Favorite Things - Week Two

I love getting new pajamas for Christmas. My favorite ones are from LandsEnd. I love them so much I wear them all year long! I've definitely been caught walking the dog in June sporting my red and white snowflake pajamas. Winter pajamas - go getch-you some!

Second Helping

My name is Elizabeth and I am a Twilight-aholic. Yes, I liked it so much I went to two shows in one day!

Jenny and Carm kidnapped me from the office to see the matinee. Okay, I asked them to go, but still they came and got me. Here's us taking a picture before the show began...so excited!



Sara watched Morgan at work. (See Laura Morgan people CAN bring their babies to work with them! I took this picture as proof just for you...that's why Sara is laughing as she strikes the "I'm a mom that brings my baby to work with me pose" for me.)



In a word? I LOVE TWILIGHT! I was actually super excited when Jenny called me at 6pm to see if I wanted to go to the movie again. Uh, YES! We had a great time...despite the overly crowded setting. I am so excited because my girlfriend Meghan still wants to see it (3) and Nate's mom read the book and we're going to see the movie over cookie weekend (4)...anyone else need a partner in crime? I'm sure I can go!

Read the book. Then see the movie. (I'll come with) Then send me a message thanking me for the enlightening experience. DO it.

Can't Wait!

I can't wait for the girls to pick me up! We're heading to the theatre for a matinee of Twilight!!!! We're hitting a matinee for several reasons:

1. We don't want to wait in the after school teenager line
2. Carm has a baby and his naptime is only so long/late in the day
3. I couldn't wait until tonight to see it anyway!!!!

I've got goodie bags for them including: candy, the soundtrack and tissues. We are completely prepared for a chick-flick kind of day!

Favorite Things - Week One

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week! What's even crazier is to think that Christmas is just over a month away! It never feels like we have enough time to celebrate. Once the tree is finally decorated and the gifts are finally wrapped, all of a sudden it's January 28th and we're the only freaks with a Christmas wreath still on our door!

I still love the feeling of walking into Target and seeing the endless aisles of things that I definitely need to buy for Christmas! What's better than that? Seeing the endcaps at the grocery store devoted to "stuffing" and "cookie baking" ingredients!

Every Wednesday until the Holiday Season ends I am going to display a few of our favorite things about the season.

These are a few of our favorite things...

Favorite Thing #1: Egg nog!



Nate likes to drink it straight. I have to add a little Calder Dairy milk (the best milk EVER by the way!). Funny how your childhood can affect your adulthood. My mom always split the eggnog in half adding skim milk to the container. That's how I like it. Nate's all about the creamy thickness of real eggnog. In fact, last night I poured him a glass that was already 1/3 full of milk. One drink and he's already turning to find out why I thinned his nog. :)

Favorite Thing #2: Flannel Sheets!



Thanks to Target, I was able to score these cute wintry sheets for only $16! I went with the king set (hence the extra long and empty pillow case) so we wouldn't have to fight for sheets. I highly recommend getting king sheets if you have a queen bed and your sleeping mate are cover hogs!

New Set Up

When I came home from Whole Foods this afternoon Nate was just about to start playing a game of football. I, of course, was strongly against this idea. If he was going to play a game, we couldn't watch the t.v. So, he decided to bring the tv and stand up from the basement to set up his very own football tv. At least I convinced him to wear headphones instead of having to hear the noise from the stupid game as well.

It's actually working out sort of well. I'm watching Sweet Home Alabama, blogging and baking cookies. Nate's playing his game and I've already completely forgotten...except for the random "bad words" he yells out when his team messes up.

We'll see how long this new set up lasts!

Last Home Game

We went to the last Michigan game of the season at The Big House. In a word? It was MISERABLE! It was freezing cold, raining cats and dogs, snowing when it didn't feel like raining anymore and sleeting in between. The game itself? Boring, miserable and a loss. Darn it.

The only good thing? The company of course!

Meghan and I enjoying ourselves as the snow started...this was also about five minutes into the game.



The field. Can you see the snowflakes?



Nate and I took a photo before I left. That's right. Meghan and I punked out at half-time. I was so cold and so was she. The men played it cool...staying for the WHOLE GAME! Silly. Nate stayed "warm" by shoving a blanket around his waist until the rain coat...I tried to stay warm by wearing my winter coat and Luther blanket. His idea totally won...my didn't even last a quarter.

Photo Shoot

So, we're creating a Top Secret element to our wedding that includes Sampson (one of Nate's few requests in the planning process). Our friend Meghan is helping by doing some photo shoots of our guy. I meant to post these when she first sent them, but apparently I forgot!

Classic.



Here is Meghan's original photo.



Can you tell how she photoshopped it? It's brighter and yet softened in some spots like his collar.



Black and white style.



After about twenty minutes this happened. I like to think this was his way of saying "That's a wrap people!"



Thanks again for all the great pictures, Meghan!

Not a Fan

Sampson hates it when we're on our laptops for too long. This is what happens when I'm a bad blogger and I try to upload all of our posts in one Sunday night after ingnoring him while I cooked in the kitchen all afternoon. He sticks his head in front of the screen adn just waits for us to pay attention to him. Sometimes this little trick includes drooling. Lots and lots of drooling. Nice a nice combo with a laptop.

Barefoot Contessa

I haven't been cooking much lately which is unfortunate because I absolutely LOVE to do it! I'm getting nervous that when we move I might end up with even less kitchen space than we have now, so I decided to go all out today. I decided to make three things...which turned into way more work than I bargained for. It was sooo worth it though!

First, I made homemade barbeque sauce for barbeque chicken. (Thanks again to Miss Meghan for saving me with her chili powder...don't you just hate it when you're missing one ingredient?) It's currently marinating and we'll grill it up tomorrow night! Yum! Here's the recipe: Barefoot Contessa's Barbeque Chicken

I also made risotto. I learned how to make it at a cooking class last week. It was a great experience and really made me confident that I could do it. I've actually made it twice since the class!

Then I made Parmesan Chicken. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! It was DELICIOUS! I highly recommend making this one...even though it is a bit time intensive. Actually, I added creamy risotto to the recipe and that's what took the most time. The actual chicken recipe only took about thirty minutes! The salad that you're supposed to prepare with it was the perfect addition as well. I love making my own vinagrette...it makes me feel like a real cook! Ha! Here's the recipe: Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Chicken

By the way, I am SO excited to get new dishes. That way when I take pictures of our dishes they might actually look nice. The new camera at Christmas will help with that too. wink. wink.

When I grow up I want to be the Barefoot Contessa. End of story. :)

My Young BBA

Nate as a young BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration). They always wear tights, Uggs, BIG sunglasses and Big Michigan t's that they cut into dresses. Craziness.



I was a black-eyed pea.

Sampson's Trick-or-Treat

Sampson got a special dog friendly cookie from the Doggy-Day-Care that he goes to. He was SOOO excited!



He always gets "the crazy eyes" when he's excited to eat something. Goof ball.

Our Favorite Trick-or-Treaters

...not to mention that they were the ONLY we had! More candy for us I guess! A lion and a tiger...oh my!

A nicer photo of the whole fam.

Pumpkin Carving

We didn't have time to carve our pumpkin before the trick-or-treaters were supposed to come. Here is my sassy response to SOMEONE coming home late. :)



After 30 minutes and no trick-or-treaters we decided to carve the pumpkin. Maybe that would lure the kids to our door.



Not too shabby right?


Nate was very proud.

MBA Kids

The Partners Club threw it's annual MBA Kids Halloween Party last Friday. After trick or treating through the school they end up in a classroom to do crafts, eat lunch and enjoy their loot. Here are two of my favorite little guys all dressed up for the big day.



Morgan went as his dad...right down to the birkenstocks with socks. Isn't he a husky little guy? (That's what the doctor called him at his last appointment!) He's grown up quite a bit since Nate and I first met him in Midland this summer!





Aren't those funny socks???

This is James. Shockingly his mama, Katie, was extremely pregnant until the next morning. Now James is a big brother to a little sister. They named her Harper...Nate and I just LOVED that...their last name is Murphy. Doesn't Harper Murphy sound like a movie stars name? Anyway...this is James as the little German man that he is!

Scalloped Potatoes

Bet your hubster-to-be doesn't butter a casserole as well as mine does. Ha.

Mmm...Bev's Scalloped Potatoes and Ham...we made this for dinner a few nights ago. It was TO DIE FOR! It's totally worth the time it takes to peel and slice the potatoes. Especially when your hubster-to-be does it for you!