Sunday, November 28, 2010

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Time for a little hello/goodybe. Goodbye to....

Turkeys

Pilgrims and pumpkins

Warm fall foliage

and gorgeous gourds!

Hello to...

Our humble little Christmas tree


Christmas books to read to Beezie on cool winter nights--I've been collecting these for over 5 years now.

Frosted cranberry wreaths


Advent calendars and nutcrackers


Snowman mugs and plates


Our Nativity

A new ornament for our little lady


My Christmas village

And--the best part--little red and white reindeer jammies!! Here's our Little Lovekin getting into the holiday spirit!



This is her new trick--standing. She insists on standing up now, especially when we're burping her. I swear this kid is going to be running by month 4.

We're ready for Santa. Bring on the holiday season!

Giving Thanks

Who knew last Thanksgiving we would have a 2 month old bundle 'o' joy?? Not this lady! I'm thankful that I get to rock a bye with this baby all the time!

Especially when I get adorable smiles like this! We are so grateful and thankful for Blakely!

As we keep stating, we are tired peeps. We decided that doing a potluck Thanksgiving spread was the best option possible. We did the turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn pudding, cornbread stuffing, and gluten free pies. Our friends brought the rest.

I was totally proud of my bird. We have always smoked our turkeys, so this was my first year doing the bird. I was so excited by the prospect that I went out and bought a sweet Calphalon roaster to ensure a proper bird. It didn't disappoint. I'm in love with that pan, and I'm dying to roast a rack of lamb or some other fancy offering just so I can use it!

Lancer carved the bird, and we dug in.

Turns out the bird was as tasty as it looked--we made quick work of that baby.

It was a fun and relaxing day with friends and our little family


As always, my crazy friends and I did Black Friday. I love the crowds, the pushy shoppers, the rock bottom prices....the crazier the better. It's like an insane concert, but I get to come home with booty. This year we outdid ourselves and got up at 4 AM to shop. We hit Target by 5 because Hayley really wanted to get Toy Story 3 for $13. We had to hear about it all.week.long.

We entertained the crowds with singing and dancing. They looked at us like we were insane. Life really isn't like it is on Glee afterall!

After Target, we hit Kohl's. I told Whitney to put the gross footie on her face and pretend to rob the place. She was so tired she agreed, and then we both got in on the robbery action.



After Kohl's, we hit up the Great Mall in Milpitas. It's kind of a ghetto dive, but there were great deals to be had.

Like this hat!! Hayley decided that she wanted to be the Unsinkable Molly Brown. It's a solid look.

Look what Whitney did to this boot aisle in a shopping frenzy. For shame.

I cleaned up at Carter's. I bought Beezie's 6 month old fleece jammers, and a bunch of tops and leggings. They're Christmas gifts because she's too little to know that clothes are a crappy gift. I can probably run this con until she's about 3.

I also cleaned up at The Children's Place. The store was organized chaos. The hem of some pants brushed up on a lady's forehead, and she accused me of "hitting her in the head." I almost threw down with her--Black Friday is a contact sport. Besides my almost brush with the law, I bought a ton of cute tops, leggings, and shorts for next summer. I spent about $50 and got $400 worth of clothing.

I also got this cute fleece suit for the cold weather we've been having. It's freezing!! I'm about to bust out a little "Brrr...it's cold in here! There must be some Torro's in the atmosphere!!"



Gobble Gobble everyone!

Monday, November 15, 2010

The End of an Era.....Or Is It?

For the last 22 years, I have had one goal that superseded all other goals.

For this Girl


To meet this Man


And on July 1st, 2011 in LA it will happen!!!!!!!!!!

Lancer gifted me with the I Love All Access 5 Star package that includes:
  • Seats in the first 10 rows
  • Pre-show party
  • Exclusive NKOTB gift bag
  • Early hassle-free entrance to venue
  • Crowd-free merchandise shopping
  • NKOTB souvenir laminate
  • Parking (where available)
  • On-site ILAA host
And...... REAL FACETIME WITH DONNIE WAHLBERG AT A MEET AND GREET!!!!

I can't believe it's actually happening. This may actually cause me to come up with newer, more meaningful goals. Or, it will just fan the flames and make me even crazier.

I'm sad Eriika isn't here to join me, or at least chat about how amazing it's going to be. I promised her if I met Jordan I would give him a little squeeze for her. I better pay up on this one, or she will haunt me. Seriously, folks, she will haunt me.


Donnie has no idea what's coming. He should be so excited.

PS...I love that man.

PSS...I really, really do!

PSSS...I meant Lance, people. Settle down!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sushi O Sushi

Went to sushi with the Le Bebe tonight. We dined with an American, an Irish lass, an Italian gent, and a German lady. That sounds like the start of a good joke, but it's not. Well, it may be--but in this case, it's not.


In any case, B not only learned how to use chopsticks...



...she took the Suhi O Sushi challenge, and ate a whole chunk of wasabi.


What did your (less impressive) baby do today?

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Groundhog Day

Blakely is now 6 weeks old. It seems like one long, continuous day. Make that one long, continuous night. You know the drill.

Eat


Burp


Sleep


Snuggle and play with Poppa


Bathe


Lay around and look adorable


To break up the routine, we've mixed it up with the following:

Modeling baby spa wear

Heading out to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose

Baking GF pumpkin chocolate chip quick bread


Here's the recipe

1 box of GF Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
1/2 cup softened butter
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 9x5-inch or 8x4-inch loaf pan with shortening.
  2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, butter and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into pan.
  3. Bake 9-inch loaf 55 to 60 minutes, 8-inch loaf 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Place sheet of foil over loaf to prevent overbrowning.) Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before slicing.
Walks in the crisp fall weather


Heading to Target to do a little shopping


Visit with friends

Life.is.good.