Dear Santa

Please? I have been so good this year.
I'm sure Rudolph wouldn't mind taking a detour to Tiffany's.

Back Again

We made it back to Ohio safe and sound yesterday, although our approach into Cincinnati was a windy one and quite bumpy. Sadie flew like a champ, even if she does cost us a small fortune to do so. I'm a little scared to check my credit card balance. Texas was great and our first real baby experience was eye opening. For now, I think it's safe to say that the only child in our lives will be our nephew, Baby Ben. As cute as he is, we are not ready for kids at this juncture. That's okay. We really already knew that.

Onto calorie news.......much like the above mentioned fear of my credit card bill, I'm also terrified of the scale today. I'm not weighing myself until I get at least a week or normal workouts and regular eating. I'm feeling really flabby because of all the food I ate in the last week (not to mention Thanksgiving) and I only worked out 3 times. Not.Good. John and I typically only eat out one meal a week. It's kind of a big deal for us. In the last 7 days we ate out for at least 9 meals. NINE!! I am so ashamed. Sometimes I made good food decisions; most times I did not. But, we must not dwell on the calories already consumed. Better just to focus on trying to keep December in check.

Regarding Christmas shopping, I'm in panic mode slightly. I did manage to get quite a bit done on Black Friday and when we got back to Ohio yesterday. I'm probably in better shape than I think but I only have 2 weekends left to shop. That's not many, folks. Maybe Cyber Monday can help ease that stress a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, you turkeys! That's what my mom says anyway. Hope you all enjoy your holiday of gluttony today with all the fixins! We are making 3 pies for 4 adults. Is that too many?

Perfect Pillow

Guys, I am busting with excitement over this new sewing trick. Busting! Well, it's likely not new nor a trick but it is new to me and I can't believe I never learned how to do it until now! I followed this tutorial/video from House on Hill Road. I love the new bedding I bought for the master bedroom at the house. It's Martha Stewart's Poppy Collection from Macy's. LOVE.IT. But, it needed a throw pillow, screamed for one, really. Martha sells 3 accent pillows to match......for $80. No, thank you, Martha.

Instead, I purchased 1/2 a yard of this lovely lime-y green velvet. Did you know chartreuse is really hard to match? Trust me on that one. Nothing says luxury like velvet. I chose a 14" x 28" pillow form from Joann's and got to work. I am rather accustomed to an envelope flap pillow cover but for this, I wanted something more tailored without having to hand sew the last seam.

Observe: a normal looking pillow seam, yes?



NO! It's a zipper seam. A ZIPPERED PILLOW COVER!!! Ta- Da!




And.....the piece de resistance (I don't know how to make the accents on here)




Love. Love the pillow. Love the bedding. LOVE my gray bedroom. It still needs some artwork on the walls but it's the room that's closest to being totally done in the house.

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You

Well, the eyes of Texas may not be upon you but, starting at 6:00 pm today and for the next week or so, they will be upon John, Sadie and me! That's right. The G's are packing up and shipping off to Austin for the holidays. In the last 8 years, I think I've only spent one Thanksgiving in Ohio. I just prefer to travel over that period of time. Sure, the airports are a mess and the tickets are crazy expensive but I prefer it nevertheless.

We will be seeing some sights, eating a LOT and most importantly, I get to hold my nephew, Baby Ben for the very first time! He's 3 months old already. I can't wait. I have zero baby experience. This ought to be fun. I politely declined when my sister asked if we wanted to watch him one day while they're at work and he goes to daycare. 8 hours with a baby and no idea what to do with him? Pass. Anyway.....off we go!!

Spoken from the Heart

I thought it was time for an autobiography of a more serious nature. I am about the farthest away from enjoying anything political that you can get. This is of great consternation to John who loves to talk politics till the cows come home. When he starts on one of his tears, my eyes glaze over much the same way that they do when we walk into Lowe's. Anyway, I chose Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush because I thought it would be interesting to read her insight on being a First Lady and how her path lead from Texas to the White House and back again.

Mrs. Bush begins, relatively long-windedly, with her childhood in Texas. She discusses the events that molded who she is and how important her family was to her. She recants the tale of a horrific car accident that left one of her friends dead while she was behind the wheel. We learn about her college life and her early years as a teacher in some not so affluent school districts of Texas. And of course, she talks about the beginnings of her relationship with George, his coming from a political family and their fertility issues that eventually resulted in twins.

The most fascinating portions were, of course, the tales of her time in the White House. We learn just how difficult it is living your life under constant scrutiny, the stress of constant travel and events, and the reward of guiding the country. Well, being married to the man who is guiding the country, that is. And finally, she talks about getting back to normal life after her husband's term ended.

I found Spoken From the Heart captivating. The beginning was a bit slow but as soon as we got out of childhood and family history it was easy going. Laura Bush is a very interesting woman and a decent writer to boot. I guess she'd better be, being a librarian and all. I found her so likeable throughout the whole memoir. Of course, she's rather likeable in the news to most too so this was not a surprise. If you're looking for a memoir, give this one a try for a compelling read.

It's easy being green!

Guys, I love recycling! At the condo, there were no recycle bins. I don't know how 2 people and 1 small dog created so much trash but we did, and do. Our house is in a different city than the condo and the city provides recycle bins...FOR FREE!! Our 96 gallon green and gold beauty was delivered a couple weeks ago. If you are not an avid recycler, you would not believe how much waste this saves! We were astounded that in the first week of recycling alone, we only used 1 trash bag. ONE! Everything else we were able to recycle. That is amazing! I told John we ought to start composting too. He told me to stop taking crazy pills.

I realize something as pedestrian as recycling may not be of great excitement to most of you but for me it's awesome. For a very long time (read: 5+ years), the main trash can in my home was a small blue can that I purchased for my dorm room. It fit under the kitchen sink; that tells you how small it is. So small, in fact, that my garbage bags were plastic grocery bags because that's all that fit. You can imagine how many and how quickly we filled them in a week. That mini can was a source of constant ridicule among my house guests. John especially hates that trash can. For years, he begged me to get a larger can, one that we wouldn't have to empty multiple times a day. Last year, I finally ceded on the Trash Can Tussle (a battle enduring many years) and we asked for and received a large can for Christmas, complete with foot pedal! He loves that thing. I could take it or leave it. I have yet to give up my trash can under the sink although it hardly sees any trash these days. The main reason I was holding out on a large trash can was the purchasing of trash bags. Why pay for something when what you had been using previously was free? Not only that. John likes the expensive trash bags that don't rip. Of course he does. Just pour salt into my trash bag purchasing wound. Anyway, I do have a point.

The point is, this recycle bin has turned my frown upside down when it comes to the trash in Maison de G. Because so much of our waste gets recycled now and we only use one bag a week, or thereabouts, we buy trash bags much less often. This is a fantastic turn of events! Yea hooray, happy day! Marriage saved!