Let's catch up!

There really just hasn't been a whole lot of exciting stuff going on with me lately, at least nothing I am ready to blog about, but I thought I could play a little catch up here:

-I have applied for two new jobs, and had interviews for both. Both are within my current company, but moving from a store to a corporate level, which would be nice and mean more regular hours and the possibility of having my weekends back (please sweet tiny baby Jesus, please). So if you have some to spare, send the good vibes my way, as I would love love love to get one of these jobs.

-I have been working like a madman to finish my best friend Kara's wedding invitations and was FINALLY able to drop them off to her last Wednesday. They wouldn't have taken so long, but the company I ordered supplies from (someone I've used before and been very happy with) was having a little issue. Thankfully we got the problem corrected and they overnighted them to me (no charge). I am really happy with the way they turned out and I hope she is too!

-We had a birthday party for Kevin a couple weekends ago - he turned the big 2-5! A quarter century! I keep razzing him about it, but when my turn comes around in June, I don't think I will be so happy. We had a lovely time and I was able to try out a bunch of new recipes on his friends. So glad everyone could come!

Enjoy it!

Ice Wine Festival 2010

Ok, we actually went and participated in this waaaaay back in the last weekend of January but since I have been an awful blogger, I will finally fill you in now. If you are not familiar with the wonder that is ice wine, you are missing out. I've linked to how it is made, but basically it's grapes left on the vine until they are very very sweet and harvested (usually in the middle of the night at the end of january) while still frozen. The resulting wine is super sweet, very concentrated and almost a little syrup-y. And my husband will tell you - like nectar from the gods. I love wine in all manifestations, but this stuff is truly heavenly. And a little goes a long way, which is good, because a half-bottle can cost up to $100, if not more.

The festival itself is a great day trip. Wineries were open from 11-5pm and most participated in a Discovery Pass - you purchase a pass and get 6 tickets to participate in events and tastings. The pass was $30, most events were $10/each so we saved half by doing the passes. We got to go to 6 different wineries, try their wines and also their interesting pairings. Many places had biscotti, fondue, and fruit. One even had a pork slider (complete with a whole pig, roasted on a spit - see pic below!) and icewine infused applesauce. This is the official website, in case you are interested in checking it out.

We also ended up staying overnight at a B&B in Niagara Falls. I love B&Bs so much! This was our early anniversary celebration. It was so lovely. Let me give you the tour:

This was our bed. It was the loudest bed known to man. If you looked at it funny, it creaked. The other people staying there probably thought we were animals, but what can you do?

Here is the cozy fireplace, which believe you me, we needed. Although it looks all warm and cozy, this place was no different from any old house - drafty! Add in that it was about 9 degrees Fahrenheit and that makes for one chilly room.

There's Kevin, enjoying the sitting area.... aka waiting for me to be done taking pictures of the place!

Ahh, there it is! The most glorious tub is all of creation. I love to soak in a tub! It almost didn't happen - when we got home from dinner, I went to turn on the water and it was ice cold and wouldn't warm up. Fortunately, I tried it a little later and all was well. I don't think you can tell, but in that little shelf in the middle, there are some floating flowers and a rubber ducky, which was super cute.

This is the view from the tub, beautiful bay windows. Of course, there really wasn't much to see outside, but it was still lovely.

And this was the high ceiling in the bathroom, which I completely loved. Kevin pointed out that I like things to be big because it makes me feel small, and I think he is right.

These were the windows in the middle of the sitting area, they opened into a 3 seasons room. In general, I think the whole stay would have been more enjoyable if it was a warmer season. But we thought it was beautiful just the same, even if a bit cold.

Here's Kevin, enjoying a cupcake at the Festival

He is tres sophisicated, with his pinky up

And below is the pig on a spit. I thought it wasn't real, and then the guy started cutting some off. Yipes!

Fun Things You Learn

by being a cat mom...

When you notice the cat chewing on some string early in the morning and yell at him to get away, you may spend your evening chasing the cat around in oven mitts, yelling and then pulling said string out of him so he doesn't drag poop around your house. Thank you, Oscar, for that very exciting lesson.

Letter

Dear Uterus,

No one is amused with your antics. Quite frankly, I've had all I can take with this nonsense. Get your head in the game, play like a champion and all that jazz. Periods come once a month, that is how it is, and you are slacking on your end of the deal here. Let's get it together here.

Forever yours,

Someone who wants a baby and is growing increasingly jealous that she can't even get a period with all the baby announcements going on around her

Karma

Apparently someone is making up for either the really shitty day I had on Tuesday (finding out I didn't get that job I was talking about the other day...let's not discuss, shall we?) or the really shitty 2009 I've been having (save for the really awesome wedding in February!!), because yesterday things just fell in line and I had an awesome day.

Work was pretty normal, nothing too exciting there. About half-way through my shift, I thought I recognized someone standing by the scratch-off lotto machines, so I took a loop around to get a better view and lo and behold - it was my college roommate Jessica, who I lived with for three years!!! We somehow lost touch after we moved in with different people. Lately I had been thinking about her, because she is native to my new city. We chatted for a second, and I found out she is a teacher, lives in the town right next to me and is getting married in June. We exchanged #s and hopefully can get together after Christmas! 

When I was leaving work, I had a voicemail from a number I didn't recognize. I listened and it was my photographer calling to say they had finished up my order, so we could pick up our album and pictures before Christmas! YAYAYYAYAY! I can't wait to see the finished product. Hopefully I will (finally) be able to put up some pictures from our wedding. Fingers crossed, my mom will pick it up for us on Monday. 

Enjoy it!!

Lovely Little Date Night

The past two weeks Kevin has been on A shift at work, meaning he works 6am - 2:30pm and he HATES it. And now, so do I. We have hardly seen each other at all, because I have been working mostly late shifts and I ended up visiting my parents for a day because he was working through the weekend. 

So today, I texted him about going out to Walmart, a place I do not normally shop at, to pick up a couple things I needed. I don't like to go by myself, so I wanted some company. He picked me up after work and we headed out to the south side of town to do a little shopping.

I ended up getting a couple of things I needed for some Christmas gifts I am making, we found a birthday gift for Kevin's dad and some odds and ends. We also stopped by JoAnn's to pick up a couple items for decorating Christmas cookies. 

While we were out, we ended up going out to dinner and just getting to sit and relax with each other. At least three times tonight, we said "Oh, I thought I told you that..." because we just haven't been seeing as much of each other with our opposing work schedules. It was so nice to just catch up. And on the way home, we stopped (in the snow) to grab an ice cream cone - the perfect end to a lovely evening. 

Anyone had a good date night recently?

Catching Up

Well, I don't really have any huge exciting stories to share here, but I do have a couple little things... something is better than nothing right?

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I went out with my mom for my very first Black Friday shopping experience. I think it went pretty well, we didn't have any big ticket items we were looking for, not 97" plasma tvs for $2.99 or anything like that, and we completely avoided Walmart (thank you sweet tiny baby Jesus for that early Christmas miracle), so all in all we had a pretty easy time. I ended up with a huge king size blanket from Kohls for $19.99, House dvds seasons 1-4 for Kevin for $12.99/each, boots for myself from JcPenneys, regular price $90, on sale for $29.99, a bunch of Christmas/holiday shirts from Old Navy $5. I also know what all my Christmas presents are (from my mom), and lets just say I am very excited for Christmas morning!

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I put in my application and resume for a new job the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I am still waiting to hear back from the recruiter. Apparently it was a very popular posting, but I think if I get an interview I could do pretty well. Please send some good vibes this way! I really could use the job...

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I have a friend in my new(ish) city! It is Kevin's friend's wife, Kristin. We had a movie date last week and I really like her. It is so nice to have a girlfriend around. I hope we can get together soon!

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Kevin has had a sudden change of heart about babies and agreed that we can start trying! To have a baby! Seriously! Apparently he was talking to a guy at work who is only a few years older than us with 2 little ones, and he said they really aren't as expensive as you think... its just little bits at a time. I want to send this person the best Christmas present ever! Seriously. 

Enjoy it!