Never enough time

What a whirlwind...can you count 20 days a a whirlwind?  Somehow it felt like it was.  I've just returned from visiting family in Washington for the holidays and I have the post-holiday blues.  It's a very strange thing to have the important people in your life split on separate coasts of the country.  Every time I go back to Washington, I spend the first week missing New York, then the second week soaking up my friends and family (namely my mom's babysitting), then the third week, I'm ready to go back to New York but simultaneously miss my family and friends already.  It may be some form of mental illness.  lol.  

I think this time was particularly hard because of the job situation.  Being in between jobs meant that I had plenty of downtime to see everyone, but the uncertainty also means I don't have a planned return trip, and this will probably have been my last 20 day trip. While my last job wasn't ideal, it meant that I was able to work remotely, so I could take these long trips without having to take vacation time, but it seems unlikely this will be the case in the future. 

Enough of the sap, I had an amazing time!  Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to the past month or so: 

As soon as I got back to Washington, my mom and I went into full Christmas mode!  She had already decorated just enough so it felt like Christmas when I got there, but we usually do most of it together so she saved a bunch...

Of course we had to have Christmas (or music) movies on while decorating...this year she graduated us all to small stockings, and J got his own, too! I guess I have to keep him around.

My brother was in desperate need for an Ugly Christmas Sweater, so I whipped this puppy up for him.  It was pretty amazing, all of that garland made it weigh a million pounds, and I sewed bells in it so when he shimmied it jingled.  haha...does anyone have any ideas how to make homemade ugly Christmas sweaters my livelihood?

I squeezed in as much Goodall time as possible.  First Kaitlin and I had a wild night on the town, which in our world means a dinner out at a wine bar, and a tasting flight of "bubbles." It was so good to reconnect and gossip like we don't live 3,000 miles apart.  I got my usual favorite, flat bread with roasted figs, goat cheese, honey, and pistachio.  It's the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

A couple of nights later I headed back over to the Goodalls for our annual gingerbread house building. Sweet little Lila got in on the action this year, and probably ate just as much candy as she put on her house, but she was so proud of herself and for the record, some of the candy did make it on her house.

My mom and I did our normal holiday bake-a-thon but she had to work throughout the holidays so we had to seriously scale back the variety of cookies.  We still made chocolate crinkles, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, fudge, and rice krispie treats, so I don't think any of our recipients really noticed. 

If you look closely you'll see Humphrey hoping my dad will share some of his sugar cookie with him...poor neglected Humphrey.

The Monday after Christmas both of my parents had the day off from work so we all went to this little Bavarian village on the side of the mountain, Leavenworth.  We indulged in bratwurst for lunch, spiced German wine, beer, and wandered through some of the cute little shops.  Living so close to it, I never thought about the history, but J was asking how it came to be...upon googling it was literally developed to be a tourist trap.  In the 60s the town wasn't doing well economically, so they decided to create a faux Bavarian village, and voila! Success!

Then came New Years...J and I couldn't decide what to do for New Years Eve.  As much as I love my family, we decided we should do something other than stay in with my parents so we went down to Portland for a couple of days.  We lucked out and found this really cool "speakeasy" style party, and spent the night dancing and drinking...So fun!

We had a few low key days with my family, and then headed to the airport early on the 6th.  I didn't cry but I did a little on the 4th.  To make coming back feel more monumental, there was a snowstorm in the morning that meant an extra 2 hours on the plane with Humphrey.

Happiest Christmas Tree

Santa! Christmas has arrived! 

I'm slightly fanatical about Christmas. I've been preparing J basically since we met about my obsession and then talking about getting a tree since summer. 

My family has always gone to cut one down ourselves. I think there is something special about seeing a tree amongst hundreds of others and deciding it belongs in your family. There is a song, "happiest Christmas tree," that I always think of when choosing a tree. 

I was determined to cut one down but all the determination couldn't compete with plain bad timing. We were going to go Friday after J was done working but then he ran late and the tree farm closed early, and we had a friend taking a train to come over so we didn't have time. I'm kind of surprised but I totally took it in stride and suggest a trip to Home Depot. I think I shocked J too. 

We got there and all of the trees were already bailed. J thought this was convenient. I thought it was an outrage and joked with another equally outraged customer. How will we know what it looks like?! I chose this little guy because the bottom was peeking out and it looked ok. 

We asked for help tying the tree to the and the guy came out with a roll of shrink wrap. Haha. I'm so sad my battery on my phone died because the process was hilarious. He wrapped through the inside of the car then over the roof tons of times making the car look like Thanksgiving left overs. J refused to use his phone for a picture out of embarrassment. The whole ride home other drivers were gawking and it's a Christmas miracle we didnt cause an accident. 

It all worked out though. Our tree is up, and all decorated and it makes me so happy. The apartment is in a state of chaos because of the great move-in but in one little corner there is a bright calm. I'm in love with this scrawny little tree.

Happy Stretchy Pants Day (aka day after Thanksgiving)!

Good morning! Are you all wearing leggings today?  I am! I'll probably be wearing them the rest of the week too.  Who needs skinny jeans, it's officially the holiday season! Eat, drink & be merry!*

How was your Thanksgiving?  It was my first Thanksgiving with J's family, so it was a little nerve-wracking even though it went great.  It's just hard integrating into someone elses family traditions, and letting go of your own.  Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday, I don't dislike it, but it was a little easier to let go of my family traditions for Thanksgiving and embrace his family food fest.  

I thought everyone had the same food for Thanksgiving, and maybe it's a Greek thing, but I was a surprised (and glutinously a little sad) that there where no mashed potatoes and gravy, instead they had roasted potatoes, still delish.  Or maybe I just missed my own family, so the lack of creamy potatoes was a reminder of how far away everyone is.  Big events always make me want to call my family a million times a day.  I think I talked to my dad 3 or 4 times on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, back to food...the stuffing was rice rather than bread, which again, was so incredible, but I was shocked at how much heavier my family Thanksgiving is.  They had a ton of food too, an enormous turkey, lamb, a gazillion veggie sides, but for the most part they were veggie based and light.  Maybe the heavy meal is an American thing.  The good news was that after I ate, I was stuffed but I didn't feel like I had a brick in my stomach, lol.  Maybe it's why Greeks live so long.  

Since it was my first Thanksgiving with them, I had to make a good impression so I was definitely agonizing over what to contribute the entire week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I knew I was going to make my famous rolls, but I originally planned to make individual apple bourbon pot pies. That idea was scratched when the guest list kept changing.  I was so worried I wouldn't make enough, or I'd make a lot and no one would eat it.  So I went with a pear with candied lemon peel pie.  Both turned out incredible, but again, bread isn't the focus of the meal like it is at my house, and only a few people ate rolls with dinner...more left overs for me.  

The pie was a Martha Stewart recipe, and it was surprisingly easy...except the lemon peel candying, which isn't terribly difficult, it was just time consuming.  I think in the future I'll make a big batch of the lemon peel and then save it in an airtight container ahead of time.  Then the pie will be a breeze.  Also, Martha had the pie served with this fancy butter crust, but I don't have a food processor, and didn't want to chance it not turning out, so I just used a pre-made Pillsbury one, and it tasted amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let the baking begin!

I proofed my yeast and made dough last night. Now to form the rolls and hope they rise.

Then on to pies. I'm cheating and using Pillsbury pre-made dough but the rest is on me. Eek. Did I mention this is the first time cooking something for J's family? No pressure.  

Where is home?

Last night I said something was at my house, and J asked if it was 'here' as in the apt I'm about to share with him. I said no, it's in Brooklyn, or maybe my parents' house in Washington. This got me thinking about the concept of home and how it becomes something less constant as you get older. Or maybe that's just me, as a child we lived in the same house as long as I can remember so my idea of home and family was also wrapped up in a physical location.

Here we are in front of our house on a rare snow day. Look at my mom's hair! Lol. And my outfit. Yikes. 

Please disregard my outfit, hair, and general look...my childhood wasn't a photogenic one.

I loved that house at 2325 Maple Street. My parents put so much into taking it from a tiny one bedroom house to a large three bedroom. I can't even be sure how many hours my dad spent remodeling it, move a wall here, add a new bedroom, double the size, add a bathroom, etc. When I was just about to graduate college my parents called to say they had sold the house and I was devastated. I literally sobbed like a baby. Haha. I cry easily...

All of our house pictures are of snow, but when else do you think, I know, I'll take a picture of the house?

They've lived in their new house for close to 10 years now I think, and even though I had my own apartment, their house felt like home. When I moved across the country to Brooklyn it took a while until I stopped feeling like I was just visiting and just about the time J and I started discussing living together my place started feeling like home. Ha! Of course! 

Now it's my last week in Brooklyn and while I'm sad that I'm leaving my neighborhood and apartment (it's really great), I realize that over the past few month especially it started to feel more and more like a collection of rooms and less a home, but I don't feel homeless. When I'm at J's/our apartment I feel like I can relax and just let the feeling of having a home sink in.  The cheesy line is, 'home is where the heart is' and maybe that's true. 

On A Roll - Friendsgiving

Tuesday night we had a pre-Thanksgiving Friendsgiving, and for me Thanksgiving is all about the sides.  It's about the roasted vegetables, the stuffing, the rolls.  Oh, yeah, the rolls.  My dad is famous for these rolls, they only come out 3 times a year because they're kind of labor intensive (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) but everyone always stuffs themselves with them whenever they make their rare appearance.



Since my dad is across the country, I decided to try my hand at these rolls...such pressure! Not only was I raving about them to friends before attempting myself, but I had a lot to live up to in order to protect the family name.  I'm kidding, but not really.  These rolls are famous in my circle. 

So, after an emailed recipe and multiple phone calls discussing logistics, I was off.

Ahhhh Gingerbread in da' House

Requisite explanation for this post's title: J and I have been watching Breaking Bad.  I think we're the last 2 people in America to watch Breaking Bad, or least you'd think so by the reaction people give us when we say we're watching it.  Anyway, since we've been binge-watching, I keep wanting to add "yo" to the end of every sentence and speak like Jesse.

This weekend, I received the best text ever! Kaitlin and I make Gingerbread Houses every year, or I should say decorate, we usually buy a kit, and this will be year 3!  The first year we did it while little Lila was asleep in bed, last year we did it while sweet baby Owen was getting ready to make his grand appearance, so excited to keep the tradition going this year.  It's hard living so far away from good friends, but it's so nice knowing that you can go back and pick right up where you left off.

Weekend Update

It was nice and sunny and nice and busy this weekend.  My parents are in the swing of a major home improvement project and so I got to play gofer, errand runner, and bartender...

Homemade Margaritas...apparently the cups I was using were too small.  Also my efforts for making them without a mix were entirely underappreciated.

I never eat artificially blue things.  It's a strange OCD issue because I'm completely aware that other artificial flavors are just as bad if not worse, but I can't do it...luckily I have people who are willing to eat blue things for me. 

Meeting the (my) Parents

This trip home was the first time J met my parents, and we both did a good job pretending that we weren't nervous but I think it's safe to say that we were both holding our breath a little. (Spoiler alert: It went great!)

Here is my only tip for bringing someone home for the first time, over an extended period of time.  STAY BUSY!