Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Glee-ful Tuesday

Since it is officially the Christmas season, I am glee-ful for Christmas music. Yes, I am the person that anxiously awaits being able to hear the Christmas music on the radio (thanks 93.9!!)

I am actually watching the CMA Country Christmas as I write this blog entry. This TV special is combining two of my favorite things: Country Music and Christmas Music-- BOOYAH

Some of my most distinct Christmas memories are with my dad playing the Vince Gill Christmas album-- I am surprised the CD hasn't broke yet. By Christmas day my mom, Sean and I are ready to go crazy with all of the Vince Gill!

So crank up the Christmas music and get in the spirit of the season.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Meet Mr. Kors

My parents were very kind and nice enough to buy me a gift for my graduation. They got me a Michael Kors purse!! I am super duper excited and love it.



Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Brine O Brine

Thanksgiving was a success!!! Not only was it a fun and relaxing day with family but the food turned out amazing.


First I wanted to show everyone what the table looked like. I picked up a tablecloth at BedBath&Beyond for $9 and then got the two glass candle holders from Pottery Barn. The candles were on clearance from Kohls ($3 a piece!!) and lastly the garland from Michaels-- again on sale. Since my table was small and I wanted room for all the plates and food I kept the setting simple. In addition, I added pinecones from around the house to the table to fill in some empty spaces.

The placecards were cute and super simple to make. I promised Louis credit for picking out the pretty paper that we used in the background. Then with Katie's help she printed me the name tags with the leaves on them and I used a glitter pen and went over them to give them a fancy look.


Now for the Turkey. Major props to Dave who convinced me to brine the turkey. The day before Thanksgiving my mom came over to help me attempt this whole brining business. I didn't have a pot big enough to fit the 17.5 lb turkey so I used a plastic ice bucket we had in the garage. We put the turkey in it and then added ice cubes and plastic bags and towels on top to keep the turkey cold (since it wouldn't fit in the fridge) and then I added some ice packs before bed to keep it cold overnight. Here is how weird it looked...


My mom and I cleaning the turkey!!
This is proof that I put my hands in the turkey and cleaned it!!!!

On Thanksgiving morning I put the turkey in the oven myself (Louis my assistant refused to touch the turkey so he was utterly no help). When we took the turkey out of the oven there was a TON of juice and the turkey was honestly the best I have ever eaten. It was so moist and delicious!!!! I kinda rocked this whole brining thing and I highly recommend everyone doing it-- heck if I can, you can.

Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving and now I am in full Christmas mode!!!


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

An IWU Photo

Over the weekend I finally got the digital negatives to our wedding pictures. Since Louis and I both went to IWU as well as our favorite peeps, it is tradition to take an IWU photo at the wedding. We took a nice and normal one (which I submitted to the IWU magazine) but I thought this picture was way more entertaining and fun so you all get to enjoy!!!!

Oh how I miss IWU!!!

Glee-ful Tuesday

This week I am gleeful for Thanksgiving (you had to see that one coming!!)

Per the new tradition, Thanksgiving will once again be at Louis and I's house. I am pretty excited to have some time off of work and hang out with my family and of course, eat lots of yummy food.

This year I am definitely stepping it up a notch in the hosting department, thanks to some lovely wedding presents we now will have actual plates and silverware as opposed to the paper and plastic of Thanksgiving 2009. :)

As you have seen from my Pottery Barn posting, I also plan on decorating the table (another first) so this Thanksgiving is going to be classy!!!

While I know that the turkey is sort of the center of the show (I am trying a new technique this year-- look for a Thanksgiving posting on that) I am mostly excited for my Mom's stuffing. :) Sean and I can pretty much just eat that for our entire meal.

On another random note I love how crazy Chicago weather is (note the sarcastic tone). It goes from 68 to 27 degrees in 24 hours. I blame Louis though who out loud a week ago said-- I hope its cold for Thanksgiving. Feel free to blame him for any cold weather

Happy Tuesday!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

5 month anniversary

UPDATE: Louis just sent me flowers at work.....awwwwww. Thanks babe!! (You can see some of the pictures I have of us in my cube in the background!!). I LOVE YOU


I know many of you find it cheesy and lame that I keep posting each time its Louis and I's monthly anniversary but hey, I am only going to be a newlywed once so I am taking advantage!!!

Happy 5 month anniversary babe!

I love you.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A Pottery Barn Thanksgiving

I am finally getting around to this post, and just in time. In the middle of October Katie and I went to a free class at Pottery Barn (they have lots of these year round) and the theme of the class was how to decorate your Thanksgiving table-- Pottery Barn style.

Bonus: we got 10% off anything we purchased because we attended the class. I ended up with two candle-holders and napkins.

Here are some tips that I learned:

Glassware is placed above the plate to the right. A water goblet is placed directly above the knife and any other stemware is set to its right.

Flatware is placed in order of usage from the outside in. Place forks to the left of the plate, and knife and spoons to the right.

A formal place setting requires three plates: bread, salad and dinner
A casual place setting requires just a dinner plate

This was their formal table and there clearly was a lot going on here. I really like the candles that look like birch trees. They also layered table runners for a cool effect.

Here was what they recommended for a buffet station. The two keys with this are keep the silverware at the end (if its not already on the table) and create different heights for visual interest. They also labeled all of the food-- which is a great idea. Although at my house I don't we need a label for mashed potatoes!

Here was the drink station. They kept it very simple and had an ice bucket and glassware. You can add or take away from this as much as you want. How cute are the towels!!

This was the casual table setting. The candle display took up a lot of space and they recommend you move it during the actual meal so you can encourage conversation.

Overall the class was a lot of fun and Katie and I were the only ones taking pictures (they encouraged the picture taking!!). I plan on making my first attempt at designing the Thanksgiving table. There will definitely be a posting with my results!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sign it With Love

Hey everyone, there is a new blog posting over at Sign it With Love. I highly recommend you check it out (especially Erin and Kelly!!)

Monday, November 15, 2010

You knew it was coming...

It is official!!
I am done with my MBA. Granted, I am not an official graduate since my grades won't be in until after Thanksgiving but still, I am pretty sure I passed.
I just wanted to give a big shout out to the following people who put up with me and my craziness these last three years:
1. LOUIS (he had to deal with most of it)
2. My parents (special thanks for letting us borrow your computer during finals week)
3. The In-Laws (they were always so nice and understanding)
4. My brothers- really they didn't do much but still they need a shoutout
5. My friends- sorry if sometimes I was a loser and couldn't hang out or had to leave early
Now I can finally get back to blogging about fun and exciting things! Woohoo!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Fun

This is something to brighten your Friday! Thank you Erin for passing along.


Truths For Mature Humans


1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!
24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Jon Collins

In honor of Veteran's Day, I thought I would take some time to talk about an amazing person who gave his life for this country. LCPL Jonathan W. Collins died in Iraq on August 8th, 2004. He was 19 years old. He was hit with a sniper riffle to the back of the head and died instantly.

I met Jon in high school, he was in my study hall class and sat next to me and the first day of study hall he kept talking to me and got us both kicked out! Needless to say that was my first and only time being kicked out of class. Jon and I became very good friends throughout high school and even went to Prom together. He had this infectious smile and laugh and to this day was one of the few people who could cheer me up and make me laugh. I remember one night I was working on a project and having a bad day and he came to my house to bring me roses, just to cheer me up. He also did some crazy things like hang out of my sunroof window in a santa outfit (don't ask why...). He was passionate about being a Marine and knew that it was his calling. The last time I saw Jon was over New Years Eve (Dec 31st 2003) and he couldn't stop talking about his great experiences with the Marines.

I know that Jon watches over me and comes into my dreams when I need a pick me up and so today I want to say Thank you to my friend and that I still miss him and his spirit lives on.



P.S. The picture on the right is a "typical" Jon picture!!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

GLEE-ful Tuesdays

I thought I would write this week's Glee-ful Tuesday while watching Glee!!!

I am extremely glee-ful when after a long and stressful day I get to go home and be with my husband. He can always make me feel better.

Thanks Babe!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Where is Jenny?

I have tried really hard all semester to still make regular post updates. I was on a roll and maintaining this blog like a champ, but this week seemed to test me to the extreme. It is finals crunch time for me and to top things off our computer screen went black on Tuesday night while I was working on it. Not only did I loose two hours of work that I did but then I spent the remainder of the night getting frustrated and nearly throwing our computer out the window to fix it. Louis and I have spent the week in between classes, borrowing others computers (thanks Sean and my parents) and working on homework. I had planned on blogging about fun stuff but the pictures are on the computer that is busted!! I swear I will get back to fun and entertaining posts just as soon as this whole grad school thing is over and Louis and I have a functional computer :)

Until then, have a good week!!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Glee-ful Tuesday

Its that time again!!

The month of November makes me glee-ful and this is why:

1) I finish grad school!!! The actual end date is 11/15 :)
2) I get to see my grandparents this Friday
3) Louis and I's 5th month anniversary
4) Louis and I's 2 year engagement anniversary. We already have our dinner reservations for Mitchells
5) Thanksgiving- year 2 at the Malic house. Cross your fingers my mom will still help
6) I get to put up Christmas decorations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7) The lite radio station rocks Christmas tunes
8) I will get to read for fun again (see #1 as to why I can't read for fun now)
9) I can focus on Sign it With Love and updating this blog with awesomely cool things
10) I finish grad school! (yeah, I know I put it on here twice but its that important)

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Baby Proof

Over the weekend Cheryl, Justin and Aubrey came to our house for a visit. It was really nice to be able to hang out with Cheryl and her family since I don't get to see her at work anymore. Aubrey showed up in her Halloween costume and was so adorable. This was the first time a baby has been in our house and let me tell you...it was eye opening on just how little our house is babyproof. We already know that we have a ridiculous amount of stairs and we will need a million babygates. The TV stand and bookshelf were definitely intriguing to Aubrey and my guess is that all kids will find the stuff they can't touch intriguing. Aubrey did love our ottoman though, it was the perfect height for her to stand up and check out what was going on.

We had a great time hanging out with them and can't wait to do it again! Aubrey left us a souvenir (one of her toys under the ottoman) so I guess that means we need to have them over again