Eight Pounds Later

Thanksgiving table, before.


Don't they look healthy? How about when you smother them in a mushroom, garlic, butter & heavy cream sauce? Less so?


This is the basting liquid for the turkey. Three sticks of butter & a bottle of white wine. Every 30 minutes.


Hello stuffing made from cornbread (stale, baked 3 days earlier & left on the counter to harden up), sausage with sage, eggs, butter, onion & celery.


Green bean action shot PLUS carrots sauteed in butter & brown sugar & finished off with some heavy cream. My mother in law made the sweet potatoes. I can't say for certain what was in them, but I know the topping alone had an entire stick of butter melted into it.


Josh makes a mean-ass turkey.


Every year I make my homemade cranberries with orange juice & zest. And every year my dad insists on cranberries from a can (with ridges, please).


Here are my dad & stepmom being cute.


Dash with Josh's folks. I am all about Grandpa John's haircut.


And this is how the night ended. Right? Right.

Thanks

Here are a few of the many, many things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving (and every other day, too):

Glue sticks
Raising Hope
Amazon Prime
Wifi
Caldrea scented candles
Stories about dragons & knights
Jewelry
Pillow fights
The Nonnie Dance
Girl Talk
Two good jobs
A warm place to lay our heads
Minimizing bras
Cymbalta
Christmas songs, particularly Fairytale of New York
Sequins
Turkey jerky
Box wine
Snow
Watching little boys laugh like crazy at poo poo jokes
Pine cone turkeys
Martha Stewart
Quinoa
Lip gloss
Washable markers
Duraflame logs
Sparkly Tom's

And of course, more than anything, more than ever:

For our health and strong bodies

For my gorgeous, engaged, hilarious, loving husband, who gives me the courage to try harder than I ever would otherwise. Who makes me fearless in a way I can't explain. Who makes me laugh so hard I think I'll puke. Who is modeling for Dash exactly the type of man he should grow up to be, without even trying.

For my beautiful boy, who makes every single moment of my life mean something more than it would have otherwise. Who brings me more joy, pleasure, laughter and sense of purpose than I could ever have imagined

For our friends, who have become the family of our choosing. Who cheer for our every success and mourn our every failing. Who want nothing but the very best for us, and for whom we want the same.

2010 has been a scary year. One full of uncertainties & hard decisions. But I can honestly say, without reservation, that it's been the best year of my life. And I am thankful.

Oh! Hello!

Well. Thanksgiving is in six days. Didn't see that coming.

Pig did, though:

I've been in craft overdrive, making shit & mailing shit & worrying about the quality and quantity of the shit I have made and am making.

Wanna see something nuts? This is my craft spreadsheet:

Gray cells mean the item is complete. Blue means I need to finish by Christmas. This is a screen cap of the first page. If you could scroll down you'd see about 50 more items. Because I am insane.

Here are a few things I've completed:

Stupid Kala, who packed up her beautiful Viola & moved to NY, sent me some pictures of the most charming birdhouses made by Tamar Mogendorff. They are stunning. They also cost upwards of $150 each.


So I made these. They obviously pale in comparison, but I made them with love just for Viola and I hope she enjoys them. They were really fun to make and I kinda want to make about 100 more. Would that be weird?


Glitter, bitches.


Since I was already making birds for Viola, I decided to make some more as ornaments for the Xmas swap I joined.


And then I made some little houses, too. Because I like them.

Palm Springs

This weekend our sweet Tom turned 40 & we joined him & Jen and lots more wonderful friends in a rented house in Palm Springs to celebrate.


Tom's vision for the celebration was a huge feat prepared by all of us together. It was incredible. We had Egyptian lentil soup, blue cheese green beans, assorted sausages, short ribs, little skewers of quince & cheese, figs with goat cheese, shrimp scampi, potatoes au gratin, and corn on the cob. I'm probably forgetting something. It bordered on Roman-style gluttony. (In a good way).


Also, there was swimming. And drinking. You probably had already guessed the drinking part. Remind me and my giant head never to stand right next to Jen & her little delicate features again, please. I look like a Blythe doll next to her.


Dash spent about 23 of the 30 hours we were there in the pool. This is what he looked like when he had to come out.

Happy Birthday, sweet Tom! We are blessed to have been able to share it with you!

(We forgot our camera at home so all pics shamelessly stolen from Jen & Tom's Facebook).

Mugs Turns 1

So, this dude:

has been on the outside for a year! I helped his sweet mama plan his shindig and then I came right back here to brag.

Josh & Jen had a Hipstamatic face off at the party, so all the pics from the day are arty as hell, but I think you'll get the vibe.

The inspiration for the party came from these cookie cutters that I had picked up from Ikea with no idea why--I just couldn't resist that little hedgehog. When Justine & I started talking about the party I knew right away what we had to do. I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe from the sadly expired Blueprint magazine (Google "Blueprint magazine sugar cookie recipe" and you'll get s few bloggers' takes on the recipe. I am too lazy to transcribe it here). It freezes like a dream & never fails.


Yeah, I made cupcakes. With little woodland animal toppers. So what? Wanna fight about it?


Here's the cake I made. It's a fucking TREE STUMP! It was DUMB! I made it with four layers, alternating between chocolate & butter. I made the roots by mixing the cake tops I sawed off to level the layers with icing & then shaping them by hand. Then I iced the bark & roots with pure chocolate frosting & the lighter "cut" top with chocolate icing mixed with vanilla. Then I used a toothpick to make knots in the bark & rings in the top. Then I was done. Oh no I wasn't! THEN I made those little chocolate pine cones. Fuck yeah I did. Justine ordered the little mushrooms from my favorite Etsy seller, Hey Yo Yo. Then I was done, for reals. That was the first cake I've ever made and I couldn't be prouder if I had actually given birth to it.


In keeping with the woodsy theme, I made these little s'mores kits for the favors. And many, many S'MORE. Get it? S'MORE. Like MORE. I rule at this! (Also, we call him Mugsy, but apparently his actual name is Wyatt. Whatevs.)


We weren't sure what the weather would be like, so I made these molded crayons (from chocolate molds ordered from Bake it Pretty) and recycled notebook kits for the littles. The weather was gorgeous so we just sent them home with the kits as favors.

We Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock

So, this happened:

Want more? Ok:


Yes, Liz, that's nerdy, but KISS is the awesomest band ever! So at least you're only 90% spaz.


Oh, really? What about once we add in the Storm Trooper Pumpkin? Not quite all the way to Mayor of Gooberville?


Ah. Darth Vader pumpkin cinches it.


We had a Halloween party. Bet you couldn't guess.


The Babkes brought devilled egg eyeballs. Because they rule.


We drank poisoned wine and survived (ish).


And someone lost their head over the punch.


In conclusion: Best. Halloween. Ever.