With the 30 days of thankful and a period of not being inspired, I feel like I'm really behind on things happening for the last 6 weeks. *Warning*: This post is picture heavy and long.
Celebration:
There was Divali, the festival of light. I got to wear semi Indian clothing, we had candles and mini lights on in the house, and dinner was at Sitar (we had a groupon). Tom discovered a new lamb dish that he loves.
There was my birthday. I was very pleasantly surprised by gifts from my parents and Tom's parents. Tom outdid himself this year and planned one gift every day for the week of my birthday. This was also the first year that we didn't have a birthday party. My new lab took me out to lunch and had a cake for me. I used Destin as a birthday treat. Destin album at
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101775488803235.3120076.23413201&type=1&l=56cef2de84
Thanksgiving came and went. I didn't realize that this was potentially
the last Thanksgiving of our group, and the end of our tradition (the
students are graduating and probably moving away).
Wedding:
We booked our caterer and are doing cake tasting.
I brought invitation makings to Destin and have been working away on these babies. Here's to hoping that they will be done by late December/early January.
I discovered the joys of registering for our celebration. Who knew that registry incentives actually worked? We got a new super awesome knife, a bamboo drawer organizer, and two out-of-this-world good ramekins (see in the kitchen below) - all for just registering for a few items.
I've tried out two dress alteration places; now if I could just make up my mind.
We had decided that we wanted Corelle dishes for our everyday eating set and had registered for them on Amazon. While in Destin, we saw a pattern of Corelle that we really liked but it was being discontinued and we couldn't add it to Amazon. We came back and continued to think about it and decided that it would be the gift from Grandma Mae, since she had sent us a check for our May wedding. This past weekend, I went to the outlet mall with Kelly and picked up two sets - that's 8 place settings.
I made the executive decision to buy most of our table linens, since they were cheaper than renting. Yes, it will be hassle after the wedding but I have a plan.
In the kitchen:
I tried two Pinterest recipes, one was a pecan pie bar - I need to re-work the shortbread crust, but otherwise it was a hit at our lab potluck. I also made these white russian cupcakes last night for my co-worker's (Chantelle) birthday. I hadn't made cupcakes from scratch in a while, and these turned out to be amazing. I am also getting a lot of use from the Pyrex gift set that I received at Christmas from Tom's grandparents.
Tom grilled at the beginning of November. I am trying to move away from boxed mac and cheese, but those are so quick and easy. He also made grilled pineapple that I had marinated in coconut rum and honey.
Onto the registry ramekins. These came with Emeril's recipe card for individual sized, baked mac and cheese. This was Tom's effort and it was very yummy. We love these ramekins, and wished we could purchase more.
Personal:
The
green card application got approved. I am now a resident of the US. I
still need to officially change my name on all of my US paperwork
(driver's license, bank accounts, credit cards), but felt that doing
this close to the holidays might not be a good idea.
We had to go to Atlanta for the green card interview. While there, we stopped by Trader Joe's and stocked up on wine and beer. We are gradually doing a tasting. We also stopped by Ikea and got a few things for the house.
I had one of
my worst migraines in a very long time - I am glad to have a primary
care physician, who called me in a prescription and here's to hoping that I won't have another one of those episodes in a long time.
I'm getting more girly time, which is really nice. I got to see
Susie Beth and her new born (and her whole family too). Within the week of her visit, I also got to catch
up with Grace and Laura. I got to hangout with Kelly and Stacy going to dinner and then the Aveda open house.We also had a pre-Thanksgiving craft night.
We tried a few new places, including sweet tea (a country food
cafeteria), World of Beers (a new bar with mostly beer and some wine),
and Upside Down Plaza (a popular, dark, dingy, with a musty smell bar
that I've seen once and don't need to see again).
I am
continuing the traditional once a month lab meeting with my old lab.
Basically, we just meet for beer and catch up. We do talk about science
and projects. Dr. P keeps the pressure on me, always asking about my
progress. I'm working on my second review paper, which needs to be
submitted at the end of April - yikes! Here's to hoping that I can
finish it in the next few weeks.
I think that should be it for now. I am really looking forward to Christmas. Tree's up, shopping's done, cards almost completely done, now to wine, comfort, and family time.
Happy Holidays!
