Gishmas 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Here is a quick photo tour of Gishmas 2012:

Come on in!

Doc is ready in his Christmas sweater

Presents are accumulating!

Nutcrackers, galore! (Plus awesome Pinterest idea for what to do w/Christmas cards!)

The stockings were hung by the chimney fireplace with care.

Me and my babies on Christmas Eve

Lydia gets some Pin action

Opening presents at the Gishes

Matching sweaters....

YAY!

ANOTHER matching sweater...

Doc and Chloe on Christmas morning

Opening presents

Burying her treat underneath the Christmas tree and pushing a present on top of it with her nose.

ohboyohboyohboyohboy

Doc unwrapping

Joey's new Mickey Mouse Nutcracker

Mimosas for us and a nap for Chloe- she's had enough of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

~SG

Little B!

We are still recovering from the busiest weekend EVER!

Joey and I went up to PA this weekend for the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert, my brother's engagement party, and my family Christmas "Trim the Tree" party.  Whew! 

I'm still compiling all the craziness from the engagement party because I did a lot to plan and organize, so there are a TON of pictures.  Plus, the party itself was pretty rockin'!

One of the best parts of my weekend was that we got to see our Goddaughter, Brooklyn.  She is growing up SO FAST.  It is amazing to see her learn and grow.  We're so blessed.  It was so good to see Steph (her Mom!) and we had a great time visiting.

Look at this little munchkin! I love her so much.

We opened Christmas presents and played with her new Melissa & Doug puzzles!

Joey helped her hang some ornaments on the tree.

She sat in my brother's rocker and played with the monkeys

Steph, Brooklyn and Me!

Shrek the Halls!

I know I've been a terrible blogger lately but I've been a little preoccupied with running.  It's a solid excuse, right? 

A couple weekends ago, Joey, my BIL Jason, and his GF Lydia went up to National Harbor to see ICE! at the Gaylord National Hotel.  We got there early and after picking up our tickets, headed to the Irish pub for a beer and some dinner.

National Harbor is pretty small, so naturally all the restaurants were crowded.  We managed to arrive at the bar RIGHT when a group of 4 was leaving, so we got really lucky.  We watched some college football and waited forever for our food.  It was really awkward when mine came out way before everyone elses, and then we realized I was eating someone else's dinner.  Whoops.

After dinner it was time for the show!  If you haven't gone, please do realize that it is really cold in there.  Don't underestimate how cold it can be! Wear gloves, warm socks and shoes, and bring a hat!

Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Joey with the sign, made of ice!

The crew

Village Idiots ;)

Me and Lydia in the outhouse

Classic

Me going down the ice slide!

Me and Joey

Pretty angel!

Happy Tuesday!

~SG

Gingerbread Pins

It's like a Gingerbread MAN... except it's made with a Min Pin cookie cutter!

Oh stop it, you really thought I wouldn't have one of those?!

Joey even took the liberty of snapping a few photos because I was channeling my Mother and wearing an apron.  Unfortunately, we don't have a rolling pin.  Luckily for everyone, I had an unopened bottle of wine that worked just as good!

The pins tend to plump up a bit in the oven while baking.  I was joking that they went from looking like Doc to looking like Chloe....... (It's not her fault- she's a bigger dog!)

I used store-bought dough (come ON...you didn't think I'd make this from scratch did you?) and it worked out really well.  I had alot of fun using the flour and the cookie cutter and making a big mess.

After the cookies were cool, it was time for icing! I made a Chloe and a Doc first because naturally, they are Min Pins.  Chloe is the one with the nipples and the eyelashes and is slightly more plump...  Doc has a lump on his side which was recently deemed a harmless cyst by the vet. Nonetheless, it has incurred the endearing term, "Lumpy" (or "Rumpy") so it had to make an appearance on the cookie as well.

The 'recipe' made quite a few too many cookies and I needed a creative way to get rid of them.  Luckily, we were set to pick up Jason and Lydia for our double date to ICE that evening, so I was able to offload a few cookies there.  Mom, if you're lucky (and they aren't stale) I'll bring some for you and Dad in a couple weeks!

We have several leg-less Min Pins in our Min Pin Tin (omg) but they are still delicious.

~SG



It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Which is weird because this is the earliest I've ever decorated or even thought about the holidays.  And here I am with holiday nails, buying holiday presents, with a box full of finished holiday cards (that I am not sending because it is too early), and a house full of holiday decorations.

Last week we put up the tree.  We decided to go with a fake tree because it's free, it was accessible, and we still have time to go get a real one if we change our mind. (Or, have two.)

There is still much decorating to be done, garland to be strung, outside lights, things to buy, etc.  But getting into the Christmas spirit is oh so fun!

~SG

"It's the Holiday Season...."

Wait. It is?  I thought it was Halloween.  (Or Thanksgiving?)

Somehow, in the last couple of weeks, my husband has successfully brainwashed me into accepting that the holidays are coming and that they are the most wonderful time of the year.

I've never been a fan of the holidays.  Too much stress.  Joey, however, has been December's #1 fan his entire life. 

Last weekend, I grudgingly accepted that we were going to go down the Christmas aisle in Walmart.  Next thing I knew I was gleefully tossing red and green sparkly ornaments and other Christmas crap into my cart.
[I DID, however, put my foot down on getting out the decorations until after Thanksgiving and I thought he was going to throw a tantrum right there in front of the little Christmas houses that light up and sing songs...]

The other morning, I saw a friend's Facebook post that 97.1 was going to start playing Christmas music at 8am.  I switched over around 8:05, just in time for the Disney-style countdown and the celebration with the song "Sleigh Ride"....

After this weekend's performance of "A Christmas Carol", I'm actually looking forward to bringing out the Nutcracker Army and the other decorations that have slowly started creeping up from the basement.

So, now that I'm no longer in denial about the holidays, (and actually pretty excited about them!) here's a quick list of all the fun things we are going to be doing this season:

"A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theater

ICE at the Gaylord National Hotel

Bull Run Festival of Lights

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Engagement Party for my brother and his fiancee

Family Christmas Parties

...and maybe a few other things that aren't booked/set in stone.

Happy Holiday Season to All!  Let the fun begin!

~SG

Where Lincoln's Legacy Lives

Sunday we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theatre in downtown DC.  Just in case you aren't a History Major or Minor (like Joey and me), I'll remind you that Ford's Theatre is the place where Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865.  He was carried to a boarding house across the street where he died the following morning.

Joey got us the tickets as a ploy to get me into the holiday spirit.  He is a huge fan of the holidays and it's definitely rubbed off a little on me too.  Initially I was more geeked out about getting to go to Ford's Theatre though. I'd been there once before for a middle school field trip, and didn't remember much else. 

We arrived early, so we were able to tour the Petersen House and see where Lincoln died and visit the museum to learn more about what happened in the moments following the assassination.  While I know this might not be of interest to all, we did learn some interesting facts, such as President Lincoln remains the tallest US President at 6'4.  He was so tall, that they had to lay him diagonally in the tiny bed.  The doorknobs, banister, etc in the house were much lower to the ground.  People were much smaller in the 1860's. 

I did take a few pictures. Creepy? Yes. But history is awesome, and those who don't learn from it are doomed to repeat it.

Plaque on the outside wall

The bed where Lincoln died.  Surrounded by bullet proof glass.

Creepy to think about, but really cool too.

After touring the house and the museum, we headed over to the theatre for the show.  I am not lying when I say we had the best seats in the house.  The theatre is very small, so the best seats are actually on the second level, right in the middle.  And that's where we were!  When the volunteer showed us our seat, she whispered "You've got the best seats in the house!"  We were thrilled especially because Joey booked the tickets himself, and only about a week ago. 
From our seats, we had a clear view of the entire stage and theatre.  You can see the Presidential Box over to the right in the picture below.  This is where actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln.  It is shrouded in flags in memoriam and closed to the public.  The furniture is all preserved from that night.  We also learned that the theatre stayed closed for 100 years after the incident and did not re-open as a historical site until the 1960s.

Presidential Box

Our view of the stage

The show itself?  It was wonderful!!!  The singing and acting was superb and I would absolutely recommend seeing this show if you are in the DC area!  It's great for all ages, although it is a ghost story, so keep that in mind if you have little ones who are easliy spooked.

Afterwards, we made our way around the block to Gordon Biersch for some dinner and then headed home to the pins.

Bier

Next up?? Thanksgiving!

~SG

Yet Another Weekend Round Up

I feel like all I ever do is write about what I did on the weekends. Maybe that's what happens when you are an adult?  The week is just too busy to do anything fun anymore :(

Oh well. I hope when my future children look back and read this blog they can at least know that I wasn't a total loser and had somewhat of a social life at one point...

This weekend started out like the last.  Joey went hunting at the property and I got Chik-Fil-A for dinner.   Me and the pins had a relaxing Friday night and went to bed early after watching a Duck Dynasty marathon and having a glass of wine.

Saturday, I ran a 1 miler with some girlfriends.  I wrote more about it on my other blog, but I wanted to share this pic of me and A Love in our fireman hats!!

After the run, I went to Maryland to visit my friend Gage and her family. I didn't take any pictures, but their new house is freaking GORGEOUS and has an amazing view.  They fed me dinner and we enjoyed some frozen cocktails before I headed back across the river. 

Sunday, Joey got home (sans deer, thank goodness) and we watched our teams play in a head to head match up.  Of course, the pins had to dress up too. 

The dogs loved the warmer weather and were in and out all day long.  One time, I came inside to find Joey gone and this playing on the computer:

Sometimes I wonder what I've really done....

Monday we had the day off from work for the Veteran's Day holiday observation.  We went to Walmart and got a few essentials which, I am embarassed to say I was QUITE excited about.  New vacuum cleaner, new "dust buster" (mini hand vac) and a few Christmas essentials.  This is the first time I've ever bought Christmas ANYTHING in November.  What is he doing to me?!?

We had planned to see a movie, but we decided not to at the last minute and went to lunch at Red Robin instead.

My lunch date

The rest of the day was spent at home, cleaning and putting away laundry.  There was a slight incident with the neighbor.  I don't want to write much about it in case it turns into a legal issue.  He's dumping leaves in our yard. He's wrong about the property lines.  That's about all I'm going to say ;)

I hope everyone has a great day/week!

~SG