earning our candy

I'm totally into Holidays.  Not the decorating so much (except for Christmas trees and stockings -duh), but I really like all the other stuff.  I get that they're totally commercialized, and full of propaganda, but I choose to embrace the spirit of these days anyway. 

a day/season of the year during which we are encouraged to dress up in the most ridiculous possible way for absolutely no reason and consume large of amounts of food that we are otherwise discouraged from eating... will I celebrate?  hell yes. 

*disclaimer* but there are some things I don't like : scary things, and the ever-growing tradition of women dressing up as "Sexy Doctor", "Sexy Witch", Sexy Corn On The Cob", "Sexy ____".  ugh.

this morning Matt showed up at my office with surprise Halloween Cookies

my colleagues and I were grateful

then we dressed up and went with my sister to take our nieces trick or treating.  I was Snow White, and because they were fresh out of Prince Charming costumes, Matt went for the next best thing - Biker Guy.

Biker Guy and Snow White I think captures an exaggerated metaphor for Matt and I nicely.

i really love him

Happy Halloween :)

we really do think we can dance.

my sisters and I all love a good on-screen dance sequence.  I think we all sort of have a not-so-secret dream of being dancers or Broadway stars or something.  These dreams were probably born because we spent our childhood watching and re-watching cinematic masterpieces like:

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

&

Newsies

go watch them right now.  for realz. 

anyway... my sister, Julianna,  REALLY loves So You Think You Can Dance.  like really loves.
every season she tries to get us to watch the show.  I haven't really ever seen it... just highlights on Ellen, and one dance with Ellen.  Not because it doesn't sound good, but because I know I'll be instantly addicted... and I don't need that.

her birthday is this week, so I plotted with my parents and her husband to get us two tickets to see the SYTYCD live tour at the Maverik Center on Wednesday night.  When I told her that our seats were in the 12th row, on the floor, I was legitimately worried that she was going to pee her pants.  She was SO excited. 

lucky for you, this event also gave me the opportunity to showcase my excellent photography skills.  I had to sort through 113 pictures of blurry nothing, to bring you these gems (haha)

these were my favorite dancers:

(I was happy to learn that Melanie won)

Other neat things: When we were leaving, I literally ran right into a guy named Mitchell who was the injured top ten dancer and couldn't dance that night (I didn't know it was Mitchell - Julianna told me).

and we sat next to this girl's (Caitlynn) parents: 

and 100 of her closest friends who all came from Washington to watch her.  We felt like we crashed someone's party.  But I did talk to her Dad about the whole "journey" to the T.V. show and beyond. 

So that was neat. 

aaand I loved it. 

and I'll be watching from now on.

Julianna, please don't get mad at me for telling this story

my sister, Julianna, is adorable in every way

she is also a champion shopper/money-saver

she is one of those people who knows how to get a bunch of free stuff with strategic couponing

the other day she sent an email to my other sister and I which said:
"When I can get free body wash, I get it. Typically it's for men's body wash... go figure.  Most of the time I really don't care because the smell goes away fast or is covered by my lotion. NOT TODAY. Holy cow, this new body wash is the most manly perfumey smell I have ever encountered. I reek of male deodorants."

so Shellie and I decided this was hilarious / unacceptable and conspired to give her a bunch of girly smelling body washes, deodorant, body spritzes, etc... for her birthday this week.

and I made this card for her

and my brother took this video of her opening the gift after she read the card. 

hb, Julianna.  love you

still fun when you're an adult

tonight's adventure:

tuesday evening

tonight

 these ladies

came over for some:

homemade halloween oreo cookie making

and pumpkin ice cream making

I made some orange and "purple" frosting for the cookies... the purple wasn't purple. 

Matt said "it still came out spooky"

and this little lady was here too

 she wasn't always keen on pictures

 but she totally owned the lincoln logs

charlie brown and his great pumpkin and dora were here too

finished products

happy fall :)

this week

lucy

last Wednesday was a very sad day.
it has taken me this many days to get through this post.

I lost my best little friend. 

My very dear friends, Anna and Eric, got me the best gift anyone has ever given me for my 21^st birthday in 2004.  My dog, Lucy.  They told me they wanted to get me a dog, and then I spent the next few weeks visiting shelters to find the perfect friend.  During my search, a friend adopted a beagle puppy from a no-kill shelter near where I was living in Greeley, Colorado.  He told me there were a lot more there who needed homes, because they had confiscated something like 60+ beagles from a woman who was hoarding dogs.  I grew up with a beagle, so this idea felt right immediately.  We went to the shelter and saw the beagles all together in a cage.  Lucy was quietly sitting and looking straight up at me while the others barked and danced around her.  She was the smallest, and quietest, and I knew she was mine instantly. 

I think sometimes beagles have a bad reputation because they “all chew everything” or “bark and howl constantly” or “get into the trash” or “never settle down”.  These things were never true for Lucy.  She was house-trained almost immediately, I only remember her chewing up one thing: a pointy purple pump shoe which I wore to a Prince concert (maybe she was trying to tell me something), and she NEVER barked.  Like it was months before I ever even heard her bark, and it sounded so pathetic and rusty.  Later, she only ever barked if she felt threatened or startled, or was being protective of us. 

She was about 8 months old when I got her.  Lucy was one of my favorite names, and was calling to me when I got the puppy.  I loved “I Love Lucy” growing up, I like the Beatles, and I was learning about Australopithecus in my anthropology class at the time.  It was a perfect fit.  Every friend I had fell in love with Lucy instantly.  She was never aggressive, and was always playful and cuddly, plus tiny and adorable.  It was impossible to not love her. 

Eventually, my living situation changed and didn’t allow for a pet.  Thankfully, my parents offered to let her live with them.  Lucy moved to Utah and I was devastated.  The good news was she had a giant backyard for her adventures, and lots of grand kids to chase her around.  She loved the kids and the kids loved her.

When I moved to Utah and lived with my parents temporarily, we were reunited.  She had truly become a family dog, but it never got old knowing that she was just a little extra excited when I came home or when she saw me.  Dogs are unlike anyone else.  They love so purely and unconditionally.  Nobody else can barely contain themselves when you get home from work day after day, and follow you from room to room because they would always rather be inches from you than anywhere else. 

The universe must have known that I wouldn't have been able to handle a long sickness, or ever knowing that she was suffering for any length of time, because there were only about 90 minutes between the time we thought something was wrong, and when she was gone.  It was so sudden, but we are grateful that it was quick.  I miss her already.  I don't know when I'll stop being this sad when I think about her, but

• I'm glad we had her for 7 really good years.
• I'm glad Matt got to meet her and spend time with her.
• I'm glad she was surrounded by her family when the time came, and we said goodbye.

and

• I'm really glad that all dogs go to heaven.   



anticipation

good fall things I’m excited about today:

-the sweaters, sweater dresses, tweed skirts, tights, boots, coats, gloves, and scarves I’ve been dusting off for cold-weather use. 

-my sister’s birthday next week (we have a good present for her)

-Ashley’s bachelorette party in Vegas in 2.5 weeks

-general autumn evening dinner-making, couch-cuddling, and movie-watching

-projects coming up for the Utah Food Bank

-1,000 sewing machine project ideas

-Drew coming home for Thanksgiving

-Thanksgiving (because it’s Thanksgiving, and because I can make pies!!!)

look

neat new header and favicon. 

thanks, Becca :)

butternut

one Sunday each month, my aunts, cousins, mother, and myself get together to play Bunco.  We meet at a different house each month, and this month it was my turn to host.

last week, J from work brought me some more vegetables from her garden.  One of the things she brought me was a big squash.  I hadn't ever made anything with a squash before, so I decided I would attempt soup on Sunday for Bunco.

after reviewing some recipes online, I picked this one because it looked simple and was rated well. 

I followed it.  sort of.

I needed at least 8 servings and didn't pay attention to how much squash I would need for this recipe before I went to Harmons to get more squash.  I bought one more large one, and one smallish one. 

so I had about this much squash:

I cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, and then used the butter, white pepper, and kosher salt like the recipe says, but I didn't measure anything.  Then I roasted them flesh side up.  I did 400 degrees for 35 minutes, but they weren't soft enough, so I left them in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.

(not my picture, I forgot to take pictures, so I stole it from here)

then I scooped the flesh out with an ice cream scoop, and put it into the pot with the vegetable stock, ginger, and honey.  I didn't measure anything again.  Actually, I'll be honest... I didn't measure any of the ingredients.  I think measuring is only important for baking... 

*also, I was really frantic and running behind, and at one point all three of the things I was making weren't going the way I planned, and 7 lovely women who love me and weren't even paying attention to what was going on in the kitchen were at my house (which in the moment in my perfectionist, irrational world translates to: it's the end of the universe and it's all my fault! and 1,000,000 people are watching me and waiting for me to fail! )*

...so I was just throwing stuff into the pot.

I tried (unsuccessfully) to "puree" the squash by mashing it.  It didn't work, so I ran the whole thing through the Cuisinart a little at a time.  Then it simmered and I eventually added some amount of heavy cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then let it simmer some more. 

eventually, that pot was filled with something that resembled soup... and it tasted good!

It was really filling, and really worth the effort.

I decided I need to continue to be brave, and keep making things I've never made, because even if it's not successful, it's rewarding.  I also need to be kind to myself about the learning curve with cooking.  

I should have also mentioned that my mom was a tremendous help, and I would not have survived yesterday without her. 
Thanks, Moo.