It's Christmas Tiiiime in the City...

Last night, Brett and I went downtown for a little date night!  We wandered around the city (in the freezing cold!), looking at all the festive Christmas lights and checking out the Christmas Village in Market Square.  Then, we warmed up at Butcher and the Rye with some drinks and eventually headed over to Meat and Potatoes for dinner!

...a little grainy selfie just because =)

It was the perfect little night out on the town!

Happy weekend, everyone!*

(PS - Today I am officially 30 weeks pregnant!  Ahh!!)

Christmas Tree Adventure 2014!

Last Saturday, Brett and I headed out into the countryside to pick out our Christmas tree!

We had to trudge through the mud and rain, but we got it!

And after stopping for hot chocolate, we got home and set it up in the living room all ready to be decorated.  We got about half way up the tree when we realized we were out of lights!  So our poor Christmas tree sat half decorated for a few days until we got more.

But of course, as soon as we could, we finished the lights and added our ornaments.  And now our Christmas tree is shining bright!  Its got a crooked trunk and some off-center branches, but it's perfectly imperfect to us!

Can't we leave the Christmas tree up all year round?!
Cheers!*

Live Music, Birth Center Tour, & Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree!

...scenes from the weekend...

Friday night date night!
Thai Cuisine (including Thai pulled pork!) and live music at the Thunderbird Cafe

Saturday morning birth center tour!!
This got me so excited for February!  The birth center is beautiful and the suites are huge!

Christmas tree adventures!  And we found the perfect one!

And homemade pizza while decorating the house!

We ran out of lights half way up the tree, so it was only half decorated for a few days :)

Hooray for awesome weekends!
I looove this time of year!*

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

&

Happy Holidays!!

I hope you all have an amazing holiday week

filled with family, friends, love, and laughs.

Christmas Tree Adventure 2012

On Saturday, Brett and I trekked out into the country side through the rain for a very important reason.  To find the perfect Christmas tree!!  We wander around the farm, up and down the hills, looking very closely at each tree until the most beautiful one was staring us in the face.  We took her home and dressed her all up.  And now she happily brightens up our living room for all the world neighbors to see.

And now for some cheeeese...

Want to see some more cheese?

Check out our Christmas tree videos from 2010 & 2011.

Merriest Christmas!!*

Tis the Season!

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011.  Um, whoa.  When did that happen?

Anyway, we had a great Christmas.  Lots of parties, lots of family & friends, lots of food comas, and lots of running around.  On the 23rd, Brett and I hosted a family Christmas party at our new house for my side of the family.  We jam-packed about 20 people into our house to celebrate the holiday.  I'd say it was a success!  We were so busy entertaining that I forgot to take any photos.  Except for this one...

That's the veggie Christmas wreath I made!  I'm very proud of it... I felt very 'Martha Stewart'.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the day hanging out at my parent's house.  We played games, had a great dinner, and relaxed.  Oh, we also put together about 50 luminary candle bags for the front of their house.  Pretty outcome!

When we got home that night, Brett and I exchanged our gifts!  We always exchange gifts with each other on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day because we have too many people to see and too many places to go on actual Christmas day.  Exchanging on Christmas Eve lets us relax and spend some time alone together.  We went easy on the gift giving for each other this year since we just bought our house (along with a brand new washer/dryer and dishwasher...).  Here's Brett's gifts all wrapped up by the tree!

    

The meaning behind all the "this" tags is because there was a common theme for all his gifts.  I got him a bunch of mountain biking accessories like biking socks and sweatbands and also a bottle of Stone Brewery's Arrogant Bastard beer.  And then the big box was a Stone Brewery mountain biking jersey that he had been eying up when we went to the brewery in California in September.  See the connection??  I know, I'm clever.  If there's two things my husband loves (besides ME of course!), it's beer and mountain biking.  So I think he enjoyed these gifts.  Right, BABE?!

We also watched "Elf" on Christmas Eve after exchanging gifts.  But we only made it about 15 minutes into the movie before we both passed out on the couch...

Christmas morning was spent at my parent's house with my parents and siblings (and Riley).  I always love how my Mom decorates their house.  It's so Christmasy!  The stockings have been growing in number over the last couple years... and I like it that way!

We got Lee & Jess headlamps for Christmas and they LOVE them!  And Yes, their dog Riley is wearing his Christmas sweater.

After spending Christmas morning with my family, we headed up to Erie to spend some time with Brett's family.  With two little nephews in the mix, it makes Christmas time and opening gifts so much more fun.  Everything excites them.  I didn't take many photos while there, but I snap these two of little Andrew.  Is he not the cutest thing ever?!

  

Cue heart melting... NOW.  I love this picture of Brett and Andrew.  So cute!  We stayed in Erie until Tuesday, then headed back to Pittsburgh because I had to work Wednesday through Friday... Boooo.  We also got to see Alan (Brett's Best Man from our wedding) for a brief couple hours Tuesday night when we got home, which was a pleasant surprise.  

And this is what's getting me through these couple days of work (while it seems like everyone else has the whole week off!)...

Tomorrow we are heading down to Lee & Jess's to spend New Years Eve at a huge party downtown in DC with Third Eye Blind and 5,000 of my closest friends!  I can't wait!!  Recap to follow...

Happy New Year!!*

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Relax, have fun, & enjoy it!*

{Photo by Brett - 2008}

Christmas Tree Adventure 2011

We found it!  We found it!

The perfect Christmas tree.

Here's a little video documenting our adventure...

 

Now it's really Christmas time!

It's Christmas Tree Day!

It is officially the Christmas season and life is sweet!

...the Christmas decorations are out on display...

...the only music being listened to is Christmas music...

...cinnamon is being added to my coffee every morning...

...gold sparkle nail polish is all that's being worn...

...the smell of cinnamon pine cones is filling the house...

...annnnd...

...we are going to get our Christmas tree today!!

Here's to hoping we find the perfect one.
Happy weekend, everyone!*

(PS - Be sure to check out last year's Christmas tree adventure!)

Hazelnut Coffee & Christmas Music (Shh!)

Shh, don't tell Brett...*

but I started listening to Christmas music in my car this morning!!

It was so chilly outside...
I went to Panera and got a hazelnut coffee,

then got back in my car,

and just couldn't control myself...

I mean, the coffee cup was basically telling me to!

I put on a Pandora Christmas station

and cruised down the road,

sipping my warm coffee and humming along.

It was a woooonderful drive to work :)

 

(*Brett claims that it is illegal to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. PSHH!)