Friday Favorites

We got the OK to work from home today because of all the snow we're supposed to get, so I'm thrilled to be writing this from my dining room table in lounge clothes aka pajamas. 

This week was packed with stuff, so I'm looking forward to a chill work day today, nothing but relaxation tomorrow, and a sweet baby shower on Sunday.
 Now, some favorites...

Sammy's birthday

Sammy's birthday was on Tuesday and I was SO excited for his birthday this year. He had to work so I felt bad he wasn't going to see anyone on his actual birthday (he works the afternoon shift, so he's gone in the evenings when people come home from work around five), so I took the day off so I could be with him in the morning and early afternoon before he had to leave for his shift.

When he heard Elton John would be doing a farewell tour, he mentioned in passing how cool it would be to see him, so when tickets went on sale last Friday, I grabbed two. Definitely not the cheapest gift I've ever gotten him haha but he was very excited when he opened them!

I also got him a day pass to a local ski resort because he's rekindled his love of skiing, as well as this cool ammo case I had engraved on Etsy. 

Who knew I'd be buying an ammo case as a birthday gift one day... ;) I put mini Snickers inside because that's my kind of ammo.

I wanted to make breakfast and lunch for him, but I knew we'd only have a few hours together before he had to go to work, so I made almost everything the night before so I wouldn't be spending a bunch of time in the kitchen on his birthday.

He's a big cinnamon roll guy, so I made these pancakes for him and they turned out really well! The cream cheese drizzle was insanely good. I made the batter, cinnamon mix, and icing the night before and stored them in baggies to bring over the next day.

Recipe Here!

And then I made him this pasta dish for lunch which he enjoyed as well. He really liked the sauce and it's so easy to make so I'm trying to think of other combinations to make it with. I think it would be great over larger pieces of sausage and peppers.

Recipe Here!

Of course we had to eat ours with some of the sausage we hung and dried last month ;)

And since I had the rest of the day off, I went home and spent the entire afternoon napping with this guy. It was glorious and so necessary.

New Writing Column

About two years ago, when I was still in grad school, I contacted the editor of the Fra Noi, and Italian-American magazine here in Chicago, to see if he would be interested in a piece about St. Joseph's Day for their March issue since it's a big holiday for my family. Turns out I was too late--they were already in production for their March issue--but he told me to resubmit the following year. Well I forgot about it, but he emailed me last month and asked if I would still submit the piece. So I did but was really self conscious about it because it was a piece I hadn't looked at since grad school, and I haven't written much since then anyway, and he needed it edited down significantly to fit the allotted space in the magazine, so I thought it might lose it's message with such a big edit.
Fully expecting to hear back from him being like, yeah, thanks, but no thanks... I was shocked when he sent the nicest email praising my writing skills and asking me if I'd like to write a monthly POV piece for the next year or two.
My first piece comes out next month (maybe even sooner!) and I'm excited to see it in print. It's a super regional paper and I don't know how high their readership is, but it's a foot in the door on my way to "freelance writer" status and I'm proud of that.

The Paris Wife

Wouldn't be a favorites post of mine if I didn't include what I'm currently reading! 

I picked up The Paris Wife for like fifty cents at a library used book sale. I started reading the flap copy and stopped as soon as I read "Ernest Hemingway, first wife, Hadley, life in Paris." I was like yep, don't have to twist my arm. All my favorite things haha. 

It's a fictionalized telling of Ernest Hemingway and Hadley Richardson's experience living in Paris in the 20s right after they were married.

I'm really enjoying it so far. Paula McClain has a way of writing so accessibly and yet so poetically. I know it doesn't end "well" so I'm interested to see how McClain writes that.

Emilie Claire Barlow

I've been listening to Parisian music while reading The Paris Wife and I've zeroed in on Emilie Claire Barlow (also, how pretty is that spelling of Emily?). Omg I love her voice. It's so lovely. Highly recommend.

Ulta Products

I'm not an Ulta girl. I'm Sephora through and through, but my girlfriend recently mentioned getting facials at the Dermologica bar for $60 for an hour at our local Ulta and I immediately booked an appointment. I loved the experience (mostly because my facialist was so amazing) and I highly recommend seeing if your Ulta offers the service.

While I was there, I decided to walk around and see if I could find a few things to try.

I found these gel moisture socks (that I thought were listed as $4.99 but I see online are $25 and I swear to god if I paid $25 for gel socks...lesson to me to pay more attention at the register...) and decided to try them out. I was surprised at the results actually. I wore them for an hour or so while I read and my feet came out feeling really soft (which is a miracle during the winter). 

Here!

I also grabbed a few new face masks and a terrycloth bow headband for when I do said masks, makeup, get out of the shower, etc. It's a little girly for my taste but I actually really like it on haha.

February Favorites Coming Up

It's easy for winter to get to me after a while, so it's nice to have things to be excited about. There are a few things in Feb I'm really looking forward to like spending some time next week with Sammy to celebrate Valentine's Day (he has to work on the actual day), our office being closed for President's Day, and the annual Wine About Winter event (next weekend!) I go to with my girlfriends that is so, so fun. It's basically a wine crawl throughout the downtown square near where my girlfriend works. It's been unseasonably warm every weekend this event falls on, but I don't think we're going to get that lucky this year, so now we can whine about winter ;)

We're missing an important member of our group in this picture from last year and I'm especially excited she'll be with us this year :)

That's all I've got this Friday! Back to work and snowblowing ;)

 Happy weekend, all!

xo

Seasonal Recap

Sometimes I think, is this even worth it? Like we're already in February. Do I need to recap stuff from Halloween? But then I think, yeah, why not. No one reads this, so I can do what I want for documentation purposes ;)

I like having these pictures all in one spot to look back on, and hopefully one day I'll appreciate the seasonal recap I just had to do in February because I couldn't get my shit together to do recap in real time.

SO, kicking it all the way back to Halloween... Sammy and I went as Lois Lane and Clark Kent which fulfilled my fantasy of dating Superman ;)

Our niece was the sweetest little mermaid!

My pumpkin spice doughnuts made another appearance this fall. The secret? They're actually Pillsbury biscuits! 

This year I stumbled upon a limited edition pumpkin spice flavored butter from Land O'Lakes so I melted and brushed it over these before dipping in pumpkin spiced sugar for a richer flavor. SO good.

I brought the New York Times "twice baked mashed potato casserole" to Friendsgiving this year for the second year in a row.

Chelsie had the cutest set-up and I wish I had taken more pictures.

The best looking plate there ever was. I proceeded to have like three more helpings of each side which resulted in me going home and literally vomiting because I'm trash with no self control.

My brother gifted me this bath tray for my birthday and I'm OBSESSED. 

As evidence from my "Thanksgiving prep" ^^

Actual Thanksgiving prep ^^

I used to help my papa fry the cauliflower every Thanksgiving. After he passed away, I started doing it myself. At first it seemed like it might be a rather depressing task for me, but it ended up being lovely. Sounds a little silly, but I picture him with me while I turn the browned cauliflower and think about some of my favorite memories with him. It's a solitude tradition (for a not so solitude holiday) I look forward to every year.

My grandma makes me take a picture of her table every year ;)

Perks of having a chef for an uncle: lots of pretty garnish.

UGH. Need. Now.

A few days after Thanksgiving, Sammy and I joined his parents for a little excursion up to Wisconsin to cut their Christmas tree. While we were there I couldn't help but think that maybe next year (now this year!) Sammy and I would be picking out our own tree(s, if I have anything to do with it) for our home :)

We stopped at Fred's on the way back home for some burgers.

And then stopped to see a sweet girl who had just gotten her first Christmas tree as well! ;)

A few days after that, we celebrated our Sammy's SIL's birthday with some decadent too-rich-for-me-I'll-just-have-coffee-thanks dessert...the only way she likes dessert to be ;)

Before the end of the year, I ordered my bridesmaid dress for one of my best friend's wedding and I can't WAIT to wear it.

Our Spring/Summer 18 catalog came out at work too! This was the first catalog I was the lead production editor on and I'm really proud of how we cranked this thing out.

  

Sammy and I went to Lake Geneva at the beginning of December for our (fifth!) annual Christmas Trip (a trip we do in lieu of giving actual gifts to one another). We started the weekend off at Riga-Tony's in Delvan, WI, with some chicken pastina soup that tasted just like my grandma's. Sammy got a few different things to try and I got the homemade raviolis. 

I love wandering the aisles of places like this. I grabbed a few different muffalettas and giardinieras to take home to my family. 

Once we got to Lake Geneva, I insisted we go to their historical museum which is the kind of thing Sammy always fights me on but then ends up liking just as much as me. Okay, not just as much as me but pretty close. 

They did a great job having different rooms and storefronts that were historically accurate, visually appealing, and super fun to walk through. I wanted to touch everything like a little kid.

Sammy and I nerd the hell out about stuff like this. Like can you imagine going to the dentist with this kind of technology?

I geeked out about this train sign because I'm pretty sure it's an early version of the line I ride every day. OMG CRAZY, I know.

This frickin' guy in some old cinema seats. The most handsome.

We stayed at the Bella Vista Suites and really enjoyed our room. It was right across from the lake and would be so awesome in the summertime.

All the stores had the best decorations.

We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown checking out some stores and then we stayed in town for the light parade. We had dinner at Sprecher's because everything else was so crowded after the parade. And on the way back to the hotel room (at like 7:30 p.m. because we're a lot of fun!!) we stopped to take a picture by this enormous Christmas tree they had near the lake.

I had a weird moment here where I thought Sammy was going to propose (even though I absolutely know he wasn't going to, like logically, I knew there was no way) in front of this Christmas tree and I FREAKED OUT and kept saying "let's just go back to hotel" over and over like a weirdo. And he was like k...

For the record, I do want him to propose some day ;) 

Because of Sammy's work schedule, we could only stay one night, so we left the next day but not before stopping at Joni's. Great diner food (pretty sure the applesauce that came with my potato pancakes was homemade) and an awesome vibe inside.

Sometime in December I made Benny pose for a photo with our Christmas tree, an activity he finds exceedingly uncomfortable.

About a week before Christmas, Sammy's grandma had us all over to celebrate the holiday early. She's planning to move in with Sammy's parents in a few months, so it's the last year she would host Christmas in her home, so we knew it meant a lot to her to have us all over.

Plus, the above is what she makes for APPETIZERS soooo who's turning that shit down?

Sweetest lady.

Dessert because we're obviously still so hungry after all the food she makes.

There were many snuggles with Benny by the Christmas tree. My favorite.

One Christmas Eve, my siblings and I went with my dad on our traditional Dinkel's run.

One of my favorite traditions and my favorite sign ever.

Afterward, I stopped by Sammy's where his parents were hosting a little Christmas Eve brunch for us and Sammy's brother's family. I really hope this becomes a tradition every year because it was so nice to exchange gifts and get to spend time with our niece at a slower pace than other family gatherings.

Someone cashed in on her first Christmas!

Sammy's grandpa unfortunately had to have brain surgery a few days before Christmas but miraculously (not so miraculously because he's an incredible human) he came out of surgery amazingly well and was home two days later for Christmas Eve. 

A little girl we know got a little pink piano and it was so sweet to watch him watch her play with it. We were all so blessed to have him home for the holidays.

Another Christmas tree pic because why not. Fully aware the lights at the top have seen their last days.

In January my siblings and I went by my Dad's for our traditional post-Christmas Christmas celebration where we eat foods that are basically all the same color ;) We ate a lot of comfort food, watched a lot of All in the Family, and opened gifts. It was a great night.

    

Later in January my Dad's extended family had their Christmas celebration (we milk Christmas for all it's worth around here). We did a Mexican themed potluck and it was fun to see a lot of cousins I don't get to see very often. Especially when my cousins have the cutest little chickens that let their great aunts put bandanas on them and play with Wolverine claws like a bad ass.

Sweetest babes!

So that seems to be all I got for the seasonal recap. We're approaching Sammy's birthday (tomorrow!), Valentine's Day, our anniversary, and then come all the various summer wedding related  events :) I can't wait for spring and everything it brings to come.

xo