A Day Out With the Girls

I'm a bit behind in posting this but wanted to blog about it nonetheless. Last week, I had a much needed day out with the girls. We had lunch and coffee at Starbuck's, went shopping downtown, had dinner at our favorite tapas place, dessert at my favorite chocolate place and did a little more shopping.

Here are Elizabeth and Jessica at the best chocolate cafe in the world...

Jessica and me in front of the Christmas tree on Monument Circle, one of my favorite things about downtown Indy...

Another view...

All three of us...this picture was taken by a nice man helping his son create some kind of engagement/proposal video or photo collage (not really sure what it was). He took 2 videos of us before finally learning how to take a picture with my point and shoot camera.

Elizabeth was in need of a hug from a giant candy cane...hilarious since cars were driving past her like 2 feet away...

Elizabeth spotted this sign and thought it pretty much summed up our friendship...I would agree!

What a great day spent with two of my most favorite people!

New Hardware

Old kitchen cabinets = ugly hardware



New kitchen cabinets = not ugly hardware

Same story in the bathroom

Christmas 2009

Our Christmas celebration started the weekend before Christmas, when we traveled up north to visit Don's family, my brother and sister-in-law and my best friend and her daughter. We had a fun-filled lunch with Don's family and a delicious dinner with my brother and his wife. The next day, we met my best friend and her daughter for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in our hometown. The rest of our holiday was spent at home.

On Christmas Eve, we attended mass then came home and had a delicious dinner of chicken parmesan and garlic bread.

I also discovered that I can make a mean mint chocolate chip cheesecake...my first attempt at cheesecake.

That evening, I came to bed and found this...Hoosier had decided to snuggle up with Don...in MY spot.

On Christmas morning, we opened our presents and stockings...it took all of 10 minutes!

Hoosier really enjoyed all his bones and toys!

And I love my new hiking boots (they match Don's)...

I made another special dinner on Christmas night. We had filet, potato gratin and garlic bread. Afterwards, we watched a whole bunch of movies...very relaxing!

The day after Christmas, we went downtown to the auto show, had lunch at P.F. Chang's, dessert at the South Bend Chocolate Cafe on the Circle and then hit up the mall for all those after-Christmas sales.

On Sunday, we ventured out into the snow and took Hoosier on a hike through the woods.



Unfortunately, my fun-filled, four-day weekend with Don is coming to an end, although, he only works a few days then we are packing up the sleigh and heading south to Georgia and Hilton Head Island for some warmer weather and a much-needed visit with my family...can't wait! Hope everyone had a happy holiday!

Bad Momma

Here is what Hoosier was doing...

Here is what I was doing...

Didn't even notice him tearing up tissue 5 feet away from me that he took out of the bathroom trashcan...wow!

Winter Wonderland

I know, I know...two posts in one day-I've gone blog crazy!

Our yard became a winter wonderland this weekend, as a little bit of snow fell (only about 1/2 inch). Hoosier and Don decided to take advantage of it by going outside to play in the snow. I was sitting at the desk in the kitchen, addressing Christmas cards and watching them out the window. I couldn't resist bundling up and joining them.

Hoosier LOVES snow...he just kept laying down and hanging out in it!

Oddly enough, Don was doing the same...

Here he is waiting for his daddy to throw his ball...

All of the trees in our yard look so pretty...

Hope everyone is enjoying their own winter wonderland...whatever the weather is in your neck of the woods!

A New Look

Our guest bedroom recently got a new look...brown walls. We had previously painted it a shade of green to match the bedding, but the green ended up being annoyingly neon so it had to go.

Here is what it used to look like (and no, I'm not color-blind...the bedding is reversible so the green matches the other side...or at least was supposed to match it)...

Here is the new look-so much better (it's hard to get a good picture of this room because of the shape)...

I also plan to make a headboard for this bed, as well as find a side table and some accessories to spruce it up a bit.

Up next: our bedroom. Don has decided that the master bedroom color has to go too. Unfortunately, I LOVE it so I'm a little bummed.

This is What Happens When Your Husband Quits His Second Job

Well, I have been scouring Craigslist for the past week or so because I found the most AMAZING brown leather furniture that would look absolutely perfect in our (still empty) living room...and then lost them to someone faster than me. So...I have become obsessed with finding cheap furniture for our house. Well, I finally found something else worth getting excited about and this time, I won (I know it's not really winning when you have to pay for it, load it and put it together, but that's how I felt)!

So, this morning we set out to pick up our brand new (to us) bedroom set, with absolutely no idea in mind of how we were going to get a dresser, mirror, queen bed frame and mattress set into the Explorer. Well, we did it (and I am so ashamed that I did not get a picture). Even the guy we bought them from complimented us on our moving and packing skills (after we loaded it all in a small elevator and took it down 15 stories, but that's another story). We got the dresser and some of the bed in the truck and the rest went up on top, held down only by some (pretty thin) rope. It was quite a sight.

Once we got home, we unloaded everything, put it together and now...I'm in love. I feel like our house is finally coming together. Master bedroom...check. Guest bedroom...check. Next up...the living room.

Here's our new bed...

And dresser (for the record, that is all Don's junk, not mine)...

The new guest bedroom (the paint color will soon be changing...I HATE it!)...

We even hung some hooks in the mudroom for all our winter gear...

Well, if this is what happens now that Don works only regular hours then our house should be done by next weekend!

Thanksgiving 2009

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the difference this year is that I don't have nearly as many pictures to show for it as I normally do. Although I had my camera with me at Pokagon, we were so busy that I forgot to take any pictures! I remembered about 10 minutes before we were to leave so Don and I sat down on the bed and tried to take a picture of ourselves since no one else was around. Here's what we were left with...

Can you say goofy?

Yikes!

Doesn't he look like one of those bobbleheads (sorry honey)?

Uh, no thanks.

Does anyone remember that episode of "Friends" where Monica and Chandler are trying to have their pictures taken? It was kind of like that.

FINALLY!! Not my all-time fav pic of us, but it'll work.

And, just because I thought it'd be fun...here's the only other picture I took all week. Don and one of his older brothers...don't ask.

Oh well...even though I didn't get many (good) pictures during our trip, I am still thankful for so many things and have some great memories from yet another awesome Thanksgiving trip to Pokagon.

Autumn Fun

Yesterday, we discovered two things about Hoosier:

#1-He loves to jump in the leaf piles that Don and I spent forever raking, sending the leaves flying all over the place.

#2-He does not love to be thrown into leaf piles by his daddy.

Is this not the most pathetic look you've ever seen? He was absolutely immobile until Don uncovered him...then he ran like the wind!

I think he's asking himself what is wrong with his parents that they so love to torture and humiliate him.


Well, since there are 14, yes 14, more leaf piles just in the backyard, I'm sure Hoosier will be having lots more fun this autumn.