November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. Its the only day of the year in which I LOVE cooking. The rest of the days, I just like it and don't mind making a few things, but on Thanksgiving, I don't mind spending the entire day in the kitchen! This morning, we woke up and Spencer got us bagels for breakfast and we laid around in our pajamas and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Then it was time to shower and get to work. Tiffany ain't no Betty Crocker, but she did help me peel some potatoes in between her crossword puzzle and facebooking.We only had 2 Thanksgiving catastrophes, both averted. The first, we ran out of sour cream for 2 of my recipes. Catastrophe averted. The second, turns out there was a little dried up puddle of something at the bottom of the oven and when the sweet potato casserole overflowed a little bit on top of it (while there were 5 other things in the oven cooking), it started a little smoke fire. The smoke detectors went off, the kitchen filled with a thin layer of smoke, and Tank had a hardcore panic attack, but that catastrophe was averted as well. I kept cooking through the smoke and nothing tasted like burning...not even the sweet potato casserole. Spencer carved our baby turkey.I made WAY too much food. Our spread for three people turned out to be: turkey, gravy, stuffing, rolls, sweet potato casserole, squash, party potatoes, corn casserole, green bean casserole, rudabaga, and white wine. We ate WAY too much and everyone was in a serious Thanksgiving coma. Once we made room for dessert by stretching out. Tiffany and I shared a bottle of a Planfield favorite, Lambrusco...our dessert before dessert, and we finished off the evening with our actual dessert, apple pie and french vanilla ice cream. I haven't eaten that much in a long time! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (Tank is begging for the leftovers that didn't make it to the fridge...)

Groceries. Pedicures. Yard House. Ka.

Today was another busy day but again we had a blast! We slept in a bit and then got ready for the day. Spencer was feeling a little sick today (I'm pretty sure I gave him my cold), so he stayed home on the couch and rested while Tiffany and I went to Einstein Bagels for some lunch, did some Thanksgiving grocery shopping and then got pedicures. We got Spencer and then went to happy hour at Yard House and did some touristy stuff on The Strip (Bellagio Fountains, Mirage Volcano, etc.) and then went to MGM Grand to see Ka! It was a great night! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! YAY!

And The Winner Is....

After a very close competition, here are the results of this season's Dancing With The Stars:
In third place and winning hearts of fans EVERYWHERE, Kelly Osborne and Louis VanAmstel!In second place and perhaps a bit of an upset, (but it all came to easy for her so I'm kinda glad she didn't win), Mya and Dmitry Chaplin:
AND THE WINNER IS....
Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson! YAY!

Blind Side. Las Vegas Sign. Blue Man Group.

Today was a busy one, but we had a great time! We slept in a little bit since Spencer and I normally do and Tiffany needed to adjust to the time change. We started off at breakfast at my favorite place, The Cracked Egg. Then we headed to Town Square for a movie. We saw "The Blind Side"...all three of us loved it. It was an excellent movie. Since we were close by, we decided to take Tiffany to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign after the movie so she could check it off her "Vegas Tourist Bucket List."Little did we know we would get a 2-for-1 check off, since we also had an Elvis spotting!!! Driving a pink cadillac no less!After all of that excitement we headed home to take naps, watch some tv while laying around on the couch, eat some dinner, and get ready to go see Blue Man Group. Tiffany had seen a Blue Man Group show a long time ago in Chicago and Spencer and I had never seen it. For some reason, I had low expectations, but it far exceeded them! It was an excellent show and all of us enjoyed it. And thank you for the tickets Pesci! We had a blast! After the show we walked around The Venetian a little bit, but we were all exhausted so now we are home and heading to bed to rest up for more adventures tomorrow! Goodnight! :)

Tiffany Is Here! :)

A couple weeks ago, Spencer and I had a brilliant idea to invite Tiffany to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving! I asked, she said she'd love to, but when she asked for the time off of work, they denied her. Then, at the last minute...like 4 days ago, she texted me and said they changed their minds and she could come! And I just got to bed after picking her up from the airport, making a run for the border (Taco Bell), and chatting and catching up with her. Its so fun to have her here and I'm looking forward to our next few days together! Pictures to come of course! :)

13 Down, 3 To Go!

Another accurate prediction by me...Bye Bye Joanna and Derek!

Week 9!

All the dances were AWESOME this week. These four deserve to be in the semi finals. I think they are all on even playing fields and again can't choose one. Something about Joanna bugs me consistently though. I'm becoming a bigger Donny Osmond fan every week. Mya, well, I did call that she would win the trophy in episode one...that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. But I'm REALLY pulling for Kelly Osborne. She's just my favorite lately, I can't really explain why. There's just something about her... Anyway, I'm predicting Joanna and Derek are done tomorrow night.

12 Down, 4 To Go!

Thank the Lord in Heaven...FINALLY...Bye Bye Aaron and Karina!

Week 8!

I loved the dances by decade this week, but I'm really at a loss as to who is better than who and I'm feeling more and more indifferent each week! This season just isn't doin' it for me. I'm predicting and HOPING Aaron Carter goes home tomorrow night...I've been sick of him since about Week 2 at best!

Home Sweet Home

After a very interesting flight from Chicago to Las Vegas, I made it back safely. Spencer had to work and couldn't pick me up, but he left me his car with some snacks inside in case I was hungry. After a longer than normal drive home because I apparently forgot how to drive in Vegas, I made it to my apartment only to discover that Spencer remembered to leave me everything BUT the house key so I was locked out. Luckily the office was opened for about 15 more minutes so I made it in time to get a spare key from them and get inside. My animals were VERY happy to see me. I found more surprises from Spencer at home including dinner and roses:After watching Dancing With The Stars (see blog) and Castle, and managing to not fall asleep from exhaustion, I went to pick up Spencer from work and now I'm whole again with my hubby and little family. :) And about to pass out. GOODNIGHT!

Week 8!

Ok, so I was totally bored with the Ballroom round...I think all the dancers are on the same playing field...all have equal strengths and weaknesses and aren't all out impressing me that much. The Latin round was super fun though since they not only had to do a Latin dance but had to do it in varying decades. Derek and Joanna were my favorite with their Paso Doble from the future! Very clever and lots of fun. Everyone's dances in that round were great though. I have no idea who is going home tomorrow night. The competition is too close. I wanna say its going to be Aaron and Karina, but I think that's just because I'm not the biggest Aaron Carter fan. I didn't vote again tonight. My light for this season of Dancing With The Stars is fading. We'll see what happens tomorrow night.

Last Day!

Today was actually pretty relaxing. My whole family came over to Mom and Dad's house and we had an early Thanksgiving. I cooked the most delicious juicy turkey and Mom made the rest of the yummy food. We spent most of the day playing Rockband and Rage (a family favorite card game).It was fun to spend time with everyone, including my newest nephew Jackson.And tomorrow I head back home. I am VERY excited to see my hubby who I miss very much!

Beth and Aaron's Wedding

Beth's wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Her and Aaron couldn't have picked a better autumn day in Chicago! It was wonderful to see so much family that I hadn't seen in forever and to share this perfect day with Beth and Aaron. And the reception was SO FUN! Since I took so many pictures, I just made a slide show instead of posting them all individually. Enjoy!

Home To Plainfield

I always have mixed emotions upon my return to my hometown, no matter what the occasion, and this trip is no exception. Its especially difficult because I am not traveling with my husband, so on top of all my normal mixed emotions, I am emotionally because we're apart. I know its only a few days but we're newlyweds so we get to be mushy! ANYWAY, I arrived yesterday. My flight was ok...thanks to my hubby, I had an excellent book to distract me. After a long, hunger-filled, heavy traffic drive with Mom and Parker from the airport, I got a much craved White Castle dinner (we don't have White Castle in Las Vegas), and went home to babysit my nephews for the night. Today I spent the day with my nephews again before they had to go to their dad's house. We played with nephew #3, Jackson, and Uncle Jason in the morning and then played in the leaves all afternoon! Then I went over to see my old friend Tony, who I hadn't seen since his wedding about 4 years ago and met his adorable kids for the first time! We had a great time playing with the kids and attempting to catch up. Then I headed to dinner with my 3 best girls, Tiffany, Jenny, and Kari, to have some dinner and lots of wine. It was a great time together, as it always is! Now, even though I'm not that tired, thanks to the 2 hour time difference, I'm heading to bed and hoping to sleep so I can have lots of energy for our long, but exciting day ahead tomorrow...my cousin Beth is getting married...the whole reason I made this trip! :) I can't wait to see her and the rest of my family! Goodnight!

11 Down, 5 To Go!

Bye bye Michael and Anna!Bye bye Mark and Lacey!

Week 7!

I must say, this season of Dancing With The Stars is not as exciting for me. I was seriously considering not even blogging this week. Instead, I just decided to tell you I'm almost over it. NOT over the show by any means, it is still by far my favorite, but just over being so critical and doing my own judging, etc. I have learned alot about dancing by doing it, but realized that it makes me enjoy the show a little bit less. I'm not passionate about any of the contestants that are left at this point, and none of the dances wow-ed me enough this week to log on, so I didn't even vote. I have no idea who is going home tomorrow or who will even be in the bottom 3. So there you have it. I can't even promise there'll be another blog next week! Goodnight!

October 2009!