Great News! and other happenings...

Note: The date says the 22nd because I started this on the 22nd but you should read it as it being the 27th.

We broke our first dish last week! I brought my dinner plate to the sink to wash it off before putting it in the dishwasher. I am still not sure how I dropped it but it seemed to have just fallen out of my hand. It hit the counter/ sink edge and shattered. I even got a microscopic war wound on my finger.

Thursday brings us to my birthday! Michael surprised me with a clutch from Etsy.com that I hinted I wanted and thought someone else bought it before he did. He did a great job tricking me which you probably know is tough when it comes to presents. He also bought me a new apron, matching kitchen towels, and a neat hot mitt contraption - it's like two hot mitts connected. These were from Orla Kiely's designs for Target. After working with the third grader I came home for a quick lunch only to be surprised with an Edible Arrangement! The delivery man was so nice and very sincerely wished me a happy birthday. :) The fruit was delicious!
So the weather was very nice on my birthday and we took Theo for a walk to the university and back. We went to dinner at Vivace - C-ville's best italian restaurant for 2008. It was good. The atmosphere was nice and the waitress brought me a small bouquet of flowers with our ticket (they change their flowers on Thursdays). Unfortunately they used cool whip to top the tiramisu which is a BIG no-no in my book. We scraped it off and were then able to enjoy it.
This morning I filled out an application for a summer camp counselor position with the city. When I am on the computer in the morning Theo likes to lie in my lap. He wanted to smell the flowers. By the time I got out the camera he had moved on to eating them.

This afternoon after my volunteering adventures I baked a giant cupcake! I also made the best buttercream icing I've made to date. Some friends joined us for wings at the Wild Wing Cafe and came back to our place for cake and champagne. Theo entertained then we parted ways since they are all med students and are in study crunch time.
So this is the first time I bake myself a cake, invite people over, and then command them to sing to me. It was a tad awkward orchestrating the whole thing. Maybe it's always a little awkward being sung to. Notice the massive amount of smoke coming from the candles. Maybe next year I will do something more abstract instead of putting 25 candles on the cake.

Some new things to note about the blog: I changed a setting that will allow anyone to post a comment. In other words you don't have to have an account. Also, if a word/s is/are red then it's a link and if you click on it then it will illustrate whatever I'm talking about. Lastly, I found the setting that allows me to automatically send e-mails to tell you that there is a new post. Unfortunately I can only put 10 e-mail addresses. I will accept bribes. Make it good.

Looks like showers and chilly weather this weekend. I think I'll cross stitch and start Pride and Prejudice. Chili sounds good, too.

I'll leave you with a lovely little blog I enjoy reading: http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/. It's mostly crafty things, but sometimes she posts recipes and other things. She's writing an embroidery book which will be published next year. I am looking forward to it.

Quite possibly the funniest video we will ever take

In case we haven't told you, Theo often walks around aimlessly with his gingerbread man, a.k.a "Gingy" in his mouth while he cries and sometimes howls. It breaks my heart but at the same time is the cutest/ funniest thing he has ever done.

We went to the downtown mall yesterday and brought him with us. We met a woman who works out of her home as a dog whisperer (from what I gathered). Maybe more like a dog psychic? I'm not really sure - I was distracted by her bedazzled sunglasses (which reminded me of the knock-offs that were left at Mimi's after the repairs to her house were made) and bright red hair. Too bad I wasn't focused enough to ask her about Theo's Gingy troubles or to get her card.

The funny thing is that he loves to play fetch and tug o' war with Gingy. Sometimes he'll even cry with Bolt in his mouth. Who knows.

While watching the video you might also note our Valentine's table set-up.
Here was the menu:
Crab cakes from Mr B's cookbook and fettuccine alfredo with a side of fresh green beans. Enjoyed with Dry Creek Vineyard's Fume Blanc (my current favorite from a winery we visited on our bike tour). Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake (from the box - I know, I cheated- and a little dry because of those blasted silicone cake pans) with semisweet chocolate ganache completed by fresh raspberry sauce (again compliments of Mr B's). Shout out to Mom for the conversation hearts.


In other news, we happened upon Girl Scouts selling cookies at the grocery store. YAY!!! Two boxes of Tag-a-longs all for meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I am pairing them with sessions with Denise Austin. Also, I finished my beret that I started at the knitting night at The Needle Lady!
The yarn is wool and is so soft and I love it! This is such a big step for me from knitted scarves!

The only thing I have to add is that we went to Lowe's today for a fire extinguisher and a plant. We were unsuccessful finding the house plant that I wanted. The selection was not impressive. Maybe because it's winter time?

For some reason I feel like I need to sign off on these posts... I should come up with a catch phrase like Ron Burgundy's "Stay Classy, San Diego." Any suggestions?

Theo's new game

Buenas Noches

Snow on Groundhog Day. Almost every day since then has been delightful. Maybe Phil was mistaken?
He tells me that he gets great reception.
My first crocheted hat which I made to match Emily's scarf.
King cake attempt #2. Better than the first. Mmm it's making me want to make another! I think I'll just hold out for that one I'm expecting in the mail. ;)
First day of Spanish class. Can I be any cheesier?

Last Thursday I ventured out into the real world. I went to The Needle Lady for some circular needles I needed for a beret I am knitting. I intended to use the yarn Rebecca gave me for Christmas but it turns out that yarn is too chunky so I bought a skein called "Milk chocolate." The first Thursday of the month they meet for a social knitting night. There were about 10 women there. Some I am guessing to be around my age and then some wiser women. It was an enjoyable time and the owner, Mimi, taught me two new cast-on's. I am looking forward to next month's knitting night. I probably won't be finished with my beret since I spent my entire Sunday afternoon and evening messing up. But I am learning a great deal.

Tomorrow I am submitting my application for grad school. It will also be my first day volunteering with the ESL (English as a Second Language) program. I am considering endorsement in ESL along with elementary education so I'm checking out what it's all about.

Now I'm heading out to C'ville Coffee to meet the UVa medwives for our monthly dinner out.

Ciao!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Theo was neutered today. We bathed him last night so he would be nice and clean plus he was looking a little brown. Now he is nice and white and fluffy. We dropped him off early this morning and picked him up around 3. He looked a little traumatized and when we got home he just kind of wandered around. He would stand in one spot and kind of sway but he eventually laid down and took a nap. He's currently sleeping on the couch while Michael plays some soccer.

We took advantage of Theo's absence to give the house a good cleaning.

Then Michael and I took a walk to the corner for lunch and felt a little guilty doing this without Theo. We also went to Petsmart and finally bought a gate to block off the living room from the kitchen. No more cardboard box. This gate is really dandy since it has a door. When we passed by Lowe's we looked for the groundhogs that live on the hill. Despite the lovely day, they weren't out so we're guessing there will be more winter. I just google'd it and yes, more winter. I don't really blame the guy for "seeing his shadow", there were 13,000 people there to see him.

We also went to Target and I got a couple cute Orla Kiely containers for my crafting supplies and a new scrapbook for my DZ pictures and such. Orla Kiely is a british designer and makes super fabulous things that are expensive. There's a shop on the corner that has a couple of her bags and they are not affordable but they are nice to look at. Thankfully she has used her talents to design practical things for us commoners.

That's about all that's been going on. We had donuts on Friday thanks to nice weather. Unfortunately we missed Med School Prom on Saturday because my stomach was in a bit of a funk. I did get to read a lot of Northanger Abbey. I am thinking that I will really enjoy Jane Austen's work. I applied for a job at Barne's & Noble and at the Education Department at Monticello. The latter sounds like it could be interesting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll be finishing up my professional statement and application for grad school this week. I'll also be working on my valentines.

Time to start cooking dinner. We're having a chicken breast recipe with artichokes from Michael's family cookbook.

Later alligators...