A Busy and Productive Weekend

This weekend was a very busy and productive one!  We are moving this weekend so most of the weekend was spent packing.  Dave has done most of the packing while I have been doing schoolwork and finishing up our Christmas cards.  I did go through all of my clothes, shoes and bags and am donating a TON!  Since we are downsizing a bit, we thought it would be a great idea to get rid of things we don't use or need anymore.  As if we didn't need anything else on our plate, our car decided to die on Saturday.  Luckily it's being fixed now (and I got to take good 'ol public transportation to work today), but it looks like we will be buying a new car pretty soon.  This will be our first big purchase together, which is kind of exciting! 

Hopefully, the rest of the week is less eventful and our move goes smoothly.  Luckily my mom is coming up on Thursday to help us finish packing and help us organize our new place!  We have tickets to the Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it.  This was my anniversary gift from Dave and I've been counting down the days - it will be my first time visiting the Kennedy Center!

Image courtesy of Ballet West:  The Nutcracker

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Hard to believe it's December.  Does this mean I can mail out our Christmas cards now?!?! :)

Thanksgiving Recap

So, my Thanksgiving break didn't go as planned but there were some definite goods times.

First...THE BAD

 1.  Horrendous traffic into the city on Wednesday...NEVER traveling the Wednesday before Thanksgiving EVER again.
2.  Did not go to the parade due to how stressed out I got because of Wednesday's trip.
3.  Got food poisioning which was AWFUL!  (stupid deli wrap! :(  )
4.  Missed my parents and sister

Me at the High Line!

The GOOOOD

1.  I have a wonderful brother-in-law who got us a car, through Uber, to get us out of the city on Wednesday night.
2. Drinks and girl talk on Wednesday night
3.  Soccer game on Thursday morning (even if I was horrible)
4.  Errands and pie making with Casey
5.  Fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with family!
6.  A game of Celebrity
7.  A trip into NYC!
8.  Being surrounded by family who genuinely care about me
9.  Food poisoning = not gaining an ounce over break!

Thankful

As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm reminded of how lucky I am for what I have and the wonderful life I have been blessed with.  Here is a list of things I am thankful for:

1.  My health
2.  My husband, who loves me with his whole heart and is ALWAYS there for me.  He makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.
3.  My parents - they love me uncondtitionaly and support me with everything I do.  They are always there for me and I love them more than words can say.  I am truly lucky to have such amazing, selfless parents who would do anything for me and my sister..
4.  My sister - we might not always get along, but I love her and am so lucky to call her my sister.  I love you, Allie!
5.  My new family - I'm so happy to be a part of the O'Brien family - you guys have made me feel so welcomed and I am so lucky to have married into such a fun and loving family.  I love you guys!
6.  My friends, old and new; I am so lucky to call you my friends.  Thanks for always being there for me.
7.  The Dunns - who have taken Winnie into their home with open arms and are treating her like a princess.  She is one lucky pup!
8.  My dad's new job - hopefully one that will make him happy and enjoy what he is doing

This list could go on forever...I am so lucky for the life I have and sometimes need to stop and remind myself how lucky I truly am.  I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving spent with family and friends.  Hopefully you will see Dave and me on t.v. during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! ;)

Happiness Is...

Things that are making me happy these days:

<Sunday morning coffee dates with Dave>

<Boot weather>

<Baking with Dave!  Here is our yummy pumpkin granola!>

<Pumpkin EVERYTHING>

<A night of baking and drinking with my love>

<Picnicking >

<My new iPhone case!  Love being a Mrs!!!>

<Caramel apples>

<Our yearly apple pick!>

<Fun nail polish>

<Fro-yo with colored sprinkles is a MUST!!>

<Wine with a view with my better half!>

What makes you happy?  Are you enjoying all the festivities as much as I am?

The Sweetest Thing

This morning when I woke up for my run I kissed Dave goodbye and wished him safe travels since he was heading to Chicago for work. I wasn't going to be back in time to see him before he left so I gave him the biggest hug and kiss.

On my way home from my run I see Dave standing at the corner in his suit with his suitcase. He said he had to see me one more time before he left. This simply made my heart melt! He is always doing the sweetest things for me and this is exactly what I needed after a stressful few days!

Thank you Dave for making my morning and more importantly making my life so great! I love you with all of my heart!!

The love of my life!

Baking Extravaganza (Thanks Pinterest!)

Dave's good friend, Jared, moved to the area this past week.  He was coming over on Sunday to watch the Patriot's game with Dave so I decided I would make him some yummy treats to welcome him to the area.  I got most of my cookie ideas from my Pinterest board.

A little drinking & baking with my hunny! 

 

The best sous-chef!

First I made the dough for sand dollar cookies from the recipe I found here since it had to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours (I ended up refrigerating it over night.)  Next it was onto the pumpkin snicker-doodle cookies.  This dough needed to refrigerate for at least an hour so while the dough was cooling, I decided to whip up a batch of classic chocolate chip cookies.  Dave was a tremendous help throughout the whole process by measuring out ingredients, cleaning up after me and keeping me company.  It was such a fun night of baking together.  Once we were done with the chocolate chip cookies, it was time to bake the pumpkin snicker-doodle cookies.  Before I could put them in the oven, I had to roll the dough into little balls and dip the balls into a cinnamon sugar mixture.  After that, I took a small wine glass and rinsed the rim with water then dipped the rim into the sugar mixture.  I took the bottom of the glass and pressed down on the dough to form flat cookies.  Once I finished this process it was time to put the cookies in the oven.  The cookies made our home smell like fall...it was fabulous. 

Flattening the pumpkin cookies

Pre-bake

Delicious pumpkin snicker-doodle cookies

Sunday morning we finished making the sand dollar cookies.  These cookies were not the easiest cookies to make because it involved trying to find the perfect almond shapes and pressing them into the cookie deep enough that they would stay put but not hard enough that they would break.  The sand dollar cookies tasted ok, but I prefer my Martha Stewart snicker-doodles any day!

Sand dollar cookies - NOT worth the effort! :)

Jared's goodies! :)

The next task for the cookies was how was I going to give them to Jared.  I had seen on Pinterest a wrapped Pringles jar to put your baked cookies in.  I picked up some wrapping paper from The Container Store, along with some tins and gift tags.  I bought some Pringles, something we never have in the house, took out the Pringles and put them in a Ziploc bag and cleaned out the Pringles container.  After I dried it, I wrapped it with wrapping paper, made a gift tag and tied it onto the container.  I put the other cookies in separate tins that we also picked up at the Container Store.  It was such a fun project that I got to do with my husband.  I hope Jared enjoys his cookies and his new home!

A Vineyard Wedding

This past weekend was spent in New Jersey celebrating the marriage of my beautiful cousin, Lauren, and her now HUSBAND, Neil.  My parents came up to our place on Thursday and we brought them to Founding Farmers for a delicious meal.  My dad absolutely LOVED their cinnamon sugar popcorn and the chocolate mouse we had for dessert!  After dinner we took a stroll by the White House so my mom could get a couple pictures.

At Founding Farmers

My parents after dinner

The next day we drove up to New Jersey, stopping in Philadelphia to pick up my sister from the airport since she was flying in from Austin, TX.  That night was the rehearsal dinner which was at a lovely Italian restaurant.  There was lots of great food and even better company.  It was a great night to start off the wedding weekend!

The beautiful bride walking down the aisle with her dad

The wedding started at 7pm on Sunday and it was at a beautiful winery.; the view was breathtaking.  Lauren looked absolutely STUNNING and Neil was just as handsome.  I'm so happy for them; they are truly the perfect couple.  We had such a fantastic night celebrating, dancing and photo-boothing.  Thank you Lauren and Neil for letting us be a part of your *special* day!

At dinner!

Photo-booth fun!

It was such a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and love!  Now it's back to reality - taxes and schoolwork! :(