Gah!

I love snow and have been hoping for a good dusting for a few weeks now. Well it looks like my prayers have been answered...on the day that we fly home. I'm not concerned that we will miss it but I worry that our travels home may become a bit more difficult to see our families. I really hope this doesn't affect our flights. :( ::keeping fingers crossed::

Maybe this will pass by tomorrow?

And the redhead falls silent....

Dear Vocal cords,

Are you mad at me? Where did you go? I realize that we have been dealing with a cold for the last few weeks but going on strike is by no means the way to deal with this. We are a team. This morning I woke up, went to say good morning to my sweet hubs and nothing. I tried a little harder and just squeaked. No voice what-so-ever. This is totally unacceptable. I have things to say, comments to make. For example, this afternoon Todd did something really funny and when I went to razz him about it absolutely nothing came out...then in return I was razzed for not being able to deliver witty comments...is that what you want? I sincerely hope not. If you can see to it to heal yourself up, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Shan

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

First snow of the season! Yea!

Brrr! I really need to find those gloves. ::smacks head again::

Good Wine and good friends...

I have the coolest coworkers. Every day at work we just laugh and laugh. A few weeks ago, bonded by our love for wine, we decided that we should have a wine tasting party. Due to its proximity to downtown (in case we wanted to take our party on the road) we chose Casa Coyay as our venue. The rules were simple: Grab your hubs, 2 bottles of wine and a dish that paired well with it. We ended up having a ton of food and ton of wine and a ton of fun. I love these ladies!

The set up before all the chaos started

Jess, Brett, Mike, Don, Paul and Todd all demonstrating the proper way of swirling wine before tasting

Todd and Amy

Time to eat

The ladies: Cyndi, Jess, Kathy, Shan and Amy.

We learned here that taking a picture after many glasses of wine is a bit harder to organize.

Cheers!

It's Christmas Time!

We love Christmas and this year we are so excited to spend it with our families. We also could not wait to bust out all the decorations that we had collected this past year. There is just something about a sparkly tree that just gets you into that holiday spirit.

Our pretty home

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. Turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, pies...I'll take it all. It is by far my favorite meal and today I found out that my husband has a very special talent. I had no idea that when we got married that I had unknowingly committed my life to the best turkey roaster ever! Who knew?!?

Since Rhode Island insists on being so far from our families, we decided to scoop up our east coast family and host Thanksgiving at our house...we do have that fabulous dining table after all. Dividing up Thanksgiving prep, I tasked my sweet husband with the big job of cooking the turkey. Like any project you give to Todd, he took his turkey duty very seriously. This morning he got up at 4am ::yikes:: to throw our 14 pound turkey in a 8 hour bath of salt and vegetable stock. Then he stuffed the cavity with onions and apples for flavor and roasted it to perfection. It was the most moist turkey I have ever had. He timed it perfectly and had it ready, carved and on our table at exactly the right time. My husband is so dreamy. ::stares lovingly at hubs::

Even though we couldn't be with our families this year we still had a great day with great food and great friends. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

4am...yikes!

Taking a salt bath

Dedicated Hubs

Our festive table

Yum!

The crew

mmm...pie

Freezing in little Rhody!

Its cold. I mean really cold. 6 weeks ago we were dying of humidity and now we can see our breath in our living room. What happened? Gah! This morning it was 20 degrees outside and that did not include the wind chill! Gah! We are talking some serious cold.

We've also noticed that cold weather does not travel alone. It brings along a very special friend, static electricity. This has turned our loving home into a static mine field where we have become balls of electricity who mortally wound each other if we make contact. Gah!

Though we are only a week in (and probably have 6 months left), this is what we have learned so far:

1. Touching inside the our house is very dangerous.

2. Weight loss and weight management in winter is near impossible. Stuffing your face with casseroles, stews and soups are the only ways to stay warm.

3. Working a mile from your home almost always guarantees that your car's heater will finally kick on the minute you drive into your work's parking lot. brrrrrrrr. and...

4. Wind chill is not your friend.

As a California girl, I am totally unprepared. I happily drop kicked my gloves last May and now have no idea where they are. ::smacks head::. Apparently I didn't realize we had to do this every year...oops!