Yesterday, I had to suck it up and venture back to Carmel. I stuck to the interstate to avoid reliving any horrible memories from 52. The roads were perfect and everything went fine. I arrived early at my destination, the Holiday Wish Home. I had to take photos of “Breakfast with Santa.” WISH-TV 8 (my fave news station) was there, but unfortunately they only sent a cameraman. I stayed behind him and patiently waited as to not mess up his feed w/ flashes. My parents apparently saw the footage that morning and I was like “yeah, i was standing right behind him.” Almost famous? :)

I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a good morning. There were lots of families having breakfast, listening to stories from Mrs. Claus, visiting with Santa, and taking horse-drawn carriage rides…short ones, as it was freezing. It was a nice event, especially because of one little boy who was absolutely adorable. He was the life of the party as we watched him dance around the floor. He couldn’t have been much over 2, but his lil smile brightened up as soon as I took his picture. I was his best friend after that. The little boy loved the camera. He loved everything until he met Santa and then it was nothing but tears. That was hilarious.

It was a nice time. I never actually got a chance to partake of any of the breakfast, so I was getting a little hungry as I drove away. I decided to go cheap and stop at McDonald’s. The drive-thru line was extensive so I just went in and got breakfast, as it was 3 min til 11am and I was impatient. Didn’t take long to eat my small portions, so as soon as I got back in my car, I see a huge fire truck coming down the road. I wish I’d realized where he was going a little sooner. Right before I pull on to 31, 3 police cars go zooming through the intersection. So I get on 31, go a little bit and then traffic comes to a complete halt. We were all forced to turn, creating another huge jam on greyhound pass. As I turned I saw a barricade of police cars surrounding the entire intersection with loads of fire trucks and such jammed in the middle, hints of glass shattered all over the ground, and gurneys (sp?) being rolled out. I’ve had no luck finding news stories of the crash. But anyway, based on the response time from where the fire station is, it’s highly likely I would have been in the middle of that exact intersection of the wreck, had I not decided on a whim to grab food at McDonald’s and had I not had time to eat at the shoot just before then. But then again, maybe if I had been in the intersection, I would have done something differently that could have prevented the crash altogether. That could hurt my brain if I dwell on it.

So after following lots of random roads, avoiding the big traffic jams, I found my way to work. I stopped at the apartments just down the way. Got some good info but I immediately became claustrophobic upon entering the apartments. Downsizing from a house with vaulted ceilings in half the rooms is going to be harder than I imagined.

I ventured to Broad Ripple from there to do some vintage shopping, wanting to find a dress for a friend’s party. Well, due to a very self-esteem boosting shop owner, I came home with 2 :( One from the 40s and the other 80s. I’ve sent photos of both to my official panel of judges to let me know which I should wear. We’ll see if I can pull either of them off.

So I got home and a bit later, my parents called asking where Lone Star was, and I was like “wait, you’re in town and you didn’t invite me along to dinner??” So yeah, I invited myself :)

And I finished off the night with a half dose of It’s a Wonderful Life, but I was so exhausted, I had to retire early and couldn’t finish it. Such a great movie.