catching up...

Okay, my bad, it's been a week since I've done any blogging. Oops! I forget I have READERS who may be checking my blog multiple times a day, hoping for an update! Yikes! :) (Okay, just ONE reader - any guesses? - who told me he keeps checking for an update. I may have just given away the identity of my reader...).

It's not been an extremely eventful week...

Last Saturday was Seattle Sister Fun Day (we'll just say S2F Day). It was fun!

Here we are in line for the big glassybaby sale:

We stood in line next to this fuzzy lil' guy, and I called him Wilbur, like the pig from Charlotte's Web. :)

The sale was pure chaos. Like, hundreds of women (and a couple men) running around madly, like chickens with our heads cut off. We are talking madness here, people. Like, women standing in a line that stretched around the block for HOURS just to get in, and once they were in, they were running, shoving, pushing by each other, etc... We staked out a one-foot-square space that we considered to be our "base" and left Gabey there manning our box of prizes. Then we'd spread out, and search through literally thousands of glassybabys to find the perfect one(s). A couple hundred dollars worth of candle holders later, we were all set.

After the sale we went to Serious Pie for pizza, headed up to the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall for some shopping, picked up the Monty-dog and went to Jani's to watch ice skating and eat a gutbuster of a meal. I think we gained five pounds each.

The Menu:

Appetizers:

Chex Mix

Cheese and Crackers

Puff-pastry thingys that were incredible

Greyhounds. yum.

Main Course:

Stuffed Turkey Breasts

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Dessert:

Sweet Chex Mix

Cupcakes

More Greyhounds. Yum.

This was us at the end of the night. So exhausted. Notice Gabey is still eating. I guess she's a growing girl...

On Sunday Petesie was able to catch an earlier flight home, we watched the Vikings lose the big game (no comment...) and had a fantastic dinner - Coq Au Vin, courtesy, once again, of The Pioneer Woman.

Check her out! The Pioneer Woman! I love her.

Our week was highlighted by Obama's State Of The Union address on Wednesday (followed by The Best Political Team On Television. I have a crush on David Gergen. I admit it. He's just so.... Gergen-y). Tonight we're going up to the cabin to try cross country skiing again (hopefully I'll be able to move my legs the next day, unlike last time) and hopefully relax a little in the snow. :)

By the way, I have been dreaming about making these babies all day:

Aren't they cute! Cupcake Pops, courtesy of Bakerella. Check her out, she's amazing!

When the cat's away....

This weekend, I will be missing this guy terribly:

Yes, that's a picture of him eating a crepe in front of the Eiffel Tower. Such a sexy shot!

Really, this one isn't much better. I wonder what we were thinking!

There, that's better. Isn't he handsome? :) We spend almost all of our time together. He's my very best friend. So, I'm forced to come up with some alternatives to keep me occupied.

For example, hanging out with this fun sister:


I miss my sissy all the time. She's awesome, fun, pretty, smart and I just LOVE her!

Here are some pictures of how much fun we've had together over the years:

Sometimes, we pretend to be gangstas. What up?

Sometimes we make each other laugh, a lot:

Sometimes, we go to Disneyland together! Splash Mountain!

Sometimes, we bore each other to sleep...

We always have had great fashion though....

(as has the rest of my family!)

But we've never been dorks!

Nevermind. I'm the dork on the far right, she's the dork in the middle...

But, I've always looked up to her:

Tomorrow, we're going to spend the whole day together. I can't wait. And not just because we'll be going to the glassybaby seconds sale (although that's pretty awesome).

For everyone who doesn't know about glassybabys, here is a picture that showcases how beautiful they are:


Tonight, with Petesie away, I have entertained myself by eating quesadillas AND macaroni and cheese (yes, I'm on a cheese kick, and because I didn't have to cook dinner for two tonight, I got to pick whatever I wanted. And I wanted cheese).

So, before I sign off for the night, I'll leave you all with a picture of me browsing through the racks of raw meat in Provence:

Ahh, sweet bliss. :)

two of my favorites

I love these two:
Monty is trying to eat Gabey. He loooovvvees that girl so darn much! (Don't we all, though??!).

Santa Baby

A belated picture from our recent Christmas party. Please ignore my pastey white thighs covered in cellulite, thankyouverymuch. Is it just me, or was Santa really cute this year? :)

In my humble opion...

Sessions with Sweetie is a place for me to explore my thoughts and feelings - please take no offense to the following, but if you do, let's use this as an opportunity to rationally, calmly and cooly exchange thoughts! How fun, I've created my very own political pedastal!

It's no secret where my political leanings stand, and it's even less of a secret that I have always been completely mesmerized by the Kennedy family. My not-so-secret crush started while in junior high, I remember very clearly working on a report for school and reading about the assassination of JFK. I was by myself, sitting on the floor, book on my lap, sobbing as I imagined Jackie in her pink dress, bent over her husband in the backseat of that car. I was also 12 years old.

Fast forward the Democratic National Convention, summer of 2008, short months before President Obama was elected. I again found myself crying my eyes out while watching Caroline introduce her "Uncle Teddy," and a snip of Ken Burns documentary showed us a glimpse into Teddy's personal life. Ted Kennedy was fighting a losing fight against cancer, but he promised Barack Obama, and promised us, that he would be there to watch when Obama was sworn in. He was.

For as long as I've understood politics, I've appreciated politicians and Americans who fight for the weak and underpriviledged, who stand by what is right and work to make basic rights available to all - civil rights, women's rights, reproductive rights, the right to marry whoever we want, and the right to health care. Access to health care should not be something that any American goes without because they cannot afford it. We live in the richest country in the world, what a tragedy it is that so many Americans cannot access quality of life improving, and live saving medical treatment. Teddy Kennedy made it is political legacy to fight for health care for all, but died before he was able to see his dream become a reality. Today, I feel like we took one small step back in honoring Kennedy's life and legacy. The fight for health care reform is in an incredibly fragile place right now - politicians on both sides are slinging mud while the actual content of the bills on the table is hardly even being discussed. Both sides are attempting to use fear tactics to gain support. It's incredibly ugly, and so, so sad.

Today, Republican canidate Scott Brown won the late Senator Ted Kennedy's senate seat. Kennedy was the liberal lion of the senate, who fought his whole life for health care reform. Senator-elect Brown campaigned on the promise that he would fiercly oppose any health bill and vote against it. This one seat could very well be the tipping point for the health bill, it could very well not pass now without this one critical vote. Mud-slinging politics aside, I feel so sad for Senator Kennedy's family tonight, watching his fight, once again, slip away. RIP Ted Kennedy, thank you for your service.

Ahhh, Serenity...

Today was a very good day. I love Sundays - the only thing that would make a Sunday better is if Monday didn't follow on its heels... (although, that might be what makes Sunday so great - the sense of urgency to pack in every last detail before the week starts fresh). When I was in junior high I remember I used to take a long bath on Sunday night and watch tv all by myself in the basement. It was glorious. Then, I got older (as we all must do) and Sundays turned in to a chance to keep the socializing of the weekend alive. Now, as I'm even OLDER Sundays are for making long, lengthy, delectable meals to share with our loved ones. If we're lucky, we get Football Night In America on Sunday night, which is, in my mind, the best place to savor such lovely Sunday night dinners.

Tonight, there is no football night in America. But, there will be this:

That, my friends, is a braised short rib served on a bed of creamy polenta. Recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman. I seriously love her. I mean, I think we could actually be good friends! She inspires my dreams at night and I have been dreaming about making this for dinner nonstop since last Thursday. It's pretty much consumed my thoughts all weekend. Hopefully, the actual meal will be as moutwatering as the picture.

Back to my original statement however, today was a good day. Today we watched the Minnesota Vikings destroy the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs (which means that next weekend we will watch the Vikes take on the Saints for a spot in the Superbowl. Yay!). Whenever the Vikings score a touchdown, Petesie and I get up and dance around the house looking like total fools. If only I had a picture to show just how ridiculous we look (although it would incriminate me, it would be well worth it). After watching the Vikes victory, we ran a couple errands (got a family cell phone plan! why? because we are now, officially family!) came home, watched the tail end of the second playoff game tonight (Jets upset) and I am now happily on the couch, watching the Golden Globes while catching the occassional wonderful waft of the short ribs. Ahhh, Sunday nights. :)

lucky break

I don't count myself as someone who gets a lot of lucky breaks. Sure a few, here and there, but nothing to make myself stop in my tracks and think "well, that was lucky!" (noteworthy exception of course was meeting Petesie).

But seriously? I have had a new job for 9 business days now. NINE days removed from my old department. That's like, nothing. And today, we find out that my old department is getting outsourced and everyone there is getting laid off. How lucky was I to dodge that bullet? I felt like I jumped off a ship just seconds before it sank.

Phew. Close call. Now if I can only get my brain wrapped around the new job, I'll be very happy. Instead, the new hours I am working are slowly zapping all of my brain cells away - I am SO tired keeping up with this new schedule!

Thanks universe/God for helping me get out before it was too late!!!

blog changes and update

Due to popular demand (okay, just the demand of one or two...) I have reconfigured the "comments" sections - now anyone can leave a comment without having an account. To be honest, I had no idea that I was somehow blocking my faithful reader(s) from blocking comments, for this I apologize. :)

One of my many, many readers (ha!) suggested that I do a preview of 2010, as I recapped 2009 so eloquently. New Year's resolutions are hard for me, and so cliche really. Everybody seems to have the same resolutions year after year, and I am no exception.

For example? Cook and eat healthier. Lose a little bit of weight. Be a better friend, family member, wife, etc... But here is a big one for me this year - clean out all the excess CRAP that my husband and I have accumulated over the years. If we are to ever bring a third person into this home, we'll need to find some space to put that person and all the stuff they bring with them (don't read too far into this statement, faithful readers! This is just a hypothetical "if")

We have a smallish home. Two people, three animals and "stuff" bursting at the seams. Like, I have two dresser drawers, two shoe hangy things that go over doors, one big box of shoes and utilize the better part of two closets (plus coats in the coat closet and on the coat rack). And that's just for clothes/shoes/coats! My kitchen cupboards spill into the garage where two have *two* tables and several extra boxes set up for all of the accessories/gadgets/extras that we have accumulated over the years. (Of course, I am personally WAY more likely to rid myself of 90% of my clothes than to get rid of an appliance that really only has one or two uses. Although I must admit, what family needs more than one popcorn maker? We have at least three!!).

So, that is one goal I have for the coming year. To kick start this goal I have taken the first step - a pile of clothing a mile high that is to be donated, which I feel very good about. It helps that the 10+ pounds I have recently gained is keeping me from wearing most of what is currently in my closet. :) I am going to try very hard to keep this a personal goal, and not pester Petesie too much about getting involved in the mass exodus of stuff that will soon be leaving our house.

I am beginning to realize that Petesie's attachment to certain things is much stronger than mine, which is one reason I don't want to bug him in my quest for a clutter-free home. It's probably one of the many reasons why we compliment each other so nicely, he hangs onto absolutely everything that has any sentimental value. It's very sweet. :) I, of course, will quickly lose the darn thing and then eventually find it and forget why I had it in the first place.

Although I do wonder, is it callous or rude to not hold on to certain things? Take Christmas cards for example - It's not that I don't appreciate Christmas cards (this is only an example! Please, keep sending 'em our way!), but how long are we to hold on to them and to what end? When is it okay to throw things away and make room in a home for more to come? This question goes to "things" in general - any thoughts, faithful readers? Perhaps hold onto something for a year at the longest, and then if it hasn't been worn/used/looked at/etc... then it's safe to toss? Age old question, I am sure. :)

Happy Tuesday night everyone! We went to the best pizza restaurant EVER tonight - Serious Pie and caught up with one of Petesie's old friends from years ago who was in town. Such amazing food, and I feel fat and happy now.

My Sweet Guy

My husband is so sweet. Seriously, he is! I'm not usually one to get sappy and I'm not much of a gusher, but he's pretty darn good to me. :)

For example:

Today we went to Best Buy and he bought me this:



Now, I know that he didn't buy it just for me, there is definitely something to be said for new kitchen appliances boosting resale value and all. But, we watched the movie Julie & Julia a couple weeks ago, and he was pretty floored at the resemblance between Julie Powell's life and my own. And Julie Powell had a great husband, but a pretty terrible kitchen. Now, I do not have a terrible kitchen, but it is a bit... dated... (like, the old stove is possibly older than me). I don't complain about the kitchen, so Petesie would have no reason to know that anything was wrong with the oven, but the other day he tried to make soup, and he turned on one of the four burners that doesn't work, and an hour later the soup still hadn't heated up, which is when he started to realize that something wasn't working quite right. And with this realization came the determination that he must get his sweetie a new oven so she wouldn't have to have a kitchen like Julie Powell's but could still cook him masterpieces (like what I scraped together last night on the crappy old stove - Shrimp Tikka Masala served with Toasted Coconut Basmati rice. Absolutely delicious. Petesie was literally in heaven....)

We got home from Best Buy and have the first football playoff game on in the background, and Petesie is working on refurbishing an old set of dresser drawers for me that he bought me months ago at a garage sale. I know that he enjoys this kind of thing (even excitedly went out and purchased an electric sander thingy) but still.... No matter how this dresser turns out, I will love it because my husband worked on it with love for me. :) I should have taken before pictures so I could have posted before and afters... Maybe next furniture restoration project, he is threatening to do some more after this one.

Oh, and we learned a valuable lesson in furniture restoration as well: Power sand the thing in the garage, not the living room. There is dust literally everywhere, on this keyboard, in the kitchen, in my lungs, on ALL the furniture and carpet. Perhaps we should have thought of this prior to beginning the project?

On tap for the weekend? More Football! Yay playoffs!

I have a reader!

Yes, that's right, I have a confirmed reader. Or, maybe even three. When I told Petesie (that's his payback for spilling the beans) that I'd started a blog, I made him promise not to tell anyone. But, he used his judgement and decided to speak anyway. I can't blame him, but for now on I will only refer to him as Petesie... Furthermore, I now have a responsibility to my faithful readers. So, when I may have once been ambivalent regarding the future of my blog, I now have a mission to move forward with determination while I recount, and document the mundane (or not-so-mundane) details of our daily life. And send the occasional shout out to my lovely readers in Minneapolis.

Oh yeah, and to post pictures, because what fun is a blog without pictures?

Here is proof that we went cross country skiing last weekend:

Aren't we cool? Also, where did my eyebrows go?

Petesie wanted to show off his mad skills on skis
(it's too bad we didn't capture any of the spills he took...)

And there is proof that Monty had fun too! Or, at least whined to be let in...

To be honest, there's not much going on in these parts these days. I started a new job on Monday of this week, and so far, so good. The people seem cool and nice and I know there is a LOT to learn. It'll be good to stretch my brain again and I am hopeful that this is a really good fit for me.

Also, we have a stationary bike in the living room. Permanent reminder to get off my bum (where I currently am happily stationed) and do something productive. Hmm... Maybe tomorrow night. :)

"Oh yeah! Brussel sprouts!"

(I just wrote an entire multiple paragraph post about the Lacy fam's new found love of brussel sprouts. Then I deleted it because it was completely boring and obsessive. Long story short, Peter exclaimed with delight when I pulled them from the oven, which was quite a departure from his expression six weeks ago. Sorry to disappoint anyone who would have liked to spend twenty minutes reading about the lil' suckers.)

Sweetie's Place

In case you are dying of curiosity, Sweetie's Place is the name of my restaurant. It's yet to open. The property has not been purchased and the location hasn't been picked out. BUT, we have a menu, and a chef (ME!) and even a regular customer (my husband!). Sweetie's Place is our dream, my restaurant. It's grand opening isn't for a couple of decades, but start drooling and anticipating it now, I promise it'll be good. :)

2009 Year In Review

You never really know what any given year is going to bring, obviously. There are certain goals, expectations and whatnot that you dream about the next year bringing, and more often that not, my experience has taught me to expect the opposite.

For example? Hmm... I stepped foot into my current job in October 2007 and didn't expect to be there more than six months. I figured it would be a stepping stone into the company, and I'd quickly shine and rise to the top and move on. Presumptuous? Certainly. Egocentric? Definitely.

Needless to say, I stayed in that department until December 31st, 2009. January 4th 2010 (twenty ten? two thousand ten? has the verbiage been figured out yet?) will be my first day in a new job in the company. My lesson learned? Never think of yourself as a big fish in a small pond. Learn humility quickly and practice exercising patience daily. Needless to say, that was NOT my only takeaway from that job. A much more valuable takeaway can in the form of meeting the man who would become my husband. You never know what the future holds...

So, back to the blogpost, first of my life, first of the year, fittingly titled "2009 Year In Review."

Let's begin:

January:
Coming down from our first Christmas together, Peter and I kept the Christmas tree up all month long. Lesson learned? It is not easy to vacuum up dead pine needles. Celebrated New Years at the cabin. New Years Resolution? Bake bread every week. By the end of January, I read countless articles and recipes on the theory of baking bread, and had baked 4 loafs of bread, so I was off to a good start. Lesson learned? Rise bread in a warm spot, ideally in the bathroom on the heating vent, covered with a towel, with the bathroom door closed (or risk having the doggie eat your bread dough). Oh, and innaugurate Barack Obama as President. Cry (okay, sob) tears of joy.

February:
Is it possible that this whole month was erased from my emory? Life-long best friend had her first baby on February 4th and I was blown away at the "miracle of life" and all of a sudden, felt quite old. Certainly we celebrated our first Valentine's day together, but as a V-day hater, this clearly was not red-letter for me. I'm betting it was just like any other Saturday night, dinner and a movie in. Fall deeply in love even more with the boyfriend, visit the cabin again, turn 25 and a HALF, watch the Steelers win the Super Bowl (again... grr...), lose in the first round of fantasy football playoffs (despite having the #1 team going in) and quit the New Years Resolution of baking one loaf per week. Pretty typical month, all in all.

March:
Celebrate one year anniversary of dating! Get engaged on said one-year anniversary! Best day EVER to date. :) Met future brother-in-law and sister-in-law weekend after engagement, celebrate engagement, paint guest room twice (lesson learned - orange paint in the can is much oranger on the wall than initially appears), paint guest bathroom once, celebrate engagement some more, and even more. :)


April:
Begin madness that is wedding planning. Find a dress from a friend who just happened to have an extra, never been used wedding dress in her closet. Fits perfectly, check the dress off the list! Visit wedding venues, register for wedding gifts, meet with woman to design invitations, celebrate Easter (make quiche for the first time), dye hair bright red (spent the next 6 months and many hundreds of dollars to un-do), see Ken Griffey Junior back in a Mariner's uniform, plant garden for the first time (lesson learned - planted garden too soon, must practice restraint next year).

May:
Host fiance's out of town friend, shop for local hotels for wedding guests, watch American Idol finale (watch fiance become shockingly into AI and lose all hope in the voting American public when clearly the wrong guy won), fly to Minnesota to meet in-laws! crossed fingers that I'd make a good impression, and hopefully succeeded.




June:
Visit with friends, wedding dress fitings, dog-washings, long walks, welcoming summer, first of many pre-marital sessions, figure out bridesmaid dresses, go to the cabin, enjoy first month of summer, celebrate one-year of cohabitation, ie "living in sin."

July:
4th of July! Celebrate at the lake with friends, host sister-in-law, friend and niece all at once (learn what a full house really feels like), swelter through record setting heat, set up tuxedo rentals, dive into wedding planning with a crazed mad-woman focus, float on the lake, sunburn (again. when will I learn the lesson that I will burn every time, no exceptions ever?)

August:
Wedding of good family friends first weekend. Start sprint towards the finish line (finish line = wedding day). Travel out of town for wedding of another best friend. Hopefully execute duties as Maid of Honor (third time is the charm, hopefully!) Celebrate 26th birthday with some seriously delicious pizza. Celebrate yet another marriage of life-long friend. More sweltering hot record setting days and nights, spent cooling off and teaching doggie to swim.

September:
Bachelorette party in Disneyland with the fam! Attend beautiful and humbling bridal shower thrown by my wonderful sister and aunt. Dress fitings, music selection, rehearsal dinner tastings with caterer, more premarital sessions, write vows, get facials, figure out every.single.detail.possible of the wedding. Football starts! Survive!




October:
detailsdetailsdetails!!!! Relinquish all sense of control and let go entirely. Trusted in my mother and sister. Enjoy every single second of the very best day of my life, and marry my soul-mate, and my other half. Have the best wedding ever, dance until I can't feel my feet, smile until I have cheek cramps (which, I didn't know was even possible until I was at the alter and then I found out actually was). Travel to France, eat, sleep and be... married. :) (ha. couldn't help it!). Come home, rid our household of to-do lists and marvel at the incredible generosity of our friends and family and consider ourselves very, very lucky and happy.

November:
Back to normal life! Enjoy having the weekends open and available. Watch movies, eat, eat, eat, start the gaining of 15 pounds that I successfully managed in less than 10 weeks. Enjoy Thanksgiving and really give thanks for the amazing life we have been given and the joy in spending every day with the person who completes your puzzle.


December:
Christmas tree up ASAP! Christmas tree dies ASAP. I, cry. Peter graciously offers to get me a new one, I politely decline. Get new job!!! Skate on frozen winterwonderland lake that we had been floating in only 5 months early in temperatures that were literally 4 times hotter. Celebrate Christmas, make wishes for next year, have last day in old job, ring in the new year with friends. Start attempting to lose the 15 pounds that I realized I have quickly gained. Lesson learned? Life is SO good.



So, that pretty much brings us up to today (or January at least). We spent a wonderful weekend at the cabin, cross country skiing with the family and drinkng dunkel bier in Leavenworth and dancing in the streets. Came home to the sobering news that Peter's mom's life-long best friend was killed in an accident over the weekend. Life is good, but is certainly short. We don't know what this year brings, but can certainly feel certain that we will move forward holding hands (how cheesy am I) and being grateful for each day, our family, our friends, good food and our home.

(PS, Vikings won today, husband is happy. Letsgovikes!)