book-smart.

as a tight-knit extended family of 12, we try to consolidate the inter-family gift giving by having a thanksgiving "secret santa." last year, we tried (i organized) a white elephant gift exchange, which went rather well, but did not bode well for future events.

this year, i tried to get out of organizing anything. in the past when we did the traditional secret santa, you sent in the list of things you wanted. might as well just spend $50 on yourself and call it a day. i mean, what fun is that?

so, i decided to try something new. my first suggestion was voted down by the "aunts," the ruling party in the family p: everyone donate $15 and we decide on a charity, much like a giving circle. oops. people want gifts and we already feed the homeless after thanksgiving dinner. ugh.

next idea: book exchange. in a family of doctors (and to-be doctors), accountants, architects, scientists, humanitarians, and artsy-folks, this will work. hopefully. everyone brings 1 wrapped, new (sigh, i wish it didn't have to be, but if you did so well they already own the book, what's a person to do?) book ($10-$15 limit since the economy is a hurtin') for a selected (by me) person. i am praying to the god of secret santas that this works out flawlessly. considering the only responses i've gotten have been "oy!" (thanks, dad), and "make sure i get so-and-so, they are the ONLY one that will get me something i want," (coughauntcough), praying is all we got right now! 

don't let anyone know that i'm really quite excited about this. ( ;

lots to catch up on.

has it really been 3 WHOLE months? no way. besides the fact that i have crashed 2 computer this summer, i have a whole list of other excuses, promise!

-at the time of my last post, i was recovering from m's wedding at delfosse vineyards near charlottesville, va. h&i stayed the night and enjoyed a very southern wedding brunch complete w/ shrimp & grits before heading to monticello on sunday.


-h's & my birthday celebrations (june 16 & 15, respectively). i got a toddy coffee maker, pretty cool! if you have instructions on how to use this effectively, please let me know! i have to experiment.

-4th of july beach trip w/ the fam & h... was great! it went by too fast! but the house was perfect, and the company was unbeatable.

-july 11 i won a free ice cream party from edy's & invited h's neighborhood. v was abused by screaming children with stick fingers and one little girl nearly cried when we told her she couldn't have h's mullet wig. ( :

-we went rafting with the rivermen on the new river in mid-july with some coworkers & friends. it was so great, we're going again for the gauley (eek!) in september!


-my last weekend in northern virginia we went to baltimore for the day w/ m to go to the aquarium and inner harbor. this was the peak of my apartment hunting craze and i nearly decapitated my ever-loving boyfriend. poor guy. it was a great day, tho! i'm sad to miss mrs. m!
-I MOVED! on august 1, back to my hometown of richmond. i love my new neighborhood. precisely after i moved, i spent 3 straight weeks traveling for work. i now work from home, so i have to be extra-diligent about my blogging, i mean, working. it helps when you don't have a computer! i've spent the last month or so decorating, and really trying to make this place feel like home. i'm pretty happy with it! ( :


i've been missing my friends, and my family that lives up north, and my sister, but overall, i feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! i finally feel happy, and relaxed, and at home! more pictures & updates to come.

happy birthday mom!

we love you & wish you were here to celebrate your 60th! ( :

remembering recipes.

lil sis' new discovery has been evernote, the online fileroom. today she sent me this amazing recipe that i remember my gma making for us on the one occasion she actually came to our house.

cinnamon-layered quick coffeecake

ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter (i use smart balance 50/50)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 pint sour cream

directions:

• preheat oven to 350 degrees
• mix & set aside 1/2 cup sugar, nuts, & cinnamon.
• cream the butter, beating in 1 cup remaining sugar, eggs, vanilla, & lemon juice
• in a seperate bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• slowly add to the butter mixture with the sour cream
• pour half of the batter into a greased 9x9 (or 8x8) inch pan
• sprinkle with some of the cinnamon mixture & add remaining batter
• top with remaining cinnamon mixture
• bake for 40 minutes

update 5/27: i made these for some guys i work with and it was DEVOURED instantly... if only they knew how easy it was to make! ( :

b-day weekends!

this weekend was super-packed with lots of birthday activities!

friday we made a delicious dinner & went to dave&busters with my girlfriends. every night out in short pump we run into someone we most likely don't expect to see... this time it was el's first bf (hehe). we did not get shot, thank goodness! we played trivia until we ran out of money (although now even arcades are all on plastic) & it was past midnight...

saturday morning we woke up early and took a walk with v around carytown. i stopped for a coffee at jean jacques, and then to visit our friend j who works at williams bakery (owned by our friend summer's family). we got some "bugs" (vanilla cake bites with chocolate frosting & cute butterfly designs on them) for my family for lunch and a very delicious double carrot cake for h's brother's birthday (also saturday). they had some fondant cakes that were going out later that day in the fridge that were GORGEOUS. they do wedding cakes, too!


we had lunch at my dad's for my stepmom's birthday in the west end and then off to the southside to have dinner with h's family for his bro's 20th. h nearly conned his bro into having dinner at olive garden. after we had properly stuffed ourselves, we went home, devoured the carrot cake, and watched harry potter until i got tired & cranky. ( :



sunday was the triplets birthday! we got them all fishing poles, which they fought with, and they received a lot of nerf guns, which they fought with. i think at age 8, they'd fight with anything. their mom was tricky, and somehow kept thier birthday venue a secret, so first we had to make a trip to the library (where they had been told their party was), before going to the dump, where they were puzzled until they realized why they were there- to throw out their booster seats!



after knocking each other in the head, we headed to the real party - g force karts! the kids played laser tag & played on inflatables while the "chaperones" went go karting. i could have gotten the "driving miss daisy" award, but it was super-fun. then there was more playing and singing at red robin and time to go home, open up the presents, and get ready for bed. but not without shoving gum in the others' hair! l's bumper sticker is right, living with triplets is NEVER boring!

reuniting with a "friend."

i listened to this story on story corp on npr this morning and it brought me to tears. it's about a woman talking about her mother and their patching of their relationship at age 30. i wished i could do the same with my stepmother. please go listen.

tears at the office.

where to start. well, my mom owned a sewing machine. a bernina manual 1008. you can barely buy it anymore, nobody buys manual machines anymore. my local sewing shop has one. it's on sale right now for $874.30. my dad has allowed/given/gifted (who the hell knows) this sewing machine to his wife (i'm not even going to call her my step-mother anymore). his wife, who hates me and has for the last 13 years. his wife who is 35 going on 15. she has decided that i am no longer allowed to use it because i "borrowed" it at thanksgiving and didn't give it back until the week after christmas. oh. my. god. failing to mention that she apparently messed up the tension and then it sat in the repair shop for weeks. i seriously cannot believe that this fucking sewing machine is going to ruin my relationship with my dad. his response when i questioned why she thought it was returned "late" by a day: "whatever."

whatever dad. i see you've already made your choice. it's not worth it anymore.