Where to start?

I know that I haven't been very good at keeping up with the fast-paced Christmas activities, but here is my attempt at catching up a little...

So, after the Chicago train ride, we spent the following weekend at various holiday parties. I had already mentioned Devin's ugly sweater party... We also attend my brother and his wife's annual Christmas party and every year it proves to be a great time. Unfortunately, it was the same night as the big snow storm! We finally left the county at about midnight and all was going well on the roads... until we got almost home... On Hampton, the road dips a little and veers to the left... Well, the car didn't go left and we ended up on the sidewalk after mowing over two gas poles (?)... A cop driving by noticed our situation and stopped to offer a little assistance as well as call the gas company. It wasn't until we had the Laclede Gas guys and Ian combined with some creative macgyver there that we could get the car back on the road.

The following weekend was the much awaited Cookie Baking party. Being the 5th year, we have gotten really good at efficiency! 8 bakers were complete by about 10pm, I think!








The Christmas holiday was filled with lots of good food, wonderful family, and great gifts! On Christmas Eve, we went over to my Mom and Dad's. Everything was delicious and the boys were really cute. Drew wanted to play with Jackson's presents, and Jackson wanted Drew's!








On Christmas day, Matt and I woke up to open our own presents... I got a new board game and a roll out shelf for the pantry and Matt got the Bourne Ultimatum and glass shelves for his bar downstairs. Denver and Malibu enjoyed their gifts as well. After that, we headed over to the Binning house. We opened the enormous pile of gifts and had fun playing games until dinner was served. All in all it was a wonderful (and exhausting) holiday!

Quick Update

Just wanted to take a minute to tell everyone about the awesome Christmas party we attended last night. One of the old Resto gals and her husband hosted an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. I really wish I had remembered my camera because there were some great outfits. At one point, one of the very drunk gentlemen asked Devin to accompany him on piano while he sang Christmas Carols... Keep in mind he was also wearing an outlandishly decorated sombrero... It was really wonderful to see Devin and Dave (an old manager from Resto). Hopefully we can put a reunion together February-ish for the whole gang to get together!

The Christmas Spirit

As many of you know, as an early Christmas present, my in-laws paid our way on an antique rail car made in the 50s to Chicago and back on Saturday. Being that I am sick and Matt had thrown out his back the day before, we bundled up, made the best of it and had a great time in the windy city.

The train ride was not exactly what we had envisioned, however, we had first class treatment. There were only 44 seats in the rail car, which meant for a very comfortable ride (there were footrests and enough head room to stand at your seat!) but the car didn't look very old at all. Our train boarded at 4am, so Matt and I did our best to get some additional shut eye before the sun rose. At 6:30am, the volunteer staff served a "continental breakfast." So, I'm thinking bagels and cereal... Oh no! We were served what seemed like 14 courses from hard boiled eggs and little smokies, to yogurt and string cheese! It certainly was a pleasant start to our day... We arrived in Chicago at about 10:30am, I think, and decided to check out the shopping that was available. Without having done much pre-planning, the best we could figure was to head to the Magnificent Mile. It felt like quite a long walk in the bitter cold, so we pushed through the big revolving doors of the first store of interest we saw! This brought us to Nordstrom's. The best way to describe it is by a mini-mall. It was 4 floors, however, most of the stores are also found in STL. It is the location of the Lego store, though! Matt and I had a great time taking in all that has changed since we were Lego consumers... I didn't realize it at the time, but Santa is kinda obstructed in my picture of the Lego version of Santa and one of his reindeer (I don't recall a red nose!).

After we had thawed a bit, we headed back out in search of some different stores... Unfortunately, we didn't have much success. I guess that STL has come a long way, which is certainly a good thing. We didn't find FAO Schwartz or West Elm, unfortunately, but in our ridiculous attempt to find lunch, we did find the Weber Grill restaurant. It was perfect, short wait (hard to find in downtown Chicago around Christmas) and good food. The cook on grills the size of my kitchen table!

After the late lunch, we ventured towards the Sears Tower. On the way we passed by Marshall Field's with their amazing holiday displays and lots of street performers (the puppet theater was the best). When we got to the tower, the visibility was only 5, so we didn't get the best view, but it was cool to learn about the history of the building as well as see all the lights down below.

Afterwards, we had some time to kill before our train left, so we spent it in the Union Station bar... I know, but given the circumstances, we were lucky to have made it that long!

Our return trip turned out to be rather eventful, though. First a little background. Originally, we were supposed to hitch onto another train leaving later and returning earlier. This was switched to allow more time in Chicago. Well, the train that was supposed to leave at 5:15 for STL was actually stalled on the tracks about 10 minutes from Union Station. It had been there for over 2 hours. Obviously, there was no way to go around the other train, so we sat there while the "Canadians" (don't know if that is a company name or heritage) fixed the other train. The whole ordeal cost us about an hour and a half. So, we actually arrived in STL at 1:30am rather than the planned 12am. Matt and I did decide that luxury train car is the way to travel, though! We hope to make more trips like this in the future...

Another Weekend Update...

Well, I suspect my blogs are going to be kinda like this for awhile (at least through the holidays)... This is a busy time of year, however, I don't think I've ever been as booked as I am this month! Friday night I attended my first "Slumberparty" at a co-workers house. If you don't know of the company- think Tupperware meets Sex in the City. It was a blast laughing and joking around. I know there had been talk of me hosting such an event, and now the timing is perfect since Janelle can get a bonus. With all the pregos, I thought it would be best to see what works for everyone, so please weight in on the poll to the left.

Saturday was filled by xmas shopping in the afternoon and the much anticipated meeting of Julie's new boyfriend! We met up at her friend, Dana's house, and watched the Mizzou game and played Apples to Apples. I won't bore you with all the raunchy details, but I think that we may have scared Josh a little... Well, that's all for now. Talk to you later!

I also finished posting pics on my last blog...

I forgot the best!

Okay, so apparently I was in a bit of a rush yesterday when I posted, so here are some additional updates from our busy week!

On Thanksgiving day, I was greeted with two surprises... A belated housewarming gift from Grandma B... Can you tell what it is?

It is a little house made out of money! She even made trees and a clothesline! How creative! The other one may have to be my favorite gift in a long time... First a little background... All the Justingers (Matt's mom's family) have handmade Christmas stockings made by Grandma J. Unfortunately, her eyesight isn't terribly good anymore and when Matt asked her to make me one, she said that she didn't think she could do it. So, to our surprise, Grandma J had already made it by the time that Matt had asked! We couldn't believe that she lied! I still have to take a picture of it, but it is beautiful... I don't think that we'll hold the lie against her!

I also had the pleasure of attending my nephew's 1st birthday party on Saturday... Here's a pic of the crabby baby living it up...Then to round out the weekend, we had the Binnings over to assist in Christmas decorating. Malibu thinks that she is in heaven every year when we bring out the tree! (She loves to chew on bristly things.) The tree turned out really great with the addition of a few new ornaments! Just need to get some things for the rest of the house...

Last update... Matt doesn't exactly have the flu... He went to Walgreens to see the nurse practioner because I thought he might have strep, but it turns out that he has acute tonsilitis. He's starting steriods and something else that he couldn't remember today, so hopefully he will be feeling better soon.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

I'm having a bit of deja vu writing the title of this blog, but oh well... So, the good news is that overall our Thanksgiving was really nice. My parents went out of town, so we spent the day with the Binnings (grandma's included). It was weird not spending the holiday with my family after 28 years of doing so... The following day I went shopping with my in-laws until I had to leave to meet the plumber (stupid leaky sink). That night we met up with Pam, Bryan, Susan, and Jen for dinner at CPK.

The bad news is that I found out that my Uncle Tom was just diagnosed with fast progressing lung cancer. He went for a PET scan on Friday and will hopefully have some positive results on Tuesday. The hope is that it is localized in the lungs so that it is more treatable.

The ugly is that Friday night Matt started coming down with the flu... He is running a fever with a sore throat and nausea. His timing couldn't have been worse because we had the grandmas over for dinner last night. So, I'm running around like a crazy person cleaning, blowing leaves, and cooking. Everything came off well, eventhough Matt wasn't feeling too social. He's at home right now trying to sleep it off...

I will try and post some of my pics tonight... Gotta run!

Wonderful Birthday Week!

I know it's been a long time since my last update, but we had a ridiculously busy week. Monday was the only day that I had time to do "life stuff." So, I spent all night doing laundry and cleaning.

Tuesday, I woke up to a single rose waiting for me in the kitchen with an awesome card from Matt. (Quite the feat, since he always forgets cards.) That night, we headed out to the county to spend my birthday with my parents and brother's family. My mom made me my favorite- meatloaf and we had a great time playing with the boys... Jackson has decided to start climbing before walking! I forgot my camera, so no pics to post... My parents bought us some fancy new bedside lamps that swing out for reading and Joe and Jenn gave me a gift card for my make up stuff.

On Wednesday, Matt took me to my favorite restaurant, Pueblo Solis, after giving me my present of fireplace tools. (We got to use them last night with our first fire in our new house!) To my surprise, Julie, Katie and Ian joined us for dinner! We had a wonderful meal (mmm, guacamole) and afterwards Katie and Ian came over for wine and brownies that Katie baked. I was also surprised with a gardening book from Julie and flowers from Katie and Ian.

Then on Thursday, we made the trek out to the county again for dinner with my in-laws and Dan. This was a double celebration since Dan left for his month-long trip to Europe yesterday. We had lasagna for dinner and birthday cake after presents (I got a new fleece, a movie gift card, and flames for my kitchenaid mixer!).

And then on Friday, we had tickets to go to the hockey game. Blues won! It was Al McInnis night since he was just inducted into the hall of fame last week. The give away was a DVD comemorating the induction and in the fan comments, Dan had his 2 minutes of fame!

Whew, I'm getting tired from just rehashing the week! I forgot my camera link at home, so I will add pictures later as well as upload the pics from Saturday night to Shutterfly.

Denver's Busy Weekend

What a wonderful weekend... It started out bright and early with a long walk to Walgreens and then to the park. Denver had a great time chasing geese and trying to drink out of the lake- although he almost fell in! After that, we began the fun task of raking leaves... Even Malibu wanted to help...

After a little break, we packed up Denver and headed out to Mike and Lynn's for a puppy play group. Ricky, Sarge, and Denver always have a great time playing and tonight was no exception. While the boys were outside, we were all cozy inside playing cards and apples to apples. We ended the night pretty late and ended up having a sleep over with Katie. Since Ian was out of town deer hunting, it worked out well for everyone. I think we all got to bed around 3:30am! It's definately safe to say that Denver is tuckered out (even without Auntie Lynn's doggie downers)...

Request...

I am working on a bit of an art project and I was hoping that you guys could email me some pictures of your weddings, child births, or any other favorite pictures of you and/or others in the group... no questions asked... Don't worry, I'm not doing anything crazy with them! Thanks!

Sad, but True

So, disappointingly, Matt and I only had one lone trick or treater tonight... I will say that we got a good joke for the handful of candy we provided. Unfortunately, my memory's not good enough to repeat it... Se la vie. And yet another Halloween has passed.

Here are some pictures of my cute nephews in their Halloween gear...

Happy Haunting!!!

So, it's kinda weird... Because we had the party over a week ago, it seems like Halloween has been over for quite some time. I keep looking around my house thinking I should put the decorations away! The pumpkins (take 2) also had to meet the dumpster earlier than expected. Over the weekend, we kinda forgot about them and even the cooler temperature in the stairwell into the basement got to pumpkin melting hot. So, lesson learned... Tonight Matt and I get to pass out candy for the first time! I doubt that we will get a huge turn out based on the location of our house, but it should be fun. I hope that everyone enjoys their spooky festivities!

Wild Wedding Weekend

Most of you do not know AnneMarie in person, however, I thought that I would share the culmination of wedding season 2007! On Thursday we began the festivities with a bachelorette party... We started with dinner at a Greek tapas restaurant called Momo's (ompa!), which was very cool! We were in our own room surrounded by drapery bathed walls, candlelight, and belly dancers.

After a few bottles of wine (4 to be exact) and numerous tasty delights, we moved on to my favorite indulgance, The Chocolate Bar... For those of you that haven't experienced the joy of this place, it is a haven for chocolate-lovers with a menu filled with chocolate drinks and desserts. From there, it was a close drive to McGuirk's to meet up with the boys for a few more drinks before calling it a night. Overall, the evening was a success in my book!

The next day began the countdown to wed with a barrage of beauty treatments, shopping for final details, and the big rehearsal... To precursor this story, I must mention that AnneMarie and Morgan used the same minister as Matt and I. With that said, he didn't recognize us until I was up at the alter and Re asked which hand she is supposed to place the ring on. My emphatic "left" caught the minister's attention and he did a double take before finally placing me! One final note... Re forgot the checkbook, so I offered to write the minister his final check. His response was, "I bet you were hoping never to have to pay me twice!" From there we moved the festivities to Gian-Tony's for another overly rich meal... Rolling out of the restaurant, Matt and I headed home to prepare for the big day...

The next morning was an early one, starting hair at 9:30am and make-up at 12pm... We all enjoyed the last few hours of calm by eating and drinking cranberry champagne cocktails at the salon. Here is Re getting her vintage glam look pulled together...









After what seemed like hours of waiting in the bridesmaid suite, it was finally time to them to say their "I do's." Here are some pictures of the ceremony at the Provincial House Chapel (UMSL Campus) and the reception in the Vault Room at the City Museum...

I'm still here!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... I know that I had promised additional pictures of the house as well as some other things this past week, but my time seemed to be pretty well monopolized by duties for AnneMarie's wedding on Saturday... So, my hope is to sit down in front of the computer and get caught up tonight... Talk to you all soon!

And the Winner Is...

Katie and Ian certainly came through with the best costumes this year... So, congratulations to Duff Man and Wonder Woman! Here are also some additional pictures of the festivities... Overall the party was a great success! We had approximately 30 people attend, the decorations were great, and everyone loved our new home! I will put up some more pictures of the house later (after we clean up the mess left over!)...

Crunch Time

Well, we're down to the wire... Tonight we are re-carving pumpkins and starting food prep. So, anyone that is interested in coming to the city, we have plenty of fun to be had! 'Cause you know it'll be great when you're downtown! Can you tell I'm desperate for help?! Either way, tomorrow should come off with minimal hitches.

Original Jack-O-Lanterns

Jack-O-Lanterns: Take 2

News!!!!

So, Matt is now employed as a Dock Supervisor with Logistics, Inc (in Fenton)!!! He starts his new job on November 5th... So, goodbye Office Max!!!! Whoo Hoo!

For Lynn...

So, I have about 4 minutes left on my lunch break, but here's a quick little sumpin, sumpin...

Matt and I have been frantically trying to get the house ready for Saturday (no more pics to prevent peeking). Friday night Katie, Ian, and Julie came over and helped us carve pumpkins. Then on Sunday, someone in the neighborhood stole one of Katie's finest works! As we were on the front porch seething, Matt caught a little orange spot in the distance. Someone was dumb enough to steal it and leave it out on their back porch! So, we stole it back!!

Ian's pumpkin was also really awesome... I'll try and get a picture of it posted later!

I also started making my Halloween costume last night (that's right, making)... I cut the front and back panels from the pattern and pinned it. Tonight I'm going to start stitching and try and get the sleeves pinned. Like I don't have enough to do. What can I say? I'm overly ambitious... Well, gotta go!

Put the lime in the coconut...

Pina Coladas, anyone? I told myself that I would put the home improvement projects on hold until after the party... but I just couldn't help myself! I was so tired of living with the burgundy paint downstairs... I think that it really brightens up the room and it's much more relaxing... Even Malibu agrees! My brother calls it the Margaritaville bar... It's more design by fate, actually, due to the paint confusion upstairs. I'm incredibly happy with it, though... And it matches the guest towels that Sam and Susan gave us for the bridal shower! It was fate all along!

So, that's probably why I haven't had much to update lately... All I do is paint, clean, re-arrange, paint, re-arrange, re-clean... Well you get the picture... I can't wait until the party because there will be a break in the monotony. We have been working on lots of exciting decorations, but I won't be posting pictures of them... I want something to be a surprise at least... I will say, we are going to be "that house," if you know what I mean! That's all for now. I look forward to seeing some of you next Friday!

The Results

Well, according to the email poll, the monthly dinner party is going to be substituted with the housewarming. However, we do plan on opening our doors on Friday (the 12th) to any avid Halloween decorators that would like to come out and be crafty. There will pumpkins to be carved, chalk outlines to be drawn, and anything else I don't get to this weekend! I know, how can you resist?! Talk to you all soon!

Fall Fun

Well, it's official! The Haunted Housewarming will be on 10/20, kicking off at 1pm. The invitations went out in the mail Wednesday... Please if any of you have some tasty and spooky recipes, please pass them along...

As for the monthly dinner party... Matt and I were planning on having it at our house on Friday, October 12th (we switched months with Jen). We didn't want to cheat everyone out of the dinner party because we don't really think the housewarming will be the same, however, I know that this can be a busy month. Please let me know if you will be able/want to make it out to the city two weekends in a row... I will also send out an email for the bums that don't blog!

Are we done yet?

Well, I don't know how boring this is becoming for everyone reading, but this is about the extent of my excitement lately... Home Improvement! This weekend was pretty productive. On Saturday Matt and I continued the never-ending painting. (Note the picture to the right entitled "Defying Gravity" on which Matt attempts to paint the ceiling in the stairwell without making me a widow...) We also continued the yellow into the kitchen. (We need Mike B to come back to STL to help us re-trim the breakfast room!)

On Sunday, Matt had to work, so my dad offered to come out and help me knock out a couple projects... First objective was hanging a quilt that my great-grandmother made over 40 years ago. I learned from this project that we need to have a simulator house. Things always go smoother the second time around... However, the quilt is now up and while very yellow, it is very cool.

Lastly, I would like to say... If you were ever thinking of purchasing a power washer- DO IT! My dad borrowed my brother's and did the back patio... I couldn't believe what a difference pressurized water could make. We still have some stains to tackle, but I want him to bring it back so that we can do the rest of the house... See the difference? The concrete on the left has been washed, if you can't tell... And just remember... We will feed and hydrate (or dehydrate with alcohol- whichever you prefer) anyone that wants to come over and help!

Happy National Speak Like a Pirate Day!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a mighty fine day full of bountiful treasures!
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Well, I think that I may have created a monster with a comment I made on Susan's blog... Matt and I have always planned on babies, however, we are pretty far behind the curve in establishment... We have decided that when I get the green light from the 15 doctors I see (slight exaggeration), we can begin getting ready... So we are thinking that in 6 months I can start going off the toxic drugs. So that means that it will probably be 9-12 months before we start. I know it's not right around the corner, but there are a lot of considerations for us... So, for curious minds... That's the deal- subject to change...

Tis the season

So, as you all know, I am a bit of a Halloween freak... And, yes, the Halloween part is imperative... I am still trying out all this fancy blogger stuff, so any help is welcome! I would like to get a countdown banner like Susan has for Peanut... Any other ideas?

New Addition!

So, Matt and I are now the proud owners of new bedroom furniture! I just thought that I would post a couple pics so that those of you unable to wait until the dinner party or housewarming can get a glimpse! We are so happy that everything fit! For and 11x12 room, we managed to fit in a chest of drawers, an armoire, and two nightstands... We still need a headboard, but Matt and I are debating between metal or upholstered... Matt is concerned with the comfort of a big piece of metal behind his head, but I think that it would look better in the room... Whatcha guys think?

Cheers!

Another month has passed and yet another eventful dinner party! A good time was had by all as we indulged in BBQ and all the fixin's... This one was particularly special because the VA crew was in attendance. The only thing that was missing was our Indy folk! Here is a good pic of the girls (we couldn't coral the guys long enough to get a group shot of them). Being a bit chilly, there was quite a bit of consumption of "antifreeze for the soul"... Which led to some less than appropriate dinner conversations! However, it didn't stop Katie and Kim from giving the guys a little show! And yes, I still plan on hosting the sex toy party...

It has been discussed that we will switch months with Jen because of the Halloween party plans... (My cousin's wedding kinda makes it tough to do it on the 27th, so the weekend before seems to be the best alternative.) So I believe the next event will be at our place on October 12th. We can confirm on Monday at the Windle's. And start thinking about your Halloween costumes! I expect more than a Cardinals fan this year, Susan! Matt and I are going to be Gomez and Morticia Addams... I wanted to dress up Denver and Malibu as Pugsley and Wednesday, but Matt won't let me...

A Little Help Please!

So, I've been thinking of a way to earn some supplemental income lately and I came across this opportunity on Craig's List... It is for being a consultant for a company that sells custom made handbags designed by the consumer. AKA- purse parties. I think that it is a fantastic concept and the bags are super cute (Kate Spade like), but I am still weighing the pros and cons. I am relying on all of you to offer your support, suggestions, feedback... I have included some web links on the sidebar of various bag resources as well as a poll (thanks, Susan) for you guys to check out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

More Good News!

No, I'm not pregnant! However, I am feeling great for the 4th day in a row! I started antibiotics last Wednesday and it appears that it was a nasty infection in my gut all along. Of course, there is still the Crohn's to content with, but this has alleviated many of my symptoms.

So, in other news... Sunday was the "8th Annual Emerson Picnic." Matt and I spent the afternoon mingling with family, sampling grilled dove (much anticipated every year), and chasing after the Boo Brothers. Here are some cute pictures of the boys... (Note Jackson's early affinity for booze in the last one! He crawled right over to the cooler and took the lid off.)