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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

tis the season

happy holidays!

i love christmas. decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, traveling, entertaining... i love all of it. i'm tired by january, but it's worth it. and with this being the first christmas in a house (a real house!), i thought we'd go all out - have a party, go crazy decorating, home-made baked goods for all the neighbors, everything. but... every weekend is already full, so no party. plus, the house is not nearly where i want it to be before we invite half the world over again. and if no party, what's the point in decorating the house? we will spend the majority of the holiday with our families, and i typically ship gifts, so no presents under the tree. which means the tree isn't really worth it ($70 for two weeks?? anyone who has met my husband knows that is not happening). and two registration exams before december 20 means i shouldn't use decorating as another way to procrastinate...

being a practical adult is not very fun. so phil took me to the cute little garden store by our house to buy a wreath for the front door : ) i picked out a big, fresh boxwood beauty and we bought a wreath hanger, since i've never had a wreath before. we were having people over for the last regular season a&m game (whoop! go johnny football!) and thought it would be a nice way to start the holiday season. but, ummm, we had no idea what to do with it when we got home. does it go on the real front door or the storm door???? the wreath hanger didn't fit on the front door - it was too skinny. we tried to change its shape, but the door wouldn't close. not good in the winter. also, then you can't see it from the street. isn't that one of the main reasons you have a christmas wreath? i don't know, i'm new at this wreath thing. so we put it on the storm door. and it looked like this...


weird. and it slammed whenever the storm door closed. like "bump, bump" and just generally not right. sooooo i moved it inside. to the door between the dining room and den. and i like it. will it stay there? who knows! we will put up lights in the front this weekend and then i might move it back to the front door. 

PS - see my milk delivery box? : ) 
PPS - don't you love how much better the instagram photo looks? it makes everything better!



Sunday, November 11, 2012

autumn adventures

i realize i've been MIA lately...

i've taken two architect registration exams; structural systems and site planning and design. i still have five more. this is one of the most difficult things i've done recently. the studying takes so much time, and i walk out of the testing center feeling miserable. i honestly have no idea if i passed or failed. luckily, i passed both. but i'm sure that i will fail at least one of them. i'm planning on two more before the end of the year, and then take the rest by early spring.

phil and i went to new york city with two of our good friends, lauren and andy. it was a wonderful weekend - good food, good drinks and great company. we explored the highline, the park, brooklyn... i went several places i had never been before. then i went to chicago with my friends brooke and lauren (different lauren). the weather was awful - cold and rainy. but the city is beautiful!! this was my first time, and i loved it. what an amazing city! i also went to phoenix for a conference. it was so warm and wonderful.

in addition, we've hosted several a&m game-watching parties, went to a masquerade ball and halloween parties and survived a hurricane. we did spring a small roof leak and the city had to take down a tree in the front, but we are grateful for the first of many falls in this house. looking forward to another season of change, learning all we can about snow shoveling and winter pipe insulation : )

ps - all photos taken from my instagram account (my account is ekcd)