Christmas 2007

Happy Holidays! We had a great Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house where we had hors d'oeuvres and opened gifts. We had great food which included: cheese tray, swedish meatballs, artichokes/cheese in phyllo, cherry tarts and more. We all received some great gifts. The most fun was watching my niece and nephew open their gifts.

On Christmas Day we went to my Sister and BIL's house for an early dinner. The delicious menu included:

Beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce
Spinach gratin
Macaroni and cheese with pesto & goat cheese
Cesar salad
Rolls
Peppermint dessert

Below are a few photos from the holidays. I got lots of photos but I have to say most include my niece and nephew (which as I've stated I won't post them for privacy reasons). I did forget to get annual shot of hubby and I and a family picture.

Happy New Year! I'll be back in 2008.

Holiday card (it was personalized). Photo is blurring online for some reason.


Christmas Tree at my parent's house
Under this tree were lots of great gifts including; new Uggs, perfume, cupcake cookbook and more! Thanks Dad and Mom! Also Hubby gave me a beautiful necklace...thank you!!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thankful Thursday -- a little early

I am thankful for:

The Holiday season and all that it means.

My husband's sweet gift- a donation made in my name to a favorite charity.

My in-laws stopping in town and spending the evening with us.

My family and all our blessings.

All the wonderful Christmas cards from family and friends...they just make me smile.

Winter Fun

We took the dogs outdoors to play in the snow, as you can see they had a great time.

Weekend Wrap Up and Snow!

We had a good weekend, I believe I now have all of my Christmas shopping done. Now I just have to wrap presents, address Christmas cards (hey...better late than never), and bake cookies. It has been snowing here since Saturday, below are some photos of our snowfall. It started yesterday morning, but it wasn't enough to deter me from my hair appointment and Christmas shopping. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

Receiving the "Brown Envelope"....it finally arrived today.

*For those of you unfamiliar with this it's the notification sent to adoptive parents that the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has received our approval from USCIS to adopt.

Being able to go see my niece and nephew's Christmas programs. They were too cute!

Employment at company that values the holiday season and giving back to the community. I'm also thankful they decorate for the holidays, it makes going to work during this time of year a little more enjoyable.

My warm winter clothes.

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a great time this weekend with our nephew, he is so sweet and very funny! On Saturday our Chocolate Lab turned two...we are now hoping she will finally grow out of that "puppy stage." And today is a very exciting day for us as we celebrate our 2-month LID!! We have such a long wait ahead, but helps to count down the months. I like to think we are now 2 months closer to our little girl. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Editors note: I don't post photos of my niece and nephew for privacy reasons in case you're wondering why never see them.

(Photos of our girl when she was 2 months and now 2 years.)

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

My niece and nephew, they are so precious to us. We're also very excited to have my nephew spend the night this weekend.

My husband- I don't always realize how much you help around the house until you go away on a business trip and then it becomes so clear. Thanks for all you do.

Friends we have made in the adoption process who received their LID recently! We are so thrilled for you.

My Mom and Dad for instilling the love of reading in my sister and me. I hope to do the same for our daughter.

7 Things Meme

I've seen this on a few blogs so I decided tag myself...maybe I should include that as one of my weird things??!

First here are the rules: (that I didn't follow)
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I am obsessed with hand sanitizer and washing my hands. Yes, you could say I’m a little obsessive about germs. This leads into another obsession of lotion, because my hands get dry from all the above.

2. I can’t stand to eat meat on a bone…something about seeing the bones completely gross me out.

3. I constantly make lists/notes of things to do or buy and use little post it notes. I usually have a purse full of these random notes.

4. I don’t like people to wear their shoes in the house…especially my house. If you come over, please be prepared to leave your shoes at the door.

5. I love tea, both ice tea and hot tea.

6. I’m allergic to cats. My husband used to have a cat and she was not a fan of me...I got bit constantly. She ended up leaving our home. Don’t worry cat lovers, she went to a great home and is very happy.

7. I love magazines and currently have five different subscriptions. I don’t even have time to read them all but I like having them in case I do. Not to mention it’s much cheaper to do a subscription then buy just a few issues...at least that’s my reasoning.

I tag anyone who reads my blog and hasn't done this meme yet.

Some Ideas Are Better Than Others

On Saturday I had the idea that we’d take the dogs to have their photo taken with Santa. Well you can imagine how that went down…not pretty. First off the Santa they had there was maybe 17 and the background was just terrible, but since we were already there I decided to just go with it since the money went to charity. Well we did not get any good shots of dogs, this was partly due to the fact they did not have this sectioned off there were dogs running around everywhere…bad idea. You can see below the one photo I got both dogs were looking the opposite direction. So we left with one bad photo. Once we got home I decided I’d just put some bows on the dogs and try and few shots by the Christmas tree. You can see how excited they were with getting their picture taken. Additionally, our Chocolate Lab decided it would be more fun to chew the bows. Hubby and I decided this was a good lesson to help us prepare for photos with children. It was my intention this year to make a holiday card with their picture; however, I’m rethinking that idea. Hope you all had a great weekend!

*Note: I have a new camera that I apparently cannot operate hence the flash issue with the eyes.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:

My sister who is also my best friend, I am so lucky to have you as a sister.

My Mom who is so special and who calls my sister and I three-way...I love our chats!!

My Dad who is so sweet and loves his girls so much...even if they're old married girls now.

My MIL for making our little girl clothes and a blanket.

My Hubby and our life together.

Our warm home, winter clothes, and plenty of food.

A Special Gift

Today I received a box from my MIL & FIL for my birthday. In there was a card and gift for me, but more exciting a dress, hat and blanket my MIL made for our little girl. This was her first time making baby clothes and a blanket and I think she did a wonderful job! Thank you! The fabric for the blanket is an Amy Butler print. I have seen similar blankets online so I just sent my MIL some photos. I am so happy with all of the pieces, thank you for the special gift!

*There are matching bloomers for the dress, which is reversible, but I wasn’t able to photograph. Our camera is on the fritz so it looks like we will be buying a new one.

A Day at the Art Museum

My husband’s Father and step-Mother came into town this weekend for a visit. So on Saturday afternoon we went to our local museum of art. We were all really excited to go as our museum has special exhibit on Roman Art from the Louvre. I have to tell you the exhibit was amazing. The intricate designs that were carved on the marble were impressive. Unfortunately, in this exhibit you are not allowed to photograph any of the pieces. We were allowed to take photographs in the rest of the museum. One of the other special exhibits we visited was the Dior exhibit. The dresses are breathtaking. Below are some of my favorite dresses and some other art in the museum that we liked. Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We spent Thanksgiving at my parent’s house. It was a relaxing day with family and great food. I don't like turkey (strange I know) so my Mom was sweet enough to make chicken instead...and it was wonderful! I have to admit though; my Mom and I are terrible at remembering to take photos. So it’s my new goal to do better at taking more photographs. Hopefully some to share next year.

Friday morning my Mom and I ran to the mall for a few items we know we wanted to buy. Luckily the mall we went to was not very crowded, I believe this was mostly due because they weren’t having any big sales. We’ve decided it’s not worth going to the mall, next time we’re having breakfast at the house and shopping online. Below is a photo of one of our finds.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels! May you enjoy the day with family, friends and great food.

I am so very thankful this Thanksgiving for all my blessings. I am so very blessed to have a great husband, a wonderful family, true friends and our LID.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Love Actually and Other Target Finds

I stopped at Target tonight on my way from work. Our Target is a super Target and is huge. It’s a very addicting store there are home accessories, books, Starbuck’s, food, ect...all in one place, it’s dangerous. Well tonight I found the movie Love Actually for $7.50…deal! I haven’t seen this movie but both Danielle and H&H both rave about it. I honestly can’t believe I haven’t seen it as I love Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. I’ve seen the Bridget Jones Diary movies more times than I care to admit. In addition to the movie, I found some poinsettias. Yes, they are fake, which is perfect because then I won’t kill them and I don’t like having real ones around because we have dogs.

I’m off work tomorrow so I plan to watch Love Actually and bake cookies.

*Thanks Danielle for giving my blog a Christmas makeover!

eSnips....help! *Update

Is anyone is familiar with eSnips, if so I need your help. I am apparently technologically challenged (please keep the blonde jokes to yourself :). How do you add a song to the Widget? Do you need to have your music converted to an MP3 file, or are you supposed to choose from the songs there? Also if your music is in iTunes how to you convert to an MP3 file? I did upload a song, but it's showing it as a .cda file and doesn't give me any options.

Thank you!

** Ok, I finally have it figured out. Apparently, you just search for the music then cut/paste the code into your blog. I was trying to add my own...that's for another day.

What's for Dinner

Today I made Cheddar Corn Chowder, a recipe from my Barefoot Contessa cookbook. I do substitute a few things, for instance, I use red potatoes instead of white boiling potatoes and turkey bacon instead of pork bacon. This is one of those soups that you add to or leave out…which is great. This is soon becoming one of my hubby’s favorites…and mine! I would have taken a photo, but I was too excited to eat and forgot.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Holiday Time

The other day I ran into Target and saw they had all their Christmas decorations out. I am usually a traditionalist and believe Christmas decorations shouldn’t start until Thanksgiving, but I have to admit it made me really happy to see them. I am really ready for the holidays this year. There is something so magical about this time of year. It’s a time to slow down, spend time with our families and give thanks.

Below is the photo of the Thanksgiving parade in NYC. I have never been before, but I watch it each year on TV. I hope to go to NYC some Thanksgiving and actually watch the parade.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Hubby and I are having date night tonight, dinner and a movie!

Thankful Thursday!

I'm a little late on this today.

I am thankful for...

My wonderful family- I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my parents.

Great coworkers- I work with a great group of people who are also terrific friends.

Thursday - because that means it's almost the weekend and hubby and I will finally be able to slow down from this busy week and spend some time together.

Veteran’s Day

Thank you to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve our great country.

Weekend Wrap Up

Mamma Mia was excellent. I would highly recommend this show; if it’s playing in your area go see it! It’s so much fun. Yesterday was all about fun, so today I organized…I know exciting stuff. Today’s agenda included organizing closets and paperwork.

Below are some photos of our dogs…I like to call these “Being a dog is hard work.” As I worked around the house and my husband prepared for some upcoming meetings these two decided to take it easy. I'm thinking we got the short end of the stick...napping would have been so much better.

LID Anniversary and Mamma Mia!

Today is our one month LID anniversary! I know it's only one month, but you've got to celebrate the small stuff!

Tomorrow I am going to see Momma Mia with some friends and I'm so excited. I've heard it's fantastic. I'll post a review later this weekend. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for….

Having known Grandma C. she was a super lady and I am thankful that I was a part of her family.

My Mom and Sister…I love that we talk everyday.

My mother-in-law- she is already making dresses and blankets for our daughter…thank you!

My husband- thank you for running out late at night to get me medicine when I was sick.

Great friendships- both old and new.

Waiting on Our Little Girl

We are just beginning the long wait for our sweet little girl, we have a long road ahead of us, but we know in the end she will be worth the wait (this is my new mantra). In order to help pass the time I have found shopping for her extremely fun. I even started before we were logged in…I just couldn’t help myself and I am not alone my Mom and sister are also accomplices in buying for our little girl. Below are photos of some purchases.

Monday, Monday

Well I am finally starting to feel better, upper respiratory infections are no fun. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know for many of us the weather is certainly changing…okay it’s getting cold. Well as I’ve mentioned before I love Fall and the holidays, when the weather gets cooler there are some just certain things that you love to wear, eat, drink, ect…. so below are some of my favorites.

* I hope to start actually taking photos again now that I’m feeling better for now these will have to do.

Uggs ( I can't wait to buy our little girl a pair!)

Down Vest

Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte

Shea Butter Hand Cream


Homemade soup

Thursday's Thoughts

I just want to thank those of you who left comments regarding our loss, we are so appreciative of your thoughts and prayers. I just have to say again how much we'll miss Grandma C. she was a super lady! I am still sick, my cold has unfortunately turned into an upper respiratory infection...yuck! I will be unable to travel with my husband to his Grandmother's funeral, I just feel terrible not being there, however, he was so understanding and insisted that I stay home and rest. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I'll be back on after a few days of rest.

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone is having a Happy Halloween. Unfortunately, we are not having our best Halloween, late last night we found out my husband's Grandma C. passed away. We are deeply saddened as she was such a wonderful lady. She was one of those "older gals" who truly lived life to the fullest. She will be greatly missed.

Tuesday's Tidbits

I am still under the weather…starting to wonder if it’s the plague. Ok, maybe not that dramatic. I am sure the change in weather may have played a role. Again, I don’t have a lot to say, I’m thinking this cold has somehow affected my brain cells as I do not have an intelligent thought. So instead I’ll just ask you all to share a little about your favorite vacation or perhaps your dream vacation. Ok, my favorite vacation was probably our honeymoon, we went to Belize and stayed on this tiny island, literally there were like only six other villas on the property. It was the perfect honeymoon destination, although at times it felt a little Gilligan’s Island. My other favorite vacation was sort of an impromptu visit to NYC. We didn’t have any set agenda or plans and just roamed around the city, it was so fun and memorable. Please feel free to share. Below is a photo of Times Square from that trip .

Monday, Monday

Today I am a bit under the weather. I think I must have worn myself out from the weekend. I do find when I’m not feeling well there is nothing better than hot peppermint tea and honey. Since I don’t have much to say (although I’m always full of comments), I thought I’d post a photo of the trees out back I love the colors of Fall. This is also for my dear friend who now lives in FL and misses out on the Fall colors. Although don’t feel too sorry for her…she’s probably out walking on the beach.

Back from the Windy City

I am back from my trip to Chicago with my sister. We had a great time. We stayed downtown, which is always fun. The highlight of the trip was visiting many small boutiques. My sister found a great boutique P.O.S.H, this place can be described as a Parisian-like flea market. Our great finds: an old map of Paris (me) and old French books (sister). We also enjoyed our time shopping in Lincoln Park, there are so many wonderful shops in that area. We did find a great children’s shop Stinky Pants where we found some must-haves for my niece and nephew.

I’ve been to Chicago many times and have always thought what is with the American Girl store, I’ve heard it’s great and all but never understood why people would come to Chicago from all over just for this store. Well my sister and I decided we needed to check it out, as now it makes more sense seeing as she has a little girl and we’re waiting for our daughter. Ok, I must admit…this is a wonderful store. I am not sure who was having more fun, the tons of little girls or my sister and I. We cannot wait to take our daughters to this very special place.

Below are some photos one of our favorite store (and home to the best shoe department) and a view from our hotel room. We were so busy shopping that we did not get photos of us so I’m including one from a previous Christmas. Thanks sister for a wonderful weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I have seen Thankful Thursdays on many other blogs and I think it’s wonderful so I will follow suite.

I’m thankful for:

My husband- he is thoughtful, he has a good heart and most importantly he puts up with me (which I’ve heard is no easy task).

My family- I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

The fact that my sister and I can take time out of our busy lives (more her as she has a busy career and two little ones) to spend the weekend in Chicago together. I’ll post photos when we get back.

Our Log-in-Date (LID)!!

That we live in a great community that is both safe and clean.

When I get home from work our dogs are there to greet me excitedly and no matter how bad my day was they make me laugh with their silliness.

Favorite Christmas Movies

Ok, Danielle asked so here are my favorite Christmas movies:

Home Alone (I still think it's funny)
A Christmas Story
Elf
Miracle of 34th Street
Bridget Jone's Diary and Edge of Reason (ok, so they're not technically Christmas movies, but there are Christmas scenes...and they're just too funny. Who could not love Mark Darcy in his Christmas sweater).

Today’s Tidbits

I was reading the news today, as I do everyday, and two stories really struck me. First off, the wildfires in Southern California—this is such a sad situation. I hope the wind dies down and the firefighters are able to get a hold of the fires and the residents are safe. It makes me very sad to see the woodlands and wildlife destroyed.

And the second story that really caught my eye was about this family that had their young children tested for industrial chemicals(apparently for some study). You can read the story on CNN. A brief synopsis—a child 18 months had more industrial chemicals in his blood than his parents…you ask how?? Apparently, the flame retardant chemicals found in many textiles could the culprit. Wow….that’s scary.

Ok, enough of the gloom and doom. On a positive note today is Monday which means The Hills is on tonight. Also I worked from home today, which gave me a chance to walk our dogs during lunch. I just love walking the dogs, not only is it good for them, but I find it such a great way to clear my mind and relax. Anyone else feel this way? What’s your favorite way to relax? Below is a photo of our two four-legged children.

Welcome to my blog

Hi everyone, okay really just “hi” to my family as they are probably my only readers right now. I’ve created this blog to chronicle our adoption journey. Let’s be real, our wait for our daughter is about 2+ years…so this blog is pretty much just going to be my rambling about various topics for a while.

To start things off let me start by saying I love Fall! I really do, it’s such a wonderful time of the year, the weather has cooled, the leaves are turning and we get to eat all of those wonderful Fall foods we enjoy(chili, caramel apples, ect…). And with the arrival of Fall that means only one thing…the holidays are just around the corner.

And last but not least, I’d like to thank Danielle for designing my blog. You were so wonderful to work with, you even put up with my indecisiveness. Thanks again!