last christmas i gave you my heart

every year, i find myself in denial over the holiday season.  like, it always feels like we JUST had christmas.  of course, it's also because i'm getting old and crotchety and time always flies by when all you want to do is to slow it down a little.  but really though, i totally bury my head in the sand in disbelief - and then i end up with post-christmas letdown when it's over.  because i couldn't get it through my thick head that it was time, and then it whizzed by before i could enjoy it.

but not this year.  oh, no.  this time, i decided i was going to embrace the yes-it's-already-here festivities wholeheartedly and really make the most out of these few precious weeks of holiday bliss.  usually, we don't get our tree until maybe a couple of weeks before christmas, and always during a week that the teen is home.  but because of how the days fell in the calendar for 2011, we found ourselves gearing up to pick out a noble fir on the very first weekend of december.  if we'd have waited till the next time the teen came home, it'd only be about a week before christmas.  and that would be unacceptable.

the teen is always the one who makes the selection from the tree lot.  she swears she gets a vibe from the perfect tree, and we're not about to argue with that.  so while i went out for a grueling 7-mile run, the hub took the girls to home depot (aka "daddy's favorite toy store," according to the bean) and brought home a ridiculously ginormous 8-footer.

we have an awesome cornucopia of novelty ornaments.  some are souvenirs from trips we've taken, and there's always one with a family photo from that year's christmas card shoot.  a bunch of them were gifts from MIL, and every year we each get to choose an ornament, usually from the hallmark store.

i'd been collecting these for the bean since her 2nd christmas, but when i bought the "4" i found out that they've decided to discontinue this series.  "there's a 5, but we're all sold out," the cashier added helpfully.  eff, man.  now i'm going to have to chase that damn ornament around all the local hallmark stores?  bah.

you can guess who chose these, right?

and i love the sentimental ones, like these.

even the dog has one.

when we were all done with the fun ornaments, the hub hoisted the bean up onto his shoulders to place the star on top.

i even got around to stuffing and stamping our annual cards for all 85-ish folks on our list.  i decided to personalize it a little and actually handwrote something on each of them.  and i ordered these cute return address labels along with the cards.  i love these, although neither they nor the actual cards ended up printed full-bleed like i wanted.  stupid "safe line."

this is how the tree looks right now.  i still can't decide whether or not to add some of the shiny red and silver balls that we put up every year.

yay, it's wonderfully festive at the wan house these days.  bring on christmas!

making a joyful noise

for the last month or so, the bean was hard at work with her preschool class practicing for the annual christmas program.  last year, she was in the youngest group of kids - but this time around, she's in the pre-K class.  this means that she's totally an upperclassman, and as such, her class dominates the program. 

like, i'm serious - the two younger classes each get to sing a couple of songs and hers takes up the entire second half of the performance.  yup. 

along with the tunes she learned, she was assigned a short speaking part that was a portion of the christmas story told by the class.  on the very day we took home the paper with her lines, we started hammering those words into her little noggin and she had them memorized within the hour.  the bean is badass.

with the dress from last year still in her closet, worn only once, i decided i didn't want to spend a grip o'cash on another ensemble.  thankfully, old navy answered the call with a super cute, very appropriate dress in her size...on the clearance rack.  score!  the teen and rock-ell busted out some heavy artillery to make her hair all cute and twirly, and despite a couple of setbacks (i.e. the bean's first lesson in "beauty is pain"), she looked fabulous.

of course, we ran a little behind and raced to get her to the school on time.  i got her to pause for a moment, and yes, she does indeed have gum in her mouth.  d-oh.

and did i have her spit it out?  well hell, i was all frazzled from the crazy ride over there and trying to figure out where her classmates were.  so yes, she went through the whole program chomping on a piece of gum.  mom of the year, right here. but hey, she had minty fresh breath.

by the time we walked into the gym, all of the seats in the center section were taken or being saved for family members.  bah!  so we had to settle for a section off to one side, albeit in the second row.  i sat on the end in hopes of getting some halfway decent shots, but i'd forgotten to grab the zoom lens and failed miserably.  not to mention, she was totally blocked by the halo one of the angels in front of her was wearing, and for a few minutes we weren't even sure if she'd made it onstage or not.  you can see her here, sort of, peeking around those angels (and she's the only one not blurred out, heh).

i was so proud when she took her place at the microphone and delivered her lines.  despite the gum in her mouth, she enunciated clearly and we could understand her easily.  or, as the teen pointed out, we had an edge because we already knew what she was saying.  i prefer to think that my child is a natural onstage.  tomay-to, tomah-to.

as the show wound to a close, she was obviously so over it.

the kids stayed up there for a few minutes after it was all over while their parents (okay, including me) totally rushed the stage for a photo op.

and outside, i got the hub to take this for me.

she was so sad that she didn't get to wear a costume like a lot of the other kids, though.  poor baby.  hopefully next year, if she does another year of preschool instead of going right into kindergarten, she'll get to rock that cow ensemble she so wanted to sport onstage. 

we'll see.

sweet.

did you know that the traditional 6th anniversary gift is CANDY?

actually, you probably don't really care.  i don't think most people really bother to follow the traditional gift thing anymore, if they ever did.  but you know i'm all about that shit.  i know, it's silly, but it's fun.  the hub totally chuckled when i filled him in on this year's theme, because he was getting off so easy.  i, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.  he's not a big candy fan, so i had to get creative.  you know we just exchange small gifts based on that tradition anyway - not really a huge deal.

and it was easier than i anticipated.  i turned to the google and in no time placed an order for my gift, which arrived less than a week later.  wan-niversary fell on a sunday this year, on the same day as the bean's preschool christmas program.  so with the teen and rock-ell home and willing to babysit the bean the evening before, we decided to take off and have a nice dinner, just the two of us - a rare occasion these days.

of course, we found ourselves in the same quandary as last year.  weekend evenings in december are booked solid for holiday parties and the like, and as we headed towards pasadena the hub struck out with three restaurants in a row.  d-oh.  but sushi was available, and since there's pretty much no time that it doesn't sound good to either of us, we were happily ensconced at a sushi bar munching on delicious tidbits of fish in no time.  not wanting to stay out too late, we strolled through old town pasadena after dinner, stopping in a store to browse now and then, and were back home before 10:30.

now i know what you fools want to see.  and i'm not one to disappoint.  so here it is: the annual bridal wan-niversary twirl.



you can see that i'm running out of ideas for this annual tradition.  forgive me.  i was honestly just thrilled to be able to put it on again and get it zipped all the way up and stuff.  ya dig?

the teen decided to join me in the silliness, and we decided to re-enact one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.  then:

and now.

the bean woke up from her nap and was not amused.  "mommy, i don't LIKE that dress.  i like your regular clothes!"

much later, after the bean's triumphant turn in her program (which deserves its own post, coming soon), i found this waiting for me with a card.

and these were scattered all around the house in random places like this:

i'd asked the teen to pick up a gift bag for me on her trip to target the day before.  "something for a guy, you know, manly colors and such," i said.  this is what she came back with:

i couldn't stop laughing.  "happy birthday?" i said, and she looked at it again and realized her mistake.  "gah! i just saw "dude" and figured it was perfect!" she groaned.  i thanked her for grabbing it and told her it'd be fine - the birthday part would just add to the silliness of it all.  but then i decided to really make a joke out of it.

heh.  and inside?  fun boxers and pajama pants.

i've said it before, but i reflect upon our wedding and the time since then on every wan-niversary.  i love to reminisce about that wonderful time in our lives that kicked off the happiness we share today, and the walk down memory lane always brings on the warm and fuzzies.  i can hardly remember what life was like before i found the hub, and every day together is an adventure. 

happy anniversary, love.  it's been a fun, crazy ride so far and i can't wait to see what lies ahead. 

sampling

i was surprised and excited when my friend grace gifted me with a 3-month membership to birchbox.  the twirlies, who started their own beauty blog together, were all aflutter over this new service awhile back.  for $10 a month you get a handful of makeup, hair, skincare, etc. deluxe-sized product samples delivered to your doorstep to try out.  then if you like any of the products you've tried out, guess what?  oh yes - you can order full sized versions of them right from birchbox.  ah, so convenient.

i'd wanted to sign up before, but never got around to it, and so it was an extra awesome gift.  i like beauty stuff.  i like receiving packages.  i like surprises.  total WIN.

of course, i kept forgetting to redeem my gift certificate on the website.  you know me, i'm easily distrac...ooh, something shiny!  uh, yeah.  but as i was going through piles of birthday cards i'd received this year (did i ever tell you about the 40 cards that MIL sent me this year? awesome), i found it and finally signed up.  then i got distracted again and forgot about it completely until this appeared in the mailbox:

so pretty!  and pink!  i opened it to find this:

fun stuff.  i unwrapped the tissue package and lined up my loot.

a perfume sample, a mud masque, lip gloss, and a peppermint foot salve.  that last item was so perfectly timed - with all the running i've been doing, my feet are to' up.  like, for serious.  and it's meant to be an overnight treatment, but as soon as i was out of the shower, i twisted it open and rubbed it on my sore feet immediately.  it smelled really lovely too, just like christmas. 

i may very well have found my first full-size purchase already.  and i can't wait to see what comes in my birchbox in the next two months!  grace, i love it.  it's the gift that keeps on giving!

btw, if you want to sign up too, here's a referral link.  i'm not sure what i get if you use it, but hey - hook a sista up.

holiday snack time

i love me some trader joe's, especially during the holidays.  they bust out with the most fantastical stuff that ever was, and it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  and knowing that some items are super popular and often sell out, i decided to go and stock up on some yummies to hoard over the next few weeks.  or however long i can make it last.  check out my latest haul:

after a TJ's shopping spree of her own, my buddy AMP tweeted me to see if i'd discovered this yet.  the words "cookie butter" were magical enough to make me drop everything and head to the store, pronto - and i seriously squealed and clapped my hands when i found it.  it's almost identical to my beloved biscoff spread!

my friend tater clued me in on these.  i'd discovered them late last year and only got to enjoy one bag, so when i found them i picked up...a few.

these are delicious, decadent, and dangerous.  seriously, i should probably be ashamed of how much i adore these.  but i'm not.  muahahahahahaha.

this box was a bit pricey compared to the other things i treated myself to, but i rationalized it in my head as i thought of the ILs' upcoming visit home.  i know MIL will dig 'em.

as you can probably tell, i forgot to take a picture of these before we started devouring them.

oh, same goes for these.  oops.

i remembered buying this a couple of years ago and being totally blown away at their deliciousness.  except that i was...a little less impressed this time around.  maybe it's because i've mastered the art of making my own and have become spoiled by the fantabulousness of my own skillz.  oh well, at least the box is cool.

the hub is probably going to smack me upside the head now that i've revealed my secret trader joe's snacking obsession.  or make fun of me for ruining all the hard work i've been putting in with my runs and 30 day shredding.  whatever.  i managed to whittle myself back down to wedding-day weight just in time for wan-niversary 6.0 this weekend!

so there.

thankful for food

just like most everyone else's, our thanksgiving was full of scrumptious food.  the hub's gram and i had discussed how to divvy up this year's feast a few weeks back, and with a much smaller table than usual (less the ILs, celebrating texas-style this year and the hub's uncle and cousin), it was a snap.

i must admit, relinquishing control of the turkey was bittersweet - there would be no bacon weaving like last year (and the one before that), although it sure was nice not to feel the pressure.  my only responsibilities this time around were for yummy, cheesy au gratin potatoes and dessert.  but as the big day got closer, the hub was aghast to find that sweet potatoes were nowhere on the menu.  and as i did the grocery shopping, i decided that i really, really wanted to have ham.  i suppose i had to find a way to incorporate some pig in there somewhere.

i did have a cookie order to fill for my friend kelley, who'd decided to throw her son a birthday party at the last minute.  since li'l d is a huge superhero fan, she gave me a list of his favorite characters to work with and let me figure out how to handle it.  during a trip to the mall, the teen and i had a little fun doing some research.

i still crack up whenever i look at that.  but it paid off!

by the time i'd finished with my share of the grub, it totally smelled like thanksgiving in our house.  it was divine.  and at the grandparents', we were set up and ready to eat in no time.

au gratin potatoes.  mmm, cheesy.

maple bourbon sweet potato puree with a streusel topping.  these were pretty good, as sweet potatoes go.  i typically don't care for them.

my ham.  i covered it with a thick paste made of maple syrup, brown sugar and a little cinnamon, which added a delicious flavor but melted right off.  oh, well.  and i hadn't realized that it wasn't already sliced, so i got to use gram's electric knife to do the job.  that thing was pretty fantastic, kind of like a chainsaw for the kitchen.  i felt all powerful and stuff.

broccoli salad, the required green bean casserole, and buttery croissants.

and the turkey, all sliced up perfectly and split into two piles of white and dark meat.

we were some pretty happy campers.

later, after i'd taken the teen to meet her dad and the bean got her nap in, the hub and i took her to the movies.  she was all kinds of stoked to see the animation short that preceded the main event:

and if you hadn't already guessed, this is what we saw.

thanksgiving 2011, check!  bring on christmas.  i'm ready.