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This evening, Nick was being spazzy and stepped on my toes not once, but twice, in short order. After the second time, Brian admonished him, saying "Nick, watch what you're doing, and apologize to your mom for stepping on her toes twice." You looked a little confused, and came up to me and said "Sorry, sorry." :) We had the first snow of the winter today. It didn't stick, but sure looked pretty swirling down all day!In other news, we had a horrible day trying to put up our Christmas tree (many of the lights wouldn't illuminate), and after two impromptu shopping trips, ended up with a new tree and very behind-schedule. The new tree is nice, though rather skinnier than our old one. I'm now exhausted and off to bed. Good night!
Hello again, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful, warm Thanksgiving, rife with good food and loving family and friends. Ours was very nice. We headed to Springfield Wednesday evening, stopping at the mall when we got into town. I had a couple of quick shopping objectives, and we decided to just eat dinner at the food court. So, after eating a yummy crepe with turkey, avocado, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and black bean spread (Nick had Chik-Fil-A), I split from Brian and Nick to do my shopping. I scored two fleece 1/2-zip pullovers for $13.60 (total!) at JCPenney - whoo hoo! I was walking along the mall when I noticed that Santa was there already, doing pictures with kids. Furthermore, the mall was rather empty, and there was no line. Now, we always like to get Nick's pic taken with Santa, but it had not even occurred to me that he would be there yet, so I hadn't thought about doing it that evening. Nick was wearing a non-photogenic shirt, and his hair looked rather bad. (We're trying to let it grow, but between his cowlick and other odd directional things going on at the crown of his head, he looks awful unless I get some product involved.) :) So, I thought on my feet. Before even tracking down Brian and Nick, I went into a hair-product store in the mall and asked the girls there if they would be willing to give Nick a free coiffure. They said "Sure!" So, I got Brian and Nick and sent Brian out to the car to get Nick's argyle sweater from the suitcase in our trunk while I took Nick to be styled. And, we got our Santa pic! Our incredibly, shockingly overpriced Santa pic. But at least that's out of the way. After we got to my Dad's house and got all settled in and got Nick ready for bed, Brian and I decided to head to The Moxie, an independent movie theater in Springfield, to see Man on Wire - an absolutely amazing documentary about Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who tightrope-walked between the Twin Towers in 1974. It was awesome! I highly recommend it, if you have a chance to see it. The Moxie is really cool, and the best part is that they serve beer and wine. So, I enjoyed a glass of pinot noir with my popcorn. :) Thanksgiving day was spent mostly being lazy and watching the Macy's parade. I was having some gastrointestinal upset and didn't feel 100%, so I just chilled out until it was time to make my sweet potato casserole and apple salad and head to my sister's house for dinner. It was the usual loud, crazy family gathering, and it was nice, although my stomach was still not feeling great, so that rendered me a bit grumpy. I ate plenty, though not as much as I might have otherwise, and it was all delicious! This was the first time I had made sweet potatoes, and they turned out great. And as always, my sister's sausage stuffing was delectable. Nick had a blast playing with his cousins. At one point, my brother (a drummer), my sister's husband, and my niece's boyfriend (both guitarists) went down to the basement to jam, and Nick grabbed a mic and proceeded to sing made-up lyrics in rhythm with their song. It was hilarious! He was singing stuff like "Oh my gosh, whaddya do?" :) Greg even let him try out the drum set.When we got home, Nick and I were both exhausted and went right to bed at 9:00. I slept for 10 glorious hours, and my stomach troubles were gone when I arose. Yay! We packed up, visited some friends, and headed home. I'm just doing TCB this evening, and then tomorrow, the 2-day Christmas decorating extravaganza shall commence. Wish me luck!
We're heading to Springfield later today for our familial Thanksgiving celebration, and I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday before we go. I have much to be thankful for this year, including the good friends whom I hold dear, and that includes everyone who reads my blog! I'm also thankful that I weighed in at 142.5 today! No, this isn't my normal weigh-in day, but I figured it would be wise to get a pre-Thanksgiving reading. :) If you're traveling, please do so safely, and have a wonderful time! "Talk" to you later...
I just gave Nick a cheese slice for lunch (you know, like a Kraft single), and he referred to it as "flappy dairy."
Last night, we were putting Nick to bed, and I was holding him on my lap, cuddling. He said "Mommy, I want to go to sleep in your tummy, and then you can be pregnant forever, and I can push your pregnant button." I said "What's that?", and he replied "It's a blue button that makes you throw up and barf on kids." (I love the fact that the pregnant button has a specific color!) :)
Normally, spending this much money on a new toy for Nick would be completely out of the question for me, but when I saw this, I just couldn't resist - how cool is it? I can't wait to play with it (Yes - I'll admit that.). But, he'll love it, too. It combines his two favorite things: trains and music! I think he's going to be thrilled with it.
....talk like this? Nick got in trouble today for something he had done, and he burst into tears, exclaiming "I can't take it anymore! I'm so ashamed!" Even though I was trying to be serious and disciplinarian, I couldn't help but laugh. :)
It's been a pretty good week so far. Tuesday, I went grocery shopping, and in an amazing twist of fate, I got through the store really quickly, I got every single item on my list, and there was no line at the checkout! It was truly wondrous. That alone made my day. :)Yesterday, I got a haircut. I'm not sure how I feel about it. The woman ended up cutting it shorter than I originally wanted. I'm not sure how it happened - I think we just both got a little carried away. So, it's hard to get used to, though it is pretty cute. I'm just used to having more hair on the sides, and it's suddenly short there again - I don't have much going on in the sideburn area anymore, and it's above my ears again. I still have length in the front, which I like. So, right now, I'm just kind of feeling *eh* about it. We shall see if it grows on me. Well, it WILL grow on me, literally, so I just have to wait awhile, and I'm sure I'll like it more. :) Hair grows - I just keep telling myself that. Why is it so hard to achieve the perfect haircut? This morning I had a MOPS meeting. I ended up being in charge in a very last-minute fashion, after our coordinator's son threw up shortly before the meeting and she had to skip it. Our mentor mom leader was gone, too, so another mentor mom (Donna) and I just took charge and ran the meeting. It ended up going very well. Not much structure - we just worked on a craft and visited - but it was very enjoyable for everyone, I think. We have such a great group of ladies! The main thing today was that we all brought desserts we had baked for the Thanksgiving dinner at Genesis House, a local shelter for battered women and children. We had a great number and variety of desserts, so I think our contribution will really enhance their dinner. I made my yummy, decadent gooey cream cheese bars. And the craft we did was actually centerpieces for their tables, which I hope they'll like, too. I always enjoy MOPS meetings, and only wish they happened more than twice a month.This evening, we went to parent-child night at Nick's preschool. There was lots of incredibly yummy potluck-y food, which I overindulged in, of course. That was pretty much a foregone conclusion. :) In observation of Native American month, they had this Cherokee guy named Chad Lookinghorse there, and he told the kids some Cherokee folklore and did some dances. And can I just say that he was H-O-T??? I mean, I know I sound like a total trollop, getting all turned on by a guy at my son's preschool function, but he was really, really good looking. I was talking about it with some of the other moms, and they were in concurrence. It added a nice little frisson of enjoyment to the evening. Good food AND eye candy! So, that's my week thus far. How is yours going?
I took my measurements this morning, and I have lost 5 more inches in the last three months. I have now lost a grand total of 45.5" (OMG - that's almost 4 feet!) all over my body, including 2 3/4" from each arm, 7" from my bust, 9" each from my waist and hips, 5 1/2" from each thigh, and 2" from each calf. Wow!
So, last night was our MOPS Moms' Nite Out, and we met at Pizza Hut for dinner, because they were having police officers wait tables, with all tips going to Shop-with-a-Cop. We figured we could have fun and be charitable at the same time. Of 19 members, only 8 of us came, but boy did we have fun! We got there at 6:00, and five of us were still there at 9:30! We talked and ate and laughed and laughed and laughed, and it was just a wonderful way to spend an evening. I love my MOPS peeps, and I hope we can organize another Nite Out in January, because we all need more of that! Here's a shout-out to my partners in crime: Angela, Rebecca, Katherine, Susie, Glenna, Casey, and Mary - I had a total blast last night! Thanks for coming.
To put it simply, my weekend was a complete and total bust. The entire trip to Springfield ended up being ill-fated and pointless. Don't worry - I'm over the horrible foul mood I was in yesterday, so I can now look upon it with a modicum of humour. Yesterday, though, you would NOT have wanted to cross paths with me!Let's start at the beginning. On Monday morning, Brian had noticed that the valve in the basement that controls the water coming into the house had a slow drip. He told our landlord about it, but our landlord, in typical fashion, didn't do anything about it all week. On Friday at 4:30 p.m., we were completely ready to leave the house - the car was packed and running, people! We thought it wise to shut off the water, lest the drip turn into something more while we were gone. So, I went down to the basement to do so, and when I turned the handle, it came off and water started spewing from the pipe! OMG. Long story short - our landlord came and called a plumber, and we ended up making him stay until it was fixed, so that we could get on the road. We left an hour late, but made it to Springfield by 7:00. To sum up this part of the story, when we got home today, the pipe and valve were fine, but our landlord had left the basement lights blazing and the water turned on all weekend, even though he had told us over the phone that he had turned both off. Sigh. So, off we went to Springfield, and when we got there, we had pizza and retired early. By this point, my voice was completely gone, and I was 99.99% sure that I would not be able to sing at church on Sunday morning. Because of this and the water issue, I was in a bad mood, and Brian and I were snippy and bickering with each other. Let's just say that when plans go awry, I don't handle it well, and when I get upset about stuff, Brian doesn't handle THAT well. It doesn't make for a good time. I did, indeed, have to cancel my gig, which totally sucks, because I was really excited about singing the song I had chosen, and we could really have used the money! Aarrrrggghhhh. That was the first time I had ever had to cancel on a paying gig, and I hated having to do that. But, as you might recall, we still had reason to be in Springfield, because we had a family portrait scheduled for Saturday morning, and we had brought our dressy clothes with us, planning a very fancy picture, indeed. Can you guess by now that something derailed that, too? Oh, yes.See, Nick has this habit, this self-soothing mechanism, if you will, of banging his face against his mattress to put himself to sleep. When he was younger, we were all worried that he was autistic, but doctors assured us that since he only does it in bed, we didn't need to worry. It's just his way of putting himself to sleep. Odd, yes, but mostly harmless. Occasionally, though, he'll really go to town and end up abrading his nose - giving himself sort of a sheet-burn. And, you guessed it! When we went into his room Saturday morning, he had a doozy of a red, raw, oozing abrasion on his nose. And that was the straw that broke the portrait camel's back. Don't get me wrong - I would have no problem with going ahead with a portrait if he had, say, a little scratch on his face, or even a small bruise. But this was a big, honkin' red, oozing sore right on his nose. Add that to my already foul mood and the fact that I could barely talk and wasn't feeling well, and I pretty much lost it. Which led to more strain between me and Brian. What a fun morning! We cancelled the portrait, and I proceeded to sulk mightily for a few hours. I finally left the house and went and vented to Tim for awhile, and then went for some lunch with him. After eating, I went to do another thing that I had planned for the weekend, thinking "Even if everything else has gone to hell, at least I can do the shopping I had planned to, so the weekend will not have been for naught." I had various coupons to redeem, and items to seek. Remember that I was in a foul mood and didn't feel well. Also know that I can't handle an uber-crowded mall during the holidays. What was I thinking? It was Saturday afternoon in mid-November! I walked into the mall and almost immediately regretted it, and it only got worse with every step I took and every store I entered. I ended up being there for all of 20 minutes, during which I hastily bought something at one store, and then I hightailed it out of there. I just couldn't handle it! So, I had all these coupons that went unused, and I didn't buy anything on my list. I slunk back to my Dad's house, completely defeated, and spent the rest of the evening watching TV shows that I had recorded. That was fairly comforting, and helped to calm me down a bit. Yet another plan of ours went unrealized, which was to go to the Titanic attraction in Branson. To be fair, that was completely our decision, because there was no reason we still couldn't have gone on Saturday after I returned from the mall. I was just so down and felt so grumpy and pathetic that the last thing I wanted to do was drive to Branson and battle crowds, so we opted out. In retrospect, it was probably a wise decision. I can't imagine I would have enjoyed myself much at all. So, to sum up for you: spewing pipe, lost voice and cancelled church gig, cancelled portrait, aborted shopping trip, and no visit to the Titanic. We were batting 1000!This morning, I did the ONE productive thing of the whole weekend, which was going to the church between services to talk to the music director and get the music for the lessons and carols service I'll be singing in on December 14. That took all of 30 minutes, and if not for that, there was absolutely NO need for us to be in Springfield this weekend. We headed home early, and got here by 1:00. And here I am. Thank goodness this horrible weekend is drawing to a close; I can only hope that the coming week is better!
We're heading out again this evening. Tomorrow morning, we'll be re-donning what we wore to my cousin's wedding, to have a family portrait done at JCPenney. I hope it goes well! The weather is supposed to be very raw and cold tomorrow, so it won't be fun having to leave my Dad's house in the morning in my scanty dress. :) While we're in Springfield, I (as always) have various mall shopping objectives, and many coupons to help me retain my bargain-queen status. Tomorrow evening, Brian and I may head to Branson to take advantage of the free Titanic pass I won on the radio. I would never pay full admission to see this attraction/museum, but I would definitely check it out for free! And Sunday morning, I'll be rising very early and heading out into an even colder morning (mid-20s!!) to sing at church. I'm somewhat concerned about this, because I've been fighting off a cold, and my voice is somewhat compromised. I haven't gotten full-blown sick, but every evening and morning, I have a phlegmy cough, and it has made me rather hoarse. I can only hope for a miracle on Sunday - wish me luck! We'll be back Sunday evening, and you'll hear from me next week. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Some of you might find this rather boring, but I thought it would be interesting to ask everyone to share the price of gas where you live, just so that we can see how it compares around the country (and even in England - Christie?). Here, I can fill up my tank right now for $1.97/gallon. How about you?
So, Nick and I were in the car today with my friend and her 2-year-old son. John was being somewhat petulant, and shrieked at his mom, and Nick said "John, how dare you scream at your mother?" It killed me!
First of all:Happy Birthday to you;Happy Birthday to you!Happy Birthday, dear Jutta;Happy Birthday to you!AND:Happy Anniversary to you;Happy Anniversary to you!Happy Anniversary, dear Greg & Gayle;Happy Anniversary to you!(and many more, to all three of you!)Today, Brian had the day off, so I decided to head up to Rolla for some shopping. I got a really cute bracelet for $5 - a total impulse buy, but sometimes ya just gotta have those, no? So, even though I was all set with a "little black dress" to wear for the Army Band Christmas concerts, I had started to think that a "little red dress" would be even better - what an impact it would make for me to walk out on stage in bright red for a holiday concert! So, I went to JCPenney with the idea that I would just see if they had anything. And of course, they did. I ended up getting this totally hot red dress (in a size 6!!!) - it was originally $70, but I paid $29, so you can't beat that with a stick. And then, I just had to get some silver high-heeled sandals to wear with it (You can follow that logic, can't you?), so I found some at Payless - originally $23, I paid $14. Yay! Now, for under $45, I have a totally smashing, much more eye-catching Christmas concert ensemble. (sigh of contentment)That sums up the high points of my day! Tomorrow, I'm going to check out the local Veterans' Day parade, unless it's raining. Are you doing anything special?
Our good friend Mike came over tonight, and as always, Nick proceeded to be very crazy and spastic, throwing himself at Mike, poking him, prodding him, flailing in his general direction, and basically pulverizing him to within an inch of his life. (OK - that may be a slight exaggeration.) After Mike left, as Nick and I were headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, he said "You know, he's a very nice man, but sometimes he just gets too rough!"
If you have not seen this frightening new toy for girls, I suggest you check it out and share in my horror. Click here to see the Tini Puppinis at Toys R Us.
1. Which song would it most surprise people to learn that you like? I'll go first. :) Mine is "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot. I absolutely love this song! I know, I can't believe it, either, but it's one of my guilty pleasures. Maybe it's the clever, titillating lyrics, or the kickin' beat, or the fact that it celebrates the non-skinny female, but whatever the reason, every time this song comes on the radio, I'm in heaven. In fact, I just downloaded it to my computer, so I can listen to it whenever I want! I must admit that it kind of makes me want to "dial 1-900-mix-alot" for a "triple-X hoedown", even though he would surely find my "back" quite lacking by his standards - definitely not the "juicy double" he's looking for! His anaconda probably don't want none. :) 2. Which Thanksgiving dish could you absolutely not live without, if you had to choose just one? Mine would be my Mom's sausage stuffing, which my sister still makes every single year (Thank you so much, Mary!) I can't wait!I look forward to your answers...
In my opinion, the class was just 'ight. But then again, maybe I'm just too picky. For one thing, the music was way too loud - I think I'm overly paranoid about my hearing because I'm a singer, so I'm really concerned about exposing myself to loud music. Secondly, the floor was sort of slippery, which sucked. Thirdly, the class was sort of large and impersonal compared to what I'm used to, and fourthly and most importantly, the instructor didn't really explain anything or slowly demonstrate moves, so if you were a first-timer, you just had to kind of try your best and hope you could figure everything out and keep up. I did pretty well, but had my moments. Parts of it were definitely fun, but because of all the reasons I just mentioned, I may not go back. Also, I noticed that while I did sweat some and get my heart rate up to an extent, I didn't get nearly the workout that I always get at my gym. I'm usually dying by the time one of my regular classes is over, especially step and kickboxing. So, I would have to give the Zumba class a "C." My new friend Katherine went with me - she's one of the new instructors at my gym. It was fun to do the class with a friend, and afterwards, we went out for coffee. It was such fun! We are two people who could talk forever and never shut up, and no topic seems to be taboo. :) It was a great way to spend time, and left me feeling warm and fuzzy. Of course, I just met her and she's moving away in 3 months - it's the story of my life. I'll tell you what - I can't wait to live in Springfield, where I can actually make friends who will be sticking around! Living in a military community really sucks in that respect. :(When I'm done on the computer today, I'm going to go gather up a bunch of stuff to donate to Goodwill. My friend Rebecca has really galvanized me - she came over last night to try on my shirts and sweaters, and she took a bunch of stuff. The best part, though, was that she very generously offered to take whatever she didn't want and donate it to Goodwill, along with some of her own stuff that she was planning to take there. Getting all of that stuff out of the house (it was a LOT!) has just made me want to get rid of more stuff! The floodgates have opened, people. Hope everyone's having a good weekend...
Well, I'm back up a pound this week, which really doesn't surprise me after the way I ate in St. Louis. :) I'm still pretty OK with where I am. The thing that worries me is where I'll be after the holidays. I really don't want to creep towards 150 again, and I'm afraid that will happen. I guess I'll just have to really try to control myself as much as possible, and most importantly, keep working out as often as I can.Speaking of working out, I'm going to try a new class tomorrow at the fitness center on post, and I'm looking forward to it! (If you had told me, a year ago...) It's called Zumba, and it's apparently a cardio workout that incorporates Latin dance moves. Sounds like it's right up my alley! I'll let you know how it went.I'm inching ever-closer to becoming a certified group fitness instructor. For me, it's a matter of timing and overcoming my fears. I'm thinking of doing a certification workshop at the end of January. I just need to get some more info first, and do some soul-searching. And I need to get my CPR certification first. It's a sunny, cold day here. How about in your neck of the woods?
The election, that is. I was so sick of the commercials and the DAILY phone calls we were getting. Whatever your feelings about the outcome, at least you don't have to deal with all of that advertising anymore! Now, we can all worry about more mundane things, like what we're going to make for Thanksgiving, and what we're going to get people for Christmas, etc. :)
If 18 different people have voted in my president poll, then how come there's only like 2 people that ever comment on my blog? Come on, people - let me know you've been here! I would love to know who's actually reading my blog - just a friendly "hello" would even be appreciated. So, speak up! :)
1. It is sick and wrong that they're already playing Christmas music in Walmart!2. Please go and vote tomorrow!
Here are some pictures, as promised. The first one is of Nick's very first self-portrait. Isn't it cute and whimsical? I'm just so charmed by it. I actually framed it and hung it on his playroom wall. :)The next three are of my Dad and us outside our hotel before we left for my cousin's wedding, and the last one is of my cousin and her new husband. 
We got back from St. Louis yesterday around 6:15 p.m., and I've been a busy girl since then. I still have a ton of stuff to do online, but I wanted to take a couple of minutes and tell you about our trip. I have a few pictures, which I'll post later after I've had a chance to process them. We left around noon on Friday, and stopped in Rolla on the way so that I could use a JCPenney coupon before it expired. :) I got a really cute shirt for just $3! Our drive went without a hitch, and we arrived at our hotel around 3:00. My sister and her husband arrived at almost exactly the same time, and my Dad got there about 45 minutes later. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, and it was nice. The rooms were large and even had couches and coffee tables! And we got welcome bags with a bottle of water, an apple, and Oreos. Nice touch. We got all settled in the room and then ordered some pizza so that we could fill our tummies for the evening, since the reception wouldn't even start until 8 p.m. We got all gussied up for the wedding, and boy did we look great! Brian always looks handsome in his dress blues, and Nick was just so incredibly dapper in his little pants, shirt, vest, and tie. Seriously. I can't get over how darling he looked. And if I may toot my own horn a bit, I thought I looked pretty stunning in my little black dress, sexy shoes, and fancy jewelry. The halter top of the dress really accentuated my arms and shoulders, which I consider among my best features now, and the dress and shoes served to show off my rather sculpted calves. OK - I'm done tooting my horn now. :) We all caravanned to the church - Our Lady of Sorrows. It's a beautiful Catholic church, and was the perfect setting for a lovely wedding. It was nice to see some of my relatives before the wedding started. It was a wedding Mass, so it lasted a little over an hour. Considering this, I was very impressed with Nick's behavior - he really did very well, and when he felt that he just had to say something, he whispered. He was the picture of restraint! He also said many cute things all evening. For instance, when my Uncle Jim was walking Jessica (his daughter/my cousin) down the aisle, Nick turned to me and exclaimed "You didn't tell me she was marrying Uncle Jim!" And then when Jessica was standing on the altar with her fiance (Brian), Nick said "You didn't tell me she was marrying HIM!" See, Nick fancies Jessica his girlfriend, so he was quite chagrined that she was marrying anyone at all. The ceremony was very nice, and included three vocalists. Jessica is a singer like me, so she obviously wanted lots of music in her wedding. The most notable vocalist was her best friend, Mikey. He sang "Panis Angelicus" during Communion, and his voice is just gorgeous! I'd heard a lot about him over the years, but had never met him or heard him sing. It was very impressive. After the wedding was over, we all caravanned again to the reception. It was held in an historical building that had an old freight elevator - that was how we got up to the third floor for the reception. The decor and ambiance was very nice, and the buffet was scrumptious (not to mention the open bar). Our table was next to the one with a branch of my family named the Crowleys, and I had a great time talking to Maureen and her daughter Katie, and catching up with them. They're such nice people! Nick proceeded to completely charm them (and others) - he was just so loquacious and personable to everyone! The best moment came, though, when the bridal party finally arrived and lined up behind their table. During a moment of relative quiet, Nick shouted "Jessica - don't do it!" Several people heard him and busted out laughing. Poor kid - it was too late! It was also absolutely precious to watch him dance with his little cousin, Claire, who's the same age. They were so cute together! As far as I'm concerned, the highlight of the reception was the wedding cake. It was from this amazing bakery in St. Louis called Lubeley's, which makes sinful gooey butter cake - my favorite. The wedding cake was chocolate with the most amazing, rich frosting I've ever tasted. I can honestly say that it was the best cake I've ever had. We visited, ate, and congratulated the bride and groom, but we had to leave by the time the dancing got underway. By then, it was after 10:30, and poor little Nick had had it. He was so exhausted! We were all in bed by 11:15, and went right to sleep. (We heard later that the reception had gone strong until midnight.) When our wake-up call came at 7:45, it was very unwelcome! But up we rose, to start another day...We got ready and checked out, and then we all headed to this really old restaurant called Uncle Bill's Pancake House, where we met my Aunt Joanie (my Dad's sister) for brunch. It was nice to see her and spend some time together. Aunt Joanie, who is 78, reminisced about eating at Uncle Bill's when she was 17, after a school dance. After that, my Dad and sister headed home to Springfield, but Brian and I went to a shopping center to hit Trader Joe's and World Market. I was in complete heaven, and was only sad that I can't shop at these stores more often. I got several yummy snacky foods and cereals at Trader Joe's, including chocolate meringues and freeze-dried banana slices. At World Market, I bought a few Christmas presents for friends, and a cute Christmas tray and cup for Nick. I just love that place! I really enjoyed looking at all the foods, candy, and drinks from foreign countries, but I didn't buy anything edible this time. We left the shopping center and headed to Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen's house for an open house party - a sort of continuation of the wedding celebration. Jessica and Brian were there, since they weren't leaving for their honeymoon (in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic) until today. There was more totally scrumptious food and yet another cake from Lubeley's - this time it was amaretto cake, with the same amazing frosting. I definitely overindulged, but I just couldn't help it! Nick had fun running around outside with Claire and her younger brother, Evan. We finally said our goodbyes a little after 4 p.m. and headed home, and here we are! It was such a lovely trip, and it was nice to eat good food, shop, and visit with relatives. I hope we get back to St. Louis again before too long. Stay tuned for pics!
