Giving Thanks in 2010

Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday.  I love the food and the giving thanks part of it but it always seemed like a lot of work for such a short amount of time to me.  There was the preparing of the food the night before and all thanksgiving day and a huge amount of clean up after your meal which I hated.  This year I was content to just have rolls and potatoes and call it good but my sweet husband wouldn't let me do it.

We decided to go all out and I'm so glad we did. You see I've developed this love for cooking and baking lately, so this was super fun for me. 

 

Matt cooked (okay re-heated) a huge turkey for the first time, made us some awesome mashed potatoes and gravy and carved the Turkey like a pro.  He even successfully located and saved the wish bone for us. (I was a little grossed out by this I'm not gonna lie) He won that little game and happily made his wish.

I on the other hand made a pumpkin pie, butter horn rolls, my Dad's sweet potatoes and even a pecan pie to later be share with friends. We spent the rest of our evening watching a little football and going through the black Friday adds.  It was such a nice, relaxing day.  One I was thankful for for sure.  

P.s. Yes we did go shopping on Black Friday but no we will not be showing you any pictures from that day. Okay, maybe I'll show you one picture but it's not of us or your presents. We caught this lady falling asleep in the Target food court and couldn't resist the shot.  Too funny. :)

The Arrival of Inspirations

(Volume I)

A few weeks ago Matt received a very special package in the mail.  He's been working so hard for the past little while on a freelance project and was finally able to see the fruits of his labor. The book is a "collection of Christian sermons meant for everyday living."  We couldn't be happier to see this project finish up and to see how great it all turned out.  

Matt designed the entire book, from the cover, layout, and inside pages, all the way down to the font that was used.  It turned out exactly the way he wanted it to and his clients were very happy with the finished product.  I don't think I've ever seen Matt more excited then when he was flipping through this book and admiring his beautiful work.  I am so proud of him and love when I can open up a book and see his name jumping off the page. (True confession: I sometimes like to open the ATK cookbooks in Costco just to see it) He truly is a talented man. 

As an observer of the design process I honestly can say that so much more work goes into making books than I ever imagined. Matt has the patience, detailed eye and artistic ability to really pull it all together and make it work.  I'm so proud of my amazing husband and his hard work. Congrats Matty on a job very well done. I love you.

Falling in Love

(part II)

The whole reason for our trip was to see my best friend Jana get married to her sweetheart James.  The ceremony was held in the court house in Minneapolis and was absolutely beautiful.  They had a hot chocolate bar (with all the fixings), a dinner and a slide show that we thoroughly enjoyed.

I have to say, I think Jana was the most beautiful bride.  I had a really hard time not bawling like a baby when she came walking down the stairs. James looked really good as well but we couldn't get a good shot of him from where we were sitting. Sorry.    

The next day we had plans to meet up with Jana and James at a great place called Hell's Kitchen.  We pulled up a little early so I decided to snap a few pictures of the sign. All of a sudden I heard someone yell, "Sarah!"  It was Jana and James.  I was unknowingly taking pictures of them as well. Oops!

The restaurant had all kinds of amazing decorations. My favorite by far was the chandelier made out of knives.  It kind of took me by surprise when I first saw it, but it was awesome. The whole mood of the place was just cool. There's no other word for it. You felt like a Rock Star just walking in there.

While the food was excellent, the company was even better.  Jana and James are my absolute favorite. They really are perfect for one another and I'm so glad Matt and I got to celebrate their big day with them.  We look forward to many, many, many more visits and brunches like the one we had that day. :) 

Stay tuned for our last few hours in Minnesota coming up next . . .

Falling in Love

(Part I) 

We went to Minnesota to celebrate the Love of one of my very best friends and ended up falling in love ourselves, with Minnesota.

  While picking up our rental car Friday night, the woman at the front desk asked if we wanted to upgrade to a 4 wheel drive.  She told us that they were expecting something like 6 to 10 inches of snow the next day.  We had checked the weather the day before we left and didn't see anything that said there would be snow, so we kept our little blueberry and away we went. Boy were we surprised the next morning when we woke up to a snow covered Minnesota.

  It probably should have kept us in doors but we were only in town for a short while and wanted to see as much as we could possibly see.  About the 3rd car we passed that had slid off the road I really started to question our sanity. 

We stopped by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and Open Book which blew me away.  It was such a cool building with the best staircase I have ever seen.  There was a tiny cafe inside, you could find people reading books all over, and we saw at least 2 groups of people holding book clubs that morning.  A wood stamp making class was going on down stairs and we met the nicest lady who told us all about the different classes they offer and let us check out all the huge letter press machines.  It was amazing.     

(This is a wood stamp that someone taking the class made. Incredible right?)

Minneapolis has some of the coolest buildings, so we decided to do a drive by of a few of them before heading back to Bloomington. If we'd had the time and different weather conditions (it was seriously a blizzard out there) we would have walked the Stone Arch Bridge and in and out of a few shops. Maybe next time.

Finally we were off for a quick visit to the great Mall of America before the big event.  We shopped, had an Xbox 360 Kinect party (they had a bunch of the games set up to try out), ate at Arby's (because we don't have any close in Boston) and rode on a Sponge Bob Square Pants roller coaster.  

Stay Tuned for Jana's Wedding  coming up next . . .

"This is Halloween, This is Halloween"

-  Nightmare Before Christmas -

I love Halloween and usually get really into it.  The past two years I've had particularly cool costumes and fun things to do on this lovely holiday (here and here) which is why I was a little sad this time around.  Matt and I were just coming off a seminary week and realized a little too late that we wouldn't have time to dress up for the tri-ward Trunk-or-Treat.   

(you can't see them but Matt has two black birds attached to each shoulder)

Then, as if she knew my dilemma, my good friend Chen Ying came to the rescue.  I got home from work on Friday (the night of the Trunk-or-Treat) to find that a package  from Malaysia had arrived.  I about fell off the couch when I opened it and found a beautiful mask and hair piece inside.  Chen Ying had made them for a party she went to and then sent them my way thinking I could get some use out of them before the Holiday was over.  How right she was. 

Thank you Chen Ying for making my Halloween!

   

Our Perfect Day in Cambridge

Burdick's hot chocolate, the Charles River Regatta, shops in Harvard Square, an awesome street performing jazz band (with a tuba player) and no time limit whatsoever.  Perfection!