i made it out alive

I made it through our first Thanksgiving weekend (as newlyweds) and I'm here to tell the tale!

Thanksgiving was great..it was the typical "let's go see my family then we'll go see your family" and we had the pop dukes (in law) in tow for the journey. I brought the baked brie (from my last post) to Aunt #1's house where we were having dinner. At the last minute I started doubting the deliciousness of the recipe since I've never made it before but, woah...did it turn out good, so good that it was already almost gone by the time I went to go take a picture of it. The crust was super buttery (YUM) but I did end up using more than what was called for in the original recipe. After dinner, it was off to Aunt #2's house for our 2nd dessert..ugh! Luckily, there were lots of pictures from the wedding to be seen to distract me from the food coma I put myself in. It was great to see both family's since it was the first time that we've seen most of them since the wedding but the night had to end and then it was onto our next challenge...BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!

We grabbed two of my cousins and off we went for some overnight shopping. All in all, I wasn't as impressed as I have been in previous years. I didn't question why most of the merchandise was on sale for such low prices...it looked it. Being a borderline shopaholic, I was shocked I only walked away from our excursion with an outfit for each of my parents and a sweatshirt for myself (after shopping from 11:30 p.m to 6 a.m). Round 2 of shopping started at 2 p.m on Saturday after the lovely hubster thought it was a great idea to wake me up at noon- remind me to thank him later. I had better luck the 2nd time out. NY&Co. had 50% off everything and I went bonkers. 2 cardi's, 2 tank's, jeans, coat, scarf, & a hat later I was done. I completed the one mission I had for the weekend and bought a tv for my parents' Christmas gift. They helped out SO much these past few years with the wedding & now that I can afford it...they totally deserve it. Day 3 of our shopping extravaganza consisted of a German Christmas fair. We all shopped around for all sorts of homemade Christmas goodies will sipping on some mulled wine. I walked away with some beautiful hand painted ornaments, a bunch of decorations, cranberry walnut bread, and a stomach full of bratwurst. Successful day if you ask me.

So what's there to do now that the weekends done? I'm kicking Christmas into high gear! I have to decorate the whole apartment and I have intentions of making the most adorable ornaments ever for our 1st Christmas tree (stay tuned). Also, I plan on giving a diet a real shot because lord knows I need it! After the weeks leading up to the wedding (and grabbing whatever was easiest when I finally got hungry enough), then the wedding, then the honeymoon (where most of the damage was done), and the grand finale of Thanksgiving something needs to be done NOW! Unfortunately, waiting another month until after Christmas will result in packing on another 10-15 lbs. I have to do this, I need to be the cute, (somewhat) thin wifey I wanna be. Let's see how well I do getting through this holiday season...

baked brie

I'm fortunate that this year for Thanksgiving my pre-Thanksgiving day prep has been minimal. I've only been asked by the hubby's aunt (I guess since we're married that now makes her my aunt, too) to make some sort of an appetizer. That's where the baked brie comes in. I've only had this once before when I was much younger and I remember it being delicious so I wanted to try it out for myself. Plus, it seems like a very fall/Thanksgiving appropriate appetizer. So, here goes nothin..my first attempt at baked brie!

ingredients-

12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1 1/4 lb's brie cheese (I used 2 triangles- .60 lbs each)
4-5 tbsp's melted butter
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. walnuts
1/4 c. dried cranberries



directions-

In a small bowl, combine nuts, dried cranberries, and honey. Set aside



Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and lay the first sheet of phyllo dough down in the center. Using a pastry brush, brush the phyllo dough lightly with melted butter. Repeat until you've layered 6 sheets of the phyllo dough.



In the center of the layered sheets, spread the fruit & nut mixture. Place the brie on top of the mixture. Fold the sides of the phyllo dough up around the brie.



Layer another 6 sheets of phyllo dough with butter and place over the exposed brie. Flip over and fold the sides up. Brush the package with melted butter





Place package in a preheated 425 degree oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Allow brie to sit for about 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with crackers or french bread.

I haven't actually baked mine yet so I'll have to update after it's been served. I'm hoping it turns out as yummy as I remember it....

(Update- Sorry for no photo of the finished product but it got attacked once I put it down on the table! The brie came out buttery, cheesy, and just how I expected. I used more butter than posted on the recipe since I used 12 sheets of phyllo when it originally called for 6. Plus I might have thrown in an extra 1/4 c. or so of dried cranberries and walnuts just because it looked like it needed it. Also, I baked it for a wee bit less time..maybe just 5 minutes at the end instead of 10 since the cheese was melting out & it was definitely golden brown. I highly recommend this recipe!)

you want me to put what in where?

Passion Party [pa-shun-par-tee] (noun)- a home party where (mostly overpriced) toys of the adult nature, along with other bedroom paraphernalia, are displayed and sold to a posse of women who have been gathered together by the host- usually a friend or relative- who has tempted them to come with promises of food, drinks, and a night away from their husband.

....at least that's my definition of it. Last night was my first ever experience with the likes of a Passion Party. Oh, I'm familiar with them...I've heard many a stories of brightly colored vibrators gyrating while they're being passed around the room and the women in compromising positions, posing for photo's that would make them hide their face in shame if ever posted to any social media site. I was ready for an entertaining night.

I arrived early to help the host, my very good friend's sister, set up. I was assigned to the tasks of making jello shots and frosting the penis cake. I am the most domestically inclined of the three of us so the kitchen related duties didn't surprise me. I've never attempted preparing jello shots before (they've always just magically appeared on platters at parties) so some googling was necessary. I used the quick-prep directions on the box and substituted about half of the cold water/ice mixture it called for with some, ok..lets be honest, a lot of vodka. I eyeballed the amounts of everything since I had no time to be fiddling around with measuring cups but the feedback from the crowd was positive and none were left at after 20 minutes of being placed out....Victory! The cake was already baked and simple to decorate. Just some pink frosting, chocolate sprinkles placed strategically, and some red icing for, um, the veins per the directions of the host. In my opinion, the red icing should've been checked at the door. With it, the penis cake ended up looking bloody or inflamed with some type of venereal disease. But hey, cake is cake and as long as it's topped with some sugary substance no matter how nauseating it looks, most women will eat it. With the "Pin the Junk on the Hunk" poster firmly mounted to the wall, all that was left to do was wait for the company spokeswoman to arrive with the goods.

Once she got inside and set up the party was underway. Going into this, I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect but one of the last things I anticipated was for the night to be, well, PG-13 at best. Maybe I just have a high tolerance for things sexual in nature but none of the products she whipped out of her bag of tricks made me say "Oh My!". She passed around a bunch of generic toys, some with a new added doohickey or function (insert ooh's and ahh's here), plus some lubricants and edible what not's. So, what's a girl to do when the night's turning out to be not as exciting as she once thought? Make her drinks a little stronger! That's always a cure-all.

I'm exaggerating a bit..the night wasn't quite a snoozefest but that was mainly attributed to the other women in attendance who knew how to party. I just expected way more from our Passion Party rep who was the hostess with a few short of the mostest. She seemed ill-prepared (no catalogs, no prize?), combined with the blah line of products that would possibly make a nun blush, and the fact that she kind of rushed the party along made me not so impressed.

Final verdict- would I ever attend a Passion Party again? I always say if I find something I don't like in life, I should try it again in a different way. So yes, I would..with a different host. Same host? No thanks, I'll pass.

first newlywed purchase

Well, technically it's not. If you want be specific, our first purchase as newlyweds was breakfast at the airport en route to Mexico BUT this is our first fun newlywed purchase.

I've been waiting to order this for quite some time as I spotted it on AngeliqueInk's Etsy shop months ago. I wanted to wait until after the wedding to order it because I couldn't have used it until afterwards anyway.

So here it is....our brand new address stamp!



Well, this isn't OURS..it's just what it's going to look like. Except ours will have our last name along with our first names.

I have a funny feeling everyone we know will be receiving a lot more cards from us. Yes, I know Christmas is right around the corner but it wouldn't be weird to send out cards for Thanksgiving..right? Maybe...

Next up on the cute newlywed purchase list? This adorable throw pillow, another Etsy find that I've had my eye on for forever and a day.



Mr. H will probably pitch a fit once he finds out I want to buy ANOTHER throw pillow (there's 7 on the couch already- hey! it's a big couch) but this situation will teach us a very important tool in marriage- compromise. The rule is we both compromise to ultimately obtain what I want. Sounds good, right?

the honeymoons over

I can actually say that the wedding and honeymoon are officially done. I even counted my first day back to work into the equasion..because I knew I wouldn't get very much work done with everyone asking me a million questions about the wedding, honeymoon, and how it feels to be a Mrs. (Wanna know a secret? It kinda feels the same as being a Ms.)



So, right now I'm not quite to sure how to feel. On one hand..I'm beyond excited that I now have all this free time back to myself. I'm already planning out which in depth cooking projects will be next up on my list (breaking out the Kitchenaid and making homemade pasta for either lamb & goat cheese lasagna or pumpkin ravioli's has been making my mouth water for over a month!) and of course I already have a girls night sleepover lined up. But, on the other hand, I'm getting a wee bit nostalgic for the chaos of the wedding and the care free, PDA-filled week spent on our honeymoon. Lets take a little trip down memory lane, shall we...



Here we are, freezing our butts off all for the sake of a good picture





Me, showing him who's boss already...






Us in all of our newlywedded bliss, on the flight down to Mexico





The lobby of our beautiful hotel in Riviera Maya





My favorite past time





& we even did some sight seeing





It was an amazing trip but all in all...I'm glad to be home, getting back into the normal swing of things but really, how could you not miss a view like this?

call me mrs. h

The idea of that is still so foreign...I'm now Mrs. H. The last name I had for the first 25 years of my life is now just poof, gone, vanished in the blink of an eye. I mean, I knew this was coming. I was engaged for 3 years. But I guess I was more focused on the wedding than on taking on a whole new identity. Before the wedding, I couldn't wait to take on his last name. I was totally ready to throw my old last name out, I was done with it. But now, I realized I shouldn't have been so hasty. Don't get me wrong, I still adore my new last name... I just kinda miss my old one. It was the name I shared with my family, the name everyone knew me by. It's just something that'll take some getting used to..like lots of other things this new, exciting married life will bring.


So, what's there to do now that there's no more wedding to plan? Well, what I'm most excited about is cooking! Now that I have the time, I want to experiment...try out a few new things and revisit some old favorites. Also, there's still a whole bunch of decorating to be done in our new place- which also means crafty projects and shopping (love and double LOVE). Besides all that, there's just going to be all those other fun adventures being a newlywed brings. And of course, I plan on documenting all of it.