Buddy too shy to pose with his new snow boots, but I caught his picture anyway :)
Buddy likes his new Christmas toys, but he was so tired after playing at Doggie Daycare, while we were out of town, that he fell asleep while chewing on it.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A couple Buddy pictures
Buddy too shy to pose with his new snow boots, but I caught his picture anyway :)Buddy likes his new Christmas toys, but he was so tired after playing at Doggie Daycare, while we were out of town, that he fell asleep while chewing on it.
Christmas in New York City
The weekend before Christmas, mom and Emily came to visit us. We took the opportunity to visit NYC for Christmas, as we had always talked about doing. Unfortunately, Matt had to work and stayed behind. After realizing that Amtrak was ridiculously expensive, we decided to take Megabus, which was a real steal - though our trip home almost was a disaster. We arrived in NYC Thursday morning in the freezing cold and trooped around the city all day taking in the sights, including Times Square, FAO Schwartz, Fifth Ave, the restaurant Serendipity (they have a $1000 sundae on the menu - only in New York!), Rockefeller Plaza and the ice skating rink and tree, and a Christmas Concert at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Then on Friday we rose early and got on TV at the Today Show, had hot chocolate at Dean and Deluca, saw the first wooden escalators in the country at Macy's, ate at Tavern on the Green, walked Central Park, and saw the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Whew! Just typing all of that made me tired! Then we waited in the freezing cold for two hours for our bus that was insanely late. Luckily we made it home before the historic snow storm left 22.4 inches of snow at our house on Saturday alone. Needless to say, we stay in and enjoyed watching the snow from inside our warm house and made Christmas treats. Shockingly, Philly was able to get the roads relatively clear and mom and Emily made it to the airport and back to Nashville on Sunday.
Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip (Em - I still need to get yours)
Mom and Em in front of the very sparkling star made by Swarovski in Rockefeller Plaza.
Do you see the couple in the upper right hand corner? The man has on a khaki colored jacket - they just got engaged! Congrats to them whoever they are. Later that night we saw a guy propose who bought the $200 proposal on ice package. They cleared the ice, played a song of his choice from the CD he brought, had a videographer, and let them take a victory lap around the rink!
Performance at FAO Schwarz on a piano like the one from Big. And no - we didn't let the little kids stand in front of us. We threw elbows for a good spot up front!
Em loves her lions. Raaarrr.
And mom loves her giraffes - she still remembers seeing the life-size giraffes at FAO when she was a kid. We question whether they really were life-size or if she was just shorter. But she insists that they were bigger back then.
Em with the pink Christmas tree at Serendipity. (Yes it is pink, my photography skills leave something to be desired.)
The Goins girls with their ginormous sundae at Serendipity. Apparently the $1000 sundae has gold leaf on it, and you have to make reservations 48 hours in advance to be able to order it. Seriously, who would pay that much for a sundae?!?
If you'll notice, in the background, the security guards scarves are the trademark Tiffany's blue. Nice touch, but as cold as it was they needed blue parkas.
Rockefeller Plaza and the Christmas tree. The ice skating rink is below the tree.
Em and I pausing long enough to smile in the freezing cold for a photo-op with the tree. Really I just wanted to eat the pretzel that was in my left hand :)
City lights - Em says that Vegas is way brighter - I can't even imagine.
Mom says hi to Vanderbilt from the Today Show.
And we said hi to just about everyone we could!
Mom and Em are strategizing about how they can get their signs on TV.
It was 13 degrees outside while we were waving our signs. We definitely need a little something to warm us up!
Mom and Em in front of the Empire State Building. We almost passed right by without noticing. That's how much there is to see in NYC.
Mom and I in front of the 34th Street entrance to Macy's.
Tonight, Dec 31, 2009, Tavern on the Green will serve its last meal. We decided to grab lunch there before we never had the option again.
Mom smiling pretty in front of one of the many Christmas trees during lunch.
Emily posing with a Tavern on the Green sign.
Me showing Emily how much enthusiasm she should have displayed when posing with the sign.
Em with another lion.
Mom and Em in Central Park. At this point they may have a bit mad at me because I had taken 500 pictures. They will be glad to know that this, my favorite picture, is the last one that I took in that series.
The chandelier inside Radio City Music Hall before we saw the many famous legs of the Rockettes.
Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip (Em - I still need to get yours)
Mom and Em in front of the very sparkling star made by Swarovski in Rockefeller Plaza.
Do you see the couple in the upper right hand corner? The man has on a khaki colored jacket - they just got engaged! Congrats to them whoever they are. Later that night we saw a guy propose who bought the $200 proposal on ice package. They cleared the ice, played a song of his choice from the CD he brought, had a videographer, and let them take a victory lap around the rink!
Performance at FAO Schwarz on a piano like the one from Big. And no - we didn't let the little kids stand in front of us. We threw elbows for a good spot up front!
Em loves her lions. Raaarrr.
And mom loves her giraffes - she still remembers seeing the life-size giraffes at FAO when she was a kid. We question whether they really were life-size or if she was just shorter. But she insists that they were bigger back then.
Em with the pink Christmas tree at Serendipity. (Yes it is pink, my photography skills leave something to be desired.)
The Goins girls with their ginormous sundae at Serendipity. Apparently the $1000 sundae has gold leaf on it, and you have to make reservations 48 hours in advance to be able to order it. Seriously, who would pay that much for a sundae?!?
If you'll notice, in the background, the security guards scarves are the trademark Tiffany's blue. Nice touch, but as cold as it was they needed blue parkas.
Rockefeller Plaza and the Christmas tree. The ice skating rink is below the tree.
Em and I pausing long enough to smile in the freezing cold for a photo-op with the tree. Really I just wanted to eat the pretzel that was in my left hand :)
City lights - Em says that Vegas is way brighter - I can't even imagine.
Mom says hi to Vanderbilt from the Today Show.
And we said hi to just about everyone we could!
Mom and Em are strategizing about how they can get their signs on TV.
It was 13 degrees outside while we were waving our signs. We definitely need a little something to warm us up!
Mom and Em in front of the Empire State Building. We almost passed right by without noticing. That's how much there is to see in NYC.
Mom and I in front of the 34th Street entrance to Macy's.
Tonight, Dec 31, 2009, Tavern on the Green will serve its last meal. We decided to grab lunch there before we never had the option again.
Mom smiling pretty in front of one of the many Christmas trees during lunch.
Emily posing with a Tavern on the Green sign.
Me showing Emily how much enthusiasm she should have displayed when posing with the sign.
Em with another lion.
Mom and Em in Central Park. At this point they may have a bit mad at me because I had taken 500 pictures. They will be glad to know that this, my favorite picture, is the last one that I took in that series.
The chandelier inside Radio City Music Hall before we saw the many famous legs of the Rockettes.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Merry Christmas Flyers!
Decorating houses at Christmas in the ghetto is a loved tradition at UD. This video will make all Flyers proud and miss their days at Dayton.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Buddy has Christmas Cheer
We think Buddy must love Christmas as much as we do. The pictures explain how easy decorating for Christmas is when Buddy helps.
This awesome peanut butter flavored rawhide bone the size of Buddy was supposed to keep him occupied while we decorated the tree.
But, apparently Buddy liked his bone and the Christmas lights. I could post more pictures to prove my point, but it will suffice to say that no matter where the lights were, Buddy looked like this.
We later learned that Buddy isn't partial to Christmas lights. He just loves laying on Christmas decorations while eating his bone. Under the Christmas tree is just about his favorite spot these days. I think he is trying to remind us what a gift he is in our lives.
This awesome peanut butter flavored rawhide bone the size of Buddy was supposed to keep him occupied while we decorated the tree.
But, apparently Buddy liked his bone and the Christmas lights. I could post more pictures to prove my point, but it will suffice to say that no matter where the lights were, Buddy looked like this.
We later learned that Buddy isn't partial to Christmas lights. He just loves laying on Christmas decorations while eating his bone. Under the Christmas tree is just about his favorite spot these days. I think he is trying to remind us what a gift he is in our lives.
Frosty the SnowBud
Winters here in Philadelphia are a big change (for the better) from Chicago. I have yet to have the cold bring instantaneous tears to my eyes that then immediately froze. It's kinda nice. The winter has been mild so far, and for that I am thankful. For those of you who don't know, our parked Olds got hit by a drunk driver and is currently out of commission (or possibly permanently out of commission). So now I channel my inner 12 year old and bike to my babysitting job. Needless to say, I am glad I don't live in Chicago right now. Though I do miss the public transportation system.
It has snowed once this winter. The snow experience here is much more comparable to Nashville than Chicago. Super wet snow that melts fairly quickly, and a city that's not particularly ready to deal with it. That said, it is still always nice to see a few flakes.
Buddy wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow. He definitely was not excited to go outside in it.
Once he did go outside in the snow, he couldn't stop sniffing it. He even tried chasing a few flakes. Hopefully, he gets to see it a few more times this winter.
It has snowed once this winter. The snow experience here is much more comparable to Nashville than Chicago. Super wet snow that melts fairly quickly, and a city that's not particularly ready to deal with it. That said, it is still always nice to see a few flakes.
Buddy wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow. He definitely was not excited to go outside in it.
Once he did go outside in the snow, he couldn't stop sniffing it. He even tried chasing a few flakes. Hopefully, he gets to see it a few more times this winter.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Join the Club!
Join the club - the Visit Matt and Liz and the Independence Hall Club. Everyone is doing it! Recently Matt's dad and uncle came to visit. Well, actually they came to work on our house and then we let them be tourists for a day. They did amazing work on our house and really helped us out sooo much! It is great to have handy people in the family! Then a couple weeks later, Matt's cousin John and his girlfriend Suzie came to visit. It was great fun to hang out and be tourists with them. In addition to seeing patriotic sights with John and Suzie, we also went to a totally weird but neat museum that displays weird, diseased skeletons, skulls, embalmed body parts, etc. Definitely worth the visit.
Come visit us if you want to join the Independence Hall Club and have your picture posted here! We'd love to have you :)
The work crew - Steve, Matt, and Mark. (The problem with Independence Hall is that it is so tall that taking pictures of the people with the building is a bit difficult, especially because you can't go past a certain point without having to go through security again.)
John and Suzie with our dear Liberty Bell.
John is trying to help me be able to get a closer view of John and Suzie by lifting up Suzie. It didn't help :)
Come visit us if you want to join the Independence Hall Club and have your picture posted here! We'd love to have you :)
The work crew - Steve, Matt, and Mark. (The problem with Independence Hall is that it is so tall that taking pictures of the people with the building is a bit difficult, especially because you can't go past a certain point without having to go through security again.)
John and Suzie with our dear Liberty Bell.
John is trying to help me be able to get a closer view of John and Suzie by lifting up Suzie. It didn't help :)
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
This has been a big year for us, and we are thankful for the many blessings that we have had in our lives this year. Buying a new home. New jobs. The addition of Buddy. Making new friends. Nice visits from family.
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in Philly - just a quiet day with the two of us. In case you felt like you missed us, I made sure to take plenty of pictures!
The first step is conquering your fear of opening the package and having to remove gross things that someone decided to euphemistically call giblets.
The spice rubbed bird is stuffed with lemons, oranges, onions and herbs.
This is as close as Matt got to the turkey before it was on his plate.
In the oven - finally.
As Buddy is demonstrating, waiting for a yummy turkey can be an exhausting activity.
Mmmm - looks yummy! At this point, we are still hoping that it actually is edible. Looks can be deceiving!
Master carver - not so much. Unskilled butcher is more like it.
Isn't my dinner so pretty looking. Take a close look at this picture - you'll notice that someone else thinks it looks pretty yummy.
Buddy gets some turkey dinner too, and he definitely was thankful!
I win. My reward for cooking a great Turkey Day dinner :)
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in Philly - just a quiet day with the two of us. In case you felt like you missed us, I made sure to take plenty of pictures!
The first step is conquering your fear of opening the package and having to remove gross things that someone decided to euphemistically call giblets.
The spice rubbed bird is stuffed with lemons, oranges, onions and herbs.
This is as close as Matt got to the turkey before it was on his plate.
In the oven - finally.
As Buddy is demonstrating, waiting for a yummy turkey can be an exhausting activity.
Mmmm - looks yummy! At this point, we are still hoping that it actually is edible. Looks can be deceiving!
Master carver - not so much. Unskilled butcher is more like it.
Isn't my dinner so pretty looking. Take a close look at this picture - you'll notice that someone else thinks it looks pretty yummy.
Buddy gets some turkey dinner too, and he definitely was thankful!
I win. My reward for cooking a great Turkey Day dinner :)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Casserole Recipes Please!
Our new parish, St. Bridget's, helps out a local men's shelter by cooking casseroles once a month. I have decided that I would love to help out in this way, but I am in need of hearty, filling, easy, and inexpensive casserole recipes. The shelter puts recipes up on their website, but to be honest most of them don't seem very appetizing. If you want to help prevent the men from having to eat the Beef Macaroni Casserole pictured below, then please send me recipes!
That is a very large pot filled with a mildly gross amount of macaroni and hamburger.
Somehow the macaroni and beef don't look much better just because they are in a tray with pieces of American cheese melt on them.
Please help! I need recipes!
That is a very large pot filled with a mildly gross amount of macaroni and hamburger.
Somehow the macaroni and beef don't look much better just because they are in a tray with pieces of American cheese melt on them.Please help! I need recipes!
Happy Halloween! (a bit late)
Even though I've owned a few Halloween decorations for several years, this is the first year that I've actually been able to find them and easily access them without having to dig into the depths of a closet to find them. The joys of having a basement!
This was also the first time in our many Halloween's together that Matt and I have carved pumpkins together. We had a lovely evening and went over to our wonderful neighbors', Brandon and Chaci, house to carve pumpkins. Then we watched the Phillies play the Yankees in a World Series game. We feel so blessed to have amazing and fun neighbors, and we had a great time that night. Plus, we had some great results with the pumpkins.
Matt and I posing with our pumpkins (and Brandon's) in their pretty dining room.
Our pumpkins are very, very scary! Don't you agree?!?
Buddy also was happy to dress up this year for Halloween. In our opinion - he is one Hot Dog!
This was also the first time in our many Halloween's together that Matt and I have carved pumpkins together. We had a lovely evening and went over to our wonderful neighbors', Brandon and Chaci, house to carve pumpkins. Then we watched the Phillies play the Yankees in a World Series game. We feel so blessed to have amazing and fun neighbors, and we had a great time that night. Plus, we had some great results with the pumpkins.
Matt and I posing with our pumpkins (and Brandon's) in their pretty dining room.
Our pumpkins are very, very scary! Don't you agree?!?Buddy also was happy to dress up this year for Halloween. In our opinion - he is one Hot Dog!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)