Wow- it's 2008!! I have to say, towards the end of 2007, I just couldn't wait for it to be over! It gets to be a bit overwhelming sometimes, doesn't it? All the holiday mumbo-jumbo. We didn't get around to sending out our annual Christmas cards, but I'm not allowing myself to feel an ounce of guilt about it. There were other things we didn't get to, but it was okay and we had a great time with my in-laws.
We decided to high-tail it up to St. George, Utah to ring in the new year with our favorite Boston gal-pal, Jill and my brother who came down from Provo. Chris and I spent the entire drive quoting the "Bowie" episode from Flight of the Conchords. "It's not Jermaine. It's 1972 David Bowie from the Ziggy Stardust tour," and "No, I'm David Bowie" (doing both in our very best accents.) 'Wear the eye patch Bret, wear the funky, funky eye patch.' I'm crushing on Bret. I digress. So Zion National Park was be-au-ti-ful! I can't believe that I lived in Utah for 12 years and never made it down there. My Mother later told us that our great-grandfather (??) helped to build this mile-long tunnel and our great-grandmother (??) was the first woman to go through on horseback in the 1920's. Something like that. I probably should get all the facts right before I go off sounding like a big juicy liar.
New Years Eve was fun, fun, fun. There was Chet Baker on iTunes. There was chili. There was a cheese ball. There was heartburn (me, mostly) and pounds. Pounds were gained. Ticket to ride, Scattergories and a card game whose name has escaped me....Bangladesh?...no Shanghai. Yes- it was Shanghai. Ever played it before? It was heaps of fun. We paused just long enough to turn on the tv, watch the ball drop and get back to the serious game playing. We had a ball. Thanks, Jill (and Souliers- it was so fun to see you, too! Go Boston 2!)
Everytime the new year rolls around, I always get a hankering to make rugelach. I honestly don't make it any other time of year. The new year just makes me want to invite friends over for Saturday brunch and get out the spring-time tablecloths (I know, I'm way ahead of myself here but it's been a 'balmy' 70 degrees here in LA.) I just want to make challah french toast and pop-overs and lemon curd (okay thats going to be it's very own post.) If you haven't made rugelah, give it a try. It's a yummy cream-cheese dough that you roll out into a circle, like a pizza. Spread your favorite preserves (raspberry for me) sprinkle some cinnamon sugar and nuts and roll it up starting with the wide end. In general I'm not a big fruit/nut fan but these are good. I want to experiment with maybe putting some nutella down instead of preserves and then sprinkling the cinnamon/sugar stuff and topping with nuts. ".10 cents gets 'ya nuts." (there was a lot of that over the holiday, too.) So I'll let you know how that turns out. When I make it again. In 2009.
One of the things that I wanted to do for the holidays was make Henry some new jammies. 2 days before Christmas, it just wasn't going to happen. And I guess that since no one keeled over as a direct result, it was a wise choice. We went out on a date Saturday night (it should be noted that I don't think I've been in a movie theater for nearly a year- and Chris and I can't remember if we went on a date in 2007. Maybe one? Pathetic. We saw 'Juno' which I desperately wanted to love, but meh. It was just ok.) Our good friends said they could watch Henry for us, which he was thrilled about. He was keen on the idea of going over to his best-buddy Shea's house, but not so keen on the idea of having to go to sleep there, so I decided to make them a matching pair of jammies, you know in hopes of masquerading the 'you have to go to sleep there' for the 'it's so cool- you have matching jam-jam's! That's gonna be so fun!!' Matchy-matchy, green squared. It worked. To ensure there would be no mix-up's on said jammies, I put each of their initials on the bottom of the leg.
I can't lie, he was so proud and so adorable. I was proud too, and loved how they turned out. I got a little lazy when it came to the hemming-situation. You know the whole 'press under 1/4" and then fold 1". I hate doing that, so I had Henry try them on, measured, cut and then sewed on a thick binding. I'm all into the zig-zag stitch right now. So easy, easy, easy. I think I'm going to make all his jammies this way, plus I really like the red at the bottom. I threw them in the wash today and the felt initial and binding held up great.
JoAnn was having a killer deal on flannel the weekend before Christmas so I stocked up. Henry has 4 more pair of jammies coming his way. Plus, you know, flannel starts to get all weird in grungy in no time at all, so it will be good to have a few extra pair hanging around.
Well, folks, that's the last 2 weeks of my life in a nutshell. Pregnancy is going well. Having a ton of pelvic and tail bone pain thankyouverymuch. Man, isn't that just. the. worst? I've eaten my weight in tums. I should make a heart-shaped tart out of that stuff for Valentines Day. Seriously going to get on that right now.
I just wanted to say thanks for reading this little blog of mine and for being so genuine and helpful and sweet and supportive. You guys are the best. I'd wrap my arms around you and give you a big squeeze if I could. Thank you, thank you. 2007 was mostly crappy so thanks for helping me pull my head out.
In the wise, wise words of my sister, "2008 is going to kick 2007's trash!"
xoxo
On Saturday night our old Boston friend Rob (of "Rob and Mandy" fame) called requesting my homemade oreo cookie recipe. Now, I can't actually call it 'mine' as I didn't invent it and have no idea where I got it from. It's in a book that I've handwritten favorite recipes in for over 10+ years. So I give him the recipe and for the next 24 hours we slowly start craving said oreo cookies. And now, I'm sure you will be, too. So here goes:
If you want to make your own stencils, here's a little how-to. 
3) Cut letter out with an exacto knife (I buy everything from the tool king. Kidding) and cut around each letter so it's big enough to cover the cookie. 
