Thanksgiving Weekend.

My Thanksgiving weekend was a whirlwind of eating and laughing and seeing a bunch of people I loved. Oh yeah, and baking desserts.

On Thanksgiving Eve, Lyndsay and I set out to construct an apple crisp. As usual, I did about 90% of the work, but it's always okay because we both know I love it. Her friend Nina came over and we headed out for drinks because that's what you do on T-Giving Eve.

Except by 11pm, we all felt like grandmas and were ready to go home after only one drink.

This ended up being a good thing. Upon arriving home, I stopped only briefly in the kitchen to make sangria before crashing into bed. In the morning, I turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and giddily danced around when they announced the balloons WOULD fly (there was iffy weather, and I would've been truly devastated had they not been included). I happily baked pumpkin pie before my mom got up and took over the kitchen.

Thanksgiving went how it always goes - catching up over appetizers, hovering around the kitchen trying to help in any way possible, barely touching my dinner (hi, anxiety), playing a family game, making and serving dessert. Actually, this year I made cinnamon rolls on the spot and they came out so well that I'm considering just making them all the time. They were miniature and I used the cupcake maker Danielle gifted me a few years ago, so it was super easy and fast.

We were super unhappy that we each matched each other.

The next day was a post-Thanksgiving get-together to see Matt and Amy, because they celebrate the day itself with other family. We had sub sandwiches and Bagel Bites while we completely obsessed over their wedding. It was the first time seeing them since the big event, so we rehashed all the fun details. The kids all escaped to the den to play a rousing game of Card Against Humanity, which I now have to keep in the trunk of my car because everyone is ALWAYS ASKING TO PLAY IT.

Watching Amy play this for the first time and giggle over all of her cards was the best part.

On Saturday (yes, my weekend kept going), I attended Friendsgiving with the H-Town crew. I have been so blessed to have been welcomed into Natalie's group of hometown friends - they are the best kind of people who always have funny stories to tell, listen to every word you have to say, and are just supportive and wonderful. I know how hard it can be making friends as you get older and I am so, so lucky to have stumbled upon another handful of girls I can call friends.

My new BFF even if she doesn't know it yet.

Finally, finally, on Sunday I slept. And lounged. And online shopped. And dreaded going back to work on Monday. But mostly, I looked back on the weekend and realized how much fun I had and how, really and truly, I didn't feel as anxiety-ridden as I usually do. Progress.

Let the Holidays Begin

Disclaimer: I am one of those people who consider November 1st the start of the holiday season. I'm not breaking out my Christmas music collection juuuust yet, but I sure will prep the playlist, start making a gift list for all of my friends, and look for deals on holiday decorations.

I haven't always felt this way, and I know there are a lot of people who feel that Christmas continues to infiltrate our lives earlier and earlier in the year. A few years ago I used to rally against celebrating anything Christmas-related before Thanksgiving. And I will admit, it was a little over the top to see TV commercials for layaway programs in September, but I understood the point - if you're on a limited budget, you sometimes have to start putting your kids' gifts of layaway four months back.

In recent years, however, I've come to understand it a bit better. From a marketing perspective, the longer holiday items are on the shelves, the more opportunities there are for sales. Plus, most of what is out this early is decorations - lights, lawn ornaments, wreaths, and trees. This makes sense because you (usually) decorate before doing anything else, and if you have a limited budget, it might be easier to buy a few sets of lights and lawn decorations back in October.

Now that Halloween is done with and we've entered October, I consider this the holiday season. I mean, Halloween is a holiday (of sorts) and is the first big one since the summer time. November and December are focused on family and gratitude as we prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel that's why I stopped having a grudge against listening to Christmas music before sitting down to that big turkey dinner - by listening to holiday tunes and starting to buy gifts, nobody was forgetting about Thanksgiving. Or at least I wasn't, and that was all that mattered.

Do you get overly excited for the holidays? Did you break out the Christmas music yet?

Snail Mail Love.

{♥}

I'm baaaaaack!

December - and the holiday season in general - is one of my favorite times of the year. I thrive in the celebratory spirit, the sappy sentimental music, and of course, the glitter and sparkles. So what better time to make another attempt to make a comeback!

Today we're talking snail mail, both for others and for you! This year, like last year, I'm participating in something called 12 Days of Love Letter Writing. It's a special project that's part of More Love Letters, a website that focuses on leaving little notes of encouragement out in the world and sending snail mail to some people who need it most.

Every month, there's a request for a certain someone who's going through a rough time. Everyone who wants to participate mails their letters in to the website's P.O. box, where the letters are sorted and collected into bundles. The 12 Days project is a little more hardcore: twelve days, twelve separate bundles, twelve calls to action for twelve special people.

You have no obligation to write for all twelve bundles - last year, I wrote four or five. I want to encourage all of you to participate, especially if you love sending snail mail! It's so fun and rewarding to write notes to people who need the extra boost. Visit More Love Letters or their Facebook event page for more details and to sign up!

And now onto the goodies for you: if you want some pretty mail in your real-life, non-virtual inbox this years, fill out the form below for a holiday card from me!

Ten on Tuesday [Vol. 44].

{A Thanksgiving greeting from the white board on our fridge; my dad added the subtitle.}

1. What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year?
We're having a two-part party with my dad's side of the family. Thursday will be my family, Lyndsay's family, and potentially my cousin who's been in California for the Navy and his mother and sister (we're betting their attendance is dependent on him showing up). Friday will be mine and Lyndsay's families again, plus my cousin and his girlfriend who are coming up from Maryland.

2. What are you most thankful for this year?
My amazing relationship and my wonderful boyfriend. Mushy mush mush, I know, but it's true!

3. Do you have any traditions on Thanksgiving? The parade? Football? Long naps?
I, personally, always watch the parade. This means waking up earlier than normal for me, so I usually curl up with coffee or tea. We also always have green bean casserole. Yum.

4. Is it called stuffing or dressing? Is it in the bird or a separate dish?
Stuffing. My mama used to make two - the Stove Top brand and homemade stuffing that was cooked in the bird - but this year I think she's just doing the homemade kind because it's not really popular in our family.

5. Do you cook?
Not really. I bake. I'm in charge of desserts for every holiday and party.

6. What is your favorite dish?
Green bean casserole.

7. What is your dessert preference?
Pumpkin pie all the way. Everything else pales in comparison.

8. What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
My paternal grandparents (who passed away when I was young) always used to bring little chocolate turkeys for all the kids. Once they passed away, for a few years my aunt would go out of her way to get the same exact chocolates from the same shop. It was always really awesome to have a piece of candy along with all the other desserts.

9. Do you plan to shop on Black Friday?
Yes. This is actually the first year I'll be venturing out early because I'm on the hunt for a few specific gifts for Erik. Otherwise, I'll follow my normal routine of checking for online bargains and heading out to stores that have all-day sales (like Target).

10. What are you most dreading about Thanksgiving this year?
The possibility of drama if my cousin (the one moving home from California) makes it. There's no guarantee he'll be home in time or that drama will definitely happen, but there's potential for it.

These questions are a part of Ten on Tuesday which is run by the wonderful Chelsea of Roots and Rings.

Early Arrival.

You’re either going to give me a huge thumbs-up or a very loud sigh (and an eye roll for good measure) in response to the following statement:

I’m already knee-deep in the Christmas spirit.

For most of my life, I’ve held off until Thanksgiving is over before I launch into all things Christmas. But this year, something is different. Maybe it’s the extremely premature snow storm we had two weeks ago. Maybe it’s my excitement over exchanging gifts with Erik and DIY-ing the majority of this year’s gifts. Maybe it’s a subconscious need for something to be excited about to balance out the things I stress about.

Whatever it is, I decided last week that I wasn’t going to hold back. Many people, annoyed with how commercial and over-emphasized Christmas has become, scoff at any and everyone who is even thinking about Christmas already. I’m tired of it.

This year has been a huge lesson in doing what feels right to me and not suppressing my desires. So when I had a sudden burst of gift inspiration earlier this week and had the urge to listen to Christmas music, I did just that. I queued up some holiday tunes on Spotify, flipped through my December issue of Real Simple, and made shopping lists for all the craft projects I hope to undertake. I embraced what I wanted and didn’t ignore it simply because, by some people’s norms, it’s too early.

It seems silly now that I would’ve even considered pushing aside my holiday excitement, especially over something like other peoples’ opinions. Being happy is an important part of taking care of and making time for myself; I’m glad I’m learning how to do it.

my valentine.

{+}

It’s watching game shows and trying to one-up each other. It’s feeling comforted when my pillow smells like him the night after he’s slept over. It’s tackling the immense list of movies I’ve never seen, him cluing me in to which ones are the ones I need to see. It’s him always rubbing my arm, scratching my back, or running his fingers through my hair. It’s poking fun at each other, getting fake angry and trying to be stubborn, then laughing about it when one of us breaks. It’s the way he holds my face with his hand when we kiss. It’s spending a day or more together and still missing him once he leaves. It’s him singing off-key and not caring. It’s being complimented and told I’m beautiful more times in a few months than I probably have been my whole life.

I feel like this relationship has taken me by surprise, both with its arrival into my life and how well it’s been going. Things have fallen into place the entire time and sometimes, it’s hard to believe we’ve only been officially dating for just over a month and hanging out since December. To me, it feels like months have gone by.

Things have been so comfortable and effortless. I can be myself and he doesn’t think I’m weird (or, at least he doesn’t tell me I’m weird). Leading up to the actual relationship, I was so concerned that my life was too big of a mess to be involved with someone else. Turns out I was wrong about that – I just needed to realize it would be okay with the right person. I’m so lucky to have someone who’s considerate and understanding, who offers to help in whatever way possible and doesn’t mind if we spend most of our time relaxing at home.

The overall feeling I’ve had throughout this experience is that this is the way it’s supposed to be. I feel lighter than I’ve felt in quite a while, and although I can’t say it’s all due to my relationship, it plays a pretty big part. Most days I wake up and fall asleep with a smile on face because of ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ texts. My friends have commented that I just seem a lot happier.

Though I may not know exactly where it will go from here, I know that for now, he’s one of the best things to happen to me in the past few years. I am truly a lucky girl.

--

I wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day, whether you're in a relationship or not. If you're single, take time to love those around you and yourself - it doesn't all have to be about romantic love.

christmas weekend recap.

Christmas Eve was relatively quiet and relaxing, just the way I needed it to be. We visited with my mom's side of the family at her brother's house in South Jersey, which we visit only every couple of years. They recently redid their kitchen and it was beautiful. I should know, I spent plenty of time in there since all the "kids" still sit in the kitchen while the "adults" eat in the dining room. (In case you couldn't tell, I don't appreciate being almost 24 years old and still being relegated to a completely separate table.)

All the grandkids together, a rare occurrence.


My family with my grandparents.

Aside from that, we had a nice time. I chatted with my grandparents, we were able to maintain conversation during dinner at the kids' table (the last time we had Christmas Eve there, we sat in silence most of the time), and we took some perfectly awkward family photos. Before I knew it, we were on our way home to get ready for the following day.

After changing into my Santa pajamas, I got to work baking cupcakes, making mini cheesecakes, waiting for Firetruck Santa, and opening presents. Unfortunately, Firetruck Santa never turned up (he went down BOTH blocks on either side of us, but skipped our block. Rude!), but I did make out pretty well with gifts. I received a Wii Fit, a SYTYCD sweatshirt, Beauty & the Beast on DVD, the Jack Johnson To The Sea album, a pair of leggings, a cute top, and some Victoria's Secret body spray.

Christmas Day was a lot more exciting. I was up early setting the table, putting together appetizers, and doing any last-minute cleaning. We opened gifts soon after everyone arrived, which was an event. I made out with a new headband, clutch, two adorable shirts and a jewelry rack.

New clutch and headband from Lynds!

My cousins absolutely adored the bracelets I bought them - they were silver chain-link with a heart charm that I had engraved with the words 'olive you' on the back. It's an inside joke that my dad started, but Lynds and I always say it to each other. Needless to say, she got a little teary-eyed when she opened it. Considering that was my favorite gift to give this year, I'm so very glad it was well-received. Another hit gift? My brother's two-case pack of Guinness from my aunt. He was a happy, happy boy.

Her little face! I almost cried myself.

My brother's favorite gift pretty much ever.

The best gift of the night, however, had to my dad's. As I've mentioned several times, his favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story. He watches it every year and quotes in non-stop. So, around the time of Thanksgiving, my aunt decided to get him a miniature night-light version of the leg lamp. She and Lynds then took it a step further and wrapped it up in a large box and wrote FRAGILE on it, just like the movie, and, well, here's how it went down:



We snapped a handful of pictures before sitting down for dinner, which was delicious. I was feeling really good and anxiety free, which might have had something to do with the lovely cranberry-and-orange-juice-mixed-with-raspberry-vodka cocktail I was sipping all afternoon.

My girls and I, all dressed up for Pretty Girl Christmas.

My brother wasn't really having any of this picture-taking nonsense.

There, a smile!

Once upon a time, we used to fight over holding my cousin John as a baby. Now he's way taller than both of us.

Dinner table!

After handling dinner clean up, we sat down for a few games. There was a quick round of A Christmas Story trivia - the game didn't go over as well as I'd planned - and then we stuck to our traditional game of Outburst. More pictures were taken before we sat down to a jam-packed dessert table.

My cousin Clancy playing game show hostess.

Traditional stair picture, with the prompt that we should put on scary faces.

Height order Brady Bunch picture, complete with gang signs by the guys.

Charlie's Angels.

Once dessert was finished, I had to drive my cousin out to the parkway. When I returned, the parents were involved in some Serious Talk, so we played Wii and then Lynds and I iced cupcakes for the following day. Unfortunately, due to the snow, there was no party the next day. I was seriously bummed, but it was nice to have another day to sleep and recover from my exhausting (and fabulously fun) week.

The snow has been a relaxing little break for me. I should be plenty rested for New Year's Eve festivities.

How was your Christmas? Did you get anything good? Spill!

holiday week 2010: day 4.

Past Traditions

• My mother used to take my brother and I out one night in the car - in our pajamas - and drive us around to see all the Christmas lights. We would point out our favorites and then pick which one we thought was the best all around. She brought a letter along that she'd printed out to put in the mail box of the "winner," stating that my brother and I had picked their house as the prettiest one in the neighborhood. It was always so. much. fun. and it's something I want to do with my kids someday.
  
  
• Speaking of Christmas lights, there used to be a house in the next town over that had tons and tons of lights and decorations. There were things hanging from the trees, light-up figurines in the yard, a moving Santa on the porch, and lights everywhere. We used to stop by after Christmas Eve festivities, when I was all tuckered out from excitement and still in my holiday dress and tights. It was magical, especially when I was still little.
  
  
• A few things always happened when opening gifts: we had to wait in my parents' room while my dad set up the video camera to tape us, my dad rang our set of jingle bells to signal us to come downstairs, and stockings were always opened after gifts. My brother and I would compare each and every thing we got in our stocking, making sure we both got the same or similar things.
  
  
• For a couple years, my cousins and I put on a little show for Christmas Day. One year we acted out the Grinch. Another year we acted out the song 'Nuttin' for Christmas,' which went well until the part about filling the sugar bowl with ants, at which point my older cousin accidentally flung all the sugar in the air. Finally, in what was our most successful performance, Lynds and I choreographed a dance (using choreo from my dances and her cheerleading routine) in 2005 to 'L.O.V.E.' by Ashlee Simpson. We wore matching outfits and everything.
  
  
• On my mom's side of the family, we always had to take pictures as soon as everyone had arrived. I guess it was to prevent us from being uncooperative later once we were tired. We usually piled onto the couch, the six of us cousins sitting with our grandparents, then took turns sitting in twos with them.
  
  Present Traditions

• Beginning in 2005, Lynds and I have been getting together the week of Christmas to make desserts for our family party. Sometimes we pretend we're on a cooking show, other times we just blast Christmas music and dance around the kitchen while we bake. We always have our Santa hats on and my uncle always threatens to eat all the goodies before Christmas. This year we made snickerdoodles and apple crumb squares and are also making mini cheesecakes, cupcakes, and brownies. We also had a baking emergency halfway through because we ran out of flour - thank goodness for Walgreens!
  
  
• On my dad's side of the family, we always play some sort of game. One of our favorites is Outburst, but we've also played trivia games, Guitar Hero, and DDR (which we even got my aunt to try!). This year we're gifting our family a trivia game based on A Christmas Story and I cannot wait to play it.
  
  
• It is not a Christmas Eve party without sprinkle cookies from Judicke's bakery. We always have a ton of desserts when celebrating with my mom's side of the family, but there has not been a year without sprinkle cookies. Which is good, because they are delicious.
  
  
• On Christmas Eve, Santa rides around our neighborhood on top of a fire truck, with its lights flashing and the sirens blaring. Every year - even now - I eagerly start listening for the sirens when it gets around the time he'll be coming by. When I was little, my dad used to carry me outside (I was in pajamas and didn't want to wear shoes), me in my Santa hat and him carrying our jingle bells, and we'd wave as Santa went by. My dad and I still go outside every year without fail and wave.

I hope you enjoyed reading my Christmas posts this week! I've been busy as a bee and am now finally ready for three days of celebrations. I'm wishing all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and lots and lots of happiness this weekend.
xo

holiday week 2010: day 2.

The Music
An absolute MUST to start off my holiday season is the cassette tape of Christmas music my mom recorded from vinyl way back when we were kiddies. I refuse to decorate the tree without it and it gets ample play throughout the season. It's a mix of some pretty unique songs, like Marshmallow World by Darlene Love and Christmas in Killarney by Bing Crosby, but has all the classics as well. Plus, there are a few adorable interruptions that were recorded when we would play it on our toy tape player that also had a microphone. It's really all my brother's fault, because as I can be heard saying on my favorite of the recordings, "you can't record on this one Dan, this is not a blank tape." I was such a bossy older sister.

Aside from that entire cassette, I have plenty of other favorites. My mega Christmas play list has a total of 66 songs on it, but I'll try to pick out just a few to share.

First up is a new favorite: Deck the Rooftop by the Glee Cast. When I first heard this song, I died on the spot because it was amazing. I always love their mash-ups and this one is so well done.



Next up is a recent song that, in my opinion, has already become a classic for our generation - All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. Any time this comes on the radio, I blast it and sing at the top of my lungs. It's just so damn catchy!



The last one I'm going to put up is Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. I adore this song and I really have no idea why.



A few other favorites include: Believe by Josh Groban (it always gives me chills); Maroon 5's version of Happy Christmas (War is Over); Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by NSYNC; Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by The Crystals; and Step into Christmas by Elton John.

The Movies
Much like my mother's Christmas cassette tape, the holiday season doesn't start until I've watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the original cartoon version. I like the new live-action version as well, but it doesn't come close to the original. The ending always makes me tear up, when "he, he himself, the Grinch - carved the roast beast."

A new favorite is A Christmas Story, which I only saw in its entirety for the first time last month. Now that I've finally seen it all the way through, I realized that I actually had seen most of it and that it is amazing.

I generally love most Christmas movies. Love Actually is such a sweet, romantic movie and it makes my heart swell every time. I cry my face off every time I watch The Polar Express, even before it gets to the super weepy parts. My mom and I watch White Christmas together because it was her favorite movie as a kid, and I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes when she starts singing along when they sing Sisters. My favorite Santa Clause is the original, and the same goes for Home Alone. Also, I love the Home Alone "theme song" - it reminds me of all things Christmas whenever I hear it.



And, considering I'm a dance geek, I always need to watch this version of The Nutcracker featuring the New York City Ballet. Yes, it has Macaulay Culkin in it and that just makes it more amazing. Sadly, I cannot find a single clip of it on Youtube other than this trailer, which barely contains any dancing. I love each and every piece of music from The Nutcracker and the dancing is absolutely phenomenal.

What are you favorite Christmas songs and movies?

holiday week 2010: day 1.

Pretty simple. We have three large Rubbermaid bins filled to the brim with tons of decorations. Usually it's an afternoon-long process of trading out the year-round knick knacks and replacing it all with lots of lovely Christmas trinkets. I took pictures of most of it, but we would be here forever if I found all the spots where we have decorations up.

Then it's time for the tree, which is a process I complete pretty much 100% by myself now. (My family is a bunch of Grinches... or, they're just lazy.) Since we have a pre-lit fake tree, half of my work is done by the time I take it out of the garage and set it up. Then I add gold garland and the biggest variety of ornaments I have ever seen. It's good practice for letting go of my OCD tendencies because I just hang things based on a feeling and the only thing I monitor is if there are empty spots.

Around the House












The Tree






My Room

There will only be four days in my Holiday Week, so expect long, photo-heavy posts. I hope you enjoy them anyway! Thanks to Nora for the inspiration to talk about all things Christmas for the week.

belated long weekend recap.

Is it really Wednesday already? Yikes. I really got knocked on my ass by a cold I woke up with on Sunday until right now. Anyway, here's my belated recap of my long weekend, because it was just too fun to not talk about.

My Thanksgiving was calm and casual. I woke up early to watch the Macy’s Parade on TV (the beginning of my demise, I’m sure, considering I got only five hours of sleep) while perusing the Black Friday ads and drinking tea to settle my stomach. We headed over to my aunt and grandparents’ two-family house in North Jersey and had a relaxing afternoon of chatting, looking at old family photographs, drinking wine, and of course, eating. There were too many biscuits and the typical myriad of desserts from our favorite bakery, which meant lots of yummy leftovers to take home.

The cousins with Grandma & Grandpa on Thanksgiving.

On Friday I had plans with Lynds for a food coma recovery day, which entailed salads from Quiznos for lunch and lying around in sweats. After catching up on family drama – and boy, was there plenty – we settled in with my aunt to watch A Christmas Story. This movie was chosen specifically because my dad and aunt both love and quote it, but Lynds and I had yet to see the entire thing.

For about the past four years, we swore to watch it on Christmas Eve when it’s played for twenty-four hours on TBS, but we never got around to it. It was wonderful to finally watch it from start to finish, and we joked that we no longer had any more life goals because this was the ultimate accomplishment. I guess we just peaked at ages nineteen and twenty-three.

Saturday was Natalie and her fiancé, Kyle’s engagement party, which I arrived at much later than intended. But, the party was still a blast. I got to catch up not only with Danielle and her boyfriend, but also a few people from our college crew I hadn’t seen in a while and the couple’s hometown friends. We talked about our careers as a slideshow of college pictures played in the background, occasionally causing us to pause, laugh, and reminisce. And, most exciting of all, Danielle and I were asked to be bridesmaids! I almost cried and honestly, I haven't stopped gushing about it since. I'm going to drive my family mad.

The gaggle of "kids" - the couple, their siblings and friends - posing before the cake was cut.

During the cake-cutting, there were jokes about how this was really a baby shower (to which Kyle responded, not for ten more years), criticisms of Natalie’s cake-cutting abilities, and a short-lived icing war between Nat and her brother. We then retreated to the basement for intense games of Foosball and more chatting. I ended up talking to Nat’s brother and ultimately giving him my number (mostly because he asked in a way in which I couldn’t really say no, but also because a small part of me wanted to), so we’ll see what happens with that.

I had grand plans to figure out my life on Sunday – I was going to settle in and make meal plans and daily schedules for myself, but then I woke up and found out that the three days’ worth of sleeping and eating poorly had caught up with me. I was completely out-of-service from Sunday through Tuesday, only feeling better towards Tuesday night as I tuned in to watch the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

My love of fresh starts will most likely cause me to spend most of today making up lists, completing some easier chores, and getting on track. Seeing how much damage I did to myself this weekend by having to cater to my anxiety (especially how out of it I felt at Saturday's party) served as the final impetus to really start making changes now. 2011 is going to be my year.