December 28, 2010

2010 - Day 359

Rrrr mattes! After our awesome lunch at Shogun we stopped to check out the snow sculptures in downtown Racine. They were a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. Elle and I spent the rest of the day running errands and catching up. It was glorious.

December 27, 2010

2010 - Day 358

Everyone has SO much to do at this time of year, as I know way too well from personal experience. Therefore, it was even more special that we got to see Larry, Amber and Ben. Then Jai and Shannon with their girls: Lauren, Kaitlyn and Megan. Also my amazing friend Elle came up as well. Here are me and my sisters doing our tough ping pong faces with the girls.

December 26, 2010

2010 - Day 357

Amber, Larry and Ben came to my parents for some games and merriment for Christmas. We got stuck playing some rock band, but it was fun. Especially when Amber and Nicki decided it takes three people to play the drums.

December 25, 2010

2010 - Day 356

We had two new Christmas traditions this year. There were group pajamas and sugar cookies. We also spent an extremely long time opening gifts, it was amazing.

December 24, 2010

2010 - Day 355

This was my Christmas gift from Clare. It started out as a kitchen supply box. However, after I told her I was moving to the Virgin Islands, she changed the idea. She made a beach scene and gave me a bottle of sunscreen. LOVE IT!

December 23, 2010

2010 - Day 354

Jeet and I went on a tour of his old neighborhood. I told him that the picture of the day would have to be him in the door of his old building. Which was actually covered in caution tape. "I can't believe I lived here," Jeet said, "I could live in Murray Hill again, but only in a high rise.

December 22, 2010

2010 - Day 353

Jeet finally made it to New York for an overdue visit. Amanda and I went to Cilantro with him for dinner and then Jen meet us for a cocktail which was great. It is so nice to have him for a visit.

December 21, 2010

2010 - Day 352

Here is Chester and I before the Christmas Party at work today. If you can believe it, everything is actually going to get cleaned out of this office in the next few days.

December 20, 2010

2010 - Day 351

Packing up everything in my apartment is getting is a little bit warring. Especially deciding what to do with books and movies. However, I have made some great progress, my book shelf is down to one row.

December 19, 2010

2010 - Day 350

Christmas Pageant number 2 for the week. I love the pageant at St. JME. The kids read the biblical story as their lines for the show. It was a lot of fun and extremely cute! After Church, Karen, Emma, Boyce and I headed to the Dram Shop which has certainly been our December after Church tradition. Andrew made an appearance as well which was a lot of fun. I can't believe Christmas is in less than a week.

December 18, 2010

2010 - Day 349

Boyce and Emma invited me over for a holiday afternoon of mulled wine and cider. I took their picture with Karen next to their tree. You have to get a picture of the day somewhere! It has been really great becoming friends with them. Their friend John even lived on Saint John for a Summer, so it was great to get his input on the next phase of my life as well.

December 17, 2010

2010 - Day 348

Going through all of my belongings and deciding what is important, what is not, and wait WHY do I still have this, has been exhausting! It will be glorious when it is done however. This was the most humorous thing that I found. It was a calendar from 2006 with a paperclip on July 3, 2006 and labeled institute begins. This calendar was never written in again! Haha, I got pretty busy that year. It brought me full circle too, because this calendar clearly spent my whole time in New York with me. Well now it is in the trash, but this picture and all of those memories remains!

December 16, 2010

2010 - Day 347

Tonight was a late night for me, working the Grammar School Christmas Pageant. Fortunately everything went like clockwork, and was really enjoyable. At the end of the pageant there is a parade of nations, where the kids carry in flags from around the world. This picture also captures the kindergartners after their song from the front of the altar, which caused quite a stir with parents taking photos.

December 15, 2010

2010 - Day 346

I meet a lot of wonderful people in my 4 team kickball career this summer/fall. I got a chance to meet Mike, Christina and Justin for dinner and a drink tonight. This is a pretty great picture of Christina and Justin. We had a fun time.

December 14, 2010

2010 - Day 345

After a great session of tutoring, I met up with Akeli to spend a little time together before she left for the holidays. We ended up at a wine bar on the super chilly night. I thought this wreath in the frosted window as a pretty great description of the night.

December 13, 2010

2010 - Day 344

Sara had asked me if I was interested in purchasing a living social deal in August. The one that we got was called Mixology and was at a place called Sanctuary T (www.santuartyt.com). It was an excellent experience. We got a great tea and appetizer to start and then made 5 drinks.

1. Shooter - Rum, Creme de Cacao, Mint
2. Hot Cocktail - Oolong, Ginger Syrup, Sake
3. Rocks - Tequila, Lemon Juice, Jasmine Infused Triple Sec
4. Martini - Spring Harvest Infused Gin, Grapes, Lemon, Sugar
5. Rocks - Jasmine Infused Vodka, Lime, Brown Sugar.

We learned how to muddle, infuse alcohol with loose tea, and generally how to drastically change the flavor of drinks by using tea. I highly recommend doing a living social deal and learning more about something you know little about.

December 12, 2010

2010 - Day 343

Happy Santa Lucia. It is a fun tradition that we have every year, where one of the girls wears candles on their head and passes out cookies. I think it is a really fun thing that we do and it makes for a hilarious picture. I do have a little bit of problem with the fact that there was wax dripping down her head, poor girl.

December 11, 2010

2010 - Day 342

Sara had a great holiday party with some delicious cookies and some great holiday cocoa and cider. I really like her apartment. It has three levels and is super cute. Akeli is showcasing the stairs in this picture.

December 10, 2010

2010 - Day 341

Jen and I had a good dinner at Cilantro tonight. Then she came over to pick the movies and books that she wanted from my collection. After that we had a quick drink and called it an early night. I liked this picture of Jen picking a song on the jukebox.

December 9, 2010

2010 - 340

Monday dinner on Thursday this week, it is really weekly dinner at this point. December is just too crazy to do something the same day every week. I didn't get a picture of our actual dinner, but I made a recipe that came on the back of a McCormick spice pack. It was easy and delicious and I would certainly recommend this.

December 8, 2010

2010 - Day 339

It was a great book club tonight. We read The Vaults which was a fantastic novel set in the 30s. We had a great discussion which actually happened twice cause Colin was in Cincinnati when we started. I love HiLife, the waitress referred to us as the ladies of literature, which I thought was pretty cute.

December 7, 2010

2010 - Day 338

I have these great thank you notes that my parents and grandparents have left when they visited. I found that I had two more, one from Mom and one from Brenda from this weekend. Cute, I love the heart post-its.

December 6, 2010

2010 - Day 337

Happy St. Nick's Day. When I was cleaning out my Christmas decorations last week, I found this awesome stocking. I told Amanda we should use it for St. Nick's Day. When I woke up this morning she had filled it. How amazing. Most incredible roommate ever.

December 5, 2010

2010 - Day 336

Is this going to be the photo of the day? Oh you bet it is Karen! After putting Mom and Brenda in a cab for the airport. I went to Church and then went to Dram Shop to watch the Packers and enjoy lunch with Boyce, Emma and Karen. It was rather fantastic, and the HUGE trees right outside the bar were also amazing.

December 4, 2010

2010 - Day 335

Can you take our picture? Wait, NO not like that, turn the camera the other way! I think this picture is hilarious. Well I guess that is what you get after boozy brunch at Calle Ocho. However, you aren't able to read the name of the restaurant in this photo, because he needed to turn the camera the other way!

December 3, 2010

2010 - Day 334

We took Mom and Brenda to happy hour and Bruschetteria tonight for dinner. It was a great as always and Mom and Brenda enjoyed it almost as much as we do. Frank, the manager and our new best friend, also made an appearance in this photo.

December 2, 2010

2010 - Day 333

It's my Brenda Birthday. This morning I dropped Mom and Brenda off at Rockefeller Center for their first time at the Today Show. They had a wonderful time and Brenda even got a great hug and amazing picture with Meredith Viera. The day didn't end there, she still had the Radio City Christmas Show and Serendipity to go!

December 1, 2010

2010 - Day 332

After an exhausting journey lasting about 10 hours, 2 of which spent circling LaGuardia, my mom and Brenda made it to New York. Amanda and I thought there was no better way to welcome them then a glass of sangria and some Spanish tapas.

November 30, 2010

2010 - Day 331

I am a day behind because Sunday was too much fun. So here is our picture of Monday dinner. Amanda made some awesome hamburgers and then we had mac & cheese. We were both starving, but then we only ended up being able to finish about half of what she made.

November 29, 2010

2010 - Day 330

I crossed off the 5th stadium on my list. I went to Lucus Oil Stadium with my dad last night. It was a lot of fun. It is getting harder and harder for me to decide which stadium is the best, because they are all so great for their own reasons. These would be my three arguments for what made Indy great. First, the stadium seats approximately 71,000 and nearly every seat was full before kickoff. (Obviously, the Colts are pretty good, this game excluded, but the Jets are 8-2 and there was a whole empty tier.) Second, the respect for Peyton Manning is mind blowing, when the offense is on the field you could hear a pin drop. I had heard this on tv and Colin explained it to me, but experienceing it in person was incredible. Third, I must be bad luck, because the home team has only one once in the 5 games I've been to and it took them overtime to do it! But I was really impressed with the fact that Peyton had possibly the worst game of his career and still no one really had anything bad to say about him. It is a unique place, and I'm glad I got to go there in this part of their franchise history. Go Colts.

November 28, 2010

2010 - Day 329

We got to meet the Stoltenbergs for a beer, a little football and lots of stories before John's celebration of life. It was amazing to see them and incredible that all of us have turned 21 in the time since we were all last together. So here we are in age order of course. Clearly not height, then I would have to be last!

November 27, 2010

2010 - Day 328

All of us drove down to Indy for Saturday and Sunday. It was amazing catching up with a lot of people we hadn't seen in way too long. As we drove through Indiana we came across and wind field that my dad didn't remember seeing before. It was a pretty great view as I listened to Wisconsin football on Sirius radio. It took me a while to find the game which was on a non sports channel, but I'm glad I did. Here we come Rose Bowl.

November 26, 2010

2010 - Day 327

This might not be the best picture, but it is still funny. Nicki is juggling the chocolate turkeys that Mom forgot to put out on the table. She wasn't half bad actually. All of this while Grandpa and Grandma are trying to get out of the house and back to Iowa. It was wonderful having them as always.

November 25, 2010

2010 - Day 326

Nicki and Jeremy took pictures of their Thanksgiving plates and texted them to each other. So I decided I would take a picture as well. Here you have some amazing turkey, Iowa corn, mashed and sweet potatoes, stuffing, Nicki/Gweneth's goat cheese salad, stuffing, cranberry salad and a crescent roll. Oh and of course a diet coke. Everything was delicious and it was a really great day.

Jeet and Amanda both sent me pictures of Holtz recipes they made for their families as well. Both were huge hits.

November 24, 2010

2010 - Day 325

I got invited to the Murray Hill Thanksgiving Lunch today. It was pretty incredible. All of these kids were 4 1/2 but watch out a few were also 4 3/4. It was incredibly enjoyable having lunch with them. I swear being in a preschool classroom is basically like being a celebrity no one can get enough of you. I also got one of these great Pilgrim hats. Amazing.

November 23, 2010

2010 - Day 324

This is Akeli, being very New York. If by being New York you mean going out on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, just because you can, well then I would have to agree. As always this was the 4th thing on my agenda after working all day. Although I have to agree, she was not wrong. We were not the only people to go out on a Tuesday.

November 22, 2010

2010 - Day 323

It is starting to get a little colder out their this week. Amanda dealt with it by buying this amazing new hat. She loves that it makes you look like you have bangs. It is pretty funny. Although, I have to say, you will never need a hat in our apartment, it is just too warm.

November 21, 2010

2010 - Day 322

Today was a great day of Church, football and Harry Potter. Emma, Karen and I made some new football friends. Even if they were from Ohio. My uncle, bet me $5 his Vikings would beat my Packers. So I told him that this beer was on him.

Also the guys we shared the booth with had an ipad tracking their fantasy stats. It really made me want an ipad suddenly. Pretty awesome.

November 20, 2010

2010 - Day 321

Today is Saturday, so kickball is a thing of the past, but I have been fighting a cold all week. So today consisted of doing a few dishes, sitting on my couch watching football, working and then straight to bed at 8:30 PM! So here is the last kickball picture with my 3rd place medal and Meredith's 1st place one.

November 19, 2010

2010 - Day 320

As part of our playoff victory extravaganza I organized a bake-off and WOW did my team show up! On your left you have Anna's bark, Raj's apple crisp, Lucia's cup of dirt and my cheese cake bar (3rd place.) In the middle there is Jillian's pumpkin cheesecake. Finally, on the right there is Sara's chocolate tart (2nd place) and Karen's peanut butter brownie (1st place.)

November 18, 2010

2010 - Day 319

WE GOT THIRD PLACE IN KICKBALL!! Go Saved by the Balls. I can't even tell you how excited I am. We got medals and everything and they are legit. I love that Tim looks a little confused in this picture. Hilarious. Everything about this kickball season was so great! Go Bayside!

November 17, 2010

2010 - Day 318

I finally found time to go with Andrew for $.10 wings at Croxley Ale House. It was great to have a chance to catch up with him. I also am very impressed with myself that I can now eat hot wings. Oh eating spicy food. As always Andrew had great insights on life and it was wonderful to chat with him.

November 16, 2010

2010 - Day 317

This week's Monday dinner happened after tutoring on Tuesday this week. We didn't get to eat until 9 PM, but when we did we had a delicious ham, spinach and blue cheese pasta. Wonderful as always.

November 15, 2010

2010 - Day 316

Oops, my apartment has turned into a bit of bakery this week. Too bad my week is so crazy busy that this is going to have to wait until Saturday to be solved, and it is only Monday.

November 14, 2010

2010 - Day 315

This is what fall should look like. I thought that I was going to see amazing foliage in Wisconsin and Iowa this fall. It wasn't quite as good as last year though. So imagine my surprise when I saw this amazing view walking to my friends after Church and brunch.

November 13, 2010

2010 - Day 314

I will have to replace this picture, because this one is not nearly as good as the one my boss took. We got a last minute rental at work for a private birthday party and Stephan Stills performed at it. Working on a Saturday is not great, but at least this was something unique.

November 12, 2010

2010 - Day 313

It has been a long week. It was beautiful walking to work this week at the very least. I'm NOT a fan of daylight savings time in the least. I don't have to be at work until 9 AM though, so it has been enjoyable walking there in the bright daylight. I guess I'll have about 2 more weeks of this!

November 11, 2010

2010 - Day 312

The after kickball bar was changed to one about a mile away. Now there is a shuttle bus that takes us from one to the other. There weren't any seats left on the bus, so Jose found a sweet spot at the back of the bus. I joined him and took a picture. We had an awesome game. We won 20-5 and sealed the 7th spot in the playoffs. I can't wait it will be amazing!

November 10, 2010

2010 - Day 311

For this week's "Monday" dinner I made paella on Wednesday. It turned out really incredible. Also I reduced the serving size to only 4 servings and it turned out to be a lot more than that. It was very delicious and great for leftovers as well.

November 9, 2010

2010 - Day 310

It was a beautiful sunny day in New York. I had some amazing butternut squash soup and then went for a quick walk around the park. There was this great truck called Cake & Shake in front of the MET and I was very tempted to get a cupcake.