Gotta love the postal service

And I do, really. Except I am a little bitter still about not getting my People Magazine that week of our blizzards last year. But I should be over that.

Anyway, when I started getting more serious about the eBay stuff in September, I ordered these free shipping boxes from the USPS that were labeled with eBay on them. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about them when I found them on my front porch today. December 11. Three months after I ordered them. Isn't that crazy!?!

Snowy Decorating Day

This is such a nice weekend!! Last night we were running a few errands and it was so foggy and romantic that it put me in the mood to get our Christmas tree and decorate! So we went and got our tree and then got a pizza and had a drink. It was a super great evening. Today is snowy and cold and a great day to stay inside and decorate. That's what we have been doing.

Before I show you the Christmas pictures, here is the picture of the birthday present I bought myself. I love, love, love, love, love it. When I saw it, I knew exactly where is was going to go. And it fit perfectly. Love.


Here is a cute picture of Tim under our tree putting the lights on...



And here is our giant tree all decorated and with the lights on. We had to move one of the chairs over to where Maddie's cage usually is, so it has been a slight adjustment day.

When it started snowing I wanted to go outside and decorate in the snow. I didn't realize how cold it actually was, though, so this project was a little less fun than I imagined.

Here is the sideboard all decorated and filled with holiday fun (including Christmas m and m's....totally Tim's idea!)

Here is Miss Maddie on the couch wondering why her people are always moving things around when they were fine the way they were and couldn't we all just snuggle more??

Thursday

I like Thursdays. I think it is because it was always a good tv night when I was growing up. Alex P. Keaton and all. Today I finally got all the paperwork stuff done for November. I am mailing the check off tomorrow! Whoohoo! It is only the 6th. Bad Ann. I need to list the last items for my Dad and that will be all.

Today I went to pilates and walked the Maddie. I am feeling much better about the working out and eating this week. I haven't gotten near the scale, but I bet it is much better as well.

Best Time to Date

Today was so busy and crazy that I didn't even eat lunch. For those of you who don't know me well, that might not seem bloggable....but to those who do (Hi Mary!!) they will know that it is INSANE. I eat all the time. Constantly. All day long. Today I didn't even have time to think about eating lunch.

First thing this morning, 9:30, I had acupuncture. So very, very good.
Then I went to Target and bought new black t-shirts. Needed.
Then I went to pilates which btw, is totally starting to work again and feel good. My muscles finally remember.
Then I raced home to finish wrapping SW items and then rushed to the post office and UPS.
Then I rushed like a crazy driver woman home before it got any darker to run.

Here is the big news people!!! *** I ran 4 miles in 38 minutes!!!! My best time by far ever. Ever. WAHHHOOOOO!! Now I am eating carrots like they are going out of style. Hungry!

Happy Birthday!

Last night was the second Annakah dinner. It was also awesome!! Which leads me to my funny (to me) story. When Tim moved in and we started cooking more he kept wanting to make meals with pork. I was very hesitant because I didn't have very good pork memories growing up. I remember dry tough burned up meat with dry side dishes.

But he insisted pork could be good. He grew up in an 'I' state which I always think of as hog states...you know, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana.

But! He has really shown me that it can be yummy. Last year for my big birthday dinner we had stuffed pork chops with lots of dried fruit in a yummy, yummy sauce. This year we found a recipe for Pork Roast with Onion, Mushroom and Bacon Ragout, so I totally wanted to try that. It was awesome!!

When we were shopping we found the CUTEST little baby carrots and zucchini, so I had to have those. Marinated in a little evoo and some sea salt. Then in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. AWESOME:
Here is Tim carving the Pork Roast:
Here is the Bacon, Onion and Mushroom Ragout. It was awesome. And easy. Although finding mushrooms around here is tough. They go bad so quickly. Why is that....does everyone have that trouble? These were crimini (baby bella's). It was supposed to have twice as many, but I had to through away a whole package. The bacon added a really good flavor! Next time I would try pancetta maybe...
Here is the pork, the sweet potato (those things are SO giant, we had to share) and the roasted veggies:
Here is the full dish with the ragout:

We paired this dish with the Pinot from Cosentino's. It was awesome!! We wanted to have two Cakebread wines this weekend but really had an impossible time finding them. Tim said next time we would just order from the website. But I don't know how it could have been any better.

Today I am going to pilates and then over to my parents for some shopping. Then tonight we have dinner at my favorite restaurant (in Denver) and then cake!!

Birthday Dinner number 1

Ever since I was little my birthday's have been a long celebration. My Mom is terrible at keeping secrets, so as soon as she would buy me a present she would give it to me -- she just couldn't wait! My Dad always teased me that it was like Hannakah. So, I named it Annakah. And it does last a long time! Last night was the first dinner of Annakah this year:

We made New York Strip steaks with mushrooms, roasted asparagus, baked potatoes, two kinds of cookies and we had lots of wine! It was awesome.

Here is Tim cooking the steaks
Here is the wine - Keenan Cabernet 2003:

Me cooking (actually using my Grandma's double boiler that I haven't ever used before!):

Our table! And my flowers Tim got me to start Annakah 2007:

The Peanut Butter Surprise cookies and the Chocolate Snappers (SO YUMMY!):

Tim in jammies opening Ice Wine for our dessert:

Happy December!

I love December! It is one of my favorite months. Today we are making two kinds of cookies - one peanut butter and one chocolate. Then a special dinner tonight and tomorrow night. New York Strip Steaks tonight and Pork Roast tomorrow night. I hate the every year my birthday weekend is when the parade is, so going out downtown is too much of a hassle. So we are staying in and cooking and having lots of wine!!