Mel J/Mel K's Wedding

Happy New Year! (2 weeks late...)


We had such a wonderful New Year's Day this year. I worked NYE so we won't talk about it. My high school and college friend, Melissa, got married in Austin on New Year's Day at an AMAZING ceremony and reception at the Four Seasons.


Our trip started off a little hairy when we got in town at 3PM (wedding started at 5PM) and our room was not ready. I still needed to shower and get totally ready. I fiddled around a little, went to the bar, and met up with some of the wedding party. My friend Kathryn graciously let me shower in their room while I was waiting. Around 4, they finally let us in our room. Apparently, we were upgraded to a lake-view so I did not complain.

This was the first Jewish wedding I have gone to so it was so neat to see all of their traditions. In the program, they had a page devoted to explaining the traditions. Did you know you do not stand during the bride's processional? Good to know! Here is us at the ceremony. I know I took pics before their wedding but I think it is on my real camera. I did not take any during the ceremony because I cannot stand when people do that. It is so distracting. Johnny looks mildly possessed so please ignore.

Their flowers were beyond amazing. See below:

The Bride and Groom

Grooms cake. Ha! It was huge!

This looks like the most terrifying thing in the world!

Party favors: Whataburger Taquitos to-go. Superb idea.

This was the first night we left Gus. We left him with my parents so I knew he'd be in good hands. I only sent him with 1 page of instructions for the 26 hours he was in their care. Trust me, I held back. When we went to pick him up, he seemed happy and not starved and not stressed. I guess I'll trust the grandparents to watch him again!

I'll update this post with more pics when I upload my camera!

Merry Christmas x2

Merry post-Christmas! I hope everyone had a beautiful holiday!


We celebrate Christmas in several stages: big family, small family, couple family. Christmas Eve is always spent with all of the sisters (and their families) at my parents' house. The kiddos are too excited about presents so we start with that.

I got my first registry gift: Juliska plates!

I also got great gift cards and Christmas socks for next year.

Our tradition for Christmas Eve dinner stems from my dad's mom- stacked enchiladas. They are very easy to make and good for a crowd. You need:

Corn Tortillas

Red Enchilada Sauce

Green Enchilada Sauce

Ground Beef

Baked Chicken

Lettuce

Cheese

Pico de Gallo

Pretty much any topping you like on tacos

1. Cook your tortilla for about a minute in either sauce. 

2. Layer with meat. 

3. Cook another tortilla in either sauce.

4. Layer with meat.

5. Add your toppings.

Easy enough?

I worked Christmas Eve so after dinner, I headed to the hospital.

Christmas morning, I went back to my parents for Christmas #2. There, I got my second registry gift: Kitchen Aid Mixer with Ice Cream Maker attachment. So beautiful!

I also got some more gift cards and a Juliska service piece. 

We finished the morning eating breakfast while watching the Disney Christmas Parade. We all spent the day napping, snacking, playing Chicken Foot Dominos and enjoying our gifts. For dinner, we had beef tenderloin with yummy mashed potatoes with green beans. 

Later that night, Johnny and I exchanged our gifts. He got me a great Macy's gift card so I could choose something from the registry. I got him a wallet (brown, tri-fold, lots of pockets as requested), Vinturi wine stand, and an IOU for a new watch. The one he wanted was out of stock online and unable to be found in any stores, naturally. 

How can I forget the best Christmas present of all? Gus! Who knocked over my "Gus-proof" tree stand and broke 3 glass ornaments. But I still love him.

Oh Christmas Tree!

I usually get really excited about Christmas decorations, and this year was no different. The weekend after Thanksgiving, I gathered my goodies and set them out. I only use real Christmas trees so we were going to wait until a few weeks later to get our tree. Then Gus happened. Our four-legged friend took a distinct interest in the faux Christmas trees in the foyer of the complex and proceeded to break an ornament within the first 6 seconds of sniffing. I am not interested in any of my fave ornaments being broken by him so I made a compromise:

Brooke got this super cute metal swirl tree from Crate and Barrel so I rushed to get one. But they were out. And all over the state. And online. Wahhhh! So I headed to Pier 1 and found a smaller version:

I hung a few of my favorite ornaments on our make-shift Christmas tree. From top-to-bottom, left-to-right: 1) Pineapple from Williamsburg when we were at Katie's wedding. 1a) Can you see the hidden pickle? 2) Juliska ornament, gift from the Bartletts for our engagement. 3) Gold ball from Brooke. 4) Red ball from my mom's BFF, Lisa. 5) Christopher Radko UT ornament. 6) Round Top acorn ornament from "Winston." 7) Pink and green "e" ornament from the mommy. 8) Silver ball ornament from Randall's, no joke. 9) Christopher Radko Theta ornament. 10) Christopher Radko "Little Brown Bag" ornament from NYC.

Gus's first ornament! I know that the framed pic is of Winston but pictures of Gus are not here yet.

Our stockings on the "mantle!" I had the green and red stockings already and ordered a coordinating stocking for Gussies from Frontgate. I will have it monogrammed after Christmas. I wanted to be sure it would be here for Gus's first Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I'll post after the holidays too!

Adopt-a-Family

This year, my Wino Wednesday happy hour group participated in Houston Children's Charity's Adopt-a-Family for Christmas. My friend, Annie, put it together and I thought it was a wonderful idea! I was so touched by the generosity of our group that I decided I wanted to adopt a family of our own. I recruited my family to help.

I contacted Houston Children's Charity and we were given a family with 4 children, ages 7 months to 9 years. When the families apply to be adopted, they have to submit proof of income and government aid. My family brought in less than $400 a month, including government aid. I knew we had to do something great for the family! We are all so blessed and this is really the least we could do. 

After talking to the mom and finding out the kids' interests, we made a trip to Target and went a little crazy. I also went to CostCo and bought packs of diapers for the two still in diapers, as well as a Kroger gift card. We delivered the gifts this past weekend and it was so fun! The family was so appreciative and it felt so good to know they would have a good Christmas. I am definitely going to continue this every season and I encourage you to do the same! 

Lights in the Heights

Today will be blog-a-palooza since I've been a slacker recently. First up: Lights in the Heights! This was the post from last year. To freshen your memory, LITH is a neighborhood festival the second Saturday of December. The city was trying to scale-down the party this year because it became too expensive. They took away the parade (which I never went to), changed the hours (roads only closed from 6PM-9PM), and no vendors (which I never bought from). I think we still had a blast! 

My house is only 2 blocks away from the route so we started there with some drinks and appetizers. 

Katherine had a work Christmas party later that night but did not miss the chance to hang for a few hours. Reason #485 why I love her.

This is a pretty good example of what makes Lights so great! Pretty house, decorated for Christmas, with a band for everyone to enjoy!

Sisters!

Johnny and Kyle made some new friends!

Ornament Exchange

My mom's BFF, Lisa, has hosted an ornament exchange for the past several years. Sunday, we headed to Lisa's for the par-tay! This year, we dressed up in tacky Christmas gear. Below is the sweater I wore. My mom gets really defensive about this sweater because it was "expensive" and from Neiman Marcus. I actually believe that it is from Neiman's because she still has the box... This pic of the sweater is from a party last year. Eww, my hair is too long. The sweater is 100% sequins and weighs about 20 pounds:

We had some pretty handsome bartenders!

All of the ornaments!

We do the rule of "3rd owner." Meaning, each gift can be opened and then stolen twice. The 3rd person to get the gift is the final owner. Brooke's, my mom's, and my ornaments were all received by the 3rd owner. Meaning, we're good at picking our ornaments. 

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I LOVE the Christmas season, but there is something about the togetherness of Thanksgiving that I love so much. My family has some fun traditions that I look forward to every year.


We start off Wednesday afternoon prepping all of the yummy food. We usually have 10-15 people at my parents' house for the big day so we need lots of grub. My dad and I always bake bread from scratch. He has baked bread for as long as I can remember and I have gotten into the habit over the past few years. My signature bread is a Beer Cheese Loaf from one of my dad's bread books. Next year, when I have a camera, I will do a step-by-step. It is actually easier than you think!

Our meal Thanksgiving-Eve night is always spaghetti, thanks to my Granny's tradition!

Thursday morning, we always go to the Houston Thanksgiving Day parade with a family friend of ours, the Coogan family. The mommies always stay home to cook while the kids and dads go to the parade. We have been doing for about 15 years. I was up all night before with a fever and night-chills so I skipped this year, my day just did not feel complete!

As far as the food goes, we always have 2 turkeys- one fried and one traditionally roasted. My dad does the frying and it is so fun to watch, as weird as that sounds! It is a pretty quick process and smells so yummy. 

My dad taught the boys how to carve the turkeys. 

Here is the spread of delish foods we had. Everything is homemade:

Starting at the bottom left dish, working clock-wise: stuffing from the oven, stuffing from inside of the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey (fried and roasted), green bean casserole, my Aunt Cookie's rice dressing (family and friend favorite), mashed sweet potatoes. We also had my Beer Cheese Bread, my dad's white bread, cranberry relish, cranberry sauce, and lots of yummy desserts. 

We finished the evening watching the Texas vs A&M game. Go 'Horns!

Thanksgiving with Friends

This past weekend we had the third annual Thanksgiving with Friends. This is one of my favorite things of the year. I have everyone over to my house to celebrate the season with a pre-Thanksgiving Feast. Every year, I make the turkey and some appetizers and everyone brings a side. It is a blast. 

This is the "S" cutting board I bought for Johnny at the Nutcracker Market. Don't tell him, but it was only $19.99. There is a similar one from Williams-Sonoma for $100. I win.

Some of my appetizers plus the table scape. The table scape is up all season. 

More appetizers with the Paul Michael iron and wood cutting board I was telling you about last post. I did mixed cheeses and crackers with Spiced Cranberry Dip. Tip: to make this dip, you need (literally) 4x the amount of cayenne recommended to taste the spice. I also made this yummy Spinach & Artichoke Dip (not pictured). 

My new turkey platter! I used to always borrow the Judy's. I think she was sick of me taking it so she bought me one for myself! 

The boys' job! Carving the turkey. I bit the bullet this year and bought the turkey lifters from Williams-Sonoma. Again, I used to just borrow my mom's. 

Finished product

All of our grub! Sorry it's a little blurry and that I have no more pics. I just got too excited and forgot! 

Nutcracker Market

Nutcracker Market. Oh, the joy! The thought of it makes me smile. I purposely plan my work schedule to be off for it. 


Every year in Houston, there is a huge market to kick off the holiday season. It benefits the Houston Ballet, but I think that is the last thing on everyone's mind. There are (literally) hundreds of booths from all over selling their goods. They sell everything from home goods to Christmas decor to food. It is so fun! This year, we decided to have some breakfast at my house before heading up to Reliant. My mom, mom's BFF, sister, and sister's friend came over for some fuel. Here is the breakfast:


Coffee (of course)
Williams-Sonoma Pumpkin Bread with Pumpkin Butter, baked in my pretty loaf pan
Healthy Egg Casserole from Kraft
Fruit

Once we got there, the "grown-ups" (my mom and Lisa) split from the "kids" (sister, sister's friend, and myself) so we could maneuver more easily. We all walked away with tons-o-stuff. My purchases:
1. Large monogrammed "S" cutting board for Johnny (pic in next post)
2. Large iron and wood cutting board (pic in next post) from Paul Michael
3. Black and sparkle dress from Lot 8
4. Cute, patterned Gift Boxes from It's a Wrap
5. Cross for my Cross Wall from Paul Michael

6. The Pewter Lady- I have a few of her things and have loved them. The pewter is oven to table and always so pretty. This year I added a casserole dish holder and deviled-egg tray to my collection

We decided that all of the good stuff is on the perimeter: Round Top, Paul Michael, and The Pewter Lady. It would take you days to see every booth so save yourself the trouble and keep to the edges. This reminds me, I need to check the dates for next year to plan!

Happy Halloween!

I have been a major blog slacker recently. I just haven't had time! I fully intended on doing a million posts last Friday when I was working at the schools but their internet wouldn't let me. Plus, my camera is dead so you will just get mini-posts for the next bit. Again, please excuse my pictures, they are on my 1974 iPhone. 


On Saturday, we met with my family to have our annual pumpkin carving party. We had brunch and got to work. I wish I could show you the step-by-step of how it is done, it is actually very easy! I promise to do a better post next year! Below is my final result: cute Dracula! Notice the blood dripping from the mouth.

Saturday night, we had a friend's birthday costume party. We went as hippies. I LOVED our costumes. The best part was that I got to wear flat boots!

Happy Halloween!

4th of July

After being gone all weekend, we headed back to Houston in time for some more America celebration. We went to City Centre for their concert and fireworks display with my family. Since this was new to use, we weren't sure what to expect. Their ads said the music was from 6:30PM-9:30PM with the fireworks after. Our plan was to get there, get dinner at Ruggles Green, claim some seats and relax.

We left the house at about 5:30 to play it safe, and I am so glad we did! When we got there, the green area where the band would be playing was already 1/3 full! We went ahead and laid out our blankets, set up our chairs, and got to-go from Ruggles Green.

The band was so fun!

We brought some chicken foot dominoes to pass the time.

View of the PACKED crowd.

The fireworks were shot off behind the stage and from the top of one of the office buildings. They were so close!

We finished our 3rd fireworks show in 3 days and headed home to sleep!