Early Christmas with the Parents at the Coast!

By Tuesday afternoon the weather was pretty clear, so I got another (all-wheel drive) car and high-tailed it to the coast to see the parents! Their spot on the river was simply swaddled in snow and holiday lights!

The parents were gracious enough to prepare a feast of Dungeness crab and tasty geoduck!

Mmm.

We also worked on getting their cats to relax around visitors.

Plus we had a lovely (slightly early) Christmas! SO many lovely gifts, including a bounty of card-making supplies and an awesome new Ducks sweatshirt!

Snow on the banks of the Nehalem!

Is that kitty wearing lipstick? Seriously.

So nice to hang with the parents for nearly 4 days!

A Visit to Sister's: Part One

StormWatch 2008 changed our plans a wee big. After a festive evening in Longview, we high-tailed it to the airport, where my husband hopped a plan back to Boise and I dumped our rental car, opting to just use MAX to get around for a while.

So off to sister's (very festive) house for two nights! Thankfully her house is just a short walk from MAX.

We quickly made a game plan: suit up and walk to the store for the things we would need to survive the storm.

The snow kept sister from work on Monday, so we used that Handy MAX again and were off to Lloyd Center for the day! The shopping! The Newport Grille chicken strips! And a Lloyd Center highlight: sodas at Paradise Bakery.

The next morning we hosted Aisha for an early morning breakfast date on her way to work! So nice to gab and have coffee...and sister put together such a delicious meal before she was off to work!

The Company Christmas Party

TWO WEEKS since my last post? Apologies, dear readers! We traveled to Portland on the 12th and I stayed the whole next week, and enjoyed a mostly computer-free week!

The trip was due, in part, to my husband's company, which flew us to Portland and put us up at Edgefield for their Christmas party! We stayed in the "Farm Students" Room and enjoyed a soak in Ruby's soaking pool. The party was fun fun fun, with cocktail hour, dinner, a white elephant, and shutting down the pool hall late in the evening!
I had never stayed at Edgefield before, only at the Grand Lodge, which I have a great affinity for, being on the west side and all. ;) But I think my favorite of the refurbed hotels has to be Kennedy School...the academic theme appeals to the student in me.

A Few of My Other Favorite Holiday Decorations...

Simply called: "Turning the Tables." I bought this one a few years back.

My bee-you-tee-ful 1996 Christmas Barbie ornament from Mom and Dad.

Carolyn gave me this replica of my favorite ornament on her tree -- my husband's first visit to Santa. Being watched over by the silly angel who has the same expression my sister makes when she's excited.

Jimmy Choos, hung by the chimney with care...Hey wait a minute! How'd this get in here?!?

Well. They are nice decorations...

Sara trying to convince herself these would work for her. No dice. But for a while, the office had an air of style about the place.

And this jaunty little fellow in his saucy tartan ensemble...leaping gleefully over the Mardi Gras beads we brought back from our honeymoon that are now hooked end-to-end and encircle our tree.

Happy decorating to you! :)

We Decorated our Tree!

Yeah, it's a fake tree. You got a problem with that? I don't care. I know we live in the northwest. I've picked enough pine needles out of carpet to last me the rest of my days. Martha Stewart's version of nature fits me juuuust fiiine at this stage of my life.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the smell and look of a real tree--when I have the time to enjoy getting it, and might actually spend two days in a row with it. But mostly I walk by it on my way to work and my way to bed. $30 at Kmart's post Christmas sale two years ago. You can't beat that. At least I actually put lights on this one. I have a smaller, pre-lit one that I just plug in. I looove that one.

One of my Mom's Christmas traditions is the addition each year of a new "bell" ornament for her tree. I realized a few years back that I have a penchant for snowmen, so we've decided to continue her tradition! Each year we buy a new snowman ornament. Here's this year's addition...I like him because he's so retro-ey.

SNOW! It SNOWED! SNOW SNOW SNOW!! SNOOOOW!! IT SNOWED!!!

Did I mention that it SNOOOWED!!?! Snow snow snow!! Not too much--about an inch at our house. We had already planned to drive to work (time is of the essence this week!) so didn't get the chance to trudge through it. Definitely next time! SNNOOOOWW!!

Weekend Work!

It was super duper amazing and wonderful to have 4 days off to rest and recharge.

We used the rest of Thankgiving weekend to get some important work done! My husband got three rounds of mudding done. It's amazing how mud takes it all from "construction" to "room."

And I hung up the holiday lights! We don't have a ladder tall enough to hang up them on the house, so I decorated the front walk and the trees. I love the lights!!

Happy Thankgiving!

OK, my well-wishing is a little late, but I hope your Thankgiving was all that.

We had leisurely coffee and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade. Then we went on a little hike up Camel's Back.

I made a cranberry pecan pie. It wasn't very good. We each had a piece and offered low reviews, so I threw it out, and made another, this time without the cranberries. I'm not a big pecan pie person, but the plain pecan was much better.

I made horseradish mashed potatoes with green onions. Probably my most successful dish.

To accompany our tatoes, we did a sirloin roast baked in a salt crust. Mmm.

Hope your Thankgiving was sweet!

A Few Last Coffee Night Pics

I found these pics of Poo's last night in Boise when we walked down and got coffee. But not new hats. Despite my pleas that I need this furry ear-flaps hats, Sister assured me that I did not. Hmph.