Playing Ketchup

I know my posts have been somewhat random lately, so I figured I would catch you up on my ACTUAL LIFE.

-- I attempted to de-grease my hair by rinsing it with vinegar. It actually seemed to work, although not as nicely as I would have hoped. I'll be trying the beer remedy next. Sorry if this grosses anyone out.

-- Our bedroom makeover is SLOWLY but surely coming along. Thanks to the evil boiler we had to dump that extra moolah into keeping ourselves warm instead of swank-i-fying the bedroom. Lame, I know. I snagged a few things from the mood board, but still have a few key pieces to go!

-- I have done ALMOST all of my Christmas shopping. Score.

-- I ordered a pickle ornament to put in our tree. I wanted it to be a surprise for Brian but the delicious champagne I consumed on Saturday night forced me to spill the beans. Oh well, I suck at surprises.

-- Still NYE plan-less. This can only mean one thing - spontaneous awesomeness is in my near future.

-- Speaking of the holidays - I am off from work from next Tuesday until after New Years. It is like having a real "Christmas Break" all over again!!

-- Brian and I (ok fine, mostly Brian) cooked so many delicious meals this week. Anyone else use YouveGotSupper.com? Based out of Richmond and I LOVE IT. Anything that prints out a grocery list for me is worth a shout out. We had: Skillet Caesar Chicken, Biscuit Chicken Pot-Pies, and Peppered Crock Pot Beef. Easy, yummy, and totally do-able even if you suck at functioning in the kitchen like me.

-- We caved a bought a Wii. Super Mario Brothers has already been beaten and we are working our way to collecting all of the "big" coins to unlock World 9. Whoa I sound like a total geek. Anyways, Wii is BANGIN. Although it really scares me that we are flinging those little controllers around like crazy people.

-- I attended a tacky Christmas sweater party this past weekend (I'm sure you did too - who doesn't?!) and DIY-ed the sh*t out of a sweater (that * is to keep this place as PG as possible - I've got a reputation to protect people!!). Talk about awesome.Sha-BAM!! In total, I think this amazingly tacky piece cost me about $28. Not too bad considering that I plan on wearing it every year for the rest of my life. Or I might just have to pass it down to my future children when they are old enough to appreciate such a masterpiece. And how did I make it you ask? Easy. Everything was from Ben Franklin Crafts - $10 red sweater, glitter glue, green felt (for that extra tackiness), weird mini ornaments, the word "Christmas" spelled out block by block (I think it was for scrapbooking?), jingly-bell fringe, and fake wrapped mini Christmas presents (the KEY to the whole ensemble).

Zoom on in. Sarah's DIY masterpiece on the left.

Here are some other great pics from the night, we had a blast:

I think this will be our Christmas card pic. It is kind of perfect.

DIY EXTRAVAGANZA!!! Next up, Valentine's Day??

Mini Vacay

This past weekend Bri and I decided to head for the hills and take a mini vacation in Staunton, VA. First things first here. Is it pronounced St-ON-ton or St-AN-ton? Seriously I have no idea and I've heard it both ways. I've been going with the ON version, but I am starting to think that the locals use, AN. Ooops. 

I highly recommend a weekend trip to Staunton. It is beautiful, inexpensive, interesting, and tiny-but-not-too-tiny. To sum up the trip: we stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel (SO NICE), we ate delicious meals at Emilios, Shenandoah Pizza, Mug Shots, and Mill House, we bought LOTS of beer at Queen City Brewery, we saw a glass blowing presentation, we walked around the town, we did some Xmas shopping, we took naps, we read newspapers, we overheard highschoolers going on about Twilight, we hung out with the posh locals at a shmancy bar, we visited a winery, and we finished off the trip at another brewery. All in all, a fantastic trip. 

Here are some pics to prove it...

The only pic we took together. Not so great but you get the idea

Sampler at Blue Mountain Brewery

I can never pass up a delicious plate of tomato, mozzarella, pesto, and EVOO (eat your heart out Rachael Ray)

I played in the leaves.

Ridiculously amazing glass blower. 2,500 degree ovens, eeek! That is an ornament he's making.

Me randomly outside of the hotel.

Stay tuned for vacay #2...T-Giving in OBX!

Halloween, Philly, and Sleep Deprivation

What a whirlwind weekend. With Halloween and our insane less-than-24-hour Philly trip, the weekend seemed extremely long (and really amazing). Here is a brief re-cap of our Halloween extravaganza...

DIY-ing it: Strawberry, Vanilla, & Chocolate Ice Cream with Sprinkles on the side!

We used pillow cases as the "dress" part of the outfit and then went crazy with glitter, the hot glue gun, and lots of ribbon. The red splotches all over me are plastic strawberries that I found at the craft store (they sell a wide variety of fake fruits in case you ever feel the need to make some sort of fake fruit inspired decor...). To make things more obvious we also created "name tags" out of foam paper so we didn't just look like blobs of glittery goodness. 

With Deuce around, we were a Banana Split (certified organic of course).

A more detailed view...I wish I was stylish enough to figure out how to re-wear those amazing knee-high stockings, but somehow I don't think they are "work appropriate".

We even carried around pints of ice cream as our "purses". We ended up using them as cup holders. I also had about half a can of hairspray and glitter spray in my hair. My house is also completely covered in glitter - so festive! All in all Halloween was quite successful. I even managed to make some delicious Halloween treats and pass out candy to little kiddies. We finished off the night by "trick or treating" to each others apartments for drinks (I'll spare you those details, although I highly recommend the concept). 

And this, my friends, is where the photo-taking stops. Brian and I caught a cab home around 12:30am on Halloween night so we could scarf down some pizza and get ready for our Philly trip. Unfortunately I was unable to find my camera for the trip (the photos above were stolen from Facebook :) so I will share the details of this trip with you in a timeline:

Sunday, 1:30am: Bedtime

Sunday, 4:00am: Wake up to the most annoying alarm clock EVER.

5:00am: Catch train to 30th St Station in Philly

5:00am - 10:00am: Attempt to sleep on train - FAIL. (oh but we scored WORLD SERIES tickets on our way up thanks to Brian's friend from college. Whoo hooo the day just got better).

10:00am: Arrive at 30th St, eat yogurt and granola, drink large latte (decaf, I promise)

10:30am: Board SEPTA train to sports complex

10:45am: Arrive at sports complex area for Eagles tailgate

10:45am - 11:30am: Walk around the MASSIVE tailgate attempting to locate Brian's uncle

11:30am - 12:45pm: Find Uncle Vince, drink a few beers (yuck-o), and eat yummy tailgate foods. Meet two random men with son's at U of R (thanks to my Richmond hoodie). 

1:00pm: Meet up with Brian's bro and friend from college and walk to Chickies and Pete's to watch the Eagles game.

1:00pm - 4:00pm: STAND at the bar and watch the entire Eagles game. Eagles DOMINATE Giants. Life is good.

4:00pm: Walk back to sports complex and wait in LONG LINE to get into bar connected to the Phillies stadium. Rejoice over the fact that we have TICKETS TO THE WORLD SERIES. 

5:30pm: Finally enter bar and snag a table since we haven't had a chance to sit down since the train. 

5:30pm - 7:30pm: Fight off headache and fatigue but enjoy the fact that I am sitting down at a table with a waitress. 

7:30pm - 12:00am: Watch GAME 4 of the WORLD SERIES and have a great time until the 9th inning. Then things went downhill and I think we all know what happened...

Monday, 12:00am: Fight crowds to get back to SEPTA and make our way to Media, PA. 

12:30am: Board wrong train. Cry a little.

12:45am: Decide to catch a cab to 30th Street and pray that there is another train to Media. 

1:04am: Last scheduled train to Media departs - we MADE IT even though it didn't actually leave until 1:30am. 

2:00am: Roll into Media and realize that Brian's brother has fallen asleep and won't be coming to fetch us. Throw minor hissy fit, get cranky, and yearn for a bed.

2:15am: Get saved by Brian's dad so we don't have to walk through the dark and scary forest. 

2:30am: In BED. Hallelujah. 

6:00am: Up to catch train back to 30th Street

6:30am: Definitely do NOT fit in on the train with all the happy working-types heading into the office. Get a few questioning glances.

7:30am: Board train back to Richmond

7:45am: Forced to move to another train car for some bizarre reason. wtf Amtrak??! I was happy NOT being in a car with a screaming baby thank you very much. 

7:45am - 12:00pm: Train back to Richmond. Sleep attempted. Baby screams the entire way. FAIL. 

Needless to say it was a long weekend, but totally worth it since we got to go to the WORLD SERIES. We are pissed that the Phillies lost, but it was such a great experience. And thankfully I had today off from work thanks to election day, so I am happy to report that I am all caught up on sleep. 

Carrie on!

Hello Normal Life

While I personally consider Christopher Columbus to be more conquistador than hero, I am thankful for this day off. Our event was a HUGE success and I am happy that all of the late nights, stress, and hard work paid off in ways that I can't even describe. We made A LOT of people happy this weekend :) Oh, and I even rappelled off a 400ft building...pics to come as soon as I have them!

So now it is Monday afternoon and I'm still in my pjs. I was sick most of yesterday but feel much better today. My parents were here this weekend and it was SO WONDERFUL to have them around. My mom really helps keep things organized and I just feel *happy* and *comfortable* when they are around. I've seriously neglected my housekeeping duties the past few months (thank goodness for Brian) so it was so nice to have mom's help whipping things into shape around here. I think I am going to make their visits mandatory when I have major work stress :)

Right now I am feeling a sense of relaxation that I haven't felt in what seems like months. The cats are sleeping next to me, it is overcast and chilly outside, I'm sipping a cup of tea, and I am almost finished reading a book about the zombie apocalypse that I just started last night. Oh, and between now and the end of November, I am cashing in all of my "recovery" time and taking every single Friday off if possible. AND my Monday-work-from-home weeks are actually going to be possible. LIFE IS GOOD!

Hungry Hippos

Thanks to an impulse buy of "Real Simple" magazine, Brian and I have now planned a week's worth of "easy" dinners. Here's the easy plan (in no particular order - the fact that we have a week's worth of delicious meals plans is all the planning we do. None of this "Monday-I'm-having-this-and-this" crap)...

- Steak With Potato-Parsnip Mash (steak and potatoes people)

- Chicken Posole (some kind of soupy chicken thing)

- Ravioli With Apples and Walnuts (sounds weird but the picture in the magazine looks yum)

- Pork Chops With Garlicky Broccoli (I'm not a fan of the pig but, again, the picture looks yum)

And we won't be cooking anything on Friday since we are heading up to DC for a work event. So there you have it - 4 lovely "Easy" dinners that will probably be cooked completely by Brian. I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out, although I will have no idea if they are "Easy" or not. Probably the only bonus of working late...coming home to dinner on the table ;) 

In other news we had SUCH a productive weekend. We had originally planned on going camping this weekend, but heavy rain changed those plans quickly (but really, it was NOTHING compared to the conditions I experienced whilst camping in Tasmania. True story...I'll share sometime). So instead we spruced up the yard (see 2 posts ago) and did this:

- Scrubbed the monster tub (we have a 2 person jacuzzi in the bathroom and it is SUCH A PAIN. I want it to go away) for a good 30 minutes.

- Tackled massive piles of laundry

- Walked to Stir Crazy for a lazy Sunday breakfast

- De cat-haired the rugs (ugg what a process)

- Planned and bought groceries for an obviously delicious week of dinners

- Filed a ridiculous amount of papers, bills, crap

- AND I even ate really healthy foods all weekend - salad at Chipotle, Carrot muffin and banana for breakfast, organic cereal for snacks, turkey & cheese pita with a side of grapes for dinner, and lots of milk. I feel better already

Time to tackle a long week at work...less than 2 weeks until the BIG EVENT we've been planning since April. Yikes.