This past weekend, Paul and I visited a couple of friends in Richmond, Virginia and had an absolutely fabulous time (photos coming tomorrow). We had plans to fly out of DC Sunday (because why not take advantage of an opportunity to see a little DC while we were so close?), but the winter weather had other plans. Our train took four hours to go twenty miles due to a faulty horn, and we did the math and realized the flight out of DC was not going to happen. Being pretty experienced travelers, we knew what our oprtions were. And while Paul stayed calm and changed our flight, I got a little emotional - we were using money we didn't plan to spend, and I would have to take a vacation day I was saving for the holidays. But we figured it out, embraced our new plans, and stepped off the train into a magical little small town decked out in all its Christmas glory.
Our third date of Christmas was a complete accident that turned out to be really, really good. This past weekend, Paul and I visited a couple of friends in Richmond, Virginia and had an absolutely fabulous time (photos coming tomorrow). We had plans to fly out of DC Sunday (because why not take advantage of an opportunity to see a little DC while we were so close?), but the winter weather had other plans. Our train took four hours to go twenty miles due to a faulty horn, and we did the math and realized the flight out of DC was not going to happen. Being pretty experienced travelers, we knew what our oprtions were. And while Paul stayed calm and changed our flight, I got a little emotional - we were using money we didn't plan to spend, and I would have to take a vacation day I was saving for the holidays. But we figured it out, embraced our new plans, and stepped off the train into a magical little small town decked out in all its Christmas glory. This inconvenience - though still expensive - turned out to be a nice reminder that steering off the planned path can be really nice. Going with the flow - and accepting that the only control I had in the situation was how I was going to react - allowed me to really enjoy a nice Christmas date with Paul - in a place we never would have gone otherwise. It's a great part about life: being open to surprises can bring you really wonderful experiences. So back to the date. While Paul and I waited for our friends to pick us up (in the freezing rain I might add - yes, these are very good friends), we stopped at the Iron Horse and had ourselves a tasty little lunch. I had some cinnamon tea, sweet potato hash, and shared a bourbon pecan pie with Paul. We chatted about some of our favorite Christmas memories and had ourselves a nice little date.
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Happy Friday! We made it through another week. Here's a few more photos of me and my siblings from my sister's housewarming party last weekend. I'm so happy for her and so proud - she loves her new house and last Saturday it was filled with lots of people who love her. And because it's Friday and because my sweet tooth is impatient for next week's cookie exchange, here's a ridiculous amount of pictures of the baked goods my mom made for Libby's party. See? This sweet tooth thing is hereditary.
I had a burst of inspiration the week before Thanksgiving and decided to paint my mom and sister some simple Christmas paintings to help decorate their houses for the holidays. I had recently seen a chalkboard style piece with these lyrics - and then a flashbulb went off - and I remembered these paintings I did last winter inspired by Elsie's paintings on A Beautiful Mess. A couple of hours spent watching some old Buffy episodes, and I had a two colorful gifts for two of my favorite ladies. See below for how my sister used it for decorating at her house warming party. And you can visit A Beautiful Mess if you want some guidance in how to make your own. I'm thinking of making one for the winter because that's when I'll really need some cheer in our apartment. My mom suggested part of a Robert Frost poem. I love that idea! I'll be sure to share if I end up creating one.
I wanted to share a few of my favorite posts from last Christmas. Revisiting the old pictures and posts make me smile - which means it was post worthy for me. First - this amazing picture of Pedro where he looks so festive ... and so miserable. This year I'll have to find an outfit for Diego since he'll wear costumes a lot more readily than his brother. 2. Some of the beautiful cookies my friends and I baked at our Christmas cookie baking/exchange party last year. This year's is schedule for next week and I.cannot.wait. I'll probably be busting out my snowball recipe again. 3. Last year's Christmas card with one of my favorite wedding photos. This year's will include a Europe photo and a more prominant photo of our pups. I'm excited to share a picture of it with you next week. 4. My top five favorite Christmas movies. Which reminds me that I really need to get to watching these soon. 5. My favorite Christmas book: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. 6. One of my favorite Christmas gifts in recent memory: a family recipe book. My sister copied all of my mom's dessert recipes and compiled them in a book for me. I love that I can see the recipes written in the original handwriting. I have a feeling that will only become more meaningful as time goes on. 7. And last but not least: last year's Christmas tree. We don't have a tree yet, but I've still got high hopes we'll get one in our apartment before the end of the season. And then we'll decorate it with lights and ornaments and then we'll eat a whole roll of Toll House cookie dough as fast we can and then...we'll snuggle.
This Christmas season, Paul and I will be going on twelve special "dates of Christmas." The dates will be Christmas themed (obviously), pretty simple, and will give us a chance to spend time together during a busy season. When I saw the idea on A Beautiful Mess, I asked Paul if he was interested, and he came up with a few ideas. We decided to each come up with six dates since we both enjoy planning things for each other. My ideas include: going out for hot cocoa at a local coffee shop, watch Charlie Brown (our favorite Christmas movie), take a Christmas light drive, go see a movie, put the Christmas tree, go ice skating, write our Christmas cards, make a Christmas play list, buy stocking stuffers for the pups. See how simple those dates are? Many are things we probably would have done anyway, but this will make them even more fun because they'll be "dates of Christmas" - which automatically makes them awesome. I'm especially excited to take some Mary-Paul time while we're in our home towns (St. Louis and Portland) for the holidays. I love spending time with my family and friends, but it's also really nice to have just-the-two-of-us time in our home cities. The day after Thanksgiving (the start of the Christmas season in my mind), Paul and I got linner (lunch-dinner) at Sasha's in St. Louis. Paul said it didn't count as a "date of Christmas" because it wasn't December, but I'm considering it our first date of Christmas. Does it count as a date if only one of you thinks it was one? I think I just had a flashback to my pre-Paul dating days. Let's say it counts if we're not able to get all twelve dates in before the beginning of January - or maybe January still counts as Christmas season? I think I'm making this more confusing than it needs to be. Sasha's: congratulations. You were the site of our first date of Christmas 2013. What would you do on your twelve dates of Christmas? I found the idea for the twelve dates of Christmas from Elsie at A Beautiful Mess, who got the idea from Naomi at Rockstar Diaries, who got the idea from Marci. Did you get all that? There's just so much Christmas love in the blogosphere.
delicious pie brought all the way from Wisconsin... a houseful of adorable pups... a table set for a feast...(photo by my cousin Josie Meeks) time for painting while the turkey baked...(photo by Paul) this guy and his Movember facial hair... rolls...mmm... seeing Mom and Dad hosting Thanksgiving in their new kitchen... spending Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Paul and my family - and getting to see moments like this... my cousin's mad photography skillz... enjoying a meal that left everybody full, tired, and happy.
How was your Thanksgiving? Hope your day was filled with lots of wonderful people, food, pie and just a moderate amount of football! Off to help my sister prepare for her housewarming party and enjoy some more time with friends and family. Hope you have a fabulous holiday weekend.
Paul and I spent Easter in Milwaukee this year (the life of being married to a nurse - a life of a spouse who has to work holidays). Luckily, we have a great Milwaukee family we could celebrate the holiday with! Being in Milwaukee for Easter meant we had a chance to attend Easter services at our church, which were so energizing and were such wonderful celebrations of community. The Spanish and Gospel choirs came together and played some fantabulous music. On Easter Sunday, we got together with friends for a late brunch and enjoyed some DELICIOUS home cooked food. Seriously, we went all out. Included on the menu were these cinnamon rolls, my first attempt at making them from scratch. I'm happy to say they turned out really well. Check out America's Test Kitchen for the recipe. Mouth watering yet? I also shared my first quiche attempt! I replaced the cream and some of the cheese with actual cream cheese and thought it turned out well. I added vegetarian sausage to the top for extra taste (and because I'm a sucker for vegetarian sausage). And what brunch is complete without a tasty mimosa? We made ours with fresh squeezed orange juice and the champagne of champagnes: Andre's. Also on the brunch menu: crepes with nutella and whipped cream, spinach caserole, and fruit salad. YUMMAY. And since this brunch post has focused almost entirely on food, how about I add a picture of my other favorite post topic? PEDRO! How adorable is that beagle? Answer: too adorable.
Hope you had a great weekend! My St. Patrick's Day involved some delicious "Irish car bomb" cupcakes and Irish soda bread (recipes found thanks to Mom and Mary Ellen!), a tea and smoothie date, and some nice time with our St. Francis community. I think I've said "we're so lucky" about a dozen times this week to Paul. We have so much love (and so many delicious baked goods) in our lives. Must be the luck of the Irish!
I am shamelessly in love with this holiday. A whole day dedicated to telling people you love and care about them? Sounds good to me! It might be commercial, but what holiday isn't nowadays? I think it's all what you make it. When I was in high school without a boyfriend (the ultimate Valentine's Day hating combination), I decided I would embrace the holiday as a day to tell all the people besides my non-existent boyfriend how much I love them. This was before the invention of Galentine's Day, but I still feel that way about Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day clebrations can be as diverse and complicated as the different ways we experience love. I have one coworker who is spending Valentine's Day with her uncle who lost his wife in a tragic accident a few years ago. Another coworker had a cake today to celebrate the finalizing of her divorce proceedings - which had been going on for two years. She shared this morning how blessed she is to have such wonderful people in her life who helped her get through all the difficulties of losing her husband. Loves comes in all shapes and sizes. In honor of this wonderful holiday, here's a little present from me to you: a love mix! Hope you enjoy and hope you have a love filled day! Valentine's Day playlist
1. Simple Song, The Shins, love's such a delicate thing that we do, with nothing to prove 2. Kiss to Build a Dream On, Louis Armstrong, sweetheart, I ask no more than this 3. You Belong to Me, Carla Bruni, see the market place in old Algiers, send me photographs and souveniers 4. Far Away, Ingrid Michaelson, I will bear three girls all with strawberry curls, little Ella and Nelly and Faye 5. This Must Be the Place, Talking Heads, home is where I want to be, but I guess I'm already there 6. I Can't Make You Love Me, Bon Iver, you can't make your heart feel something it won't 7. Fidelity, Regina Spektor, by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the sounds I hear in my mind 8. Gray or Blue, Jaymay, I'm remembering you singing and bringing you back to life 9. Business Time, Flight of the Conchords, but Wednesday we make sweet weekly love 10. Taxi, Harry Chapin, through the too many miles and the too little smiles, I still remember you 11. Reasons to Love You, Meiko, take my hand and let's dance 12. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler, every now and then I get a little bit restless, and I dreamof something wild 13. Sea of Love, Cat Power, I wanna tell you how much I love you 14. Our House, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, you put the flowers in the vase that you bought today 15. Let's Stay Together, Al Green whether times are good or bad or happy or sad If you were trying to find music to help you ignore Valentine's Day, check out this little treat from All Songs Considered. |