Thanksgiving...went well.

First things first, as a total side bar...I've been wearing glasses for the past year because I was not allowed to wear my conctact lenses...I had to do this because my eyes needed to recover from years of damage done by contacts so that I can get Lasik eye surgery. AND finally...the doctor gave me the green light and I am now schedule for the procedure Wed morning 8:30am!!! This is super exciting for me after spending a whole year stuck in my glasses I'm finally going to be free of them FOREVER!

Anyway! back to Thanksgiving. It was a ton of work,but very fun to see the whole family:) A few little things happened that stressed me out a bit...first, my intitial dose of stuffing turned out bitter because I put the onions in the food processor to save time. WARNING! NEVER OVER process your onions! So after all that work I went to taste the stuffing and it was terrible! I had to start over. Ran to the foodstore at 9pm, cut up everything again and made it once more...for 17 people. Ahhh yes, fun times. THEN! I decided to make a spice cake (from Rachel Ray's mag) and a vanilla chocolate cake, for desserts. I was inspired by all the suggestions...thanks guys! So I made the first cake and it was great, but I thought to myself wouldn't it be fantastic to make it with Splenda so my dad the diabetic can eat some...uhmmm yeh...DO NOT COOK WITH SPLENDA IN A CAKE! It doesn't rise the same and is super mushy...I would go with the half splenda/ half sugar thing... SO I had to make it three times. But that was it for the issues.

The rest just flowed and of course, Ken's mom and sister did not fail to impress. His mom made the most incredible pumpkin pie I've ever had, along with a cheesecake to die for and some cookies I swear people were stashing to save for themselves! His sister presented an amazing chocolate chip torte, more like everything bad for you in a plate. it was all really incredible. I forced myself to throw away the last slice of cheesecake last night because I knew I would crave it like I am right this second. Damn it! WHY WHY WHY did I throw that away...it would be so good when I get home! ugh!

But anyway, A good time was had by all:)

Dessert...

I'm a HUGE dessert person! I live for chocolate...in any form. I crave cake at all times. This is a recent development though...until about 5 months ago, I mostly craved chocolate products, but lately it's been stuff like, vanilla cake with vanilla frosting with tiny colored chips in it. (you know the kind I'm talking about right? The stuff in the can that we used to eat on cupcakes!) Anyway, so I'm now trying to think up creative dessert options for Thanksgiving, that's not apple pie, pumpkin pie or any of the "standard," but still fabulous options. Rather, I'd like some kind of cake! Some kind of fluffy, moist and sweet conction of everything good. I know you know what I'm talking about.

So far I found a ginger spice cake...not sure if it's gonna cut it. My future mother-in-law and sister-in-law are super bakers. Mom's a seasoned pro with a serious reputation so I know I can't compare in the pie department. Sister is a dessert hobbiest. This is what she does for fun...so you know she's super creative and is not afraid to load on the butter...I'm so screwed:) And my fiance is a loyal follower of mom's baking. He's open to new things,but still never fails to mention how incredible mom's baking is. So here I am...I need a good recipe ASAP! I really want to wow them with my baking talent. This is kind of big. The whole family is going to be there!

Anyone have any ideas? Tonight I'm going to go through my cookbooks and my magazines...I seriously hope they have something for me:)

And I feel better

I feel better because I had a weekend full of quality time combined with fun activities, great purchases and serious cuddling. I know I know, it sounds so mushy,but it was wonderful to just lie there and snuggle a bit. Started the weekend off with a wonderful date at the Turkish Kitchen, followed by some great time spent on the couch catching up on episodes of Grey's Anatomy and LOST. OH! We tried PinkBerry as well...I have to say it's good stuff. I was a little worried about it. I'd heard it was kind of sour,kind of like the stuff at 40 Carrots in Bloomies (which I hate!). BUT it wasn't like that at all! It was tangy but sweet enough,but not too sweet. I say try it for yourself and see what you think.

The rest of the weekend was filled with shopping. We tried desperately to pick out a china pattern. We started at Bloomingdales...two hours later...NOTHING! THen we moved to Michael C. Fina, where they have EVERYTHING! We spent another 2 hours there, only to narrow down our search to 4 settings. After that we had to stop...not because we were done for the night, but because they were closing the store. Yes, very sad,but very funny! I think this whole process is hillarious! Seriously, We have to pick a pattern that we're going to not use till we have a house, so like in 6 years, one that we'll like then, and something that we will still like when we're 50...what are the chances of that!? I mean, if it was Herend, we'd be fine, but being that a 5 peice setting is around $1100, we have to find something a little cheaper. Not to mention my mother has enough of it for a small army...So what happens? We find somethings we like...they are also on the more expensive side. But the thing is, we don't just want to get white plates with platinum trim, because we want something more formal. So we have to both find a pattern we like and think we will like years from now. Such a process! After a long day of pattern shopping we headed out for some fantastic Sushi and some drinks. We actually went back to FLute...a place we went after our first date. I love that place. It's the kind of place I'd host a party at, with champagne coctails flowing and great lighing! If I have anything to celebrate in the next year, that's not my wedding...I am so hosting a party there!

Finally, Sunday we took a drive out to the Short HIlls Mall. It's so nice to just walk around a mall sometimes, you know? The temperature is regulated, it's not raining, and they have everything! We ate dinner out at a great little family restaurant in Summit and then came back into the city to spend the rest of the night vegging. It really was a great weekend. I need this so bad after last week!

AND...there were no dead mice when i walked into my apt...just a very happy little Oscar:) Hopefully I've caught them all...well, for now at least! Damn mice!

Sometimes everything just feels like it's so tough to do, right?

I mean it's not like I'm sick or have any major injuries...I just feel like it's hard to walk up a flight of stairs! Ok, I'll start over...I'm sore...very sore. I feel like every step I have to take requires 75% of my energy and that's just way to much to give to take one step. Yes, it's completely my fault for pushing my body to places it hasn't been since I was 17, but come on!

THEN! work is pretty crazy, because I was gone for 3 days and we all know what happens when you leave work...the world actually doesn't stop working, and so you have to catch up to all the bullshit that has been put into play while you were gone. And then throw in some Jury duty and you're left with a big pile of crap. Oh wait, that's right...I got up at the ass crack of dawn this morning, schlepped my butt down to the court house only to have them tell me that court was closed today and tomorrow so I'd have to reschedule...what the hell is that all about!? I reallize many people might be happy about this, but this is my 3rd time heading down there to try to serve...and now I had to postpone again till January! BOOOOOOOO!

So here I am, now feeling guilty because I dropped my dog off this morning with the sitter and didn't go back for him even though jury duty was cancelled, because I just need a break from walking. I am super tired already and it's only 10:30am, I have no clean clothing because I haven't done laundry in about 3 weeks, my apartment is being taken over by mice, yes you heard me...mice.I think there are about 5 of them currently running around shitting everywhere and there's nothing I can do about it because I have a little dog that LOVES glue traps and will def get his nose chopped off in an old school trap. So I think I'm running away for the night. I really think I might head out to jersey for the night to just escape what has become my current living situation.

And then finding a new apartment for Ken and I to live in is turning out to be tougher than I had tried to delude myself into believing it would be. I always knew it wouldn't be an easy process, having been through the coop purchase before, but I just kind of forgot about how bad it really was and started to think about things like couches and wall colors. Now, as I look at apartments and immediately jump to the mortgage calculator, the whole thing has just lost its luster. It's like I don't care what anything looks like, as long as it has counter space in the kitchen and a big ass closet for all my stuff...and is pet friendly. Let me just say, if you have a dog, DO NOT GET EXCITED about apartment hunting. People! You'll find your dream apartment and then they'll tell you they only take cats. Lovely.

I realize this post is not filled with wedding planning happiness, but this week just feels insane to me. I saw ken last night after not seeing him since sunday night. He's had a hellish week as well...working till 4am and just not having a life outside of work all week. And then as soon as we have some time to just sit and chill, someone calls wanting something or a favor has to be done or I haven't called my mom in 2 days and I'm just waiting for the calls of guilt to come.

So let's hope this weekend is full of fun things and some down time.