Tag Archives: Family

Chili Cook-off, Gingerbread Houses and Christmas Trees

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On Saturday, we invited a few friends over to bake cookies and have a chili cook-off. We made two chili’s, a coworker of mine brought a white bean chili, and two family friends brought two other chili’s. We had two different types of cornbread, and enjoyed one tasty meal! We tasted all of them, and then voted. My dad’s house chili won hands down! I was so proud.

Our Chili Cook-off Group

Our Chili Cook-off Group

On Sunday we baked our family breakfast pastry, called Nuthorns. They are amazing. My brother and Roomie tackled making a gingerbread house to beat all houses. Being an engineer and math teacher, they created a structurally sound but still beautiful house.

 

We had a tasty dinner last night of raclette, and enjoyed dinner just as a family last night. Today we had aunts, friends and neighbors stop by to exchange presents. I lucked out this year! More on that later.

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Now we are preparing dinner for the group of us; honey mustard salad, grilled kebobs, potatoes au gratin, an onion grape  tarte, lemon sorbet and apple pie! I am looking forward to a yummy family dinner.

I hope everyone is enjoying time with their family, I know I am. We played lots of wii today, and hung out with four pups!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love,

-S

 

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Shopping

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I wanted to thank everyone for all the lovely notes on being nervous about my dentist appointment. It went well. :]

This week I took a hiatus from the blog, because I wanted to focus on family time, relaxing with the pups, and taking a breather from school/work. I also have realised that my computer sucks me in, and then it’s four hours later and I’m still on pinterest/bloglovin’/keep. I have been trying to stay more grounded lately, and less time on my computer. I love to snuggle up with the pups and a book, and that happened a lot this week.

Anyhoo, Thanksgiving was awesome. It was a small group this year, but that did not mean our menu was any smaller. In fact, I believe this year we topped out with the most recipes in a long time. The final number was 12 by the way. We made so many tasty things, but I managed to try a bite of everything!

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Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two occasions where the family goes all out, and I really enjoy hearing the family stories about the carving tools, glassware and old family traditions.

Prosciutto and Pears Appetizer

Our yummy cranberry cocktail

Maryah sitting at the head of the dining room table

My favorite part of our thanksgiving meal.

On Friday, the Roomie, her brother and I got up before the crack of dawn (2am, to be precise) and went to the mall. I had never gone shopping on Black Friday, and I wanted to try it, at least once.

 Most of the shops had opened at 5-8pm on Thanksgiving, and the rest at midnight. We arrived at 3 and it was busy, but certainly not insane. We shopped, and the John was a complete dear. He even met up with us, and carried our bags to the car! Maryah treated him to a Jersey as a thank-you for being so kind about the whole day.

I made out like a bandit, but some were Christmas and birthday gifts for other people. More details on what I got tomorrow!

My Black Friday shopping haul.

My Black Friday shopping haul.

This year I was very thankful that everyone was here for Thanksgiving. I know some families aren’t able to all be together on Thursday, but we were, and it really meant a lot to me. In the past, with both of us away at college, it was tricky to get all four of us together. Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the two that I have the fondest family memories of, and I really do treasure the time we have together.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksiving, and enjoyed some relaxed family time.

Love,

-S

Stockings Holders, Ornaments, and Trees

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When I was younger, we often decorated our house for Christmas on the same day that we got our Christmas Tree. Getting our Christmas tree though, was always an adventure!

We would pile into our big, comfy, green Ford Explorer, and head into the mountains. After getting lost for a few minutes we would discount the first few tree farms, because predictably they would be picked over. We would settle on a farm, grab our jackets, put a leash on our pup, and head into the wet wintery forest. Finding the perfect tree has become somewhat of a routine. We can’t go with the first tree we find, because there might be a better one out there. We usually haggle over the final tree, because I want a Charlie Brown tree, while the family wants a wide, large tree with evenly spaced out boughs. I wanted the homeliest tree out there, to take home because no one else would. Often, I lose the vote and we get a tree that is tall, wide, and barely fits on our car, let alone in the family room.

When my brother and I went away to college, sometimes we got our tree closer to Christmas, sometimes we would even pick one Thanksgiving weekend. Last year, we joined with another family for the Christmas tree selection, and it was a blast. This year, we plan on going with the Issa Family again, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. When we picked a tree during Thanksgiving break, we also decorated the house.

Now that I have my own place, I have been itching to get cute Christmas decorations. I have been resisting these cute things for a few days now, but I might give in!

My mom and I were the two that usually were anxious to pull out the Christmas Boxes and decorate the whole house. I usually was in charge of the Christmas Tree decorations, while either my dad or my brother did the lights on the tree. To this day, decorating the tree is one my of favorite holiday rituals. I love that the holidays are finally here.

Happy Wednesday!

Love,

-S

Emma Ward, Hidden Waterfalls and Apple Picking

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On Saturday Uncle Chip, Dad, Mum, Richard and I explored downtown troy. We started off with some hot coffee from Spill In The Beans, a local joint. We walked through a lovely farmers market and picked up a tasty goat chevre. From there we checked out a local all-girls high school called Emma Willard. The campus was unbelievable!

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Next we took a short walk down to the local stream, which used to be used to gather energy for the town. We enjoyed hopping from one rock to the next as I tried to not fall into any of the puddles.

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The streambed

The stream bed

 

The trees around this town looked like they were on fire. The spectacular colors that make the East Coast look dazzling were on full display for our visit.

 

We hugged my uncle goodbye and sent him on his long drive back to NC. Richard and I dropped my parents off at their hotel and set off to go apple-picking, one of my favorite childhood activities. We munched on fresh apple cider and apple donuts as we picked 9 varieties of apples. The sweet smell of ripe apples and the lazy sunshine on my sweater made the day feel perfect.

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On Sunday I waved goodbye to Richard, and to my parents, who were flying to Pittsburgh. They will enjoy a few days with my Grandfather before coming home later this week.

Today I jumped headfirst into work, coming home around 6. A long day, but it’s good to be home!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Happy Monday! (The Bones episode tonight was really good!!)

Love,

-S

Shopping, My 25th Birthday, Dinosaur Muffins and Cooking on Sundays

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This week was insanely busy, which is why I have not had a spare minute to post about everything.  I hope that with time I will get better at balancing work and blogging. If you have any tips, let me know!

The Roomie and I had a five day weekend from school, which was perfect timing as my birthday was smack dab in the middle of it!  On Thursday we slept in, to the gloriously late hour of 9am. We did a few things around the house and then went off to the mall. The Roomie and I found many cute things. We scored at pretty much every store.

Our shopping haul.

Our shopping haul.

On Friday I hit the gym, and it provided a much needed round of happy endorphins. Since I started working full time, getting to the gym every day has fallen to the way side. Starting in a week I hope to build it back into my routine. From the gym I went to my parents house to get Lightroom 5 set up on my mom’s and my laptop. For dinner we grabbed tasty greek food at Opa’s in downtown Los Altos. We had tickets to see Les Mis at the Saratoga Theatre, where two friends of mine were in lead role. I look forward the most to shows with actors I know personally.

After another glorious sleep-in, I set off for the grocery store. I picked up some snack but most everything was for my birthday party later that day. Around 4, people started trickling in, and we munched on tasty Mexican tacos and guacamole. We drank margaritas and horchata and enjoyed the warm evening air. We took a group photo, and I had everyone sign the frame that I would eventually put it in. People drifted in and out, and it was a glorious melding of friends, food and fun.

I made pumpkin spiced dinosaur muffins!

I made pumpkin spiced dinosaur muffins!

Our group photo.

Our group photo.

This morning after the Roomie and I tied up the house I wrote my thank you notes for my birthday gifts. We went over to the Castle and I tucked into cooking with my dad. We made ham and shrimp croquetten, mac’n’cheese and quiche lorraine. After a long round of dishes ( i swear we used every cooking utensil possible!) we tasted the mac’n’cheese. It was delicious and I look forward to munching on it after a long day at work next week.

Tomorrow I will be babysitting the whole day and Tuesday we start back  at work. I have one day of teaching, and then I fly out at the crack of dawn (have I mentioned I hate mornings?!) for my cousins wedding in upstate New York. More details on that later.

How was your weekend? What did you do? How do you balance getting you time and getting your errands done?

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Love,

-S

Subbing, Singlebarrell,and a New Job

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The last few days have been crazy busy, so thus the radio silence.

It all started Monday with a job interview. The interview went well, and Tuesday night they offered me a teaching contract. They had a vacancy and I had to jump to get everything settled. I had already agreed to sub for Los Gatos for a few days, so I had to sub and then run around after a full day of school trying to get all the details worked out. I took a TB test, fingerprinted, printed and signed my contract (it was like 30 pages!) and scouted out things at the school.

Last night the family, Roomie and I went over to Singlebarrell, this epic Prohibition era style bar in San Jose. We got there early and enjoyed a nice cocktail (or two!) before grabbing Thai food for dinner. We saw this yarnbombed tree, and it made me laugh.

A yarnbombed tree in San Jose.

A yarnbombed tree in San Jose.

I got my keys to my classroom today!  I start Monday. I will teach intro to art for two periods and then I am the Site Testing Coordinator for the rest of the day. I will be giving tests like MAPS, CAHSEE and CELDT. Sounds like fun eh? But the best part is that it’s at Roomie’s school so we can hang out together at work, just like last year!

Now I am off to my mother’s birthday dinner. Tomorrow, my best friend Robert will pick up his swanky new car.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Do you have any weekend plans? Was your week exhausting like mine was?

-Love,

S

Coffee, Desserts and a Father-Daughter Cooking Session

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This past weekend I was invited to a friend’s birthday dinner at a wine bar in Palo Alto called Gravity. I had some free time and grabbed a coffee before meeting up with the dinner party. Sitting in the sunshine I enjoyed a calm moment with my book. It was lovely.

Coffee and a good book make for an excellent afternoon.

Coffee and a good book make for an excellent afternoon.

Abby was the perfect birthday girl, and we indulged in plenty of yummy food! The restuarant Gravity was new to me so we ordered a little bit of everything.

Our appetizers
Our appetizers!
My delicious pasta.

My delicious pasta.

Our desserts were unbelievably good. I had the strawberry shortcake, Abby ordered a peach pastry with vanilla ice cream and Rita got a chocolate lava cake.

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When I got back to the apartment the pups were snuggling despite the lingering heat.

Adorbs

Adorbs!

Today my father and I spent the whole day in the kitchen creating delicious things to eat. We tackled an impressive list: chili, tortilla lasagna, banana walnut bread, and peppermint-chocolate ice cream.  A long day, but so worth it!

I think chili is my new go-to soup.

I think chili is my new go-to soup.

3 Trays of tortilla lasagna!

3 Trays of tortilla lasagna!

I'm hoping this treat will make early mornings bearable!

I’m hoping this treat will make early mornings bearable!

There are no photos of the ice cream. So sad, because it really was delicious. Next time!

How was your Tuesday? What did you do today?

Love,

-S

Pups, Fancy Friday,and the Bacon Festival

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Prepare yourselves: it’s a long photo-filled glorious post!

My roommate has two adorable labs. We brought them out to California in June/July and they are great company. Reeces is 9 years old and is a chocolate Lab. She is also the mother of Nala, who is a yellow lab. Nala is 4 years old. Both dogs are friendly and play well with my brothers dog Crash. Crash is just over a year old, and is a Belgian Malinois.

Reeces and Nala in Crash's bed.

Reeces and Nala in Crash’s bed.

Crash!

Crash! Isn’t he beautiful?

Nala loves to relax in my room, and in particular on my bed. She has become rather attached to one of my stuffed animals.

Nala loves my dinosaur teddy bear.

Nala loves my dinosaur teddy bear.

It was a very busy weekend. Thus the radio silence since my post on Friday morning. Friday evening a group of us dressed in our Sunday best gathered for a glass of wine at my parents house. I’m hoping this becomes a regular thing, but we shall see! After tasting a lovely chardenay, we went over to Sweet Tomatoes for a bite to eat. Robert documented our loveliness and produced these fine things:

 

Fancy Friday 1

Fancy Friday 1

The short one-AKA the roommate.

Fancy Friday 2-The short one-AKA the roommate.

On Saturday the whole family, both roommates and I went down to the premiere Bacon Festival in San Jose. We waited in long lines and then chowed down on some seriously tasty bacon filled tidbits. My favorite was the garlic and bacon fries.

The family, roommates and I.

The family, roommates and I.

How was your weekend? What did you do? Are you enjoying this long weekend?

Love,

-S