thank you, norman rockwell, for providing such inspiration [and the perfect title for a weekly post]
just a few snaps from a delightful dinner date at one of our favorite burger joints, zin burger.
happy hubby.
truffle fries with aioli.
yum.
1 gingerbread shake + 1 chocolate praline shake.
kobe burgers.
gone.
this husband + wife band is unreal. http://gungormusic.com/
the best. seriously. expressive and unique and quirky and melodious and spellbinding. your ears never get bored and your spirit is fully engrossed.
i mean, even the album artwork is stunning.
all this pain. i wonder if i’ll ever find my way. i wonder if my life could really change at all.
all this earth. could all that is lost ever be found. could a garden come up from this ground at all.
you make beautiful things. you make beautiful things out of the dust. you make beautiful things. you make beautiful things out of us.
all around. hope is springing up from this old ground. out of chaos life is being found in you.
you make beautiful things. you make beautiful things out of the dust. you make beautiful things. you make beautiful things out of us.
you make me new. you are making me new.
as you might have noticed from pictures of our home, we are old-fashioned at heart. we decorate with leather-bound, gold-embossed books, musical do-dads, and art. i married into a very artistic and musical family. [the whitehouses, as a bunch, are quite superb: artists, pianists, cellists, violinists, singers, dancers, and even the occasional plucking and strumming of the mandolin] our home is filled with sounds of classical music and our walls are filled with incredible artwork from artists that we are blessed to be related to and friends with. this fanciful world of music and art has long been fascinating to me. i have always gazed and wondered from afar. what an interesting and refined existence, i observed.
now that i am a whitehouse, i get to observe it all up close. i don’t really participate in it much but i can sit back and drink it all in. and, i like to think that i add a bit of effervescence with my own little quirks and giftings. i’m sure they get a kick out of the girl who can’t read music and was raised on lionel richie. the ridley family is a little bit like the cosby family. lots of life lessons and laughter and jazz. and yes, obnoxious sweaters included. it was a pretty great way to grow up, but it is fun to be a part of this brave new world [hope you caught the nerdy music reference]
hubby and I are so blessed to have an artist in the family. my mom-in-law is a gifted artist. that means that our walls are never bare. each and every space has been given a special piece of art to display. [how posh are we?]
take a look at just a few of her pieces of art:
if you want to see more, check out her blog: http://amywhitehousepaintings.blogspot.com/
if you are interesting in purchasing her pieces OR if you are in the phoenix, az area and are looking for private art lessons [or piano lessons, for that matter. that's right. she does it all] just send her an email at amy.whitehouse@me.com
on the twelfth date of Christmas…
one of my new favorite meals [i say "new" because this changes frequently as we like to try out new food as often as possible. yup. total foodies] that hubby makes for me is huevos rancheros, tyler florence style. it is simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. [oh! wouldn't that have been perfect if we were watching mary poppins with our meal? alas, it is just a fun word and does not in any way tie in to a greater theme for the evening. i will do better next time]
so, i stopped by whole foods on my way home to pick up a couple of treats for us [a perfect zin + my favorite chocolate in the world that just happens to be sugar-free so i can justify eating it all in one sitting] and then headed home where i was greeted by my man in the kitchen, steam rising from our fab blue pot. perfect.
so, hubby and i got in a quick workout while the beans were stewing and getting delicious [you know, to work up an appetite...and work off some of that christmas mac and cheese], hit the showers, and grabbed our bowls of warm and spicy goodness for an evening together. we watched the holiday season episodes of f.r.i.e.n.d.s and enjoyed sipping wine and eating chocolate for dessert [while the buddies piled on my lap and looked up at my longingly]
you may notice that we have been doing a lot of couch dates. for us, it is more cozy and happy at home. you can’t beat that home-y ambiance.
thank you hubby for cooking for me. he is amazing.
hubby & i do not have any children…yet [mom, if you are reading this...yes, we are planning on giving you grandchildren. and no, please do not ask us about it] so we are “the couple that has dogs”. when other people talk about their kids – we talk about our dogs. when other people share the cute and silly things that their kids did – we share about our dogs. when other people roll their eyes and express their frustration with their kids antics – we tell stories about our dogs. you get the picture. so, while we do not yet have books and books and frames and frames filled with adorable images of our babies…we do have some cute pics of, you guessed it, our dogs.
please enjoy our blog brag book of our furry babies.
on the eleventh date of Christmas…
i was having a hankering for some italian [but i am still coming out of my christmas food coma] so i grabbed a spaghetti squash, our favorite sauce, and some chicken sausage to create a not so carb-overload version of spaghetti. it was delish.
hubby & i with bowls in hand, snuggled up on the couch [with the buddies who were hoping that i would let my guard down so that they could swoop in with their ridiculously long tongues and steal a little bite-o-goodness] and watched bridesmaids. we had a good laugh and topped off our evening with some of the caramel popcorn that we received for christmas. it is amazing stuff. you need to get your hands on some, pronto.
today is katie’s 13th birthday. she is officially a teen.
hubby & i met up with katie and mom/amy [along with four of katie's gal pals] for some post-movie ice cream in celebration of the big day. there were plenty of gifts to go around and then we were able to help katie pick out some cute clothes to blow through some of her new cash [gift cards]. it was a fun time for all and hubby & i were blessed to be able to take a bit of time to share in the festivities. plus, we always try to put in some extra effort since we feel badly that she is stuck with a b-day so close to the b-day of jesus. talk about overshadowing.
check out katie’s sassy model pose. love.
[look at my plaid clad parents. aren't they the cutest?]
what is so great about the day after Christmas? why, it is celebrating Boxing Day, of course! there really aren’t any particular canadian traditions for us on this day…we just like to enjoy a relaxed morning, then don our new apparel from santa, and head off to the mall to spend some money from grandma and enjoy the day.
this year, we enjoyed a yummy and casual lunch from chloe’s corner [hot dogs, reubens, salads, and coke from the bottle] while we wandered outdoors and checked out all the fun sales. it was a great day of shopping, buying new things at great prices, and unwinding. we even got to take in a movie. mission impossible: ghost protocol. so good.
a collection of cute little snapshots to commemorate the season. also known as “the wrap up”
christmas eve in a nutshell
morning run
listening to the magnificat
grooming & primping
brunch @ whitehouse home with pastries and fruit salad and eggs benedict
helped in nursery at church
attended lessons & carols at church [cambridge style. amazing]
watched a christmas carol with the ridley family
put out coke & fudge for santa
sleep in heavenly pea-eeace
christmas day in a nutshell
morning mimosas [just the two of us]
sipped beverages and savored the messiah
stop #1 – ridley family
stockings & santa & such
[iphones, leather jacket, watch, knife, richart chocolates, cookbooks, shoes, canada stuff, tom's]
stop # 2 – whitehouse family
mac and cheese [oh my. decadent deliciousness]
good time family band solution [arrested development reference]…piano, mandolin, guitar
stockings
[l'occitane stuff, plastic wrap, books, popcorn from 479 degree]
merry christmas to all, and to all a good night!
