Christmas Vacation

We just got home from a whirlwind trip home for Christmas this year.  It was so great to be home and see our families, but I use the term "vacation" loosely as we spent 29+ hours in the car, stayed up later than I've been used to, and lived out of our suitcases for 8 days. Also keep in mind my idea of a "vacation" is laying on a white sand beach with turquoise water and being served fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them! But like I said it was worth it to see our families and some good friends!

We left last Saturday (the 22nd) and had smooth sailing to Cleveland, where we stayed overnight in a pet friendly hotel. The last time Bailey stayed in a hotel with us she did great, but this time she felt the need to "protect" us from every single creak and noise coming from the hall!!  We had to pull her up on the bed and make her lay between us to keep her from jumping up and running to the door every 2 seconds. Although she didn't hesitate to jump up once we got settled.

Sunday we had more smooth sailing from Cleveland to Lewisburg to visit my family.  We got to see my parents new addition to their house, and Bailey LOVED perching on the new seating to stare out the window at the deer, cats, and turkey.  Bailey also met her cousin Haleigh.  Let me tell you a little about Haleigh. She is the most spoiled dog on the planet.  She's fat and yappy, and thinks she's a lap dog even though she easily weighs at least 50 pounds.  She's cute though and she grows on you. Her and Bailey got along okay, as long as there wasn't food involved. Haleigh tried to be a tough dog and growled at her, but Bailey quickly let her know she wasn't going to tolerate that.  The next time Haleigh growled at Bailey, Haleigh quickly retreated under the desk behind my dad.

Christmas Eve we went to church and then went over to my Uncle Dan's for his annual Christmas Eve party, which I love.  It was fun to see everyone, and Matt spent the night serving as a bounce-a-lot for my cousin Andrew and Ciara's 3 adorable munchkins.

Christmas Day we opened a few presents in the morning before Matt left for work, and the rest in the evening when he returned. We also enjoyed free Christmas coffee from Sheetz (LOVE Sheetz!) and an amazing Christmas dinner that mom whipped up.  Bailey has always helped to open her own presents the past few Christmases, but this year she took her skill to a whole new level and opened up everyone's presents for them. (I have a good video, but blogger is being weird so I don't think it actually uploaded).

Wednesday we set out for Philadelphia in the middle of a snowstorm. What should have been a 3.5 hour trip turned into a 5.5 hour + trip which was not fun. Bailey didn't seem to be bothered by any of it. We received a warm welcome at Tom's house and enjoyed spending the evening with his whole family who came over for dinner and gift exchange. It was great to see everyone and I couldn't believe how big some of the kids are!  Bailey LOVED all of the attention and got to open even more presents. She quickly became fast friends with Tom's dad, despite him teasing her with treats (I think as long as she got a treat in the end, she didn't really mind).  Tom helped his nephew John Thomas set up his train set, but Bailey wasn't too sure about the remote control train (or helicopter for that matter).

Thursday and Friday we spent the days catching up with Tom's family and friends.  Bailey loved hanging out at Tom's house, I think mainly she just enjoyed being the only dog again and not having a yappy dog growling at her every time she tried to take a sip of water.  We also met Tom's sister Lisa's dogs, Jake and Tank. Tank is, well, a Tank, that sounds like a chicken when he barks and wasn't allowed to come play with Bailey. Jake and Bailey ran around for a little bit but I don't think Bailey really cared for Jake. They were both SO FAST that I didn't get a single non-blurry picture of them.
Bailey did get to play with Tom's friend Rocky's dog, Tocchet (yes, named after the Flyers player). They had a blast together and went about 5 or so rounds before just walking around and sniffing the yard.

Jake

Tank

Tocchet and Bailey

Friday night we got together with a few of Tom's close friends. It was so good to catch up with everyone, but I feel like the night went by waaaay too fast. Their dogs had a blast mooching off of everyone and showing us their tricks.  They were cute.

Bogey and Rowdy

Saturday we woke up early and started the two day trek home. Ugh. We hit another snowstorm, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as the one we hit driving to Philly from my parents house. It made for some pretty pictures.  I had the brilliant idea to download a license plate game app on my phone, so we played that the whole way home. We got 28 states!! Probably could have had more but the snow made it hard to see. It did make for some pretty pictures though!

Christmas-y Adventures

Gosh, I've been a horrible blogger the past few weeks/months.  Please forgive me.  We finally have some fun things to blog about (with pictures) so here you go!

Last weekend we had our neighbors over for Neighbor Christmas Night.  I somehow didn't snap a single picture during the whole night, which is very unlike me.  This was the first time we all hung out with our 2 new downstairs neighbors.  (Our 2 previous downstairs neighbors both moved out in May).  It was fun to get to know everyone a little better and Bailey sure enjoyed all of the attention (awwww, speaking of, 4 years ago today we adopted Little Miss Bails!!!)

This weekend Tom organized a mini Birmingham reunion in Chicago.  We had been meaning to get together with the Drankas forever, so we set a date to do some Christmas-y things in Chicago like we did two years ago.  A few other people from Tom's program have since ended up in Chicago and we had also been trying to meet up with them for a while.  Then last week Matt sent me a text saying he was going to come to Chicago this weekend (just for fun...because he works for an airline and flies for free....jerk).  ;)  So we had a big group of us, but it was really fun.

We started out at Christkindlemarket and it wasn't terribly crowded thanks to the intermittent drizzling rain.  Luckily it wasn't pouring while we were there. We enjoyed some hot glühwein in our boot mugs and hung out for a little bit before making the trek in the wind and rain to Giordanno's for some Chicago-style deep dish.

Tom, Matt, and I spent Saturday night and watching funny Christmas shows/movies on his iphone hooked up to the tv. And Bailey LOVED that Matt was here because that meant she got to sleep on the couch bed with him. She also got a present from Matt before he left on Sunday. Surprisingly, she still hasn't destroyed the squeaker yet.

Goodbye November! Thanksgiving & City Dog Parks

Oops, somehow November crept past me without many blog updates!  We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving just the two of us (and Bailey).  Somehow I didn't take a single picture of the day, which is very unlike me. We had our classic herb roasted turkey, mom's oyster casserole recipe, stuffing, potatoes, and homemade gravy.  And of course I made two of our favorites with all of the leftovers: Best Ever Turkey Noodle Soup and Pioneer Woman's "Turkey" Pot pie.  Yum.

I don't know if you remember Marietta, but our friend Jess's sister adopted her, so we met up with Jess and Mar at a local dog park.  Bailey was weird the whole time, and didn't run around like a crazy dog and lead all the other dogs on the Basenji 500 like she usually does. She didn't even go sit behind the bench when she was tired, and she kept hanging out with an Asian couple, I guess she thought they were her parents?  I think she was so weird because there wasn't any grass at the park, so she didn't have as much traction to run all around.  Ahhhh, gotta love city dog parks, right?

Being weird all by herself

Mar and her new friend being lazy

Getting to know each other, as dogs do (LOVED the little puppy! He was so cute!)

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Favorites: List style

My favorite things about this weekend/week:

• I had 3 day weekend (have I mentioned how much I love my new schedule)?  Also, I was "back-up" on Saturday but I didn't get called into work....double bonus!
• There was a "Weekend Preview" of Hallmark Countdown to Christmas (=cheesy Christmas movies!!)  It "officially" starts this Friday, November 9th (and I may or may not have it listed on my calendar on my phone).  Okay, I do.
• My favorite holiday happened this weekend...okay, so Daylight Saving Time isn't a "holiday" per se. I still like to celebrate getting an extra hour of sleep!
• I went downtown to meet a friend who just had a baby. My friend looks amazing and her baby is adorable!





C was kind of bored with the convo

• Free trip to the Art Institute of Chicago (above mentioned friend has an annual pass)



• I now consider myself an expert parallel parker. It's one thing to parallel park downtown Chicago, but when you have to weave in and out of the supports of the El tracks, it adds a whole new dimension.
• Jess's Birthday dinner at the King Crab Tavern. Mmmmmm seafood!  Happy Birthday Jess!!

• Bailey enjoyed handing out candy with her friend Izzy (french bulldog) on Halloween.  Okay, so maybe they didn't "hand out candy" as much as they tried to pounce on each other in the small front area of our building while trick-or-treaters tried to dodge them and asked for candy from every single person sitting out there (regardless of if we were holding a candy bowl or if we were empty handed)

All the pics I have of B and Izzy are a complete blur. Those two do not stand still long enough to get a good pic!

• Halloween while working at a children's hospital = so much fun!  My coworkers dressed up again too! This time a little bit more appropriate than their "party costumes."

Can you believe my friend Colleen made these?!  I'm so impressed with her sewing skills!

• Bailey has been a bugger ALL. WEEKEND. LONG.  This. Every time you sat down.  I think all she wants is to be invited up on the couch. Man is she persistant.

• Since it's November and we live in Chicago, I decided today I should probably bring my basil plant inside. But then I remembered that it is practically a small tree and I didn't want that giant thing in my house! Luckily, a small little part decided to branch off and grow it's own roots so I repotted that and brought it in to the kitchen window sill.  The remainder of the plant got clipped off and will be brought into work.  Everyone loves free basil! (Well, at least all of my coworkers seem to enjoy it)!

Look at the size of that "trunk"!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Halloween!

Second City and Halloween Festivities

Last weekend we went with our neighbors, Scott and Marybell (the newlyweds! Wooo!) to Second City. Yes, it's the THIRD time we've been to Second City since May!  What can I say, Tom really likes it :)  Even though it's been the same show all three times, I enjoyed this show more than the one we saw in July. All but 2 of the cast were new so it made it a little bit different (although the first one was still my fav)!  After the show we went to nearby O'Donovan's (one of the oldest bars in Chicago!) for some late night grub and drinks.  It was so cozy and decked out for Halloween!

This past weekend a friend from work had a Halloween Party so we decided to rock out 80's style and join the fun.  There were plenty of amusing Halloween costumes, including a guy dressed up as "Dog the Bounty Hunter" (or so I thought). Later I realized that this was just how this guy looked/dressed, and apparently he caused some embarrassment last year when people asked him about his "costume."  My manager dressed up as a boob, and my friend Bridget's boyfriend added a frog to his mascot costume collection.  The decor was spooky and creative and the food was great!

Garden Update: Final Harvest and Fall!

Wow, summer went by fast!  Our crazy tomato plants decided to take their sweet time producing tomatoes. I've harvested quite a few during September, but not much before that. And Oregano managed to die on it's own somehow. It might have had something to do with the doritos, graham crackers, or french fries that were stored in it by the squirrels. 

We've been busy harvesting the last of the tomatoes and peppers and re-theming the balcony for fall. I *big puffy heart* my mums, but I think the cold is starting to get to them already :/  We had to turn on our heat for the first time today!

I've been wanting to make homemade salsa all summer and finally got the chance this weekend.  I had a few bell peppers too, so I harvested all of my red tomatoes, a few of Tom's serrano peppers, the last of my cilantro, and based the recipe roughly off of this recipe (except I added some balsalmic vinegar...yum!) It is so good!

I had quite a few green tomatoes leftover as well, so thankfully good ol' Google came up with something for me to use them for.  I found this recipe and thought it sounded delish.  I was a little skeptical, because I still don't own a kitchen scale (I know, for all the cooking I do, I really should...but good cooks really just guesstimate, right?!?) and all of the ingredient requirements were listed in pounds.  It came out okay, but I liked the roasted salsa (with the red tomatoes) better. I'm not complaining though because at least it put all of my green tomatoes to good use!