Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tried out another cookie in my new oven today! Chocolate chip! They were PERFECT. Seriously. Whoa. I think it may have been my first ever batch of chocolate chip?!? Or at least that I can remember. We're having Summer and J over for a NYE dinner tonight, and these will be the dessert. YUM!

Banana Bread Beer

Today, Summer stopped by with a little engagement present. Banana Bread BEER!



It is incredible. It tastes like a delicious loaf of banana bread, except even more delicious because also it is BEER. I highly recommend.

New Curtains

Mom made us some more new roman shades for our house! And they're awesome! Here are the ones in Ben's office:



His are blackout shades so that he can geek out in the middle of the day if he wants to. Very cool.



And mine are my favorite Marimekko print EVER, that I've had in the past two places I've lived. Sadly, it is very hard to find now, and I was bummed thinking that I had used it all up in places that I've moved away from. Now I'm settled, and I wasn't going to be able to have curtains made from my favorite fabric! But them Mom found a little stash that she had forgotten about, and it was JUST big enough to make curtains for my office. YAY! MEANT TO BE!!

I'm engaged!!!!!

After Christmas Dinner over at my folks' house last night, Ben and I headed home to open our presents to each other. Afterward, he suggested we play some Bananagrams. Yay, I love games and especially Bananagrams! So, we were playing for awhile, when suddenly he pushed the tiles aside and set a little special pile of tiles in front of me. He asked if I could figure out what they spelled and I was like, "Of course! I'm super good at word games!" and I started spelling some different words with them. Then he said, "Here, I know what they spell!" And he made them spell THIS:



WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was like "OF COURSE! YES! YAY!!!" I was so surprised!! It was unbelievable. Definitely the best game of Bananagrams EVER!! After he spelled it out, he pulled out a ring box. He had made a temporary ring, knowing that I'd want to be in on any jewelry choosing efforts (correct!). He should be a jeweler, look what he can do with cardboard and glitter!





This morning, Dad made us a little celebration breakfast.



Aw, yay. I'm so happy! We're getting MARRIED!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! We headed over to Mom and Dad's early for some holiday fun!! Look, there's Santa!



Brown rice and beans for breakfast. YUM!



Opening stockings!



YES!! Subway gift cards!



Kate got to be in charge of choosing and distributing gifts.



She was great at it!



Uncle Mark!



PRESENTS!!



Open it!



Kate got some bubble wrap for Christmas because she likes to pop it.



Mer got me a snake bracelet!



Kate got an umbrella. We had to teach her about not poking peoples' eyes out.



Distributing more presents!



A present for Grandpa!



Mer has a roll of the best wrapping paper on Earth. SANTA KITTIES.






We took an afternoon break so that Kate could have a nap. Mer and Pete gave me a ride home.



While I was at home, I took the opportunity to enjoy some kitty snuggle time.



Then it was back to Christmas Land! And this time there was a cheese platter!!



And champagne!



Happy little family.



Dad's cooking up some Christmas dinner!



YUM!



Kate LOVED the mashed potatoes. I think she had five helpings?! She kept saying "MORE MASHED POTATOES!"



Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Eve at the Cabin

Yesterday afternoon, Ben and I headed to Dennis's cabin for the annual Christmas Eve party! It was snowy! A white Christmas for sure.



Getting ready to hike up the hill.



Here we go!



We got Dennis an L.L. Bean bag for Christmas, because he always admires mine whenever I use it to haul a bunch of stuff up there. It looks good on him!



Night falls and the fun times begin.



We played some Apples to Apples.



Ben, Vana and Yang.



We drank some beers.



We played some Charades.



Little mini glitter lava lamp!



It wouldn't be a party without Dennis's famous chipotle dip.



LASAGNA!



More cookies!



This morning, we got up early to head back into town. The children were nestled all snug in their beds.



Dennis and Ben had a little technology geek session before we left.



Bye-bye, Dennis! Merry Christmas!



It snowed some more while we slept!



Ready for the trek back down the hill.



Crossing the snowy bridge.



Heading home! It was another magical cabin Christmas Eve!