Thanksgiving in NYC

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Mr. B and I had a very busy Thursday.
We traveled to NYC the night before and stayed with my friends.
I've been visiting them on Thanksgiving since the Accountant and I were dating.
NYC around the holidays is MAGICAL.

When we first started visiting, our friends rented a 1 bedroom loft on the upper east side.
SMALL, but so homey.
All 12 of us would squeeze into the living/dining area and eat a catered Thanksgiving.
Now, TWO children later, they live in a 2 bedroom loft on the upper west side.

Cici is 6...can you believe that?
Fiona is 2.

Energy level for both? A bajillion.
We are all in our late twenties, early thirties...and we jam in there like it's an elementary school sleep over.
Later tonight (Thursday) Mr. B and I will cozy up on a double air mattress and laugh the night away with beautiful friends.

The parade this morning was beautiful.
Pictures forthcoming.
It's something like the 9th year for me.
Absolutely not a {seen it once}, type of deal.

I'm a bit of an OCD packer since we had the {bed bugs} after our hotel stay in NJ.
So.
I planned and photographed our three outfits, washed and heat dried the clothing AND duffle bag on high heat and put each days outfit in a zip lock bag.

I know, I have a problem.
But, getting outfits ready ahead of time helps us ENJOY the days rather than thinking about what would go with and what we should wear when...etc.


Day One....Parade Day
Jean Jacket: Torrid
White Shirt: Wal Mart
Skirt: Old Navy
Leggings and Boots: Le Target Boutique
{I also rocked my gold and white ruffled scarf from The Pleated Poppy}
It was CHILLY today.

Day One....Thanksgiving Dinner and Later Desserts @ Serendipity
Switched the Jacket for the Purple Target Sweater...had a magical time so far.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares of GOODNESS!

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Having the holidays catered is a luxury I am VERY aware not every family receives.
We don't however, get the sweets catered.
Each of us is in charge of bringing something sweet and delicious.

This year, Mr. B and I whipped up some Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares of goodness!
YUMMO!

We used this recipe from Rachael Ray's Site: Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 package pound cake mix (16 ounces)
  • 3 eggs, divided
  • 2 tablespoons margarine or butter (melted)
  • 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided
  • 1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
  • 2 cups pumpkin (16 ounces)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped nuts, pecans preferred
Serves 48 bars!

PREPARATION

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
In large mixer bowl, on low speed, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, margarine/butter and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, until crumbly.
Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan or a Rachael Ray Bubble and Brown Baker.
In large mixer bowl, beat the cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk; then the remaining 2 eggs, the pumpkin and the remaining 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice and salt; mix well.
Pour over the crust and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until set.
Cool. Chill, then into bars. Store in the refrigerator.
I also added some frosting:
1 and 1/4 cups of Sour Cream
1/4 granulated sugar
1 cup Cool Whip


































Amazeballs!

Giving Thanks :)

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T is for the time I've been given with friend, family and loved ones.  It's so precious and I am so thankful for it.
h is for the home I share with my mother and beside my grandmother.  Without it - I'd be homeless this year.  True story.
a is for all the amazing journeys I've shared this year.  Some okay, some ridiculously awesome.
n is for knowing it is in his hands.  He will provide and care for me no matter what the circumstances.
k is for the kindness that has been bestowed this year from the Bertrams, the Engelsons, and the world.
s is for soul searching, soul surviving, soul thriving, as well as stitches in your brow :)
is for growing up, growing older, growing fonder by the hour.
i is for independence.
v is for the very thought of YOU that makes me smile.
i is for all the wonderful ideas we've shared.
n is for the knowledge that things are not to be cherished, but rather, people are.
g is for the unbelievable grace bestowed on me this year.  Grace beyond your wildest imagination.
{I may or may not have been a teacher in a previous life} :)

Hey blog world friends and real life friends:
Travel safely, love freely, hug openly, and cherish the memories of this day.

Mr. B and I are off to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving's Day Parade, dinner with friends, dessert at Serendipity, and skating in Bryant Park.

Friday we'll be back to Western, MA to spend the day with my niece and nephew, Nat and Nick.  Hooray!

See you Saturday Blog friends.

Happy Day Project Round Up :)

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The Happy Happy Happy Day Project Week was AMAZEBALLS!
{Julie and Jeannett were SUPER AWESOME to give us a week to get our post together...sadly...it took me two weeks :)}  HAPPY!
Here we go:
Treate to our FANTASTIC NEIGHBORS!
This assignment fell on our city's week late Halloween {post the Nor'easter}, so it was like reverse trick or treating.






We delivered Cake Balls and Delicious notes to Neighbors Bill and Doreen, Neighbors Chris and Lauren, and Neighbor Nana.
JOY!Happy Project success!






Jeannett talks about being ruined on her blog by some of these assignments.
This one RUINED me.  In a good way.
Writing letters with Little Man George and listening to the way he loves his family.
Writing a note to my 89 year old Nana and 5th grade teacher.
Sending Wren her note and target card was...well...I was a puddle.
EVERY time I think of young people who are sick I think of her.
And I imagine that this small gift would have given her family a little peace of heart and piece of heart for that matter.
And I miss my best friend.  
BREATHE IN.  Breath out.  
I'm okay...I WILL....NOT....CRY....
Inside Wren's Card
LMG and I headed to Amherst, MA to find my favorite bucket playing homeless super hero who supports MANY other homeless people by renting an apartment where they can stay, alas, we found another one of the many homeless youth in the 5 College Area.
LMG delivered our Dunkin Donuts card with a hi-5 and one of his famous smiles.
"The world IS small, and we're all in together."





I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read and that made this assignment exceptionally difficult.  How many books, to how many friends, and then WHICH ONES!?  Thankfully, I knew what I wanted to do the next day to REFRESH someone, so I loaded up my car with some of my favorite classroom library books and headed to my ALL time favorite school where a certain someone named Jayne works and delivered some of my favorites to her class.  A Turkey for Thankgiving...Favorite read aloud of the season!







Refreshing someone was supposed to take place our favorite park...sadly, and truly, our favorite Duck, Ozzie, was murdered there the day before and I decided that was not so much where I wanted to be.  So I decided to combine Day 4 and 5 and deliver some refreshment to some teachers.  I made notes that said "I wish I could really send you to FIGI, but hope this refreshes you today!"






"Service" is broad right?  I did also pay for the actual Air Forcemen in line behind us at Chipotle this day too, but I felt so corny, I didn't ask for a photo....PLEASE people, I was on the verge of tears!  We have service people who teach our children every day while being parents themselves, and children themselves, and friends, and boyfriends...so, ya' know, I turned my eyes to them.  I made flower pens and delivered a floral arrangement to the teacher's lounge of three of my favorite schools.

To wrap up the week, we'll be doing blessing boxes as a church service project with our youth group in 2 Sunday's, stay tuned :)

The Happy Project is as much about doing happy things, as it is putting happiness out in the world and watching as it bounces off the light of others and makes the world a happier place.



I can't thank Julie or Jeannett enough for this incredible endeavor!

Holiday Wreath Made by a Teenager :)

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I've been pinteresting the holidays since last holiday. :)
I've tried to break it down by month, and tried....key being TRIED...to stay a month ahead of the actual holiday.

October and November's wreath was the Thumb tack wreath...so that was done late in October, early for November.

I'm getting started on Holiday stuff, as cheaply and as early as I can.

This being a no sob story place, needless to say, I've got about $10.00 set aside for the ENTIRE holiday season. 
And no, I didn't mean $100.

The majority of that goes to getting myself to NYC for Thanksgiving and New Year's with friends.  Shout out Rina and Kavel <---- See you, your munchable munchkins, and your masterfeast dinner theater in just a couple of days!

Back on track here and without further ado...the wreath.

Pinterest has a BAJILLION and 37 wreath ideas and honestly, if I had a bajillion and 37 rooms, I'd make them all and live in a house of wreaths.  

Sadly, I have about 10 rooms that could use a wreath total, and about 2 that actually have them hanging.

What excited me about this project is that NOTHING is glued on. 
NOTHING.  
You'll use hot glue, but not TO the wreath.

So I have a new plan.
It makes me giddy.

In January, after the holiday, I'll take a big zip lock bag, dismantle all the December Pieces into the bag, and create a January wreath using the white yarn wreath I already have.  At the end of the January, I'll bag those pieces up and use the white yarn wreath to make a Valentine's Heart Wreath for February....and so on.

Someone, somewhere, already thought up that idea and I'm totally grateful for it.  
I think In January we'll try doing that argyle pattern in blues, whites, and silvers?
 Here's what you'll need.

1. Straw Wreath $2.99 @ Joanne's
2. A skein of whatever color yarn you'd like, I chose white and it was $2.49 @ Joanne's
3. 4 sheets of felt, 4/$1 @ Joanne's (I got 2 red, 1 brown, and one green - The red and brown were embossed and beautiful.)
4. Pins of a different assortment, I used what I had which included gold thumbtacks from October and pearl corsage pins from other yarn wreaths.
5. Hot glue gun or glue.
6. Berries from Joanne's...currently 50% off!  JOY.  I got those bad boys for .49 cents!

Make the yarn wreath by wrapping the white yarn tightly around the straw wreath, this should be tight, but not too tight.
DON'T try to multitask this part.
I was watching Once Upon A Time on my laptop, playing with Little Buddy Frank and Wrapping.
At one point, I wrapped it too tight and there is a skinny part of the wreath.
{Thankfully, I covered that with felt flowers.}

Using strips of felt cut form the red, embossed sheet about 1/2 thick, I started wrapping the candy cane stripe around.

I used a thumbtack to hold it in place while I made sure the placement looked good.

One they were wrapped, about 6 strips for mine, I hot glued the ends together so that it became one lone piece of felt. {helpful for next year mostly}

I covered the connectors with a row of gold thumbtacks.
I had left overs, you could also spray those the same color as your felt.

For my flowers - I started working from here:
Mrs. Priss' Tut - SO SIMPLE.

Somewhere out in blog world someone has a tut about cutting on the diagonal instead of straight - it gives it a real petal effect and I did that on three of the flowers.
I made three brown {1 big 2 small}, and two red {small}

Using the long pearl tipped corsage pins, I pinned the the flowers to that small spot.

I folded green circle felt into leaves and stuck those in around the flowers - no glue, no pins, just stuck 'em in.

Added the red berries, just stick 'em in again and wallah - finished!

On that note....another LMG story

I went to get LMG in this outfit today.
His comments about the way I dress are free comedy.
Today, he started with the comment on the picture.
My response was, "Who told you to say that?"
"Nobody.  But you do.  You look like a teenager."

My response was...."Pay you a quarter to say that EVERY time you see me."
"Okay," a beat, "Hey, Rena,  you look like a teenager."

We laughed for a long time.

Mr. Belding Outdoes Himself

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Mr. Belding and I officially celebrated our 6 month anniversary {corny?} this weekend.

And what a weekend it was.

Here it is:
Friday Night
Hartford for dancing, drinks, and good times with great friends.

Saturday Night
UMASS Amherst for a 40 minute late Russell Brand who made me pee my pants.

Sunday Afternoon
SUNY Purchase, NY to see Audra McDonald.  Amazeballs.
What?

Whose weekend looks like that?

Friday night was SUPPOSED to be craft night with my little sister.
She bailed.
Anyone surprised?
Didn't think so.

Off we set for CT and my favorite dance floors.
Mr. Belding is NOT a big dance fan, however, he's also no wall flower. :)
We made a good pair.

Our couple friends are in their family building stage of life so going out dancing is a luxury that was not lost on any of us.  Greatly appreciated.  Also, I move like Jagger, just in case you were wondering.

On Saturday I crafted...can not WAIT to show you my wreath.
I also worked on Nana's book.
Then Mr. B and I headed to Amherst for a nice supper and to see Russell do his thang.
He's crude.
Yells.
And I LOVED him.

"I've done my research on this school, Bill Cosby and Hockey Fights."
Perfect.

I got the SURPRISE of my life when Mr. B said he had planned to take me to the 3 o'clock show in NY to see Audra.

I'm a super fan.

"Wheels of a dram?"

Anyone?

LUUUUURVE.

So, we ventured out early, had lunch in Manhattan and then headed back up to the Purchase Theater.
Shut up.

She was Amazeballs.

AMAZE balls.

Today LMG and I are doing homework, crafting, and laughing.