Turkey Sliders stuffed with cheese and red onions. See youllmarryamusicman.blogspot.com for recipe!
Mini Crescent Dogs, Wings, Relish Plate. Nomnomnom.
Cookies + Brownies = choco-awesome
Queso, French Onion Dip, Spinach Dip, Salsa and Chex Mix... Gangs all here!
This is Nia's favorite spot in the house, which she climbs to entirely on her own. Who ever said fat cats can't jump?
Super Bowl nomaliciousness
My pretty damn cute boyfriend in some smoking Martha Stewart mittens, cooking me dinner!
Did I say cooking? What I really meant was heating up the gourmet food he got to go!
Pate and Baguette -- don't judge, but I love it.
Mixed veggies, filet mignon, lobster with a garlic cream sauce, mashed potatoes with celery root. EPIC DECISIONS.
We resorted to eating caveman style.
"I want my steak to be cooked like this always." - Sean McCarver. Side note: Why do lobsters always look so PERVY when you photograph them?
What shall forever be known as "rich people squash".
Raspberry cream brulee - in a heart tin because we're in love, yo!
This was dinner VDay #2. Sean and I split duties cause it's way more fun to spread the love! That's a cowboy ribeye on a bed of creamed spinach with a rosemary cream sauce and Hasselbeck potatoes.
Nia wanted to join.
The aftermath. Next year, I'm ordering to-go, too.
Saved the best for last. Chocolate dipped strawberries with brownies and oreos!
So in case anyone didn't know, being an adult is HARD.
That's what she said.
Obviously, I still haven't mastered maturity (see comment above) so here is a list of things I'm currently sorry for screwing up:
1. Still no Christmas pictures. I will redress this situation at the end of this blog.
2. Not calling Suzy back. I FELL ASLEEP. I'm one nap away from applying for AARP.
3. Bailing on approximately a bajillion people Saturday night. I FELL ASLEEP. For the record, so did Sean. At 8:30, or one-glass-of-wine-o'clock. AARP: I am expecting a formal invite any minute.
4. Just now reading Andrea's comment about my blog. She's 10000x better at blogging than me, so you should follow her Steady Stream of Chatter.
So, here are Christmas pictures.
Daddy got a standing ovation for the universal remote.
This is the best picture I've ever taken.
Nia loves Christmas, and I love Nia. Win-Win.
Shiloh loves me. This is a love/hate relationship on my end. See the licking?! See?!
New Years in my MJ jacket.
Cotton Bowl Tail Gate. Whoop!
It was really good to see TJ.
Sean thinks I'm pretty without make-up. I think he's cute when he makes dumb faces. This is proof we are both crazy.
Trevor and I at the Cotton Bowl.
We lost, and I kept annoying Trevor. This is pretty much how the whole second half went for him.
Yeah, this horrible motivational speaker called it that on Twitter the other day. I cannot even begin to tell you how dumb this is grammatically. A re-solution means you are solving something again, which in turn implies that you probably failed last year at your weight loss/finding God/making someone marry you goal.
Anyway. This year, I have the proto-typical New Year's goal to get healthy (that's what I'm calling it in 2011 since putting numbers and schedules on it in the past has failed MISERABLY). But my complete determination to not be a fat ass in 2011 is completely boring so here's the real deal...
In 2011, I'm going to be more MANLY (is underlining "manly" actually over-accessorizing the word? FAIL ALREADY).
Well, not really manly. Bear with me. See, I really love sparkly things and pink things and smell-good things and make-up and clothes and house-decorating and most things girly -- the pink text of course, being for emphasis. What I don't like about being a girl is the struggle to compartmentalize. Guys have it so easy. Seriously, you are biologically able to shut down areas of your brain where girls see everything interconnected. Sometimes, interconnectivity is good.
When you are so stressed out you end up in an emergency room with stress-induced migraines and vomiting, this is bad.
In 2010, I completed one goal of getting a not-stress-free-but-certainly-not-sickness-inducing job. As I slowly wrap my head around what I want to do for the rest of my life (scary), I would like to look forward knowing that I have the capability to compartmentalize. Like a man. Or a boss. A man who's a boss?
Bottom line: If you hear me making general connections to things and those connections don't actually exist, tell me to man up. I'll know what you mean :)
Sidenote: I'm actually pretty good at compartmentalizing in my personal life. It's the damn professional life that messes with my head. This is probably because I've had a personal life for 22 years and a professional life for... 1, working on 2. It's a process people.
P.S. -- I got a new camera for Christmas so expect many more pictures. Christmas/New Years post coming soon, I promise!
Don't get all huffy. Did you really think I was going to say lovers? Gross.
Christmas is for cynics (read: me) because it's the one time of year that I kind of get out of my own head and enjoy things like Santa, gift-giving, mistletoe, kitschy decorations and glittery ornaments. Any other time of year, I would tell you to get out of my face with your childlike enthusiasm. During Christmas, it's like my heart grows three sizes... wait, that's the Grinch. Oh, the Whomanity.
Anyway, to make this Christmas even better, Sean graduated and we moved in together. I LOVE our new place. I love Sean, too, but the apartment is new so that's what I'm writing about. Since we moved in during Christmas, we had the added bonus of getting to decorate twofold: once generally, and one for the holiday. Here are photos of the new digs. As we keep upgrading, we'll keep posting. The place looks great, but it looks better in person so feel free to come visit!
He was helping me stage. CUTIE.
He also picked out the bedding. It's ok to be jealous.
Massive TV, massive make-up mirror. Win-win.
We're adorable. I'm not afraid to say it.
The closets are HUGE.
Did I mention the closets are huge?
That's a garden tub. Clearly, someone needs to work on that toilet seat issue.
This sums up everything.
The kitchen is also huge.
Things we need: another bookshelf. We really like books.
The dining room.
So many presents. Hint: they are all for Sean.
Peppermint bark and ornaments. I love Christmas!
I wish this wasn't fuzzy. It's the alkie corner.
Sean was in my way. I thought I hated the couch, but I don't. Remove foot from mouth.
The mantle. I made that garland, FYI.
Workspace.
Frat corner.
Two big bathtubs!
Among other things, my shoe closet. BE JEALOUS.
One of my best ideas ever: I'm going to hang these in front of the mirrors in the dining room so when we light the candles, the light reflects :)
Sean's work backpack. Baller status.
Again, I thought I hated the couch but I lied. The end!!
Periodically, I've decided to write entries about how NOT to behave in business. If you think this is going to be lame, you're wrong. I've got some stories, homie.
Which brings me to point #1... I once had a boss that quite sure putting up an inspirational magnet on all the building doors would fix the gossipy/catty/straight-up mean girls atmosphere in the office. Needless to say, it did not. In fact, it became slang for inaction.
There's a 60% chance that it's already raining.
Scenario one:
Angry Employee A: UGH! She is such a bitch! I have to talk to Boss about it but you know they will probably just put a magnet on it and call it a day.
Scenario two:
Downtrodden Employee B: They expect me to write all these reports, and then they just throw them away! I'm just going to give them a magnet instead.
Lesson learned: When moral is collapsing around you because of whatever reason (let's be honest, probably previous failures on your part), do not think that motivational signage will fix the issues. If it does... well...
