- Dinner Date -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

This is how it should always be done: invite someone over special for dinner and then sit back and watch him cook for you!  

Another dinner date with our main priest in the books, but this time he volunteered to do the honors.  When he went off to college, he asked his mom to teach him five recipes that would "get the girls"... We all see how that turned out... ;) ...but he is more than welcome to whip out those mad Italian cooking skillz at our house any time!!! 

He's off to Villanova for the spring semester [gonna be some kind of big whig honorary theology scholar chairperson or something??!], but we'll be ready to wine and dine again this summer!  May, please hurry!!!

Other week highlights: 

-- We broke in the pad with a housewarming party/open house!

-- Merry Christmas! 

- Onward to Spring? -

Christmas is officially over........and we're onward to spring?  

Brian can't seem to put down his new favorite gift... I hope this isn't how he plans to take down the tree! ;)

More Christmas posts coming soon...stay tuned! 

- Hellooooo, Arizona! -

So many pics from our vacation, so few words to describe the beauty... 

--> Saying hasta luego to the subzero tundra.  

--> Scooting along through the snowstorm...Old Man Snowflake behind the wheel!   

--> 5 people, 4 suitcases, 3 backpacks, 2 sets of golf clubs, and a partridge in a pear tree. "Merry [early] Christmas!" from my dad and one super-stuffed, AZ-bound SUV!! [Yes, he has always taken great pleasure in dishwasher loading and grocery bag accessorizing and other weird sorts of organizational packing.] 

--> Me: the chosen child to sit on the floor between two bucketseats with an oversized "tote" on my lap. 

--> First glimpse of Phoenix...

 --> Our home for the week! 

 --> Hiking. Staring.

--> Hiking at Tonto National Park. 
--> Resting/relaxing/sleeping and simultaneously suntanning at Tonto National Park. 

--> Old Town Scottsdale...

--> Testing out the infamous "prickly pear" margaritas...

--> Grand Canyon Railway: our transport to the 1-mile deep abyss...

--> Long awaited first glimpse of the Grand Canyon!

--> Pre-cliff jumping selfie. #becausewecool 

--> Train back home.

--> Dinner at Black Bart's in Flagstaff. Entertaining...

--> Hiking and exploring in Sedona! 

--> Celebrating the birthday boy!  "It is totally fine to combine my birthday and Christmas gifts!!" --said no one born in December ever.  Happy birthday, baby boy!! :) 

 -->  Super symbolic sun setting at the end of an incredible week and vacation... :( 

We covered a loooot of ground in a weeeetle bitty bit of time, but I would do it all over again to do the things we did and see the things we saw! 

It's been real! So until we meet again, AZ...

Arizona: Part II

- Brian's Birthday -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Happy happy birthday to my super sweet, incredibly patient, and always loving husband!!  

 

Spending your birthday in sunny Arizona...you lucky dawg, you! ;) 

Other week highlights: 

-- ARIZONA vay-cayyy! Plethora of pics coming, obvi. 

- Bye-Bye Blizzard -

Winter kills me slowly.  I don't mind the couch snuggling, hot chocolate drinking, book reading, pajama wearing, movie watching, soup making, lazy going days of December; but stick me in the freezing blowing wind-ing sleeting eff-wording tundra for more than 0.003 seconds and I might will attempt to stab an icicle through my chest. 

#grandmagrinch

#dontcare

On the morning we left for Arizona, we woke up to a freezing white world.  Our first big snowfall in this house! ...Which calls for a few pictures and a lot of shoveling.  This big boisterous blizzard was definitely a beauty! 

Sooo...that was cool for ten minutes.

Who's ready for sunny AZ?

ME!

Ciao now! 

- Garden Glow -

Sum-It-Up Sunday

Wild Lights at the Zoo - check. Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park - check.  The Way of Lights at the Shrine in Belleville - check.  Lots and lots of other random/homemade light displays - check. [We love Christmas lights and spirit and festivity...] 

...And now, "Garden Glow" at the Botanical Gardens - check!  My mom wanted to check it out [no pun intended] for our 2013 family Christmas outing, and it might've just topped the light list!  We picked the coldest night of the week to tiptoe through the gardens, but it wasn't thaaaaaat bad bundled up in five layers! :)

Oh, and I missed a coat button for the Christmas card pic. #klassssssy

In addition to the five layers of clothing, I thought a little hot spiced [spiked] apple cider would warm us up nicely before we chattered our teeth off... Genius. And it was a great idea until we crossed the river and the sticky drink started dripping out the bottom of the disposable coffee cups..... Who knew that rum could eat through a wax lining?! ...Not me. Whoopsie! 

Other week highlights: 

-- Happy birthday, Grandma!

-- Happy birthday, Lindsey! [Sorry the blizzard kept us from celebrating you in STL! We owe you a frilly birthday drink!]

-- Counting down the HOURS now until the Arizona departure.....

- Dinner with Gianni

Sum-It-Up Sunday

September and October and November have been super.super.super busy, and after a quick glance at the calendar I could tell December was gonna kick our boo-tays with even more intense business. So many holiday parties and Christmas festivities on the calendar [not to mention the time hoarded by a normal week of work plussss a weeklong vacation coming up!] that we really had to work to find a date for dinner with little Gianni and his awesome parents....... But we love them fiercely and the love is mutual, so we molded and meshed and manipulated our calendars and found one lowly little Sunday night to get together!  Brian grilled out steaks and we emptied some wine bottles and Gianni entertained us and we caught up with great friends and there was peace in the world. 

I just love his energy and sweet little personality! Oh, and Piero and Dionna brought us a gift [in their humble worlds "just a little gift"].....

.....that turned out to be a KEURIG!!! What?!??! Seriously! Seriously. Already dubbed it my favorite Christmas gift and cannnnnot wait to get that thing a brewin'!  Thanks so much, friends!  Can't wait to get together again! 

Other week highlights: 

-- "Carrie Underwood overtakes the Sound of Music" aired on TV this week and da hubs be droolin'.  He isn't a big sucker for foo-foo movies, but he was sitting on the couch beer in hand waiting for this one to start.  My review?  Her acting stinks but her vocal cords are to die for. Decent. Meh. Mediocre.

-- Sunny Arizona thiiiiiiis weeeeeeeeekend! Get me out of this tundra stat.  

- Coming to a mailbox near you... -

...our Christmas cards!  One of my very most favoritest things about Christmas: elfing/scribing warm wishes to our beloved friends and family!  My friend Paige took some anni pics for us juuuust in time to order up some fun cards and spread the Christmas cheer!  

Hope your season is MERRY and BRIGHT! 

Love, B & B

- Anni Pics -

We love posing for my friend Paige and we love having new fun pictures to hang up in the house [and by "we" I mostly mean, well, "I"...]...so in honor of our first anniversary we had a little photo sesh!  Brian is the man of all men for being such a sport and Paige is the photog of all photographers for so effortlessly capturing our love! 

Here are some of my faves... Happy first anniversary to us and Merry Christmas to you! ;) 

...And let there be light... [Anatomy 101 and photo sesh all in one.] 

Thanks a million, Paigey Poo! And I love you, Brian Boo! :)