Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   Giving is       Sometimes stressful.  I always want to find just the perfect thing, and it never quite works out right.  That's why I end up baking mostly.

2.  Receiving is   very sweet, but makes me feel awkward sometimes.  Especially if the gift is expensive or you didn't reciprocate in the appropriate amount.

3.  The best gift I ever received was       probably my engagement ring.  A nice sparkly rock and a lifetime with the love of my life?  Yes, please.  I think Quatchi might be a close second.

4.  The best gift I ever gave was   umm... I don't know if I've ever given a really good gift before.  We'll see how this Christmas goes, then I'll get back to you.

5.  Something intangible that I wish I could receive is       a brighter outlook/sunny disposition.  I wish I could go back to college.  Lying in the grass reading a book in the sun really makes me so happy. 

6.  Something intangible that I wish I could give is        a happy ending for my sister and her fiance.  They've been dealt a real shitty hand this year.  A clean and organized house that magically stayed that way for my parents.  A healthy pregnancy and delivery for Jaclyn and Andy.

7.  The one gift I always wanted as a child, but never got was       an Easy Bake oven.

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   I wish       I could find some more fun things to do around here and make some friends.  And stop worrying so goddamn much.  Also that my sister would move here and stay with me forever in sisterly happiness.

2.  Yesterday I   Had sushi with Chris and Cynthia, beat my stupid Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Gamecube game, and watched some TV.  Chris after insisting that we watch Twilight Eclipse, fell asleep during it and then begged me to turn it off.

3.  Today I will      work till 5, possibly return some things via UPS, bake something for tomorrow, and have a few drinks with my manfriend.

4.  Tomorrow I will   go to trivia finals and compete for $1000.  Not that we're really going to win, but it would be a pretty awesome after party if it were to randomly happen.  Then meet up with the trivia people at Jon & Sara's house.  Yay for being invited to a party!  I thought we'd never make any friends!

5.  Maybe      I got some Christmas gifts in the mail that I can wrap this evening.  Wrapping presents is easily one of my favorite activities ever. 

6.  Someday        We will get a puppy.  And redecorate and re-floor our condo. 

7.  I love       lamp.

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   Holiday spirit       makes me happy.

2.  The holidays are incomplete without   Bing Crosby, White Christmas, a family member saying something inappropriate when mom is reading a bible passage at dinner, and dad sitting on the floor and handing out presents.

3.  My favorite things to do around the holidays is      baking and singing and drinking wine with Elise!

4.  A holiday tradition my family and I have is   complaining about whatever mom has cooked for Christmas dinner.  Getting into a fight about vacuuming the house.  Complimenting the green wreath that Jaclyn and David colored when they were little.

5.  Holiday music is      Pretty freeking awesome.  I love the Christmas CDs that my mom puts in every year and singing at Church.  Also Handel's Messiah sing in is always fun.  I'm not a huge fan of radio Christmas music, they seem to always play the same five songs.  Sleigh Ride, Baby It's Cold Outside, The Christmas Song, Silver Bells, and It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

6.  This year, I'll be spending the holidays        at my house with my parents.  This year is the first time Chris and I will actually be spending the holiday together.  We'll have fake Christmas with his parents at some point afterward.

7.  Holiday wish list       My renewed sanity.  A decent night's sleep.  A non anxious day and night with my man friend.

Interesting Revelation

I think I just noticed who Chris' parents remind me of.  It's the Dursleys.  Or at least if the Dursleys were about 20% more relaxed and really liked red wine.

Happy Thanksgiving!  and a Happy Birthday to my lovely best friend Morgan <3

Pre-Thanksgiving Post

I do not have much to report here this week.

This weekend, Chris and I went to his parent's to put up their Christmas tree, do some decorating, and some holiday baking.  We played pool for a bit, drove all the way home to bring back the correct type of walnuts (I wasn't aware there was a wrong type of walnut), and went out to dinner.  I like going out to dinner with the in-laws.  It's usually at a really nice place and we eat and have some wine and usually have a very serious conversation about whatever, which ultimately boils down to a hilarious relaxed conversation, but always only after we've paid the bill.  I don't understand why his parents suddenly get hilarious at the end of a meal, and we start having a good time, then it's time to go home.  Very odd.

I'm doing really good on the calorie counting this week.  I'm down a whole 3 pounds in one week.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.  The goal is around 2 pounds per week or at least 5 pounds a month, which would put me at 50 pounds lost by the time our wedding rolls around in one year.  That leaves me with eating about 1500 calories a day, which is really not very much.  Granted, we were eating a ridiculous amount of calories before, but I'm in a bit of a cranky-hungry mood this week.  I'm thinking it will start to get better and pass altogether once I get my body used to it.  Also, I'm planning on joining a gym after Thanksgiving, so if I do any exercising I can up my calorie intake a bit that day and still reach my weight goal for the week.  I started this journey at 220 pounds.  I'm at 214 right now, and hopefully will continue to drop steadily from now on. 

Elise and Jason are coming for Thanksgiving!  I am so very excited to do all of our holiday baking.  I have so much fun when my sister comes to visit and we have a lot of wine and dance around the kitchen.  Our baking list for Thanksgiving is as follows:

• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan-Caramel Cheesecake
• Chocolate Mousse Cake
• Cinnabons for Friday morning breakfast

It should be majorly delicious.  Jason is planning on moving in with us when his lease is up at the end of the year, so we will be planning a trip down to Virginia to help him get his stuff and put most of it in storage.

I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit and have started listening to Christmas music already.  I know it's early, but I was in the mood. I'm dragging Chris with me to Target later so we can buy a tree and put up the ornaments that I brought from home. 

I checked out one of the local Roman Catholic churches on Sunday.  I need to become a parishioner somewhere around here so we would be eligible to sign up for our pre-cana or pre-marriage classes that are required for us to get married at my church back home.  It was epic and modern and so strange.  Much different from things at St. Raymond's.  There was preachy music played by a guy that sounded like John Denver, 2 jumbo trons and video cameras everywhere showing slide shows of the readings and whoever was talking at the time, inspirational videos shown before mass and as part of the homily.  There's a cafe that looks like a Starbucks in the lobby and a lounge with a fireplace, and they had so much staff.  There was a person like every 10 feet with a little ID badge on.   There was a street entrance that looked like the big stone facade thing of a country club.  You could tell that they had a lot of money to blow on updating and maintaining the place.  I e-mailed the info address to find out about becoming a parishioner and they said they already responded to me.  They have a program set up for you to hear about the church and have dinner before filling out your registration.  Seriously, it's intense.  I'm going to take Elise with me to mass on Sunday for moral support while I sign up for the program thingy.  It should be pretty interesting. 

Can it be Wednesday yet?  I miss my sister.

Julibean <3

Fill in the Blank Friday!

As always, questions complements of  The Little Things We Do

1.   My Thanksgiving plans this year will include       Baking a hell of a lot!  So excited about that.  Having dinner with the in-laws, the fiance's grandparents, my parents, my sister, and her fiance.  Then epic Black Friday of awesomeness.  Seeing Harry Potter in IMAX at the Science Center and then going to the Baltimore Aquarium and seeing the dolphin show!

2.  My favorite Thanksgiving was   Probably the one where Sebastian punched David in the balls under the table.  No other Thanksgiving really sticks out to me except the worst one.

3.  My signature Thanksgiving dish is      I don't have one yet, but maybe I'll start a tradition this year.

4.  My favorite Thanksgiving food is   The Mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce from the can.  I don't think I really eat much else except the dessert.  Oh and my aunt's barley soup.  SO GOOD!

5.  Thanksgiving free association!      pie, movies, family, pictures, photoshopping said pictures, epic Sebastian debacles.

6.  Thansgiving is        Delicious!  And we always watch the parade and the dog show afterwards!

7.  I am thankful for   being so fortunate this holiday season when I know a lot of other people are much worse off.  Fuck unemployment.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   My Halloween plans this year will include      going wedding dress shopping at Kleinfeld's on Saturday, then on Sunday going to church and driving home back to Maryland.

 
2.  My most memorable Halloween costume was   me dressed up as button candy.  I was wearing white felt with half Styrofoam circles spray painted different colors and one on my head like a hat.  Also, in the 5th grade we did a Halloween Biography project and I was Krista McAuliffe, my dad made me an astronaut suit out of a xxxl hasmat suit from work.  It was "fitted" to me with duct tape and had some mission badges on it.  I looked crazy ridiculous.

3.  For Halloween this year I'm going to be      umm... drunk perhaps?  We were going to go as Nattie Boh and the Utz Girl, but we're actually not going out this Halloween.  Next year I will make sure we have a drunken ridiculous time though.

4.  I've always wanted to dress up as  Sailor Moon... but then I was sailor moon.  I'd really like to get a legit sailor moon costume off eBay and just wear it every year for old time's sake.

5.  Halloween free association!  crash dummies, jasmine, unicorn... I guess I'm just recalling more Halloween costumes of years past.

6.  The worst thing about Halloween is   people think you're too old to go trick-or-treating and you just sit in your house and eat candy. 

7.  The best thing about Halloween is      Watching the little kids and their ridiculous costumes.  My favorite was one year when a kid came to our house dressed as Harry Potter and he had a broom.  Then he jumped off our porch and tried to fly.  Priceless.