Books Read in October 2009

1. Love You to Death by Shannon K. Butcher
2. Upon the Midnight Clear by Sherrilyn Kenyon (NOTE: This is part of the Dark Hunter/Dream Hunter series. You can find the order in which to read here.)
3. Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon (NOTE: This is part of the Dark Hunter/Dream Hunter series. You can find the order in which to read here.)
4. The Family Man by Elinor Lipman

It was a slow month. I enjoyed all the books though. None were perfect and blew me away, but I did thoroughly enjoy them all. The last was for book club. It was my pick. Because we haven't discussed yet, I'll keep my comments to myself, but I'll just say it wasn't my best pick. Still, none of the books were disappointing. I have some (hopefully) good ones waiting to be read, and I'm ready to pick up one of those as soon as Little Miss takes a nap today.

Sexy Friday

Sexy Friday is a bit roundabout today. Let me explain how the recipients received the honor today and you'll be scared at how weird my brain works. Sexy Friday may date me a bit and in more ways than one. I was thinking it's Halloween this weekend. Then, I thought of how popular vampires were. So, I was thinking of making of the current vampires the recipient for Sexy Friday except that I don't find any of them sexy. I mean, back in the day, vampires were much sexier (I'd normally say that the vampires in Interview with a Vampire are sexy, but it's more the actors and less the vampires - the hair was too crazy for me.) So, Keifer Sutherland, it's your turn for Sexy Friday. Lost Boys was awesome, and I hated scary movies back then. Still, Jason Patric, and the Coreys (er Haim and Feldman) couldn't keep me away from a movie. Keifer is still around and still is pretty sexy. I always think of him when I say "we're running out of time!" and think of Jack Bauer. That said, Keifer Sutherland also shared the screen with my teenage crush (which I, by no means, left in my teenage years) - Chris O'Donnell. He, along with Chris O'Donnell and Charlie Sheen were The Three Musketeers. Yes, I do believe Dumas did roll over a bit in his grave, but I don't care. I watched it anyway. Sharing the screen with the boys was the token female in Sexy Friday, Gabrielle Anwar (who also, by the way shared the screen with Chris O'Donnell in Scent of a Woman). I can't say I've ever been Gabrielle Anwar's biggest fan, but I do find her character fun on Burn Notice. She seems to be more visible in the last few years. Also, I think For Love or Money is a highly underrated romantic comedy. It always makes me happy when I catch it on cable during a lazy weekend.

Circle of Friends Award

My friend, Shannon gave me another virtual award (and let me tell you, my virtual mantle is getting heavy with all of my virtual awards - I may need a virtual awards room). As with most things, they get better if you share (except chocolate, that's only good if you don't share). Shannon and I literally sat next to each other for probably around 5 years, maybe a little more. It's been nice seeing her survive dating and settle down and get everything she's waited for. Plus, she says nice things about Little Miss, and that's really the only qualification I need to keep a friend.

In order of friendship, here are my circle of friends (and the ones on which I bestow this award and tag):
1. Brandi, as I've mentioned before, is my friend since middle school. We were both transplants to Fairfield. She moved during high school, and we kept in touch as best we could. Thanks to email and the Internet, it's much easier to reconnect (and stay connected).
2. Katie is a friend from college. She was about 4 doors or so down from my dorm room Freshman year. Though I didn't stay very close with a lot of the girls from Freshman year, they were a huge part of why I loved college. It was a special time of late-night chats, road trips, group meals. It was great to hear from her last year, see her beautiful family and keep in contact.
3. Naomi is a friend from the Internet. I met her through the Judith McNaught Bulletin Board. However, we've met in person quite a few times. We talk at least weekly by email or Instant Messager (but most of the time, we chat daily if there's time and things work out). We share a lot of books and have similar tastes which is nice.
4. Jackie is a friend, like Shannon, that I met through work. We started talking because we had a shared interest in romance novels. As with most things, you start friendships with something in common and it grows from there.
5. Sanna is a friend from the Internet. We "met" through the Susan Elizabeth Phillips Bulletin Board. She lives in Germany, but I'm hoping she may make it to me next year, and we can finally meet. She's very talented with baking and with a needle and thread. I have one of her handbags and, one of these days, I'm totally getting another.

L is for Little Miss

1. L is for Laura 2 10-31, 2. 5-10 L is for Laura, 3. 9-30 L is for Laura, 4. 4-23 L is for Laura, 5. 9-30 L is for Laura, 6. 9-27 Birthday Invitation Photo Shoot

Happy birthday, Little Miss!

Little Miss turns 2 today. Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law bought her this "L" when she was born. I meant to take a photo every month with her and the "L", but that didn't work out so I'm trying to keep up with every 6 months. At 18 months, she didn't want the "L" anywhere near her. So, I've been satisfied with having a photo of her and the "L" in the same frame.

Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose!

Picture from EW.com BY EMILY SHUR

According to my labels, I have mentioned Friday Night Lights 16 times. After today, it will be 17. DirecTV will begin to air Season 4 of Friday Night Lights tomorrow. Plus, thanks to Vaseline the show airs commercial-free in HD. I'm very excited. I was prepared to say goodbye to the show last season. It wouldn't have been surprised to hear it wasn't going to be renewed, but then it was! Not only that, but it was renewed for two additional seasons. There will be changes which may or may not work for the show, but I don't care as long as Kyle Chandler is back in my home. (Speaking of which, my copy of Early Edition Season 2 shipped today.)

Because the show does not premiere on NBC until the end of the milennium, you have time to catch up on Seasons 1-3 here (OK, the show will air next summer.)

Weekend Update - I Hear it's Your Birthday!

Last Friday, we relaxed at home. Then, before bed, I made a salad and cubed some cheese for the big party on Saturday.

On Saturday, I woke up with Little Miss. We had breakfast and then we decorated the apartment for her party. Little Miss took a quick nap while we showered and did minor cleaning. Then, we just had to put together some last minute things. Everything was just finishing up as the guests arrived. It was nice to have family and friends there to celebrate. Little Miss was a little overwhelmed and, at one point, tried to leave the apartment all together. She was uninterested in gifts (though she did play with many of them after people left and on Sunday). Halway through the part, I changed her into her Halloween costume so people could see it, but I won't post any of those pictures. You'll all have to wait until next week for the pictures of the real day. Little Miss only ate a little cake and mostly spent the time feeding me cake. Around 5PM, Little Miss took the longest nap in history, but she woke up many many hours later ready to party.

On Sunday, it was a lazy day. We cleaned up, put the loot away and mostly hung out. Little Miss ate like there was no tomorrow. Because the weekend threw her off schedule, she stayed up late. Next week, Daylight Savings Time is going to kill us all. In the meantime, there will be a couple of more birthday posts on or around Wednesday, the big day!

Videos from this Weekend

The first one is from breakfast. The spoon is still a little tricky for Little Miss especially spoons with liquid, but she did a good job and was insistent she feed herself. Also, whenever she sees the camera, she says, "CHEEEESE!" so I got that as well.

The second video is from this morning. For her birthday, In-Laws gave her a bear that sings and dances and has a little cupcake that lights up and says Happy Birthday. So, earlier today, she learned to turn it on (and on and on and on and so on for about 5 hours). I was lucky enough to catch her dancing.

Sexy Friday

Tonight, White Collar premieres on USA. So, in honor of the show's debut, I've chosen Matthew Bomer for Sexy Friday. I don't really know him from his previous roles except he did play Bryce Larkin in Chuck. I liked him in his guest spot so I'm considering checking out the new show. His counterpart also appears in the pilot this evening - Tiffani Thiessen. I can't say she or her acting do much for me, but I know men my age get a certain far off look if you mention Kelly Kapowski. She also tended to show up in some of the shows I've watched over the years. I know some of you will be disappointed, but it is very hard to find photos of Tiffani Thiessen clothed, but I did.

Weekend Update - Highs and Lows

In the film, The Story of Us the family sits around the dinner table and talks about the daily highs and lows in which each member describes his or her high point of the day and the low point of the day. This weekend had many highs and lows. On Friday, we babysat Nephew. It was the first time we had both kids. We pretty much cleared out night expecting the worst. Usually, this strategy works out for us. However, we had no idea that there was a scenario worse than our imagined worst case.

It started out with a bang. I went to give Nephew some ice cream. While I was dishing the ice cream, I heard a bang and the noise of shattering glass behind me. For whatever reason, Husband and I keep vases on top of the refridgerator even though numerous times over the course of the last eleven years, they have fallen off. This vase not only fell and broke, but it just shattered into dust. Nephew was so good and blocked off the kitchen and kept Little Miss out. I cleaned up the big pieces and then gave the kids ice cream while Husband went in after to vaccuum. After ice cream, we got into pjs and got ready for bed when Nephew decided he wanted a bath. So, we decided to give the kids a bath.

I got the air mattress out while Husband supervised the bath. As soon as Little Miss was naked, she peed all over the floor. So, Husband cleaned and bleached the floor while the kids were in the bath. Then, we got them ready for bed, read a bedtime story, and said goodnight. Two seconds after the lights were out, Nephew informed us that Little Miss was throwing things at him. So, we let him sleep while we took Little Miss back into the living room.

After Nephew fell into an incredibly deep sleep, we put Little Miss back in the crib where she proceeded to talk Nephew's sleeping ear off. Then, it was quieter. We then hear Little Miss say "Poo". I thought she said "Pooh" which is her nursery theme. Nope. She said "Poo". She had taken off her pajamas and her diaper and smeared poo all over her crib sheet. Husband grabbed her and brought her onto the couch. He put her on a towel and cleaned her up. I took her friends out of the crib and disposed of the diaper. Then, Husband helped me take out the mattress and change the sheet. While he handwashed the sheet, I continued to clean Little Miss and put her pajamas back on. Husband put the mattress back in the bedroom. We plunked Little Miss in the playpen and ignored her (for her own safety). Amazingly, Nephew was still sound asleep despite the circus going on all around him. Finally, Little Miss fell asleep.

Saturday morning, Little Miss woke up about 6 hours after she fell asleep (which is about half the sleep she usually gets a night) and started talking to Nephew. Nephew came into our room. I let him crawl into bed with us. A few minutes later, I keep thinking he's damp. So, I ask Nephew if he's wet. He looks at me and says, "Auntie April, I'm very wet." So, I get up before dawn and change him into the clothes from the night before. I put him back into bed with Husband and take out Little Miss Chatterbox to see if she'll selep on the couch. No such luck. Both kids were wide awake. So, we have breakfast (Nephew helped Husband make pancakes) and watch television. We then decide to go pumpkin picking and make plans to meet Sister and Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law.

This view is the view of the road while we drove to the orchard. It was raining just a little bit. It continued to rain pretty much all day. So, we get to the farm and start to pick out pumpkins. Nephew takes quite a liking to Brother-in-Law and orders him all around. We then all choose a pumpkin, visit the country store for a bunch of items we didn't need but desperately wanted. Nephew was a good sport. He was good in the rain and fell a couple of times in the mud. Little Miss was a little less amused. She fell a couple of times and then refused to walk anymore. She only got down to walk when she realized Nephew was stealing her Uncle and Aunt.

After we were done, Sister and Nephew left while Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Husband, Little Miss and I went to lunch at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. It was very tasty. Little Miss was good and seemed to like having her Uncle and Aunt all to herself. She took a great nap and was pretty good for the rest of the evening.

On Sunday, everyone slept late. Then, Husband woke up with Little Miss. I joined them for breakfast. It was pretty much a lazy day, but we needed a lazy day. I had a separate blog post for the big accomplishment. The low of the day was when Little Miss had a temper tantrum and ran head first into the refridgerator. We have some magnets and she hit one of the big ones right in the forehead. She was very cranky. I think the weekend just wore her out and that was the last straw. She went to bed almost an hour before her bedtime and slept for more than 12 hours. That concluded our crazy weekend. I'd love to say we can recover next weekend, but we'll have company and the big 2-year-old birthday party.

Our Big Girl

Little Miss has always been very interested in the potty. It was one of her first words. She loves watching people go. Then, last week, her friends, Piggy and Penguin, went potty (complete with hand washing afterwards - er hoof and wing washing). So, today, Little Miss kept saying "potty" out of context. After the first time, we decided to bring her to try to go potty whenever she said it. The first time, she had a full diaper and didn't go. We figured it was a false alarm or we were too late. Then, the second time, she had a full diaper, but she tinkled just the faintest amount. She then reached for the toilet paper (laughed while we cleaned up) and then flushed. She stood on the stool to wash her hands. Then there was much praise and applauding. I know it's a long process, but you have to start somewhere, and it's very exciting that we've begun. After the start of our weekend, this was a nice ending. More on the crazy weekend with the official update. I'll try to get pictures on the potty later (maybe a recreation).

Where the Wild Things Are

Just a note that Where the Wild Things Are is in theaters today! It's one of my most favorite books, and I can't wait to see the movie. I'm going as soon as I can manage to make it happen. I don't care if it's good. I just want to see it and the Wild Things. I did read my first positive review. If you see it before I, let me know how it is!

Sexy Friday

Last night, we watched Grey's Anatomy and Justin Chambers wore his tank top. I prefer the black one, but I can only find a photo of him in the white one. I never thought he was that attractive before Grey's Anatomy. I don't even like men in tank tops. However, something about the character of Dr. Karev and the black tank top make it all yummy to me. I actually think Calvin Klein and his tank top should have guest-starring status. Anyway, as I mentioned, I haven't seen or loved Justin Chambers in much of what he's done in the past. I did notice he's in Lakeview Terrace which is on cable right now. I haven't seen it yet. It's about a cop who stops at nothing to push out the interracial couple who moves next door. Interesting timing as I read this article this morning. So, the beautiful Kerry Washington is paired with Justin Chambers for Sexy Friday this week (though not paired up with him in the film). I think I've only seen her in Save the Last Dance, but the other movies she's in are good. I just haven't actually seen them because of timing or because I'm a baby and the movies are violent.

Cherry Tomato Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

We ate something new again last night. It was yummy. I'm not sure I'm in love with it, but I did like it. I should note that I added a little extra garlic. The onions do reduce down so it wasn't as oniony as I thought which is good. Last, our basil grew fuzz so we didn't have any with our dish. Last, I had large cherry tomatoes so I think I'd cut them in half next time or find smaller ones. Still, the cheese made the dish so get good cheese.

Ingredients:
Salt
1 pound regular or thick spaghetti
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 pound chunk pancetta, cut into small pieces
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
2 pints small cherry tomatoes
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (a couple generous handfuls)
Pepper
1 cup basil leaves, torn or chopped
2/3 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (a couple generous handfuls)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red onion, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes, parsley and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes burst, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water and then the pasta, tossing to coat. Turn off the heat, add the basil and cheese and serve.

Weekend Update - Sleeping In

On Friday, we celebrated out 10th anniversary. In-Laws watched Little Miss so we had dinner at Peking Gourmet Inn which was super yummy. Then, we stopped home briefly to put our leftovers in the fridge before heading out to see Couples Retreat. I see it was #1 last weekend so I guess we weren't the only ones. It was a cute movie. That said, there wasn't much else out. Also, the above photo is from the lamest fortune ever. Seriously, I had to take a picture. Who gets that as a fortune?!

On Saturday, we slept late, rolled over and slept some more. It was glorious. I slept so much, I had a sleep hangover. It was worth it. Then, we pretty much ate leftovers, went grocery shopping and welcomed Little Miss back home.

On Sunday, we all had breakfast together. Then, Little Miss took a quick nap. When she woke up, we took a walk to CVS to pick up a couple of things we forgot at the grocery store. On the way home, I gave Little Miss some frozen yogurt at TCBY. She loved it. Then, she took another nap (and I did, too) and then we played and had dinner. She, as is routine on Sunday, did not go to bed. Usually, she goes to bed and wakes up between 10PM and 11:30PM, but last night, she just didn't go to sleep until 10:30PM. It's only Sundays. After dinner last night, she ran around the apartment laughing and screaming. She'd go from the front door all the way to her back bedroom then back to the front door and then around to the balcony door. I have 3 video clips, but I'll only show one. They're all basically the same. This is actually the third one so she had been running and laughing for maybe 3-5 minutes and this was the tail end of the craziness. You can see she's running out of steam (sort of).

I Could Not Ask for More

These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have’s come true
And right here in this moment is right where I’m meant to be
Here with you here with me - Dianne Warren

So, that was our journey in a nutshell. The above photo is the wedding picture we actually purchased and copied. It always amuses me that the American flag is in the background. Oh and yes, I did plan the colors around the red carpet of the church. I did worry that the green would be a little Christmas-ish, but it wasn't. The below photo is the latest photo we took of our family. Also, the blog before this had the title and lyrics from Still the One by Shania Twain. That was our wedding song. This post has the title and lyrics of I Could Not Ask for More by Edwin McCain which was our last song at the wedding reception.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Husband!

Superior Scribbler Award

My friend, Shannon bestowed an online award to me. So, in the spirit of giving, I have chosen some random blogs that amuse me on a continual basis.

1. Brandi is my friend from the sixth grade who has amused me since we met. It's always nice to have friends for a long time, to have a history with them and memories from earlier, easier times (though I don't know if I'd necessarily call middle school an easier time);
2. Sanna is someone I know from The Susan Elizabeth Phillips Bulletin Board. Her creativity in cooking and sewing astounds me daily;
3. There's probably a rule against giving the award back to the one who gave it to you, but Shannon's blog is so cute and reminds me what it was like to be anticipating a wedding and makes me all nostalgic of my own wedding;
4. Laura who writes The Cooking Photographer. I don't actually know her either virtually or in person and can't even remember how I stumbled upon her blog, but I do enjoy reading it and, one day, I may even be inspired to make some of her goodies. It's a recipe site. The photos make everything look mouth-watering;
5. Similarly, I also follow Patricia at ButterYum. There are a lot of baking recipes and the occasional meal recipe. Also, her photography is very pretty. I am not a baker, but I want to be. I do like to eat baked goods so that's mostly the reason I visit.

Still the One

Looks like we made
Look how far we’ve come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we’d get there someday
They said, “I bet they’ll never make it”
But just look at us holding on
We’re still together still going strong
You’re still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You’re still the one I kiss good night - Robert Lange, Shania Twain

The above photo is from our honeymoon. I neglected to say that Husband caught a nasty cold during the latter part of our trip. He was a trooper though. Before we knew it, the honeymoon was over and we were back home, old marrieds. We had some issues at the airport and Husband referred to me as his wife. It took us both back a little. "Husband" and "Wife" didn't really roll off the tongue yet.

My parents kindly transported all the gifts from Connecticut to Virginia. For some reason, we never thought we'd get gifts. I always remember this when I go to weddings where the bride and groom do not reside where they are getting married. I always ship the gift or give them cash. If I learned anything at all, it is that transporting gifts is a pain in the neck. So I hear, I delegated. Anyway, one night after we got home from the honeymoon, we went to my parents' house and opened up all the gifts. Because our apartment was very small, most of our gifts stayed there, but it was nice to have grown up things and not hand-me-downs. We're actually finally at the point where we can display or store everything now. It's nice.

Sexy Friday

You know, sometimes, I like my Sexy Friday to be mysterious and more than just beefcake. OK, they still have to be hot, but they don't need to be shirtless and dripping wet (though it does help). Sometimes, they just need a come hither look and, um, a giant tire. Regardless, for those who are being picky about Sexy Friday, go start your own. There, now, back to business. I'm not exactly sure how Tom Welling became Sexy Friday, but he's still deserving. I haven't seen him in much. I've seen a handful of episodes of Smallville and will admit to seeing him in both Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel, but that's pretty much it. He just looks at me through the screen, either big or small, and I just drown in those eyes and dimples. I hope to see more of him in the future. Still, it must be nice to have a cushy and steady gig with Smallville. Tom Welling's counterpart today is Kristin Kreuk from Smallville. I've only seen her in her brief cameo in Eurotrip, but it looks like she's been busy and has a couple of movies coming out soon.

You and Me

Wanna pack your bags, Something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we'll be gone, gone
The moon and the stars can follow the car
and then when we get to the ocean
We gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world - Dave Matthews

OK, we didn't take a boat, we flew. We flew to Bermuda. Because we were both new to the workforce, we didn't have a lot of vacation time. So, we chose someplace relatively close without a lot of jetlag. Bermuda worked out perfectly. We flew out a couple of hours after the wedding (I chose to shower and sleep while Husband stayed up all night). My parents saw us off in the wee hours of the morning. We arrived and the weather was beautiful. We shared a cab with someone who was there on business. She then expensed the cab so that was a nice treat. We managed to spend the money elsewhere of course. I believe we slept mostly that first day, exhausted from the wedding. We went to the beach the next day. I got super sunburned to the point we had to buy aloe. Sunburn is very romantic, let me tell you. Nothing like hearing "you're breathing on me and it hurts". We were there during Hurricane Season and, though we missed actual hurricanes, we were affected. Some attractions were closed (like swimming with dolphins) and the weather was overcast. Still, it wasn't work so we were glad to be there. I'd like to go back one day. The people were super friendly and it was just so relaxing.

Worst Wife Ever

Seriously. I know our anniversary is October 10th. I made two calendars for Christmas presents last year. One set went to our immediate family members - parents and siblings. One set went to my side of the family - grandparents, uncle/aunt/cousins. I kept one of each calendar. Above is the family calendar. You'll notice our anniversary is Saturday, October 10th. Below, you'll notice that our anniversary is no longer on Saturday. I have actually made this mistake before - thinking our anniversary is October 11th. Still, this is the first time I've done it on paper for everyone to see. Not my finest moment.