LOVE

I finally have a professional picture of my husband and I that I LOVE. Taken by the talented Mollie at Bloom Photography.

# 83 Host a Dinner Party

For this years Halloween party I decided to make it a formal dinner because I love to cook, and well, I wanted to cross something off my list! So we busted out the china and dressed up for a fun fancy dinner.

The napkin rings were candy necklaces. Cheap, edible, and fun!

We carved the tops out of these Pokemon pumpkins to put votives in. Festive candles!

The table all set for dinner.

A place setting.

The above table decor. I strung a bunch of cobwebs around our light and added some glittered stars, bats, and skeletons.

The spooky dessert.

The fireplace all decked out.

Wordless Wednesday

Last Book!

I have read the last book in my fifty book challenge (I didn't count things like New Hat Old Hat by Dr. Seuss or I would have been done a loooong time ago!). Before I move on to the last book details, I have an important question for all my readers (all 13 of you). Should I keep the Goodreads feed on the right that tells you what I am currently reading or ditch it? I will still be reading books, as I love to read, but do you care what I read? Let me know!

This is the third installment of Dan Brown's symbology adventures. I have to say that even though the book followed his typical ancient group, secret symbols, and running away template, this is my favorite of the three. I think it was more well-written and more adventurous. I liked it a lot. If you even remotely enjoyed the other two books (or the lame movies) you should read this book!

-- Publishers Weekly - The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

After scores of Da Vinci Code knockoffs, spinoffs, copies and caricatures, Brown has had the stroke of brilliance to set his breakneck new thriller not in some far-off exotic locale, but right here in our own backyard. Everyone off the bus, and welcome to a Washington, D.C., they never told you about on your school trip when you were a kid, a place steeped in Masonic history that, once revealed, points to a dark, ancient conspiracy that threatens not only America but the world itself. Returning hero Robert Langdon comes to Washington to give a lecture at the behest of his old mentor, Peter Solomon. When he arrives at the U.S. Capitol for his lecture, he finds, instead of an audience, Peter’s severed hand mounted on a wooden base, fingers pointing skyward to the Rotunda ceiling fresco of George Washington dressed in white robes, ascending to heaven. Langdon teases out a plethora of clues from the tattooed hand that point toward a secret portal through which an intrepid seeker will find the wisdom known as the Ancient Mysteries, or the lost wisdom of the ages. A villain known as Mal’akh, a steroid-swollen, fantastically tattooed, muscle-bodied madman, wants to locate the wisdom so he can rule the world. Mal’akh has captured Peter and promises to kill him if Langdon doesn't agree to help find the portal. Joining Langdon in his search is Peter’s younger sister, Kathleen, who has been conducting experiments in a secret museum. This is just the kickoff for a deadly chase that careens back and forth, across, above and below the nation’s capital, darting from revelation to revelation, pausing only to explain some piece of wondrous, historical esoterica. Jealous thriller writers will despair, doubters and naysayers will be proved wrong, and readers will rejoice: Dan Brown has done it again.

Wordless Wednesday

#52 Another book down (one to go!)

I won't give too much away as this is the book club book for January. But this book was amazing. It was really well written. What I really liked about it was that the book was written in the first person point of view, for each character. So while one chapter might be told from the mom's point of view, the next would be the dad's. It was a great way to tell how each person affected felt.

I will say that the book had an unexpected twist at the end that made me very sad :*( It was a great read, even my husband enjoyed reading it.

From Publishers Weekly:

The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored with pathos and understanding in this 11th novel by Picoult (Second Glance, etc.). The author, who has taken on such controversial subjects as euthanasia (Mercy), teen suicide (The Pact) and sterilization laws (Second Glance), turns her gaze on genetic planning, the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results. Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out. Picoult uses multiple viewpoints to reveal each character's intentions and observations, but she doesn't manage her transitions as gracefully as usual; a series of flashbacks are abrupt. Nor is Sara, the children's mother, as well developed and three-dimensional as previous Picoult protagonists. Her devotion to Kate is understandable, but her complete lack of sympathy for Anna's predicament until the trial does not ring true, nor can we buy that Sara would dust off her law degree and represent herself in such a complicated case. Nevertheless, Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity, and comes up with a heart-wrenching, unexpected plot twist at the book's conclusion.

#83 Host a dinner party

This is in the planning stages and should happen VERY soon!! Squeee.

I will be busting out the china for it too :)

#38 Finish buying our china

I think I am only going to ask for china from most people for my birthday and for Christmas. Hopefully that will jump-start buying what is left. For those interested, here is our beautiful pattern: Noritake Piedmont Platinum

#7 Pay Off Credit Cards

I am marking it as complete!

100 things that make me happy

This was hard to do. Not because I am an unhappy person, but because sometimes it is hard to remember the simple pleasures. I will add to this list if I think of anything more, but for now I have 100!! Here they are in no particular order:

1. my husband
2. hay bails
3. rainbows
4. warm rain
5. C's smile
6. getting cards in the mail
7. chocolate
8. Halloween
9. perfect snow (you know the type where no one else has stepped foot in it and it is a bright white blanket)
10. curling up to read a good book
11. swinging
12. waterfalls
13. holding hands
14. scrapbooking
15. petting Luna
16. road trips
17. vacations
18. the beach
19. swimming
20. legos
21. milk and cookies
22. relaxing with C
23. crisp fall days (the kind that make your cheeks pink)
24. myself
25. bubble wrap (small joys :))
26. hugs
27. snuggles
28. hot chocolate
29. warm brownies
30. fresh hair cut
31. pedicures
32. gerbera daisies
33. poppy flowers
34. pictures
35. kisses
36. phone calls
37. sand between my toes
38. the ocean (unless it is a cold Massachusetts ocean)
39. The smell of freshly done laundry
40. cheese
41. ice cream
42. cooking
43. movies
44. laughter
45. grass
46. office/school supplies
47. thunderstorms
48. bubble baths
49. painting
50. making pottery pieces
51. yoga
52. warm spring days
53. puddle jumping
54. putt-putt golf
55. seahorses
56. orange (the color not the fruit)
57. sewing
58. working on projects with C
59. aquariums
60. smell of rain
61. monkey bread
62. my mom
63. my dad
64. my sister
65. my friends
66. Japanese gardens
67. sunshine
68. lemonade on a hot summer day
69. dots
70. kayaking
71. shopping
72. winning
73. smell of fall
74. frogs
75. my Nathan water bottle
76. going to my hometown
77. Christmas
78. family traditions
79. not wearing pants
80. going to new places
81. the smell of pine trees
82. chocolate chip cookies
83. memories
84. making a snowman
85. driving around looking at Christmas lights
86. fields of flowers
87. receiving flowers
88. fires
89. sunsets
90. lounging around in bed
91. sexy underwear
92. clean sheets (especially when coming home from a trip)
93. singing in the shower
94. dancing
95. LOL cats
96. skipping
97. compliments
98. presents
99. my home
100. sleeping in