Yummy cupcakes

So tonight I went to Swirlz to get cupcakes for my brother's girlfriend's (Kim) birthday. Of course I had to get one for myself!

As I was checking out, I saw they had pupcakes!

Milly heard the bag crinkle and raced over to check out the situation.
The one is a bit blurry because Milly is jumping up to get the pupcake
First she had to chase it around for a bit to make sure that pupcake knew who was boss.

Finally, it was acceptable to eat... and she wolfed it down....
Ahhh, Millsters... a bit spoiled lately. Last week she got ice cream!

Facebook surfing

Do you ever surf around on pictures on Facebook and see pics of people's kids and think "This kid is going to be a Mean Girl just like her mother was in high school/college"?

Nope? Just me then?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a related aside, I think I need an internet sabbatical.

Millicent the OCD dog

How do people who have had blogs for years remember what they've written about? I feel like some of what I write has to be a repeat and I am nowhere near as prolific as any other blogger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have I ever told you how I always sing "Hold me closer, tiny beagle" to the tune of "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John? I am constantly changing up the lyrics. This week it was "Hold me closer, tiny beagle. Please don't drag your nose, you'll huuuuurt it!"

Anyways, this week was a tough Milly week. I think she is (has?) OCD. Is it possible for a dog to be OCD? She touches her nose about a foot from whatever she's playing with, then drags her nose to the thing, touches the item quickly, and repeats ad nausem. This weekend it was a pig ear. She used to play with them for a little, then eat it. But lately she messes with the darn thing for weeks. Oy. So anyways, she hid it between our headboard and mattress, and performed her nose-touch ritual with it. She did it so much that she rubbed her nose raw and it was bleeding! And she didn't stopafter the nose was raw (ow, man, when something HURTS, stop!), so she got blood ALL OVER our bed. All the linens had to be washed. What a pain.

Then on Tuesday I had draped the duvet over a folding table to dry... with part still on the floor because it's huge. Somehow she pulled down the duvet, hid the pig ear under it, and went to town with her nose-touch ritual. Again, blood all over the duvet. I about lost it I was so angry. This time there was so much blood, I wondered how she had any left. She is so tiny! How can that happen and she just keeps on with her little nose ritual?! I guess I should be glad the blood wasn't all over our brand-new carpet.

Maybe loss of blood explains why Milly was nothing short of angelic tonight. She's weirdly intuitive and knows when to give me a break, when I'm at the very end of my rope.... just after I've texted Mike that we're selling her to the gypsies for sure! So after tonight's behavior I suppose we can put off selling her for awhile longer. :)

More organizing!

So after the great closet-clear-out of 2010, I woke up on Saturday morning with an urge to clean OUT and organize! I cleaned out my closet even more, tossing more jackets and cocktail dresses/evening gowns that I wore in 1998 and probably should never wear again. I ended up organizing all the clothes into three piles: one for the Salvation Army, one for my sister, and one for my sister-in-law. Then I cleaned out the guest bedroom and closet and did a little vacuuming. Then I resorted to organizing our two bins of random electronic stuff and cords. I wrapped up all the cords and then twist-tied them into neat little bundles, grouping them by type. Telephone cords here, cable cords here, internet cords there. I will admit, I was on a bit of a tear. Oh and I also cleaned out both cars and did some other tidying up! I was crazy. I need to have productive days like that more often. Somehow I didn't get to some of my other cleaning but oh well.

Then today my friend Em and I went to IKEA (had a nice little suburban day including lunch at Olive Garden with tasty soup, salad, and breadsticks!) and I got a bunch of cute little hooks to hang up stuff in my closet. This one has all my rubber-bandy workout headbands. This reminds me I should work out a little more but also that I don't need any more headbands.Ooh, scarves on one set of hooks here... and I got some of those individual 3M hooks to hang up my belts on the right.
It's sad how much this organization really makes me happy!!

Also, if you need a headband, I'm probably your girl!

Closet cleaning

Last night I had to give myself a talking-to.

For a long time I've been thinking of instituting a one-in, one-out policy on my closet. There was just so much stuff that I never wore, and I figured that might be a good way of getting rid of some of it. Plus I have stuff in like three different sizes: SuperAprilSkinny, NormalApril, and FatApril.

So this is how the conversation went

Me: Seriously self? You are keeping all these SuperAprilSkinny clothes? You know you're never going to be this size again. I mean, I would ONLY HOPE you never have another wedding to motivate you to both starve yourself AND run 6 miles a day. And that was the ONLY way you fit into all that crap.

Self: I don't know. I mean, I could. I looked SO GOOD in this tank top.

Me: I know, I know. You and that tank top had good times. You walked home from Metro at 3AM together, not stopping for a burrito along the way because of the previously aforementioned diet of egg whites and bud light. But listen. If you WERE to get that skinny again, you know the first thing you'd do is to log onto the Forever21 website and buy new fun clothes that fit your new skinny self. Not dig through the closet and find 4 year old clothes that are out of style.

Self: You're right, you're right. But what about this dress?

Me: You looked awful in that dress THEN and you know it.

Self: Ack. But I want to keep all this junk! What about the business casual stuff?

Me: OK, let's just SAY you get another job that requires business casual at some random point in the future. Do you really want to wear the 3 year old Target sweaters that are too short for current trends?

Self: Probably not.

Me: OK. So let's get rid of some junk. But you can keep the expensive jeans that don't fit anymore... those you might actually want to wear again!
I may have to take some pictures of the more-loved pieces in the pile to remember them by. But I have a feeling the pile is just going to grow - I just started tossing anything I couldn't remember the last time I wore, or wouldn't wear now.

Biggest lesson learned: Don't buy blazers. They don't look good on you, Self!!!

An afternoon with Gracie

I am consistently amazed by how many pictures I can take of Gracie in such a short span of time. This go-round we were only there for a few hours and I took over 400 pictures! Of course since Gracie is fast-moving and I am still learning on my new camera, I only ended up with about 170 that I wanted to upload. But still, I love them!

Playing with toys with Uncle Jay

This one is a little darker than I'd like, but I love the composition. If the pic had been a little lighter, her baby blues would have really popped out of the picture I think.

Why hello, my lovely booboohead!

For some reason, biting her bear and running towards Uncle Mike

Thinking

Playing with the tent/tunnel we got her for Christmas.

I love this one. The colors are all super bright, as are her eyes. When the settings are right on this new camera, it really blows your socks off.

Uh-oh!!!

Guarding the door during Girls' Time

Gracie ran up to Uncle Mike and put her bear and monkey on his lap. I sat next to him and stole them. She promptly marched up to me, snatched them, gave me a vicious stinkeye and redeposited them back on Uncle Mike's lap. Hilarious!

Mike must look like he knows how to care for a stuffed animal or two.

Baby pics

For Christmas I got a printer/scanner/copier/all in one thing, which I LOVE so far (came in handy scanning the first two pics). So I moved around the shelves in the living room a bit. Before the whole shelf was pretty full with DVDS so we got one big case and put all the DVDs in there. That left the top shelves completely empty, so I needed to add some things. For some nostalgia I busted out some oldies but goodies...

My grandpa gave these to me when my Grandma Stratton passed away. They are turning out to be some of my favorite pictures. I am only a week old in these pictures!! The first one is with my Grandma Stratton (look at that bond already!) and the second is with my parents (HOW young do they look? They were 22 and 23, holy smokes!).

I'm not sure how old Mike is in this one, but hoo boy how cute is he? Adorable...

So that's our new "vintage" decor... I love having these pics of the two of us around as little ones!

Diary of a refinance

Fall 2008 - "Wow, mortgage rates are low! We should refinance!"

Mid December 2008 - Appraiser comes to our house. Spends 15 minutes there. Mike suggests later that we should have given him cash money to butter him up. Oh well.

12/29/2008 - Receive our appraisal. A cardboard box on an empty lot in this neighborhood would go for more. Are outraged.

January 2009 - Is spent arguing with bank regarding appraisal amount. We send neighbors's appraisal, which is MUCH higher for exact same unit. Send comps, which are much higher.

February 2009 - Finally realize that logic is failing when discussing with morons. Shake fist at sky, scream "WHY GOD WHY" and give up.

Summer 2009 - Hear about mythical Obamanomics refinancing aid.

Fall 2009 - Call Wells Fargo. Are told we are not eligible for new refi programs.

One week later - Receive letter from Wells Fargo saying we are eligible. Call again and get that ball rolling.

October 30, 2009 Appraisal #2 of the year. We give guy kit-kats to butter him up. Mike suggests later that we should have given him cash money to butter him up instead. What's with all the good ideas after the fact?

5 days later - Get appraisal back. It is a much better amount, allowing us to move forward with refinance.

November and December - Bug Wells fargo every three days. They slowly make their way through process. Obviously there is someone manually typing up each of the 500 mortgage pages somewhere. AFter that person makes a trip to the forest and physically cuts down the tree and makes the paper from scratch.

December 21 - Get call from Wells. Woman we were working with no longer works there. AWESOME! Rate lock ends on Jan 1st, so we have to close this thing and like NOW.

December 30 - Finally get draft settlement statement, which we have been begging for for a week. It is wrong. Of Course.

New Year's Eve - Dec 31, 2009 - Mobile Notary comes to our condo with correct papers and we sign the refinance papers. Mobile notary is very nice; likes beagles. Relief ensues that we got this done. A bottle of Chateu Coufran is opened. No payment in January and February WOOT!

January 4, 2010 - Wells Fargo takes mortgage payment out of our account for the mortgage we no longer have. *SIGH*

New Year's resolutions

New Year's Resolutions

• Get to work on time. This means prior to 9:00. I am constantly missing the 8:45 train and then have to take the 8:55 which not ONLY has a mean conductor but also puts me in at right after 9. I already messed this one up on Day 2, but am going to make a concerted effort to show up on time!
• Go to Digital 2 class. And by go, I mean actually sign up for the class and attend it this year
• Save money. Hit our savings goal for the year that Mike and I set.
  

Hmmm... that's all I can come up with. I'm not going to make any gym resolutions because I never keep them. Plus the candy one last year was a total failure.

I guess condo-related I could finally get the blind in the hall fixed and paint the toybox/trunk thing we keep the linens in. But that seems hardly fair as a resolution since I've already scheduled the blind consultant guy to come in a couple weeks and have plans to paint the trunk on MLK day when I'm off work.

What are your new year's resolutions?

One more

DSC_0588, originally uploaded by agstratt.

One more Gracie pic! This one she's mealing on some Craisins and hanging with Grandpa Stratton. She definitely has him wrapped around her tiny finger, but I think he also has her wrapped around his! They kind of like each other ;)

Christmas dress

DSC_0667, originally uploaded by agstratt.

Here is Gracie in her fancy Christmas dress. She screamed bloody murder like we were peeling her skin off when we put it on her, but looked so cute! Even though this pic is a bit blurry I still love it. It's hard to get non-blurry shots of Gracie without a flash - she's always on the move!

Christmas Fun!

DSC_0725, originally uploaded by agstratt.

Mike and I got Gracie this sweet tent for Christmas. It even has a tunnel that goes off of the side of it you can crawl through. She was loving it! We put her elmo chair in there, and when she got other Christmas presents she would run back to her tent and chuck them in there. She's a big fan, and at $20 this tent was a cheap but super-entertaining gift!

2009 Quiz

Here is the quiz that I've been doing for a few year's from Linda's website. I have to say, this year seems to be a bit of a blur. I knew it would be - I've been saying for months that I am going to look back at this year while Mike was in Detroit for work and think I was in a sort of fog. I'm not 100% without him, and I'm sorry if some of my answers suck because of that.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Went to Italy. Installed a tile backsplash in our condo kitchen. Painted all the trim. Housebroke dog (mostly!). Was my sister's matron of honor at her wedding.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?



My new year's resolutions were: to keep a journal (I gave up, I freaking HATED documented what I did daily. With a red hot fiery passion. At least I gave it a go and now I know that I hate it!), attend Digital Photo 2 (I ended up not doing this yet because I saved up for and just purchased a new camera. I want to do that class in the spring once I'm a bit more acquainted with the new camera), no caffeine (I do pretty good at this. I'll take a nip off Mike's diet coke every once and again but largely stick to my low-caf tea and water), buy paper shredder (done!), website and cart for name frames (website is done, cart notsomuch. It's harder than I thought and I have no idea how to finish it), quit candy (this one was woefully incomplete. I gave up pretty early in the year), and finish scarf (done! and I get many compliments on it!)

I am not sure what my 2010 resolutions are going to be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



Hmmm... our friends Andy and Michelle had their daughter Sam. A friend's wife had a baby, and a coworker had a cute little guy as well. Plus our neighbors had a baby on my Dad's birthday - they live the closest to us of anyone!

4. Did anyone close to you die?



Nope

5. What countries did you visit?



Italy (2 weeks with the parents and Mike - best vacation EVER), Australia (for work. 2 weeks there as well which ROCKED.. we were there for that wild crazy sandstorm!), Mexico (for my friend Dora's wedding.... nachos eaten at every meal)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

I'll call this one unspoken request #1

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

December 1 and 20 (keeping reasons to myself). On November 10 I turned 30 which was really actually quite nice contrary to everything I thought it would be.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?



I painted our entire condo, trim and all walls. Hubs and I installed a tile backsplash and we had new carpet put in. All the internal improvements to the condo resulted in a 12% increase in value of our condo and allowed us to FINALLY refinance!! We finally put a focus on saving money which I am very proud of us for.

I also feel that this past year with Hubs working in Detroit has really forced us to make our relationship a priority. And I think it's a great accomplishment that I feel that our relationship is stronger for the distance and the strife.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Lack of patience and a bit of jealousy. But the jealous thing is alot better right now, for some odd reason I have been content with me. Patience is something I still need ALOT more of.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not too much really. My colds are far fewer and farther between than when you could smoke in public places and before my acid reflux was diagnosed.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

New Camera!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Hubs for being my rock. My girlfriends, who prove no matter what happens that they are there for me. My Mom and Dad for always listening to everything I say and making it all better.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?



Politicians because they just seem to like to argue rather than actually do their jobs.. Other than that, not really anyone.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage. Bills. Savings. I did save a ton of my allowance and birthday money to buy the new Nikon D300S. It's tha bomb dot com fo shiz.

15. What did you get really excited about?

My birthday. Any festivity in the summer. St Patty's day. Basically I had a good year celebrating with friends and having fun! Beating the dog to the door to be the first one to greet Hubs when he gets back every Friday.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus (so freaking sue me it is catchy). Best I ever had by Drake.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? happier
– thinner or fatter? about the same. if you'd asked me a few months ago I would have had to say fatter!
– richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?



exercise and eat well

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?



eat junky food. counting chickens before they are hatched.

20. How did you spend Christmas?



In Evansville with my family. Laughing at my niece Gracie who loves to chuck stuff on the floor and at people, and say "oooooohhhhh" and point. She also points at Milly and barks, but it sounds like a monkey "oof, oof!"

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

Even more with Hubs. I feel like I fell a bit out of love with the city this year. I guess it's harder to manage city-living without Hubs around all the time.

22. What was your favorite TV program?



How I Met Your Mother. Top Chef (normal season and Masters). Glee (oh how I love Glee!!)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?



No. I can't say I really hate anyone. More like I really pity some people, people who do my loved ones wrong. Because they don't get to have the awesomeness that is my loved ones in their lives.

24. What was the best book you read?


Is it sad I can't remember what books I read this year? I read so many books that they kind of blur together. But I did get a library card finally!! I really liked Kite Runner and A Thousand Shining Suns, but can't remember if I read those this year or the year before.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?


I really love the Glee soundtracks and Glee in general.

26. What did you want and get?

A refinance!! New carpet! A tile backsplash! A beagle who doesn't regularly douse the hardwood floors.

27. What did you want and not get?

Unspoken request #1.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I really liked the Time Traveller's wife. And the Hangover still makes me laugh. Not you, Fat Jesus.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

It was a pretty normal day. I went to work. My coworkers and I went to Venice for lunch. After I came home, Hubs and I went to Flemings for dinner. It was my second Flemings birthday, and I would gladly spend every bday dinner there. A glass of Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs, Flemings potatoes, a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, surf and turf, topped off with chocolate lava cake. I am making myself hungry talking about it all! Plus I got to have Hubs at home for my actual bday, which was the best present ever.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Unspoken request #1. More exercising. Hubs being around more.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

My personal fashion concept is still cheap tops and expensive jeans. Although I did get some knockoff Sevens. I did finally give into the jeans tucked into slouchy boots trend, in addition to big fun belts and not-matchy outfit colors (brown boots with black shirts... how did I not get the memo sooner?).

32. What kept you sane?



Painting our condo (keeping myself busy). Really great girlfriends. Having my boss to chat at over the cubicle wall. I don't know if he even listens to me but it's nice to think someone is there to listen to my chatter.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Oh mah goodness, Ryan Reynolds is so pretty. Me likey.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?



Healthcare. No one should have to go broke because they get sick. I'm not sure what the solution is, but it's not what we have now.

35. Who did you miss?



Hubs!! Every week, Monday through Friday.

36. Who was the best new person you met?



Andy and Michelle's daughter Sam. She's such a well-mannered little gal.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.



Happiness is a choice. I hope to learn in 2010 that dreams can come true. I bought a necklace that says that and everything.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.



This is the question I like the least. I have no idea!!

Every year I think of the Green Day (maybe?) song "I hope you had the time of your life"... and I like to think that I make every year count. I have had the time of my life, every year.

Merry Christmas

This made me laugh

Dora gets married!

Well we're back from Cancun and now I feel really ready to be in Christmas mode!!

My friend Dora got married this weekend so we made it a quick trip to Riviera Maya.... left Friday around 9AM and returned on Sunday night. Emily watched Milly - it was nice knowing that the furball was in good hands!!

Friday was quite the blur... we got to the resort and were all checked in by about 3. Then we ate lunch and took a three hour nap. Around 9PM we walked to the rehearsal dinner. We sat with the bride, groom, and three girls we knew from my former (and Mike's current) employer. It was great to catch up with the, and the bride and groom gave everyone presents! I got a cool Russian nesting doll (both bride and groom are from Russia) and Mike got a little carved wood box to put his cufflinks in. Sweet!

Saturday we slept in and then hit the beach. After the beach, the pool! I am now of the opinion that all pools should have have a swimup bar. Also, they had this tasty twist on a bloody mary called a Rojo Ojo (Red Eye) that had beer instead of vodka. After the day in the water and a quick nap, we cleaned up and headed to the wedding. I snuck a few pics of the scene before the bride arrived.

Once Dora got there we took some pics!
Look how pretty... my little Dora is all growed up!!
More of the beach scene at sunset... Wishing I'd brought my good camera and lowlight lens. But totally didn't want my good camera near water, sand, and alcohol!! All of which were plentiful.
The resort had all the palm trees wrapped in twinkle lights. Not sure if this was for the holidays or an all-the-time thing, but it was awesome.
As we sat waiting for the ceremony to start I joked that I wished I had my iphone on me. "I'd update my status to 'Just sittin here waiting for Dora to get murried.'" I joked. The ceremony was short and as it finished up Good Day by Black Eyed Peas (I think?) started playing as the wedding party danced back down the aisle. Fun!

We headed to a nearby building for the reception. Jewish weddings are super fun - everyone gets up and dances between all the courses. Here everyone is kind of dancing around in a circle.
Love the chair dance. Mike is always front and center for this. He's seen people almost drop someone too many times, and is all about taking responsibility for making sure people stay upright. This was no exception, as the groom was almost dropped like twice right at the beginning before Mike grabbed two chair legs and rested most of the weight of the chair on his shoulder. Ahhh, my big burly man!
More dancing in a group... this one, people stood in a circle while other people twirled around with linked arms in the middle. Does that even make sense?
Menis gives me the look that he is shocked I am taking pictures with such a large camera.
The night included alot of tequila so I figured this was a fitting last picture... Mazel Tov!
Overall the trip was great, even though it was quick, and I'm very glad we got to go. It's so great seeing my friend Dora so happy. She's such a sweetie with a good heart, and I love her!

Random thought

I wish I had the courage to post just half of the passive-aggressive Facebook status comments I think of every day.

I'm pretty sure I'd make a lot of people laugh, but the thought of making even one person feel sad or mad makes me keep my snark in check.




Getting a haircut tomorrow... what will happen? Brown, blonde? short? long? Who knows!! (pssst... it will probably be nothing that fun!)

We are such DINKS

DSC_0052 cropped, originally uploaded by agstratt.

Taking pictures of the dog for the holiday card, such a DINK activity.

The secret to getting Millicent to pay attention is to hold a piece of turkey dipped in gravy right next to the camera.

Look at that Christmas-tree Bokeh!! :)

Happy Monday....

I found this to be a very interesting read:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091205/ARTICLES/912044001/-1/EDITORIAL?Title=John-Gary-Maxwell-Health-reform-from-my-side-of-the-surgery-table&tc=autorefresh

We've been busy bees over here. Taking lots of naps and getting ready for the holidays. Yesterday I cleaned the condo, wrapped all the holiday gifts we have thus far, and hit up Target. Saturday was a trip to Anthro and the grocery store along with a friend's birthday party!

Travelling plans

Winter is upon us, and with that is a boring April. I've been trying to work out at least 2-3 times a week and have been doing really well at the eating, so have lost about 4 lbs. My goal is to lose 10 by the time we go to Key West in February. Speaking of which, check out all these trips we have planned:

• Next week we're going to Mexico to attend my friend Dora's wedding. Not quite ready to be in a bathing suit, but oh well
• February we're heading to Key West for the weekend of Valentine's and Mike's birthday.
• March we're going to Tahoe to ski with friends (we have a group of 20 people going! Yikes!

Mike is also really close to getting a companion pass on southwest so we're trying to figure out where else to go next year. Here is the short list, any input is appreciated!

• Back to Napa, flying into Oakland
• Seattle
• Austin (dudes, I want to eat some BBQ)
• Baltimore to visit friends
• LA to visit friends

Where else should we go?! And on a related note, who wants to Milly-sit?!?

Graffiti

This thing that is painted on my train platform is probably supposed to make me think of our society. Instead, it makes me think of the bad guy on the Care Bears Movie.

Care Bear STARE!

Check this out...

I usually think the concept of a videographer at a wedding is kind of dumb (I guess I've seen alot of bad wedding videos), but holy CRAP this video is amazing!

http://4120weddings.com/blog/2009/10/28/blair-erin/

Hello!

Well, I've been thoroughly ignoring this tiny corner of the internet... my family's 30th birthday post was so amazing that I wanted to keep it up as long as possible! I was so surprised! My husband was able to guess my password, and I kept asking him if he did it and he kept denying it. Finally I got him to fess up, which is cool. I don't care if he has my password, at least for the blog!

Here's a bit of what we've been up to:

• New recipe November is still going on. Last week on Friday, we had pork chops with garlic and herbs with sweet potato fries (one of my standbys) and roasted asparagus. The week before we had parmesan-encrusted pork chops with hot crash potatoes and green beans. Monday Mike was still here because of Michigan state holiday, so I made an adapted version of this chicken parmesan recipe (didn't bread the chicken) and served it over spaghetti squash instead of noodles. I thought it was super yummy - I think the boy got a bit freaked out by the squash. Oh well, can't win them all! Oh, and for my bday celebrations we made gluten-free pumpkin cupcakes and car bomb cupcakes. No reason for the gluten-free other than I got a good recommendation on the recipe. Hoo boy were they both good! We've been making so much food that this Friday I think I'm going to take a little respite and just make tacos! Need a break from dirtying my kitchen.
  
• We went to the Black and White Ball for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago a couple weeks ago, and had a big group of about 20 people. It was SUCH a great time! And we bid on and won a silent auction item - for someone from our group to sing on stage with the band. Of course we made Jay do it, and he did a spectacular job! Here is a link to the video, it's awesome: Jay's Singalong
• On the day of the actual birthday Mike and I went to Flemings. Surf and Turf for me, giant steak for Mike. And he insisted upon us both ordering our own chocolate lava cakes. Totally didn't make a dent in mine, but oh well.
  
• This weekend we celebrated my birthday with dinner at Tango Sur and then hit up Hye bar with some friends. Again, another great time! I love seeing my friends and was so glad that they could make it out.
• My birthday present came last week! I've been saving for months for a new Nikon camera (the D300S), and I finally pulled the trigger with the influx of birthday funds. Even not knowing how to use it, it takes MUCH better pictures than my old DSLR. I am officially in love.
  
• With the birthday and the hunting holiday, I've had a lot of Mike time lately. More Mike time next week, which I'm very excited about. It all makes me realize how much I miss the big lug!
• This week I am super busy, with taking pictures of a friend's baby for Christmas cards, prayer meeting with the same friend, Top Chef night with Beth tonight (hopefully I'll get in a workout too!) and tomorrow I'm hitting a new grilled-cheese restaurant with my friend Amy. Woo! After all this I am totally staying home on Friday and cleaning our wreck-of-a-condo and snuggling with that dog!
  

IT'S APRIL'S BIRTHDAY!!

Today, November 10th, 2009, is April's 30th birthday. Yep, you read that right...the BIG THREE - OH. Thirty. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my! Thirty!

This is April

In honor of this incredibly special day for an incredibly special person, her family has hijacked her very own blog and taken it upon ourselves to post the TOP 10 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT APRIL. She does these sorts of things for us on our special days, so it's the least we can do to return the favor. Without further adieu...

From Dad...

I like it that the look I got from April in my favorite picture EVER is the same look I see nearly every time we meet.

I like the fact that April is still the only person who I think has always thought I was the man I always wanted to be. I Love you, daughter, you are as awesome at 30 years as you were at 30 seconds!!




From Mom.....

You can always count on April. I always describe my kids by saying that when they were in elementary school if April said there was a program at school tonight at 7:00 you better go whether you thought it was that night or not. Katie might say it’s next week and Jay wouldn’t tell you about it at all. But if April said it was tonight you could count on that. And if she tells you she’ll do something then you know it will get done.

April has THE BEST sense of humor. It doesn’t matter whether we’re chatting on the phone or reading her blog, she always cracks me up. We’ve been having interesting adult-like conversations since we were floating on inner tubes at Larks Lake when she was 4 yrs old.

From Jay...

April always has an Excel spreadsheet for everything.

April has never excluded her little brother from anything, rides to and from band practices, groups of friends, and beer runs in college.






From Katie...

I love April because she is the coolest big sis… tagging along to frat parties, Seven jeans, prom dress shopping in Chicago, loaning your car for several months… with nothing expected in return. I love April because when she packs to visit her family she remembers to pack a few outfits for her little sister.

I love April because she drunk dials her family at all times of the day and night! I love April because she is the best doggy mom I’ve ever known.


From Mike.,..

She makes me laugh. No matter how bad of a mood I'm in (and there are some bad ones!), she knows the exact words, facial expressions and comedic timing to use to cheer me up. And if that doesn't work, she'll just break out the party pooper song and taunt me until I give up.

She loves people and puts conscious effort into her relationships. She calls and emails her friends and family approximately 100 times as often as I do. I have no idea how she keeps up and still manages a successful career, a dirty husband, a dirtier dog and keeps house like she does. It makes me tired just thinking about it. As a specific example, today is her birthday...and she made cupcakes for her coworkers. Very impressive, dear. I freaking love you!

That's 10...BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!!

From April's beloved IU bottle jersey coozy...

I love that April carries me around in her purse approximately 97.92% of the time, just on the off chance that there may be an opportunity to drink outside.

I love that April bought a dozen of my identical twin brothers to give to her girlfriends, so that they may also have an IU bottle jersey coozy with them on the off chance that there is an opportunity to drink outside.

Tailgating...with Herman G (G for gnome) Wells. In case you haven't met April, this may be her favorite activity.

From Milly...

Aroooooooooooooo! (You didn't think the dog actually contributed, did you?)






That's it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, APRIL! We love you fiercely.

Best cupcakes ever

I found this recipe on the internet somewhere, lord only knows where because I copied it into a work document forever ago and promptly forgot where I found it. Whoever posted it said it was gluten-free and she know that sounded odd but the cupcakes were to die for. She was right, these were so freaking good that they were worth tracking down gluten-free flour in the hippy section of the grocery store.

I left out the pecans and raisins, you totally don't need them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp molasse
s1 Tbsp honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 cups Red Mill’s gluten-free flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder1
teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice (1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest)
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup chopped pecans1 cup raisins

Frosting ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature1/4 cup maple syrup1 cup confectioner’s powdered sugar, sifted
*Note to make your own buttermilk, combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 Tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand 10 minutes before using.

Cupcakes
1 Preheat oven to 350°F, and place rack in the center of the oven.
2 Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses and honey, until as light and fluffy as it will be, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the pumpkin purée and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
4 Add the pecans and raisins. Mix in by hand.
5 Set paper cupcake holders in a muffin tin. Spoon the batter into the cupcake paper cups, close to the top of the cups. Bake approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
6 Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add maple syrup and confectioners’ sugar and mix to combine. Once cupcakes have cooled, apply frosting.

Makes 16 cupcakes.

Millicent the Hot Dog

Halloween fun

With the colder weather, our friend group gets a lot more social. We're all around more, so that lends itself to a lot more gatherings! We kicked off the winter fun season with Halloween. As we did last year, we had a few people over to pregame before heading out to another party a friend threw at a bar. Mike hates to dress up for Halloween, so we never do a couples costume. This year I went as a superhero with my friend Stacy. Go superheroes!
I put out the drinking chess set this year again and it didn't get used! So sad. It was a huge hit last year! Here is a pics of me and Hubs at the bar. His friend dressed as Santa and had all kinds of fun stuff in his gift bag to give away. This, he gave to Hubs since he didn't have a costume. hahah!

Here is one of me and my friend Em, who dressed as a cute cowgirl :)

We've got a fun couple of weeks planned, and I'm looking forward to November. Friday nights are Hubs and Me nights, and Saturday we have social events planned. No travelling until Thanksgiving, which I'm VERY thankful for! Last week I made a chicken, rice and beans recipe on Friday that we LOVED, and this week for Friday dinner I've got something that should be equally delish. I am looking forward to trying new recipes on Fridays for November, and I'll let you know how they turn out. But I am TELLING YOU, make that rice and beans recipe TODAY.