It's New Years Eve!

Here is a sneak peek at my family's holiday card photo this year. I say holiday card because seeing as the photo was taken several days after Christmas, sending it as Christmas card just wasn't going to happen. So, a New Years card it is! Plus, that gave us reason to incorporate wine as a prop. See? Not just a hat rack my friend.

Anyway, it's New Years Eve! I'm sure I've got a big night ahead of me, I just don't know what it is. The Canadian has been appointed as the evening's social director so I'm just going in the direction I'm pointed. Wish us luck!

Happy New Years!!!!

Note: We will return to your regular scheduled blogging tomorrow. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

My Family's Ridiculous(ly Awesome) Christmas.

The day before Christmas Eve The Canadian and I began our journey down to Atlanta to spend Christmas with my family. Flying out of Canada is crazy expensive so we drove through snow, on icy roads, for five hours down to Bangor, Maine. This was our second year making this trek and we repeated our date night in Maine again this year by going to dinner and a movie before spending the night in a cheap motel and then flying out the next morning. 

We arrived in Atlanta the afternoon of Christmas Eve. After quickly wrapping presents (because I order them all online and ship them to my parent's house) we headed to church and then a Christmas Eve party. Carrying on our new tradition from last year, TC, my sister and I headed out to our local hole-in-the-wall bar for some cocktails after the evening's party. We stayed out a little later than planned but managed to not catch Santa filling our stockings when we got home.

Needless to say, the days of waking up at the crack of dawn are over and we slept in a bit before rolling out of bed and heading downstairs on Christmas morning. Fortunately, my mom has decided to start a fun new Christmas morning tradition of mimosas while opening presents. Personally, I think it's a stroke of genius.

To counter the mimosas and give us some sustenance for the present-opening marathon we dined on my mom's famous pecan cinnamon rolls and sausage egg casserole. 

With food and drink in our hands, we got down to business and started opening presents.

The Funniest Present Award definitely goes to my sister for gifting TC with an amazing new winter hat. The beard is impressive but the moustache is what really puts it over the top, don't you think?

To add to his glory, Santa hooked him up with some sweet glasses adorned with LED lights for working on his truck. Or reading in bed. They're multipurpose like that.

Everyone got some really fun and amazing gifts. As evidence, I decided to wear as many of them as possible just to make sure everything fit. Awesome scarves, an ear warmer, a fun apron, new cozy slippers...they all fit perfectly.

To end the morning, Santa saved some special presents for last.

It's like an iPhone, but bigger! Hello?? Anyone there?

In the past five years my family has gone from spending Christmas with my grandparents to vacationing in NYC and Breckenridge to spending Christmas at home again with the addition of The Canadian. Every Christmas has been wonderful but I think this may have been the best one ever. 

The day passed by with little conversation thanks to our new iPads. This is The Canadian's first Mac product and I think it is safe to say that he is completely addicted.

Later in the day we moved on to delicious pomegranate martinis while dinner was prepared.

Yup, I think my mom was enjoying hers. She definitely deserved it after pulling off the greatest Christmas morning of all time.

Now that I'm a full fledged domestic rockstar I was even allowed to help with preparation and cut up the broccoli. Of course I wore my sweet new Christmas apron. It was the key to my floret success.

For the special occasion we dug out the good china and crystal. To be extra festive my mom added crackers (full of odd toys and paper crowns...see below) and mini stockings to hold the silverware.

Finally dinner was served when my dad carved up the standing rib roast.

I'm telling you, these iPads are trouble. Somehow they invaded our fancy dinner table towards the end of the meal. Don't you think this should be our Christmas card picture? The perfect way to end the evening.

  

Note to self: Never hand your father the camera after a big glass of wine and expect him to yell something remotely appropriate when attempting to get everyone to smile...

Instead you'll end up with a picture like this.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great Christmas!

TC's Christmas Gift. That I Stole From Pinterest.

Consider this my nomination for Wife of the Year.

Wanna know what happens when your husband works for the school board in the elementary sector? 

You make art out of crayons for his Christmas gift.

It's pretty fancy, if I do say so myself. 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be the envy of all the kindergartners for giving Mr. G his favorite Christmas present. 

That's right. I'm awesome.

Merry Christmas!

PS. We're off to Atlanta tomorrow after school gets out. Our bags are packed, the dogs are away and our passports are ready. USA, here I come!

PPS. Instead of providing you with a full tutorial on how to make letters from crayons you can simply check out Pinterest. Or you can get a piece of paper and print whatever letter you want as a template. Then take an exacto knife and cut the crayons down to size by scoring around the edge of each crayon and snapping it in two. On a sheet of cardstock print out the "is for Mr(s) Blabla". Following your template, simply transfer the crayons to the cardstock and hot-glue them down. Then place your masterpiece in a shadow box. Viola. Easy as pie.

Tonight, after a delicious Christmas dinner at TC's parents house, we were at home doing some baking in the kitchen. The dogs were sleeping on the floor, the volume on the TV was turned down and we were chatting about our day. All of a sudden we heard a crash-boom. We stopped, looked at each other and both quickly went for a walk around the house looking for what might have fallen. A shelf, perhaps? Maybe a photo? Was the Christmas tree on fire? After a quick lap through all the rooms, nothing seemed out of place so we went back to what we were doing.

I finished up my trays of Kiss Twists (you like the name? I came up with it all by myself) and went to put them in the refrigerator to harden. But they wouldn't fit. Being the innovative person that I am, I went to put them outside on the porch. You see, our front porch is completely enclosed and is not heated. Therefore, it is a frozen tundra - aka an extra refrigerator. 

As I stepped outside I quickly realized the source of the mysterious crash. A two liter Diet coke bottle had exploded. And I mean exploded.

After our Thanksgiving party there were a lot of Coke bottles left over. So I did what any smart person would do - I put them outside to stay cold where they wouldn't take up all the room in the fridge. It was working too. Until the temperature dropped to -12 yesterday and froze everything.

Anyway, frozen Diet Coke shards were everywhere. They launched clear across the 12 foot room. They hit the ceiling and got in between the wall and the brick. 

The bottle was demolished.

The force was so great that it split the label right in half.

The lid? Complete destruction.

The ants are going to have a field day come spring time.

I did my best to pick it up. But I gotta tell ya, frozen Diet Coke is not easy to pick up. It's really cold.

In fact, picking up Diet Coke is just weird. You're supposed to wipe it up. Or mop it. Or soak it up. Not pick it up. Its just not right, I tell ya.

So class, what did we learn today? Frozen soda bottles explode violently.

Consider yourself warned.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts.

I don't know what rock I've been living under but I have only recently discovered the glory of bacon wrapped water chestnuts. 

I made them for the first time last weekend for our Christmas party using my good friend Christina's recipe. It's 'her' appetizer so I'm not allowed to steal it and start showing up at dinners with claiming it as my own. She's such a party pooper.

My MIL served them as well this weekend. As a few of us were munching away we got to talking about the different ways we all make out BWWC. Who knew there are about a million different recipes? It's amazing I've survived all these years without knowing this ground breaking information.

Without further ado...Christina's my Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts recipe.

You'll need between 8-10 slices of Maple bacon. 

Let me repeat: Maple. It's the key. It's the secret. Maple. Did you hear me?

Cut each piece into thirds.

Okay, fine. Regular bacon will suffice too.

Next open two cans of sliced water chestnuts. Sliced. Did you hear me? Sliced.

Drain them.

Now stack three or four water chestnuts together and place them over one end of the bacon.

Roll it around so you can see the layers peaking out the sides.

Take a toothpick and poke it through to secure the bacon and water chestnuts. Do not stab your thumb on the other side.

 I repeat. Do not stab your thumb. It hurts.

Now its time for the sauce. In a small saucepan place one cup of brown sugar.

Then add one cup of ketchup.

And one teaspoon of worcestershire sauce.

Mix it all together and bring it to a boil.

Carefully dip each BWWC into the sauce. Don't burn your finger tips in the boiling sauce. 

Warning: The sauce is boiling. It will burn your finger tips.

Now place them in a pan and bake for 50 minutes at 350.

Serve them warm and add one more notch to your Domestic Rockstar belt.

Copy and Pasteable:

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

1 cup of ketchup
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 full pack of bacon
2 cans of water chestnuts (the ones that are already sliced)

preheat oven at 350 degrees
combine ketchup, brown sugar & the worcestershire in a saucepan, heat until it boils.
cut bacon slices into thirds.
wrap chesnuts in bacon and secure with toothpicks.
dip the bacon wrapped chestnut in sauce, place in a pan.
cook for about 45-50 minutes.

makes about 24 

I'm So Cool.

I meant to go to the gym this afternoon. Really, I did.

But was -5C and snowing. In Farhenheit that is equivalent to...hold on, let me get my calcluator...yup, just what I thought. Damn cold.

It should be illegal to live in this country.





Instead I drove myself to Tim Horton's to get a little pick me up. Is white hot chocolate a new invention? It's amazing. Whoever invented this drink has my undying love and affection. They deserve a medal.

The guy at Tim's was super impressed with my winter gear. You know you're klassy when you roll up bumpin' to old school rap wearing a cute purple hat. Anyone remember I Got 5 On It? Remeber the days when you'd get up from your seat and called "5's on it", meaning no one could sit there because you'd be right back? Yeah, high school was awesome.





When he said "That will be $3.71," I yelled back, "What? I can't hear you under my awesome purple hat!" To top it off, I handed over my money will a Smurf-looking turquois hand. Somehow, when I work on a project more spray paint always ends up on my hand than it does on the actual project.

What is this project, you ask? Well, its a Christmas present for a certain sister of mine. I'd love to tell you all about it but you're going to have to wait as to not ruin the surprise. But trust me when I tell you that my creative genius has never been so impressive.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go park my butt on the couch with my white hot chocolate and pretend that its not snowing.

The Case of the Mysterious Splinter.

Before you read this please note that 1) I am a clean person who showers everyday and does laundry weekly and 2) I vacuum my house every single day. Okay, onto the story.


Today I wore some cute little black and gray shoes with black socks. You know the kind of socks that are like tights? Those. It's Canada, give me a break. Socks are a necessity even if they are not always fashion forward.

Anyway, all day my right sock felt funny. Like it was pinching the bottom of my foot or some other weird sensation like that. I kept meaning to take off my shoe and readjust my sock but things got busy and my sock problem wasn't a priority.

I came home, took off my socks and shoes and didn't think a thing of it.

Later in the evening I put on my Uggs and headed out to the grocery store. Sans socks. It was a short trip but my right foot had that weird feeling again. It was like a tiny grain of sand had taken up residence on the bottom of my foot. Not exactly painful, but definitely uncomfortable.

After making my purchases I headed next door to the gym. Which, by the way, is super convenient and has become my nightly routine. At the gym I sat down on a bench and took off my Uggs. Determined to locate the source of my annoyance, I lifted my foot up across my lap to examine the bottom of my toe.

Expecting to find a small piece of glass or even a renegade cookie sprinkle I was shocked to find a splinter. Or what appeared to be a splinter. Like a splinter, it was half an inch long and deeply lodged under my skin. Carefully, I tried to remove the little bastard. But it bent! And twisted! It was soft and bendable. It was so smooth that it kept slipping from my fingers.

While preparing for round number three of Operation Splinter Removal I looked even closer and noticed that there was not one, but two mysterious splinters within an inch of each other. It was getting weirder by the second.

Frustrated, I went to the gym's front desk and asked Abby (we're on a first name basis) if she had a pair of tweezers in the first aid kit. As she handed over the tweezers I explained that two bizarre splinters were stuck in my foot. I sat down and showed Abby the mystery black spikes. She too was puzzled by my splinters.

With the tweezers help I painfully removed the first splinter. It was then that I realized the origin of the mystery blade. Maple. My splinter(s) was a dog hair. A short, black, surprisingly painful piece of my precious little angel. The little devil.

Now tell me, how on Earth did two short and smooth dog hairs come to be lodged in my skin? It's not like they're made of barbs. Or maybe they are. Maybe she has mutant fur. A genetic flaw perhaps.

Whatever the case, it was one of the weirdest things that has happened to me in a while.

Just thought you'd want to know.

Over and out.

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Workout: Cardio - 45 minutes, Circuit - 60 jump ropes, 10 push-ups on ball, 25 crunches, 10 plank jacks, 10 tricep dips w/ feet on ball, 20 slooooow bicep curls, 20 cross-over step-ups - x3

Ornaments Are The New Curtains.

So, you know when your dining room has hideous blinds that came with the house and after looking at them and hating them for five years you finally decide to take the blinds down because you can't stand it for one more second but now you don't know what to put up for window treatments because although you have an inexplicable feeling that black might be cool you're pretty sure that black would be too heavy even if you did pair if with some cool sheers so instead you do nothing because you can't make up your mind and now its been three months since you took down the ugly blinds and your windows are still bear so to distract people from your lack of interior design skills you cover the huge bay window with eight million ornaments and now you sorta kinda love it so much that you just may leave the ornaments up until the spring when you can replace them with Easter eggs and that way the whole picking out new curtains thing can be avoided all together?

Yeah, me too.

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Workout: Cardio - ran 30 minutes on the TM, Weights - plank jacks until i almost died, more abs, biceps and shoulders