Happy (Belated) Holidays

I hope your holidays with friends and family were filled with smiles and wonderful memories. 

We spent 10 days visiting our families on the east coast:

As per annual tradition, my best friend Katie, my sister Robin, Katie's sister Marianne, and Jon had our gingerbread making contest. And as per usual, it got a little messy. 

Although, I think our house-making skills have come a long way in the past few years. 

My friend Michelle gave me a brilliant present - a polaroid camera! Thanks, Michelle! 

Some of the best pictures from our trip were captured on polaroid film.

 We had a lovely dinner at a Japanese restaurant with our friend Beatrix.

We spent some time in Pennsylvania visiting Kristin.

We celebrated my Mom's birthday by going out to dinner with the whole family.

And we went to lunch with my former bosses, both of whom I miss so much! 

We enjoyed a lovely evening in the company of two close friends, Michelle and Chardon.

We got to spend NYE with my birthday twin Gina and her boyfriend Zach!

Happy 2013! 

Holiday Festivities

Just some highlights from the past week:

An absolutely gorgeous day on Lake Union. 

Usually when we head that way, it pours rain. 

But the sky looked nice so we decided to risk it. I'm glad we did. 

Walking around and enjoying all of Seattle's lights and holiday decorations. Including a 

Charlie Brown-esque tree. 

Some fun pictures from Chihuly Garden and Glass. Really a spectacular thing to see. 

Maybe we will try to visit all of his exhibits around the world.

Bucket list, anyone?

I'll leave you with this picture of the Space Needle.

Thanksgiving 2012

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and fun. We were lucky enough to have my mother-in-law in town for the holiday. It was really nice to have some family around for our first real holiday so far away from "home." I also got to enjoy some cooking lessons and learning about some old family traditions. For only 3 people, we took on a fairly expansive, but simple menu. We started off nibbling on cheese and crackers with wine while we were preparing dinner. We began with Butternut Squash and Apple soup for an appetizer. Our main course featured turkey breast, cranberry sauce, mashed cauliflower, candied sweet potatoes, broccoli, corn, stuffing and gravy, of course.  A few hours later (because there was absolutely no way we were going to be able to eat anymore after that feast) we indulged in homemade chocolate chip cookies and gelato for dessert.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Our First Thanksgiving!