So basically. . . .

This snow kicked the last snow's butt.



The end.

Love you and miss you all.

Bodda-Bing-Bodda-Boom

What a day! Last night the coffee brewer at Starbucks started smoking! A few fire men and smelly wires later. . . and still no coffee.


So all day today we served Americanos as a substitute for coffee (Take espresso. . .add water. . .voila!). I got only 3 evils looks! Also----I accidentally mistook one of our regulars' mom as his wife. Way awkward. After work I took little Chee-Chee-Mon to a vet in Pennington. Poor little guy has a UTI and blockage.


No good. Hopefully a couple--maybe even one?---nights of having a catheter and rest will prevent surgery. He has such a sad little raspy meow. I hope he sleeps well tonight!

You might be thinking. . "Kaley. . . what have you been crafting since those sweet stockings?" And this is what I say to you inquisitive folk, "Headbands!!!"
That's right. I had left over felt from all those stockings, a glue gun, and a headband. . .I had to do something with it all so bodda-bing-bodda-boom SWEET HEADBANDS! Here's what I have so far:


No headbands tonight though! I decided to make some homemade cookies for Zach.


He is at the beginning of his finals week in his first semester of grad school! One semester down and 5 to go! I also took this opportunity to sport my new apron. Which I very much adore.


In other news. . our Christmas tree is still pretty pretty pretty. A few other Christmas presents have found their way under our tree. Sneakies.

Perhaps you, like me, prefer the view you get from lying under the Christmas tree? Here you go:

Almost forgot, Cathy sent some Christmas presents the other day and included some of my old ornaments. To my surprise she also included a little hermit crab with New Jersey 2009 written on the bottom. We love it.


On Saturday Zach and I will be heading to Philly for some Philly Cheese steaks with the McNeals to celebrate the end of the finals. Expect a fun-filled-Philly Blog!

Love you and miss you all!

A wonderful wonderful weekend.

Last week I finished the last of 9 Christmas stockings! They were a lot of fun to make and definitely a great addition to the Christmas decorations. No they are not for surprise septuplets. . . they are for my family! My family is going to be in Princeton from December 26th to January 2nd and I am so pumped! Since they are traveling so far I figured it would be great to have stockings for them.


It's going to be my grandmothers first time on an airplane. When I asked her if she was nervous she said, "No. . . I'm just real excited." She's probably one of the cutest grandmas in the whole world.


This past weekend was quite spectacular. Not just because it was my birthday weekend, but also because I had three days off from work! Which is a rarity. Friday I woke up whenever and then I relaxed all day. I don't think I accomplished one thing. Scratch that. . . I fulfilled my goal of having a restful day. Go me! Friday evening I made last minute plans to go with my friend (and neighbor) Sarah to a women's Christmas dessert thing. We sang Christmas carols. . . listened to some lady talk. . . and then had dessert. Plus we got to hang out, so it was a wonderful evening! Saturday morning Zach and I woke up to Kevin and Rae calling from downstairs letting us know they were here to pick us up. So we got ready and down to the car in 2 minutes! I was impressed. Zach may or may not have set his alarm for the wrong time. We all drove into Hamilton to watch The Blind Side.


If you go before noon it's only $6.00 a ticket! The Blind Side was a wonderful movie. Perfect for the holiday season. Also perfect if you want to cry a little and laugh a lot. The rest of Saturday afternoon was packed with errands and cleaning the house. As I was leaving the house to go to Target I walked downstairs and looked out the door and paused in amazement because it was SNOWING!!! I stole these pictures from Rae. . .


I was immediately filled with excitement because it was the first snow of the year but also the first time it has EVER snowed where I was living anytime near my birthday. Thanks clouds. . . that was a precious birthday gift. After calling everyone in my family, Cally and Dani. . . I finished my errands and headed home. Saturday night me, Zach, Rae, and Kevin went to Princeton Alliance Church for the Saturday evening service. I definitely prefer it over the Sunday morning service. There are many reasons, but none are very fascinating. After church we headed home for BIRTHDAY GAME NIGHT! Small events are always better when they are giving a title. Me, Zach, Kevin, Rae, Theo, and our new friend Betsy played Catch Phrase and Quelf for a little bit and then enjoyed some cookie cake (my favorite).


Theo brought Apples to Apples and wine. . . turns out they were birthday presents. The wine is delicious and Apples to Apples is always a fantastic game.


Thanks Theo! I absolutely love playing games with people. Hands down one of my favorite activities. After our friends left I opened my presents from my wonderful husband. I unwrapped 2 books, 2 pairs of wool cozy socks, and 1 gorgeous cardigan from Anthropologie that he picked out all by himself. I was extremely impressed.


Sunday Morning----12.6.2009 MY BIRTHDAYYYYYYY!!!

Zach woke up and made me a delicious breakfast of eggs in a basket, sausage, and OJ.


After breakfast it was time to open the rest of my birthday presents. My parents surprised me with a Fossil watch, an apron from Anthropologie, gloves, fun socks, brown Kino's, a purse, and a cashmere sweater.


Just when I thought all the gifts were opened the doorbell rang. Zach returned with a beautiful bouquet of flowers all the way from Cally and Dani in Florida.


Awwwww----I almost cried I was so surprised. I love my best friends. After staring at my flowers and playing with my gifts we relaxed around the house for a little bit, got ready, and then headed to the mall! At some point in time I received a voice text from my good buddy Josh Hagar. He wished me a happy birthday. It was a lovely surprise. We walked around Anthropologie, got links taken off my watch, and then saw the movie 2012; very exciting.


We grabbed a drink from Starbucks then headed home. Rae and Kevin met us at home. I opened a sweet candle (pictured with the lovely flowers above) from them and then blew out some candles on cupcakes Rae made for me.


Thanks Rae and Kevin! Afterward we headed to the Alchemist & Barrister for a wonderful dinner. We ended up being the only people in a fancy room. We acted like fools and laughed a whole lot.


The four of us should never be aloud to sit by ourselves in a nice restaurant.

After dinner we headed to Starbucks for some free drinks and then home. We all ended the night with Phase Ten---my favorite card game.

A wonderful birthday weekend has passed. I don't feel any older. I have a wonderful husband who knows how to make me very happy. I have friends who love me enough to send me flowers from states away and make me baked goods. I have a family who loves me enough to send multiple manila envelopes stocked with birthday goods far in advance. Thank you all for a wonderful birthday!

Love and miss everyone of you.

Burton and Trees!

One of the best things about living in Princeton, NJ is living so dang close to N.Y.C.
It's wonderful! The Friday after Thanksgiving Zack Strait, Zach (Grant), and I went to the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA.


It was amazing and very crowded. Batman masks, all the different skull faces from Nightmare Before Christmas, Baby Penguin carriage, the Edward Scissorhands costume, random sculptures. . .etc. . .(coolest). After walking around the city for a bit we headed down to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The view was absolutely beautiful!


Dinner time at Grimaldi's Pizzeria!


So delicious and completely worth the wait. Originally we ordered one pizza. . . . we ended up ordering another one. . .with extra cheese. It was just as delicious as the first pizza. Even though we were very full, we couldn't not go to the oh-so-famous Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. I mean it was right next door.


It was wonderful spending time in the city and getting a chance to see all the pretty Christmas decorations before the crowds set in.


But most importantly, it was wonderful spending time with our friend Zack Strait!

In other news. .. we have a CHRISTMAS TREEEEE! Our very first one together as Mr. and Mrs. Grant! It's wonderful and perfect!

And yes, we did feel the need to pop some popcorn and make some STRINGED POPCORN!!!! Really adds a homemade touch to the little guy. So I have done this in the past. .. I think once back in Tampa. . . but I definitely failed to remember how long it takes and how tedious it is at first. But we did it!


And then we became trees!



And now for one of my favorite Christmas trees ever. . .

Happy Holidays! Love you and miss you all!