This Last Little Bit of November

WTF?! The Cherpumple is what! Click on the link below to read about this monstrous dessert...

Good news, dearhearts!

My company's employee art exhibit is officially underway! I'm displaying some word/picture collages and Asa's letting me enter some of his famous photographs...

Other employee artworks include pottery, cross-stitch, stained glass, paintings, graphic novel artwork, and more!

ALSO! The Ware house's Christmas decorations are UP!

Elf Advent calendar!

Porcelain Christmas train in the alcove!

Lit pine-tree garland on the kitchen countertop!

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, Thanksgiving is THIS THURSDAY! Oh, how my stomach longs for a piece of Cherpumple! And mashed potatoes and stuffing and buttered rolls and green bean casserole and...

Eee! Eee! And eee! Eees all around, I tell you!



Pray enjoy this last little bit of November. I know I will  :)

November = Thank You Month

I knew Fall had some good things in store for me...

This past weekend, my best friend from Baltimore was in town! We ate delicious food (insert swoon for d bar's macaroni and cheese! and double swoon for their chocolate cake!), got massages, ran around in the park, played some boardgames, and watched plenty of movies, of course. It was so lovely to just be in her presence again :) Granted, her visit was bittersweet as well. Back in the day, when we were in college and on holiday breaks, we used to spend an entire week visiting each other! But with so many miles between us now and full-time jobs on our plates, 2-3 day visits are all we've got. And though I'm thankful for any time we get to share, our visits just don't cut it like they used to. Much like how appetizers just whet one's palette, I want more!!! Not to mention, I was a little depressed after she left because the fact that we're all grown up now sank in even deeper. And so it goes, I guess...


Granted, late last night, when I took Bishop out to potty, I felt a moment of uplifting. I couldn't help staring up at the sky. It was so dark, pitch black really, with gray clouds slowly creeping across the sparkles of stars...

It was beautiful! And the smell of the air! Crisp yet smokey. I just stood still for a bit, breathing deeply, feeling so thankful for the moment--the sky, the air, Bishop, our home that was at that very moment shedding its warm light across the lawn like a beacon in the darkness--and was overwhelmed with gratitude for my very existence in this incredible world...

...which brings me to your dose of ooey-gooey and lovey-dovey for the day. I'd like to thank my husband A for all the housework he's been doing recently. With a couple months off, he's been killing time cleaning floors and doing laundry, and basically lightening my domestic load. And, and, and! We've been going on dates! Finally we've got time to, well, spend time together! It's been utterly fantastic! Granted, I'm realizing that even when people are busy and seemingly time-crunched, dates have to be a priority, for putting off "time together" till your schedules allow for it means just that--putting it off and putting it off till who knows when! And then where do you wind up? I will forever promote that couples make time to fall in love over and over and over again :)

Also, I've got another of my best friends, A from Chicago, visiting this weekend! Talk about always having things to look forward to, huh?! I'm entirely too blessed to have such good friends who spend the money and take the time to visit me. With plans to visit the art museum and Denver's Tattered Cover bookstore, I can't wait to get all girl-i-fied AND cultured! Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures (or perhaps that's something I could talk my award-winning photographer husband into???).

Last but not least, for all you seasonal-offering fans like myself, Starbucks is serving their Peppermint Mochas again! Fridays just got yummier :)

I hope y'all are enjoying November as much as I am. In the words of a gentleman I recently spoke to on the telephone, "Don't save the thanks for Thanksgiving Day. Make the entire month of November a series of 'thank yous'."

And so, many thanks and <3 to you, dear readers.

A Toast to...

Recently, two of my friends lost loved ones, so I'd like to dedicate this post to them. May the following ridiculosity (a real, though made-up-sounding word that's ridiculous in itself) and jib-jab lighten their hearts and brighten their day :) All my love to you, A and A.


A Toast to...

*Bishop, for sitting on the staircase landing all precious-like, behaving yourself by munching on a chew-toy...er, wait...our RUG?! BAD BISHY! BAD DOG! Now our rug has three corners instead of four.

How unique.

*Canned pickled beets, for satisfying my salty craving while nauseating my beet-hater husband. I enjoy not only your luscious red color (enhanced by the notorious Red No. 2) but also your luscious red taste (thank you, high fructose corn syrup and sodium).

I am excited to finish the other half of the can at work today, out of sight and smell of my root-discriminating husband :)

*Yes and Yes, for picking my husband's photograph for its 2011 calendar! If you're into "quotes, ideas and hilariously real holidays" and "monthly lists to fill in (i.e. "New Things I'll Try This Year" and "Famous People I'd Like To Kiss") and even "space to detail 'Things I Loved This Month' - so you can keep a mini-diary of all the good things that happen in 2011," then get your butts on over there and purchase one, you Silly Sallies!

*Visiting with out-of-state friends, for reminding me that no matter the miles between us or the months between face-time, we've got something special. It's remarkable that we live our daily lives without seeing each other or talking much really, yet when we come together again, it's without having missed a beat. You know why? Because we've got love between us, girlfriends--that good ol' fashioned glue that makes me adore your passions, your smarts, your jokes (good and bad), your quirks, etc, etc. The glue that makes us accept each other for ALL that we are.

That bordered on obsessive, stalker love-letter, didn't it?

*November. You take the tail end of Fall and the the beginning of Winter and really let loose, don't you, November? Because all the leaves in Colorado have changed color, you assume it's time to start blowing them off the branches? As if we can see them better in the muddy grass and gutters. You've also turned the weather a bit nippy, making Bishy's early morning pee runs a blast and a half...of cold air that is.

But in all fairness, you have some wonderful things in store for us, don't you, November? After all, you kick off the holiday season! Thanksgiving! Ain't no better holiday than one filled with warm, hearty food, and a table full of family. Thanks in advance for my stretched stomach :)

*Star of India restaurant, for making A and I realize that good Indian food doesn't mean driving 30 minutes to downtown Denver. To think, just down the street from our suburban house, Star of India is whipping up mouth-watering jasmine rice, naan, palak paneer, aloo gobi...excuse me while I pause to swallow my saliva...and other spicy wonders.

I'm probably gonna have to go there soon/today.

*Our neighborhood, for tricking us into thinking that the million bicycle-crazed, ball-kicking, question-asking, and dog-fearing kids running about the place would be trick-or-treating on Halloween. As the last of the seven, I repeat SEVEN, kids stopped by our house, our Costco bags of candy were not even half-empty. Though I do occasionally enjoy a Tootsie Roll or two, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH FIVE POUNDS OF LEFTOVER CANDY?! Next time a kid rolls by me on a trike, I'm showering him with handfuls of candy! You have a question about Bishop's relation to Marmaduke? Here's some candy! Did your ball land in our yard? CANDY!

Okay, so maybe we gave em reason to stay away...

Would YOU like to take a pound of candy off our hands???


A and A, I hope you giggled at least ONCE during the above rampage. Know I'm thinking of you...<3