Category Archives: Holiday Fun

Day 143: V-Day, Married Style

I woke up this morning to a card next to my phone with my name on it. It was lovely and all about being married, partners. The hubs left right before I got up and I was in a daze, so I did not even notice him leaving the card. Thus the sweet start to our first married Valentine’s Day.

The plan was always that he would cook a surprise and I would take care of dessert. To me, this meant “buy something cuz I’ll be in the kitchen.” On the way home today, I picked up a 6″ flowerless chocolate cake (from Whole Foods). My responsibilities done, I proceeded to read the valentines we had received in the mail–one from my parents and one from my grandmother–and watch Kourtney and Kim Take Miami until I was summoned to the table.

Placed in front of me was this:

20130214-190850.jpgThat’s a chicken pot pie and a kale salad with almonds and a strawberry vinaigrette dressing. DELICIOUS. He even bought new dishes to make and serve this dish that he knows is a favorite of mine.

We also enjoyed some lovely champagne, Laurent Perrier, a brand we’ve never tried but it is also DELICIOUS.

20130214-191424.jpgAfter a much needed food rest, we then tackled this:

20130214-204053.jpgOur first married Valentine’s Day was quiet and lovely. It was all fun, but I would say making the decision to have a quiet evening in (vs. the two more extravagant Valentine’s Days we’ve had in the past) was the most fun. And DELICIOUS.

Day 98: New Year New Fun

2013 begins in central time in less than an hour and a half, and the hubs and I are enjoying a quiet night at home. We have champagne, chocolate, cards and all the New Year’s Eve episodes of Friends on Nick at Night.

Our resolution list may look a little cliche but we really do need to work on eating better and getting more exercise. Doing something on our bucket list will be the biggest challenge but I figure we better start checking things off as soon as possible. No better time than 2013.

Happy New Year!

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Day 93: Coming Home

The hubs and I drove back from our holiday travels today. We had great visits with both his family and mine but it always feels like it isn’t long enough. Even so, when I got home (because I went straight from relaxing time with family to stressful day at work) I was SO glad to be here.

I came in like a storm, hurtling coats and shoes in crazy directions, headed right for the lovely meal the hubs spent the afternoon cooking (turkey meatloaf with mushroom, zucchini and red pepper mixed in and a side of roasted brussel sprouts), inhaled it and proceeded to get ready for bed at 8:30pm. I plan to spend the rest of the night lounging on our cozy sectional cuddled in my new furry blanket watching Project Runway Allstars with Elphie. Man, it’s good to be home.

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Day 91: Christmas Eve Cranium

On Christmas Eve, my family usually spends the day at my grandmother’s to exchange gifts and the evening at home playing games and watching movies. When we were younger (and unmarried) my sister and I would exchange our gifts to each other before heading to bed, in the same room, to wait for Santa. Now that we are older, we wait until Christmas morning to open all the gifts, and my sister sleeps at her own house. Even so, we continue to keep these traditions that we love. There were so many great fun things that happened today, the whole day felt like a guilty pleasure. Highlights include giving my grandmother the photo book we made for her, eating my dad’s homemade chicken pot and pie and playing Cranium.

Cranium was a new game for most of my family but they took to it pretty well. The best part of the game, though, was a drawing clue for both teams where the drawers had to keep their eyes closed. My dad drew for his team and my brother-in-law for mine. They drew and drew and drew while we guessed things like sleeping, snoring, lullaby, high jump, falling. Neither team could guess it, so after a few minutes of, “Draw something different! Sleeping, snoring, singing!” we let them open their eyes. Magician, magic, trick, elevator. We still couldn’t get it until finally my sister yelled out “LIMBO!” And we all couldn’t stop laughing about how long it took and how hard it was. It was a really great, funny moment in the midst of an already wonderful day. And I’m trying to appreciate those smaller moments during a holiday that could be all about how fun it is to get presents and eat. Though getting presents and eating is pretty awesome too.