We're off to Mexico

Be back in December!

[photo]

Have a happy and delicious Thanksgiving everyone!

(and if you're not roasting your own turkey, here's a fun alternative - found via SwissMiss)

You know it's the holidays when...

Hunky Santa comes to town (or the local mall)...

[photo]

[from his bio:
"He is the son of ol' St. Nick. He is personable, friendly, gregarious, funny, approachable, warm, articulate, confident, unpretentious, easy-going, fit, handsome and has a smile that can light up a room"]

So hilarious and kind of ridiculous; but, to be fair, if Hunky Santa is up your alley, you can visit him Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights at the Beverly Center.

(also to be fair, that is a picture of Hunky Santa 2006, trainer Greg from Bravo's Workout; this year's Hunky Santa is Eli Wilhide of Tony Robbins fame.)

Stickerpalooza

Look what finally came from Amazon (it took over a week even though the warehouse is about 40 minutes from my apartment): My sticker maker refill! The best part is... it FITS! As it turns out, the Create-a-Sticker is the same machine as my Magic Sticker Maker! (Xyron would have made my life a lot easier if it didn't change the names of its products!) I have plenty of shows on TiVo so it's sticker assembly time tonight! (One of which is Heroes; is anyone still watching it? I'm trying but the constant time jumping is really confusing me!)

In other news, Mr. Blog won this pie in a raffle at work today. Mmm, my hero.

Last Minute Thanksgiving: An illustrated story

Mr. Blog & I won't be in the country for Thanksgiving, but he still wanted a little turkey and stuffing (and cranberry and beans and yams and potatoes... etc. etc.) so we decided to have a small dinner this weekend for the two of us (the inner-hostess in me wanted to have a big celebration, but when we came up with this idea last week I was still convinced I didn't pass the bar so I just assumed I wouldn't want to see people this weekend).

I went to the store to buy a turkey breast and thigh, which together cost $12. The whole turkey in the next freezer was only $11. So, I bought the whole turkey (of course).

In light of the fact that: 1) there was no way we could eat a whole turkey; 2) it's very hard to cooked that many side dishes for two people; 3) I did pass the bar and was up for being social, we decided on Friday to host a (very last minute) Thanksgiving on Sunday.

We made all the food; our friends brought all the wine and it was a fantastic evening.

A crudite tower (and its friend beer):Boys watching football and a lovely lady smiling for the camera:
The Turkey:
Friends (and fellow bar-passers - congrats!):
Mr. Blog working hard and me enjoying myself:Eating:
Our table: And, in case you're wondering, the dishes are: (clockwise from the big turkey platter)
1) Roasted, brined turkey with grilled baby eggplant and persimmons (on a bed of spinach)
2) Cranberry orange sauce
3) Stuffing (from the box!)
4) Mixed green salad with apples, gorgonzola and spiced walnuts (with orange dressing)
5) Mr. Blog's special whipped yams topped with mini marshmallows
6) Corn pudding
7) Green bean casserole
8) More stuffing
9) Scalloped potatoes with Gruyere
Not pictured (where the empty potholders are): gravy & spicy collard greens

Mr. Blog also made a beautiful pumpkin pie from scratch (with bourbon whipped cream!) but we promptly ate that up without photographing it.

Thank you, dear friends for sharing the night with us and a big, big thank you to Mr. Blog for being my co-chef.

Oh, as I'm writing this entry: turkey & fixin's to my left; gravy & cranberry to my right. Mmm.

Friday: Before, during and after

Before 6:00: Nervousness maximus (cartoon by Gary Larson)I've known that bar results are released Friday, Nov. 21 at 6:00 since before I took the bar, but even with that type of notice there was no way I could prepare for the feelings I would experience that day. All last week I hardly slept, and would drink gallons of coffee to function during the day (it was not a pretty sight).

My friends realized I was going insane, and this arrived for me Friday morning.It was a sweet, sweet package from sweet, sweet Lolo. Just to remind me I'm Wonder Woman!THANK YOU! THANK YOU! It was the perfect break from what I had been doing (rocking back and forth in front of my computer, giggling nervously and constantly refreshing the results page just in case a glitch caused the list to be published before 6:00).

During 6:00 - 6:30: Logging on, gasping, re-reading, confirming, jumping, crying, hugging, calling, mom screaming, texting friends, waiting, cheering - exhausting.

After 6:30: Brainlessly amused (cartoon by Gary Larson)
I'd expended most of my energy for the day rocking back and forth and jumping up and down, so I was pretty tired by the time the celebration phase rolled around. Also, I'm way too old to go out and down an endless stream of cocktails (but props to all my friends who did!).

So, Mr. Blog took me Le Petit Bistro. They have *amazing* pate (smooth, rich and very flavorful) if anyone is interested! Mmm mm! Mr. Blog had their endive salad which he thoroughly enjoyed. I started with the roasted beet salad with baked goat cheese - it was melt in your mouth. *drool*
This is my seafood stew which had a delicious creamy, saffron broth that was perfectly spiced (some places really overdo the saffron which irks me). Mr. Blog & his crispy duck (with a hint of orange) over wild rice. Mmm.Mr. Blog surprised me with Champagne and chocolate souffle.
Then we visited some good friends, sipped more champagne and called it a night.

um, I passed the bar.

Wreath Prototype #2

Same materials + a lot more time =

I like it. I'm going to make more.

=)

The power of paper

This is the first holiday season that I haven't been a student which means that instead of dealing with finals around this time of year, I have time to decorate! With this Christmas being the first anniversary of the first Christmas Mr. Blog & I spent together, I decided to go with a paper theme.

File folder + paper plate + cheap scratch paper

Add scissors + tapeEquals Wreath Prototype #1I feel... okay... about this project. I like the fullness and dimensions of the wreath and the mix of holly leaves & pine, but my brain is really hating the look of the scratch paper. Even though I know in the real version of this wreath I'll use a richer, dark green paper for the holly leaves, I'm visually distracted by the pastel so it's throwing off my judgment.

I think I may sit on this one for a while.

Product placement

Last night I came home from work to discover there was no parking on my street because this was happening on my block: If you can't tell from my superb photography skills, there were at least 10 trailers parked in front of (next to, around the corner from...) that house and it was all lit up and surrounded by cameras.

I deduced that it was a filming of some sort. I saw a production assistant rushing by clutching 4 very large, very full bags from Target. I asked him what they're filming.

"Oh, a commercial for Wal-Mart."

Going Green

This is Mr. Personality. (Sorta... The Mr.Personality that we know and love is actually midnight blue, but I didn't have any pictures of him on my computer... this photo is from here)

Mr. Personality been with our family for several years now and we adore him. He's strong and fast and goes vroom, vroom. Sadly, he's returning home to the dealership in a few months, so yesterday Mr. Blog & I went out to find a replacement personality.

We're adopting her.

(yes, that's actually her!)

She's sweet and cute and her little hybrid engine purrs like a kitten. I luhve her. We're picking her up in a month. =)

Christmas Card Prototypes

[spoiler alert for those who care what kind of card I'm sending them this Christmas!]

I came up with this card last night:
The outside (it's very boring, but wait for it...)
The inside for text (yes, yes, still boring... keep waiting...)
It comes with these extras (do you see where I'm going with this?)...
to make this!
It's a gingerbread house in card form all ready to be decorated! I may tweak the shape little more (but I'm pretty limited since I want the whole card to fit in the standard envelop that the "roof" part came in) and look for a more gingerbread-y colored card stock, but otherwise I'm quite happy with the outcome!

I also spent today designing these cute candy decals (which is kind of a pain to do on Publisher and Paint; I think I need to invest in Illustrator!) to run through my Xyron so there will be a sheet of stickers that comes with each card for the recipient to use to decorate the house!

I plan on making a big batch of these, so watch your mailboxes friends; one of these is coming soon!

Surreal

Last night Mr. Blog and I went to two house parties...
in separate parts of town...
with unique ambiances...
and different crowds...

but both with valet parking.
When did that become the norm in home entertaining?

In other odd news, I just order $100 worth of confetti and Iowa defeated Penn State.

Bittersweet

One big step forward for America [photo]. I am proud.
One big step backward for California [photo]. I am ashamed.
I cried mixed tears.

I voted

It took two and a half hours...but Mr. Blog and I participated in the great democratic process we call voting.

I celebrated with these adorable cupcakes at work.

Homecoming 2008

Dear University of Southern California,

Thank you for seven wonderful years of education, friendship and football. It is with great honor that I come home.

Love,
me

PS - Other thanks goes to:

• The ladies of Alpha Phi for an extreme case of revertigo
• The University of Washington for not scoring once
• The weather system for warning us there would be 20% chance of rain but not specifying that it would be pouring during the homecoming rally
• The people who come up with the football schedule for scheduling this game on the day after Halloween and thereby only allowing me and Mr. Blog 5 hours of sleep
• Texas Tech for beating UT in a heart-pounding game, even if it meant leap frogging USC in the BCS rankings (and a very special congratulations to my favorite Red Raider, Kristi)

A West Hollywood Halloween

If you're not familiar with the Parade in West Hollywood for Halloween, every year the city of West Hollywood closes down Santa Monica Boulevard on the 31st to let people walks up and down the street to admire each other's costumes. Imagine a normal parade... with thousands of people... in really fabulous costumes... at night... all drunk... It is not a G-rated event - I've gone for the last few years and I always see at least 7 uncovered male organs and 3 people passed out in gutters.

Mr. Blog dressed up as a Scotsman this year. To fit in with the West Hollywood crowd, I crafted a fantastic male member (made of nude boxers, quilt batting and yarn) for him to wear under his kilt. I'm actually quite proud of this project because it's probably the best thing I've ever made; actual (very drunk) gay men thought it was the real deal! I'm not including any pictures because they are all hilariously inappropriate and I don't want to offend anyone (even if no skin is actually showing).

My friends before going out. Our amazing host threw this party despite suffering trauma from being robbed at gunpoint the night before. Big hugs for bravery!
Four of us went out together and true to my past WeHo experience, we all lost each other. Oh well; here are some strangers we meet on the street (they were all very friendly)!


Mr. Blog and a twin he found.
My whole costume (minus the hat); I'm at a Korean restaurant because I was hungry from all the walking. We showed up at 3:45 am and the place was PACKED! There was a 25 minute wait for take out! Mr. Blog and I finally got to bed around 6 am. Hah.