Fall Fun

Happy Monday! Isn't Monday so much better when it is a holiday?

We had beautiful weather here in Upstate this weekend. Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, it still looks like fall up here. I took some pretty pictures of the leaves because they are just starting to change. We also took a trip to the local pumpkin place and picked up pumpkins, mums, cider, and donuts. I decorated the house, including the mantle. It's a little heavy on the orange, but this way I can leave it up through November. I just need to switch out the witch with something Thanksgiving themed. Shouldn't be too hard for this decorating novice.





It was a really great weekend! I am feeling refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Hope you are feeling the same way!

A Peak into Our Home

Last week Lacey participated in a Holiday Homes Tour, and although I missed the chance to formally participate, I thought I would still give you a glimpse into our home.

Here is the holiday wreath that I made a few weeks ago. When I bought the ribbon I didn't realize that it was so narrow and it was really difficult making a big bow. I don't love how the wreath turned out, but it still looked pretty enough to hang on the door. I still have ribbon left over so I may redo the bow next year.


Here is our living room. This was the first year we bought a real tree, and as I mentioned here, it was quite an adventure getting it home. We also ordered swag for our fireplace from the Boy Scout troop at our church. I changed out the generic red bow with the polka dot ribbon to tie into my polka dot Christmas theme.




I bought these flowers two weeks ago at Safeway and can't believe they are still alive. There originally were red roses in the bunch, but they died after a few days, so I just pulled them out since the other stuff still looked pretty!


We also have a fireplace in the second bedroom so we hung our first stockings (created with glitter glue just like Lacey!) and put lights on our decorative tree.


I hope you enjoyed a peak into our home! My district canceled school for today and Wednesday so we are headed back to NY today instead of Christmas Eve. Yay!

Christmas is Almost Here!

Well what a week it has been. I have been so busy with Christmas parties and various Christmas related activities that I didn't get a chance to post about the many things that have been happening around here. Of course now I can't remember everything I wanted to post about, and since I am off today thanks to the two million inches of snow that fell over the weekend, I don't really feel like racking my brain right now. So I'll just fill you in on a few highlights....

On Wednesday I got together with my favorite blog friends turned real life friends, Landlocked Mermaid, Ms. Mindless, and Pink Pearls and Muddy Sneakers. We had a small gift exchange and among other awesome things, Ms. Mindless gave me this totally over the top bow headband. What do you think?


I wanted to wear it to work, but was too chicken. I may try and wear it on New Year's. I could pull it off then, right?

On Friday I met up with one of my BFF's from high school. She is currently a grad student at Temple, but will be in the DC area for a few months while she is on internship. I am so excited! We had dinner at a hole in the wall Italian restaurant around the corner and then came home and drank wine by the fire since it began snowing while we were at dinner. It was so nice to catch up and chat about how much we have changed over the years. There is just something about being with a friend that has known you forever that is comforting.

Because of the storm she ended up spending the night, but luckily was able to make it back to Maryland Saturday morning before the storm really kicked in. Here is what it looked like when we first woke up:

And here is what it looked like a few hours later:

Insane! We haven't seen a snowstorm like this since we moved from New York, so it was quite fun to experience it again. We spent most of the day cuddled up inside, but went on a couple walks to curb our cabin fever. In the afternoon we walked down to E. Capitol St. and down to the Capitol, which was quite a scene. There were tons of people in the middle of the street, pulling kids in sleds, cross country skiing, and walking in snowshoes. Something about seeing everyone out there was so amazing. I took a bunch of videos, but most of them are quite shaky since we were walking too. Note to self: when taking video....stand still.

Yesterday I went around the corner to Landlocked Mermaid's house where we baked 3 batches of chocolate chip cookies. We were baking machines. LM packaged her cookies in monogrammed baking boxes and even sent a pretty box home with me. This is what they looked like:

Aren't they so pretty!? I came home and put my box on the dining room table. BIG MISTAKE. We went to dinner later last night with another couple and when we returned home this is what we saw:


I about had a heart attack. There were probably 6-8 chocolate chip cookies in there! Kona looked more guilty than sick so we jumped online to see if we needed to take her to the emergency vet. The websites we found said semisweet chocolate is toxic to a 50 pound dog when they ingest 15 ounces. Kona is 22 pounds so we figured about 7 ounces would be toxic for her. A full bag of semisweet chocolate is 12 ounces and that makes about 60 cookies so I don't think she had a toxic dose. We are just waiting for her to get it all out of her system so I can stop freaking out! If you are the praying kind, please pray for her to get well soon!

If they clean up the roads I will be back at work tomorrow and Wednesday and then we are heading back to NY on Christmas Eve. I hope to post a couple more times before Christmas, but I never know how life is going to pan out so if I don't make it back...Merry Christmas!

Jingle Jammies

Have you seen the Old Navy commercial where they advertise "Jingle Jammies"? If not, you can watch it on You Tube here.

Now substitute "Jingle Jammies" for "Single Ladies" in the song by Beyonce and you know what has been repeating over and over in my head since Saturday.

You're welcome.

And it wasn't me that first started singing this.....it was the other person in our household! Yikes.

Busiest Week Ever!

I can probably count on one hand the hours I spent home and awake this past week. Okay, maybe not one hand, but definitely two. Monday was the only night I didn't have something! It was the busiest week I have had in a long, long time....but it was totally worth it.

On Tuesday I worked my normal 7.5 hours, had cheer practice for 2 hours, came home to take Kona out, and then headed to a restaurant to meet with some girls to discuss Olive Kitteridge. Have you read the book? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts. I loved the book, but didn't like the story. Does that make sense? I don't want to give it away if you haven't read the book, but a bunch of the things about the story didn't sit right with me. However, the book is very well written and is presented as short stories, which I liked.

Wednesday felt like the longest day of my life. We hosted our first home basketball game, so after I work I had to supervise my girls in study hall and then prepare them for the game. The were so giddy and nervous; it was adorable. They did a great job considering it was the first game. The game was supposed to start at 5, but didn't actually start until 5:30, so I didn't get home until 7. That is a 12 hour workday! I don't know how those of you that regularly work 12 hour days do it! I was so tempted to stop and pick something up, but knew that we had food waiting to be cooked in the refrigerator. When I arrived home I cooked a couple steaks, some mushrooms, and broccoli, quickly ate, then patted myself on the back and promptly headed to bed.

On Thursday I left work a few minutes early so that we could get in line for the National Christmas Tree Lighting. Last month AJ and I both entered the lottery for tickets to the event and we luckily scored two seated tickets!

The event was hosted by Randy Jackson (who was broadcasting about 20 feet ahead of us) and included performances by Jordin Sparks, Sheryl Crow, Common and the PS 22 chorus, Celtic Woman, and a few other people. President Obama gave a Christmas message, Mrs. Obama read The Night Before Christmas, and Santa and Mrs. Claus made a quick cameo too. Here is video of the tree lighting!




By Friday I was pretty much spent, but a teacher at my school gave me tickets for the opening night of Zoolights at the National Zoo.

I wanted to go last year so I was actually really excited when she offered me the tickets. It was a lot of fun and good exercise so I am really glad we went. Ever punctual, we were able to see the opening ceremony which included "dancing lights". We of course videoed the dancing lights, but that video is 3 and a half minutes long and I am not about to try and upload that to blogger. If we are facebook friends you can see it on my page there. It is really neat....the lights flash with the music (obviously I am easily amused).


Yesterday morning I headed back to school at 7 am. I wanted to cry when the alarm went off. The three other coaches and I took the cheer girls to see a cheer competition out in Maryland and it started at 8 am. It was a great experience for the girls though and I think it motivated them to get their booties in gear. On the way home from the competition it started snowing! I came home, put on my sweatpants and did not move off the couch for the rest of the day. It was glorious.

Today we went to church, hit up the grocery store, and got our Christmas tree. Of course, getting our tree wasn't without a mishap. I refused to put the tree in my car (it probably wouldn't have fit anyway), so we decided to tie it to the roof. Everyone in the parking lot was doing it! I asked AJ if he knew how to go about this, and he assured me that he did. I followed his directions, put all the windows down and started tying that sucker down. However, we ran into a little problem. Let's look at this picture.....


Can you tell what's wrong here? No? Us either. Until we tried to get into the car. Yes, we tied the doors shut! I wanted to untie everything and start over, but AJ refused....so we CLIMBED THROUGH THE WINDOWS in the middle of The Home Depot parking lot on a busy Sunday morning. Obviously I took video of this!



Ignore my hyena laugh, please. Yes, this is my life.

Hold the Holiday Cheer

After church tonight we headed to Uno Pizzeria for dinner. They were playing Christmas music inside the restaurant! I know that Christmas is right around the corner, but I really think we should wait until Thanksgiving is over to start celebrating.

I know, I know...this kind of makes me a hypocrite considering that I have already begun Christmas shopping, but I'm talking outright celebration, not Christmas preparations.

Don't get me wrong, I plan on watching Elf Thursday night on USA (and probably Friday and Saturday night too) and I will put up our Christmas tree a week from tonight, but I just can't do anything until I have eaten my Thanksgiving dinner.

Does this make me a scrooge?

The Thanksgiving Plan

Next week AJ, Kona, and I are venturing up to the Poconos for Thanksgiving weekend. Last year we drove back to NY for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was just too much. This year we decided to rent a cabin with both sets of parents and meet half way. I am excited about being holed up in the woods for a few days, but am also freaking out about all 6 of us (and 2 dogs) spending 4 days together....crazy, right?

We hosted my parents, my brother, and AJ's parents for Thanksgiving in North Carolina two years ago and that was a success. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, the guys played golf while the ladies went shopping on Friday, we all went to the ECU football game on Saturday, and everyone parted ways on Sunday. However, our parents were in hotels, so we all had our own space and could part ways if need be.

Everyone gets along pretty well, but there are a few distinct differences between our families. My brother usually provides comic relief when things get tense or awkward, but he has to work and won't be joining us this year. I am hoping we can all get along and that there are no major issues. Otherwise we're all in for a loonnnng weekend.

Irish?

I am definitely Irish.

I've got the Irish eyes to prove it.



But, I hate corned beef and cabbage. What am I supposed to eat today? I guess potatoes?

Actually, I'm craving a Shamrock Shake. Naughty Irish girl!

Weekend Recap

Since we knew my parents would be here for Valentine's Day, Alson and I exchanged gifts earlier this week. He surprised me with a dozen red roses on Thursday and I gave him Yours & Mine (it was on super sale at CVS a few weeks ago) last weekend. I also got breakfast in bed everyday last week! Nothing fancy, just my favorites (cereal, English muffin with PB, Eggo's), which made it extra special. I am definitely not a morning person so this really helped to start my day.

Why is it that long weekends fly by faster than normal weekends? My parents and their new doggy arrived around 6:30 on Friday night. Isn't Norman so sweet looking?


He has the cutest under bite! He is so good with pictures and does not need to be tricked into looking at the camera. Quite different than taking pictures of Kona!

After meeting Norman and getting settled we headed out for a bite to eat. We didn't have reservations because we weren't sure when my parents would arrive, so we walked around the area to find a place that wasn't packed. We ended up at a little pub on Connecticut; it was really yummy and laid back. Alson claimed the fish and chips rivaled ones he had in Dublin. I think that means we will be heading back there for more fish and chips.

On Saturday we spent the day at the dog park, Whole Foods, and just hanging out in our apartment. After some shopping, Wii, naps, and reading we got ready and headed to Clyde's at Gallery Place for dinner. It was okay, nothing to rave about, but since we had to get last minute reservations (my parents didn't decide they were visiting until last week) we didn't have many restaurants to choose from. Here are Alson and I before dinner. We need some sun (or bronzer)!


Yesterday we ate breakfast at a restaurant around the corner and hit up the farmer's market before my parents headed back to NY. After that Alson and I lounged around and enjoyed some quality time with Kona. I think she was jealous of all the attention Norman was getting!

Today Alson and I thought it would be fun to rearrange our bedroom because we are getting a new mattress this week. We moved ALL of our stuff, including the furniture, into our living room and then vaccumed and dusted the nooks and crannies we don't get to on a weekly (monthly?) basis. After attempting to rearrange we determined it wasn't possible to set up our bedroom any other way and accepted defeat by putting everything back where it was initially positioned. Ugh. At least we cleaned? This really made us realize we DO NOT have enough space and definitely would like to move into a bigger apartment. We of course have to wait and see where/if I get a job, but hopefully we can move out to the Alexandria area. I am looking forward to closet space and dog friendly establishments! Let's hope the stimulus plan creates more jobs in the public schools!

It was so nice to have today off and hopefully this week will fly by as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will....we have two birthdays to celebrate and mock trial to prepare for in our house. Busy busy!

Hope you all had a fun and exciting weekend as well!

Home

We finally returned home from our two week trek in New York. Although it was great to see our families and do all the holiday related things, I was definitely ready to leave. There is nothing quite like spending some alone time with MY little family in front of the fireplace in our tiny apartment (and yes, I am being serious..even about loving our little hole in the wall). And sleeping in our own bed last night was the icing on the cake. It feels so good to be home!

However, going back to work and semester two of law school starting tomorrow are another story! I must go enjoy the last day we have together before all the craziness begins again.

Holiday Vacation

Happy holidays!

We ended up leaving DC the Saturday before Christmas so that we could avoid all the snow storms that were pounding the northeast. We arrived in NY fresh off the Friday storm that left everything blanketed in beautiful white snow. It snowed again that Sunday, adding to the already high piles. That snow has since melted as a result of a 50 degree heat wave from this past Saturday, but last night a new layer fell and all is white again. I have lots of pictures to share once we are back in DC.

As for what we have been doing....

We spent a few days at my parent's house, a couple nights at Alson's parent's house, a night visiting Alson's college roommate and his wife, and are now back at my parent's house. Busy busy! In between all our travels we have spent a lot of time reading, playing our new Wii games (on my parent's new Wii), learning Spanish (yay Rosetta Stone!), shopping, eating, sleeping, snuggling, and playing in the snow. So relaxing!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays as much as we are!

4th of July Welcome Party

Since today is the 4th of July, we are having a welcome party to celebrate the holiday and to kick off the wedding weekend for all our out of town guests (which is pretty much everyone). In honor of the great state of NC, this afternoon we will be having a southern style barbecue at a park in Pinehurst. Eastern North Carolina, where Alson and I recently lived while I was in grad school, is known for their barbecue.

Picture from North Carolina Travel

It is essentially pulled pork with a spicy vinegar sauce, and surprisingly, I like it. This will be the main dish for the picnic (and we will have chicken for those who may not like the barbecue) with all the "fixins" on the side (coleslaw, hush puppies, sweet tea, etc.).

Plus, since we are having an adults only reception, it gives all the kids who will be in town with their parents an event they can participate in...the park has a public pool, baseball fields, horseshoe pits, and a playground.

After the picnic we will enjoy the fireworks!