13 DecPink and Lavender – a dozen of each

That’s how many roses Tom bought me today because he was promoted.

We had the great fortune of experiencing our first snow storm of the season during rush hour today. So when I picked Tom up at work I made him cut through a bus stop and cross live lanes of traffic to get to the car and when he got in with a bouquet of roses I started driving away before both of his feet cleared the road because I was NOT losing my spot in the slush covered lane. While I cursed at the slick road I asked Tom what the flowers were for and that’s when he told me he was promoted. With much joy and excitement I congratulated him and then asked, “Shouldn’t I be the one buying you flowers?”.

Due to weather our celebratory dinner was within walking distance of our house. We went to the pub at the top of the street (not the big boobs required to work here pub, but the other one) and had all sorts of yummy bar food. And when Tom picked up the tab I thought to myself, “seriously, what kind of congratulator am I?”

So he’s the big cheese now at work (not to be confused with the big cheese at home, that’s still me). Hmmm…what should I spend his paycheck on first?? Ha ha just kidding. I already spent it!

As a side note, I was going to write about the move in my PiYo (Pilates / Yoga) class I pulled off this week for the first time, but I think my hubs promotion gets top billing today. But somehow I am still managing to mention the side plank while threading the needle move that I rocked anyway.

Back to Tom…congrats babe!

04 DecNot the All You Can Eat kind.

Our Ethan Allen buffet has arrived. Now all of Tom’s whiskey, our wedding china and my chachkie have a home of their own. Let’s take a look…

On each end of our buffet we have lovely lamps that were Tom’s grandmothers. With this lamp I have a glittery pumpkin that was used as a place holder at my friend Janelle’s wedding, a pear candle that was a gift from my aunt in my college days, and one of those potpourri stick things from our friends Adam and Audrey. From this angle you can also see a book about whiskey, I have a no whiskey rule for the buffet, but somehow the book sneaked in.

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With the other lamp I have a vase I bought in Venice on a family trip that is filled with dried flowers from a bridesmaid bouquet and a painted plate that I call “The Girl”. The plate was a birthday present from my grandma and she probably has no idea how much it means to me. I just love it.

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In the center I have Wilton Armetale platters, a wedding gift from my grandma, there is one more piece to the set but it’s too large for the buffet, a little red eucalyptus keeps the platter full for now. There is also a McKenzie-Childs pitcher that was a gift from my parents and and a Nambe vase, a birthday present from…you guessed it…my grandma…filled with wooden tulips from the local Tulip Festival that I bought with my girlfriend Carrie many years ago. I think this spot is begging for Nambe salt and pepper shakers. Should have registered for those bad boys.

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After almost three years of marriage our Denby White Trace dinnerware has settled into its new digs. In the second photo you can see our Crate and Barrel birthday plates for a splash of color and fun (um, yes, from grandma). The drawers keep our Kate Spade flatware tidy and our serving pieces in line, including a cake knife that we both admire, its handle is the silhouette of a nude woman, a very unique wedding gift.

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So where does this lead us? Well to the liquor of course. Now that all of my stuff is out of the way Tom has room to spread his bottles out. In addition to whiskey he had a brief stint with Rum. He has since decided not to pursue it. Mojitos anyone? His four rum bottles can be found on top of our Ethan Allen wine rack (that was a nicely marked down floor model) along with a crystal bowl that was a wedding gift from my mom’s Aunt Annie. The store in San Fransisco it came from is fancier than any store I frequent so I kept the box and store all of my wedding ribbons in it. There is also a a crystal Celtic knot that my brother and his wife brought back for us from their trip to Ireland, a Whole Foods milk jug with dried flowers from my friend Carrie that she gave me because I admired them in her home, and a jewelry box Tom bought for me “just because”. Underneath our stemware hangs over empty spots that bottles of wine should be filling.

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And here we are. The reason for this post. The reason for the buffet. The reason why my husband is so much more than a computer geek but rather a well rounded geek. The whiskey. A ridiculous amount of whiskey. Snuggled in with the bottles is a post card size painting we purchased from a co-workers struggling artist boyfriend. On the wall is a poem my grandfather wrote about cats when he was 10 years old in 1910 that my parents had framed for me and which I just adore. In the Barrister bookcase that Tom inherited from his grandmother are more serving and dining items including a set of eight Waterford double old fashioned glasses from my parents trip to Ireland.

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And now I can’t help but think of all of our generous friends and family (with really great taste) that live in all the corners of our home.

27 NovCongrats Helio!

The Helio Castroneves I know wins car races, but tonight he and his partner Julianne won Dancing with the Stars. I admit I never watched the show until tonight, much less voted for anyone including Helio, and even tonight I jumped to the show during the last half hour just to see if he would win, but congrats anyway. And, Helio, I will see you (from a distance) at St. Pete’s in April.

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Yet another victory.

10 NovNot so easy until now.

Cutting calories in what feels like at least half…not easy.

Passing on ooey gooey desserts …not easy.

Going to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and just getting a coffee…not easy.

Reading every single nutritional label ever…not easy.

Grocery shopping with me…not easy.

Measuring and weighing food…not easy.

Finding low, low, low, low calorie treats…not easy.

Eating out once a week instead of three to four times…not easy.

Going hungry for hours because suddenly meals seem

so

much

further

apart…not easy.

Shopping for new clothes because I went down a size…so very easy.

06 NovNew home for our liquor

As some of you may know Tom has a new hobby. Drinking. Not get drunk falling down drinking, I will always hold that title in our house. But sniffing, sipping, swirling the good stuff drinking. This has lead to quite the high end liquor collection.

Tom announced to me, “We need a buffet so I have room for all my bottles.” I said, sure, no problem, sounds good…then promptly forgot about it. Sunday morning Tom woke up and said, “Are we going to Ethan Allen today?” Wow. Sure.

We found a buffet we both really like, and with their 6 months same as cash financing, one we can afford. Tom wasn’t leaving without it. So this is what we have on order…

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Let his bottles breathe.

02 NovWhat’s Ten Years?

Last night at the Y I approached a staff member to ask why the spin schedule had changed. He gave me some made up answer and then ended with, “I really don’t know.” He then says, “I have a question for you.” Which led to the following conversation:

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Where did you go to high school?”

“I didn’t go to school in the area.”

“Oh because you look like someone I graduated with.”

“Tell me this, what year did you graduate high school?”

“02”

Pointing at myself I say, “92”

Jaw drops.

I told him I considered it a complement then added, for a little extra shock value, that I graduated college before he graduated high school.

I have to tell you the ten years he took off my looks led to a really good workout. I was feeling great before I even hit the cardio machine.

28 OctDusty

So my blog has gotten a little lot dusty. I think there is a geek name for that like dlog or something.

So why tonight? Because I am giving Tom’s new laptop a whirl. Sometimes I think that if I had a laptop of my own I would update my blog more often because I could post from anywhere, the couch, from bed, at the dining room table, a quaint cafe. But I’m not going to spend over $700.00 today or tomorrow to find out.

Anyway, I think Tom will be very happy with his new toy. Must go now, as he is hovering.

20 SepShopping or Eating Out

My brother sent me an email the other day…to say hi. I thought that was awfully suspicious and immediately replied with an inquiry about his mental state of mind. Come to find out, he really was just saying hi. So I responded again with a little blurb about what I’ve been up to lately, one such item being that Tom and I both recently got promoted. His reply? “The way I read things on your blog, you needed it seeing how it appears that every waking moment is either shopping or eating out. That’s gotta cost a bit in the end.” This caught me off guard for a couple reasons. 1) He reads my blog? 2) I didn’t know that was the vibe my blog was giving out, and 3) No I don’t just shop and eat out! Crap. Yes I do.

Money can keep a person up at night tossing and turning with worry, regret and fear. It can also be the demise of an otherwise loving relationship. Luckily for Tom and me its neither of those things (knock on wood). We’ll be the first to admit we don’t have it all figured out, we do what we I think is best (pay ourselves first, blah, blah, blah) and then, yes, we go shopping and eat out. And who says I don’t have a hobby?