Casino Christmas Eve

last year i was in a football pool, and this year i’m in something even bigger… a twins pool.  my cousin is pregnant with twins, and my family spent christmas eve taking bets as to when the second twin will be born.  you have to pick the date and time (6 hour windows) closest to the actually birth.  i put all my money (all $2) on march 28th from 6pm to midnight.  i have some stiff competition, but i’m all for anything that makes the months after christmas more exciting.

Memories of Yore

i hope everyone’s christmas was filled with wonderful new memories.  mine was filled with memories of yore; my parents made dvds of old family vhs tapes.  it’s funny to watch them and see the same characteristics that we, as adults, embody today. 

for my brother’s 4th birthday a game of pin the tail on the donkey was in order.  even then my brother was a cheater.  he claimed he couldn’t see out the front, but my mom knew better and readjusted the blindfold.  somehow he could still see out the front and claimed he had no idea how he pinned the tail so close. then my mom asked if he was lying, and even though he said no he said it suspiciously.

another christmas my sister and i got magazines like tiger beat.  my sister got really excited, “it has nsync, backstreet boys, 5ive, 98 degrees!”…..then came the disappointment, “oh but it has hanson.”

january 2004, i was right on:

dad: what do you think of the red sox this year?

me: they’re going all the way.  there’s no doubt in my mind; i feel it in my veins.

…and i was right even back then!

Mmmm Mmmm Good

so what am i making for christmas eve?  i guess i can tell you all now.

lettuce wraps with chicken, cabbage, carrots, and peppers in a spicy mandarin orange sauce

butternut squash and apple soup

a spinach salad with assorted apples, toasted walnuts, and gorgonzola tossed with a pomegranate vinaigrette

horseradish encrusted beef tenderloin

wild rice with cranberries and pecans

carrots glazed in a brown sugar syrup

and for dessert….

chocolate truffles

coconut cupcakes

gingerbread trifle with a lemon curd whipped cream and blackberry sauce

mmmm…i’m eating this as we speak

Like I Said “Kick-ass”

sweet child o’mine

the other day i was looking through my college year book for the first time.  do you ever notice how a lot of the same people are in all of the pictures?  i know me and my friends submitted some, but we got nil.  my picture didn’t look so good either.  after i got a look at the shots i remember i avoided submitting one to the yearbook, i figured i would look better as a question mark or whatever they do in yearbooks when there is no picture.  so i wasn’t so happy to see it there, but one thing did cheer me up.

every school has a section dedicated for messages from parents to their graduates.  i remember my mom talking it over with my aunt, they both said they would save the money and just tell us in person.  either way you do it, so wrote nice notes of encouragement and congratulation.  but one took the cake: a full 2 page ad dedication.  the student was a kid i had a few classes with so i spent a few good minutes laughing.  it was cute…but i felt his pain.  some things are better left private.

despite that awkwardness, it reminded me what it’s like to be a kid, and how i want to be one forever.  what’s not to like?  everything is taken care of for you while you get to play all day and get all excited for things like santa, birthday party gift bags, trolls, and finding waldo.  those were the days.  here’s going back to being a child for the next week!

Crunch Time

well i’m back on the east coast, and my social calendar is filling up. i love this time of year. this weekend i’m getting together with a friend to build a kickass gingerbread mansion then going to a PC vs BC basketball game as an alumni…geez i’m old.

i’ve also been doing some holiday shopping. so what do you get for the mom who has everything? a savings account for the boat “she’s always wanted.” since my dad’s semi-retired i decided to him some house slippers, just like his mother use to wear. for my sister:
…in purple of course.  with a ring.  when i called to ask what size i should get, this is how she responded: “large diamond”.  yeah me too.  as for dc hero, he’ll have to wait and see.

christmas eve is coming up!! and that means a big yummy meal at my house with my dad’s family.  i would put up the menu next week, but we like to keep it a surprise…because people hate not knowing a good secret; just like i hate not knowing what my christmas presents are.  when i was a kid my mom had to start hiding them at my aunt’s house because i knew all the hiding places at our house.  i’ve gotten better but i still love to give them a good shake.

make fun all you want but i’ve got to get back to listening to josh groban and michael buble christmas music…

Christmas Circus

this is a little silly but since it’s christmas themed…i love it.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? 
Wrapping Paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? 
Artificial, never have had a real tree..my brother is allergic

3. When do you put up the tree? 
december 1st…i’m not allowed to do it before hand

4. When do you take the tree down? 
christmas evening…i don’t like it up much after that

5. Do you like eggnog? 
i’ve never had it

6. Favorite gift/gifts received as a child? 
i was really excited when i got a pool table, but i hardly use it

7. Who is the hardest person/persons to buy for? 
my sister

8. Who is the easiest person to buy for?
my mom…anything centered around wine is pretty much a winner

9. Do you have a nativity scene ?  
janet has one

10. Mail or email Christmas cards ?    
Mail…the only time besides birthdays that you get cool stuff in the mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  
socks…but i get those every year

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? 
garfield christmas story

13. When do you start Christmas shopping?
when i have time to

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  
nope

15. Favorite thing/things to eat at Christmas? 
my gingerbread house

16. Lights on the tree? 
Lots of white- non-motion…very classic

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Carol of bells

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? 
travel to get home

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s?  
there goes dasher, and dancer, and donner, and blixten, commet, and cupid, and something and vixen, and the most famous reindeer of all rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? 
angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
one on the eve, the rest in the morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? 
crowds of young kids that whine

23. What theme or color are you using?  
classic red and green with some silver and gold

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? 
cranberry sauce out of the can

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? 
hang with the fam

p.s. i got the leaked britney cd, circus, and i’m loving it.  download it…you’ll thank me later.

Favorite Holiday

with the holiday season around the corner (and to test this poll thingy out)…

Huskers Maze

i’m really excited because my mom is coming next weekend.  i haven’t seen her since august 14th….it’s been a little while.  and with her visit coming up it’s giving me an excuse to do things in the city that I haven’t done yet.  first on my list is Vala’s Pumpkin Patch.  vala’s has an amazing corn maze and of course this is what it looks like:

duh…

besides the maze they have a haunted farmhouse, pumpkins (as if you didn’t realize it), pig races (yes i said PIG RACES), a pumpkin cannon (similar to the potato gun, I imagine), and caramel apples…yum.  if anything says “Fall” to me, it’s caramel apples…and apparently my mom too.

she called last week to ask if vala’s had them because she was craving one.  if you knew my mom you would understand how funny this is.  she doesn’t eat many sweets, just on special occasions and the way she asked was just so cute.  Sometime I feel like her my mom and have to cut her off when she has too much, usually when she’s drinking wine. (her friends gave her article how wine prevents alzheimers which is proudly displayed in a frame on our dining room table).  anyway…back to the topic…I LOVE FALL!! i don’t care that i’m 22 and have a craving to carve pumpkins and roast the seeds.  I want to drink my apple cider and eat my apple too!  oh and my roommate got the martha stewart halloween magazine…i can’t wait to make my own creations. haha, i’m such a dork, but i love it too much to give it up.

Happy 4th!

(This is basically what it looks like) 

Happy 4th of July everyone!  It’s one of the best holidays of the year, of course it doesn’t bet Christmas.  A day filled with BBQs, beer, and fireworks. 

I usually celebrate my birthday on the 4th because it’s close and excuse to double up on special events, birthday and holiday all in one.  In my family we don’t gather more than once every few weeks, and when we go get together we eat and leave.  The whole time everyone is looking at their watches and wondering when they can leave.  But it’s not like we don’t like each other, because we do.  I guess that’s just the “Northerner” in all of us, rushing from place to place for no apparent reason.

But today is an exceptional year.  My parents will be in our town’s parade.  My mom will be dressed as Betsy Ross, in all her long blue dress and wig glory.  My dad was suppose to be Davy Crockett, but somehow the costume went “missing.”  Supposedly it got dropped off at the house when no one was home, so it was left outside on the porch….but now it is no where to be found.  My guess is that my dad hid it somewhere, because he wanted to be any character from history with a gun, like Daniel Boone.  Interesting…

Well now I have to go take embarrassing pictures…enjoy your holiday!