Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time.  

Jean Paul Richter

For my first birthday away from the family and friends, it really was lovely. I sat in my PJs for a nice amount of time and opened my thoughtful cards and gifts from my mom, friends, Nick's mom and grandma.  My mom got me some great books (St. Louis travel guide book and Audubon bird guide for my new porch bird feeder), beautiful silver ball earrings (I literally wore my old ones in half!) and a Pedi Egg.  Have you tried it yet?  Really, it works so well!

I met my friend Sarah (Christmas dinner host) for lunch at my favorite Panera and then headed to the mall with a little birthday spending money.  I picked up a great pair of trouser jeans at Express and cardigan at Ann Taylor Loft both on sale and perfect for our upcoming New Year's Eve party. I had a manicure courtesy of Nick and then we had a yummy dinner at Brio. Then we came home and watched Burn After Reading (I love the Cohen brothers!).

A special dinner out 

I also received glorious flowers from my mom and Nick.  So pretty on my kitchen window sill!

Daises from my mom and Hydrangea from Nick

So nothing extravagant but really a great birthday!  We're headed to Iowa for a few days to celebrate New Year's Eve and enjoy some time with Nick's family and old friends.  Have a happy start to 2009!

You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time

The Beatles

As my mother would say, "it's that wonderful day!"

Happy 26th Birthday to me!

Pro football is like nuclear warfare. There are no winners, only survivors.
Frank Gifford

A week ago Nick and I, along with his good friend Aaron, headed to Kansas City to see the Chiefs play our Miami Dolphins. It was officially the coldest game in Dolphins' history and the second coldest for the Chiefs.

The temperature at kick off was 10 degrees with a windchill of -12 and oh my goodness was it COLD! But this Florida girl was a trooper with those two Midwestern guys and we stuck it out the whole game. I went to get a cup of coffee from the snack bar and not only were all the little half & half containers frozen but they also told be their fountain soda lines were frozen solid. They had to pour soda from 2 liter bottles!

By the end of the game I couldn't feel my toes or fingers (and my coffee was crystalizing with frost by the time I reached the bottom of the cup). But we won the game and now have a good, really cold Miami Dolphins game story!

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.

G.B. Stern

Sunday gratitude:

• fresh baked blueberry scones with real whipped cream
• Sam's Club packs of paper towels (it will last for.ev.er!)
• finishing my first James Patterson book - so good!
• finally hanging my diplomas
• our new return address stamp

At Christmas play and make good cheer,

For Christmas comes but once a year

Thomas Tusser

I'm all snuggled up on the couch with a quilt and a cold.  Boo. But I do have the comfort of a tabby cat and Fried Green Tomatoes.  

We had a nice Christmas just the two of us and I snagged a few early morning day-after deals this morning (Yankee Candles, tissue paper and gift wrap all 50% off).  Here's our poor attempt at a photo before church on Christmas Eve with the timer - Nick's laughing because the garland was pushing the camera off of the mantle and Bella isn't even paying attention because her jingle-ball is over on the couch.  Oh well!

Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself A merry little Christmas now

Judy Garland

The stockings were hung by the chimey with care...

Erm, okay I don't have stockings this year.

But I do have a lovely stack of presents, a warm fire and plenty of chocolate chip cookies. Nick has to work today and then we're trying out a new church for Christmas Eve services.

Christmas morning is just us with presents and a big yummy breakfast and then we're joining my lovely St. Louis friend and fellow Tri Delta, Sarah, at her parent's home. They graciously invited us and we're looking forward to having a special place to enjoy dinner on Christmas.

I have now promised up and down to all holiday angels that I will forever invite anyone who may not have a place for Easter/Thanksgiving/Christmas/Fourth of July to our home! It just means so much to be welcomed in. My mom always, always did this and I will be sure to as well!

It's my first Christmas not at home but I'm looking forward to making our own new traditions. We have a lovely Christmas planned and I'm looking forward to snuggling on the couch with a fuzzy tabby cat in between!

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Jim Davis

I don't have an extensive Christmas list but there were a few people at Nick's work and others who were graciously hosting us in their homes throughout the next few weeks that I wanted to get a little something.


I always make my famous cakes from Aunt Agnes' recipe around Christmas: a thick batter made with flour, sugar, eggs and oil mixed with chopped apples, walnuts and cranberries. So yummy - like a coffee cake only better. My godmother slices it thin and toasts it with butter. People will actually start asking about it in September!


So, all of Nick's coworkers got one of the cakes (for us, it was much less expensive than gift certificates or another random gift):



I also took my first stab at making cheese straws. I used a recipe from Good Housekeeping and it turned out so well. Delicious and easy - recipe below if you're interested! I packed a few mason jars for hostess gifts and another for our landlords (who live next door):

Puff Pastry Cheese Straws (from Good Housekeeping, December 2008 issue)

1 tablespoon(s) paprika
1/2 teaspoon(s) ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon(s) ground nutmeg
Salt
1 package(s) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed as label directs
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
8 ounce(s) aged Gouda or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, room temperature, finely shredded (2 cups)

Grease 2 large cookie sheets. In small bowl, combine paprika, ground red pepper, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Unfold 1 puff pastry sheet. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll pastry into 14-inch square. Lightly brush with some egg white. Sprinkle half of paprika mixture on pastry. Sprinkle half of Gouda on half of pastry. Fold pastry over to cover cheese, forming rectangle. With rolling pin, lightly roll over pastry to seal layers together. With knife, cut pastry crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place two-thirds of strips, 1 inch apart, on 1 cookie sheet, twisting each to form spiral and pressing ends against cookie sheet to prevent strips from uncurling. Place remaining strips on second cookie sheet; set aside. (Do not crowd; strips puff while baking.)

Bake first sheet of strips 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. With spatula, transfer to rack to cool.

Meanwhile, repeat with remaining pastry, egg white, paprika mixture, and Gouda, placing one-third of strips on second cookie sheet; bake as above. When first cookie sheet is cool, wash and grease again; use to bake remaining two-thirds strips. (For even cooking, bake only 1 sheet of strips at a time.) Store in tightly sealed container up to 3 days.

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.

G.B. Stern

Sunday gratitude:

• old churches made of stone
• red Cardinals on snow covered evergreen trees
• new boots to keep my tootsies warm in cold weather
• friends in town to visit us for the first time in St. Louis
• finally getting rugs for the house

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.

J.G. Holland

My mom promised Bella that there would be lots of fun birds and sights out of her new St. Louis home so I had to make it true! I pulled an old bird feeder from the garage and filled it with seed for the back porch.

I knew there were birds around and sure enough they found it quickly and Bella was delighted!

Well the next day, we had no birds and none this morning either. Poor Bella just sat at the back French doors for hours and waited. Then the squirrels found us! Oh no!

Little rugrats knocked almost all of the bird seed to the ground and onto the basement steps. It's a mess and we still have no birds! Boo!

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Sammy Cahn

We woke up to a season worthy snow this morning! I was yelling, "snow! snow! snow!" with Bella at the window and Nick just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. Being a Florida girl this is still fun for me!

Looking out the back porch

From the front window to the street

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles.

Author Unknown

I am participating in the 2008 Christmas Tour of Homes. I'm sure in comparison with the many grand and lovely Christmas decorations but I love the season so I had to decorate even though we just moved into the house. No decor in the den you say? Oh, that's because it's full of movning crates and Bella's litter box.

So let's focus on the semi-completed areas of the house that actually have some Christmas decor!

Welcome... it snowed last night just for the tour!

Even little icicles on the mailbox (courtesy of nature, not Randall)

Just inside the front door... the sign says, "Dear Santa, I can explain." That's for Bella, of course

Our nativity, my favorite new decoration that was bought as a wedding shower gift for me. Bella likes to push the poor lamb off of the table daily.

Garland on the mantle in the living room. No stockings this year, I should have ordered the cute personalized ones before our November wedding. Because after, it was too late! Next year, next year.

I love Christmas cards so I keep them from year to year - it's fun to reread the old ones (and it also looks like we received this many this year!). The photo is an old when of me and my father putting the angel on the tree.

Into the dining room, those bells are a favorite of Bella-the-bell-stealer

Bookcase with our tree. Yup, the tree. We're simplifying our life and trying not to bring another ounce of anything into a house packed to the gills. Next year there will be a life size tree (bought on sale in January, thank you very much)!

And that darling Christmas plate will soon be holding the best cookies, classic chocolate chip. As my mom always says, you bake a plate of fancy Christmas cookies and people really just eat the chocolate chip!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Basket 'o holy

Good for smooching my new hubby (and an awkward moment for the furniture delivery men)

On the kitchen window ledge - I love smelling peppermint when doing the dishes!

Oh yes he does, and I'm glad you stopped by too!

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.
G.B. Stern

Sunday gratitude:

• Reading PostSecret on Sunday mornings
• The way our new coffee maker beeps when the pot is ready
• Forecasts for snow tomorrow morning!
• "Moving Up" marathons on TLC
• Christmas stamps on red envelopes
  

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place

to sit that will cause most inconvenience.

Pam Brown

Nick and I have been playing the "how cold can we stand it" game in the house and have actually been able to keep the general temperature pretty low (and saving money!). It really isn't bad when you're cozy next to the fire in PJs, socks, sweaters and slippers.

Bella, on the other hand, is less than thrilled about the coolness of the house. She can be often found buried underneath the comforter in our bedroom which is strange for a cat who would never, ever burrow in like that. It is always easy to find her because she is the lump in the middle of a made bed.



She also loves to sit this.close to the register in the living room. Nick always laughs when he walks by but I know that she is a smarty kitty - she figured out where the heat is coming from!

Let's go to the movies
Let's go see the stars
Annie

So we had a little movie fun the other day with quotes from my all time favorites. You all guessed most of them but here are the rest of the answers:

1. "Whenever we needed money, we'd rob the airport. To us, it was better than Citibank." Correct Answer: GoodFellas

2. "Well, if you must know, it was because he was very jealous, and I had these days of the week underpants. " Correct Answer: When Harry Met Sally (by A Texas Gal)

3. "Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT. Someone pass me the asparagus." Correct Answer: American Beauty (by Lucy)

4. "Did you know that there are four hundred and fifty-two official government cheeses in this country? Don't you think that's incredible? To come up with four hundred and fifty-two ways of classifying what is basically a bacterial process?" Correct Answer: French Kiss (by Sheryl)

5. "Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy." Correct Answer: Father of the Bride (by Alexis)

6. "You could always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say, the mind reels." Correct Answer: Breakfast at Tiffany's (by Alexis)

7. "Note the unusual inversed vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the late neoclassic Baroque period. And, as I always say, "if it's not Baroque, don't fix it!" Correct Answer: Beauty and the Beast (from Area)

8. "Come on now! This is America. Time is money. " Correct Answer: Crash

9. "You make $100 an hour and you have a safety pin holding your boot up?" Correct Answer: Pretty Woman (from Kari)

10. "Say, Lou, didya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?" Correct Answer: Fargo

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold,

everything is softer and more beautiful.

Norman Vincent Peale

With the Christmas season in full swing, I thught it was appropriate to share one of my favorite Christmas stories again this year. My mom always read it to me so I always enjoy it each time I hear it.

In my mind, it perfectly captures why I love Christmas so much!

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

Dear Editor:

I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun it's so."

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?"

Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety-Fifth Street

Virginia:

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.

All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.

Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Let's go to the movies

Let's go see the stars

Annie

With the cold weather outside, Nick and I have been watching a lot of movies - both new and old favorites. Borrowing from The Pink Shoe Diaries, let's play a movie game!

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING or other search functions

It was fun to read through her quotes so I thought I'd share mine too... can you guess where they are from?

Edit at 4:42 p.m.: You all are good! I've posted the right answer if it's been guessed!

1. "Whenever we needed money, we'd rob the airport. To us, it was better than Citibank."

2. "Well, if you must know, it was because he was very jealous, and I had these days of the week underpants. " Correct Answer: When Harry Met Sally (by A Texas Gal)

3. "Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT. Someone pass me the asparagus." Correct Answer: American Beauty (by Lucy)

4. "Did you know that there are four hundred and fifty-two official government cheeses in this country? Don't you think that's incredible? To come up with four hundred and fifty-two ways of classifying what is basically a bacterial process?" Correct Answer: French Kiss (by Sheryl)

5. "Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy." Correct Answer: Father of the Bride (by Alexis)

6. "You could always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say, the mind reels." Correct Answer: Breakfast at Tiffany's (by Alexis)

7. "Note the unusual inversed vaulted ceilings. This is yet another example of the late neoclassic Baroque period. And, as I always say, "if it's not Baroque, don't fix it!" Correct Answer: Beauty and the Beast (from Area)

8. "Come on now! This is America. Time is money. "

9. "You make $100 an hour and you have a safety pin holding your boot up?" Correct Answer: Pretty Woman (from Kari)

10. "Say, Lou, didya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?"

There is no such cozy combination as man and wife.

Menander

Happy one month anniversary to us!

Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone.
G.B. Stern

Sunday gratitude:

• Sleeping in with Nick on Sunday, his day off for the week
• Meeting new Tri Deltas here in St. Louis
• Flannel sheets
• Snow flakes of my car windshield
• Baskets of poinsettias on the mantel

The only time to eat diet food is while you are

waiting for the steak to cook.

Julia Child

One of the things I missed most about Nick while we were apart these last seven months was his wonderful grilling. Oh sure, I missed him. But I also really missed his steaks, marinated chicken and foil wrapped corn on the cob.

So it was a treat when we picked up some steaks the other night. Of course it is too cold to grill on our back porch so he gave the garage a try! It was snowing a bit and we had to work around a pile of moving boxes but the steaks still turned out delicious!

A wonderful dinner with my hubby and great to have his grilling talents back!

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.

Barbara Bush

We had a lovely weekend with Nick's parents! We headed up on Saturday and enjoyed dinner with Nick's parents, brother and his wife. Then on Sunday, Nick's parents hosted a reception for us with all of their in town friends.

Lots of introductions and warm wishes - everyone was so wonderful! It was so gracious of them to host the reception and a great chance to have one last wedding celebration.

Nick's hometown - pop. 2,000

Nick and his brother Matt

After dinner it began to snow - my first real snow fall ever!

Snowball fight (started by my mother!)

Hanging out with the coolest barn cat, Norbert

Sunday morning view from the window - SNOW!

So pretty

Beautiful snow before our reception