nothing better than a real christmas tree

best little study break last night.
i put on a whole shoe. (explanation: during the school week i am too lazy to do this. instead, i slip on either a) my birkenstocks i got for my 14th birthday or b) moccasin slippers that pass for shoes when under jeans from target. sweet.)

after i put on said shoes, we used our edokko groupon for dinner. it's a really great sushi place up on 87th and quivira-ish. then we got a double bottle of wine (no, we did not even come close to finishing it - i've got five finals to study for) to enjoy while we decorated our christmas tree. (why the double bottle? it's the easiest way to fill up your tree with water! so go out and get yourself a big chugger - even if you already have an empty one laying around to use as your tree pitcher, each holiday season begs for a new one. :)
and here she is!

wide shot:

we love it! the house smells so great, and it feels so wonderful here.

i'm not one for themed christmas trees, i am more of a smorgasbord of random stuff accumulated over the years (ok, my whole three years of christmas trees other than my parents.)
i just have an obsession with christmas ornaments and limiting myself to a certain color or style just don't work! i gotta have them all!!
my favorites are personalized ones, i.e. this adorable guy from my mom:

i am also partial towards angels (because they're angels, who doesn't love angels of the lord? and because of pi phizzle. hehe) and any cute picture frame ones...and any from pottery barn. or anywhere, really.
last year i gave my fellow pi phi sister squared (sister in real life as well as in the bonds of wine and blue) an angel ornament for christmas and she looked at me as if i had aged 20 years in one. i told her she'd appreciate it later. oh, amy.

anyways, after our decorating to the tunes of the season via pandora, we watched an episode of dexter before taylor left to go watch the cats game at brewster's place (juhn's house) and i went back to studying/off to bed.

what an awesome night! sushi, wine, christmas tree, dexter. (we're on season 3, it's amazing....we're a tad obsessed.) and shamus hasn't eaten any ornaments! just unraveled the tree skirt a bit, but i think he got his fix.

happy holidays!

thankful for: family.

i am so lucky to have such a sweet family. normally, thanksgiving is the only time of year where we all get together in the same city. my brother sam, sister-in-law jennifer, niece fiona, and nephew liam come in from california, and my sister lisa and brother-in-law todd come in from minneapolis. we do all the normal thanksgiving stuff; eat a ton, laugh, play, concern ourselves over my parent's dog's weight. this year though, a certain hartley wedding in july substituted our family get together for 2010. i am sad that we can't spend this thanksgiving together, but am thankful for all of the thanksgivings we have had and all that are to come!

last year, we had family pictures taken at loose park over thanksgiving, and it was fuh-reezing, unlike this year's eerie warmth.
they're pretty cute.

fiona and liam, picture posers extraordinaire.

all the girls! jennifer, lisa, mom, fiona, amy, moi.

hot tay-lah and chubbs mccue.

another of liam and fiona, they're so cute!!!!

my sisters and i.

my mom in her cute sweater and my dad in his posh turtleneck. (oh wait, it's a mock turtleneck.)

the guys! taylor, sam, liam, dad, todd.

aaand scene. everyone.

hartley halloween

k-state homecoming fell on halloween weekend, so our actual "holiday" holiday plans were non-existent. therefore, a very last minute holiday plan was formed around noon on sunday. we went to first watch for brunch, i ordered egg's benedict "since it was a holiday". at brunch, we decided to invite my mom and dad over for dinner and to watch the saints game. next came the grocery store, where i asked taylor if i could buy some gourds to decorate. he said no, and that i could go in our backyard and get some leaves instead. what, am i seven? still, i went home, looked outside, all the leaves on our deck were gross and searching beyond that seemed like too much work. so i took a nap. :)

i made a baked goat cheese appetizer that was delicioso, and a new recipe for baked pesto pasta shells that had sort of a funny taste at dinner but was awesome left over for lunch. taylor decided to make spiced rum spiked apple cider. and that was that! oh, and shamus sufficiently embarrassed us by showing off his great jumping on the couch, biting, barking and peeing on the floor skills!! but my dad was really happy to not cook for the four of us for the first time in well, ever, and we promised him for every 100 meals he cooks us, i'll make one.

next year i promise pictures, costumes, and parties. but i'm okay with our low key halloween numero uno.