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Saturday, December 28, 2013

Post Christmas Depression

Before I start this post, I figured I should probably include a disclaimer: I am so so grateful for all of our family and friends and all the gifts we got this Christmas. We are very lucky to come home for Christmas and to give and receive some wonderful gifts.

With that being said, I am having a hard time getting out of my Christmas slump this year...I always get extremely sad on Christmas night that its all over. Not even that there aren't any more presents to open, but that the christmas music isn't on the radio anymore, the lights get taken down, and all the stores immediately switch to Valentine's Day (Target definetely lost a few points in my book for that one). It's always rush, rush, rush for the big day to get here and then afterwards the days just drag. This year was extra emotional for me because B and I have been discussing not coming home for Christmas next year. I am not looking forward to telling my mom about that one. This is completely devastating for me, but it is so expensive to travel (especially with Bentley) and it's just getting hard splitting our time for the holidays between MA and FL. It makes a lot of sense, I'm just not ready to let go of family Christmases (you're talking to the girl who still wanted to sleep at home this year so she could see the tree with presents under it in the morning). My dad is probably the biggest fan of Christmas you will ever meet and he's about the only person that shares my love for Christmas in such a big way. I feel like without him around, I won't be able to enjoy it as much. Also, it is so not Christmas in FL when its 85 degrees. It's always been hard for me to get into the true Christmas spirit while there.

So my question is how do you handle spending Christmas away from families? I need coping mechanisms for the emotional turmoil I'll be going through next year. I am excited that we can start our own traditions, but it's still a hard transition and not one I thought I would have to make this soon.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas Blogworld!

I think I have committed a cardinal sin in blogging by not blogging in over a week. Yikes! A lot has happened in a week and the only way I can keep this to a minimal and not turn it into a book is a list. Here's whats been happening lately!

-Bentley made it safely home on the plane! Mama had a slight panic attack at the airport, but he was a trooper and it didn't even phase him!

-Bentley also experienced his first snow and LOVED it! We have determined that he likes the snow better than sand, go figure.
- Our housewarming/christmas party Friday night went great! The tacos were a hit (and super easy).

- I managed to do all of my christmas shopping/baking/wrapping in three days. Record? I think yes!

- We had a great christmas with both my family and B's. I am so thankful for our time with each of them and they all loved their gifts! B also got me some great gifts, which I will post later!

- It is now the day after Christmas and I have officially settled into my post-Christmas depression. Is there such a thing? There should be. I used to cry when I was little on Christmas night that it was all over. I wont lie, I wanted to cry last night too. There is something so upsetting to me about lights coming down, Christmas music no longer playing and taking the tree down. I miss it all so much already. Can it be Christmas all year long?

Merry Christmas blog friends! I hope everyone's holiday was merry and bright!

Monday, December 16, 2013

B's Christmas List

I have known what I'm getting B for months now. Ironically, his presents are monthly subscriptions to lots of different places! It's the gift that keeps on giving!

Dollar Shave Club
Birchbox for Men
FL Fishing Magazines
NatureBox

B is absolutely impossible to buy for and we both love to challenge each other to buy seriously awesome gifts. (He takes the cake for all christmases. Last year my present was a puppy, which we didnt actually get until August when we were in the new house, but still, best. present. ever.) Plus who doesn't love giving a gift thats creative and amazing?! Now that I actually have to wrap presents, I'm struggling with how to present these gifts. It would have been nice to have the actual boxes already, but I dropped the ball on that one. Still have to figure it out. 

What is more exciting to me than presents is stockings. With my family, its the last thing we open. They often get lost under all the wrapping paper, so we usually forget we even have stockings until everything else is opened, so its always a nice surprise. My mom stuffs a mean stocking, so I take pride in doing the same. B's stocking is always filled to the brim with lottery tickets, his favorite candies and all sorts of fun things I find. Here's what I have in mind this year, sure to be added to! 
This picture framed of Bentley (I just die-look at that head tilt!)
Chillsner Beer Cooler Thing-saw it at Yankee Candle in like July, had to have it!

He's also getting an array of fishing gear, pretty much whatever looked cool at Bass Pro Shops. Things like gear oil for the poles, fish wipes, jelly fish sting gel, etc.

Lord help me tomorrow flying with Bentley. I didn't sleep last night and certainly wont sleep tonight. Of course its going to snow tomorrow afternoon, please oh please don't delay or cancel our flight!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

"Ill be home for Christmas"

The amount of excitement in our house about going home could not be greater. I cant even think straight knowing that we will be back in MA in two short days! Of course, im in full on panic mode about flying with Bentley, why not throw in the chance for 3-5 inches of snow Tuesday to fly in. Lovely. Lots of prayers goin' on here.

Add to our busy schedule of shopping/wrapping/baking and so on, we decided to throw a Christmas/Housewarming party on Friday night, so I've been all over Pinterest looking for ideas. Here's what I have so far:

                                                             Pizza Croissant Roll Ups

                                                      Green and Red Veggies/Ranch Dip

                        Mama's Dip (cream cheese, hormel chili-no beans, shredded cheddar cheese)

      Tacos (with green and red tortilla chips, so i guess we're having christmas nachos, not tacos). I was not so sure about this decision, but with so many people coming, I needed something cheap and easy that made a mass amount.

                                                               Corn Flake Wreaths

                                                                         Chex Mix

                                                                Andes Mint Cookies

                                                                Christmas Cupcakes

I have a master plan for shopping/cooking/baking, so I hope that it actually works and im not running around like a mad woman on Friday! Wish me luck!


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Flying with Fido

Oh the anxiety...we are flying home next week for Christmas and are bringing Bentley with us. Before we got him we thought we would just board him while we went home, but now that we have him, I could never ever leave him. Talk about separation anxiety. So we booked a non-stop flight and I called the airline today to check in. They proceeded to tell me that if my destination was colder than 45 degrees, he wouldn't be able to fly! Im sorry, say what?! Where in the country besides FL is it not below 45 degrees! They then told me that if I get a note from his vet, he can fly as long as it isn't below 20 degrees. Great. Who knew flying with a pet was so risky? Like I wasn't worried enough about him spending hours in a dark scary place without us, now I have to worry about him getting on the flight at all! Praying that it all works out and our baby Bentley gets to come home with us.

In other Christmas news, I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet. Ugh. The one downfall of living in FL before Christmas. Everyone always says to just order everything online, but there is something so special to me about strolling the mall and taking your time shopping. Definitely not giving that up. Next blog post: Christmas Lists! My plans for B and my family, which are still not quite done. Also, what is a normal amount to spend on your dog? Am I ridiculous for even planning a budget for him? Probably. Oh well!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

A Little of Everything

I'm pretty sure there is nothing better on a Saturday night than watching "The Santa Clause" and drinking a snickerdoodle milkshake! (Wow, am I old!) Today, we had B's family over for a BBQ. Again, strange having a BBQ considering we are about 3 weeks away from Christmas and everyone back in MA got snow last night. Here's what was on the menu:

Chicken and Steak Kabobs
Grainy Mustard Potato Salad
Tollhouse Christmas Cookies

The kabobs were so tasty, everyone loved them. They had zuccini, squash, red and green peppers, tomatoes and onions. I marinated the steak in the "best ever marinade," according to Pinterest (and I must agree). The potato salad is a recipe from a friend back in MA. I absolutely HATE mayo, like wont even touch the bottle type of hate, so I don't usually eat potato salad, but this one uses mustard instead, it was a huge hit! This is also coming from some seriously tough critics too, so I know it was good. Had to throw in the cookies for some sort of festiveness, and they happened to catch my eye as I was strolling through Target today. Which brings me to the milkshake. They have this snickerdoodle milk at Target, which by itself is very tasty, but throw it in a blender with some vanilla ice cream, christmas in a cup, FL style!

Tomorrow we are going shopping at one of my favorite places, Coconut Point, which is also very dog friendly, so Bentley gets to experience his first shopping trip with mama. Love these days with B and Bentley :)

We did a mini photo shoot with Bentley at the beach yesterday. Here's how that turned out.


                                                                        Our little family
                                                                       Oh my, I melt.
                                                                    "I'm comin' mama!"

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Blog Illiterate

I am either totally not computer/blog savvy, or blogger just makes it super complicated to set up blogs. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to arrange my blog layout. Any help would be much appreciated! Also, being so new to blog world, I have seen and read that people design blogs for other bloggers, how does this work? Sign me up! I desperately need a blog makeover, it is so not motivating looking at my ugly blog.

Enough of my complaining. I'm working on getting a recipe ready to post, but I feel that I need to give some background beforehand. Background I would like to include in my About Me, which doesnt work, hence the delay. B and I have also decided to throw a housewarming/christmas party back in MA before christmas, which is so exciting! Some background would also help here to explain that we live in FL for the winter (young snowbirds) and in MA for the summer (where our business is). But for now, I leave you a picture of our little baby pup, Bentley and B with the shark he caught the other day! Love these two <3




Monday, December 2, 2013

Life Lately

     Bentley by our tree after his haircut


He LOVES the beach!
The last few days have been very busy! Thanksgiving was quiet with just me and B. His brother and girlfriend stopped by for dinner too. The weekend was filled with lots of boat days. B's family came in Friday night, so we took advantage of the nice days and went to our favorite island. It's always weird to me to be laying on the beach in a bikini the day after Thanksgiving, something ill never get used to!

Today was a "work" day. Very productive, but never my favorite of days. We own a party rental business during the summer, but we had some things to catch up on, so it was a much needed day of work. Our puppy, Bentley also went to the groomers for the first time today. I was worried about him getting a haircut, but oh my cuteness! I also took advantage on some cyber Monday deals and got a few things for Christmas. There is nothing more exciting to me than giving awesome presents! More to come on that later!

Working on getting the blog to a presentable state and hoping to have an "About Me" here soon!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving Plan

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday ever. I LOVE cooking for it, but I also love it because its the start of the holiday season (anyone else depressed Christmas Day because its all over??) This is our second year living in FL, so we wont be having any family around, meaning all the food is for B and I! Of course, we miss our families terribly and last year we had friends come out and stay with us, but this year will be our first Turkey Day just the two of us. So here's whats on the menu: 

Turkey (duh)
Homemade Gravy (I always buy a jar, just in case my homemade stuff doesn't work, which has happened)
Mashed Potatoes
Sausage Stuffing (One of my signature dishes, so tasty!)
Cheesy Corn 
Green Bean Casserole (Im weird and don't like mushrooms or onions, so Im making my own version with cream of chicken soup and panko bread crumbs
Sweet Potatoes (mama's recipe, ridiculous amounts of sugar ingredients are involved, but oh so good)
Jamie Rolls (why we call them Jamie rolls, I don't know, but its a recipe from my Grandma and its the only name we know them by!)
Cranberry Sauce (Homemade and the can stuff for B)
Pumpkin Cheesecake Layer Pie (this year im going to do this in muffin tins for mini versions since theres only two of us)
Pecan Pie Bars 

We eat a little later, around 3 or so, so in the morning I have homemade cinnamon rolls which are made from the Jamie roll dough. The cinnamon rolls are to die for, I kid you not. I also have a snack platter of cheese, pepperoni, crackers, veggies, and dip. I also make black olive cheese balls to munch on. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

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First Blog Post-Yay!

Welcome to my first post as a blogger! I have been thinking about starting a blog for a few months now (after stalking numerous other blogs for over a year, creepy, I know) and figured that as a food/lifestyle blog, what better time to start than a few days before Thanksgiving! My hopes for this blog are simple, document my cooking, while hopefully meeting lots of fellow blogger/future friends on the way! 

Hopefully once I figure this whole thing out and someone besides myself is reading this, I will post my Thanksgiving menu as well as an About Me post. Any suggestions on how to run a blog, like changing a hideous layout for instance, would be greatly appreciated! 

Off to make my 3 page long shopping list for Turkey Day! Happy Cooking!