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.

Bill fun

IMG_1152.JPG, originally uploaded by agstratt.

What do you do when you're shocked that the bill is only $80 for fifteen people and 3 hours of fun? Stick it to your forehead, of course.

Holy recap batman

Ugh, I feel like I have been getting slaughtered on all fronts lately. We had a very busy October with a lot of travelling and alot of fun, but it's been very very busy!!

After Katie's wedding and a glorious weekend at home, we headed to Indy for my friend Karrie's wedding. I know Karrie from high school, so that meant there were all kinds of fun high school peeps there. We just had to get a Bosse picture!

It was such a good time seeing everyone, especially considering that the last time I saw the guys in this picture was like 4 years ago! The girls were great too, dancing to a little Flo Rida and not embarassing anyone by bringing along our plastic grillz. Had to stay classy for this one!

Cutest of the night goes to my friend Sara's little girl Taylor, who piped in with "Mommy pretty! Mommy pretty!" as her Mom (a bridesmaid) walked down the aisle. So adorable.

That wedding was on a Friday, so the next day we headed back to Chicago, dropping Mike off at Purdue to attend the Purdue/OSU tailgate at West Lafayette. That night my friend Jill and her husband Chris stayed with us, and I attended my friend Dora's bachelorette. So fun! After festivities I met Jill and Chris with their other friend Mike, and we had a grand old time!

This last weekend we headed to Bloomington for a girls + Mike squared + Fain reunion. SUCH a good time. Here is the pic of us girls

And some quotes by the birthday girl, Jenn:

• You guys remember that year I spent my birthday at dance marathon? This is WAY better than that!
• This would be great for a night of drinking alone.
• I'm like a dog, I want to get to Nick's and rub myself along the wall to get the scent of it.

As you can see, Jenn is not only a surgery resident, but she also doubles as a Grade A Comedienne. Love that girl.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to some time at home over the next month. I almost forgot about how social our friend group gets over the winter months, and I am looking forward to catching up with our friends here. The fun starts with Halloween this weekend, the Black and White ball the weekend after that, and the weekend after that I turn 30! Yikes!

Hotel holla

Just now the Marriott called me to tell me that Mike had left two ties in his room. Excellent customer service! Kudos, Marriott.



But that exchange reminded me of a story.....



Years ago, when I travelled for work alot, I left one of my favorite over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders (if you know what I mean, and I think you do) at a hotel room in Orlando. Now this place had to have been a W or something, because it was super posh and nice. I called and left a message with the hotel housekeeping only because it was one of my favorites. Later that day they called back and the guy on the other end said, in a very snooty/nasal almost-british-accent butler-like voice: "Ms. Stratton? You called housekeeping about something you left?"

Me: Yes?

Snobby Hotel Guy (SHG): "We found your..... your...... your....."

I'm dying, like, IS HE GOING TO SAY IT?

SHG: "....article of clothing...."

I laughed so hard when I got off the phone. The guy couldn't even say the word! bwah!

Uh, ok?

Guess it's good I don't really LIKE twitter that much!

Look how grownup Gracie looks!

In related news, my Dad lurrrrves to buy Gracie random stuff!

Premonition

So last night I was getting out of my car at my brother and his girlfriend's apartment, and I had Milly's leash around my neck like a scarf (just draped around my neck, not looped). I started to clip the leash onto Milly's collar and thought for a moment "Maybe I should take the leash off my neck first..." but since I was already at the latching moment, and Milly doesn't hold very still for long, I clipped it on with the next movement planned to be pulling the leash off from around my neck.

You know what happened next right? Milly bolted. Of freaking course. Beagle always be pulling at the end of her leash.

I could feel the leash tightening around my neck fast, and the fabric felt like it was rope-burning me. I swung around to get some slack on my neck, and moved to take the leash off around my neck. As I do so, I completely bashed my head on the open car door. Seeing-stars-hard. At least I followed through with taking the leash off my neck even though I was seeing spots.

So here I am, standing on a sidewalk on Belmont as people walk by, cursing loudly, and realizing that when it comes to premonitions about my dog, I should NOT be lazy and take the right steps. Because it's not so much deja vu, as it is knowing my dog is a total spaz.

Oh and now I have a huge bump on my head (although you may not be able to tell because it is the size of my entire forehead), and it hurts everytime I smooth my bangs to the side. Which is, oh, every 2 seconds.

Katie and Drew's wedding

I guess I should get off my lazy butt and recap Katie's wedding weekend already!

The weekend of the wedding was so busy... about five minutes after we arrived in Evansville, the boys took off for the bachelor party and my Mom, sister, and I sat down and started doing table tents. Four hours later we were done and the boys were still out drinking, so I bade goodnight to the girls (and Milly) and went to check in at the hotel.

The next morning we were up and at 'em early! I headed to the parents' house to hang out a bit with Milly during a morning conference call, then Katie and I went to get our eyebrows waxed. I'd never had that done before, but it was fun! Good times!! A few more errands and it was time for some mani-pedi action at a salon Katie's future mother in law had reserved for us...
After nails, we all got dressed at our respective houses and then headed to the rehearsal dinner. It was a fast one, and then we went to Turoni's for the rehearsal dinner. The in-laws had ordered like 4 of the "giant" pizzas, which are 29" in diameter. Holy pizza, batman! And lo, it was good.

The next morning, I picked up Katie EARLY and we were off to get our hair done. Then we headed back to the church to get ready in the choir room. Gracie toddled in looking a bit sleepy....
And proceeded to play with Mom's makeup....And distributed some hugs....
Gracie was a bit obsessed with Katie's dress, so Katie tried to put it over her like a tent!

....Much to the chagrin (and shrieking) of Miss Grace.

Instead she just wanted to stand on it... oh well! We took off her shoes though so she wouldn't get it dirty!
Before I knew it, wedding time arrived and we all walked down the aisle and Katie and Drew got married. The fun time arrived, and we all headed to the country club for pictures, dinner and drinks. It was a super fun party, and this may be the BEST picture to come out of it. Ahhh, Jay. Always a good time, little brother. Jay told me later, "I don't understand these people who get drunk and are all WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT?! I get drunk and I am AWESOME!"


I also got some fun pics with my Mama!

This is Michael - he is the head of staff out at the country club and is awesome. He ensures that events out there run like a well-oiled machine. He's one of the many reasons why my wedding was super fun, and he is thebombdotcom.
At the end of the night, the guys helped pack up and Jay played DJ for a minute :) A very good and fun night... and I even got some of my favorite wedding cuvee champagne!

Oink Oink

I don't think Gracie likes her pig costume!

So exciting

Oh man, my dog is going to totally hate me. Look what I just bought.
Not the dog... the costume! Milly is long and skinny and totally going to be a hot dog for Halloween this year.

Lordy, I am SUCH a DINK!!

I love this little girl...

IMG_1023.JPG, originally uploaded by agstratt.

even when she has pizza all over her face and is just smiling towards my camera to get me to shut up already!