Nothing Says "I Love You" Like Oyster Stew

Yesterday was the best Valentine's Day I've ever had.

Historically, Chris is not a fan of the Day-of-Forced-Romance, which I get. But me, I'm in the Any-Excuse-to-Celebrate-Anything-is-Fine-With-Me camp. So, to celebrate, we decided to cook a nice dinner and open a bottle of wine, and that's it. No gifts, no boxes of mystery chocolates, no cards, no poems, etc. There may have been flowers present, but that's because Chris got them for me last week when I was having a bit of a rough time.

So, when I got home, I saw that Chris had cleaned the kitchen, our room, and the dining room table (Men, take note: Cleaning up= Helluva Lotta Brownie Points). I worked out and showered, and we then started to cook the meal we picked out: Oyster Stew.

Both of us read and very-much enjoyed the book Chesapeake by James Michener, and at one point in the book, Michener describes how a cook on an oyster boat makes oyster stew. When I read it, my mouth literally started watering. So, I found a recipe online for a semi-healthy version of it, and we made it! And it was good.

Then, we had dessert and talked.

Then, we played Trivial Pursuit. It doesn't really matter who won (translation: Chris won).

Chris had also made a great mix on his Ipod, and, when that was over, we listened to Van Morrison records. It was frickin' sweet.

I dunno, I think the reason I had such a great night is that nothing was really planned out, and that it was just fun and relaxing. And well, I like taking a little timeout for "us" that involves no pressure.

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Here are my V-Day pics:

Holiday Blues

Last year, I wrote a ton of blog posts during the holiday season, and I just realized that I've barely written 1/5 of the number of posts this year during the holidays. My excuse is that I was unemployed last year and therefore had a good deal of time available for writing. This year, I'm all kinds of employed! And busy!

And for whatever reason, this year, I'm enjoying the holiday season a lot more than I have in the past. I'm not exactly sure why. Most years, I feel horribly depressed around Christmas. This year, I'm pretty much just looking forward to it. It's quite nice really.

I'm not sure if it's because we went to Chris's family's on Christmas last year (and are therefore going to my family's Christmas this year) or maybe because I've been working really hard and can't wait for a break... or maybe it has something to do with the fact that Chris and I are in a good place. I dunno, it mainly just seems to be the fact that I'm really excited to spend a little time with my family. It seems like I haven't gotten to spend as much time with them as usual lately.

Anyways, to those of you who are suffering from the Holiday Blues, I totally get it, and I hope you are able to find at least a moment or two of positivity over the weekend. Try to relax, breathe, drink a cocktail (or 6), and remember that your family means well. Enjoy the craziness, knowing it won't last forever.

Love the fact that your family is so huge and complicated that you have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off in order to see everyone at the holidays. And, if your family is small or nonexistent, love your solitude and your moments of peace. No matter what, try to find some small moment where you're content.

Happy Holidays!

It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like... Well, You Know

We finally got around to putting up the tree, which isn't seeming to lean as much this year as it did last year. So, I'm rescinding the name "Leaning Tower of Tree-sa" in favor of "The SymmeTree." For some reason, Chris decided that the colors of the ornaments on the tree had to be symmetrical. I just sorta threw stuff up there, but Chris was quite meticulous. Anyways, so we spent a good amount of time getting the tree set up and decorating it.

So, first, we got out the snacks:

Hers for her. His for Him.

Then we put on the tunes:

Then, we got out the SymmeTree and the ornaments:

Then, we started decorating. This is my favorite ornament:

This belonged to my mom's family.

This is Chris's favorite:



Because, well, he likes boats.

 These are Coltrane's favorites:

Da Buns!

Here's the SymmeTree looking lovely and symmetrical:

And then Coltrane got really interested in the tree and especially the tree skirt:

And then, Chris started playing with tin foil and scissors, and I was like "what are you doing?" and he was like "making an angel for the top of the tree." And I was, like, quite skeptical.

Turns out I was skeptical for a reason. Chris made a creepy tin angel (and most likely flunked Kindergarden Art... ok fine, I'm being mean):

Here's the whole she-bang (including a Christmas Bun in the corner).

Happy Holidays everyone!

Giving Thanks

I went out with a friend of mine for a beer the other night, and she told me all about the boy she has a crush on. She's at that point where everything is new and exciting and unknown and possibly a bit confusing, and where her heart rate is probably faster than usual whenever the object of her affection is near.

Oh, how I love hearing the juicy details of these kinds of experiences! You know, the "well, then what did he say?" and "has he kissed you?" and "what's he look like?" stuff. Maybe it's because I have a serious lack of girl-time in my life, and my friend's stories make me feel super-girly and giggly. Or maybe it's because Chris and I have been together for over 6 years, and I find it fun to hear about the beginning part of a crush or a relationship, which I don't plan on experiencing again.

Either way, I very much enjoy listening to my friend talk about what her crush said and what does that mean and all that (and I'm just happy that she's happy!). And she often asks what I think about this or about that, perhaps because she wants an outside opinion, but also perhaps because I've been in a successful relationship for a while. Though I always assure her that success comes from a hell of a lot of work. 

And whenever I tell her what I think about something relationship-related, I find myself recounting my own experiences with Chris as examples (because that's all I really know). And when I do that, even when I'm talking about something that was or has been particularly difficult, I always leave the conversation feeling extraordinarily grateful for the fact that I have Chris in my life.

We have been through a lot together. Really, we have grown up together. We met when we were 18; whipper snappers we were! He is my best friend, and I don't envy what or who the people around me have compared to what and who I have.



Spring break of freshman year of college, 2005. See? Whipper snappers!

So, in the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I'd like to say that I'm thankful for Chris. I'm thankful for who he is, and I'm thankful for who I am because of him. I'm thankful for the things I've learned from him, and I'm thankful for the things we've learned together. I'm thankful that I get to see him and talk to him everyday. I'm thankful to have such a wonderful partner in crime.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What are you thankful for?

Happy Candy Day!

Happy Day-Where-It's-Ok-to-Gorge-On-Candy to you! Well, that's all the holiday really means to me, anyways. I'm not in to that whole costume thing at all. But gimme a bag of candy, and I'm a happy camper.

In other news, the house continues to fall apart: The plumbing system (which we apparently share with the neighbors) backed up and our downstairs flooded. This was due, also, to the fact that our half-bath toilet runs (we always fix it when it does this, when we notice). This time, Chris was upstairs and I was not home, so the toilet kept running, and, because the plumbing system the duplexes share was backed up to begin with, the freakin' downstairs got gross.

So, this is what I came home to:

Think that's enough to scare the trick-or-treaters? I do. It's like our very own Halloween Nightmare. Boo!

In other news, I got my hair cut today, and I'm getting new glasses tomorrow. Fun stuff. I can't wait to be able to see!

So yeah, Chris and I are giving out candy and then we are most likely going to camp upstairs since the fan that our landlords gave us to dry up the wet carpet is SUPER FREAKIN LOUD. It's like we live on a jet or something. Oy.

Anyways, I was thinking of ways to be irresponsible on Halloween, and do you think I'd get in trouble if I went and bought some of those cute, tiny liquor bottles from the liquor store to give out to the kiddies? They're kiddie-sized... :)

Now, I shall grab another Twix, pour myself a brown ale (goes well with chocolate), and collapse until the next knock at the door.

You Say You Want a Resolution

Chris thinks resolutions are stupid, and I tend to agree. Mainly because people make all these unattainable promises to themselves, and, as a result, set themselves up for unavoidable failure. However, I have to admit, the New Year offers the perfect opportunity to make changes: It's right after the holidays (when everyone eats, drinks, and sits too much), the days are slowly getting longer, you get to start counting from 1 (yesterday was 1/1/11!), and you clearly see the past year for what is was and the coming year for what you hope it will be. So, here are my "resolutions," or the changes that I'm hoping to make this year:

1 (/1/11!): Somebody Get that Girl a JOB!
Yes, I desperately seek employment. Still. Hopefully the New Year will bring wonderful things like job offers and paychecks. And full benefits?

2: Exercise, exercise, exercise!
There's really no reason not to. Exercise is the number one way to keep clinical depression at bay without meds, and that's what I need to do for myself everyday. Plus, those skinny jeans won't fit otherwise...

3: Become a Better Photographer
I have some news regarding this, which will be the subject of my next post!

4: Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold...
I shall make many nice pieces of jewely. I'd love to have a few wearable things made for next Christmas!

5: In Her Own Write
Okay, I want to finish my NaNoWriMo book, write blog posts more regularly, and continue to do the freelance writing that I've been doing lately.

I think all those things are at least semi-reasonable and attainable (at least I hope so). I'm also hoping to win more Settlers of Catan and Cow Game games than I lose. What are your resolutions?

Mid-Twenties

Today is my 25th birthday. I feel old. But, Chris lovingly cooked me a wonderful breakfast, got me a gift certificate for a massage (yay!), and even wrapped my gift in Happy Birthday wrapping paper (as opposed to Christmas paper, which is unacceptable). Having a birthday during the holiday season is rough sometimes. Anyways, we're going out to a nice dinner tonight, and then going to have a drink at a local brewery with some of our friends. Wahoo!

I mentioned in my last post that the weather out in Lon-Gisland was intense, and I have some pictures to post to prove it. These were taken by Chris's sister Laura (La!), who resides over at http://www.classylas.blogspot.com/. You have to get invited to read her blog, and that is a club I happen to be lucky enough to belong to. So yeah, here are the pics, which she gave me permission to use:



I know it's a little hard to tell, but there were 6 and 7-foot waves! On the Sound!

Crazy, yes? It was in the mid-twenties all weekend, but with the wind chill it was around 14 degrees. Brrrrr! Ok, here are a couple older pics from when we visited Lon-Gisland, so you can compare the Sound. This is what the same body of water (and I) usually looks like:



Hard to believe, I know. Chris and I went out exploring in the wind, but we lasted all of five minutes. It was SO COLD. We bundled up, and I resembled an Eskimo, and Chris resembled a Babushka.

We have bags full of presents that we have yet to unpack, and I think I will do that today. We got some very cool things, including a Star Wars poster with all the characters from the movies in a band rocking out onstage, a guitar-shaped spatula, some sweet books, the Planet Earth DVD series, etc. And I have two other Christmas/Birthday celebrations to go to this weekend with my family! Crazy!

My mom and sister called me this morning, but no one else has. They are soon to be in trouble...

Playlist 1: Christmas Ain't Over Yet

Whoa, so the wind was blowing here in Lon-Gisland at like 50 knots all last night (I have no clue what a "knot" means, but let's just say there are 7-foot waves on The Sound, which ain't supposed to have waves at all!). I actually couldn't sleep at all, because the wind was so loud. And, the gutter blew off the house. And I was convinced that the windows were going to blow in.

Anyways, Chris has this great idea for my blog. The idea is that I make playlists every-so-often (or virtual mixed tapes). This is one of my favorite past-times, the love for which I inherited from my dad. My dad is seriously the king of making mixes.

So, here is my Christmas playlist. I tend to despise Christmas music, so here is my very picky hand-picked list for your listening pleasure:

1. "Linus and Lucy," Vince Guaraldi
2. "Pretty Paper," Willie Nelson
3. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," Brenda Lee
4. "St. Stephen's Day Murders," The Chieftains
5. "Jingle Bells," Shroeder
6. "Blue Christmas," Elvis Presley
7. "All I Want for Christmas is You," Mariah Carey
8. "Christmas Island," Bob Dylan
9. "The Twelve Days of Christmas," John Denver with The Muppets
10. "Happy Christmas/War is Over," John Lennon


So, my thinking is that I will try to do a different playlist every couple weeks. All of them will have the tag "playlist," so if you wanted to pull up all of them, you could simply search for that.

I hope you all had/are having wonderul and relaxing holiday!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm writing from New Jersey after a morning/afternoon of Christmas-type activities. Right now, Chris is napping with his legs draped over me on the couch, and I have my netbook on his calves. The delicious quiche is the culprit that has the whole house in one giant food coma.

It was a great Christmas morning and afternoon.  Things got started about three hours later than I'm used to, though; my mom has a habit of getting my sister and I out of bed at like 6:30 AM on Christmas morning, so it was quite surprising when I woke up at 9:30. My mom always bellows out a Christmas song of some sort to wake up the house, because she gets up at like 5:00 AM because she's so excited. She's like a little kid!

And though I miss my family dearly (and my two Christmases there), I've had a wonderful time doing Christmas with Chris and his family. We're getting ready to head over to his aunt and uncle's house to do Christmas dinner. Then, we're headed out to the Long Island Sound! Wahoo!

Oh, and things of note: Chris and I got two matching shirts. Stay tuned for ridiculous pictures of us matching in flannel. I was also given a bracelet made out of guitar strings (cool!), a Beatles book, a photography book, and some other really nice things.

I have lots of things going on when I get back (like MY BIRTHDAY), so I'm planning on trying to relax in Lon-Gisland (that's how they say it there).

Love to my family. Drink a cocktail and eat a croissant for me (:

~R

Oh No, Mr. Bun!

That is to say, I made cookies today to bring to the Christmas Eve celebration I will be going to with Chris's family. Don't worry, I only made one Bun cookie, and it is now gone.

And now, some more pictures of Coltrane, just because he's cute and I won't see him for five days over the holiday. I'm sure you're getting sick of it, but just deal. with. it.



Looking a little chubby.





Look at my little squishy-face!



O, Christmas Bun, O, Christmas Bun...

Tee hee!

Mohawk

We leave for New Jersey tomorrow for the holiday. I will post from there! A New Jersey Christmas- Fuggeddaboutit!