chicago

francis and i are heading to chicago this weekend.

we are going to celebrate an early Christmas with family in the area and celebrate him being done with dreaded law school finals. 

we plan to giggle the weekend away with family, sip lattes, devour our favorite cupcakes, splurge on fancy cocktails (beers for mr. francis), and savor the city, hand-in-hand. 

needless to say, i absolutely positively cannot wait.

a lovely weekend to one and all,

h

giving thanks and growing up

i wasn't able to go home for Thanksgiving this year because i had to work the saturday after the holiday, but it gave opportunity to start new traditions. francis and i decided to have a low key celebration with his parents. we offered to cook the entire meal and they offered to pay for all the groceries and supplies we needed. perfect.

we were brainstorming and meal planning for a couple of weeks thinking what fun things we should try, how we should plate things, and what unexpected flavors we could include. in the end, however, we decided to just stick with a traditional meal and that we had the rest of our lives to do things unconventionally when we hosted at our own house.

francis took over on operation:turkey and a fancy shmancy, homemade green bean casserole recipe and i planned to tackle everything else. we opted for family style versus courses and ended up with a delectable table hosting the following options:

turkey: twelve pounder soaked overnight in a brine, lathered in butter and seasonings, stuffed with garlic, onion, fresh rosemary, lemon, lime, and orange wedges

mashed potatoes: russets mixed with heavy cream, garlic, salt, and fresh, minced rosemary

corn: butter sauce

cranberries: fresh simmered in orange juice, sugar, and cinnamon

rolls: brushed with butter

mushrooms: (a tradition of my family) simmered with bacon, onion and butter

green beans: cooked with homemade onion strings, fresh mushrooms, a homemade cream sauce, onion, and garlic

stuffing: boxed kind (i know, i know, but i love it.)

pie: homemade with fresh, roasted pumpkin, spices, cream, eggs, brown sugar, salt and whipping cream

his mom even let us eat at their fancy dining room table (the room with the white carpet that never gets used), with my choice of fancy china from the (usually just for display) china cabinet, and fancy, fragile, crystal wine glasses. a smashing success.

we spent the rest of the weekend decorating their house for Christmas---including a TWELVE foot tree that took about six hours to put up and decorate---and watching modern family season two on dvd (our black friday splurge---and by splurge, i mean twelve dollars. and yes, we were up at midnight for this twelve dollar purchase, because we are ridiculous like that.)

when i got back home, my roommate and i decorated our house with a fresh tree---we sawed off branches and the bottom foot so it'd be fresh to go in the water. we stood on two ladders and hung lights from the shingles and gutters and decorated the house inside, outside, and just about every single crevice that could be Christmasized, while drinking wine and blasting festive music.

making full Thanksgiving dinners, standing on ladders to hang Christmas lights, decorating houses --- so many grown up things in one weekend, when did i get old enough to manage these things by myself?

{images: darling print at the top from HEN&CO. etsy store, food images from hilaryclair} 

something borrowed, something blue

anyone who knows me well knows i love weddings. who am i kidding? heck, anyone who knows me not well, maybe seen me once or twice, sat at the bus with me, or brushed arms with me probably has some idea about how much i love....well, love. i adore fancy occasions, reasons to celebrate and happily ever afters.

this weekend, francis and i went to the wedding of two of our dear friends. we've been to a handful of weddings recently. i've danced my heart out while francis watched (probably embarrassed) from our table. we've made new friends, caught up with acquaintances, and taken notes for our someday nuptials. the one thing i've noticed is we tend to know only a handful of people well at weddings, since our friends come from so many different groups. i was never the girl that had the close knit group of twenty friends who did everything together, but instead the twenty friends from twenty different groups. though half the world would bet money that i'm never shy, i found myself taking on the role of wallflower at some of this season's weddings, because i knew something like two people at the wedding ---the bride and groom.

this weekend's wedding hosted about thirty of my nearest and dearest. we took up three tables and it was so nice to have familiar faces everywhere i looked. they had dance instruction at the beginning of the wedding, where we had a crash course on learning the waltz, swing, disco, and line dancing. i thought this was a genius idea, because it built confidence and gave the guests something to do while the wedding party took photos. it was a blast to dance with a group of girls, cheer loudly as francis partook in the men's disco competition, nuzzle into francis' shoulder as we danced slowly to "moonriver", and have a chance to catch up with so many friends at once.

i was excited to try my hand at the bouquet toss and hoped that fate was somehow intertwined with my catching skills. sure enough, a little of beyonce's "single ladies" and a small crowd of unwed women later and the bouquet was mine. (i have to be honest and say though i didn't trample anybody, i definitely reached for it. it wasn't one of those "i didn't even try and it fell right into my hands" kind of things.)

basking in the promise of a soon engagement only flowers can provide, i was sitting at our table when the two flower girls came up to me. here's the conversation:

fg (flower girl): "pretty flowers." (in a sad voice)
me: "thank you."
fg: "we were trying to catch them but we got hit in the head." (sounded like eeyore)
me: "oh no! am i the one who hit you in the head?"
fg: "no, not you. it's okay, we are okay now." (sounded heartbroken)
...long pause...
me: "here, you can have the bouquet."

and then, they ran away giddy. i got played by two six year olds.

then, francis comes up to me and says, "sweetheart, don't you know that if you catch a bouquet and give it away, it delays engagement by ten years."

moral of the story: i was practically engaged this weekend and i threw it all away on two puppy dog faces.
disclaimer: this is heavily dosed in sarcasm.

the end.

{images: j.crew, BHLDN}