best day EVER

we kicked off wan-niversary 10.0 by sending the bean off to a field trip to see a christmas play at the local community college.  she was pretty excited about getting to wear a fun dress and spend the morning somewhere other than the classroom:

when i got back from dropping her off at school, i spied this on the table, propped up next to the gorgeous bouquet of roses that the ILs sent us for the occasion:

then i remembered that i hadn't yet wrapped my gift for the hub.  the traditional gift for the 10th anniversary is aluminum or tin - which i decided i'd skate by on using a regular household item for my gift wrapping.

with only one night available for our celebratory getaway, we decided to stay local and booked a room at the terranea resort down in rancho palos verdes.  and i was pleasantly surprised and super excited when the hub casually remarked "so i was thinking that we should go and check in at the resort wearing our wedding clothes."  now, you know i'm always down for these kinds of shenanigans, while he's typically giving me the side eye and just chuckling at me as he goes on his merry way.  but i knew he was also pretty pleased with himself after that weight loss goal i told you about before - his clothes are pretty much falling right off of him these days, and putting on his wedding tuxedo was no different.

the old lady was around to help me make my hair look pretty and to take a few fun pics for us.

we threw our bag into the car, waved goodbye, took this and then off we went.

being a friday afternoon, we hit a little traffic on the way down.  but it was okay - we spent the drive chatting about all sorts of stuff, reminiscing about our wedding day, and generally just enjoying having some time together.  and then we were pulling up to the resort:

okay, i'm not gonna lie.  i started to feel a fun mixture of nervous and foolish just as the valet opened my door.  i mean...the hub could easily get away with what he was wearing, but there was no disguising my freaking wedding gown.  we got a lot of glances our way and a few "congratulations!" which we accepted with a smile and a "thanks!"  and then as we were checking in, the desk clerk caught on...sorta.  while she'd eyed our attire and offered her congratulations, it only took a few minutes as she tapped on her keyboard and scanned our registration before a slightly confused look crossed her face.

"oh, i'm sorry - it says here that you're celebrating your anniversary, but i thought it was your wedding day," she said.  and that's when we finally explained somewhat sheepishly that it had been just that - ten years ago.  haha!

i helped myself to one of the mini macarons while the hub finished up our check-in process.

we followed the bellman with our luggage cart through this maze of hallways to our room, which he assured us offered one of the best views in the whole hotel.

it seemed like forever before we finally arrived, but he was right - the view was totally worth it.

this shot was taken by the nice lady in the room next to us.  she was lounging on her balcony reading a book when she noticed us taking selfies and cracking up as we tried to prop the phone onto a trash can perched atop the ottoman.

one more selfie before the dress was exchanged for a more comfy outfit.

and also - before the next wan-niversary, i'm going to have to take this dress to be repaired.  see that? there's a nice hole in the seam behind the fake buttons.  boo.

as i sat on the bed, the hub noticed that i was wearing one of my costume jewelry rings on my right hand.  "where'd you get that?" he asked.  "want a different one to wear instead?" and he handed me this box.

inside was another box, one that reminded me a lot of the one that once held the wedding rings i've been wearing for a whole decade now.

and then i squealed as i saw what was inside.  isn't she pretty (never mind that my hand looks like that of an 80-year-old woman)?

my present was kind of shitty in comparison.  and when i handed it to him, it looked a lot like a tv dinner.  i'd bought him a really boring, really practical gift - a lifeproof phone case with a built in backup battery.  ho-hum.

he seemed pleased with it though, or at least he faked it really well.  and then we decided to throw on some shoes and head down to the hotel bar to hang out and grab a drink and an appetizer.  one look at the holiday menu and i knew what i wanted - the sweet drink right at the bottom of the list.

delicious and strong, i was one happy lady after two of those bad boys.  in the meantime, the hub had opted for a special - some sort of special craft beer with 15% alcohol content served with a shot of whiskey and a cigar from their humidor.

the sunset was really pretty.  it was a little chilly, so we opted to stay inside vs. sitting next to one of the heaters out on the patio.

we ordered an appetizer of burrata with tomatoes and basil.  so good.

über sent over a limo straight out of "the wedding singer" to take us to the restaurant we'd reserved in hermosa beach for dinner.  it was awesome.

here's where we had our anniversary dinner.

bathroom selfie with the fun handbag i'd managed to score on a tipsy walk-through of the hotel boutique.

and at our table, we were greeted with celebratory glasses of champagne.

i'm not a huge fan of the bubbly stuff, so i perused the cocktail menu for other options.

i ended up with a drink that looked like it was garnished with a christmas tree.

starters:  house bread with vermont butter and a jumbo lump crab cake.

we ordered our entree and sides to share:  a porterhouse steak, butter poached lobster tail, brussels sprouts with bacon, and grilled asparagus.  there was a cauliflower risotto too, but i somehow didn't get a picture of it.  i was too busy shoveling into my mouth - i hadn't eaten much all day, so i was starving.  and buzzed as hell.

we were full, but does that ever matter when you're presented with a dessert menu?  psh.

across the street, we grabbed something to drink at starbucks and picked up a fun new cup that expressed my sentiments exactly.

and then back at the hotel, i discovered more sweet surprises that he'd arranged for us.

and then he proceeded to scoop up those rose petals and toss them at me.

we slept with the window open all night, so we could listen to the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore below us.  it was peaceful and relaxing, and it was a pretty fabulous way to end one of the best days ever.

that pixie's still at it

oh, that pixie.  with the holiday season well underway, she's been up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans that the bean still looks forward to finding every morning.  every. single. morning.

use the force, pixie.  use the force.

she managed to find her way to our stash of halloween candy.  i don't blame her.  we still have a ton of good stuff in there.

some days, she just hangs around.

this time, she found herself in quite a sticky situation.  you'd think she could've at least picked up after herself, though.  sheesh.

she was super proud of her new t-shirt and struck her best pose for the camera.

picnic time at pixie's playhouse.  poor lord vader.  meanies don't get cupcakes.

and i don't even know WHAT happened here.  she left us a festive wall decoration and then apparently took a tumble.  lay off the eggnog, pixie.

how many more days until christmas??

she works hard for the money

i completely forgot to blog yesterday!  sheesh.  there is a reason for that, though, and it all stems from this photo:

my co-leader and fellow sewing addict introduced me to a pattern for making those mermaid tail blankets.  they're actually more of a sleeping bag, since you crawl into it and snuggle up while doing your best ariel impression.  and the pattern comes in sizes that span from a size 1 all the way up to a full-grown adult.  i held off on it for awhile, but finally decided to hit up joann's and pick up some materials to give it a shot.  as you can tell from that photo, it was an instant hit.

but even more so once i posted it on facebook.  holy cow.  one friend immediately asked if i was interested in selling them, and - well, it would kind of be fun to be able to buy some christmas gifts on my own.  and also, i am a sucker.  once i said yes, i found myself with at least ten tails to make.  ha!  'tis the season, after all.

a trip to another local fabric store with my co-leader (who actually went all out and opened an etsy shop, racking up an impressive number of sales in the span of just one week) yielded enough material to cut out the first 8:

i spent my sunday sitting at my machines, cranking out one after another until i finally finished them all.  two broken needles, a lot of swear words and an assload of thread later, i had this:

but it didn't stop there.  oh no.  because once i posted that picture of them folded and stacked, even more requests rolled in.  and so i headed back out to the fabric store and loaded up my cart till it could hold no more.

it took me an entire evening to cut out all of the pieces to make 15 more, and then laid them all out yesterday:

and even beyond those, i still have at least seven more to cut out.  i managed to eke out 7.5 of those by the end of the day, before my back gave out and i had to step away from the machines.  and thank goodness for all ten seasons of "friends" on netflix.  because while i'm totally occupied during the sewing process, it's nice to have something going on in the background that makes me laugh while not requiring my full attention.

i'm on a roll here, people.  my goal is to have all of these completely done by the end of the week, and if i can keep it up at this pace, i won't even be scrambling to finish two separate requests for cookies by saturday.

dolla dolla bills, y'all.  i need 'em to buy myself a nice massage after all of this is done.  heh.

the tenth twirl

i did it!  i managed to fit into my dress a full decade after the wedding!

and i'm not the only one.  the hub, who's been participating in a weight loss challenge at the lounge, has got himself down to his original wedding weight.  wait, check that - on the morning of our anniversary, he stepped onto the scale and found himself a solid TEN pounds under his goal.  that's...pretty awesome.

the crazy amount of fun we had on our actual anniversary deserves its own post, and besides, i know what you want to see first.  and if you don't know the story behind the twirl...well, there really isn't one to tell.  it all started on our first anniversary while the hub was at work and i decided i wanted to put my dress on to see if it still fit.  and then, for no apparent reason, i set up the camera on top of the tv and did this:


it's ridiculous, i know.  and then for our second anniversary, i must've been so thrilled to fit back into the dress two months after having the bean that i didn't twirl at all.  so i must've gotten some backlash from my friends or something for it because i apparently promised to do it again the next year.  and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.  you get it.

so here it is...twirl 10.0:


how many years can i keep this going?  i guess we'll have to see.

a full decade

you know it's true love when he holds your shoes.

happy 10 years, my love.  can't wait to see what life has in store for us next!

(twirl happens later)

it's a wan-derful life

ten years ago, these crazy kids hopped on a plane to begin the greatest adventure of their lives.

they arrived at one of the most awesome places on the planet - the four seasons in maui.

then they spent some time rehearsing the next day with their closest family and friends overlooking the most gorgeous view ever.

and capped it all off with a luau.

tomorrow is the TENTH wan-niversary.  can you believe it?  those crazy kids have created a bazillion wonderful memories, weathered quite a few storms, raised an old lady and created a bean.

ah, love.  ain't it grand?

welcome home, pixie

i know you've all been on the edge of your seats wondering what kinds of silliness pixie's been up to now that she's made her triumphant return for the holiday season.  i just know it.

and i was kind of astonished to realize that it's been four years since she first dropped into our lives.  four years?  that's nuts.  and it's kind of crazy that she really hasn't done any repeats of prior shenanigans.  after all, that was the bean's only wish when it comes to pixie - no repeats.  heh.

so anyway, after she was spotted bearing gifts on thanksgiving night, the next morning she was here:

trapped in a mason jar.  how sad.

and then when she finally escaped, she must've been hungry.  too bad she didn't find anything better than molly's snacks.

although i must say, she's kind of full of herself.  but like demi lovato says, what's wrong with being confident?  the bean always replies:  NOTHING!

for our girl scout troop, we decided to do a gift exchange amongst the girls with just one rule:  no store-bought presents.  all gifts are to be handmade by each scout.  the bean has been hard at work on the first part of hers, and i've promised to teach her how to use my sewing machine for the rest of it.  now, pixie must've overheard these plans because she decided to do a little sewing project prep herself.

looks like pixie was a "dancing with the stars" viewer this season...albeit not much of a bindi fan.

and this morning, we found her doing a little christmas decorating.

and yes, that is indeed a giant cookie cutter.  i fell in love with it during a trip to home goods with the hub, and we decided that it was definitely required decor for our house this year.  he's a keeper, ain't he?

replacing all those lost calories

the old lady and i had just enough time to get our asses home and showered and stuff before heading out to our first thanksgiving meal.  we were meeting up with my mom & co. at il fornaio for lunch, and we managed to pull ourselves together and make our way down towards the beach with time to spare.

i like the bean's hat.

and the old lady was super thrilled to be seated next to me.  heh.

we'd gone shopping at her mall the night before, where we'd also had dinner at california pizza kitchen.  i was feeling a little crazy and had ordered an adult beverage, which isn't the norm for me.  and i'd been elated when the server asked to see my ID.  dudes, i haven't been carded in ages!  and at lunch, i decided to go for it again and ordered a cucumber cooler.  i didn't get carded again, but at least the drink was delicious.

despite the special thanksgiving menu offerings, i decided to order something tried-and-true:  pennoni alla vodka.  how can you go wrong with bacon and a vodka cream sauce?

we got the server to take a group photo before we all parted ways.

on the way back home, we were treated to a lovely view of downtown l.a.  you know, where we'd been just a few hours ago.

the girls and i ended up taking a nap in the living room while the hub took off for his friend's house.  we were to join him in a little while for a bit of "friendsgiving," and when we got there we were greeted quite enthusiastically by pepper (she doesn't look that excited here, but trust me, she was all over us):

thanksgiving meal #2 looked like this:

and was capped off with a bit of all of this:

we'd been in charge of desserts and had hit up marie callender's for apple & pumpkin pies, claim jumper for carrot and chocolate motherlode cakes, and a local italian deli for a dozen cannolis.  i packed up a plate of leftovers and another of dessert for the old lady, who'd had to leave early.  since she's still in the wonderful world of retail, she was in bed resting up for a 2am black friday shift at forever 21.

and when we got home, the bean practically fell all over herself as she realized that someone was there waiting for her.

oh yes.  pixie the elfette is indeed back.  'tis the season, people!  the holidays are here!