an aggregate of all things Johnson

Tomorrow is the winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere). Yesterday was the start of Hanukkah. Saturday is Christmas. And New Year’s Eve is right around the corner! The holidays are here and I am enjoying the season. I hope you are, too. (That is a photo taken by my friend, Aimee Quesada, of me & Travis running the Jingle Bell Jog in Prospect Park on December 11th.)

As 2011 is winding down, I am reflecting on the highlights of the past twelve months…

• We kicked off the year with a 12:01 am road race through Central Park on New Year’s Eve/Day.
• I turned 30!
• I visited the Martha Stewart Show… twice.
• I visited my grandma in Kentucky for her birthday.
• My sister-in-law, Amber, graduated from the Police Academy!
• I attended the wedding of the year! Congrats, Nina & Adam! Oh, and made some invitations, too.
• I went to my very first Yankee’s Game!
• I got to see God’s favorite musical (and mine too), The Book of Mormon on Broadway. I loved it so much!
• I did a crazy, 3-day, juice cleanse.
• We celebrated the passage of marriage equality in NY in our favorite way… by running, of course!
• We went on a food tour of the Lower East Side.
• I served on jury duty.
• We survived a hurricane
• I hosted Swap-bot’s 100,000th Swap!
• I published an eBook.
• I attended The Creative Connection/BlogHer Handmade conference in Saint Paul.
• I marched with Occupy Wall Street.
• We had a great week exploring NYC with Travis’ family.
• Running was the theme of the year: Travis and I ran the Manhattan Half Marathon, the New Jersey Half Marathon, the Brooklyn Half Marathon, the Queens Half Marathon, the Staten Island Half Marathon…. and on October 30th , we ran the Marine Corps Marathon!!

Looking through my blog archives for the year is so much fun and reminds me how much I love keeping this “scrapbook.” I plan to double my efforts in 2012!

Warm winter wishes to you and yours… Season’s Greetings… Happy Holidays… Peace, Love, and lots of sweets!

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Rachel’s Favorite Things is sort of like Oprah’s Favorite Things, except that I won’t be giving away any free stuff. Sorry. What I WILL be giving out (hopefully) are some gift ideas for anyone on your list who you might think would like some of the same things I do.

These are all things I LOVE and would totally recommend for gift giving:

• Kate Spade iPhone case – I have the black polka dot case and it has withstood a lot of abuse, including a marathon.
• Benefit Posie Tint lip and cheek stain – An easy, subtle blush that is really pretty and hard to mess up.
• Mischa Lampert hand knit wool hat – A little pricey, but I wear my hat whenever it is even remotely cold enough and I always get comments and questions. Plus, it is super-warm.
• Baked by Melissa mini cupcakes in chocolate – Thank god these cost $25 for 8, otherwise I would be eating a box a day!
• Kate Spade earrings – I wear these earrings whenever I want a little glamour.
• No. 6 Store clog boots – Expensive, but they are indestructible. They are super-trendy now, but I also think these are timeless winter shoes.
• Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust gel pens – For your arts and crafts friends, these are my favorite gel pens. So sparkly!
• Phillip B. Russian Amber Shampoo – This shampoo makes a luxurious gift. It is a single step to lovely, bouncy, delicious smelling hair. I only use it for special occasions.
• LuluLemon Run Swiftly Tech long sleeve top – This is my favorite exercise top. It is really soft, but also moisture-wicking. It makes a great base layer for cold-weather running.
• New York Magazine – A subscription to NY Mag would be a great gift for novice New Yorkers. It is a weekly publication that always has a few in depth articles, good restaurant reviews, and just enough news to keep you up to date on what is happening in the city.

What are you giving and/or hoping to be getting for the holidays this year? (FYI: I already have the items I listed here — they are my favorites — so this truly is just a gift guide, not a wish list. But hey, thanks for thinking of me!)

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This is a sad story.

The tragic, gruesome news of the awful murder in a Lululemon store in Bethesda in March and this piece about the bystander effect, have had me thinking about a past murder…

During college I worked for an art magazine run by a couple who I thought at the time were quite demanding, but who were actually very kind, helpful, and supportive. Their office (seen above) was located next door to a bank in a tiny strip mall in the wealthy suburb of Leawood, Kansas. I worked for them every summer. They were in the long process of moving their office and home from Kansas to New Hampshire, and I often manned the office while they were traveling back and forth. There were other part-time workers off and on, but I was often alone.

Generally, I opened mail, answered phones, scanned images for articles, designed ads, and shipped out back issue orders… on June 18th, 2002, I think I was working on organizing the subscription database. I remember I was doing something dull that day, and I remember that day specifically because about 100 yards away, in broad daylight, a 19-year-old girl was raped and murdered in the maintenance shed of the neighborhood pool.

Of course, I didn’t find out about the murder until I left work in the evening and went home to my parents’ house in the next suburb over. Benjamin Appleby, a convicted felon with a pool cleaning business, had strangled Ali Kemp while I was busy checking addresses on a computer screen in our office across the street from the pool.

I was a 21-year-old college senior. Ali would have been sophomore at KState. We were both diligently working our summer jobs. We didn’t know each other.

For a split second after learning of the murder, I thought, “it could have been me,” but I’m actually strangely defiant when it comes to NOT allowing criminals to scare me or dictate my behavior, so I didn’t actually ever feel scared. Not even when I had to return to the office alone the next day.

I did, and still do, feel guilty. I had never been in that pool in my life and had no reason whatsoever to go into it that day, but what if I had? Could I have prevented the crime? Why couldn’t I have psychically felt a disruption in the force and told the bank security guard to go check things out?

I actually had thoughts like that for a long time… I guess I still do.

It was such a random crime. I don’t have the exact numbers but I would guess that the city of Leawood has less than one murder per decade. It took the police three years to catch Appleby. He was arrested in Connecticut in 2004, and in addition to DNA evidence, I think he eventually confessed. He is in prison.

Perhaps each of us will either knowingly or unknowingly be in close proximity to violent crime at some point in our lives. I was not a true “bystander” during Ali Kemp’s murder. There was no way that I could have known that a crime was being committed. However, if I ever am a witness to violence, you can be sure that I will not stand by. I will take action.

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I am astounded that it is December. I have barely gotten used to writing 2011 on things! But I am definitely in a holiday mood. I am preoccupied with peppermint and santa hats. For the first time in years, I am actually pulling out a few holiday decorations. And, we are running the annual Brooklyn Jingle Jog next weekend. And, I plan to make cookies. With sprinkles.

It is the holiday season!

Above is a photo from 1980 of little Travis with Santa. I love it.

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