Virginia Belle

The Story of Us

2012-02-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than by sharing our love story. So today I'm linking up with From Mrs. to Mama to share it from the very beginning!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

VABeau officially became my boyfriend after a month or so of dating on February 22nd, 2006. So we have been together for almost 6 years. I can't believe how quickly the years have flown by!

Our 2nd date-February 2006

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We met the best way possible, through friends. VABeau studied abroad in Copenhagen during the Spring semester of 2005 with two of my friends/sorority sisters, Jacqueline and Kelly. When Jacqueline and Kelly returned for our final year of college, we lived together in a house with 2 other girls. They stayed friends with VABeau upon their return so he and his roommates made occasional appearances at our house throughout the Fall semester for parties and tailgates. I was still dating my on-again, off-again, long distance boyfriend at the time so I didn't pay too much attention to the cute and well dressed boy who hung out with Kelly and Jacqueline. It wasn't until I finally broke up with my ex-boyfriend for good right before Thanksgiving that I started to pay a little more attention to VABeau. I quickly discovered that he was one of the most fun and full of life people I had ever met and of course I started to find him to be cuter by the minute. I finally purposely let it slip one night before Winter break, during a game of kings, that I no longer had a boyfriend. Apparently he noticed this slip and we ended up flirting all night. Since we went our separate ways for Christmas break I didn't expect anything else to happen (although I secretly hoped it would) but when I returned to school for the Spring semester, I noticed that VABeau was spending A LOT more time at our house than he ever had before. It turns out that he liked me too and asked me out on our first date!

Wine Tasting with Jacqueline and Kelly-March 2006

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We have been married for 2.5 years. We got married on October 10th, 2009.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We got married in the town where we met and fell in love, Charlottesville, Virginia, at The Boars Head Inn. We stayed there and had our wedding and reception there. It was a smallish wedding with 100 guests. The weekend went by way too quickly but it was absolutely perfect.

The Ceremony Site

The Reception Site

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Since the day after our wedding I have called VABeau, "Hubby." I think I was so excited that he was my husband that the nickname stuck. He doesn't have a real nickname for me but does usually call me the typical "Honey."

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

His devotion to his family and his incredible work ethic. His ability to make me smile in even the toughest times.

How could he not make you smile?

His intelligence, he surprises me each day with how clever and smart he is. His selflessness. If you are important to him, he will do absolutely anything for you. The fact that he makes me a better person. He makes me more relaxed and happy than anyone else can.

Foxfield-2008

7. Tell us how he proposed?

He proposed on February 21st, 2009 in his kitchen while we were making one of our favorite meals, spaghetti and meatballs the night before our 3 year anniversary. We had planned to celebrate our anniversary the following weekend in Charlottesville so I expected nothing more than a quiet night in with my boyfriend. Apparently he had planned to originally propose in Charlottesville but once he got the ring realized he couldn't wait one more week. So as I stirred the pasta sauce and sipped on my wine, he grabbed the ring, snuck behind me, and got on one knee so that when I turned around I got the best surprise of my entire life!

Charlottesville-July 2009

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He's more of a champagne and strawberries kind of guy. We both love our wine and our food (see engagement story) so he loves to surprise me with little treats: a special bottle of wine, cupcakes, you name it. He really knows the way to this girls heart!

One year dating anniversary at Barboursville-February 2007

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

This is a tough question, for a typical weeknight, I love to relax on the couch with a glass of wine and our DVR. But I can never turn down a great sunset or adventure with my Husband and we have been fortunate to share many together.

The Outer Banks-2006

Mykonos-2009

Hilton Head Island-2010

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Travel! We are both happiest when we are traveling the world and there are a million countries and places I still want to see with him. But I would also love to explore our own country together too. After college we talked a lot about driving across the country together. So I would love to take some time off from life/work and explore as many states and places as possible together.

Florence-2011

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We're going to keep it pretty low key after our fantastic weekend in New York. We plan to get take out, pop a bottle of champagne, and watch a movie. I also plan to make VABeau's favorite dessert, cheesecake, as a little V-day surprise.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

No. I suffer from having a Birthday and Valentine's day just weeks apart and I would much rather be showered with gifts on the day of my Birth. As long as he has a card for me and we're sharing some champagne, I'm happy!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Communication communication communication. It's so easy to come home from a long day of work, sit on the couch and watch TV without even talking to each other. After working with people all day, the last thing I want to do is talk. But it's so important to take a few moments to talk about each other's days and feelings each and every day. Also never lose site of your priorities. Your relationship with your significant other should always come first and make time for each other.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

I can't pick just one....

"Be Careful! Deck is Icy!"-January 2012

I can be a more relaxed person because he is always looking out for me. Waking up to a note like this, that he took the time to write and stick on the door at 5 in the morning, is the definition of love to me.

A Sunday morning in February-2012

Just enjoying each other's company day in and day out....

I hope you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day full of love and happiness!

Trader Joe's Favorites (from the freezer aisle)

2012-02-13T15:11:00.005-05:00

I absolutely love Trader Joe's. If you've read any of my Menu Monday posts, you know that that fact is blatantly obvious. It is a grocery store so unlike any other. First of all, it's packed full of organic foods for a reasonable price. In fact, I find that most things at TJ's are much cheaper than other grocery stores. Oh and the wine, how can I ever forget about TJ's wine?! So many great and cheap (we're talking $6 and under) wines in one place. VABeau and I practically lived off of TJ's "two buck Chuck" (Charles Shaw) those first years out of college. TJ's also carries items that you literally cannot find anywhere else. This store was made for people with crazy work schedules. It's fully stocked with healthy and easy meals that pretty much require preheating an oven and popping your item in.

But my love of Trader Joe's was not always this strong. My first TJ's experience was soon after moving to the DC area in 2007. I kept hearing great things about these small grocery stores so VABeau and I decided to check one out. We were immediately turned off. It was unlike any grocery store we had ever encountered and I discovered pretty quickly that I would not be able to find every item on my long and detailed grocery list. But we decided to stick it out and give this strange store a chance. We both immediately discovered that the beauty of TJ's is that you really don't even need a grocery list. You can easily plan meals as you walk down the aisles, you just have to be open to trying different things. 5 year later we are still huge TJ's fans. But I don't want to mislead you, I'm still hopelessly devoted to my "typical" grocery store, Harris Teeter . Since TJ's doesn't have a fresh deli counter or fresh meat/seafood counters I still make pretty regular Harris Teeter trips.

Since I'm sure VABeau and I were not alone in our initial dislike of Trader Joe's until we learned which items we loved, I wanted to put together a few posts detailing my favorite TJ's items, meals, wine, etc. I hope these posts go both ways and you all share your favorite TJ's items with me! Since TJ's frozen food makes up 70% of my grocery cart, today I wanted to start with the freezer aisle...

Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants

We are in love with these easy breakfast treats. They are my go to whenever we have guests in town. You set them out on a cookie sheet before going to bed. When you wake up they are fluffy and perfect, just requiring 20 minutes of baking. It think these guys are just as good as the chocolate croissants most coffee shops offer and you get to have them in the comfort of your home!

Trader Joe's Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

This stuff is divine! You warm it up right from the freezer and within minutes you have a delicious dip to share with guests.

Trader Joe's Chicken Gyoza Pot Stickers

We always keep at least one bag of these in our freezer (current freezer count=2). You can microwave or sauté them and within minutes you have delicious warm pot stickers. We prefer to sauté them and love them for easy appetizers.

Trader Joe's Garlic Naan

I absolutely love this stuff! You only need to bake it for a couple of minutes straight out of the freezer and within minutes you have the most fluffy and flavorful bread to accompany currys, stir fry, you name it!

Trader Joe's Edamame

I love edamame but never seem to have the fresh stuff around when I want it. Thankfully, TJ's offered a great solution to this problem-frozen edamame. You can sauté it or microwave it and within minutes you have a healthy snack. I like to sauté mine with a little soy sauce and sesame oil to give it great flavor!

Trader Joe's French Green Beans

In our house, each meal is either accompanied by a salad or a warm vegetable. If we don't have a salad, our vegetable of choice is usually string beans because they are so easy and thanks to this great frozen version, we always have them on hand. We boil them for mere minutes and then season them however we want. I also love that this "french" version is much thinner than the typical string beans you find in stores.

Stuffed Flounders

This picture not only shows our beloved string beans but also another go to frozen meal in our house-stuffed flounder. TJ's has the most amazing (usually crab meat) stuffed flounders that you can bake right from the freezer. I love stuffed flounder and TJ's gives us a much quicker and painless version.

Turkey Meatballs

This is probably VABeau's favorite TJ's item. These turkey meatballs are delicious and absurdly easy. We usually microwave ours straight from the freezer (they are fully cooked already) and then add them to any pasta or sauce combo. I also love that these allow me to have one of my favorite meals without all of the fat (2 turkey versions of the meatball are only 100 calories!)

Trader Joe's Seafood Blend

I always keep a bag of TJ's frozen seafood on hand, especially during the Summer. This one has shrimp, calamari, and scallops all ready to be added to the perfect pasta dish.

They see a lot of action in my favorite pinot grigio and arugula pasta recipe!

Mushroom Risotto

Now for some of my favorite sides. These get a lot of use in our house when we need a little something extra to pair with grilled chicken or salmon. This mushroom risotto is delicious and so so easy. You just toss it all into a sauté pan with some water and within minutes you have a fantastic risotto to pair with any main course!

Garlic Fries

These suckers are amazing! They are full of flavor and cook to the perfect crispiness!

Sweet Potato Frites

TJ's definitely knows how to do Sweet Potato Fries right. These have to be my favorite of all of the frozen brands I have tried.

That wraps up some of my favorite Trader Joe's freezer items.

What are some of your favorite TJ's finds?

Roadblocks to Happiness-Friendships

2012-02-10T10:08:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I did a post outlining my goal of becoming a happier and more confident person in 2012. I also listed the "30 things to stop doing right now" and highlighted about 10 of those 30 that spoke to me. For the most part, I'm pretty good at avoiding and not doing a lot to the things on that list that bring most people down and limit their overall happiness. However, I am guilty of doing a couple of the things on that list and doing them way too often. Today I'm going to focus on the number one thing on that list that affects me way more than I would like to admit:

1.Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn't’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

My top insecurity in life has to do with my friendships. I tend to be way too insecure in the friendships I currently have, those I've lost, and my perceived lack of friendships. I had a huge "aha" moment while reading Beth Moore's So Long Insecurity over a year ago.

If you haven't read this book yet, put it at the top of your reading list. It is guaranteed to help you grow as a person and as a Christian.

Anyway, towards the end of the book, Beth talked about discovering where your insecurity lies and it forced me to question where most of my insecurity lies. It's not where I imagine most women find their insecurity, with men. Most women let whether a certain man finds them desirable, likes them, or loves them determine their self worth. I never had too much of an issue with that (well there were those middle school years with braces) and I think I have my relationship with my Dad and my Mom's compliments on my appearance to thank for that. So I felt like I could almost skip over the parts of Beth's book that dealt with insecurity with the opposite sex because my insecurity, oddly enough, lies in my relationships with women.

While I have always had serious boyfriends, a fiance, and now a husband; I never felt like I had enough close friends. I notice this now when I constantly pester VABeau about how we need to make more couple friends and need to go out more to meet new people when he insists that we have plenty and I should be happy with what we have. Now don't get me wrong, I have plenty of girlfriends and we have several couples that we love spending time with. But I'm just constantly concerned with whether they want to be my friends, whether I've said something to upset them, or whether they actually enjoy my company. Boy does that last sentence make me sound neurotic! But I can walk into a room full of guys and feel significantly less anxiety about talking to them than when I walk into a room full of girls. Surely this can't be normal? My only justification for this aspect of myself and my personality is that I only have one sibling, a brother, who I happened to be very close to growing up. I think this allowed me to understand boys more and to feel more comfortable around them.

I have seen over the past few years that my anxiety about friendships with girls has decreased significantly. I think this is partly to do with my job. As a labor and delivery nurse I am surrounded by women-women patients who I have to develop a trusting relationship with almost immediately, women physicians, and my fellow nurses who happen to all be female. I spend 12 hours a day, three days a week with all women, many of whom have become some of my closest friends and favorite people in our new town. You learn very quickly how to talk to women when you sit at a nurses station with the same 5 women during a slow night shift! While I'm feeling much better around female friends, I know I still have a ways to go...

I feel like some people look at my life and think I am blessed with so many friends and why in the World would I devote a whole post to my concern about friendships. But that's why it's called insecurity. I do have some amazing girlfriends and feel so blessed to have them in my life and their friendship, but for some strange reason, I never feel like I have enough or that my relationship with the friends I do have is not strong enough.

So how to I get past this road block? How do I get past this absurd insecurity? My only answer at this point is to choose to have a different outlook, to focus on the friendships I do have. I'm not perfect by any means. I need to be a better friend to the friends I do have and focus instead on what I don' t have but on what I do and try my best to be the best friend I can be to my friends. To be the kind of friend I would want others to be towards me. The statement above could not be more right, I should focus more on the friends who are in my life now and who want to be a part of my life right now and spend less energy on those who don't or who don't value me or my friendship as much as I think they should. I have a feeling if I focus on my relationship with those friends who matter, our friendship will only grow and strengthen.

We all have that friend who we always call and they never return your calls or return it weeks later. We all have that friend who talks incessantly about their life and barely, if ever, asks about yours. When this happens to me, I take it way too personally. I let unanswered voice mails, texts, etc. get me down and ruin my whole day and outlook (now sometimes things go unanswered because someone is busy or is dealing with a lot in their own life which I understand but just need to get better at not taking it so personally.) So we all, especially myself, need to be more picky about how we let other's actions affect us. If it's a recurrent thing with this friend, then stop expending the energy and time on the friendship and move your focus to a friend who values you and your friendship. If it's just a temporary bump in your friendship, try to not take each infraction so personally and be confident in your own worth as a friend. If you see your worth, then hopefully they will eventually see it too, and will start to value you and your friendship more.

I'm not in high school or college anymore, I don't need to have a ton of girlfriends or to be the most popular girl in high school. I'm in my late twenties with a full time job, a husband who I want to spend as much time with as possible with, and a house with projects that take up most of my weekend time. So what I really need right now are a few meaningful friendships. Friendships with girls who are just as invested in my life as I am in theirs. Friends who make me feel more secure instead of bringing me down and bringing up those insecurities that I have tried to hard to bury. The older we get, the more valuable our time and energy gets. So from here on out, in order to be a more happy me, I'm going to invest my time and energy only in those who deserve it. I'm going to make more of an effort to spend time with those friends who matter to me and spend less time and energy chasing down those friendships that don't matter quite as much and that I have valued way more than I should. I'm also going to work on valuing myself and being my own best friend first. Because if I'm not confident in myself and happy with myself, how can I expect others to be?

My apologies for yet another way too deep post. These posts are helping me work through the things that bring me down and my only hope is that they help others who may be dealing with the same roadblocks too.

Have a great weekend!

NYC Recap

2012-02-09T08:25:00.001-05:00

We had the best time in New York this past weekend! VABeau definitely spoiled this Birthday girl and we really enjoyed spending three whole uninterrupted days together. Our trip started very early Friday morning at Union Station where we hopped on a Bolt bus bound for New York. I can't believe we didn't take advantage of this bus system earlier! For a mere $25 per person, we got round trip tickets to NYC on a WiFi equipped bus. Within 4 hours (just enough time for a nap and a movie on the IPad) we were in New York and ready to explore the city!

Our first stop was our home for the weekend, The Waldorf Astoria. I can't say enough good things about this historic hotel. The service was incredible and I just loved it's history and ornate decor. They even gave us a free upgrade (a great trick VABeau picked up from his Grandfather-always ask for an upgrade!) to a king suite that included not only a king sized bed but a whole separate living quarters that was bigger than the apartment we used to live in! It was hard to leave such a gorgeous and spacious room but we were hungry and ready for our first meal of the weekend.

One of my top food requests of the weekend, Eataly!

I couldn't wait to check out this huge Italian market. It reminded me so much of a food market in Florence but it was surprisingly much nicer.

We couldn't resist sitting down at one of Eataly's many restaurants, LA Pizza & Pasta, for some delicious pasta and wine. I'm now praying that DC gets it's own Eataly sometime in the future. I would literally visit it on a weekly basis!

After lunch we hopped on the subway and headed to the 9/11 memorial. My last visit to NYC was within months of the attacks on the World Trade Center so it was incredible to see how far this once decimated area has come.

I thought the memorial was a beautiful tribute to those who lost their lives on that horrible day.

It was hard to not get emotional standing in this spot and reading the names of those who are no longer with us.

But I was incredibly surprised by some of the other emotions I felt while at this memorial. I felt a huge sense of pride because all around us new magnificent buildings were being constructed. So many buildings were being built right in front of us that it was almost distracting from the memorial, but distracting in a good way.....

I suddenly felt incredibly patriotic gazing at the numerous new skyscrapers rising out of an area that was all but destroyed by terrorists a short 10 years ago. I couldn't help but think to myself at that moment..."you can knock down our buildings and take way too many innocent lives, but you can't and will never knock down our spirit, the American spirit. Because we will come back fighting and will build four more buildings in their place." It really was a testament to the strength of our country and it's people.

After spending an hour or so at the memorial we wandered around the financial district before hopping back on the subway.

We decided to get off of the train a few stops early at Grand Central Station. I think train stations are incredibly beautiful and usually so full of gorgeous architecture with Grand Central Station being the most gorgeous of them all.

It was kind of fun to go from one historic train station (Union Station in DC) to another within hours of each other.

We then headed back to the Waldorf to get ready for my Birthday dinner.

The view of the Chrysler Building from our hotel room.

We made our way to the meat packing district for dinner at Villa Pacri. VABeau did his research and found a fantastic three course meal deal on Gilt City. I had my second Italian meal of the day so I was in Heaven. The food was great with perfect portions so that neither of us were stuffed allowing us to hit up a few more hot spots in this fun neighborhood.

Our next stop was TheBiergarten at The Standard Hotel. We both loved the laid back scene at this indoor biergarten.

So we grabbed a seat on one of the picnic tables and shared a beer or two before exploring more of The Standard's fun bars.

Saturday morning brought a homemade pop tart from Bouchon Bakery and more sightseeing

We did the Rockefeller Center rounds before entering 30 Rock to go to Top of the Rock.

Top of the Rock offered an incredible view of the city.

Central Park

Our Hotel!
I literally could have spent hours on the observation deck gazing at the city's rooftops.

The Empire State Building

Two Sightseers :)

With the Empire State Building

2012 New Year's Ball

MoMA was at the top of my NYC museum wish list so we couldn't resist visiting it after Top of the Rock when we discovered that Top of the Rock offered combo tickets to The Museum of Modern Art at a discount.

I could have spent days exploring this incredible museum but me managed to fit in the highlights in a couple of hours. While visiting the art museums in Paris I noticed that several famous pieces were missing. So it was very exciting to see these exact pieces, such as Van Gogh's Starry Night right in our backyard at MoMA!

A very famous Andy Warhol

We saw several Rodin's and a piece of Paris in the sculpture garden. If you like modern art MoMa is a must when you visit NYC!

After the museum we had our first slices of New York pizza at Pizza Certe before hitting up some of the more touristy stores like this glass cube of an Apple store,

and FAO Schwarz where these two children of the 80s were very tempted by the Make Your Own Muppet workshop. Forget Build-A-Bear, Muppets are where it's at! We finished the day at Dylan's Candy Bar which has to be my new favorite candy store. It's incredible with every kind of candy and treats you can imagine. Who knew there was a red velvet cake chocolate bar? I was in Heaven!

After a quick nap we dressed up a bit, snapped a picture in the "living room," and headed out for the highlight of our NYC trip.

Our first stop was Lexington Brass which was a restaurant recommendation by the Waldorf concierge. It was perfect for a light meal before Wicked!

Wicked at the Gerswin Theater

The stage, costumes, props, everything was incredibly magical and perfect. I was completely enthralled in the story and laughed out loud throughout the show. The music was also incredible, I can't wait to download the soundtrack so that I can relive it over and over again.

Definitely the best Birthday present ever!

After the show we braved the cold for a quick walk through Times Square.

Sunday morning brought coffee and breakfast in our living room,

a goodbye to our fabulous hotel,

a beautiful stroll through Central Park,

and a walk down Madison Avenue.

Where we couldn't resist buying some Macaroons from our favorite french bakery's new and first location in the States!

I apologize for the insanely long post. But I wanted to include as much detail as possible for myself so that I can look back on this post and remember one of the best weekend's of my life with my wonderful husband!

I also have to give a huge thank you to everyone who left comments on my post requesting tips and ideas for NYC. You have no idea how helpful they all were!

Home Tour Tuesday

2012-02-07T17:00:00.001-05:00

It's time for another home tour Tuesday post!

One of my favorite aspects of our house is that the kitchen and family room share one big space. We spend almost every waking moment at home in these two rooms so I decided to share them together.

The Family Room/Kitchen 7 months ago...

Home Inspection Photos-April 2011

The previous owners made the most of the storage/laundry closet off of the kitchen

I always wanted a sectional sofa and after seeing theirs I was determined to find one to fit that same space

They remodeled these two rooms a couple of years ago and added the TV mount and built in surround sound

Doors to the deck

I love the way they updated the kitchen

The kitchen with it's new GE appliances had to be the house's biggest selling point for us

Closing Day-May 2, 2011

Champagne in our NEW kitchen!

Move In Day-May 7, 2011

VABeau and my dad wasted no time testing out the TV mount

Our make shift media center

Our furniture that fit our tiny apartment perfectly seemed so small in our much bigger family room

New Media Cabinet-June 2011

This was at the top of our furniture buying list so we wasted no time searching for the perfect one

We didn't have to search long because we found just what we were looking for at a discount at the Pottery Barn Outlet-love that place!

Chefs Mats-June 2011

VABeau was obsessed with taking care of our hard wood floors so he ordered these perfect chefs mats from Costco. They not only protect the messiest parts of the kitchen but are also super comfy

New Couch-July 2011

We struggled with finding a sectional that would fit this tiny corner. We finally found the perfect one at Mclean Furniture. I envisioned a white couch in this room but VABeau (always the practical one) knew it would get stained easily so we compromised and selected this cream/khaki fabric

Coffee Table Addition-June 2011

A Pottery Barn Labor Day sale steal

New Rug and Throw Pillows-September 2011

The room still did not feel homey enough until we completed it with an oriental rug that was perfect for the space and wall color

The Family Room/Kitchen Now...

I am so grateful that the previous owners left us this fabulous pot rack

Not too much change in the kitchen except for the addition of canisters, a sweet dish rack,

and the perfect pop of yellow in this oil painting (A Van Gogh replica) that was my grandparents

How could I forget the rooster I scored at Home Goods. Isn't he perfect?

The stools were a Ballard Designs purchase. Miraculously they match the cream colored cabinets perfectly.

We finally hung up our Washington DC new yorker-esque print

The insanely comfortable couch-where we spend most of our time

A few accessories to hide the TV mount cords

This special piece is our latest addition to the room. My grandfather had the most incredible scrapbook from his time fighting in WWII. He spent a lot of that time in Italy and I loved looking through his scrapbook as a child. It featured letters to and from my grandmother, pictures of all of the places he traveled, this map of Rome, and other keepsakes. When he passed away, my parents got this map and recently gave it to us after our trip to Rome. We just had it framed and love it! It's not a gorgeous piece of artwork by any means but it's incredibly special to this Italy loving couple.

The End!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Future Goals

-Drapes for the doors to the deck (Highest priority!)

-Matching roman shades for the kitchen windows

-New door mats for both doors to the outside. Our current two don't match and it drives me bonkers!

-Additional artwork or wall accessories for the other wall over the couch. That space looks so empty!

-Replace the dark green chair. While I love that chair it's a recliner and can't recline in that tiny corner. I would love to find a smaller chair/ottoman in a lighter color for that space.

-Buy cushions for our kitchen stools.

-Copy the previous owners and buy a wine fridge for our kitchen closet.

-Additional fun throw pillows. You can never have too many!

-Possibly repaint one day in the far future. I didn't love the blue color in these rooms when we first moved in but it's slowly growing on me. We're pretty limited because the blue is incorporated into the back splash and the two stained glass windows. So for now, it will have to work!

As always, I welcome any advice, feedback, or comments any of you have!

Happiness Is...

2012-02-03T07:40:00.000-05:00

Birthdays

I'm sure this will change one day in the far future, but for now, I absolutely love my Birthday. I think Birthdays are a big deal and always warrant some sort of celebration. I'm also all about celebrating other people's Birthdays.

So I was more than happy to share a work Birthday happy hour with 2 other Birthday girls Tuesday night. As nurses our schedules usually conflict with happy hour so we planned our own later nurses happy hour and it was a blast. It was a great way to ring in the big 28!

Per usual I was completely spoiled by my family, friends, and especially VABeau. But I did not expect to be spoiled by the weather. This Birthday had to be the warmest Birthday I have celebrated in 28 years. With highs in the mid 60s on February 1st it almost didn't feel like my real Birthday. But I'm not complaining one bit!

Coconut Water

I first had coconut water after a 10K race last September. Instead of the usual water they passed this out. It was delicious and quenched my thirst immediately. It's also a great hangover cure which we discovered after one too many holiday parties. Coconut water is incredibly hydrating and replenishes much needed electrolytes. At only 60 calories a container we immediatey fell in love and bought a whole case at costco for post runs and rougher than usual mornings.

Febuary Photo A Day Challenge

I am having so much fun with Fat Mum Slim's February Photo A Day Challenge. It has been really entertaining coming up with creative ways to photograph each category each day. I also love seeing everyone's interpretations on twitter and instagram. Are you playing along this month?

No Bake Energy Bites

As soon as I saw this recipe on pinterest I knew I had to try it. I love granola bars so I couldn't wait to try making my own protein filled treats. I made my first batch last night thinking they would be the perfect snack while we're sightseeing in New York. They're really delicious so I'm sure they won't last long!

NYC!!!

My favorite Birthday gift had to be these guys. VABeau got tickets to Wicked and is treating me to a belated Birthday weekend in New York! We have a fun weekend planned and I am beyond excited for it. I'm currently posting from a Bolt bus in route to NYC so the Birthday weekend with my hubby has officially begun and I couldn't be more happy about that!

What's making you happy this week?

A Day in the Life

2012-02-01T02:10:00.001-05:00

Some of my favorite bloggers have done "A Day in the Life" posts and I really enjoyed reading them. They gave me a glimpse into their day to day lives and I couldn't wait to play along! My schedule is a little different in that I only work 3 days a week. So today I am sharing my typical "work" day which occurred this past Monday.

Monday, January 30th

4:50 am VABeau's alarm goes off. Usually I hear it and get incredibly excited when I realize I have almost one more hour of sleep left. VABeau is usually so considerate and gets ready in another room so he doesn't disturb my last precious minutes of sleep.

5:30 am VABeau leaves for a long day of work.

5:40 am My alarm goes off. I'm not big on hitting the snooze so I immediately got up, washed my face, made the bed (I'm one of those who can't leave the house with an unmade bed, it's a curse!), threw on some yoga pants and Uggs, and put on a little make up.

As you can see, I put minimal effort into my appearance for work. The ease of getting dressed for work is definitely a plus of being a nurse.

6:00 am I turned on the local news and made my way to the kitchen. I packed my lunch and snacks for the day, filled my water bottle, and filled my coffee mug with coffee that VABeau already made.

6:10 am I sat down to eat my usual breakfast of cereal and spent about 15 minutes on my computer. I usually do a quick check of Facebook, check my email, or put the finishing touches on a blog post for that day.

6:25 am I cleaned up the kitchen and braved the cold outside to start my car.

6:30 am I headed back inside to brush my teeth and fix my hair which usually involves throwing it in a ponytail since I tend to shower the nights before work.

6:35 am I hopped in my already warm car and headed to work.

My work bag and ID badge

6:50 am I parked my car in the employee garage and made the long walk into the hospital.

6:55 am I clocked in on my way to the labor and delivery locker room where I changed into the hospital issued scrubs and and my danskos.

Our scrubs are definitely not the most flattering color or fit!

7:00 am I joined 18 other nurses in the labor and delivery conference room where we all chatted and waited for the charge nurse to arrive with our assignments for the day. It's time to bring some babies into the world!

7:20 am I headed to the floor to get report from the night nurse I am relieving. On Monday I was assigned to be the DRP for half of the floor. The DRP (Delivery Resource Person) does not have patients but oversees 5 nurses and helps them with all 10 delivery rooms on half of the unit. My main task is to attend and assist with each delivery on our side of the unit throughout the day which means I usually get to meet a lot of people and newborn babies. I also have the tasks of relieving each nurse while they take a 15 minute morning break and a 45 minute lunch break.

10:30 am After assisting with one delivery, getting another patient ready for a c-section, and sending all 5 nurses on their morning breaks, I finally sit down for my 15 minute break. My morning break snack of choice is Chobani yogurt. It's the perfect thing to keep me going for the next 4 plus hours.

2:30 pm With 2 more vaginal deliveries under my belt and 5 nurses sent on their lunch breaks I am beyond ready for my lunch break. I usually have a turkey sandwich, a fiber one brownie, and a clementine. Some days I substitute a Kashi frozen meal if I don't have time to pack my lunch.

Since my job is incredibly people-centric, I like make my lunch break my only "quiet time" during my 12 hour shift. I usually read a book or magazine. Monday I started reading Committed.

3:15 pm I returned to the floor and immediately start running to delivery after delivery. Within 3o minutes I attended the deliveries of 3 different babies! After those deliveries I helped admit two new labor patients and assisted with an epidural.

7:20 pm Just as things seemed to start calming down on the unit, the night shift arrives. I counted narcotics with the oncoming DRP and gave her report before making a beeline to the locker room.

The Day's stats for the 10 rooms I covered over 12 hours: 6 vaginal deliveries, 1 c-section

7:30 pm I changed back into my comfy clothes, clocked out, and drove home.

7:45 pm I arrived home after 13 hours away. VABeau has already been home for an hour or so and has just finished eating dinner. I immediately threw on my pajamas and headed to the kitchen.

8:00 pm Dinner was leftover Spinach and Brie Chicken with Orzo. When I work we either have leftovers, a made ahead meal or casserole, or VABeau throws something together. After dinner I joined VABeau on the couch where we caught up on each other's days and watched TV for about an hour.

9:30 pm We headed to the bedroom. I read more of my book while VABeau played his latest favorite IPad game.

10:15 pm Lights out so that we can do it all over again tomorrow!

So that's my typical day in a nutshell. I hope to share a typical weekday off soon so stay tuned!

Weekend Snapshots

2012-01-30T20:45:00.003-05:00

We had a fantastic weekend with VABeau's Mother and Grandmother. After a 7 mile run and a fresh hair cut, I picked the ladies up at the airport Friday afternoon and the three of us spent a relaxing afternoon together. When VABeau arrived home we hit up Red White and Bleu to check out the latest cheese and wine arrivals before heading home to our own cheese plate and wine happy hour. We then met VABeau's aunt and uncle in Arlington for dinner at Willow. I used to live near Willow and cannot believe we never ate at this amazing restaurant. The wine list was extensive, the food was delicious, and the service was incredible. My beet and goat cheese salad is just one of many examples of the fantastic food this restaurant produces.

Saturday morning started with a walk to our local Farmer's Market. I am continually surprised by all of the new vendors that appear throughout the year. The latest surprise was Mama's Donuts. These tiny donuts are fresh, warm, and delicious. The perfect Winter morning treat! My favorite part, however, had to be watching the donuts being made. I was mesmerized by the donut machine. The rest of Saturday VABeau and I relaxed while his mom attended a sorority reunion event. We watched the Ides of March which was a fantastic movie. It was so well made and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. We both loved it.

Sunday morning we attended church where VABeau was appointed as as trustee in front of the whole congregation (I am so proud of him!). After church we took the Indiana ladies to the airport but not before they gave us a little piece of the Superbowl in Indianapolis. We are now officially ready for the Superbowl with our t shirt and hat! After leaving the airport we made a quick stop at District Taco. Our pastor mentioned this former food truck, now restaurant, during his sermon. So of course we were immediately craving it! I now know what all of the hype is about. VABeau's breakfast burrito was delicious and my huevos rancheros could not be beat!

That's our weekend in a nutshell-a lot of eating and quality time with family. How was yours?

Happiness Is...

2012-01-27T08:18:00.000-05:00

Spring in January

We have had some crazy weather lately and I'm loving it! It was almost 60 degrees Tuesday afternoon. It was so beautiful that I inadvertently increased my originally planned 3 mile run to 5 miles. I just wanted to spend as much time outside as possible in the gorgeous weather! Unfortunately, I know this warm streak will end eventually, it is almost February for crying out loud. But I plan to enjoy it as much as I can now!

Welfare Drug Tests

The Virginia legislature is on it's way to approving drug tests for welfare recipients. On Tuesday the Committee on Health and Welfare Institutions approved one of several bills requiring welfare recipients to be screened for drugs to qualify for government assistance. This bill requires everyone on public assistance in VA to be evaluated for drug use. Any suspicious individuals would be required to take a drug test or will lose their public assistance for one year. Those who test positive for drugs will attend a drug treatment program. I am so in favor of this movement and really hope that the rest of the country follows their lead. Both VABeau and I are subject to random drug tests at our jobs as are many other employed Americans. If one of us were to get caught using drugs, we wouldn't get paid (and would most likely lose our jobs) so if you're receiving a check from the government, I think you should be held accountable too.

I understand that some of my tax dollars (trust me, I'm well aware of how much is taken out of my pay check each and every month for VA and federal taxes) are allocated to those on federal assistance and if they need it for food or shelter, fine by me. But I refuse to be okay with someone on welfare spending my and many other's tax dollars on drugs. I also love that VA plans to offer drug treatment to these people. Then they really have the chance to become productive individuals. I'll get off my soap box now but I just had to share how happy seeing this one piece of news made me this week!

Girl Time

I am embarrassed to say that I tend to go weeks at a time without girl time. Granted, I work with all girls, but outside of work I'm often content to spend time with VABeau and our couple friends. It's an easy routine to fall into when you're married to your best friend! Still I know how important time with girlfriends is. I realized that even more over the past two weeks when I fit in more girl time than usual with a 1101 roommates happy hour, lunch in Arlington with two of my favorite girls, and a L&D nurses wine/game night. Each of these activities only took a couple of hours out of my week but I left them feeling much less stressed and happier. Not to mention, I feel like I'm a much more attentive and generally better wife to VABeau after I spend a few hours with my friends so I'm hoping to keep this trend up!

Jason Wu for Target

I was never on the Missoni for Target bandwagon. While I thought some of the things were cute, they just didn't fit my more basic style. That's why I'm ridiculously excited for the Jason Wu for Target launch on February 5th. I love how classic, feminine and beautiful his Target line is....

*At the top of my wish list!*

*Another favorite!*

*Even the bags are perfectly classic!*

What do you think of the line?

Green Monster Smoothies

Last week I tried Iowa Girl Eat's Green Monster Smoothie and immediately fell in love. I'm constantly trying to fit more veggies and fruit in my diet and this smoothie does just that in a quick and easy way. With 2 whole cups of spinach, a banana, and tons of protein, it's the perfect post-workout snack. It's also perfect for a day full of errands. I make it before I leave the house and sip on it in the car as I run from place to place. If you're looking for a new healthy smoothie that also tastes great, definitely give her recipe a try!

Visitors

I absolutely love having guests! I love entertaining and having an excuse to see the DC sites with family and friends. So I am incredibly excited to have two of the women in this photo join us for the weekend. VABeau's mother and grandmother will be visiting and while poor VABeau will be greatly outnumbered by strong women, I know we will all have a great weekend!

What's making you happy this week?

Stripes Stripes Everywhere

2012-01-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

I'm seeing so many stripes in my favorite stores lately and I love them all! I have a feeling they are going to be huge for Spring especially in brights and neon colors! Here are a few of my favorites:

What new Spring looks are you excited about?

Home Tour Tuesday

2012-01-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

We have done a lot to make our house a home in the months since we moved in. I really want to document the changes we make over the months and years in our first house and I can't think of a better place than my blog.

Keep in mind we're new to home ownership/decorating and have been trying to keep our home additions as cheap as possible, so I know we have a ways to go! But we're learning every step of the way and very slowly discovering our own decorating style.

The first room I'm sharing is our master bedroom:

The Master Bedroom 7 months ago...

Home Inspection Photos-April 2011

These photos include the previous owner's furniture

The room looked so tiny and crowded then

I knew right away that a ceiling fan would replace this light

Move In Day-May 2011

The dresser and mirror ended up staying in these spots until December

Our sad simple bed clashed with the blue walls

New Bed Spread-June 2011

We scored this quilt at Home Goods and it was perfect for the hot Summer nights

Fan Installation-June 2011

The ceiling fan turned into a much bigger project than anticipated

Apparently our 70 year old home came with almost 70 year old electrical wires

VABeau survived his first job as an amateur electrician. I was terrified for his life at some points given his lack of experience. But he beyond impressed me and was not only successful but also installed a dimer switch!

A little patchwork later, we were ready to paint.

New Paint-June 2011

While I liked the blue color, it was just a little too much since it was also in our family room, kitchen, and office. So I set out to find the perfect color for our bedroom. I always loved the idea of a yellow bedroom, it always seemed so cheery but I knew you could risk having it be too bright or two light. Fortunately we found the perfect shade (in my opinion) in Benjamin Moore's Hawthorne Yellow.

But first we had to cover up the intense blue

We are both perfectionists so painting was a bit stressful for this VACouple. All I can say is thank goodness for painters tape!

Since we were both very diligent painters, this one small room took quite awhile to paint. Needless to say we haven't painted since! Still we were thrilled with the result and were pretty proud of ourselves.

A New Bed-October 2011

The thing that excited me most about having a much bigger space was the prospect of upgrading to a queen size bed. We were waiting until Christmas so that we could use Christmas money for this big purchase but sometimes you find the perfect piece when you least expect it. We were leaving Williamsburg, VA after an anniversary weekend when we decided to stop in Carolina Furniture for a quick look. That's when we saw this beauty staring us down clearance tag and all. It was such a great deal on a quality Bernhardt bed that we couldn't pass it up!

The Master Bedroom Now...

I think the yellow completely transformed the room and even made it seem bigger

Our tiny old cape cod closets

Probably VABeau's favorite piece of furniture. We scored this bachelor's chest at an antique store in my hometown over Christmas. Its the perfect place for him to store his knick knacks.

My parents gave us a super fluffy and warm down comforter for Christmas and my Mom, being the talented woman that she is, made us this gorgeous white duvet cover. The quilt and shams add a little pop of color and act as an extra layer for extra cold nights.

My night stand was downgraded a bit but it was worth the trade off of a much bigger bed. It's a marble topped table that I found in my parent's attic. The three pictures are from each country we have visited together so far: Florence, Italy-Paris, France-Mykonos, Greece.

We reorganized the other furniture in the room last month. The dresser was my childhood dresser that I love and refuse to part with. The mirror was a fantastic deal from World Market several years ago and another thing I refuse to ever give up.

The chair was another antique store score over Christmas and the perfect spot to put on shoes each day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like I said, we're beginners and have a lot of improvements left to make.

So our future goals for this room include:

-Mount the TV on the wall

(we just want to make sure we're happy with it's location before we do this)

-Curtains/Drapes for the windows

(I just know these will really dress up the room)

-Mirror or something over the head of the bed

(The wall space above the bed looks lonely so I'm just waiting to find the perfect and inexpensive piece for this spot)

-Rug for the floor

(I love my hardwood floors but they can be absurdly cold first thing in the morning!)

-Buy a patterned duvet cover

(I love our white one now, I literally feel like I'm sleeping in a cloud when I bundle up in it. But I just know the white won't stay nice and white for long. So I'd love to add a patterned cover at some point)

-Buy new pillows and throw pillows

-Buy a good throw for the bed

-Eventually re-cover or replace the current chair

Thanks for suffering through a painfully long post.

I welcome any advice or feed back any of you have!

Menu Monday

2012-01-23T08:35:00.002-05:00

Monday

*Braised Short Ribs

*Parmesan Polenta

*String Beans

VABeau had been requesting short ribs for awhile and I couldn't think of a better meal for the bitter cold day we had Monday. He searched for the perfect recipe and selected Pioneer Woman's braised short ribs. I prepped the ribs and added them to our dutch oven Monday afternoon. 3 hours later the meat was falling off the bone and was incredibly tender and delicious. I'm also on a polenta kick and it was the perfect accompaniment to the ribs.

Tuesday

*VABelle-1101 Happy Hour

*VABeau-Leftover Short Ribs

I really look forward to my time with my 1101 girls (my former roommates). Morgan hosted the 3 of us at her house and treated us to fantastic wine, cheese, and meat while we caught up on each other's lives.

Wednesday

*Salmon Cakes

*Green Bean Casserole

*French Bread Roll

My mom makes the best salmon cakes and I figured it was finally time for me to make my own. While they aren't as good as my beloved crab cakes, they are a cheaper alternative. I did go a little overboard on the capers so I may cut down on them next time I make them. Still the salmon cakes made for a great healthy weeknight meal-easy, fast, and delicious!

Thursday

*Salmon Cakes

*Green Bean Casserole

*Sweet Potato Fries

Friday

*Elephant Jumps

We've read a lot about Elephant Jumps Thai Restaurant recently. It has been on Washingtonian's Cheap Eats list for a couple of years so when I discovered that it is located right down the street from my work, I knew we had to try it. I picked up take out Friday night on my way home from work and we both were beyond impressed with our meal. It has to be one of the best thai meals I've every had!

Saturday

*Spinach, Caramelized Onion, and Bacon Pizza

You HAVE to try this pizza recipe. It is out of this world. VABeau and I both agreed that this is one of the best pizzas we've ever had. It is a little more labor intensive than your usual homemade pizza but it is so worth it. We did cut out a few steps and used Trader Joe's pizza dough instead of making our own.

Salmon Cakes

1 lb pink salmon

1/4 cup shallots, chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 egg whites

5 tablespoons drained capers

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoon olive oil

Combine salmon, egg whites, shallots, capers, breadcrumbs, mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well.

Shape into eight 3-inch round patties.

oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook salmon cakes until bottom is golden, about 6 minutes.

Flip and cook other side until golden for 5 more minutes.

I served my salmon cakes with a

Lemon Remoulade Sauce

2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup spicy brown mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Whisk together all ingredients until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 3 days

Roadblocks to Happiness

2012-01-20T08:08:00.001-05:00

I spent a great deal of time thinking about happiness over New Years weekend. I was coming up with my goals for 2012 and discussing them with VABeau when I realized my ultimate goal for the new year was to be as happy as possible. In fact, all of my 2012 goals in some shape or form are meant to contribute to my happiness level in some shape or form. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself to be a pretty happy person. I also consider myself to be the happiest I have been in years. I am more content and happy in my life and in myself than I probably ever have. Still there is always room for improvement.

I have an incredible husband who goes out of his way to make me happy and who I love with all of my heart, I have two very loving and special families, I have my health and generally feel great, I have a job that I love and I leave it each day feeling like I made a difference, we live in an area that could not be more perfect for us at this stage in our lives, we have a home that we love, and we have friends whose company we truly enjoy. Reading that list I can't help but be in awe of how incredibly blessed I am. God has blessed me in so many ways so I almost feel guilty whenever I do feel the slightest bit unhappy.

If I had to put a number on it, I'm probably 85% happy overall most of the time. So why is my happiness level not 100% (but is anyone really 100% happy?) I guess I'm not 100% because I'm human. I worry. I worry A LOT. I worry about things that are not the least bit important. I also have insecurities. I've come a long way from my teenage years but there are still some insecurities lurking there. When I take the time to analyze the things in my everyday life that bring me down, the insecurities and worries, they really are inconsequential in the whole scheme of things. They also tend to be things I can control simply by changing my outlook on certain things. That's where the Roadblocks to Happiness posts come in. I plan to devote a few posts to analyzing the roadblocks in my life that prevent me from being 100% happy. They may all come out in the next few weeks or may be stretched over the course of months. I can only hope that I'm not the only one who deals with these "roadblocks" and can help others deal with theirs too throughout the process.

These posts are incredibly difficult to write. You may have noticed that my blog never gets too personal. Sure I share pictures and meals and home projects on here. But I rarely share my feelings. I never get too deep. The main reason is that I created this blog as a way to stay in touch with our family and friends. As a result, a lot of my family, friends, and even co workers read this blog from time to time so it will be hard to share these personal thoughts without anonymity. Still, it's something I really want to do because I am often so in awe and jealous of the bloggers I do read that are personal and completely honest with their readers and themselves.

To start things off I wanted to share a list of 30 things to stop doing right now:
I saw this on a blog a couple of weeks ago and it completely inspired these "happiness posts" The bold items are things I hope to work on.

1.Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn't’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

2.Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We are not supposed to be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the person we become.

3.Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled.

4.Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

5.Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.

6.Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

7.Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.

8.Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

9.Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.

10.Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness.

11.Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that was not even there in the first place. Evaluate situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.

12.Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.

13.Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.

14.Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones did not work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.

15.Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16.Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”

17.Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s curve balls are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curve balls thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.

18.Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time.

19.Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.

20.Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you know in your heart is right.

21.Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.

22.Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you. The source of my "Happiness Is" posts

23.Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world does not reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. Read Getting Things Done.

24.Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.

25.Stop acting like everything is fine if it is not. – It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well. You should not be concerned with what other people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.

26.Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your life.

27.Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their world. So narrow your focus.

28.Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not worth worrying about.

29.Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30.Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.

My usual Friday posts are "Happiness Is" posts. They are all about finding happiness in the little things. In the everyday. But being happy is not only finding happiness in your day to day life but also confronting those things that steal your happiness. That's what I hope to achieve so here's to a happier 2012!

My Birthday Wishlist

2012-01-18T08:26:00.002-05:00

With every Birthday comes a Birthday Wish List!
My big gift this year is a trip to New York so I really shouldn't ask for anything else this year. Still, I couldn't resist the opportunity to share a few things that are at the top my ongoing wish list...

Clarisonic Mia I have been hearing amazing things about the Clarisonic Cleansing Systems for a couple of years but just haven't put it at the top of my wish list until now. My face is currently out of control with breakouts so I can finally justify adding this to my routine. It is a pretty big investment but I figure it can pretty much replace the money I spend on exfoliators, face masks, and face scrubs.

Ariat Cowboy Boots I have wanted a pair of good cowboy boots for as long as I can remember. But over the years trendier and more versatile pieces have taken precedence in my wardrobe. Still I feel like a good pair of cowboy boots can last forever and are the perfect addition to Spring/Summer outfits. Not to mention, they would be perfect for concerts since most of the concerts we attend are country concerts.

JCrew Jeans I have been on the look out for the perfect pair of jeans to add to my closet this year. I knew I wanted them to be slim leg so that I can wear them with boots and flats. But I also recently decided I want a pair of higher cut jeans. I am so over the low cut trend and really want a pair that I can actually tuck shirts and blouses into. I recently saw these high rise skinnys pop up on JCrews site and really want to give them a try. Has anyone tried these on in the store? What do you think?

JCrew Striped Tee I'm seeing stripes everywhere in the new Spring lines and of course JCrew has my favorite striped shirt of all!

Work Out Tops I can never have too many work out tops. I especially love the long sleeve one, it would be perfect for my cold Winter runs!

Martini Glasses We have recently started to make more cocktails at home. We finally have the space and a bar so fancy cocktails are much more fun to make now. In our tiny apartment I couldn't imagine having specialty glasses because we would have nowhere to store them. Now, on the other hand, I'm sure we can find a home for them. So bring on the martini glasses!

Place Mats I am obsessed with these place mats! Washing our fabric place mats over and over again is getting really old so I have been on the lookout for mats I can just wipe off. How fun are these?

Amazon Gift CardsI have a book list a mile long and since most of my reading is done on my Kindle, I can always use an Amazon gift card for books!

What things are topping your wish lists currently?

NYC Advice

2012-01-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

In a little over two weeks I will be in New York City!
VABeau asked what I wanted to do to ring in the big 2-8 and a weekend in NYC with my favorite person seemed like the perfect way. Bus tickets have been purchased, two nights at the Waldorf have been booked, and we have two tickets to Wicked in our possession!

VABeau definitely knows how to treat a Birthday girl right. To say I am excited is a huuuge understatement. I really don't mind getting one year closer to 30 when I have a reason to look forward to my Birthday like this.

Here's where you, my faithful readers, come in. The last time I was in NYC I was 18. That's 10 whole years ago people! So I need any suggestions you may have for sights, restaurants, bars, shopping, anything.
I would really appreciate any ideas and thanks in advance :)

Golden Globe Fashion

2012-01-16T08:33:00.002-05:00

Last night was the first time in years that I have been able to watch an awards show live. Night shifts or traveling always seemed to get in the way. One of the best parts of watching it live is that I finally get to play along with some of my favorite bloggers and share my favorite/least favorite looks from the Golden Globes.

First off, I am absolutely loving all of the red! The red dresses and bright red lips were perfection. Take a simple dress, add in some red and it instantly becomes glamorous.

Stacy KieblerI love the simple silhouette of this dress and the bow in the back was just perfection. In any other color it would not be quite as special.

Reese WitherspoonCould she be any more gorgeous? This dress is another example of a simple design that just pops in red. I was not the biggest fan of her hair, however. I would have much rather seen it in an up do or with more elegant styling.

Claire Danes She belongs in the red category because her bright red lips were perfect for this black and white dress which I also love. Her hair and makeup were amazing and her acceptance speech was probably my favorite of the night.

Angelina JolieShe killed it in this dress. It had the perfect pop of red and her hair and makeup are pure perfection. I am obsessed with her simple chignon, it could not be more elegant. My one complaint is how absurdly skinny she looks. In my opinion, she would look much better in this ensemble is she gained a few LBs. I noticed it most when she presented on stage, her arms looked like toothpicks!

Elle Macpherson

I absolutely loved the top half of her look. She definitely wins best hair of the night, it's full and beautiful.
But I'm just not loving the bottom half of her dress. It seems like a little too much?
Paula PattonI love my bright colors and Paula has the perfect skin to pull them off. I love this bright yellow color and it works on such a simple design.
Kate BekinsaleShe literally has to be the most beautiful woman on the planet. I love everything about this dress from the structured top to the flowing bottom. But then again, she would look amazing in anything!

Lea Michele

This dress was definitely a risk but it totally works! I think it helps that she kept her hair, jewelry, and makeup simple allowing this standout dress to take center stage.
Helen MirrenI absolutely love this look for her. She traded bare shoulders and arms for a plunging neckline and it looks sophisticated and perfect. Navy has to be my second favorite color of the night.

Viola DavisI love everything about this look: the one shoulder, the color, her hair. She looked fantastic!
Charlize TheronCharlize wins best look of the night in my book! Her hair, that head band, her makeup, that gorgeous dress. It was pure perfection! I'm now lusting after a sparkly headband.

Now for the least favorite looks of the night.....

Sarah Michelle GellarThis dress has way too much going on! It's cute that her daughter picked it and all but I would have loved to see her in something more sophisticated. Still she was so sweet to Giuliana on the red carpet and I love her for that!

Piper ParaboReally? I love a full skirt as much as the next girl. But this is a little extreme, Piper.

Evan Rachel WoodThanks to my irrational fear of birds, I now have a fear of this dress. The feathers and sequins are both a little too much.

Michele WilliamsIf Charlize was the example of a good headband look, Michelle is the example of a bad one. The hair, the headband, and the dress are all a little too much together. She looks like a little girl.

Dianna AgronI think she is so beautiful so I hate to see a dress take away from that. Everything from the neck up is perfect, I love her hair and those red lips. But the dress just has a little too much going on in my opinion.
Jessica BielNormally I love Jessica Biel's looks but this one just doesn't do it for me. Save the lace and white for your wedding day honey!

Amanda PeetI don't even have words for this!

What were your favorite and least favorite looks last night?

Cookbook Challenge: Whole Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

2012-01-14T14:00:00.001-05:00

So far we're sticking with our New Year's goal of cooking our way through a cookbook (Ad Hoc for Home.) Our second meal consisted entirely of Keller's whole roasted chicken on a bed of root vegetables. VABeau nor I have ever successfully trussed and roasted a whole chicken so we were excited to learn how to do it the right way while trying out some vegetables neither of us have eaten too often or ever (like rutabagas, definitely never encountered that one before, much less heard of it).

So needless to say, we both could learn a lot from this experience.

We purchased our chicken (nicknamed Fred) Sunday evening. Unfortunately, Fred was still frozen so our meal got pushed back a few days. Fortunately, Keller recommends leaving the chicken uncovered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days after buying it. This dries the skin and helps it become crisp during the roasting. The skin has to be my favorite part so I was more than happy to let Fred hang out in the fridge for a couple of days. Although it was a little creepy seeing him just sitting on a plate uncovered every time I opened the fridge.

After allowing Fred to completely defrost and the skin to dry out, we opened a bottle of chardonnay and got to work Thursday night. Keller also recommends letting the chicken stand at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours before roasting it which we did prior to tackling the recipe:

Whole Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables
(From Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home-page 22)

One 4 to 4 1/2 pound chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
6 thyme sprigs (I also threw in some rosemary that I had on hand)
2 large leeks
3 tennis ball-sized rutabagas
2 tennis ball-sized turnips
4 medium-sized carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut in half
1 small yellow onion, trimmed, leaving root end intact and cut into quarters
8 small (golf ball sized) red-skinned new potatoes
1/3 cup canola oil
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 475°F.

Remove the neck and innards if they are still in the cavity of the chicken.

Use a paring knife to cut away the wishbone from the neck/breast area of the chicken. This will make it easier to carve the chicken. (You will probably have to use your fingers to feel around for it. This is a little bit tricky but after some digging VABeau was able to remove it.)

Generously season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper. Add three of the garlic cloves and 5 sprigs of the thyme, and massage the inside of the bird to infuse it with the flavors. (This step was made much easier with two people-one holds the chicken while the other seasons it)

Truss the chicken with kitchen string with these steps:

1. place the chicken with the legs toward you, tuck the wing tips under the bird, cut a piece of kitchen twine about 3 feet long and center it under the neck end of the breast, pull the twine up over the breast toward you

2. knot the twine, pulling it tight to plump the breast

3. bring the ends of the twine around the ends of the drumsticks and straight up

4. ties as before to pull the ends of the drumsticks together and form a compact bird, then tie again to secure the knot

Cut off the dark green leaves from the top of the leeks. Trim off and discard any darkened outer layers. Trim the root ends cutting around them on a 45 degree angle. Slit the leeks lengthwise almost in half, starting 1/2 inch above the root ends. Rinse the leeks well under warm water.

Cut off both ends of the rutabagas. Stand the rutabagas on end and cut away the skin, working from top to bottom and removing any tough outer layers. Cut into 3/4-inch wedges. Repeat with the turnips, cutting the wedges to match the size of the rutabagas.

Combine all the vegetables and the remaining garlic cloves and thyme sprig in a large bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables in a large roasting pan.

Rub the remaining oil all over the chicken and season generously with salt and pepper.

Make a nest in the center of the vegetables and nestle the chicken in it. Cut the butter into 4-5 pieces and place over the chicken breast.

Place the pan in the oven and roast for 25 minutes at 475°F. Then reduce the heat to 400°F and roast for an additional 45 minutes, or until the thickest part of the thigh registers 160°F in the meatiest portion of the bird (the thighs, and under the breast where the thighs meets the breast) and the juices run clear. If necessary, return the bird to the oven for more roasting, check it every 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Just before serving, set the pan of vegetables over medium heat and reheat the vegetables, turning them and glazing them with the pan juices.

Cut the chicken into serving pieces, arrange over the vegetables, and serve.

Cut the chicken into serving pieces. Place vegetables on a serving platter with the chicken pieces arranged on top.

Serves 4

What We Learned....

I love the way Keller describes the size of vegetables in his book. Seeing as how I barely knew what a rutabaga looked like, it was incredibly helpful to have the size needed compared to items every one's familiar with like a tennis ball
We needed to cook our chicken longer than the recipe stated. While it registered 160 when we removed it from the oven, the juices still weren't clear. But we were both ravenous at this point and decided to eat it anyway. Fortunately the parts we had were fully cooked. We just popped the leftovers in the oven for 20 minutes the next night and the meat was perfectly cooked
I actually love cooked turnips and rutabagas. Before trying this recipe I would have told you I'm not a fan of either. But now I have two new veggies to add to future meals
Drying out the chicken prior to cooking really took the skin to a whole other level. It was the perfect amount of crispiness!
This recipe, after we practice it a couple more times, will end up being a ridiculously easy way to feed a group of people with a healthy and delicious meal.

Happiness Is...

2012-01-13T10:00:00.001-05:00

Restaurant Week This week happens to be one of my favorite weeks of the year-DC Restaurant week! With a 3 course lunch for $20 and dinner for $35 at some of the best restaurants in the city, it's hard to pass up a few meals out this week. We've already had a ridiculously dinner at The Oval Room Tuesday night and I'm hoping to convince VABeau to join me for a 3 course lunch sometime this weekend. It's just nice to have an excuse to dine out in the district and I plan to take full advantage of it!

Lemon Water

I'm one of the few people who loves straight up water. Probably 90% of my liquid consumption on a daily basis is plain water. But after reading about the many health benefits of lemon water
in various magazines and online, I've decided to keep a carafe of water in our fridge with several slices of lemon. I try to have a glass of this lemon water in addition to my usual water consumption each day. This natural lemonade taste great and is incredibly refreshing. If it also aids in digestion, weight loss, and cleanses my liver (which I tend to be pretty hard on) too, then I can't resist having a glass or two each day!

OOTDs
In my 2+ years of blogging, I have never done an Outfit of the Day post. When you wear scrubs to work and sweatpants/leggings on most of your days off, there really isn't much to share. But I've started snapping pictures whenever I do put on "real" clothes and thought it would be fun to share. More importantly, I'm hoping these pictures help me with my goal to spend less to no money on clothes in the coming months. I plan to keep these pictures in a folder on my computer titled "outfit inspiration" and when I have one of those days when I'm convinced that I have absolutely nothing to wear, I can look back at these photos and get some inspiration. In addition, I'm hoping this will also help me be more creative with putting together the clothes and accessories I already have.

Saturday night dinner with Friends
(kendra scott earrings, h&m sweater dress, brown tights, paige tall riding boots)
Tuesday night Restaurant Week Dinner
(jcrew bubble necklace, asos tulip dress, black tights, tory burch revas)

Running Trails The thought of running 8 miles on a freezing cold day is made much better when you get to run with great views like this. We are so lucky to have a bike/running path so close to our home and I take full advantage of it. Running is truly my time away from it all and I really feel like I am getting away from the stress of life when I get to run along beautiful streams and past numerous parks.

The Joy of Books Video
When I saw this video I immediately fell in love. If you're a book lover, I'm pretty sure you will feel the same way. Just watching this video made me so much more happy today and I hope it brings you some happiness too...

Anyone else have the sudden urge to visit a local book store?

What's making you happy today?

Happiness Is...

2012-01-07T09:13:00.002-05:00

Festive Nails
To get into the New Years spirit I selected the OPI gel color, DS Radiance, at my nail appointment last week. My nail girl, knowing that I rarely pick such a daring or sparkling color, said she wanted to try something a little different with the color I picked. For once in my life, I relinquished full control to her and this is what I ended up with:She did french tips with the Radiance color and even added a little more subtle sparkle in with the top coat. I was in love! They have just enough glitter and fun for this usually basic nail girl. I guess I should be more open to suggestions in the future!

Fantastic Movies
As usual, VABeau and I are ridiculously behind on our movie watching. But thankfully the long New Years weekend provided us with plenty of time to watch a few that have been at the top of my must see list for awhile. First we watched Water For Elephants which was absolutely incredible. The book was one of my favorite books of all time so I was afraid that the movie could only disappoint me. I was so wrong, it was so fun to see this incredibly special novel brought to life. Robert Pattinson surprised me and killed it as Jacob. My only complaint was that the movie seemed to move almost too quickly but I suppose that's just an issue with consolidating a long novel into a movie.
Our second movie of the weekend was Crazy Stupid Love. If you haven't seen this movie yet, run to your nearest Red Box and watch it immediately. VABeau and I both enjoyed every single second of it. The story was unique and the casting could not have been more perfect. I never really found Ryan Gosling super attractive (crazy, I know). But I tend to be drawn to the tall, dark and handsome crowd. In this movie, however, all I can say is WOW! There was definitely some drooling going on on my side of the couch.

Random Art FindsWe have been slowly adding things to the walls in our house but are still on the look out for some great affordable art to add in. We've looked on every trip we've taken in the past year and throughout the DC area for perfect budget pieces. So imagine my surprise when VABeau spotted this fun oil painting in an antique store in my tiny hometown. Best of all, it cost $15 for the frame and all. Not bad for a unique oil painting that adds a pop of color to our dinning room. Don't you just love finding deals like that when you least expect to?

The Absolute Best Water BottleI drink a ridiculous amount of water throughout the day. I'm not a big soda or coffee drinker and try to limit my sweet tea intake so water makes up about 90% of the liquid I put into my body. So as you can imagine, I'm pretty picky about my water bottles. I've used the CamelBak water bottles for about a year but was annoyed by how much they sweat and how quickly the ice melts in them. So my dad knew the perfect surprise gift for me- a CamelBak Stainless Steel Water Bottle. I'm sure you're thinking I'm crazy at this point for posting about a simple water bottle but this thing is insane. It's the perfect size (fits in cup holders) and it's insulated so it keeps my water cold for hours with no sweating. In fact, yesterday was an absurdly busy day at work and I rarely had time to take a sip of water until 6 hours into my shift and guess what, my ice still had not melted!

Hanging With FriendsDuring our long trips over the holidays I discovered a new IPhone game that I'm obsessed with. I'm not a Words With Friends person. I'm guessing it's because Scrabble is pretty much the only board game I don't like. But I do love me some hangman and that's what Hanging With Friends

is all about. This game totally takes me back to my childhood when my brother and I used to play hangman during particularly long and boring sermons at church. If you love hangman too give this game a try and challenge me (my screen name is Christinauva) and help me procrastinate even more on the things I really should be doing!

What's making you happy this weekend?

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-05T08:38:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love New Years!

I love the fresh start that a new year brings. I love that it's the perfect time to set goals for yourself and make the changes in your life that you have been wanting to make for awhile.I happen to be one of those people who loves making New Year Resolutions. But I prefer to look at them more like goals. Resolutions sound more like something you can fail to do whereas goals seem more like something you can strive for. I love setting goals for myself but have a hard time initiating the steps to work towards them. What better time to start working towards these goals than January 1st of a brand new year full of possibility and hope!

I broke up this year's goals into my personal goals and our goals as a couple:

VABelle's 2012 Goals
*Keep my weekly running mileage at or above 15 miles per week
Even though I run regularly, my weekly mileage ranges from 7 miles to 20+ miles. Not only do the low mileage weeks prevent me from improving and make my higher mileage weeks tougher, they also put me at risk for injury. I know the best way to prevent any injuries from running is to stay consistent and that's my goal!

*Eat healthier
I know that this is a pretty broad statement. Basically, I want to feel better, treat my body better, and if I dropped a few pounds in the process that would be fantastic. I just want to be more aware of what I put in my mouth. For most of my life I didn't have to worry or even think about what I ate and as a result, I didn't think about the effect it had on my body. But over the years my metabolism has slowed down significantly and I know it will only keep getting slower. So I want to learn how to eat right but still well this year.

*Limit Alcohol consumption to no more than 3 times a week
To a lot of people this seems like an easy task. Not so much for me. VABeau and I love our wine, our beer, and our cocktails. We also love to cook delicious meals that are just begging for a good glass of vino to be paired with them. Some weeks, I'm shocked to realize I have had at least a glass of wine every single day. So I want to start with a reasonable goal that allows me both weekend nights with wine and one bonus weeknight of booze.

*Limit computer time
It's amazing what a time suck my lap top can be. Between checking my email, online shopping, facebook, twitter, reading blogs, and maintaining my own blog, I could spend a whole day in front of my computer. There are so many other projects and tasks outside of my computer that I want to accomplish and the Internet just keeps getting in the way. This will be a tough goal to accomplish but I plan to start small-maybe one less blog post per week and a cleaning up of my Google Reader are a good start?

*Finish my Recipe Binders
This is one of those other projects that I just mentioned that I want to accomplish. I started working on my recipe binders in October and haven't touched them since. Printing and sorting all of my recipes from family, blogs, and magazines is pretty time consuming but I just know once I'm done meal planning will be so much easier. I just have to carve out the time to finish this project!

*Improve my posture
This is such an important goal and I can't believe it's the last one on my list. Not only does poor posture just look awful on a girl. It also hurts. I notice this more and more after my 12 hour shifts. Most nurses complain of back pain because we lift and move patients as part of our jobs. We also lift equipment and are on our feet for hours on end. However, I know my back would hurt much less if I engaged my core more and sat/stood up straight. This is especial difficult towards the last hours of my shift when I'm exhausted, but it's so important and a change I really want to make!

The VA Family 2012 Goals
*Make a budget and follow it
We were great about this during our first year of marriage. It helped us determine where our money was going and encouraged us to save more. But the budget kind of went out the window when we bought our house last May. Now more than ever, it's so important that we re create it and put it to use so that we can build up our savings again.

*Make a house cleaning schedule and follow it
When you move from a tiny 600 square foot apartment to a full out house, cleaning it gets pretty intimidating. It's no longer possible to clean our entire home at one time. So I really want to come up with a logical way to map our our cleaning and house keeping throughout the weeks, months, and years.

*Cook our way through a cook bookEver since I read Julie and Julia I have wanted to do this. One of our favorite things to do together is plan a meal and have a glass of wine while cooking it together. We did this pretty often in our apartment, but since moving into our home, our elaborate home cooked meals have happened less and less. Which is such a shame since we finally have a kitchen big enough for the two of us. We picked Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home as our 2012 cookbook. I got it for VABeau last Christmas and neither of us have made a single recipe in it. His recipes are not only delicious but he teaches you valuable cooking skills throughout the book so I think it's perfect for this project! We're already 2 recipes down after VABeau made the incredible rib eye with butter and creamed spinach on New Years Eve.

*Attend church more and devote more time to God/our faith
We tend to slack off on church attendance when life gets busy. Both of us really enjoy going to our church and really want to attend as much as possible. We also both want to work on our personal relationship with God this year.

*Live more in the moment
I think this is a great goal for anyone, but especially us. VABeau and I are both not very good at relaxing. We're always finding projects to do, trips to plan, and things to do around the house. We're constantly talking about what we want to do in the future and rarely just sitting back and enjoying the present. I hope to do this more in 2012 and in turn I know we will both end up being more grateful and happy in our lives!

What are your 2012 Resolutions/Goals?

How 2011's Resolutions fared

2012-01-03T14:55:00.006-05:00

Before I post my 2o12 resolutions, I wanted to reassess and see how I did with my 2011 goals. Seeing as how I can barely remember my resolutions from a year ago, I don't thing I did too well. Still here they are:

Eat more fruits and vegetable and less processed foods---Partially Accomplished

I did include one piece of fruit in my lunches and a vegetable with most dinners which was an improvement from past years. But that still left me with, on average, only 2 servings of fruits/veggies per day. I also continued to eat processed foods (POP TARTS!) way more than I should

Vitamins 7 days a week---Accomplished

While I let some days slip, for the most part I took a multivitamin everyday

Stop touching/messing with my face---Partially Accomplished

I made this resolution in hopes of preventing breakouts on my face. I got much better at not picking at pimples, but still touch my face more than I should causing more breakouts

Stay more up to date on current events---Partially Accomplished

I'm still pretty bad about taking the time to read our Sunday paper and checking in with news websites on a regular basis. However, I did sign up for 2 emails (one is the Washington Post, the other is a local news station) that deliver the day's top news stories each morning and afternoon in a concise and efficient format.

Take advantage of the free DC museums---Not Accomplished

We failed miserably at this one. I could blame buying a house, furnishing it, and doing yard work for our lack of sightseeing. But really, we could have and should have done so much more. We only went to one museum all year and that's when we had visitors in town. It's embarrassing!

Take advantage of DC's theater scene. I still have not been to the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, or The Shakespeare Theater---Not Accomplished

Still need to work on this one!

SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE!---Partially Accomplished

We saved enough to buy a house which was a huge accomplishment in my mind. But after 7 months of home projects, furniture shopping, and decorating, we desperately need to get back into saving mode.

Get more involved in our church---Accomplished

We have continued to attend monthly dinners with our small group, adopted another family for Christmas this year, and VABeau was elected as a trustee of the church.
Travel more!---Accomplished

I felt pretty good about this resolution as I did my 2011 recap posts. Our Italy/Paris trip definitely satisfied this goal itself!

Continue/get more serious about our monthly marriage check-ins. During pre-marital counseling our pastor suggested that we take one night a month (preferably the monthly anniversary of your wedding) to talk about any issues in the marriage, feelings, plans, ideas, etc. with each other---Not Accomplished

Our check-ins kind of went out the window during our house hunting and move. Now a lot of our "check-in" conversations are home projects and money related. So I definitely want to bring our marriage check-ins back in 2012!

It looks like most of my resolutions did not get completely accomplished in 2011. Still we had a great year and accomplished so much that I never thought possible in 12 short months. Sure I may have had one too many pop tarts and we didn't visit the DC sites as much as we should have. But in the past year we assessed our financial situation, started house hunting in an area neither of us were too familiar with, traveled to Italy and France, bought our first home, each worked hard at our jobs and both were rewarded with promotions, and turned our little cape cod from an empty house into a welcoming home. That's a lot for 2 twenty somethings to accomplish in 12 months. And you better believe we're not stopping there, I still want to strive to be better and do better so get ready for my 2o12 resolutions tomorrow!

2011 in Pictures (July-December)

2011-12-31T17:13:00.001-05:00

July

We spent a good part of our Summer doing yard work,

visiting our local farmers market,

and enjoying any entertainment our new community offered

We hosted Nick and CAWife in our home

We celebrated the 4th of July at Neil and Elise's apartment

Which offered an incredible view of the DC fireworks

We finished their visit with a tour of the National Building museum

and bowling

We traveled to my hometown to host a bridal shower for my friend Caren

We also attended her engagement party

Where we celebrated with friends

We finished our hometown weekend with some relaxation with the family

We celebrated VABeau's 28th Birthday

and continued the celebration with tubing and debauchery in Charlottesville

AugustWe started August with a fun filled family vacation in Michigan with VABeau's family

We spent our days that week boating on the lake and

sunbathing and reading

We climbed the impressive Sleeping Bear Dunes

and spent an evening in unique Leland

We took numerous day trips

and enjoyed a visit from our friends, Neil and Elise

Neil took us to a beautiful spot that only a Michigan guy would know about

We did our own version of a Pure Michigan Wine tour

and fell in love with L. Mawby's sparkling wines

and gorgeous Michigan

It was definitely a trip we will never forget!

We finished the month with yet another home project, our compost pile

SeptemberWe started September with a perfect wine tour with Neil and Elise
We made stops at Linden Vineyards
and Naked Mountain Winery

We made our first visit to Chincoteague Island

to celebrate the marriage of Monica and Robby

I ran the Clarendon Day 10K

We both were blessed with job promotions one of which came with a brand new truck!

October

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary being total nerds in Colonial Williamsburg

With a quick visit to Yorktown

and lunch with our favorite William and Mary student, Chase

We made another trip to South Boston for Caren and Ryan's wedding

Where we had a blast with my best childhood friends and their husbands

A L&D nurse happy hour was born and we found a way to let lose and vent about work without a call bell to interupt us!

NovemberMy parents visited us for a weekend and helped us with multiple home projects

We discovered that our new backyard is absolutely stunning in the Fall

We attended another Caps game

before heading to Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with VABeau's family

We got to spend quality time with some of our favorite peopleAnd got to attend our first game in Lucas Oil Stadium
they may have lost but we still had a blast

DecemberI ran the poorly organized Hot Chocolate 15k

We attended the grand opening of the new United States Institute of Peace

And got to see the beautiful finished product of something VABeau worked on

We decorated our first home for the holidays

Attended several Christmas parties

and brunches

We hosted our own holiday gathering

before heading to my hometown to spend Christmas with my family

It has been a great year full of blessings. We adjusted to home ownership, traveled, and spent great times with friends and family.

I hope each and every one of you have a happy and healthy new year!

2011 in Pictures (January-June)

2011-12-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

As each year comes to an end I like to do a photo recap of the past 12 months. While I'm sure most of you could really care less about how we spent the past year, I love having this way to document everything we did in 2011. Just the other day I looked back at my 2009 and 2010 recaps and it was so fun to see how far we have come and how much our lives have changed in 3 years. So to keep the tradition going, here are our first 6 months of 2011:

January

We rang in the New Year the best way possible-with delicious food, champagne, and great friends

Hello 2011!

We hosted a New Years Day brunch that turned into a full day of movies and relaxation with friends

My wish was granted and after 1.5 years on night shift I got to feel like a normal person again on day shift. But not without a few gifts from my night shift girls!

Bruce in the USA is apparently becoming an annual event

and it never disappoints!

We made a quick trip to Charlottesville for wine tasting at the Glass House Winery with Robert and Duncan

The rest of the day was spent in Paul's range room before dinner and drinks downtown

February

I celebrated my 27th Birthday

with delicious drinks and incredible views at the POV roof top bar in DC

Just when I thought the Birthday fun was over, VABeau surprised me with a wine tour

We visited 3 wineries

with 12 friends!

It was the best day ever!

February also brought a fun weeknight Caps game

and a Valentine's Day Avett Brothers Concert at DAR Constitution Hall

We ended the month with skiing

and fun in Snowshoe, WV

MarchI made my first King Cake for our Mardi Gras gathering

and we attended our last Mardi Gras parade as Clarendon residents

I joined this Leprechaun for the Four Courts 4 Miler

and ran my first of 4 races this year

VABeau reunited with some high school friends in DC over St. Patrick's Day weekend

While I celebrated the day with some of my favorite L&D nurses

My MIL visited and we ran our 2nd half marathon together. With her encouragement I dropped over 5 minutes off my time this year!

We celebrated the race with delicious oysters

and drinks at Hank's Oyster Bar

April

We packed our bags and embarked on my dream vacation

We started in Rome at the Vatican Museum,

and St Peter's Square and Basilica

We spent a morning at the Colosseum

and toured the Forum

We had happy hour on the Spanish Steps

and visited the Trevi Fountain

and Pantheon

We ate the best pasta we've ever tasted

and toured the Borghese Gardens

Our second stop was Siena

where we met our travel idol, Rick Steves

Stop #3 was beautiful Florence

where we admired the Ponte Vecchio

and the Duomo/Baptistery

We spent our final day in Italy at the stunning Boboli Gardens

Our final stop was Paris

where I fell in love with Macaroons

We toured Notre Dame,

the Rodin, the Orangerie, the Orsay,

and the Louvre

We made a day trip Versaillesand didn't want to leave it's gorgeous gardens and fountains

We had champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower

and bid farewell to my new favorite city

We returned home and celebrated our last holiday in our apartment with a Lowerys Easter Egg

May

After months of house hunting, we became first time homeowners!

and celebrated with champagne in our very own kitchen

We moved in to our new home with the help of our friends and my parents

We hosted our first dinner on the deck complete with margaritas and did not miss our tiny apartment kitchen at all!

My SoBo girls and I hosted a shower for our bride to be, Monica

VABeau's parents visited and helped us with our first home improvement project

With their help, we were able to host family and friends on our newly stained deck by the end of the weekend

We hosted a Memorial Day BBQ on the hottest day of the year

June

We made another trip to Charlottesville for wine tasting at Keswick

and Barboursville

We caught up with friends at our 5 year college reunion

and had a blast!

We attended a crawfish boil

and an art showing of a very talented friend in Georgetown

We took part in a bar crawl in Shirlington

where things got a little out of hand....

Stay tuned for the next 6 months!

Christmas Recap

2011-12-28T08:42:00.008-05:00

When you work Christmas every 2 years, you really start to cherish the holidays you get to share with your family. After working last Christmas, this Christmas seemed extra special because I not only got to spend it with my husband, but with my family as well.

We really wanted to enjoy our first Christmas in our new home so VABeau and I exchanged gifts with each other by our first full sized Christmas tree on Thursday afternoon. After a year of non stop home purchases, we set a gift limit this year. Still, VABeau and I both got each other things we had been wanting for a long time and filled each other's stockings with tons of goodies.

We also wanted to celebrate the holiday with our friends before leaving town. So we hosted some of our DC friends for holiday hor d'oeuvres and drinks before waking up bright and early Friday to make the trip to my parent's house on Friday morning. It was really nice to enjoy some holiday fun in our house this year.

The Friends-mas food spread Thursday night

After a morning of driving, we were greeted by my parent's gorgeous tree. It's definitely something to aspire to.
We spent Friday afternoon hitting up all of the local antique stores in my hometown. I never appreciated these fantastic stores until I owned a house. But between a new oil painting, a chair, and a dresser, we ended up treating ourselves to more gifts than expected. It's just so hard to pass up a great deal on a classic, well made piece of furniture!

Friday evening my mom prepared a ton of appetizers including a cheese fondue. I love the tradition of a lighter dinner before the holiday feasting begins.

On Christmas Eve we attended my childhood church's candlelit Christmas Eve service which is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I can't imagine a better way to spend Christmas Eve than by singing Silent Night in a candlelit church sanctuary.

After church we took several family pictures in front of the Christmas tree. My parents usually use these Christmas Eve pictures for the next year's Christmas card and I think this one is definitely a winner.

My parents :)

and their 3 children-Brennan, VABelle, Charlye the dog

With my two favorite guys

and finally with my sweet husband.

After the photo shoot everyone moved into the kitchen for the next Christmas Eve tradition- wine drinking and oyster frying.Yum!
We then all feasted on delicious country ham, fried oysters, potato and broccoli casseroles.

Just gorgeous!

Christmas Day brought way too many gifts and a delicious brunch of breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and mimosas.

All of the men got matching tool sets and proceeded to play with them. I'm not quite sure what they are for, but all of the guys seemed pretty darn excited about them!

We then spent the rest of the day puzzling and watching movies.

Even the pets love Christmas Day puzzles.

We had a great Christmas day but it was bittersweet. On Christmas Day my grandmother was hospitalized due to a complication of Acute Myeloid Leukemia which she was diagnosed with this Fall. She seems to be doing somewhat better but we all hated knowing she had to spend the day hospitalized and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, I had to work the day after Christmas so there was no time to make the trip to visit her. Any thoughts and prayers are appreciated!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas with the one's you love most!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T19:00:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas from my little family to yours.
May you all feel the peace, the love, and the joy the season brings and get to spend this special time with the ones you love the most.

Luke 2:10-12 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Our Annual Friends-mas Menu

2011-12-23T15:29:00.009-05:00

I love the idea of having a holiday gathering with all of our friends before we all head our separate ways for Christmas. DC/Northern Virginia is full of so many transplants so it's nice to get together before we all hit the road for Christmas with our families. I also love the idea of hosting the gathering on a weeknight so it doesn't interfere with other holiday parties and I like having it as close to Christmas as possible. Last year we made a full out dinner for a couple of friends, but this year, since I worked most days this week I limited the food to assorted hor d'oeuvres. I actually preferred this and it will probably become our Friends-mas tradition since it allowed us more quality time with our guests. I was very happy with the hor d'oeuvres I made and managed to find a pretty good mix of healthy and indulgent treats on some of my favorite food blogs this year....

Soy Sesame Edamame
This edamame had the perfect hint of flavor

Mixed Nuts
Pepper Jelly Baked Brie with Crackers
This easy baked brie is our new favorite appetizer. It's so delicious!
Skinny Artichoke Dip with Toasted Baguette
It was hard to believe that this dip is skinny, it was so yummy
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
A little bbq sauce, a little grape jelly, and your meat of choice makes for a ridiculously easy appetizer
Shrimp Cocktail
Chocolate and Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
I am obsessed with these cookies and can't believe I actually pulled them off. The recipe seemed pretty daunting but the cookies ended up being pretty easy to make. The highlight of course was the homemade peppermint icing. They are so festive and tasty!
Popcorn Indiana Kettlecorn
Great for snacking later in the evening
Egg Nog
I added some Kahlua to light egg nog for the few egg nog fans
Sparkling Wine
Finally, it's not a holiday party without some bubbly and a toast or two!

It was a great night and the perfect way to say goodbye to our friends and our home before making our way to my parent's house for Christmas.

How do you celebrate the holidays with friends? What are some of your favorite party appetizers? I can always use more suggestions!

It's beginning to look like Christmas....

2011-12-21T19:33:00.001-05:00

I usually like to have our home decked out by the end of the first week of December but this year was a little different. I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to decorate a new place. In our apartment, I knew exactly where each holiday item belonged. But now we have a much bigger space that includes an outside area begging to get in the Holiday spirit.
Now for our first official holiday home tour...

The outside decorations! I was pretty clueless as to how to decorate the outside of our house. We don't have an outside outlet so I was limited to wreaths and bows. Still, I think it looks pretty festive for a couple of first time home owners!

I borrowed the wreaths from my parents. The perfect preppy bows were made by my mom years ago and have since been retired from her holiday decor. I was more than happy to take them and include them in ours!

I only had two wreaths and little time to complete the look so I had to get creative with our front door. So I took the trimmings from our Christmas tree, tied them together, and topped it with another bow. It's not perfect by any means, but it works. Besides, the bow is the main attraction anyway.

The first thing you see when you walk in the door is my little nativity scene that I inherited from my grandma. I remember seeing this in her home year after year so it's really nice to have it in ours now. I also love having this reminder of the true reason for this holiday.

You already know the tree from this post.
But now it has packages underneath....

and a new ornament....

Just the other day my mom surprised us with an "Our 1st Home ornament." It fits in perfectly with our "Just Married" ornaments!

The tree separates our living room from our dinning room with my simply decorated dining room table.

My favorite area in the house has to be the buffet in the dining room.

Love this Santa and the antica farmacista Noel diffuser.
It smells fantastic and is very festive!

I've started framing our Christmas cards in a different frame each year.
It's so fun to look back at our cards over the years. I can't believe we're up to 3 already!

Our kitchen holiday decor is sparse with this island centerpiece which now has a lot of competition from...

our gingerbread house!
It was such a fun project and makes our kitchen even more festive!

I felt like the doors in the family room desperately needed a little something.....

so I grabbed some $3 wreaths and gold ribbon from Michaels and within minutes they were much more festive.

Our tiny wreath that was perfect in our tiny apartment has a new home as a centerpiece on our family room coffee table.

Our media console is definitely the the fun holiday area. The family room is where we spend most of our time so I wanted to make it as fun and festive as possible. The mini tree contains a collection of both of our childhood ornaments making it pretty special.

The newest addition to our holiday decor is this nativity scene. This Thanksgiving, my MIL started each couple with a nativity scene. Each year we will all get another piece for the set. This year, however, she started with the most important pieces-Mary, Joseph, and JESUS!
Isn't is adorable?I'm obsessed with the Christmas card wreath I made last year so it's in a prime viewing area.
It's so fun having all of the cards we receive on display.

I also inherited my mom's nutcrackers this year. They were my favorite Christmas decoration growing up. She always had them lining the stairs so I decided to do the same. They lead halfway up our stairs!

So that's our holiday decorations this year. I'm sure they will change drastically over the years but I think we're off to a pretty good start!

Weekend Snapshots

2011-12-19T06:07:00.000-05:00

Today I'm linking up with A Little Dash of Ash for her Instagram Party. This past weekend was full of holiday cheer and multiple celebrations with our friends. It definitely got us in the Christmas spirit!

1. Pretty packages 2. My Friday OOTN 3. Againn's dessert in a jar

Friday afternoon our house became gift wrapping central. Within a couple of hours every package was wrapped and either placed under the tree or shipped to family. I can't tell you how good it felt to check all of our shopping and wrapping off of my list. Friday evening I hopped on the metro and met VABeau in DC for his job site's Christmas dinner at Againn. It was a lot of fun to meet his coworkers and their spouses/significant others. I cannot say enough great things about Againn. Their cocktail list was out of this world, the food was delicious, and our service could not be beat. The whole group hit it off so well that we all ended up doing a mini bar crawl after dinner and it ended up being a great evening.

1. Hostess gifts 2. At party #2 Saturday night

I am obsessed with my Erin Condren gift labels. They are so festive and immediately transform a simple bottle of wine into a personal gift. Saturday evening we had two parties on the schedule so I labeled up two bottles of wine and we made our way to Arlington. Our first stop was a farewell party for our friends Kristin and Ryan. They will be moving to Austin in the New Year and it was so nice to see them before they start their exciting journey. We then made our way into DC for a festive Christmas party and ornament exchange at the Tucker home. It was a busy but fun night celebrating with friends.

1. Elise's fabulous brunch spread 2. The gingerbread house creator hard at work 3. The C&C gingerbread house

Sunday morning was spent in the best way possible after a weekend full of parties, a homemade brunch with friends. We shared mimosas and delicious food while relaxing/recovering with some of our favorite people. Sunday evening to complete our holiday decor, I decided to decorate our gingerbread house. It started out as "my project" but next thing I know, VABeau had the icing in hand and took charge of the design of our little house. We had so much fun decorating it and I think it turned out pretty well!

How was your final weekend before Christmas?

Happiness Is...

2011-12-16T08:07:00.005-05:00

Holiday MailThe month of December bring exciting mail each and every day! During the other 11 months of the year I rarely, if ever, get excited about the arrival of the mailman. This month, however, the first thing I do when I arrive home is check the mail. I absolutely love receiving Christmas cards from friends and family. Each one definitely makes my day. I also love receiving package after package on our door step. I did most of my Christmas shopping online this year and a day hasn't passed by that I didn't find yet another gift waiting for me to wrap for a friend or family member.

Santa in the NeighborhoodI am still in awe of where we live. We live right in the middle of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. Yet, the area we live in feels like a small town and events like last nights continue to remind me of that. Around 8:00 last night I was watching the "William and Kate" special (can't get enough of them!) when I heard loud sirens outside. I opened the front door to find a local fire truck driving town our tucked away residential street. It was decked out in Christmas lights, with a Santa Claus on top, and with local volunteer fire fighters walking alongside it passing out candy to the neighborhood children. This was a totally unexpected and wonderful experience and definitely not something I'm used to after years of high rise apartment living.

A Gift Wrapping Area
I lust after super organized gift wrapping rooms, closets, and stations like it's my job. But, honestly, I'm just happy to have a designated space, while temporary, for my gift wrapping extravaganza. My wrapping area looks nothing like these Pinterest beauties....

Source: m.bhg.com via VABelle on Pinterest

Source: centsationalgirl.com via VABelle on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via VABelle on Pinterest

But I can't tell you how great it feels to have an extra room that I can cover with gift wrap and gifts and do my wrapping without interruptions. After years of wrapping gifts in our tiny apartment on our dinning room table, I'm in love with our current set up
Our New Calender I took huge advantage of Erin Condren's Black Friday online sale and got a calender for our house. When VABeau suggested that we get a calender for the wall for both of us to use, I knew exactly where to turn. I love the EC life planner so much so I assumed I would feel the same way about her calenders. I was completely validated when my new calender arrived Wednesday. Doesn't the EC packaging make you smile?
The calender makes me pretty happy too! It's huge, easy to see, colorful, and just plain perfect. I can't wait to fill it in and hang it in our kitchen!

Holiday Parties
This weekend will be the weekend of Holiday parties for us. Each night we are at least double booked which would normally stress me out. But with our decorating and shopping done, I'm looking forward to plenty of time with friends and VABeau this weekend and the excuse to get dressed up! We have a work Christmas dinner, a Birthday celebration, a farewell party, an ornament exchange party, and lazy mornings on the couch to look forward to.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I love seeing movie adaptations of books I've read even though they never seem to live up. Still, since I devoted much of the past year to reading the Dragon Tattoo series, I can't wait to see it brought to life. I know from reading the book that some scenes will be very difficult to watch but I still want to see the Hollywood version of this popular novel especially after watching trailers for it like this one!

What's making you happy today?

Greenbrier Trees

2011-12-15T06:33:00.000-05:00

A little over a year ago, we had the privilege of spending a weekend

at one of the most magical places to be during the holidays. VABeau,
his parents, and I stayed at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs,
WV last December. There was a ton to keep us busy at the resort for 2 days, but
just taking in the beautiful holiday decorations all over the resort
was entertainment enough. By far my favorite aspect of the decor was
the gorgeous and incredibly unique Christmas trees. I will never
forget the Christmas trees at the Greenbrier and will forever be
inspired by them. I only hope that our Christmas tree one day comes
somewhat close to the level of the Greenbrier trees...

The huge outdoor tree in front of The Greenbrier

Let the indoor tree tour begin....

A very preppy pink and green tree

VABeau's favorite-the patriotic tree

I have the sudden urge to add a lot more ribbon to our tree!

Aren't these poinsettia trees just amazing?!?

I wish I were back there right now sipping champagne and gazing at the beautiful Christmas decorations. The Greenbrier offers much more than amazing decorations, click

here and here to read my recaps of our weekend at The Greenbrier.

Where do you get your Christmas decoration inspiration?