Skip to main content

Christmas of America

Earlier this week a certain naughty kitty decided he didn't like my puzzle and took apart half of it. I put tin foil across to stop him from doing it again. I heard cats don't like tin foil. Is that actually true or just a rumor? 

Brooke cleaned our upstairs closet and found two Chia Pets. Neither one of them are Chia Obama, though Homer does look awfully presidential in this pose.

They haven't been growing so she created some makeshift greenhouses.

My pops came back to pick up my mom and help me with my 1920's toilet. A week later and no leaks. Looks like we did a good job.

This gave me an excuse to try out my Christmas present from my in-laws.

 Then we headed to the Mall of America. I'm pretty sure we are the only ones we know that actually shop here. I worked here at a spin-off store of Forever 21 when I first moved to Minnesota. 

I feel no shame for shopping at this monstrosity. It often has the best sales rack of any Urban Outfitters I've been to. I assume the sad saps who shop at the mall have bad taste and leave all the good stuff for the clearance rack. 

We decided to go because I had a bunch of Christmas money to blow. Last year I paid off one of my student loans with my Xmas money so I figured this year I deserved to treat myself. I don't buy clothes very often anymore. I still wear things from 6 years ago. I wish I had luck at shopping at thrift stores. I'm pretty envious of people that can find things in their size or that aren't totally 90's looking. It's not that I don't like shopping we just don't have a lot of disposable income to buy things.

Afterwards we went to Fat Lorenzo's for dinner. 

  I love the painted tin ceiling.

I ordered a Schell's Snowstorm, which changes every year. This year's Snowstorm is "Wee Heavy." That's an apt description.

This was supposed to be me, but it quickly morphed into a surfing Jesus.
Mmmm, ham and pineapple. I have to say that there was something off about Lorenzo's typically perfect crust. Either that or we've become accustomed to NoMi's Papa's Pizza.
We went over to Tyler and Emma's to play some Catan and exchange Christmas gifts. I was excited to see my big ol' memory card. I had lent it to Emma for our wedding and forgot about it until we went up to the cottage for the New Year.
We hadn't seen these guys since before Christmas. That is very unusual for us. We usually hang out at least once a week. I couldn't believe how big Olive had gotten since we last saw her. And she just started walking!

Olive finally got to open her present.
Brooke knitted this darling scarf.

I think she likes it.


She's so happy and smiley now. She looks pretty excited to be standing on her own. 

Emma always seems to have a big batch cookies ready for us.

This time she made them out of almond flour that she made herself. I think she's starting to make more homemade things than we do. 

We opened our presents that have been waiting more than a month to be gifted.

I got cute fabric flower bobby pins.

Not from here, but similar to these. If you like them you can get them here.

I wonder what it could be?
A new pan. We made meatballs at their house awhile ago and they didn't have a big enough pan. Now they do.

The rest of the night was dedicated to learning Catan's Cities and Knights expansion pack.
We also got some homemade sugar scrub from Emma and jam from our friends in Seattle.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meadow Goes Sledding At Minnehaha

Sometimes when Meadow wakes up in the morning she plays for awhile before calling us to come in. I heard her playing this morning and checked on the monitor that she was chewing on her blanket in her bed. Awhile later I checked again and she was on the floor in just her diaper. Her pajamas were several feet behind her. I'm not sure how she did it, but she's a regular Harry Houdini. At least she didn't take her diaper off. Before we went on an adventure I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter. Brooke thought that was weird. Earlier this week Scott and I got hit with the stomach flu. Both of us hadn't been this sick in a very long time. Luckily Meadow stayed healthy. It was also very cold this week so we didn't really leave the house much. I thought that since it was warmer out we should go outside today I thought Minnehaha Park would be a fun place to take Meadow for some winter fun. Of course we brought Meadow's sled. ...

Freaster Sunday

We decided to stay home for Easter this year. We've missed the past few years and seem to be okay with it. We still celebrate in our own way. For breakfast I made oat bran. This time I sweetened it with a little agave. Scott seems to think I only like my oats bland, but that's not true. I make truly interesting oats. Agave, my friends, does not make oatmeal tasty. If you're looking for a quick, but complex variation try this recipe the next time you have a few extra minutes -- unless you like bland-meal. Steel-cut Oats w/ Apple Chips, Raisins and Cinnamon 1 C Water 2/3 C Steel Cut Oats Handful of Apple Chips 1/4 C Raisins 2 T Brown Sugar 1 t Cinnamon Pinch of Salt Cook the first two ingredients for a few minutes over medium heat. When water starts to simmer lower heat and add dried fruit. Cook until tender. While still on heat add a teaspoon of cinnamon, two tablespoons brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Eat. Scott looked for his Easter ba...

Over the River & Through the Woods to Grandmothers House We Clean

My mom had wanted us to come down to my grandparents home to clean for months. Unfortunately a busy summer had kept us away. We finally made it a week after our honeymoon ended. We slept at my parents home in Cudahy before heading down to Racine. We got home from our trip on Tuesday and left for Milwaukee on Thursday. It was almost like an extended vacation. Before leaving the cities we stopped and had dinner at Foxy Falafel. It was pretty good and I like that she uses sprouted chickpeas.  I never knew my grandparents on Poppyseed Tuska's side so Grandma and Grandpa Wojcik were a special part of my life. They both passed away last year after living nearly 90 wonderful years.  Their home was always a wonderfully warm and inviting place. The perfect place to spend your Christmas Eve in front of a fire place. Since it's going to be sold, Brooke and I took on the massive task of organizing and cleaning the home. When Scott told me h...