The November Spiral

It's the last day of November - also Saint Andrew's day - so I have to give a shout out to that Andrew guy I'm married to.  He's pretty swell really.  In Poland, There are all out parties for St. Andrew's Eve, it's a straight-up throw-down.  Poles bring out the psychics and voodoo, for good times.  Saint Andrew's day has been some what auspicious for us actually, given that Andrew met my parents at a Saint Andrew's party he attended with a fraternity brother (who happens to be Polish).  This wouldn't be so strange except that this was a year before we started dating.  And neither of us had any real idea about each other at the time.  Life is funny sometimes.

Since today is the cap of the month, I will recap.  November is always nuts for me.  It's never-ending celebrations, which is great (hi, firstworldproblems) it just means a fair amount of preparation on my end.  It starts with our wedding anniversary on the 10th, Andrew's birthday on the 13th, my parents birthdays on the 19th and 20th, and soon after, the food-fest known as Thanksgiving.  All good reasons to love November.  Also all good reasons to never have an available weekend in November.  Gulp.

This year, we hosted the whole family for Thanksgiving, and it was awesome.  Seventeen hungry people in all.  Seriously, we feel so blessed to have a space, even a cramped one, to crowd everyone in.  Because I really wanted to have a "everyone at one table" feel (I've done my time at the kids' table, thankyouverymuch), we decided the living room was going to have to be it.  So we [ok, Andrew and his dad] loaded all the living room furniture onto the balcony and set it up as a cozy living room outside.  The weather was brisk and beautiful so it worked great.  The table setting ended up going something like this:


Before the Carnage.



Mid-Carnage.



Lilly with her Great Granny and Mimi, Thanksgiving Day 2011

Yes, there's a strange gap in the middle, but some how it worked out all right.  Yeah for rented linens!  And yeah for inlaws who own copious tables and folding chairs!  Although, to be honest, I hope we get the opportunity to make Thanksgiving/whatever holiday a tradition at our house, and maybe it would be a better idea to just invest in some serious linen-age.  It's hard to beat the lack of laundering/ironing required though.  Everyone brought a few dishes, so each family's "regulars" were covered, and it came together as a super-delish time.  Just like our house came together as a group effort, so did our first Thanksgiving.

It get's me all teary, I know.  Barf, eye roll, sob.  Work with me, I'm reflective today.

For our wedding anniversary, Andrew and I decided to continue our romantic streak and get each other new iphones as gifts.  While I didn't really see the purpose in spending the money at the time, I will admit I was slightly giddy once it fell into my anxious little hands.  The camera, guys.  It's LOADS better in quality and in user-friendliness.  I have been so lazy about the DSLR as a result, it makes me feel like I'm cheating on my Nikon.  I have to take her out for a spin every once in a while to keep the relationship fresh.

So Lilly had to pose for the new phone.  That's my girl.


She knows where it's at.

For Andrew's birthday we took a trip down to Tookie's, his all-time favorite burger dive, which just happened to re-open this year after Ike.  It was just as good as before the hurricane, and dare I say the addition of a bar and balcony makes it even better.  We even managed to go out like adults that night, and dare I say that I am out of practice.  Four bars in one night is about my limit.  It took me days to recover the sleep.


That'll teach him to make silly faces at me when armed.



How exactly does one walk through the cluster-F gracefully?

 For my Mom & Dad's birthday's we held a dinner at their house with the neighbors, which was a great celebration.  They are always good sports about the fact that their days get lumped together.  Bonus: Water Conservation Project Phase 2 is now active (i.e. happy birthday here's a rain barrell)!

Christmas is upon us like mosquitoes in the rainforest, and I am giving it a concerted effort to prepare in a way which isn't centered around frantic shopping and a fat jolly man (no offense).  I managed to buy a few board books about the Christmas story (not The Night Before Christmas) so I'm hoping something sinks in with Lilly on this matter.  "Lilly, it's a birthday party for Baby Jesus" is as far as we've gotten thus far.  She prefers to call Baby Jesus "Dor-tee," I have no idea what's up with that.  I figure baby steps are what we can expect on comprehension of religious holiday significance. 

We will be "home for the holidays" so let's see how we survive a week straight with the three of us in the house.  Truthfully?  The best part of the holidays are that Kasia and Janet are coming home.  I can't wait to see two of my favorite ladies.  Best. Gift. Ever.