Penny

Mr. H and I don't have any pets, but I think that we collectively yearn for them more than anyone else that I know.  Mr. H's family had a big yellow lab up until they had to put her down a few months ago, and I think that it amped up his desire for us to expand our family with a perfect little puppy. 

We've been musing about getting a puppy for years now...probably ever since somewhere in the second year or so of our relationship when we both somehow realized that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.  I've researched every breed that one could imagine and had my heart set, and then re-set, on quite a few of them.  Malteses are too small, pugs get hot too easily, bulldogs are too drool-y and so on.  All the while, we have known that some day, in the mythical future where we own a home with a backyard, we can get a lab.  But I digress.

In the last year or two, we settled on the perfect breed.  The one that we always saw on the street and coo'ed over because the look like they could be little labs, but were the perfect size for an apartment.  Yes, we fell in love with the puggles. 

And now, with only four months left on our dog-hating apartment lease, we've begun to search for a new pet friendly home.  And after much research, we've chosen a breeder and set up a time to meet with them on an upcoming vacation!  Our dreams are becoming a reality, and we could be the mama and daddy to a new puppy in less than six months!  I couldn't be more excited.

All of this brings me to the title of this blog.  The already chosen name of our little girl.  The dog that we talk about like she already exsists, and like she is our child.  And so I will wait for the next six months and prepare for our Penny and the first little expansion of our wonderful new family. Pin It

Suddenly I See

This weekend revolved around Easter dinner, from the moment I left work to go grocery shopping on Friday afternoon to the multiple trips to the grocery store (and ridiculous amount of money spent on one meal for six people) to the clean up last night.  It was stressful, expensive, and messy, but it was also ridiculously satisfying. 

My mom said that I was crazy to plan a four course meal, plus appetizers, for my first dinner party/holiday dinner.  Which, in retrospect, was probably true.  It's also probably true that I could have let other people bring things and help out.  But I didn't.  So I'm learning. 

I have to say that overall, my dinner kicked some serious ass.  The best new recipe find was a butternut squash soup that I found on the Food Network website, which is actually amazing before you add the cream, which then clearly makes it even more amazing.  I've never made a soup before, and this was an awesome first try.  I will be making the non-cream version in the future for a happy diet meal, and the cream version in the future for guests (and treats).

Anyway, by the end of the day on Sunday, my back was aching and I was exhausted, but I felt totally amazing that I had my family (and Mr. H's dad) over for a holiday meal.  There's something weird and symbolic in my mind about having guests over for a holiday meal.  It's something I've always wanted to do, and it was always something that I thought was very grown up and impressive.  It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected, but was overall a great sucess.

I even got my mom to promise to lend me her silver if I entertain more often...  Pin It

Great Friday

I just want to give a big thank you to all of the Catholics out there who made my bosses decide to let us leave early today.  I was planning for it to be a pretty low key day, but after a few errands and a trip to Yogurtland (which was not impressive...what fro yo chain doesn't have butterfingers??), it's almost time to go home!

As much as I'd like to be lazy, this really works out for the best because Easter dinner is fast approaching and I need to clean, shop, decorate, and cook.  I never realized how much work and forethought went into all of the holidays (and I'm only having 7 people), but I'm suddenly starting to understand why my mother got so stressed out with the thought of having everyone over.  I have an impressive eight (yes, eight) page document put together that includes the overall menu, timeline of what needs to be made when in order to get everything done on time, full list of recipes, and shopping list which I've created in the last few weeks to make sure that everything is picture perfect.  We'll see what happens in reality... Pin It

Boycott

I really dislike April Fools day.  I constantly have my guard up because I am quite gullible and tend to react to things before I really think them through.  I mean, really, who came up with a national holiday where people make idiots out of each other.  Doesn't that just make us look dumb?  If other people can boycott Valentines Day, I want to boycott April Fools day. Pin It