List & Comm: My Best of 2009

pic from flickr user LeArmoire.

LOVE New Years. It's tied with the 4th of July for my favorite holiday. But I think New Years is a smidge in the lead. Just a smidge!

My best times of 2009:
* Inauguration. Coldest, most exciting moment of the year.
* Going home for the Logan's wedding.
* Making and eating this bread pudding, it was a great Valentine's Day.
* Going to Easter Brunch at B. Smith's.
* VEGAS! Visiting my favorite babe and going to Cirque and dinner at Lawry's (limo ride!).
* When Keene & I watched Wall-E and had popcorn.
* Got my MacBook.
* Portland trip.
* Kayaking around Bainbridge.
* Visiting Court in B'ham.
* Going to Big Sky Country.
* Dinner on the deck.
* Going to NY: the dinner we had Itzocan, and seeing Shannon's play.
* Baltimore Visit.
* Thanksgiving weekend.
* Decorating our tree, the success of this pork tenderloin, and Christmas visit home!

What were some of your favorite moments of 2009?

Perfect New Years Eve Shoe

If I had $690 to burn, and a fabulous party to attend, I think these would be the PERFECT pair of heels. {Christian Louboutin Shoes}

BAH! Found the knockoffs though...I may have $55 to burn...
{knockoff on Endless}

More AOTD: Terry Border

My sister sent me this link to a fun series by Terry Border - "Bent Objects." I know that this one, "Paper Training" is gross, but I couldn't help it. Bean poops! HA!

AOTD: Pes

Sorry about being MIA! Y'know, holidays. Here's another cool video from Pez in the mean time:

It's my birthday, Bitches!!!

Wanna know the theme of my bday this year??? It's: "Still in my 20s"!!!! Because yeah, I've got one whole year left. Boo-ya!

Favorite things to do on my Birthday:
* Eat awesome food, usually something with steak
* Get dressed up
* Be with friends and family
* Yell "woooo" a lot
* Have some cocktails
* Sleep in

I think by the end of today I'll have all of them checked off my list! What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate your birfdays?

Having an Awesome Time

Finally got here! Whew! Dumb ole snow, didn't let it stop us though - got on one o' them flights and got ourselves home. Yay!

Here I am hagin' with my lady friends. Good times!
This morning we got up to watch the 2nd Dreamliner fly from the Strato Deck at the Future of Flight.

Took advantage of the family photo opp...
Got our usual "sisters" pic. Had to throw up that peace sign again, cuz we're watching AMERIC'N planes fly!

Snow Day Food

What to cook on a snow day? Freezer pork chops, (GRAVY - went a little overboard on that), freezer peas, and leftover decorative acorn squash from Thanksgiving. Ta-da!

So it snowed. Just a little bit.

We put on our boots today and walked down many snowy streets.

Lincoln park: dogs luvin' it and people playing capture the flag.

The fountain in front of P&C Market.

Awesome giant tree decs.

We mosey'd on down to Eastern Market. Only one jewelry vendor, the "tree" guys, and this fruit vendor made it out. Props to them!

Pretty.

Love this house.

This happened in about 15 hours.

Snow on balls.

My ridic outfit.

Bench! Not for sitting right now.

Our deck. There's about 2" more out there now since I took this picture. I hope we can still fly out on our now re-booked flight Monday morning. Cross your fingers for us!

List & Comm: Things I'm excited for this week!

Goin' to Seattle for Christmas week, people! Maybe I'll see you there? Hope so!

Just a few of the things I'm looking forward to...
1. Petting my dog, Mysty. Perhaps she will allow me a cuddle.
2. Celebrating STILL BEING IN MY 20s!!!
3. Being reunited with my car and freedom of transportation
4. Having a drink IN A BAR with my little sister
5. Holiday FOOD (tapas, xmas ham, breakfast casserole, DIP)
6. Holiday cocktails!
7. Hanging out with my friends (can't wait to see you guys!!!)
8. Ocean air, evergreen trees
9. Couch time at the parents' house
10. Not working - !!!

Aight kiddos, what are you excited about this coming week?

Gumdrop Garland, via Craft.

I love a pretty vanity.

I'm really looking forward to the day I can post my "before and after" pic of my vanity. Alas, I have not had the energy to go to buy all the supplies and pull that sucker out on my deck and start the whole spray-paint makeover project mess. Until then, I'm settling for the white christmas lights I have lining it, and lusting after a few of these great vanity nooks...{more on Desire to Inspire}

Every good vanity has a "pouf"!

Anything covered in velvet, satin, or glitter helps too :)

Chandelier: a vanity must.

Things I'm Dying to Make, Part II

Beautiful Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna from Adventures in Shaw.

Cookies n' Cream Fudge, from Elizabeth's Edible.

Golden Onion Pie from Macheesmo.

Simple Sauteed Cinnamon Apples from Heart of Light.

Braised Kale with Spaghetti and Chorizo from Arugula Files.

Champagne-poached Pears from Epicurious, and a Yule Log.
Handmade Irish Cream from Skiptomylou, and Chocolate Peppermint Bark from Pardon My Crumbs.

Things I'm Dying to Make, Part I

Add these to the list of holiday craft projects I gotta make some day:

Totes Vegetarian. Yup, I can do it.

*Almost* vegan. Huzzah! It seems impossible because I'm so not used to thinking of meals without meat as the main ingredient. This is spaghetti squash topped with parmesan, then sauteed spinach, mushrooms, red onions and roasted beets. Also low-carb! So proud.

The next night I put the leftovers with a can of crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste and added some italian spices. It turned into a "pink spag sauce" which tasted pretty darn good. This was also *almost* vegan until we realized our mistake of adding chicken stock to thin out the sauce. Oh well! I still can't believe how far we stretched this meal. We still have leftovers in the freezer!

List & Comm: Anxiety Cures

Hey all. We made it to Friday. I can't believe it. I can't believe I made it to work in 26 degree weather and I'm still alive. We are gonna make it! (repeat dramatic mantra, over and over). This week my anxiety has been creeping up on me. I hate that ole beast, givin' me stomach cramps and shakes and a perma-crinkle in my forehead. I don't think my anxiety has ever risen to a level that would need some meds, but I do think it wouldn't hurt for me to baby it a little more. I thought I'd brainstorm some of the things that help me take the edge off these days...

1. Being in pajamas.
2. Christmas music, or any music really.
3. Reading (helps me before bed).
4. Watching tv (obvs) - tv is "bad", I know. But it totally helps me zone out and decompress. I love my stories.
5. Crafting - things that take concentration but not too much. I'm thinking of making more snowflakes this weekend and turning them into a snowflake curtain.
6. Soft lighting.
7. Tea, coco, coffee - warm hot drinks.
8. Deep breaths.
9. Eating well - at the same time, comfort food can do wonders.
10. I admit, working out helps sometimes. Yesterday I was really missing "powersculpt" class.

Ok guys, I need some more tips! What are your ways of de-stressing?

Snowflake Curtain that I will de-stress with this weekend.

ps. Check out Annie's Hot Manse post from Lisbon!

I want to go to there.

What do you do with leftover stuffing?

When I asked myself this, I had no idea! Because honestly we've never had any stuffing leftover...it's mine and Court's favorite. But this year after Thanksgiving we had an extra bag of it, so we made a second batch a few days later. What to do with all that? Our old friend, pork tenderloin, saved the day. After pounding out the tenderloin to make it a little thinner, I lined stuffing down the middle and tied it up with string. Then I made a sauce with blackberry jam, orange juice, coca cola and brown sugar. I poured it over top, and then sprinkled some additional brown sugar on after that. In the oven at 350 for an hour, and ta-da! It turned out really good especially considering we came up with this recipe on the fly...

Corks to Fungi, DIY

Best excuse for mimosas, ever! After popping a few corks, I got to thinking...they were shaped a lot like little mushrooms. *Lightbulb*! So I painted 'em, and added a hook. They turned out so much better than I was expecting, and this project was practically free since I already had all the supplies.


Supplies you'll need:
*Champagne corks (start drinkin'!)
*Red & white acrylic paints
*Sponge brush
*Small paintbrush
*Wire (paperclips would work too)
*Pliers for cutting the wire

How-to:
Really simple - I painted the base or "stems" first with white, let it dry, then painted the caps with red, 2 coats each with the sponge brush. After all was dry I added the white polka dot details with a finer paintbrush. Then I made a hook by bending wire into a "U" shape (you could easily use paper clips if you don't have wire). I just pushed the hook into the top of the corks - I had to use a little force but they worked and ended up sticking in there really well.

Then add your ornament hook and enjoy your cute new "woodland" themed tree!

List & Comm: It's December!!!

Can you tell I'm feeling festive?

graham cracker mini gingerbread village via Epicute.

..............................................
*Favorite Holiday Things*
1. NOG
2. Garlands, red ribbons
3. Twinkle lights
4. Peppermint scnhapps with some cutesy-wootsey "ho cho"
(bonus points if you know what that's from)
5. It's a wonderful life, White Christmas, Holiday Inn
6. Christmas tree smell
7. Dressing up & getting away with wearing as many glittery things as possible
8. Chex mix, breakfast casserole Christmas morning
9. When dad puts wreaths on the cars
10. When Mysty plays in the snow and gets those funny "ice balls" all over her fur. Hilarious!

What are some of your favorites?

Google Zeitgeist 2009

Fastest Rising Google Searches in 2009

Why is this so wildly fascinating? Some of these are no surprise but some are like - whaaa? I thought it was interesting that "Voodoo Doughnuts" was #9 for fastest rising in Google Maps searches. Lots of people are on a quest for that bacon maple bar. I should warn them to go early since they may be all out and only have suggestive vegan ones left by noon...

You can also see top searches by city - and wow, Seattle really loves their sports teams.

AAAAAAAAAAAGH!

This is so cute. I'm D Y I N G, I love it. I know my mom is cringing because of the old school tinsel but I gotta say, any time anyone works miniatures, the color pink and glitter into something for Christmas - I am a fan. I love that it's an unconventional shape, too. I could see this project costing and taking much more time than originally thought. Worth it though! {tutorial on Cathie Filian's Blog}