Little Talks: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

For Jackie

This post is for you, sister, because I'm sure you care so much about the dumb little things that I talk to you about all day long.

This is my newly organized kitchen cabinet.

You may make fun of me, but I think it's pretty awesome. Look at those peanut butters...have you ever seen anything so Lent-like?

This is the little pot of flowers I got from Giant Eagle for only 1 dollar.

You're right...I should have grabbed an extra for Mom.

This is my dinner from tonight.

Seriously...best salad ever. This is my new Monday night ritual if you ever want to join me!

That is all :)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

60

Whirlwind is the only word I can think of to describe this past week. Between work, an Ohio State basketball game, Ash Wednesday, working with my sisters to create a birthday scrapbook for our mom (more on that in a bit), and wedding planning I feel like the only time I spent in my apartment was to sleep.

Today it feels like the whirlwind has finally settled. I went to church, did my grocery shopping and seriously organized the kitchen by noon. And since then I have been firmly planted on the couch...catching up on television from the week. It feels so good.

The main point of this post is to recap the events from yesterday...my momma's birthday celebration.

Our day was originally supposed to start with an early walk through the park...one of my mom's favorite things to do. We canceled that plan though because of the freezing cold temps and high winds. Instead we skipped ahead to the next part...

making homemade doughnuts!

We used to make them all the time growing up, but haven't in so many years. They were just like I remembered.

Guitar doughnut for Nick

After "breaking" for a few hours we met back up for the most delicious dinner. To say my family loves their food would be an understatement. We made a smorgasbord of Mom's favorites including meatballs, pasta salad, green bean bacon bundles, fruit, rolls, and chips.

Next was the moment Stephanie, Jackie and I had been waiting for...it was time to give Mom her birthday present.

We made her a scrapbook full of birthday letters & wishes. The letters came from immediate family, extended family, neighbors, friends (some of which she hasn't talked to in years). We were blown away by the amount of letters that poured in...and so was our mom.

With each page she turned, a new emotion filled the room. Tears, laughter, disbelief. It was an amazing experience.

We finished the night playing LOGO.

The hero of the game ended up being Shane...who somehow knew the catch phrase for Nerf guns.

My Mom is one of the very best people in this world. I feel so lucky that she is my mom.

I hope she enjoyed her celebrating her day as much as we did.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Weekend, plus a day

Thursday was my dad's 62nd birthday! The entire family went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate. After many handfuls of peanuts, a round of beers & margaritas, and delicious food we went back to my parents house for gifts and ice cream cake. It was a perfect evening and I just love that dad of mine.

Friday night was one of the funnest ever! Jackie, Lydia, Katie and I went to dinner at Las Margaritas. Then the real fun began. We ended up at the Giant Eagle market district.

Oh my, the place is insane.

First, Katie took us to the candy section. I was just picturing a regular aisle of candy..nothing special at all. But, I was in for a surprise. They had just about every sweet you could imagine. Cotton candy, candy buttons, a million flavors of malted milk balls, chocolate covered pretzels and oreos, plus all the regular stuff you would expect.

One of my favorite moments of the night...
Me: "Jackie, they even have popcorn balls! But, seriously, who really wants a popcorn ball?"
Lydia walks over and picks one up...."Oooo! Popcorn balls!!!!"

Leave it to Miss Lydia to eat the most random food eva!

Next, we made our way over to the beer & wine section. Once again, we were completely blown away. You would think we were tourists in New York City. They even had a free chilling service for wine.

We decided to buy a little drinky drink for the movie theatre. We bought mini bottles of Pinot Grigio and.....these....

Mini cans of champagne with a straw. These babies were the highlights of the evening.

We made our way over to the movie theatre and saw The Vow.

It was decent. The majority of the movie was just what I expected...sweet, funny, romantic. However, the ending was a huge let down. I was waiting for something big to happen and it never did. I'm still really glad we saw it though. And that champagne was the bomb dig.

We finished our night with drinks and 2am pizza. Best night ever.

Nick came over Saturday. We had a lazy day. Dinner at Piada and lots of episodes of How I Met Your Mother. We're on season 4 now.

Sunday was church, then a wedding meeting. Later, Jackie and I went to our parents house to work on a special secret project for our momma's birthday. Once everyone got there I watched Steve Martin play the banjo with my dad, played legos with my nephews, planned more secret birthday details with my sisters, then helped my mom cook dinner. Potato soup, salad and rolls. Home-cooked meals are the best.

And so is my family. And my friends. And Nicholas.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Obsessed

What made my Valentine's Day extra sweet this year?

Oh, just the largest box of fruit snacks ever!

Eat your heart out nutritionist roommate! Muuhahaha!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Weekend

Friday night I spent with Nick. First we had dinner at Pei Wei. It made me very nostalgic for my working days at P.F. Changs. Next, we hit the grocery store to stock up on s'more supplies. Finally, we made it to Nick's to light a fire and watch How I Met Your Mother season 3. Fun night.

On Saturday we slept in then I made cherry and apple dumplings for breakfast (technically lunch at that point). I used to make them all the time growing up but haven't for awhile. It was really just a lazy Saturday...Just Dancing, watching (more) How I Met Your Mother, a little wedding planning. Dinner was subs at Danny's. Then we geared up for our big Saturday night event....

The Rodeo!

The opening ceremony was amazing. I have never felt more American in my life. There was a prayer, a fire, the largest American flag ever, a soldier who has served 4 tours in Iraq, the National Anthem. I teared up a bit...it was pretty amazing.

The rodeo itself was awesome! The different events were bareback, saddle bronc, barrel racing, and bull riding. So much fun to watch.

Probably my favorite part was the in between entertainment. There was mutton bustin (hilarious) and some trick riding.

These next two pictures aren't from the actual rodeo I went to, but it is the same girl and same tricks.

I was blown away! So, so amazing!

So, after the rodeo Nick and I met up with a few of his friends at R Bar. This started our demise...

The shots upon shots upon shots that followed probably weren't a good idea. I have not been that drunk in a long, long time. But, we had so much fun.

Unfortunately, Sunday was pretty much a waste of a day. It was totally worth it though. Such a fun weekend.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Eight Randoms

Lets count 'em down...

8. Jackie and I had an amazing conversation today about Little Debbie. How amazing are all of these?

We decided that on Fat Tuesday in a couple weeks some of these will definitely be consumed.

7. One of the things I love most in the winter is warm clothing. I cannot wait until I own a washer & dryer and can regularly heat up my clothes before I put them on, like I did yesterday at Nick's. Growing up, my mom used to put our blankets in the dryer before she covered us up in bed on extra cold nights.

6. Nick and I sat with my computer forever yesterday scrolling through the humor section on Pinterest. So, so funny. We were laughing uncontrollably over this one...

5. My life is being overtaken by boys! At least, as far as children are concerned. I have two nephews, watch two boys after school, and even my toddler class right now is very boy dominated (7 boys, 4 girls). As a whole, they are driving me insane. The fighting, whining, tackling, Transformers & Star Wars obsessing...Ahhh! And to think, my Grandma raised 6 boys who were all within 10 years of age. She was an amazing woman.

4. I constantly find myself daydreaming about dogs. I cannot wait to own one of these...

Or these...

Big dogs = love

3. Watching the local news is scary. And depressing.

2. Saturday Night Live this week is going to be...hmm, what's the word....magnificent! Not only is the host Zooey, but the musical guest is Karmin! Yes, yes, yes, a million times YES!!