Merry Christmas!

Rock Center Tree

Gingerbread house 2010!

Where's Buster?

My homemade dog treats

The dog treats I made last week. Buster and his pals loved them! I'm so domestic Haha

Baking spree pictures

Yummy two tier double chocolate cake with crushed candy canes

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Crazy Holiday Shopping

I just ran out during lunch to two stores - I had to return something at one and pick up one little item at the other. Needless to say that since it's four days before Christmas the lines were crazy. In my one hour lunch break I spent about 15 minutes driving, five minutes browsing, and the other 40 waiting in line. Days like today make me appreciate finishing my shopping weeks ago instead of dealing with the last minute chaos.

Annual Spa Day

Last year my friend Melissa and I planned a morning at DePasquale - a local spa by us. A little pampering is always a pleasant event so we decided to go again and went this past Saturday. We had our treatments and then met up in the relaxation room for a little girl time to catch up. It was much needed quality time since the last chance we really had a chance to talk was a month or so ago.

Needless to say, the company was great but I'd like to take a few lines and explain how amazing the massage was. I usually stick with a regular full body massage but thought I'd change it up and go for a warm stone massage. It was perfect! I can't wait for my next day at the spa - hopefully for my birthday in February. I'll definitely be getting a warm stone massage again!

And based on much we enjoy our spa trips, we'll be doing it twice a year moving forward :)

Bad Game for the NY Giants

I'm not a huge football fan, but I know the Giants games mean a lot to Rob. One of his co-workers gave him tickets to the Giants-Eagles game today and he was pumped about it - if the Giants won they'd be in a good spot for the division title (or something like that) and the Eagles have Michael Vick, so it was going to be intense. The first 3/4 of the game the Giants look great and were ahead by a few touchdowns. Then in the last 7 minutes of the 4th quarter they totally blow it, with the Eagles scoring a whopping 28 points and winning the game.

When the Giants were winning it was fun, but when they started playing like crap it was pathetic. At least the screaming and cheering kept me warm, since the 3 layers of clothes, 8 hot packs and two hot chocolates were only helping a little. On the plus side, it was quality time with the hubby in some pretty awesome seats!

A dreaded phone call

Last Wednesday night Rob was supposed to be working late so I figured it would be a great time for me to catch up with my grandmother. I haven't talked to her in a while so we had a lot to chat about.

Around 8pm I see that Rob is calling and thought it was just to tell me he was on his way home. He called again a few minutes later, and based on our nightly talks figured he was bored and wanted someone to chat with. Then the second line of the house phone rings, but I can't see who it is off the caller ID so I ignore it.

Long story short, after catching up with my grandma I speak to Rob's sister who starts the conversation with "Don't worry, Rob's okay." She goes on to tell me that he was driving home and got hit by a drunk driver. Automatically my heart sinks and I start panicking. After speaking to him, he was physically fine - just shook up and his car was damaged.

Th guy who hit him was so drunk he rammed into Rob's car, causing his car to spin, and then he bounced off Rob and into another car. Turns out it wasn't this idiot's first offense for driving drunk, and he was well over the legal alcohol level - I think the police report said he was a .2!

Thank God Rob's okay. Next time, I'll be sure to answer the call when the phone rings!

Admitting an OCD

Last weekend we had a great group of people over - our Recreation Committee. After a lot of hard work this past year, we decided to kick back and actually plan an event for ourselves. We had food catered, so it was just a matter of set up at our house, which is where the party was going to be held. We had a great time, and plenty of delicious food. We even did a little gift swap to make sure we were in the holiday swing.

Then this past weekend we had some people over to watch the Giants game (but the Giants got snowed out, so we watched the Jets game which no one really cared about). While it would have been easy to cancel, I already had all of the food cooked from my ambitious day on Friday. Plus, our friend Scott just got out of the hospital after two long weeks so I was hoping getting a few of us together would help lift his spirits and take his mind off of things.

While we had great times at both of the parties we hosted these past two weekends, the moral of this blog post is to admit my OCD with cleaning my house following a party. I always joke around with my grandmother that we are so similar - we hate to go to bed with the house being a mess, especially after having people over. To us, it's so much easier to wake up and have the house be back to normal, rather than waking up to a mess or stuff to put away. I'd say it drives Rob nuts, but he's usually asleep before I even take the vacuum out.

Recapping 2010

Since this year was filled with happy events for almost everyone we know, I thought I'd do a much shorter version of the 12 days of Christmas recapping our eventful 2010:

In our trips to the mailbox throughout 2010 a wonderful surprise came to us:
8 wedding invites.. but 7 weddings we actually went to.. had fun at 6 bachelorette parties.. not to mention 5 bridal showers.. for all the fun, I had to get 4 new dresses.. and 3 baby shower gifts.. and celebrated at 2 anniversary parties.. not to mention 1 christening and traveled to 1 destination wedding!

Here's to what 2011 will bring!

This is why I need a job

Coming into December, I had 9 vacation days to use before the end of the year. My company has use it or lose it policy, so I had to take the days. After two days off last week, my house was completely decorated, Christmas shopping was done, and presents were wrapped. Running out of things to do, I decided to try some new recipes. Yesterday, I tackled the following (all of which were homemade):

- Key lime pie
- Chocolate fudge with crushed candy canes
- Double chocolate chip biscotti
- Huge tray of baked ziti (using my homemade sauce, complete with basil from my garden)
- Cranberry pumpkin bread
- 2 tier double chocolate cake with white icing and crushed candy canes
- Dog treats (yes, for Buster)

Buster LOVED the treats, and since I made so many I put together little "doggie bags" for his pet friends. We have a holiday party to go to tonight and then are having some friends over to watch the Giants game on Sunday, so the food won't go to waste.

Today, I still have to make:
- Reuben dip appetizer
- French onion soup
- Turkey meatballs
- I bought a brie wheel, so I have to make something with that, too. I have two recipes that I have to decide between.

My mother-in-law surprised me and came over to hang out on Friday afternoon, and ended up watching me cook the entire time. She probably thought I was crazy, but funny enough at the end of the day when I checked my email, this was my horoscope:

"You've got twice as much energy as usual, so get ready to take on some big, wild, fun projects at home or at work. You may inspire others to join in, or at least to watch you at your very best."

Hopefully by Monday I'll be all baked out!

Buster, The Therapy Dog

Today, I went to see my cousin at the nursing home. To change it up I thought a nice surprise would be to bring Buster. Although she was excited, it was so cute how many people came over to pet our little pooch. He showered everyone with kisses, and they all enjoyed petting him. He probably met close to two dozen people, with all the nurses, patients, visitors and some employees coming over to say hi.

I am always thankful for Buster, but it's days like today - when you see his gentle touch and unconditional love for everyone - that remind me of what a wonderful dog we are lucky enough to have.