Bessie's Back!

Whew. What a packed weekend!

Friday afternoon I picked up Bessie. After 4 weeks of repairs, my car is finally all fixed up! I'm thankful to have my AWD back in time for snow. I also baked some more oatmeal chocolate chip and coconut cookies to take over to a friend's housewarming party. Their new house is super cute. Jake and I chatted with new friends for a few hours, then headed home.

Saturday was an epic date! We caught the afternoon showing of Harry Potter. I decided to go all out and got us popcorn, candy and a soda to share from the concession stand. When did a medium soda go up to $5? Holy hellfires, that's expensive. Now I remember why I sneak drinks and snacks in usually. ;) The movie was spectacular! I just reread HP7 about a week ago, so the book was fresh in mind. The movie stayed pretty true to the book, even if they have to gloss over certain parts (Kreacher's redemption! I was sad we didn't get to see that evolution.)

After that amazingness, we headed to Pearl Street Pub for an appetizer and some drinks. Our reservations weren't until 8:30. We enjoyed an antipasto platter that was delicious while watching the Irish beat Army! We then moseyed over to the Black Pearl for dinner. Even with our reservation, we had to wait about 20 minutes. Totally worth it. The meal was very good. I had hangar steak while Jake enjoyed some lamb. We both really enjoyed eavesdropping on the couple eating next to us - middle age, first date, met online, she wouldn't stop talking about how music fills her soul in the church of nature. Oh right, the couple on our other side didn't use all of their giftcard, so they gave it to us. SCORE! $7.50 we didn't have to pay for.

Sunday dawned bright and early for a ski day! We drove up to Breck. Traffic was painless, but the lift lines were killer. Breck only had a few lifts open, so those were packed. We started off on a run that I thought was blue, but was actually black. I managed to wipe out twice (lost my ski once and bruised my knee on the second fall). Not feeling particularly graceful, I decided I needed a bit more of a warm up, so Jake headed off to some blacks while I cruised some easier blues. We met up for lunch and then got lost and headed down a black run full of moguls. I made it all the way down without falling!

Great weekend! I go home tomorrow to celebrate with the family. So excited!!

one week til turkey!

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! I go home Tuesday night. I'm so thankful for my family. I can't wait to see them all.

We're going over to the cousins for actual Thanksgiving dinner, but then my immediate family will make our own on Friday. Thanksgiving is my dad's favorite and he loves leftover turkey. So, my brother is brining and roasting a turkey a la Alton Brown and we're whipping up a few sides for our own feast. :)

Of course, before feasting on Friday, there is Black Friday Shopping! Mom and I always get up early and go out. We never go to crazy places and wait in line, though. More like Kohls, Old Navy and Target. Mostly we outfit her Christmas kid. This Friday is going to be packed; I'm also buying my wedding dress (hopefully!).

Oh! News that makes me happy! I was going through my closet for items to donate and pulled several pairs of jeans, including one pair that has always been too tight. Like, I can wear them for an hour and then have to take them off. I thought to myself, might as well try them on and see if all the running has slimmed me down. YES! They fit! AND are comfortable. Hurray for running! We'll see if they still are comfortable after Thanksgiving. ;)

How excited are you for the Holidays?

in a fight

I am in a fight with weather.com.

Yesterday morning, they said 0% chance of precipitation. I decided to brave the cold and wear cute ballet flats instead of boots. As soon as I get in the car, it starts snowing. Boo.

Today, again very small chance of precipitation, 10%. I head out for my run and see VERY dark skies to the north. I decide to cut the run short and go home to do weights. 5 minutes into weights, the wind picks up and sleet starts. Boo.

Expect a letter if this happens again, weather.com. My wrath is great and terrible.

Sunday cookies

Yesterday, I got bored.

Jake was busy making things explode online.

I wanted cookies.

So I baked.


Without a mixer.

I own neither a Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer (my dream lover) nor a hand mixer. Both are on the registry!



Creaming butter and sugar was a bit rough, but I managed.

Visions of warm cookies kept me going.

Lots of stirring.


Oatmeal chocolate chip .


Not the prettiest cookies, but so tasty.



I won't tell you how many I've eaten, but the answer is more than a few.

Good run and great job Irish!

Saturday was lovely. I went for a long run in the morning and actually felt very confident throughout the whole thing. I discovered I need to bring more kleenex with me on cold runs; my noise got very runny!


After the run, I quickly showered and headed out to the ND game watch. Jake joined me after finishing up a few errands. Y'all, the Irish played better than they have in years. Special teams was on the ball and defense only allowed a field goal. ND had not won against a ranked team since 2006! Way to go, boys and keep it up!

Go, Fight, Win!

Let's Go Irish!

Hopefully, there will be cause for push ups! That's me, several years ago, after a touchdown. I think it was 35 push ups. One of the perks of being small, you get chosen to go up.

Even though our QB and main running back are injured, hopefully we'll play well.

not yet

Skiing yesterday was a blast. We only went for about 5 hours. You have to ease yourself back into the all-day sessions. I'm still a bit sore though. I did some yoga last night to loosen up and I think it helped.

The plan was to go for a run today, but it hasn't happened yet. Jake's furnace broke this morning (29* outside), so I've been waiting around all day for calls from the landlord and the repair man. Repair guy finally called around noon to tell me he'd be here at 1:30. At 3, he called to tell me he was running late (no duh) and that he'd be here by 4. Hopefully, he actually will be here at 4, and I can sneak in a run!

Anybody have anything fun planned for the weekend?