Forever Blue

Happy Inauguration!! Since I had mmmmmaaaaaannnnnnyyyyy thoughts on the election and never posted them (but had a draft saved), I'm throwing a few of them out there today. In the interest of being a good winner (hehehe) and not beating a dead horse (elephant?), as it were, I'll just post those regarding people and issues that are still relevant or may be in the future.


Thoughts whilst watching the Republican and Democratic National Conventions:

• Paul Ryan is like that skeezy guy in high school or college that tells some sob story about why his assignment isn’t done and everyone knows it’s complete BS but for some reason the teacher buys it and give him an extension. Like, what the hell?
• Michelle Obama is gorgeous. And gracious. She’s like that friend that I feel like I should hate because she’s smarter, prettier, fitter, and more successful than me, but she’s so damn nice that instead I’m just happy for her and want to be like her (I say that as a good thing). Did I mention she was making me cry at the end of her speech?
• Julián Castro gave me goosebumps. Also, he was a good fit for a keynote because he definitely has the look of a minority but he could kind of fit in with many different ethnic groups: he could kind of look Hispanic, or Asian, or even Middle Eastern. He’s your Attractive Generic Minority (I say this somewhat satirically). Clinton-Castro 2016 has a nice ring to it...?

Debate thoughts:

• Has anyone taken the "Binders Full of Women" line yet and used it to develop a progressive-leaning, women-centric networking group? Like, a networking group and mentorship program for smart, ambitious women that also develops leadership training and and internships and has a community service/philanthropy component? Maybe I should start that. #DontStealMyMillionDollarIdea

Election Night thoughts (I should preface this by saying that we were blessed to be watching the election night results from our hotel room in Waikiki whilst on a very relaxing and enjoyable trip with my grandparents, and that my Dad and I texted each other the whole time):

• "I EFFING LOVE YOU IOWA"
• "I EFFING LOVE YOU OHIO"
• "Wow, maybe our nation still has a few reasonable, smart people left...then again, why get my hopes up...."
• "Ok, that was fun, now let's get to work."

Once we felt secure enough to step away from the TV (as in, even Fox News had conceded Ohio), we headed down to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in celebration. I considered drinking a Blue Hawaiian, but eh.

Possibly the best thing about the election being over is that amateur pundits aren't making 10k+ posts per day on Facebook and Twitter and the ignorant rhetoric has quieted down (a little).


Current thoughts:

• Hillary Clinton = badass. PLEASE consider a 2016 run, but in the meantime, enjoy some much-needed downtime to take care of yourself, pursue hobbies and personal interests, etc. You are inspiring.
• Gun control - #SorryImNotSorry, I don't buy into the notion that you need military-grade weapons for fun or personal protection. You just don't. Just asking for some common-sense regulations here in the interest of saving lives. The NRA may have sold its soul but we don't all have to do the same.
• Legalize it - Colorado and Washington are on the right track. No need to make criminals out of people who engage in a recreation no more dangerous (and in some cases less so) than having a few drinks at a bar. Live and let live and collect taxes on it. 
• Let people marry who they love, it's not hurting you. A loving marital commitment is something to celebrate.
• Social Security reform - because my parents deserve to have a comfortable retirement before they're 70. I don't hold out much hope for myself or E that our generation will.

But seriously if this all doesn't work out I'm renouncing all my worldly possessions and moving to a remote island where my children will never have a concept of shoes. God Bless 'merica!

Roast & Toast

As I started to think about Christmas this past year (probably about the week before Halloween or so), I felt the urge to open our home. We've been invited and welcomed to share the holidays with family and friends who host gatherings surrounding Christmas. And we feel blessed by the many good memories that have come from this. But the hostess in me wanted to welcome others this year, and throw a fun, festive, within-our-means shindig. After all the effort E and I spend to decorate the house for the holidays, why not share it?

Thus the "Roast & Toast" was born: a late-evening, appetizers-and-drinks casual affair that was highlighted by a make-you-own s'more station. And I think folks enjoyed. We planned it for Dec. 28 which had a few benefits: people had less on their schedule after Christmas than trying to cram in another party during the three weekends prior, I was able to pick up a few party supplies the day after Christmas at 50% off (in addition to the napkins and some other decor I picked up on Dec. 26 last year), and since my office is closed the week between Christmas and New Year's I had plenty of time to clean and prep (and yet somehow I still ended up with tons of crap to do at the last minute). 

A few ways we made things easier on ourselves:

- Not planning a full meal. Our apartment is not tiny, but also not incredibly spacious. There'd be no way we could seat 15+ people at the same time and dinner is expensive! We set the start time for 8 pm and invited guests for "sweet treats," although we also had some more savory munchies.

- The space issue was also one reason we also requested that the little ones stay home. We've hosted our friends' kids before and as much as we enjoy them, I just couldn't spend half the party trying to make sure they didn't pick up every sparkly Christmas bauble within their reach... that's not fair to them and no fun for their parents, either. We stated on the invitation that we're just not at the child-proofing stage yet (which our friends know anyways) and that this time we're hosting an adults-only affair. 

- Don't try to do everything from scratch. I had planned on making fondue and just ran out of time. I don't think anyone missed it because they were too busy eating bacon-chicken-alfredo pizza (we picked up this and also a fajita-chicken frozen pizza which we cut into bite-sized squares for an easy and inexpensive nibble...plus you really don't need more than a few bites of the alfredo pizza, it's delish but SO rich!). And while I baked cupcakes, I also arranged some store-bought cookies on a platter with no guilt. 

- And for drinks - no need for a full bar! I made a big pitcher of cranberry-orange punch (ginger ale is the third, "secret" ingredient) and suggested that people add the sparkling moscato if they wanted an "adult" beverage. Regular and diet soda, a couple bottles of wine, water ("snowmelt") and two types of beer were more than plenty.

- I made a playlist ahead of time so that I wouldn't have to be adjusting the music all night and we put away the remote controls. This is not a tv-watching night. 

Overall I think it was a success! People seemed to enjoy themselves and we have some great pictures. I set up a basket with a few props that we told people was the "photo booth," and let the camera next to it. Although I ended up having to prompt most people to get silly and have fun with the idea, once they started they seemed to enjoy it. Do it again next year? Maybe! I like to switch it up so maybe I'll come up with a different concept (but the s'mores were a BIG hit!). 

I think the best feedback I got was that my Dad told me that after they'd left my bro said it 

"looked like Pinterest exploded." #missionaccomplished

Keep Christmas in your heart all year, as cheesy as that sounds :)
Happy New Year!!

Our Mattie Girl

It's been a year since we lost our sweet, sweet Mattie, and I miss her all the time... Saying goodbye to her was the hardest thing I've ever done and we are so blessed to have spent 16 years with her.  I truly believe that dogs choose YOU and I'm so happy that such a sweet, special and above all, absolutely LOVING girl made us her family.

and though no one can take her place, I feel so bless that we've had Dixie stampede her way into our lives, our home and our family. Talk about a lot to live up to! Full introduction and update on Dixie shall be forthcoming because this girl has one BIG personality. A home is just fuller with a dog, I think.

The beautiful watercolor in the top corner is a beautiful custom portrait of Mattie by Irene, a very talented watercolor artist. I ordered the portrait as a Christmas gift for the family and she exceeded all my expectations... I cried when she emailed me the proof. You can view her Etsy profile here - http://www.etsy.com/people/dimdi