorry that shmabelmas this year has been marked by lingering illness, but I'm hopeful that we'll both soon be feeling better. Plus, the later half of this year's shmabelmas schedule has some real heavy hitters that are sure to instantly cure you of any remaining diseases and disorders.

    Today is not just the 10th day of shmabelmas, it is also a holiday for a certain sort of drug-addled degenerate like yourself. The first part of your gift today is a little treat in celebration of this theme.

    4/20 is also a sort of holiday for another type of unwell individual - it's Record Store Day. Today we are going to walk our well-tred route down to Colorado Blvd and check in with our local record stores to see what sort of fun limited run vinyls they have available. We'll stop at Vroman's too, for a little treat that is waiting for you, dear shmabel, at their "Will Call" counter on the 2nd floor...

    What else will this adventure have in store for us? Coffee? Chips from the Stand? A dessert to take home from Urth Cafe? Only time will tell.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 72 degrees and partly cloudy, an ideal day for a walk :)

    Good morning dear - today's shmabelmas actvity is a condensed tour of some of the best that LA has to offer. Our first destination is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is supposedly the largest museum in the western United States. On our way in, we'll stop by the nearby Levain bakery - I'm feeling hopeful about the line, but we can also be sneaky and order ahead for pick up.

    After our afternoon of cookies and art looking, we'll head to a little neighborhood right around there called Hollywood. Besides enormous movie theaters, production studies, and hoardes of tourists taking pictures with the sidewalk stars, Hollywood is also home to Amoeba Records, supposedly the best record store in LA. We'll hang out a little there and perhaps the neighboring vintage store before the main event: our early dinner reservation at Musso & Frank's, the city's preeminent classic steakhouse. Red leather booths, tuxedo'd up waiters, prime rib with horseradish, massive gin martinis - all these and more can be yours, and I'll be picking up the tab ;)

    Among my favorite things that we share in our daily life together is our music. While we each have our own distinct taste, I think we complement each other quite well with our musical interests, and are broadly speaking quite compatible when it comes to playing music on roadtrips, buying records, or choosing something to play on a sunday afternoon. Today's gift is in recognition of all of the music we've shared and discovered together, and all of the music we will continue to find tomorrow. Take this playlist as a sampling of some of my favorite musical memories with you:

    A little sneak peak at what this week holds for shmabelmas - Tuesday afternoon I have designs relating to clothing and food procurement; Thursday we have a date somewhere scenic (you'll need to met me at 2pm sharp!); and Friday may be reserved for our large swedish friend in Burbank....

    Your weather forecast for today is: 72 degrees and sunny.

    Hello woody - Today's shmabelmas activity will commence after you're done at work and will take us on a tour of nearby thrift stores.. We'll start at crossroads and goodwill, where your purchases may be subsidized, and the meander over to Eagle Rock to potentially hit a few more. Afterwards, we'll grab a happy hour drink at the Capri Club, and then go on a cheese and snack shopping spree at Milkfarm.

    This all culminates with a Steakhouse dinner at home - your sourdough will serve as the base for our cheeseplate, the first course before we dig into some steaks and mashed potates.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 65 degrees and sunny.

    Hello dear - today's shambelmas present is actually not from me, but rather has been furnished by our mutual friend up in Altadena (who says he misses you very much). You used to love him, but then you abandoned him... Is it something that he did wrong? 

    Your weather forecast for today is: 62 degrees and partly cloudy.

    You already know what it is: Tea Day! We have a reservation at the Huntington Tea Room at 2:45, which gives us enough time to stroll the grounds beforehand.

       Weather forecast is 62 degrees and partly cloudy, which should make for an excellent day peeping the roses.

    Good morning dear - thank you for joining me yesterday at Tea, it was a lovely time that we'll have to take advantage of again. Your gift for today is a celebration of your love of comfort and all of the coziness that you engineer in our home throughout the year.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 68 degrees and partly cloudy.

    Hellooooo - well somebody already let the cat out of the bag for today, but the plan is to go have a little snack shopping spree at Erewhon and head with our treats to the Zoo for a day of animal peeping and picnicing. Add-on experiences may include: Dunkin Donuts coffee, a stop at Pet Food Express to look at kittens, a shirt or other keepsake from the Zoo gift shop, and lunch on the way back home. 

    Our weather forecast for today is 72 degrees and clear skies.

    G'day dear. Today, we head to UCLA and to the encampment there, though I suspect we will still find time for a shmabelmas activity or two. We have tickets reserved for the Getty, so if time permits we can stop by after we're done on the campus. Regardless of that, we will certainly have time to stop by KazuNori for food before we leave West LA for the day. The handroll budget is enormous and you, my ladyfriend, ain't payin'. 

    Once we're back in Pasadena, I'll make you dinner, and there maybe be a treat excursion as well for dessert.

    Our weather forecast for today is: 72 degrees and sunny - remember to wear sunscreen!

    Hello Shmapel - today marks the beginning of the last full week of shmabelmas. Though we were sick for a lot of the early days, we have an exceptional late run ahead of us to close things out.

    Today, we are going to have a little nightime outing to your favorite place in the world - Bowlero. It's time to lace up our shoes, order mozzarella sticks, and throw them strikes till we shut the place down. 

    Your weather forecast for today is: 74 degrees and sunny.

    Good morning dear - today's shmabelmas present offers you a choice, a choose-your-own adventure if you will. One option is for reuse, reinvigoration, a renewal of a treaured piece of shmabel lore that is in need of professional attention. The other option is for freshness, for moving forward into a new era, and the rush of dopamine that is sure to follow.

    I am talking about your dear Blundstones, which as you know have endured years of love and are now headed for a forced retirement on account of the metastisizing holes in their soles. But what if we could rebuild him? Better. Faster. Stronger.

   Your option A is this - we can send your boots to a specialty cobbler in Canada that offers a comprehensive Blundstone repair. They will replace the sole entirely while keeping the main strucutre of the shoe exactly as is, and the sole is an extra-durable one that is stitched rather than glued to the boot body. You can see what their process looks like here:

    This would allow you to keep your dear boots mostly intact, and extend their life happily into the future. But alternatively, perhaps it is time to let this pair go out with grace. and besides, maybe you want to experience a new blundstone, perhaps a different model or color.

    Option B is - 1 pair of new Blundstones of your choosing from among the styles they offer. Would you go with the tried and true original? Maybe you would prefer revised 550? Or even the dressier chelsea boot?

    The choice is yours my dear. And remember - there are no wrong choices during shmabelmas.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 74 degrees and sunny.

    We have officially entered the final stages of shmabelmas - a week from today is your birthday! And I've saved the best for last. I'll meet you after your lab meeting today for lunch, and a little treat afterwards...

    Weather forecast for today is: 70 degrees and sunny.

    Hellooo shmabel. One aspect of our lives together that I continue to find extraordinary is the extent to which we share with each other. This manifests as things like sharing food from the same plate, sharing experiences that neither of us independently would be likely to pursue, or even sharing shoes (whether consensually or under duress). 

    In the spirit of this sentiment, today's gift is something that I think you will enjoy, and that is theoretically shareable, but that I suspect will also in practice be solely yours.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 72 degrees and cloudy.

    Shmabelmas has almost come to a close, and this weekend will be the chance to spend quality time together, enjoy a nice trip, and celebrate everything shmabel. You are an amazing lady and you deserve to be celebrated, and I hope this shmabelmas will be a time that you feel empowered to celebrate yourself too.

    Today's gift is noteworthy becuase it represents the final gift that is an object rather than an experience. It's something I don't think you would get for yourself neccesarily but that I think you will be delighted with. It will be waiting for you, along with a homemade meal, when I pick you up tonight from your outing.

    Your weather forecast for today is 70 degrees and sunny.

    Good morning dear - I hope you've had a wonderful shmabelmas, and though this one has been a marathon at times, this weekend will serve to be a time to relax and spend quality time together. Today, all I need from you is your presence for dinner tonight. We're going out, somewhere cute but not too fussy (think bar chelou in terms of attire). We should leave here around 6:45, and we'll be ubering to our destination.

    Additionally, it's time to confirm your suspicion and tell you that we are setting off for Ojai on Sunday. I have some things planned, but mostly we'll be free to exlore the town, lounge in our hotel, and relax by the pool :). More details to come, but make any packing adjustments you need to now.

    Your weather forecast for today is: 67 degrees and sunny 

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