Christmanukah 2009

Christmas day was a real treats for us. First of all, we had two days off in a row!!

We opened presents --- none of which were as good as the amazing ACC email Aaron got on Monday, but it was still really fun. We received so much homemade goodies you would not believe it!! Even my little nephew Michael made us flavored candies and a little hand-made piece of pottery. How great is that!!!???

Last night Aaron went around the house like a scavenger hunt picking and choosing just which treats he'd have for dessert. When he was done with those he went back for seconds. Let's see: chocolate crinkle, marshmallow, star shaped candies from Micheal, gilt, and chocolate covered apple slice. Leave no dessert behind is our motto!!




Then we got to paint the studio. I have to say, I picked the perfect shade of paint. If it wasn't already named "Gold 3" I'd call is "Perfect Shade of Studio". It's natural without being totally boring. It's not gray or flesh toned. What's left over? Sort of a tannish shade of wheat.


Now, I'm off to buy concrete sealant. Good times!!

Happy holidays!!!

Studio Update

The studio is really coming along. This time next week it should be finished. Here are some pictures....

The new heater really kicks out the warmth. We're not going to have any more problems with it being too cold to work!


Studio Floor after demo


Studio Floor -- the new floor is no longer at an angle. I'm sure we can get used to that!


Mud Room - Before



Mud Room - After (taken from the opposite side of the room)


Time to bake off a batch of chocolate crinkles and then head out for holiday dinner with friends...

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmanukah...

Let's the baking begin!!!



This is what homemade s'mores look like. Homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallows. We just added high quality chocolate and warmed it all up under the broiler. HolyMoly that was TASTY!!!



Next up - a new recipe for chocolate crinkles. One of my childhood memories was my brother making chocolate crinkles and I got to watch. Now I'm in charge!! I used Martha's recipe but switched it up a bit. I used Ghirardelli chocolate for the melted chocolate, then I rolled the dough in "vanilla" granulated sugar, then powerdered sugar, and then regular sugar. Not only is it a tasty sugar topping but the powered sugar doesn't fly off all over. Then I under-baked them by about 2 minutes. DELISH!! Aaron's busy testing them.

MMM
MMMMMM
GOOOOOOOD

Once. Twice. Threeeeee times a lady......

Introducing PINKY!








She's on her way to her new home with Grandma Elsie. I think they'll be able to compare flowers for their hair. Since I'm certain grandma hasn't been surfing the Internet lately I feel okay posting these pictures before grandma see opens her up on Christmas. It was a little hard putting her into a shoe box and dropping her in the mail, but hopefully grandma likes her enough to make the long trip worth it!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Here's our house hold thermometer with the official temperature. The top number is the temperature is in the house. The bottom number is on our front step. And Little Man, is wearing all his clothes and stands next to a tiny snow man. (In summer, he just wears shorts and holds his snorkel). This weather just isn't right!

Okay, I know parts of the nation are living through giant storms and it's just plain nasty in some places, but let me just say "27 degrees and dropping" is NOT a normal Seattle temperature!! BRRRRRRRR We're chilly.

It's a known fact that Seattlelites only have a 15 degree comfort zone (55-70). What I can say is that:
(1) at least it's not snowing!
(2) it's clear and beautiful, and
(3) it does make it feel Christmasy.

But I'm just saying that on Dec 26th I hope it's back to 55 and drizzling.

Excuse me, I need to find one of my scarves....

I Can See All the Way to Queen Ann

Last night was the big company holiday party. Me, Aaron and 500 of my co-workers. Sadly, Big Hannah's hubbie is overseas helping the poor, which meant Aaron was without his "wing man" for the evening. At one point, some of my co-workers said, "where's your husband" and I shrugged my shoulders. A little while later I looked behind me and he was at a table surrounded by beautiful ladies. Aaron does a find of job of "getting by" even without Louie.

Seriously - it was on top of the Space Needle and it was a rare clear December night. It was just gourgeous. As always, the pictures don't do it justice. We had a pretty good time. My company, certianly knows how to thow a get together! Gotta love that. Okay, now we're off to a craft fair. Wish us luck!


Anner from the observation deck


Big Hannah, Anner and Friends (remember Hannah from our wedding??)


Anner and her co-workers.


Aaron and Anner --- we clean up okay. :)

I'm Thankful for... CITY KITCHEN, in Seattle WA

Just 23 months ago I decided it was time to buy a real, grown-up stand mixer (who doesn’t?!). I headed out to all the main appliance sellers in downtown Seattle. When I walked in and said I was looking for a stand mixer, every single store pointed me straight to the Kitchen Aids. I’d ask about the warranty, how is it made, how powerful is it, what works the best and what isn’t so great about it. I was stunned with the lack of information. The sales people couldn’t tell me one thing about the Kitchen Aids except, “it comes in pink” as they rushed off.

Then I walked into City Kitchens. It wasn’t my first trip to there, but it was the first time I was looking for a major purchase. I asked the same questions and to my delight the sales people could answer all my questions!! They did a great job of comparing and contrasting the machines for me. In the end, I decided to go with a plain, white, Cuisinart (it’s just fine that it’s not pink).

It doesn't do justice when I say I LOVE my mixer. I talk to it. Every time I use it, I say, "Aaron, I love my mixer.". It's true. Ask him. He loves wood clamps. I love my mixer.

Fast forward nearly 2 years:

I’m about to make some pumpkin bread. I plugged in my machine. The timer light went on. I set it to "low" and pressed “on”. My beautiful machine just made a clicking noise. I tried again, “click”. A sinking feeling came over me because I knew it was bad. I plugged it in a different socket. “Click.” I begged and pleaded with the mixer to ‘pleeeeeease work,’ “Click”. I messed with the machine for a long time before pronouncing it dead. I curled up on the couch and went into mourning. My hubby tried to resuscitate the mixer too. He confirmed what I already knew. My beautiful machine had a burnt out motor. SO SAD.

I spent the next week checking on options for getting it fixed. I'd occasionally plug it in and try it again to see if it was magically fixed. Of course it just "clicked" and then I'd curl back up on the couch. *sigh*

I'll spare you the details but there were no good options. The people at Cuisinart at least assured me that they almost never have calls for burnt out motors which made me feel a little bit better about all my research from two years ago.

Of all things it’s the week of Thanksgiving and I really wanted my favorite kitchen appliance, the stand mixer. Thoroughly bummed out about the situation, I called City Kitchens. After an extremely short conversation you all told me to “bring it in. We’ll exchange it.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What?!” I tapped on the phone received, “Ah…pardon me… did you say ‘exchange it’?” That’s when I declared my un-dying love for City Kitchen!! The next night, as I walked in the door, the sales associate said, “Oh. We’re expecting you.” and immediately asked someone to bring out a new mixer for me. WHAT? I didn’t have to stand there and explain myself? They didn’t have to stare at with skepticism and say, “um let me call a manager…” How great is that??? I’ll tell you: It’s Super Great!

From now on City Kitchen is my one and only kitchen store!!


Thanksgiving break has been a lot of fun.
We went to Hannah & Adam's for dinner and it was delicious. There were a 1/2 dozen really great kids there, though after about three hours I couldn't take it anymore. All that bouncing up and down.

Now we're clearing out the old studio in anticipation of starting the 2009 Studio Remodel. Wish us luck. This should be good for some blog posts. I met the contractors yesterday and they seem like good people.

Tonight is dinner and game night at out house. I made some cinnamon ice cream --- one of my seasonal favorites. (My second favorite kitchen appliance is the ice cream maker.)

Have a happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Cheers,
Anner & Aaron

M&C Baby Shower

We had Martin and Cynthia's baby shower this weekend and I, for one, had a GREAT Time.  We had good food and even better company.  Jane and Denise flew in for the weekend and it was fantastic to see them!  Sorry folks, no shower games; just presents and fun conversation.  I made the center pieces (which I'm very proud of) AND my latest sock critter and a blanket.  I've gotta say, it's the cuttest critter yet, and the blanket was super soft.  I was quick to tell M&C that I had made it by hand...litterally.  I don't own a sewing machine.  Martin asked, "every little stitch?".  Why yes!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!

It was a good Halloween. We went trick-or-treating with Adam, 8 years old. He was dressed as the grim reaper, complete with scythe. He looked really good. Aaron went as a bit of a pimp daddy but when Adam asked he said, "I'm dressed in mardi gras colors." Adam took that at face value and headed on to more important things: candy! I was a witch, but that would be impossible to tell from the pictures because I was in a rain coat. That's life in Seattle.

We carved some really cool looking pumpkins. Mine is the mummy and Aaron's is the Arty One, of course.

Back at the ranch, the dahlias keep blooming. We have a white dahlia that just bloomed and is about 10" in diameter. Unbelievable!!

And the wedding tree, in spite of the crow-damage, seems to still be with us and has turned the most brilliant shade of crimson.

Then of all things the Fall Crocuses have started blooming. We weren't really expecting them to bloom just a few weeks after we planted them, but there they are!! They look a little weak but I bet next year they'll be really cool. They were certainly a happy surprise.

Finally, in some really exciting news, our friend Louie is heading off to save the world. He started small, when him and his wife Hannah saved our wedding by taking over a million of the last minute details and playing guitar music for us. Now he's reaching out to earthquake victims. He's keeping a blog. We can't wait to hear about is experience and wish him the very best.

Thanks for Louie! Here's Louie's blog: http://hodrpsg.blogspot.com/

Hope your November is starting off spectacularly! Ours sure is. Life is good. :)

I Can't Believe It!!! Christmas Music!

I can't believe it! Yesterday I was shopping for my Halloween accoutrements and what was playing? It was Christmas music!! I could have gone for some spooky music, but no marketing people asked me. I tried to talk to the check-out girl about it. She was completely non-responsive. She didn't agree, disagree, or care to engage in the ChristmasMusicConversation in any way, shape or form. So that's that. I don't know about this country sometimes. :)

We're just home from a fabulous trip to Atlanta! We saw all of our family and took in plenty of little league (eh hem, I mean "Shetland pony league") baseball. Uncle Aaron was a personal warm-up coach for Mitchell. I got to keep score. It's extra fun to have a special job. Mitchell is an excellent ball player. He's also an equally excellent reader, which blew us away! What I liked the most is that the coaches and parents were super positive and no one was mean like those little league horror stories you hear about on TV.

We also got to see the Braves at the Ted - that's the beloved Ted Turner Stadium for those who aren't Atlantans. We loved the stadium although the Braves lost what would have been an exciting come-from-behind win. To my surprise they had veggie burgers. I did not expect veggie burgers at an Atlanta sporting event. I did watch as they cooked my veggie burger and actually poured the juice the meat hamburgers were sitting in on top of it. Now that, I pretty much expected.

I got to meet Aaron's aunt Lee and uncle Mark. They were super nice and we had a great time. They drove in all the way from Florida.

And we ate. We roamed meal to meal socializing with whomever was there with us. We got to eat at The Flying Biscuit - twice. The Flying Biscuit is a local breakfast institution. I bought their cookbook last visit and this visit I had to see it for myself. This is a place that truly believes that "everything's better with butter" - ooh la la! De-lish.

Can I just say how incredibly nice people are in Atlanta. Their service takes the cake. From my small experience it's way above and beyond anything I'm used too.

Now we're home and made it through our first week of work.

I planted about 150 bulbs the weekend we got home, including "fall crocuses". Have you ever heard of such a thing? We'll see if they manage to pop up this fall or if we have to wait a year. We also planted pink daffodils. Pink! And some grey/chocolate colored ones that Aaron fell in love with. Amazing! Anyway, we'll see what spring brings. Mostly the garden looked good when we got home. The wedding tree and the cork screw maple both are changing colors and look good. Yep, the wedding tree seems to have survived it's crow-based desctruction with a little tlc. Let's hope it has enough bark regrown to survive the winter... glad we didn't already get 18" of snow like they did in Denver!

It's going to be a busy fall so it was good to get the break in while we could!! Here are some pictures!

The whole family at dinner.

Uncle Aaron and Mitchell warm up before the game.

Mitchell and Uncle Aaron enjoy a delicious ice cream treat!

Aaron and Anner at Mitchell's ball game.

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day already!!!??? Although I'm a strong supporter of unions and the 40 hour work-week I hold a lot of baggage against Labor Day, mostly because it means the end of summer and back-to-school. I was not a big fan of school..... Aaron loved every second of it (he's giving me that "Umm, not exactly" look...), so that means a big frownie for Anner and a big grin for Aaron. We've been opposites since a long time before we met.

Anyway... now that I don't get summers off, Labor Day isn't quite as depressing. Summer left with nearly non-stop rain this weekend. The nice thing about the rain is that I don't feel guilty not working in the garden or going out for a run. I feel completely justified by staying inside and baking oatmeal cookies, drinking wine and blogging about the end of summer.

We celebrated this Labor Day by sleeping in a LOT and watching movies. Both activities were much needed. I made a really yummy blueberry crisp on Friday - quite a good toast to summer time.

There was a break in the rain on Saturday so I dug out some bad stuff from the front garden and transplanted some other things. Sort of musical flower beds. Last weekend I got a bunch of Halloween colored pansies - blacks and oranges - so I made a little bed of them and if the crows don't get in the mood to snap off all the little flowers it should look pretty all fall and most of the winter. Fingers crossed!!!

Aaron and I have had quite a week. We were both REALLY busy at work but then on Thursday afternoon a co-worker asked me if I wanted some free Seahawks tickets. I haven't been to a pro football game in a loooong time and Aaron's never been. I was totally stressed out and doing two or three other things at the same time when I called Aaron, "Want to go to a football game?" I snapped with a lot of urgency. "Sure!" Then I realized he might not understand I meant "Want to go to a football game in about 3 hours...". I explained the deal and he still said, "Sure". That's just one of the many, many things I love about my honey. He says, "Sure" a lot.

Well.... long story short, but I ran screaming from work and he was waiting in the get away car. We made our way to Qwest Field a little bit late but it was still awesome. The crowds thundered...or at least it seemed to me. We watch the 3rd string team beat the visitors - Da Raiders. We both loved how high-energy football is. I've gotta say everyone was really nice and we liked it a lot. I think it's probably WAY louder during regular season but from what we experienced we'll happily accept free tickets anytime!! Anyone? Anyone? :)

Last weekend we went to the nursery in North Bend after visiting with our friends Melissa and Curtis and their oh-so-cute son Soren (thanks for the homemade waffles - they were delicious!). The nursery had a lot of 1/2 off items, including many hellebores for Aaron to choose from (check out some incredible photos of them at the http://www.sunfarm.com/ website) and a Eucalyptus tree for me. We were both very happy. We came home with an entire back seat of plants and flowers....some of which we've gotten planted. I'm sure the rest will get done soon. Yep, soon.

This weekend our favorite, Sky Nursery, had winter pansies and violas on sale 2 for 1!!! How great is that??? I couldn't help myself I bought another whole back seat's worth (yes, pretty much two Honda Accord back seats worth of pansies for us!). Just to have a little greenery we tossed in a few hebes, ivys, and for spring about a 160-something bulbs - including PINK daffodils!!! Have you ever seen pink doffodils??? I can't wait to see them myself. Of course, it's pouring outside so I can't be expected to plant any of it. It's sitting on the deck. Maybe next weekend I'll plant them. Often times that's how we do it. Go to the nursery one weekend and plant the next.

Now we're just sitting on the couch reading and writing (still being opposites) and having a fine time relaxing this holiday weekend. Did I mention I got a new laptop? Still trying to get it working fully, but it's already waaay better than my old one - not turning off in the middle of typing is a big plus!

Best of luck to all of our nieces and nephews and kiddos who are heading back to school. Aaron says, "boy they sure are lucky". I say, "I can't wait to go to work tomorrow because at least it's not school." Happy Labor Day everybody!

MEET MISTY!

Last week I got an email from an art co-op in the Greenwood neighborhood. It was advertising an artwalk on Friday night that included "Art Penguins". Art AND penguins!!! We HAD to go!!

The Woodland Park Zoo is doing a March of the Penguins fundraiser, inspired by their new Humboldt Penguin exhibit. You know how you can find the art Snoopys in St. Paul, Cows in Madison, Pigs on Parade in Seattle.... this was plaster penguins decorated by artist and then auctioned in a silent auction. Oh! What fun!! There are pictures of them in this link to the zoo:

http://www.zoo.org/penguinsonthemarch/

We checked them out and almost immediately went from "I guess we should at least just look at the penguins" to "Which penguin are we taking home tonight?!" We judged the penguins on overall coolness and ability to live outside in our garden.

We narrowed it down to about five and then decided to go for a walk. Why bid up your own penguin??? Best to wait until the last minute. So we did. We came back 10 minutes before the bidding closed, along with our city's mayor. Then with the final countdown in swing: 10, 9, 8,.... I put my bid number on the sheet and just like that we were big winners!! (As was the mayor, which, sadly, is more than he can say for his latest primary.)

Meet Misty our new penguin art!!

She was created by the "Misty City Morris Dancers" (we have no idea who they are)

Materials: Hand-made ceramic tiles, anchored in blue grout, wheel-thrown bowler hat, vest embellished with glass buttons and Peruvian worry dolls.

She was definitely a hit at the ice cream social and a wonderful addition to the back year.

CROW MEETS JUGGLE BALL

Aaron and I have found a semi-effective crow deterrent. Last Saturday I was watching the crows try to unpry an advertisement that had been stuck in our chain link fence. It was pretty funny. The worked as a team twisty and turning every way they could but the pizza coupons were juuuuust out of reach for them. Honestly, they were pretty funny to watch and I reveled in the fact that they couldn't get what they wanted so bad. "HA! Take that crows!!" I thought to myself.
Then I walked past the window a few minutes later and they were on the grown about to snap off some more pretty little flowers from our pants and another crow was burrowing under the dirt in the yard, no doubt causing havoc in it's path! I was MAD. Damned crows. I threw open the door and grabbed the first thing I saw; my juggle balls. I flew throw the screen door with more than the usual "gitt" they've grown accustom to. This time the colorful ball went flying in their general direction. I'm a pretty horrible thrower but it was enough excitement that they went caw, caw, cawwing away as they flew a few houses away. We didn't see them for the rest of the day!!! Can you believe it??!!!
Aaron tried the same technique a few days later with the same outcome -- no crows for the rest of the day. I now keep the juggle balls stocked next to the door.

I SCREAM YOU SCREAM

The second annual Ice Cream Social was SUPER FUN and we have a freezer full of ice cream. We had a crazy number of toppings and an fine turn-out. It also doubled as Misty's coming-out party.

FLOWERS from the Ice Cream Social:

Amazing Dahlias. They are just do cool and you never know what to expect.

This is Aaron's favorite combo-pot of "thriller, filler, and spillers"
A very happy begonia: