Its the most wonderful time of the year

Ok ok, I've been pretty uninspired to post anything lately, which could be due to my post Thanksgiving exhaustion. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast and I was (mostly) successful at keeping my mother and mother-in-law out of the kitchen. Whew. Let me tell you, that was NO easy task! Additionally, my spread sheet was the perfect kitchen companion and it all went off without a hitch. The turkey was moist, the sweet potatos were to die for and we will never buy cranberry sauce out of the can again (1 cup apple cider, 1 12 oz bag of cranberries, 1 cup of sugar... bring to a boil, then cook covered for 10 min till the cranberries "pop" let it cool then refridgerate over night. OMG soooo good!)

I also made Victoria's pumpkin custard pie. Seriously, this is part of the new tradition and I will make this multiple times a year it was so good.

We also celebrated the Little Man's 2nd birthday, Dr. F's almost 30 birthday and my Mother-in-law's bday.  At first I didnt want to post these pictures because my sweater dress and poor camera angles makes me look preggers, which I assure you, I am not...but eff it. We had a blast!

LM got the world's largest rubber ducky for his birthday

We also went to his favorite place on earth, the museum!

Don't hurt yourself!!

My dad, the Little Man, Dr. F and my bro

not the most flattering angle.... but we sure do look happy

My "little" bro making fun of my regimented turkey basting schedule

But it was soooo good.

Thanksgiving prep

I was really starting to feel overwhelmed with the magnatude of prep work/grocery shopping that needs to get done before next week...not to mention that our bathroom is still sans a mirror or finished lighting. Oh yeah, and in addition to the Little Man's birthday tomorrow, the Big Man's birthday is Tuesday and my MIL's is next Saturday. Do you know I've only got LM's present and have NO IDEA what do to for the other two. UGHH.

What's a girl to do? Make a spreadsheet, of course! Behold, my Thanksgiving week spreadsheet:

PS. Any present ideas are welcome and encouraged!! I've had their personalized cards for about 2 months, but no presents. Thank goodness its Friday at least.

Its almost Friday

I've been absent the last few days and with good reason...

We have been redoing our bathroom taking it from this:

To this:

A work in progress...

Its a beautiful pale "tiffany's" blue

We have been trying new recipes (hello pizza bites!)

Thank you for the idea, MF!

  Dr. F was on the other side of the knife getting his wisdom teeth removed.

That's right, I ace-bandaged ice packs to his cheeks. I'm such a good nurse :)

And we've settled on a new color for our bedroom (to be painted next week!)

Oh yeah, did I mention Little Man's 2nd birthday is SATURDAY? OHMYGOSH! and relatives are descending on our house in a mere matter of days for Thanksgiving?! Yeah...we've been a little busy and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Keeping up appearances

I am just going to come out and say it. I feel frumpy and like I'm just getting by. I miss feeling cute and pulled together. I miss having somewhere to go, getting dolled up and that powerful "I am a confident, together, sexy woman!" feeling. These days between a 2 yr old, working full time outside the home and being a full time mom and wife, I feel like its all slipped away...and I can't quite figure out how to get it back...and I'm only so willing to sacrifice the precious little sleep I already get.

It doesn't help that my office is business professional, as in a suit and pantyhose kind of dress code ( i.e. we're not allowed to show toe and heel at the same time...so peep toe slingbacks are out). I don't mind dressing up, but I sure as shit hate the dry cleaning bill and cant afford to buy a ton of those kinds of clothes on the little salary they're paying me. Top it off with the fact that I'm never going to fit into the nice dress clothes I wore to work when I was 23. Hell, I'm not going to be 23 again either. So now I'm rocking ill fitting dress pants and hand-me down sweater sets from my mom.

Now, let's address my hair, shall we? It is long and I like it that way and Dr. F likes it that way. But you know what, its getting cold waiting for the train every morning and wet hair isnt exactly professional. I've rocked a bun almost every day since I started way back in June because I dont have time to dry it (hello 20 min!) and straighten/curl (30+ min) everyday between getting myself and the Little Man out the door.* I'd love to chop it off and can't help but think a short style might actually make me feel like my appearance is visually interesting...but then I loose the bun option... plus with short hair that isnt tamed on a daily basis i look like this (a little less curly, a lot more frizzy):

Basically, I'm over here having a pitty party for myself, which is ridiculous because there are people who have much worse things to worry about...like keeping a roof over their heads or not having enough food. I'm sorry and I'll try to pull it together. Anyone have any tips for keeping up a stylish (not trendy!) appearance?

*side note, I have a LARGE forehead and a hairdresser recently told me I should never have a style without bangs...yay self confidence!

Thanksgiving part I

As this is my first year making Thanksgiving dinner and I'm slightly nervous about it... I've started planning everything and even made my apple pie last night and threw it in the freezer. So far I've got the apple pie and cheesecake made...only pumpkin pie to go and dessert will be covered. Wahoo! Getting there, baby steps at a time :)

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe you'd be willing to share with me?

What happens when you Google Map Japan to China directions

Happy Halloween!

I have always loved Halloween and now that I have a child, its even better! I'm starting to realize one of the biggest joys of having a child is the opportunity to relieve some of your favorite childhood memories and to help create new ones for your own child. Plus, its pretty great having a pumpkin of candy to poach from once a certain dragon goes to bed :)

We had a great time last night with the cutest dragon in the neighborhood. He never quite got the words "trick or treat" out until we were at home opening the door for other kids, but Little Man sure understood what getting candy was all about!