My new belt, that's Hot

David and I hit the town last Friday night to see his friend's band Blue Blooded Girls at the Hi Dive. Woo hoo, I drank, and I wore my new Hot ebay belt. I heard Paris Hilton wore something very similar to this that wasn't blue, and had no rhinestones, and well, at least that's what the ebay post said. And I said SOLD.

Leftover no more

9 bowls of Turkey Barley Soup
5 Turkey Dynamite Sandwiches (turkey, cranberry, stuffing, mayo, heated on a leftover dinner roll)
1 Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 relived
Not to mention the 3lbs of Tupperware I filled for our guests.
A lot of stuffing and sweet potatoes left, but the rest is gone.

This girl needs a water flush.

Craft Night

Who needs Crate and Barrel when you've got Michael's. We read the December issue of Martha Stewart Living and then randomly wandered the aisles at the craft store, filling our cart which various assundries of glitter paint and craft glue. After an hour, it looked like perhaps we got a bit overzealous. Then Saturday night we stayed in and had craft night. Starting on the left, I covered styrofoam cones in glue, then glitter and beads, and topped each off with a cinnamon scented round red ball that came in a bag of pinecones. (Not a cheap decoration, but a bit of savings from the Crate and Barrel ones.) Next, DG used a snowflake stencil and glitter glue to create a candle holder. (It's almost done.) Finally, we found this hurricane vase at ARC for $5.99, add some red and silver balls which were 20% off at Target and you have yourself a centerpiece. We have other stuff in the works, but too many xmas gifts to show.

Soup is good food

The day after I made the turkey stock I made turkey barley soup.
1 cup of barley cooked in 2C of stock, added to:
8C of stock
1C white wine
1TBL olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
5 stalks celery (chopped)
5 carrots (chopped)
1 bay leaf
1TBL fresh thyme
marjoram, parsley, salt, pepper
several cups of leftover turkey chopped

In a large stock pot, cook the onion, celery, carrots and spices in the oil for 5-10 minutes. Add the stock, wine, and barley and simmer for about an hour. So simple, and mmm mmm good. We've been eating it everyday. Notice my nametag that DG designed for our Thanksgiving table. Dig in!

Pie me

BEFORE


AFTER


One wax spill, a near gravy disaster, and 8 sticks of butter later, Thanksgiving is over before it feels like it even began. I worked 10 hours for 2 days to create our meal of Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, maple sweet potatoes with candied pecans, green beans almondine, stuffing, orange cranberry sauce, dinner rolls with herbed butter, pecan, and pumpkin pie. (All homemade) The turkey was a little dry, due to my not wanting to poison my guests hence overcompensating and overcooking it, but it had really good flavor.

I've got the carcass simmering on the stove to make turkey soup tomorrow. (2C white wine, 20C water, bay leaves, pepper corns, 5 stalks celery, 8 sprigs thyme, parsley, 1 onion, 5 carrots, 5 cloves garlic, 1 turkey carcass - 4 hours simmering on the stove, strain.)

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Much love to you and your families.

And Let the Christmas Music Begin

Dave and I had box seats to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra last night. They have several Christmas albums out that sound like Detroit Rock City meets Jesus Christ Superstar, meets Silent Night. They have a pretty impressive stage show, though I was chowing down on the free food for the first 1/2 of the entertainment. Now it seems that each year Christmas starts earlier and earlier, and I always try to prolong it, not listening to music, waiting to decorate until the 2nd week of December, but David loves the holidays and he secretly starting listening to the jingles weeks ago. I have been stubborn and won't allow the spirit to hit until after December 1, but after last nights show, I say bring it on. Let's do this!

A Sad Goodbye

Francis Matott went to school with my Mom grades 1-12 in Whitefield, NH. We lived across the street from his family on Prospect Street for several years before moving. He remained in that house for over 30 years, until last year he bought a new place, two houses up the street. Our families vacationed together for several years in Boothbay Harbor, ME. Since my parents have moved back to Connecticut, they have travelled back and forth quite a bit to see eachother. Seen above is a picture of my mom and Francis earlier this year.

I was able to see him in April when he came to Connecticut for my mother's installation service. We spent the whole week-end sitting around the kitchen table talking. He had a great sense of humor with his New Hampshire accent and republican views and the whole week-end, I just marvelled at his personality like it was straight out of a movie. On Friday, Francis passed away from a heart attack. He is the same age as my mom. I am sad for his family, his son who is my age, Helen, his girlfriend, and my parents who just lost another friend. Please send up a thought for his family.

Adventures in Babysitting Part Deux

We watched David's niece Bloom for a couple of hours on Saturday and it was the easiest job I have ever had! Easier even then that receptionist job I had when I was 16 where my only task was to answer the phone all day. Luckily it only rang like once a day, so I sat and wrote letters to my friends for 8 hours. This was way less stressful. For the first 30 minutes, she and I just cuddled on the couch under the blanket with the dogs. She must have sensed my aaahbvious experience with children and didn't cry once.



The wieners were also excited at the prospect of someone at their level that they could unsuspectingly steal food from. She's no slouch though. She's very good at pushing them away and saying her favorite word "no".

The Crappy Critic

The Denver Film Fest was in town last week and we were lucky enough to get tickets to see a couple of movies. Here's the rundown:

Monday - Duane Hopwood is played by David Schwimmer, a man struggling with alcolohism, the end of his marriage (to Janeane Garofalo), and the relationship with his two daughters that he loves so much. I left this movie enjoying it overall, though as a lot of indie films, it had a few faults. However, the film had some amazingly intense moments that were very raw and made you feel something (embarrassment, shame, pity to name a few). I even got teary eyed out of nowhere in the middle of the film which is unheard of since I haven't cried since sobfest 1996 at the end of The English Patient. There were 3 of us, no tissues, using Cyn's scarf, blowing our noses when the lights came on. Ok this moment was not like that at all, but I love it when a movie makes you feel something.

Wednesday - We had tickets to something, but crap we forgot to go.

Thursday - I am a Sex Addict. Wow. Gross. Wow. Giggle, Gufaw, Snicker Snicker, HAHAHA. The audience laughed more during this movie than I have heard an audience laugh ever. One wierdly odd dude gets a lot of tail and still wants to have sex with French prostitutes. It's a film/documentary of this guys real life obsessions with sex, done in a very sweet and comedic way.

Saturday - Brokeback Mountain - There are no good endings for Gay Cowboys. Or Gay Cowboys are Sexxxy. Or Yee Haw. Or pass me the can of beans. Or I don't know, these jokes write themselves. We saw this film in the same venue that we saw Carmen up on the 3rd level. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play cowboys in Wyoming who discover their sexuality during the summer of '63, and continue to have an affair over 20 years while they both continue living lies. Great boy on boy love scenes if you're into that, if not v. awkward. Ang Lee the director and the screen writers were there to answer q&a afterwards, but we didn't stay. *Yawn, a girl needs her beauty sleep*

Sunday - Jeff and I went to see a collection of 5 short films in 90 minutes. They ranged from 10 minute no budget, to French and bizarre, to 15 minute Hank Azaria, starring, producing and directing.
Artistic License - A a comedic look at a young artist, whose job it is to take all the photos at the DMV.
Fetch - Based on a true story about a Colorado Dad and Son who go out to do some ice fishing. When the Dad realizes he's forgotten the auger to break through the, he gets the brilliant idea to use some dynamite he has in the car. To be safe, he throws it far away only have the family dog run to fetch it and bring it back to them.
I'm Not Gay - Two friends get mistaken for lovers, much to the dismay of their girlfriends and dates, and no one will believe them that they are straight.
Photograbbers - Odd French film about a toy maker who acquires a camera that captures images so well, it pulls people out of life and onto film. The one beautiful quality about this movie were the colors and way it was filmed. V. Amelie like.
Popcorn People - The movie theater concession people are more than just Soda serving schlepps. They are like Dear Abby!
Nobody's Perfect - Hank Azaria's version of a love story, complete with magic glasses, product placement, and star power.

For just picking out movies randomly in a magazine, we were not disappointed with one thing we saw. There's something about an indie film and how they are made so fast, no time for read throughs, no Kraft service, no 9 months of shooting, all in and out, and how they turn out more emotional than the big calculated block busters that Hollywood crams down our throats. Hmmm, what will I see next?

Four Eyes

I have had glasses for about 4 years that I only wear to drive and watch movies. However, when I almost failed the vision test (without glasses) to get my new Drivers License, I knew it was time to get a new prescription. After trying on about 40 pairs, I brought in DG to help me make my final decision. He immediately nixed the Lafont ones that I wanted because of the bling. *If I were swinging single they would be mine!* We ended up narrowing it down to a dark red pair of Kenneth Cole, and this pair seen here that I ended up getting. The Kenneth Cole's were really artsy and hip, but I felt a little too much Sally Jessy Raphael in them, so went with the safer green ones. I feel a little dullsville, and they are not as fun as my last pair, but a safe bet. The new prescription on the other hand makes me wanna hurl. I feel much taller and farther away from the ground now.

I think I'm in Lust

If I were 16, I would be scouring the internet, ordering posters of this guy on my parents credit card to plaster the walls and ceiling in my room. Or more realistically, getting a couple of issues of Teen Beat and tearing out centerfolds. But alas, it's not the 80's, and I'm no spring chicken, but I can still have a crush right? I get giggly and self conscious at the prospect of random star sightings. But last night we had a rare opportunity to listen to David Schwimmer talk for about 75 minutes at the Denver Film Festival. He was promoting his new movie Duane Hopwood, but he discussed everything from how he got his start, to The Pallbearer, to Friends, and all I can say is WOW. He is eloquent, funny, and cute enough to give this girl a rumble in her tummy.

Apparently Marta Kauffman and David Crane (the creators of Friends) had remembered David from a previous audition and wrote the part of Ross for him. It was during a time that he refused to ever do a sitcom again, due to a bad experience on a shortrun of a Henry Winkler show. He wouldn't even read the script for Friends and was perfectly happy working for his theater in Chicago playing Pontius Pilot. Out of the blue, he got a phone call from Robbie Benson sincerely asking him to look at the script. It took a couple of weeks of convincing, but he finally flew out just to meet the creators, so as not to look like a jerk. The rest is well, 10 years of stability, and it also explains his short cesaer haircut the 1st season of Friends. So my retelling of this story is not as fun as hearing it out of his mouth, but the whole night was filled with this kind of insight as to what goes on behind the scenes, including roles he turned down, and the effect fame has had on his life.

DG was a little jealous of my crush, until I told him that I was sooo in love with him that even if Mr. Schwimmer asked me out, I would only pause briefly before saying no. *sigh*

P.S. We don't have our photos yet, but I found this one from last night, already posted to a fan site.

Adventures in Babysitting

Saturday night, 4 year old Clare and I hung out for about 4 hours, while her parents got a much needed night away. I've known Clare since the day she was born. I sat outside the birthing room for the last of the 48 hours her mom was in labor. As soon as she started talking, I was Aunt Teetee, spelled Titty, and I babysat her for the first time when she was 2. She has not had a babysitter besides her grandparents and it's been 2 years since I've done it, so I was not sure what to expect. She and I were making dinner together when her parents left and she barely blinked an eye. Good start, though several times during the evening she assured me that if we had an emergency, her car seat was by the door and we'd have to use it. I know that I've been built up as crazy Aunt Christy so I don't know what she was expecting, but in my mind, a couple of Chutes and Ladders games, a dignified Tea Party, and I'd be outta there, emergency free.

Now I don't hang out with many children, but I find Clare to be beyond her years. She's amazingly articulate and speaks so clearly that I have to remind myself that she's only 4. I felt like I was hanging out with a 7 year old, that is until we played the "oops I swallowed my gum" game where I hide my gum in the back of my mouth and pretend to gulp loud, swallow, and open my mouth wide to show her it's gone. She freaked out every time and when she was thoroughly convinced that it was gone, I would stick my tongue out with the gum magically sitting on the end of it. We played this for about 20 minutes, each time with increased awe. It is at this time, that I remember with all her big verbose words she uses, that she's cute and only 4 and everything is magic. I'm going to work on my dislocated thumb trick for bigger reviews next time.

It makes me sad to think that she'll have no recollection of this. (My earliest memory is of being 4, then I jump ahead a few years.) That's ok though, I'll remember and be sure to remind her of all the funny things she did when she's 16 and more easily embarrassed.

The Spice of Life

My old gal pal Lora (Happy Birthday to you) filled me in on a great spice shop in town called Savory. They grind all their spices there weekly. I stocked up on all the stuff I'll need for Thanksgiving, plus some Madagascar vanilla, and 3 vanilla beans. I have wanted to cook with fresh vanilla for awhile, but never have. Now I have to find a recipe to use it. I might need to turn to Michelle for a little help.

Warren Miller Makes My Tummy Upset

Dave and I went to see this year's Warren Miller flick last night. He shoots the crazy skiiers coming down 90 degree inclines on some mountain in the middle of nowhere. They go to places you can only get to via helicopter. I get upset if I leave the green runs. Last year we got the 3 ski passes for $60 and never made it up there. We got some free passes to Winterpark with our movie tickets. We'll see if I can lure Dave up this year and teach him to snowplow.

Tonight we are going to the Denver Film Festival to see David Schwimmer's new movie "Duane Hopwood", then tomorrow, we have tickets to meet him and discuss the movie. I will probably sit star struck in the back, unable to utter complete sentences.

Table Fiasco

Back in October we decided to host TG for Dave's family. We went to my favorite store, the Furniture Room, and from the hard to believe but true files, we immediately (ie. both of us) agreed on a new table and chairs to buy that would hold all 6 of us. The salesperson told us a truck was on it's way and that there was a 98% chance we would get it before Thanksgiving, unless the truck got highjacked. While these exact words were coming out of his mouth, he made us sign a waiver that said they don't guarantee shipment for 120 days. They also made us pay in full, which they only do if the item is in stock. After several phone calls, we found out our delivery date is not until December 2. We raised a bit of a stink and were given the party line of "you signed a waiver, we don't care if you are going to eat on the floor at Thanksgiving". Our chairs just came in, so we'll be making due with a 10" folding table. I've already bought a full table cloth to match my ebay runner. Can you put smelly candles on the table during dinner? Hmmmm. Thoughts please.

I Scream U Scream We All Scream for Kahlua?

This in from Jeff, husband, father of 1 1/2, photographer, and downright good man: Need a pick me up for some plain vanilla ice cream? A shot of kahlua over the top will do the trick and as a double benefit warm the cockles of your heart.

Allbeehive Designs bzz bzz

The Craft Fair at the Denver Newspaper Agency started today. Four boxes from my mom, a bunch of stuff from my friend Holly, 6 Ipod socks from me (so much for the one woman sweatshop, i was last minute Nelly last night), a beautiful sign designed by Dave and we are off. I just got an update and we have sold several scarfs, hats, and purses. I think it's mostly Dave's coworkers being nice :) 1 sympathy purchase of an ipod sock by Dave's cubemate.

Garage debate continued

Another reason to park my car in the garage, according to a recent 9News article, the 1995 Honda Civic was the most stolen car in 2004. I could jump up and down for joy at owning the most popular car for crack addicts and thieves, or I could just keep it parked in the garage. The Civi has been such a good practical car for me. Some day I'll be able to go *vroom*.

P.S. The Volvo would not fit in the garage having moved all of Dave's precious valuables in there from storage.

Now that I have a waist...

I can wear belts! So I got this lovely crystal belt on ebay today. Shhh don't tell Dave, I don't think he is going to like it!

11 weeks, 20lbs, 25 inches

I've twittered on a bit about my recent weight loss, but I am finally at the end and am very excited. On August 22 I started the Slim4Life diet. It consists of a strict food regimine, only eating a certain amount of vegetables, lean proteins, fruit, and 80oz. of water a day, combined with vitamins, herb supplements and essential fatty acid pills. I was not allowed to drink alcohol, eat sugar, dairy, oils, or preservatives. I couldn't even chew more than one piece of gum a day or drink diet coke. It was a long road to haul for me, and I had many low blood sugar moments (aww, poor Dave), but as of last Saturday, I've officially lost the 20lbs I set out to, and they have now begun the Stabilization phase. Slowly, over a 6 week period, they begin to reintroduce food into my diet. My weight will be monitored for one full year. 11 weeks, 20 lbs, 25 inches (I lost 11 3/4in. in my waist alone!), and gone from a size 12 to a 6 (petite). Pretty impressive results. The girls at the clinic were high fiving me after my final weigh in. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I can make it stick. And now off to the mall for a new wardrobe.

Moving on up

We live in an up and coming neighborhood on a really good block. Aside from a few incidents (minor gunshots, police on my lawn demanding I come outside at 6am, and the gutted car) we feel like we live in suburbia. Our neighbors have consisted of several older families that have lived here for 30+ years. In the past 10 years, almost every house on the block has had someone pass away, leaving the house to family or selling. This includes my house, which was owned by the same single woman for over 30 years. After she passed away, there was one other owner then myself. Just this week, two of the homes that have been undergoing construction have come on the market, and a third is going on soon. We are hoping that we get some good neighbors! Can you say gentrification? Dave's yuppie mobile is strategically parked out front to subconsciously lure them in. This one is listed for $219,000! There's hope for my little house. I kind of have a mountain view, when the trees don't have leaves, I am 3 blocks from City Park, a golf course and less than 1 1/2 miles from the Zoo and the Museum of Nature and Science. We are also only 3 miles to downtown and on a bus route. In addition, I am apparently a running commercial for Denver.

Update on Ebay purchase: I received my new beautiful 90" table runner on Friday and it is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. It even matches the napkins I bought!!! Now if only our table would come in!

The Wonderful World of Paint

Over a year ago, Dave's friend Roxanne, of Red Chair Designs came over to help me pick out paint colors for the whole house. 3 paint bids, a year later, and a lot of rassity frassity, Dave and I have just finished our 3rd room. On Roxanne's advice we used all Benjamin Moore paint. Six months ago we started with the kitchen, painting it Wedgewood Grey. We then moved to the bathroom, the smallest room in the house which took the longest due to 3 days of sanding, scraping, gas masks, possible lead paint, and puttying all of the walls. It is now the lovely shade of Georgian Green. Today, we finished the largest room of all the living room and hallway. The walls were originally urban putty, not a bad color, they just needed some freshening up. We went a few shades darker to a creamy chocolate milk. Thanks to Roxanne we love all the colors. I am just happy to be done with 3 days of prep and painting. Dave was paint the ceiling and walls guy, and I was trim and doors girl. We make a good team. Makes for a tired girl. 22 hours of work total, makes those quotes we got look not so bad.

Carmen, It's What's For Dinner

My first Opera ever was Friday night at the new Denver Opera house. Due to someone sitting in our seats, we were given box seats which turned out to be much more comfortable. Though I had no idea what Carmen was about, I was very excited to learn that #1 it was in French and #2 I already knew most of the music thanks to 12 years of piano lessons and commercials. The most recognizable song was the one the Beef Council started using several years ago as their major ad campaign. The Bellagio Hotel in Vegas uses it for one of their water shows as well.

My favorite part was that every seat had their own mini screen to translate the entire show. By the end I was picking up much more of it that I would have expected. Afterwards, we had coffee at St. Mark's before heading home to bed so we could rise early the next day to paint the entire livingroom and hall way. There are 8 doors in all there....More on that later.

The Giving Trees

This post is named after one of my favorite books by Shel Silverstein. It's all about a tree that grows up with a little boy and gives it's branches to play on, and gives it's shade for a break from the sun, and later in life gives it's limbs to build a house, until in the end it is nothing but a stump, and a place for the boy, now an old man to sit. Amazing book for children.

As you see from this picture, our trees are very giving. This was taken a week ago when the leaves first started falling. They've only just begun to really FALL! Ha, get it? I feel my blisters starting and I haven’t even starting raking, err, I mean poor Dave, his blisters are going to hhhhhhurt.

We'll wait to rake until the end of fall, where we’ll pile them in the garden to mulch. They start out 4 feet high, but slowly over the winter, I put them in the mulch pile, turn them and by spring we will till them into the garden. Mulching is cool.

Fun with Ebay

Feeling bored? Got an hour and $10 burning a hole in your pocket? Ebay is the place for you. I’ve only purchased a few items, but they’ve got such great deals, I tell ya (said in best Brooklyn accent). I JUST won a holiday table runner. David and I are hosting Thanksgiving for his family this year, and we bought a new table to hold all 6 ½ of us. I have my grocery list, recipes on what I will be making for dinner, a time table of when I need to cook what (due to the small galley kitchen and ½ stove) and am now working on the place settings. With the table runner I bought burnt orange napkins from Crate and Barrel. We have pumpkin gourds that I will cut out and put tealights in for the table, and if we are crafty enough, we might go grab up some of our pretty leaves falling from our trees out front and place those artfully on the table as well (ala Martha Stewart). Now all I need are place cards. I haven’t seen anything I like yet. Any ideas? I'm also looking for a stuffing recipe, and my long lost whipped sweet potato recipe. Bring on the ideas.