Fancy Dinner Night

Each year Dereks family hosts a 'fancy dinner night' complete with several courses of food and delicious wine. One of his aunts lives in California and brings all sorts of drinkable treasures with her for her visit. each course is paired with a new and different wine and we all try to guess their price point and any awards theyve won. You can imagine how creative our opinions get by the 8th bottle... Dereks dad is by far the most comical of all.

The Bohls tree

Our table all set and ready

The menu (plus a few grease stains?)

The wine list(s)

Somehow I only managed to get a picture of the appetizer and the deserts- I missed the salad, the soup and the main course!

Oh, and I captured the wines too ;)

This was my third year to attend and I cannot wait for many more years to come. Not only is the food absolute perfection, but the company is nearly impossible to beat!

(case in point)

To You and Yours

"SANTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, I know him! I know him.

You sit on a throne of lies.

Youre not Santa, you stink, you smell like beef and cheese."

We have two family gatherings under our belt and four more to go- tonight its just us. Making dinner at home and heading to church at 10 PM. Im watching Elf right now in my most confortable duds- with hot chocolate and my furry family. Life is great- Merry Christmas.

More Adventures in Conversation

Derek: "you remind me of Pam from the office, shes a lot like you"
Me: "oh, like how shes super sweet and soft spoken?"
Derek: "no, I just think you dress a lot like her"
Me: BLANK STARE- "and you think this is a compliment, dont you?!"

 Of course her character is precious but shes a bit frumptastic, dont you think?

Did Somebody Say Steak?

Derek and I attended the third annual Mullins Christmas Dinner/White Elephant Gift Exchange last night. Patrick and his wife Allison always serve a delicious, sit down meal and stock their bar like you wouldnt believe. This year, the party expanded to THREE couple-filled tables- thats a lot of mouths to feed! After the meal, we start the gift exchange and, well, suffice it to say I left out most of those R rated pictures. Once the gift exchange is complete, the guys go out by the pool and smoke cigars while the girls stay inside and usually talk about the guys. Lasty, towards the end of the night, its tradition to put on a funny movie (a la Anchorman, but this year it was The Hangover) and make up a game to drink along with the quotes. Hilarity ensues.

So, without further delay- feast your eyes!

Holiday Hilarity

Courtesy of Happy Meals & Happy Hour:

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves

a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink.. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the

Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Fat Friday

You know how you go to church and swear the sermon is just for you? See a movie and resonate with a quote or a song or even a montage? I had one of those moments today- perhaps not so deep but I felt like my TV was talking to me and only me.

While scrolling through the video on demand options I saw a few episodes of The Biggest Loser. Having never watched an entire episode, I thought I might give it a shot. Not only did I sob almost the entire time but I almost dropped the remote and ran of my house when I heard this quote:

"I never took care of myself, I took care of everyone else in my home, took care of my business and my husband. I would watch The Biggest Loser weigh in with ice cream in my hand"

I looked down and immediately felt ashamed of the Snickers ice cream bar I held in my hand.

SHAME. ON. ME.

Dez and Derek

I dont think this looks much like us, but its still funny!

Tacky Sweater

We went to a tacky sweater party (our second one ever) and I wanted to show you the gem I found at Goodwill and wore -please ignore my split ends.

Thats right, it says 'Meowy Christmas'

Try not to be jealous.

All Along the Dezzy Front

On the Christmas front:
- We are all done with our Christmas shopping and wrapping (phew!)
- We have two sets of white elephant gifts purchased and wrapped for two separate holiday parties- very excited to see what we come home with after the exchange.

On the health front:
- I dont think Ive fully kicked my pneumonia nor do I think I was ever cured of my primary infection which resided in my upper respiratory area.
- I filled two final and EXPENSIVE prescriptions today as I have developed a severe sinus infection as well as an ear infection (serious booooo, what is wrong with my immune system?)
- Today starts TEN full days of antibiotics which means very little to no drinking all through the Christmas season (another serious booooooo) but at least Ill be better by NYE which will be spent in Miami/South Beach for my cousins wedding (wahooo)!
- Derek seems to think drinking is an option, obviously not in mass amounts or on a daily basis but he looked up the particular medicine online and thinks it might be okay to drink once or twice on special occasions- anyone know any better? The pharmacy didn’t even mention no drinking but is this because its just common sense?

On the work front:
- Work is SLOW- in my industry, things come to a screeching halt from right around Thanksgiving until after the new year- working in the cold and rain makes my daily sales calls that much more daunting- so does being sick. If only I had some cute rain boots!
- I have been keeping busy with lots of useless sales calls and even more useless TV.
- Its pretty sad when you tune in to Animal Cops and youve already seen that episode, the same goes for episodes of Snapped (get a life much).
- We had our work holiday party last night and Derek and I opted for a couples caricature- I will post a picture of it soon, although, Ill preface it by saying I don’t think it looks like either of us. Perhaps it will provide a good chuckle?

On the technology front:
- My blackberry has not been receiving emails for two days now, pretty sad how cut off I feel. Ive done everything I can think of other than stopping by my provider because frankly, after Christmas shopping, if the bb is broken itll have to stay that way for a while. Not. In. The. Budget.
- I am now missing three keys from my laptop keyboard- the F4, the 4, and the I- I have Reggie to thank for that- beast.

I think for now that is all. Thanks for tuning in.

Thursday

Hey Austin bloggers (again)- do we wanna meet and play on Thursday?
Send me your email addresses and Ill start a chain to get ideas of where to go!

kthanksbye.

Dexter

Just got around to watching the season finale of Dexter from last night. My jaw is literally on the floor. So shocked.

Thoughts?

Adventures in Babysitting

I had the distinguished privilege of babysitting Dereks niece, Macey last night. What fun we had. She fixed my hair, we tickled, we had a tea party (which resulted in each of us sucking our tea cups until they stuck to our chins- remember that?), we chased each other around in circles, we read books and we wore each other out.

She wanted me to take my shoes and socks off... so she could put them on

She kept saying "soft, fuzzy socks"

at this point in our tea party, she realized I was snapping her picture and wanted to see them

enjoying the birthday gift Derek and I gave her

playing hard to get

Overall, Im not sure who had more fun- me or her!

Happy 101

One of my real life favorites, Erin, gave me an award today- and who doesnt squeal with excitement when such an honor is bestowed upon them?! Wahooooooooooo!

This award, meant to be gifted to bloggers who make you smile, has two requirements.

1. List 10 things that make you happy.

2. List 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

10 things that make me happy:
-cheese (cubes, queso, string)
-red wine
-the endless comforts of friendship
-inside jokes
-the companionship and growing love with my special someone
-really good tv- the kind that when the episode is over, youre a little sad
-a good book thats impossible to put down
-my sweet and crazy, hairy pups
-tempurpedic pillows
-being able to babysit Miss Macey tonight!

10 bloggers who brighten my day:
Organic Meatbag
Enginerd
Courtkneerawks
Dallmeyer Days
dot...dot...dot
French Kiss
Handbags and Handguns
Happy Meals & Happy Hour
I Love You More Than Carrots
Live.Love.Laugh

Attention Austin Bloggers

Jill is usually the one who sets these up but I have yet to attend due to my unpredictable schedule. I thought it may be worth the effort to try and schedule a gathering for next week before the holidays get too hectic and we have no free time until 2010. I was even thinking we could do a white elephant gift exchange?

Since Im the one making this suggestion Ill go ahead and suggest days:
-Monday 12/14
-Thursday 12/17

Any takers? I know some of you live south and some of us live north so we could pick a place in between and make it easier for everyone!

Once we get an idea of who all wants to play, Ill set up an email chain for organization so if youre interested, comment with your email address!

Hope it works out!

Smell Your Heart Out

The New Black is hosting a giveaway I couldnt wish any harder for! Stop on over for her Smell Your Heart Out Giveaway- but really, maybe dont so I can win.

You see, Im such a candle person. And Yankee Candles? What more could a girl from MA ask for? Its like a dream come true!

When awaiting company at the house, I always light candles. When curled up watching a movie, I light a candle. When cleaning and organizing, I light a candle. When taking a bubble bath, I light a candle. When reading a good book, I light a candle.

I suppose the shorter list would be when I dont light a candle...

So What

So what if none of my pants fit me? So what if that includes my ELEVEN pairs of designer jeans Ive spent a fortune on? So what if I try to nap daily? So what if I sit on the couch watching bad tv mindlessly eating Reeses peanut butter cups? So what if Im obsessed with my dogs? So what if Id rather eat pizza than something healthy? So what if I make the pillow cushions line neatly before bed every night? So what if I vacuum my car weekly? So what if I sing loudly to every song on my ipod while driving in traffic? So what if I feel a warm and cozy home means having a candy dish in the entry way? So what if I still watch The Hills? So what if Im obsessed with Edward Cullen? So what if I read gossip magazines and websites daily? So what if I like to spend lots of my hard earned money on handbags? So what if Dumb and Dumber still makes me laugh every single time? So what if I enjoy facebook stalking? So what if I prefer pearls to trendy jewelry? So what if I prefer handwritten snail mail to gifts, emails or phone calls? Who cares if I have split ends and need a haircut?

SO WHAT? Its me!

Christmas Party Pics

Derek won a $50 gift card to Target!

Kicking Myself

I have spent the last 30 hours in a deep depression.

You see, Friday night was Dereks company Christmas party- started out at a country club here in Austin and ended at a bar hotel downtown.

I woke up Saturday morning with a hefty headache (see: too many vodka sodas) and my camera nowhere to be found. I literally checked every single place I could think of and eventually started making the rounds calling each place wed been to the night before.

Country club: no such luck. Also not too helpful over the phone…
Hotel bar: no luck there either. Must think Im a drunken fool…
Dereks truck: nothing…though I told myself Id do a once over myself asap…

I even started thinking of places to look such as the freezer, my make up bag, in our junk drawer, and my sock drawer. I was frantic and would put nothing past myself. Its not like me to lose or misplace things, I unpack my purse pretty much nightly when I walk in the door so this was very frustrating and was beginning to really stress me out.

As of this afternoon Id given up hope and started looking online for deals on a new camera. Dont get me wrong, I was sick at the thought of spending so much money on myself before Christmas but if you know me, you know how odd it would be to have a Dez with no camera. I thought about all the upcoming events Id want to capture and convinced myself it would be a necessary purchase.

Then I started to do laundry to get my mind off of it, and when hanging up clean clothes I caught a glimpse of the coat I wore Friday night. Guess what was in the pocket? Yep. My camera. Why on earth didnt I think to check there in the first place?

Perhaps I killed too many brain cells on Friday night...oops.

Online Shopping Can Ruin Lives

Im a little peeved and Im going to tell you why.

I ordered a winter coat online about a month ago, I patiently waited for it to arrive and when it finally did, it was too big (story of my life). It was only after trying it on that I went back online and read reviews of the coat. Much to my dismay almost everyone that had taken the time to type out a review said it ran way too big. Well that’s for the information- a day late and a dollar short.

(I cant get the damn picture any bigger- stupid problem causing jacket!)

I decided to return the coat, but no my friends, Dez couldn’t do so in the store. Girlfriends coat was only available online. I could return it to the store for a refund and reorder the coat online- and wait- AGAIN. I decided to return it through the mail so I didn’t have to pay shipping a second time, BIG MISTAKE. Turns out that by the time I returned the coat they were all sold out. Rather than let me know I would only get a refund and no smaller size, they refunded my money and didn’t send me an email, a phone call or even a carrier pigeon. Sure, I was happy to have the money back after still not having my new winter coat but I was annoyed at the whole process.

I finally caved and called customer service this morning. Not only was the jacket so popular that there are ZERO left in the US, but I had to settle for another coat completely. I kept my cool and stayed polite, even made good friends with the gal on the other end of the line (we talked for over an hour). She said even shed wanted to buy the same coat I was robbed of but shes expecting so it didn’t seem to smart to buy a new jacket that may not fit in a few weeks.

Anyway… long story short, she gave me a 20% discount, waived my shipping fee and guess what? Dez has TWO jackets on the way… for only $20 more than what I paid the first time. I wanted to teach them a lesson and not order anything else for a long long time but theyre my favorite and she offered me a pretty good deal and made it all worth my time. I even asked to speak to her supervisor and made sure they knew what a wonderful job she had done with me and my coat drama. Homegirls got a green and black coat coming her way...

Moral of the story? Maybe don’t shop online so much- sometimes its worth a trip to the store.

All dressed up and nowhere to go

Our pretty lady...

Oh, Christmas Tree

Despite needing a tree topper and a tree skirt, here is our progress thus far:

Ill post pictures when shes really done and fully clothed!