Snow, Tea, Halloween Party, Oh, and Anniversary!!

What a weekend it has been!  Blair has been gone all weekend for his company golf retreat, so I have spent braving the freak snow storm to run 1000 errands for our PARIS trip on FRIDAY!!!!  (just a bit excited).

Ice and snow on our roses out front.  Better to have snow on the roses in my yard  than on the ones in my wedding bouquet! 

Mixed in with all that hard work was a fun tea date with my Mom and Julie, followed by a Halloween party at the Bartiums House of Horrors...those two sure can decorate!  Since Blair wasn't able to join me at the party I went as "flying Solo."  Waka Waka Waka.  I am horribly self-entertaining.

"She's So Lo she can't get up!" Steve Bartimus  and then repeated 80 times by the neighborhood kids :)

Today is our official 1 year anniversary!  I am so excited for Blair to get home I just can't stand myself!  I spent hours perusing cookbooks to come up with the perfect romantic dinner, when it hit me that he will probably come in like a zombie and not be up for my flambe show...or for the potential house fire that could result.

I'll leave the flambe up to her :)  Just add a touch more wine...
Source: Grouprecipes.com

So, instead I have a pot roast simmering, and mashed potatoes on the agenda.  The best part?  Eating that darn wedding cake that has been taking up an entire shelf  in our freezer.  I'm sure it will taste like a frosting covered brick, but it is tradition, so we will give it a go.

I'm really excited for our little anniversary dinner tonight.  Even though we aren't really celebrating until Paris, it has still been a really fun few days leading up to today.  We have received lots of emails, phone calls, and sweet cards from family and friends.  We even received a typed copy of the speech my father-in-law made at the rehearsal dinner, which I have been waiting to read until Blair gets home.

 It's funny, when I walked down the aisle and saw Blair standing there waiting for me, I couldn't have imagined that I could have ever loved him more, but one year later, I do, and I hope I say the same every year.  It has been an amazing first year of marriage and I am very much looking forward to many more together.

Stuck with me now!

Love you to all!

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, at 1:45 pm, Blair and I walked through the door of the closing office to seal the deal on the purchase of our new home.  I had spent the days ahead planning our move as if it were a special ops mission.  We would be married in 2.5 days, and time was of the essence to get this thing done!  We were greeted by the closing agent who told us that she wasn't going to give us the keys because they hadn't received the funds from our lender.  What?!?!  I frantically called the lender who assured me the funds were wired and had the confirmation number to  prove it.  I had furniture deliveries coming from all ends of the earth and two moving vans full of our stuff (and I thought we didn't have anything!).  This HAD to happen on schedule.  We started signing papers, but the closing agent insisted that she would not give us the keys until the funds actually cleared their account...grr.....  As Blair and I signed the last signature on the last page, the receptionist ran in and said the funds just cleared.  Phew!

Hours later, all of the deliveries had been made, and we were for the first time, alone in our brand new home.  We slept in the loft on the mattress from Blair's condo, which was laying on the floor.  Boxes were everywhere, and with no blinds to hide our stash, we were both a little nervous.
At one point, Blair jumped out of bed and ran downstairs in his underwear with a golf club to fend off the invisible intruder.  Underwear and a golf club are the clear uniform of choice for any man fending off an late-night perp.  I am pretty sure I had a curling iron and was wearing the clothes Blair had left behind.

It's funny to think back on that first night.  We were so overwhelmed by the amount of unpacking and chores to complete, but we were home and we were happy.

Reality of home ownership quickly set in when I got the phone call the next day:
Blair: "Hey, you know where you left the washing machine..."
Me: "Yes...."
Blair:  "Well it's not there anymore and there is water everywhere!"
Outstanding

Looking back on the year, we survived that first leak, 4 months without cable, the foundation crack, the leaking master bedroom shower, the family of devil kittens, and a partridge in a pear tree.  It hasn't been the easiest year of home ownership, but this house is ours.

It is where we spent our first year of marriage.  The once empty rooms are now filled with happy pictures and treasured family antiques; and the chairs we loved, hated, and then loved again.  Our kitchen has fed family and friends, and our bedrooms have provided both a place for friends and family to stay.  It is where we will (hopefully) raise our children.  It is a crazy place sometimes, but it is our home.

Taking a picture of ourselves...Ground was broken!!

Me noticing the crack in the foundation...I look even less thrilled when the same crack leaked 7 months later

This is what "overwhelmed" looks like.

Sure, he looks adorable...the devil in disguise. 

Alone on the island...

Arachnophobia

Yesterday afternoon I started tackling the giant laundry mountain.  I piled up all of the laundry in the laundry room and sorted it by wash type.  I had just started a load of towels, when I looked back and found a giant, lady-eating spider on the floor.  

This spider is from google images, but trust me, it was this nasty

I am an independent woman.  I lived on my own for several years before marriage.  I wore a hard hat to work and dealt with some of the nastiest, burliest dudes in town.  I can handle my own business.  So when I saw this big spider, I did exactly what any self-respecting woman would do...I ran upstairs and got Blair and made him kill it while I supervised.  Marriage has many perks, not the least of which is having a husband that is now officially required to do this kind of thing.  I'm sure that was written in our vows somewhere. 

Last Home Game!

What a great weekend for football in Blacksburg!  The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere was fun!  Given that Blair will be in Japan for the North Carolina game, this was our last home game for the season.  Hard to believe!  We had a wonderful time hanging out with Blair's dad, Dave and Tracey, and Mike and Julie and all of Juile's wonderful family and friends.  

While the big win was a nice treat, the real highlight of the game for me was the random act of kindness from one nearby fan.  Blair was trying to waive down the soda guy who was a few rows down from us.  Soda man acknowledged Blair, and then the person in the row right near Soda man bought the last soda, which drew a collective "ahhh" from the fun people around us.  Soda man promised he would return soon.  No big deal, BUT one nice fan went to the concession stand and bought Blair a soda and passed it up to him!  We don't know this nice guy, but how sweet to do this!  So, if you happen to be reading this kind fan, thank you for being the highlight of our trip.  Hokies sure are nice people!  

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

Mirror, Mirror

One of my tasks today required that I run up to a secluded room upstairs to take some measurements.  While in there, I stopped in front of a glass tool case to check my reflection.  I was checking out...well, the backside of my jeans  to see how they looked (I was fully clothed).  I wasn't admiring myself; I was doing a status check after a particularly large lunch. 

It was then that I remembered why I was in the room in the first place:  to take wall measurements for the sign that reads "Notice: this room is monitored by security for your safety and protection."  Sweet.  Security officers, I hope you enjoyed the show... 

Obviously, this isn't me...but if it was, I'd be smiling too. 
Thank you google images for the pic.

Lattanzio Wines and a Thoughtful Touch

 Lot 18 is an online wine distributor that sells wine in limited quantities and discounted prices.  It is quickly becoming one of my new obsessions.

My first purchase was a Syrah from Lattanzio Wines.  I had never tried their wine, but the description on Lot 18 sounded intriguing, and the price was right- reason enough for me to give it a try!  The wine was delicious: full-bodied, but smooth.  I loved it!

Today, I received a hand-written thank you note from Hillary and Justin Lattanzio with a photograph of Justin in in the vineyard.  They thanked me for my purchased, expressed their hope that I enjoyed the wine, and shared their story.  I was so touched!  What if more companies took the time to thank their customers in this way?

I will definitely be holding on to the card.  I have a feeling these folks are well on their way to big things.

Cheers!

Hosting an Indoor/Outdoor Gathering: Lessons Learned

Blair and I had some of our neighbors and friends over yesterday for turkey fry and excuse to use our awesome fire pit we got for our wedding.  Living in our home for nearly a year now, each gathering has left me with a few lessons for "next time," and last night was no exception.

Lessons learned from previous parties that I employed for our party last night:

1) Yes, the house does need to be clean. However, every single square inch of the house does not need to be spotless:  having a new home, and guests that want to tour the house, I always felt pressure to have the home completely spotless from top to bottom.  Your guests are your friends and family.  They understand you have a life outside of your home and will not be looking in every closet to make sure you are truly organized.

2) It may be a 4-hour party, but it is a several day process:  Assuming I can wake up at 4:00 am on the morning of a party to clean the house, plan the menu, go shopping, cook, get dressed, and have enough energy left to to enjoy my guest is not just unrealistic, it is completely impossible!  Now, I clean house thoroughly on Wednesday, go shopping on Thursday, prep on Friday, and cook and touch up the house on Saturday.

3) Get it all done in advance:  I cook everything in the morning and then reheat it before dinner. The only exception to this is the meat, which we always serve fresh.  Yesterday, I started cooking at 8am, and by 2pm I had made the cookies, 2 batches of mac n'cheese, green beans, and glazed carrots, and assembled all of the appetizers.  All we had left to do was fry the turkeys.

4) Don't forget about the "stuff":  There are a lot of little things that can totally derail the party train- these include rinsing patio furniture, assembling any side tables, etc, setting the tables, setting out the serving dishes and serving utensils, icing down the drinks, etc.

5) Remember to account for your dressing time: It won't matter how the food tastes or how clean the house is, if I am wearing my high school gym shirt, and sweat pants when the guests show up...I can say that this has happened to me, and I put wine guests in my girl's hand while I showered (thankfully, we are close friends and she didn't care).

Ok, so here is the "duh" moment we had yesterday:  When cooking for 30 people, make sure you test the gear.  

Blair was totally on top of all of the prep, and the turkeys were all marinated well in advance.  The birds were happy, and so was he...until it was "go" time.  Blair has fried many a turkey, so he had the process mapped to perfection, but neither one of us had thought to try out the fryer in advance. We weren't prepared for it to take a lot longer to heat the oil than the one we had previously used.  The turkeys took forever.  Fortunately, B is cool as a cucumber and did a great job turning the turkey cook area into a "guy zone" with beers and football and man-cookin'.  Thanks to my "man with a plan" and his amazing ability to go with the flow, it all worked out great..but we still took note of the lesson to be learned.

Other lesson- take pictures!  Not sure I went through the entire party with my camera sitting on the counter without taking a single pic.  Fail.

Ah well!  We had a BLAST with friends old and new and left a bit smarter for next time.

Happy Weekend!

T.L.C.

Blair and I decided to be financially responsible adults this evening and go out for a "cheap eats" dinner.  After some ridiculous sushi at Moca (yes, that was a shameless reference to my other blog), we made a quick stop at the grocery store. Note- these are the date nights you have once you are married. Before making it into the store, B bounded over to the Red Box to pick up a DVD.  His choice?  Transformers, the 1000th sequel.  Gross.

So I told him he was on his own for the night, and I settled in for a few hours of unrestricted control of the remote!!!!  I turned on T.L.C., you know "The Learning Channel."  All I have learned so far is that there is a dude who is married to like 5 chicks and he is wondering why his siblings are being so "judgy;" and there is a girl from Jersey that had to buy hair extensions for her wedding because she "has hair like cat fur."  Thanks T.L.C. for making me stupider... wait, that's not a word.  Crap, it's kicking in already.

Happy Friday!

Picture of the Sister Wives Family courtesy of the TLC website...

This Parenting Stuff is Easy ;)

What a GREAT weekend we had!!  We were in Blacksburg (or as Blair calls it, "The Promise Land") for the VT vs. Miami game.  A big group of us made the trip: Todd and Traci; Matt and Kerri; Pops, Kyle, Marisa and Connor; Mike, Julie, Julie's Mom, and Vanessa.  You might say our tailgate was "no joke."

After our tailgate, the gang headed off for the game, and I took Connor for the day.  He is seriously the best baby in the world!  On the way to the tailgate, Marisa asked him if he wanted to take a nap. He nodded "yes," closed his eyes and went to sleep for an hour.  He fussed for all of 30 second when we left Mama, and then he was all giggles and smiles all day long.  He even told me when he needed to be changed.  I mean, from what I can tell, this parenting stuff is a breeze....  I'm kidding.  My dear MIL told me today that she would still watch our future children, even if they are terrors :)  I'm sure all of the good behavior genes have been used up on our nieces and nephews and Blair and I will be blessed with monkey babies that scream incessantly and climb every possible surface.

Sunday was the icing on the cake!  Matt and Kerri are friends with a great guy, Bruce, who works for the football team.  After a delicious breakfast a restaurant Bruce recommended, he turned to us and said "so you guys want to go tour the locker room?"  Uh, yes, yes we do! We saw the locker room, players' lounge, practice field, the ins and outs of Lane Stadium.  It was amazing!!!  Such a great weekend!

"Hmmm...yes, Connor, I do think I can fit you in my suitcase"

A few of these, and he was a happy kid all day long.  Seriously, parenting is sooo easy.  Obviously, I'm kidding. 

Cutest baby man in the world. 

Connor with his parents (until Auntie Ashley steals him)

Humble Beginnings

I have to admit that I have been kinda proud of my running accomplishments lately. My long runs are now 7 miles at 9:13(ish) pace.  I am by no means breaking any records, but I have left my workouts with a little feather in my cap.

If you have read this blog more than once you know that those feathers get me in trouble every darn time!  So today, I hop in the car all proud of myself for my run yesterday and drive aaalll the way to work only to realize that I left my work shoes at home.  Luckily, I had an extra pair of socks, which came in handy when I sported dress slacks and running shoes all day. At least they matched my outfit...

Wedding and a Baby!

What a great weekend this has been!  Yesterday was the big wedding day!  Allison and Jared got married!!!  It was a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony, followed by an amazing reception.  The bride was stunning and the groom dashing.  It was the first wedding Blair and I have attended since our own, and it was so different being guests at a wedding now that we are married.  I think having been married for almost a year now made me truly appreciate how wonderful and special the start of a marriage really is.

During the first dance, I leaned over to Blair and whispered "I love you."  He looked looked back at me with those blue eyes and sweet smile and said "We just got an interception."  Ok, so things aren't that different. :)

We spent the night with old friends and new.  We danced, and drank, did the macerena (what?!?), and waived our hands to the musical stylings of Miley Cyrus...cuz, that's how we roll.

To top it all off, our friends Doug and Lauren welcomed their new son! Welcome to world sweet Cameron!