30 Memories of 2011

It's that time again! Time to reminisce about the past year. My family and I are mildly obnoxious about musing about the past. We've been known to drive away from a vacation and immediately launch into a round of, "What was your favorite part of the vacation we just took?" Even Dan and I have begun doing this, asking questions such as, "Remember how that waiter surprised us with free sambuca?" mere days after it happened. Uh, yeah, I was there...

You know that I don't just pick the best moments a la a suburbanite's Christmas card. This years had its ups and downs and the below list reflects that. Since it was the year I turned thirty, I decided to pick thirty memories I musn't forget to remember:

January
 In January, I:

Resolved to eat at twelve new restaurants
* Updated my living room
* Celebrated friends turning 30 and dreaded my upcoming birthday



February

In February, I...

* Said goodbye to a classy lady here and here
* Made art for my bedroom

March


In March, I...

* Turned 30 and discovered my new favorite U.S. city
* Fed alligators
* Beat my 10K time from last year



April

In April, I...

* Kicked some brass
* Savannah vs. Charleston showdown
May

In May, I...

* Ran a mud run
* Started to work on our backyard


June

In June, I...

* Kayaked along the Potomac for Dan's birthday
* Saw our city as tourists
* Finished our backyard make-over

July

In July, I...
* Updated our bathroom
* Went on beach vacation with our family
* Played golf for first time ever... at night

August


In August, I...

* Biked 8 mile night time ride
* Survived Earthquake 2011!
September


In September, I...
* Opened up about our loss

October


In October, I...

* Danced in a flash mob to this song
* Won a costume contest
* Listened to the wedding roast... errr... toast
* Hiked the Appalachian Trail

November


In November, I...


* Wrote about an odd type of gratitude
* Officially became a published writer!
NOTE: After four years of corresponding with a Virginia Tech professor, I was finally sent a copy of this book containing a lesson plan I created on The Outsiders! Never blogged about this because it's kinda boring to anyone who doesn't teach eighth grade English, but Ponyboy would be proud.

December


In December, I...

* Went to an "H is for Holiday" party
* Restored my belief in Santa
* Rocked a resolution


Want more memories? Remember that time I was a juror for a murder trial? Or when I almost passed out after bikram yoga? No? Then, go to the 2010 breakdown here.


I'm nothing if not thorough in my reminscences.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

I believe because he made one of my husband's biggest wishes come true. And on Christmas Eve at that. Nice work, Santa.

Dan has been in a fantasy football league for the past seven years. Each September, he shells out 100 bucks in order to join the trash talk and male bonding that is fantasy football. He seems to forget that I know nothing about sports and agonizes over who to start each week to me. Anyway, he is the complete underdog. He has come in last place twice and almost last several other times. He's even been forced to work the fantasy football board at their draft, which is the equivalent of being the "asshole" in the popular college drinking game by the same title. Dan and his friends are pretty merciless at heckling one another, so when he was in last place there was no shortage of comments requesting that he turn in his "man card". In short, he had no where to go but up.

By the way, if you are like me and totally unathletic and are about to stop reading, I promise that is the extent that I will discuss fantasy football. I'm also going to end with belated pictures of my holiday decor. Stick with it. You're almost done.

Somehow, Dan made it to the final "superbowl" in his fantasy league this year. The culminating "game" was on Christmas Eve. (Notice the over-use of quotation marks as fantasy football is still crazy confusing to me). He kept sneaking peaks at the computer to see the score in between opening fabulous gifts and our decadent crabcake dinner. When he realized that he had squeaked by a win, he launched into a full-on happy dance complete with fist pumping. The conversation went like this:

Dan: YES!

My mom: What's going on?!

Dan: YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Me: Hit refresh to make sure.

My dad: Did you win?

Dan: WHOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

Me: You did it? You actually won?

Dan: YUHHH HUHHHH! *&%* yeah!!!!! WOOO

Me: Seriously? That's great, hon!

Dan: HOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Yes, on that magical Christmas Eve, my husband couldn't stop himself from relishing in his win. His text to his friends that night?

Merry Christmas and a happy new year, from your league's champion!

Hope you all suck less in 2012.

On second thought, maybe Santa created a monster...

As promised, I thought I'd share a few rather blurry photos of my holiday decor to inject some estrogen into this post:

If these twelve days of Christmas plates don't counterbalance all the football talk, I don't know what will...

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families!

H is for...

La Vida Lista Encyclopedia: Volume H

Since I already had two posts about gratitude, I figured letter "G" is covered. I'm moving on to letter...

Randomly, there are three things going on in my life that fit neatly into this "H" category. I'm saving the best for last... an "H" themed party! Yes, really.

Hardware:

I kicked some more brass. That's right. Before the hardware on my front door looked like this:

I spent a Sunday afternoon unscrewing everything, positioning them on the cardboard boxes, and spraying them with this exact method I found from YHL. It updated the look for less than ten bucks, even if it was more time consuming to figure out how to reassemble than I had anticipated.

There are still ninety-nine problems with the front of our house, but our handle ain't one. Small victories, people. See the new dark look?

Moving right along...

Holiday decor:

More on my new holiday decor next week when I have a chance to breathe (NO school! Woo hooooo!), but I thought I'd share one thing:

I have a turquoise, blue, and white color scheme going on in my dining room:


So I took the mason jars that I scored from my sister-in-law's wedding, filled them with sea salt "snow", spray painted a faux tree and bush, and made a little snowglobe sans the water:


Next week, I'll show off more decor and the other one I made after bleaching a few faux trees white.

Lastly, to round off volume "H"...

The H party

Some of Dan's quirky friends from work through a holiday party with an "H is for Holiday" theme. They requested that everyone come dressed as something starting with an "H".

Interweb, I give you... my hubby dressed as Harry Potter:


Hahahahahaha! This has been cracking me up all week!

His graduation robe + a Redskins scarf + faux glasses = the sexiest Harry ever

I pulled out my "house" Halloween costume and my sister Bethy came along dressed as "Heaven and Hell"

Ignore my sister's odd "I'm hammered" expression. The above picture was taken at the end of the night.

I didn't get very many pictures of all the great cosumes (Hokie! Hippie! Hermit Crab! Hester Prim! Holiday sweaters!) but here's a random one of Dan and a colleague dressed as a hiker:



H overload: Heaven and Hell, Hairstylist, Captain Hook, Heaven:


Random but fun party! I'll leave you with two more photos we took at the end of the night.

The hostess set up one of those stick-your-head-in-the-holes picture ops:

Happy holidays!

The dog that doesn't bark

This post may read a little like "Deep Thoughts with Christen" a la the old SNL sketch, but I recently read about a different type of gratitude, and it really resonated with me. Because it's still Thanksgiving weekend, I just had to share.

I was on the blog The Happiness Project and author Gretchen Rubin was talking about giving thanks when bad things don't happen, rather than only when good things do. She likened avoiding catastrophes to a Sherlock Holmes story where the sleuth uncovers a murderer because he realizes the nearby hound never barked, meaning that the villain had to be someone who knew the pooch. Rubin discussed that one of the foibles of people is that they will worry and worry about incoming test results or the phone ringing in middle of the night, but they rarely give notice when said test results are negative or loved ones stay safe. She urged people to give thanks for the "dog that doesn't bark"... for the bad things that never happen.

Giving thanks for when things turn out okay is such a simple concept. If I'm being totally honest, I think this article stuck with me because I have a black belt in worrying. For instance, I get a knot in my stomach before parent-teacher conferences lest I have a nasty parent who is batshit crazy, even though I've only met a very few like that in the eight years I've been working. I'm the one who tosses and turns until I have to get up to write out a "to do" list while Dan is snoring five minutes after his head hits the pillow. Too often, I will rehash conversations with people and worry whether I said the wrong thing and that some weird interaction will occur in the future. It suddenly hit me after reading Rubin's blog that I expend useless energy worrying as a type of superstitious warding off of bad things. Like a twisted version of the Field of Dreams quote, sometimes I really think: If I worry enough, it won't happen.

Often, the worry that was screaming in my head never comes to pass. You know, when the parent-teacher conference goes smoothly or the car inspection is all clear, I don't give it a second thought. Who notices the dog that doesn't bark? Rubin has a point about that being kind of a sad habit of people.

I've already posted about the car accident I was in two years ago that really shook me up. Some teenager on his cell phone ran a red light and smashed into my driver's side, propelling me into oncoming traffic. My car was totalled, but I walked away with only a few cuts and bruises. You can see in the pictures below there are shards of safety glass from the window that shattered:















That night, I took home a piece of the shattered window. It kind of looked like soothing, blue-green beach glass. It was my relic, a reminder of how thankful I needed to be for how that crash turned out, and give thanks for the people in my life. I was okay, I kept repeating to myself. The glass had cracks in it, and it eventually crumbled to bits when I picked it up, and I had to throw it out because it was just gravel at the bottom of my jewelry box, but Rubin's post kind of brought that feeling of gratitude back.

Dan and I didn't put slips in the thankful jar about things that turned out okay, but I have countless ones. For the home owners' annoyances we've never had to deal with. For the scary interactions and sad experiences we've never gone through. For the happiness, health, and safety of Dan and me, our friends, and family. Thank goodness for every metaphorical dog that didn't bark.

The End of "Deep thoughts with Christen"- ha ha! :) Does this concept resonate with any of you?

Rainbows, Stickers, and Moscato wine

Those are just a few things that made it on our thankful list. But more on that in a second.

Excuse the blog hiatus. We've had a flurry of annoyances as of late keeping us busy. These include our boiler breaking, three car repairs, trying to track down the owners of a lost dog we found, and a bizarre night where we woke up at three in the morning to the sounds of our drunk next door neighbor screaming obscenities and smashing our other neighbor's car with rocks for no apparent reason. It's been an odd few weeks.

But it's Thanksgiving and there is so much to be grateful for, so you'll hear no more bitching from me! Dan and I did our thankful jar again this year. It's our new tradition slip notes in the jar all month without reading what the other wrote, and then on Thanksgiving we empty the jar and share.

What were we thankful for this year? Each other, family, friends, our home, jobs, health... so much. Below are a few smaller things.





A few of my notes in the jar:

The double rainbow I saw on the way to school

Getting to ride together to work

When I tried to persuade you that the new Pottery Barn rug would pull everything together in the living room and you dead-panned, "I know! It will probably also help me to grow more hair and a larger penis. We need that rug!" You never fail to crack me up.

Pear, goat cheese, and bacon sandwich from Stir Crazy Coffee Shop

Brunch with Missy and Mali and finding a cute bomber jacket during our shopping trip afterwards

Getting my "I voted" sticker after you guilt tripped me into voting after my long day. (You're right... I did feel like a good citizen!)

For the beautiful fall foliage in our neighborhood

Pretty walk to coffee shop with Kate

On Parks and Rec when Ron Swanson said, "My religion? I'm a practicing none-of-your-f*$&ing business." SIDE NOTE: If you don't watch Parks and Rec, you need to.
Asking you a million questions during Silence of the Lambs, which turned out to be a great movie! I'm glad you talked me into finally watching it.


My sister Bethany came in town for a visit, and here's what she put in the jar:
I am thankful for a wonderful sister who loves Moscato wine and tucks me in bed when I'm stressed. (Yes, I apparently have TERRIBLE taste in wine. It's my secret shame.)

I am thankful for a brother-in-law who I am proud to show off to my friends.

And lastly, a few of Dan's notes:
How you make me laugh when you get the "Sunday Blues".

(Basically, he thinks it's hilarious that I get mopey around 7:00

every Sunday when I realize the weekend is over.)
That we found the owners of Suzie (the dog we found)

I got question right on Final Jeopardy when none of the contestants did


Our Thanksgiving was low key and wonderful. My family just met up with my godparents' family at Maggiano's for a clean-up free indulgence fest. Below is a picture of Bethany and me with our godsister and her adorable, little boy.

Afterwards, Bethany and I snickered through Breaking Dawn, a favorite guilty pleasure. Good times :)

The tryptophan from leftover turkey has officially taken over, so I'm off to bed. My mom and sister have persuaded me to brave the Black Friday crowds tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Any survival tips from black belt shoppers?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last of Halloween

I promised that I would share the new recipes I tried, so this post will be a quick one!

We went out to dinner with two other couples for dinner and then came back to drink, watch scary movies, and have dessert. This year, I tried three new recipes that I found on Pinterest:

A can of pumpkin + a box of spice mix = easiest pumpkin cupcakes ever. I got this recipe off Pinterest from a friend... so good! I decorated these guys with candy corn fangs:

I made marshmallow pops (which I later wrapped and gave to trick or treaters too):

It's not even complicated enough to describe, but I will anyway. Easy steps include buying jumbo marshmallow and putting a stick in them:

Dip in orange chocolate and let cool. Then dip in yellow chocolate and let dry.

They look pretty but are like the real candy corn... sugar overload.

Lastly, my favorite thing were these whoopie pies that I used a simple Duncan Hines kit to make.

Damn do I ever need to get to the gym after this diabetic sugar coma...

Just do it #19: Win a costume contest!

Well, win a small costume contest of about 30 people.

But still... it counts! Right?

Can you guess what Dan and I dressed as for Halloween?

You would have had to seen a certain movie involving an old man and his floating house that is guaranteed to make you cry during the montage about marriage, that is, provided you are not dead inside. Kidding. But seriously, when Dan and I saw Up in the theater that scene got both of us a little sentimental.

Anyway, when my sister Bethany invited us to her Halloween party and told us that everyone would vote for their favorite costume, it tapped into Dan and my competitive sides. We were in it to win it.

After much brainstorming, we decided to pay homage to Up. Dan dressed as Mr. Frederickson by buying the big glasses and a bow tie, sprayed his hair white, and wore his grandfather's tweed jacket (complete the grape soda pin on the lapel.) We ordered the cane for $12 online, which we're going to donate to a nursing home later, and added the tennis balls. My costume only cost $12 for the helium balloons, as I simply used my glue gun, construction paper from home, and two old boxes to create my house.

Confession: I spent way too long on that damn house and burned two of my fingers on my glue gun, but this nerdy, arts and craft project was kind of fun. And, of course, I loved showing the final product.
Of course, no one can out-Halloween my sister, who looked freakin' perfect as the Black Swan:


Somber ballerina close-up:


You can't really tell from this picture, but she had the movie Black Swan playing in the background as guests arrived, and I just had to snap a side by side:

There was too much cuteness at the party to recap, from pumpkin beer, spooky punches, and jello shots, to themed foods, to flip cup and a costume contest. She did a great job!



My mom and dad dressed up for the first time as a couple and stopped by for a little Halloween fun. Aren't they cute as a bee and beekeeper?





Getting scary:

Bethy received the most votes for best costume, and we were pumped to take home a "best couple costume" ribbon, especially considering some of the cute competitors, like Stay Puff and a ghostbuster, look-alikes from Sons of Anarchy, and...
Sue Sylvester and Puck from Glee:


Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter


and the-taking-one-for-the-team award that should have gone to this guy, whose wife convinced him to don matching adult leopard print onesies. Notice how he's drinking heavily to bear the shame:

You might this this costume was my idea, but it wasn't. Dan was all about it. He likes to win at everything, costume contests included. In fact, after he won, he fist pumped and made the most random comment to me...

"You know, Christen, I thought our best costume days were behind us. But we're like the Beatles! You know...when everyone thought they were fading out, they suddenly make Abbey Road and the album is a huge hit!"

Uhh... sure, babe. That's an accurate comparison.