Gobble Gobble... Gullible!

Spending the Holidays away from home and your family is always hard.  And to be honest I didn't have high hopes for this Thanksgiving at all.  I was pretty bummed about the fact that Nick and I were both working so we couldn't really even attempt to celebrate.

On Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Nick and I went grocery shopping after work - STARVING.  Not a good idea.  We pretty much bought everything in the entire store, times two.  Our cab driver on the way home even asked us if we "had a big family"... Umm.... no we're just hungry - LAY OFF!

So anyways Thursday night I was on my way home and Nick calls me and says he is on the bus just ahead of me, and asked me what I was making for dinner tonight.  Umm husband you'll be home before me!  Maybe perhaps you could cook with the plethora of food we bought the previous night????  So he tells me he will make his "special" pasta, which I don't really think is special at all I mean it's essentially a glorified version of spaghetti and I thought considering we spent like two week's worth of my minimum wage salary on exotic ingredients at the supermarket the night before he could come up with something a little tastier.  So I sat on the bus in a foul mood wondering what it was about marriage that suddenly makes your better half turn deaf, dumb, and blind....  (did I mention earlier in the week he thought someone stole our vacuum?  I told him it was in the guest room, but it took him like 2 hours to find it!  It is a big vacuum.  soooo blind!)

Anyways I get home after a long bus ride of stewing and brewing these nasty thoughts... and I walk in the door to find this....

And since we're being honest, I'll admit that I burst into tears.  

Which really confused him, but they were happy tears.  

And then he appeared with this...

A vegetarian nut roast... and I think I cried again. 

 But then I stopped crying and we sat down to this delicious meal...

I am generally pretty easy to surprise, but I couldn't believe this.  

He took the afternoon off work to come home and cook me a Thanksgiving feast.

It was definitely delicious, but it's also the thought that counts right? 

I don't usually go for that kind of bullshit, but this meant everything to me.

I am SO thankful to have found him...  

In an AOL chat room in September 2001.

It's a Christian chat room, Mom! ;)

I swear he's not a pedo, Dad!

See, we all turned out alright!

Hope you all had very good Thanksgivings too!

ps.  Check that nut roast recipe out, it was soooo effing good!

Breakfast at Tiffany's Tuesdays : Pumpkin Pie

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I am sure you are making lots of pumpkin inspired desserts!  Yum!  But what to do when you bust open a can of pumpkin and the recipe only requires a cup's worth and you have a bunch left over???

Well friends, I got the answer for you!  It's Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal... 

and it's as easy as PIE. Go figure.

Get yourself a bowl and just throw some oatmeal, your leftover pumpkin puree, a spoonful of brown sugar, a shake of cinnamon and a pinch of salt.  Cover with just enough boiling water, and mix.

Maybe throw in some extra pumpkin seeds for a little crunch if you feel so inclined.  I'm such a pumpkin lover so you know I think it's delish.  I am loving the versatility of oatmeal these days.  I feel like my day is so much better when I have a good hearty breakfast.  It just starts everything out right. 

Are you breakfast eaters or breakfast skippers?

A Little Wedding Magic

We had such a fun weekend!  

Saturday morning we had an early start and took a very long train ride 

down south for a beautiful British wedding! 

Such excited newly weds!

Look at the groom in his morning suit - soooo british right?  

Beautiful old stone church.

Big white tent reception.

Nick is friend's with the groom, Ed, from college where they studied technical theater.

He sure didn't skimp on the lighting design for the wedding!

Oh hey and there's us.

How cute are they?

Welcome to married life Keeley and Ed!

ps.  Remember the other day when I said the groom had his eyebrow shaved off?  Yeah well understandably the bride was a little pissed off, so what do you do when you work in theater and are missing an eyebrow before your wedding day?  Call in the make up artist from Harry Potter of course!  Yep that is why both his eyebrows look intact, what a great story huh!

Double Birthday Madness

Yesterday was Heidi AND Nick's Birthday!  

Woo hooo double birthday fabulosity!  

I tried to make it Nick's best birthday ever.  

I'm pretty sure his ideal wife is an all singing, all dancing type of domestic/career goddess who gets up in the morning before him, runs him a bubble bath, cooks him breakfast and sends him out the door with a kiss.  Then this woman goes to work making lots of $£$£$£ but not more than him, and manages to cook him dinner and keep an impeccable house at the same time.  

She also irons his shirts.  

Clearly, this is NOT me.  But hey, for one day I can try right...?

At 7:00 am the alarm went off and I jumped out of bed to put these in the oven...

Pumpkin cinnamon buns... mmmm....

While they were cooking I whipped up some icing AND ran him a bubble bath 

(perfect japanese housewife - no?  fyi our current house does NOT have a shower)

After we had breakfast he put on a well ironed shirt and headed out the door with this... 

A pretty sloppy looking Carrot Cake,
and I'll never know if it tasted any good since his colleagues ate it all, 

but considering the fact there is 1.5 pounds of powdered sugar and 2 packs of cream cheese in the icing alone - I'm guessing it tasted alright....

After he went out to work I decorated the house and wrapped his present. 

 Unfortunately, at noon I got a call from the restaurant I was trying to make reservations at to let me know there was no room at the inn.  

boo.  

Massive wife fail.  

We did go out to eat but the food was wack.  

Hello restaurants of Sheffield - why do you all suck?

I thought I'd finally managed to get him a present he'd actually like that was a complete surprise...

but when I gave it to him, he held it for a minute and asked if I got him a tent.

Yes that would be it. 

Do you think that counts as a surprise?  

Because getting him a surprise bday present that he likes is on my bucket list -

 and I don't know if I succeeded or not.

This picture makes me laugh...

Oh there we go Doodle, now you can see!  

She's not allowed on the couch because she is always dirty and couches aren't washable like sheets are, 

but she is convinced that she should be allowed on the couch, 

and we didn't have the heart to kick her off / miss the photo opp.  

Besides, it was her first birthday afterall!

Sideways puppy kisses!

I love this little dog sooo much.  

And I love him too.

Even if we do take the most god awful selfies together... 

Those cinnamon buns appear to have been stuck straight to my chin.

Oh well, enjoy my doobler, internet. 

If only Heidi had a keen eye for photography and opposing thumbs - 

I swear were really not that unattractive of a couple.

Well that's all folks.  

I know I skimped on Heidi in favor of Nick, 

but truth be told she didn't actually know it was her birthday.  

I plan on fixing her up some pupcakes on Monday though.  

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  

We're off to a wedding tomorrow morning which is sure to be fun!

A Fall Weekend Photos and Flavors

Hi Friends,

How was your weekend?  I know it's Tuesday but it feels like Monday to me because I don't work on Mondays.  My weekend was fabulous and very busy. Nick went away for the weekend to a rowdy bachelor party, he came back intact, but the groom is missing an eyebrow!  They get married this weekend - how mad would you be?!  I would be soo mad!

The Doodle and I had a much less crazy girls weekend enjoying a little much needed sunshine.

And playing with lots of friends.  New and old....

This is Heidi's new friend Chili.  

I really liked the way she matched the fall colors.

Such a model, no?

I also did lots of DIY and cleaning and baking!

Like this delicious loaf...

You should definitely try this New York times No Knead bread recipe - right now.  

So easy to fit into your day, and whats better than fresh bread?

Nothing else can make your house smell that good.

I've been getting SO busy in the kitchen this week.  

I can't wait to show you what I've been making, 

but its a birthday surprise so I can't reveal it just yet!

It's Heidi and Nick's birthday on Thursday.

I'm sooo excited!

More on that later, but rest assured, Thursday will be mouth wateringly delicious!