Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Last Sunday, we purchased & decorated our Christmas tree. We literally pulled into the parking lot of our church (where we buy our fine tree every year), walked up to one, said "looks good" & five minutes later it was in the car. Simplest process ever. Which was good, because it was freezing cold out.

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved


Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

The biggest pain in the rear about purchasing a live tree is carrying it up the stairs to our fourth floor apartment. This year it resulted in me getting sap all over my winter coat. Luckily, thanks to the Intertubes, I found a genius solution to get it out: hand sanitizer. I am not even joking! Squirted some right on my coat, rubbed it in, & in a matter of moments the sap was gone. Amazing.

So, we hauled the tree upstairs, set it up in the little stand & let it get nice & warm for a few hours. Finally, it was decorating time.

Lights first.

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved


Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Then it was time to get out the ornaments.
No, I don't think we have enough either, thanks for noticing.

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Per the tradition, baby ornaments go on first.

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Finally, top it all off with a star.*

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Some ornament highlights from our travels this year:

Kayaking Santa, from Bar Harbor, Maine

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

little row boat from Kennebunkport, Maine

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

in honor of the many pounds of lobster we ate in Maine, & elsewhere

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

USS Constitution from Boston

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

Peggy's Cove light house, from Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

the cheesiest Luray Caverns ornament ever, from our anniversary trip there

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

*a super tacky, plastic, 1970's star that has been in my family since, well, the 1970's. My Dad gladly handed it off to me & I am obsessed with it. I refuse to get a new one.

Five for Friday

1. It's back! I thought I would return to Five for Friday because I've found myself with a lot to share lately & not always the photos to do it with. So if you enjoy rambling posts to end your week, this is your place. If not, I suggest checking the ol' blog Monday through Thursday only. I'm going to warn you though: I am feeling verbose today. With that being said...

2. How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was lovely. It was spent in Ohio at my in-laws for the first time ever (the first Thanksgiving trip there, not the first time ever going to their house. Just in case that wasn't clear). My mother-in-law cooked up a turkey & all the fixin's & I made two pies. We ate in the early afternoon, so afterward was filled with much football watching & relaxing. Friday, I drove to Columbus & did some Black Friday shopping with one of my best friend's. She had a list & a plan & we pretty much stuck to both, which was shocking. Saturday was the best day of all, but that needs its own section on this post, so I'll get to that in a minute. All in all, an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

3. Saturday was an epic day in college football. Now, I know that word is thrown around a lot, but it truly was. At noon, Ohio State played Michigan in The Game. Ohio State won The Game, which means that, as of today, it has been 2568 days since Michigan's last victory over Ohio State in football (yes, there are people in Columbus who keep track of such things. Mainly the newspaper).

As if that wasn't exciting enough, at 3:30pm we had Florida State vs. Florida in their big rivalry game. My Florida State Seminoles have not won this game in six years &, quite frankly, it was getting embarrassing. But I had a good feeling about this year. For an extra stroke of luck, I busted out my t-shirt from their 2000 win (my freshman year there), & wore that in lieu of my traditional 'Nole gear. Well, it must have worked. Because they won. BIG. I think I also scared my in-laws with my manic screaming, chopping, fight song singing, running up to the TV & mimicking throwing the spear & other general Florida State hoopla. Regardless, 'twas a good day.

4. To cap off what made Saturday so great (& Tuesday & many days to come) my super, fantastic, wonderful brother-in-law brought me a whole case of my second-most-favorite* beer ever: Great Lakes Brewing Company Burning River pale ale. Not only is it 1. from Cleveland & 2. only available in the Ohio-area, how can you not like a company that makes fun of the fact that in1969 the Cuyahoga River, which runs next to downtown Cleveland, was so polluted it caught on fire. Yes, a river caught on fire. Randomly. Completely on its own. Love it & love the beer. Since we were driving back, instead of flying, I was able to bring the case home for enjoyment throughout the bowl season & whenever the mood strikes. Brian, you're a rock star.**

*My favorite beer is Great Lakes Christmas Ale which is almost impossible to find in bottles. I did snag a glass on draft when I made Brad take a wild lunch detour so we could go to a restaurant that was rumored to have it on tap. Thank goodness that rumor was true!

**Perhaps if I keep using adjectives to describe how great he is, he'll buy me another case.

5. Are you ready for the holidays? How is it December already? Where has 2010 gone? Craziness, I tell you. I was scroog-ing it up until yesterday when I decided to decorate a little tree for my office & was suddenly struck with the holiday spirit. Which is good because I have a lot of baking, chocolate making, present wrapping & tree decorating to get to!

Happy Friday!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Photo (c) Christina Saull - All Rights Reserved

I was suddenly struck with the holiday spirit today. Good thing, because decorations are going up tonight & we're getting our tree on Saturday!

Five for Friday

1. Well, the word in the street in D.C. is that we're going to get some mega snow tonight and tomorrow. No, not the nice dusting that we got two weeks ago (see below), but some major 10-16 inches. Some people say up to two feet. I am personally skeptical, but am still planning on swinging by the grocery store so we have enough food to eat in tomorrow and Sunday. I think I'm also going to make some of my Dad's famous corn chowder (famous because I love it!), as it just seems the right thing to do in wintry conditions. We'll see what we end up with!


2. Last Saturday, I spent the morning chocolate-ing. This family tradition involves melting massive amounts of chocolate (milk, dark, white) and dipping whatever you can get your hands on in it. This year I made:

• Oreos dipped in milk chocolate, drizzled with white chocolate
• Oreos dipped in dark chocolate
• Oreos dipped in white chocolate
• Pretzel rods dipped in milk chocolate, drizzled with white chocolate
• Pretzel rods dipped in dark chocolate
• Mini milk and dark chocolate shapes in molds (which my husband apparently melted in the dishwasher... guess this year was the last one for those!)
• Dried apricots dipped in dark chocolate ("healthy")
• Peanut butter cups
• Cups filled with half white, half milk chocolate
• Cups filled with milk chocolate covered marshmallows

We gave away 90% of it as gifts to co-workers and family. The other 10% we have been noshing on, trying to make it last. Earlier in the month, I made two pans of my infamous nutmallow (bars with milk chocolate, cashews and marshmallows) - one to send my brother with his Christmas package, one to give away to people. Unfortunately, the later of the two batches became my breakfast almost every morning so... um, sorry to those who didn't get any this year! Here's a lousy picture from my phone of this year's haul:

3. Earlier this week, we booked flights to Tampa to visit Brad's grandparents over MLK Day weekend in January and to Barbados in February. A shot of warm weather is going to be really nice right around then (although it probably won't be too overly warm in Tampa!).

4. Just heard on the news that we might get *thundersnow* (literally a thunderstorm that produces snow instead of rain). I KNEW the end of the world was drawing near! And to think that I spent all that money on holiday gifts for people...

5. So Christmas is next week, but it's feeling distinctly un-Christmas-like here in D.C. I blame the Senate and their health care reform bill. There are too many people who are having to work too hard this close to the holidays because of it. I worked on the Hill a long time and have never seen it this hardcore, this stubborn, this broken. It's a little disheartening, really. Can't we all just get along?

Five for Friday

1. We gave this little bloggity-blog a shout out in our Christmas letter this year, so a big hello to anyone who has decided to follow our crazy lives because of that.

2. Speaking of Christmas letters and cards, we sent all ours out at the beginning of the week - about 80 in all. We have gotten two cards so far this year. That's it. Makes me sad actually, to check the mail on a daily basis and just get pizza coupons and credit card offers. Maybe it's the economy. "Or maybe it's people using the economy as an excuse because they're too lazy to send cards." <-- that last sentence is a direct quote an older woman at church told me last week. Hilarious.

3. Since I know you've been wondering, a squirrel update for you. They came and set traps on Tuesday morning. As of Thursday night, they had trapped one squirrel a day since Tuesday. What I don't understand is how they know the squirrel's they're trapping were the ones that were in the attic (no the traps aren't in the attic, they're on the roof by where the squirrel(s) are coming in and out). The good news is that we haven't heard any in the attic since Tuesday. The bad news is that it has been insanely cold this week and I'm now worried that the squirrels are getting trapped in the evening, drawn into the cage by the promise of food, and then they have to spend all night in a freezing cage when it is 23 degrees outside. Just doesn't seem right... not that it was right for them to be in the attic either though. Hopefully the whole thing will be over soon.

4. As you saw from previous posts, we did indeed get our tree last weekend and it is all up and decorated. It smells INSANELY good. It's also drinking up a storm, but that's okay. As long as it keeps smelling good.

5. As I mentioned earlier, winter has arrived in DC. We had a little snow last Saturday, which was lovely, largely because I didn't leave the house all day. It has been cold this week though. Wicked cold, as they would say up in Boston (when they're not complaining about the Patriots lousy play this year). I actually like winter, I really do. The clothing is so much more stylish and I absolutely hate sweating. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that I would actually much rather be in Barbados right now, with my toes in the sand and a frozen drink in my hand. Because the drink wouldn't be frozen due to the weather...

Christmas Mornin', Part 2

Christmas breakfast - cheesy eggs and sausage ryes

crossword books!

starting the Nutcracker collection

a gift certificate for dance lessons (Christina may live to regret giving him this gift!)

"It's like the Christmas of things I've always asked for an never get!"

Christmas dinner (cooked by Christina, saved by Brad)

Christmas Mornin', Part 1

Red and white tulips from Dad to help make the season bright

Brad and his stocking

Christina and her stocking

new earrings from Brad... good stocking stuffer!

Brad opening all his cheese related gifts from Dad

Christina's pretty sweater from Dad

Christmas Eve

Brad and I were so lucky to have such a wonderful and blessed Christmas and start to the new year. We enjoyed ourselves, having a quiet Christmas here in Washington. We started things off on Christmas Eve with some heavy appetizers, a little "It's a Wonderful Life," opening one gift each and attending a breathtakingly beautiful midnight Mass at our church.

ready for Mass (actually taken at 2am when we got home from Mass!)

the yummy spread

the chef after slaving our oh-so-tiny kitchen

Brad's Christmas Eve gift - a book of quotes from the Godfather

After almost 23 years of asking for one...

Christina finally got her Transformer action figure!

Merry Christmas!

Since this is my last day at work for 11 days before holiday break (I LOVE my boss!), I just wanted to do a quick post to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a blessed start to 2008! Brad and I will be enjoying a quiet Christmas together. We're really looking forward to attending midnight Mass at the church we were married in. I'm going to make a bunch of yummy food and hopefully we can start some of our own traditions this year.

See y'all next year!

Gifts, Merriment, and a Guard Penguin

I am so blessed to have so many shiny packages under our beautiful tree this year! I just can't put my camera down!

a little hot chocolate with marshmellow's for those chilly nights!

Noni sent Brad and I this cute little penguin, since we discovered a mutual love/hate relationship with penguins during our Thanksgiving visit. He now guards our tree and drives our downstairs neighbor crazy as we make him zoom all over the floors!

Our First Tree

Brad and I got our first Christmas tree this weekend! Since we're going to be in town this year for Christmas, we decided to get a real, live tree. It is Brad's first ever live tree and I am so glad to be back to having a live tree - the college years of fake ones just weren't the same. The smell when you walk into our apartment is fantastic; I wish I could bottle it up to have in there all year long!

After a less than successful shopping trip to Home Depot Saturday to look for a tree, we happened to stop by our local Catholic high school on a whim because they had a small sign indicating they were selling trees. I'm so glad we did! We got a beautiful tree for a good price, and the people were so nice! They helped us get it in the car and soon enough we were on our way.

When we got home, we carried the tree up the three flights of stairs to our apartment (I only wish we had pictures of that!). I brought the tree stand into the hallway and managed to get the tree in with little difficulty and not too many needles covering the carpet. Brad brought it into the apartment and it fit perfectly in the spot we picked out!

We let it settle over night and Sunday afternoon we decorated it. I was worried we wouldn't have enough ornaments, but we even had some to spare. We got all our favorites on, which was important to both of us.

I'm so thankful to have a beautiful tree to celebrate our first Christmas as husband and wife together!

dissatisfaction at Home Depot (sorry Home Depot - we normally love you!)

finally got it up the stairs and into the apartment!

all set up, in the stand and only leaning a little bit

time for decorations

all finished decorating!

Brad's favorite childhood ornament

Tony Stewart #20 NASCAR snowman pit crew

Christina's favorite childhood ornament

replica of the ship we went on for our honeymoon

Mr. and Mrs.

(still to come: the ornament we bought in Pisa, Italy that is currently MIA :) )