Bronzed love

Twelve years ago, I started dating this cutie.

Youth and red hair, how I miss you both.

Four years later, we became man and wife.

I was totes excited about it.

He makes me laugh today just as much as he did then.

And we continue to celebrate over delicious food, as we did on our honeymoon.

My travel agent friend surprised us with a table for two on our cruise.

Tonight, we celebrated our eight-year (bronze) wedding anniversary with food (hello, honey & bacon cornbread and fancy-pants S'mores), laughter, and happy smiles.

I'm grateful for these past eight years and look forward to the next eight years and beyond...

Paw prints on my heart

I'm no stranger to loss. In the last few years of high school and the first few years of college, it felt like I spent more time at funerals than I did at parties, saying goodbye to friends who were gone way too soon. With all the grief I've experienced, never did I expect it to be the loss of a furry, four-legged friend that would be among the hardest with which to cope.

My sweet snuggle bunny, Mimi, came into my life 11 years ago. It was only a matter of months before I couldn't remember what life was like before her.

As she started showing her 17 years of age in the last few months, I was scared of what I knew would eventually come. Just the thought of it caused a separation anxiety of sorts and several bad dreams.

On Friday afternoon, my nightmare came true: Mimi let us know that she was ready to go, and we had to say goodbye to her. That was - surprisingly - the easier part because it was a blessing that we could give her one final gift of love: the gift of peace.

Coming home without her, though, ripped a hole in my heart. The sudden quietness of our apartment is deafening. Her absence is profound; we didn't truly understand how much she was a part of our everyday routines until she no longer was.

There is no meowing when I put ice in my morning water.

No begging to share my milk during breakfast.

There are no longer two eyes peering into the bathroom, waiting for me to get out of the shower.

There is no keeping my spot on the couch warm while I'm at work.

The "welcome home from work" reception is less enthusiastic when there's no flopping in delight at my feet.

This is no longer the scene as I change into my PJs.

Burning the midnight oil is lonelier.

Vacuuming is not nearly as entertaining.

There's no longer competition to sit in my chair.

Or lie in the bed.

My fellow TV buddy is gone.

As is my reading buddy.

And also my "thunder buddy," who was always ready to lend a comforting paw and purr.

Nearly every aspect of my daily life at home is scarred by her absence.

Mimi could have lived another 17 years, and it still wouldn't have been enough time with her. I'd always want to enjoy one more snuggle, hear one more meow, feel the vibration of one more purr. I'm so grateful for the ones I got to share with her for the last third of my life. She brought such joy to us. Her paw prints are forever on my heart.

Once in a lifetime

Thanksgivukkah was a gastronomic mashup of epic proportions and portions.

A dreidel spinning during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
+ Thanksgiving nametags on menorahs as place settings
+ sweet potato latkes and cranberry applesauce
+ turkey AND brisket
+ pumpkin spice sufganiyot (doughnuts)
+ a cornucopia of gelt and dreidels
= EPIC holiday mashup!

Here are a few "pinteresting" recipes that were among our favorites:

pumpkin spice Rice Krispie treats

cranberry applesauce

Thanksgivukkah may have come and gone, but Chanukah is still here (barely - where is the time going?!) For those of you who celebrate, happy Chanukah!

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

...Thanksgivukkah!

Never before and never again in this lifetime will there be a holiday mashup quite as awesome as what's in store tomorrow: Thanksgivukkah. The Pilgrims and the Maccabees, both champions of religious freedom, will share a day tomorrow, which they won't do again for another 70,000 years:

"This year, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will overlap, producing an anomalistic hybrid holiday that’s come to be known as Thanksgivukkah. There are conflicting reports about whether it’s happened before and when it will happen again, but most mathematicians and calendar experts seem to think this is the first occurrence. Although the holidays would’ve overlapped in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln didn’t formally establish the holiday of Thanksgiving until two years later, in 1863, which means that 2013/5774 will mark the first Thanksgivukkah in history. 

Just how rare is this holiday? Some reports say Thanksgivukkah will happen again in 2070; others, like Jewish physicist and calendar expert Jonathan Mizrahi, say it won’t repeat itself until 79811. Either way, it’s safe to say that for most of us, Thanksgivukkah is, indeed, a once-in-a-lifetime event."                     

-ReformJudaism.org

To celebrate, I've put on my "Sweet Genius" hat and am preparing to make hybrid desserts to honor both holidays. I truly don't remember the last time I was this excited to bake. It's a Thanksgivukkah miracle!

Right now, it looks like a bodega threw up on my kitchen counter...

... but tomorrow it will look like culinary crossover creativity. I hope.

The Halloween that Wasn't

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday of the year. Perhaps it's the love I had of playing "make believe" as a young girl, or maybe it's the theatre nerd that developed in me during my teenage years, or perhaps it's the excuse to "be dark" now that I'm too old to be goth. No matter what the root cause is, I count down to Halloween beginning in September with the same enthusiasm that my nieces count down Christmas starting in summer. 

Not having anyone to dress up around here besides myself (Mimi will not be disgraced by such a notion), I tend to go "all out" with my own costume.

Exhibit A:
Circa 2006, I was an exaggerated version of my former self.

Exhibit B:
Circa 2011, Bellatrix Lestrange was the hit of the party,
with everyone except for Ginny Weasley, that is.

Exhibit C:
Circa 2012, Sookie Stackhouse left Bon Temps
and made her way to South Carolina.

So you can imagine my disappointment when - despite all my vitamins, hand washing, and fruit eating - I caught the cold of death just in time to RUIN HALLOWEEN.

This is as Halloweenie as it got around here this year.
I read about supernaturals and watched vampires & werewolves
(aka watched Eclipse for the hundredth time)
in between naps.

Too sick to carve the pumpkin?
Just stuff the pumpkin in a pair of patterned pantyhose.

I still managed to get a sugar high, thanks to one of Hubby's students.

I haven't yet gotten over the disappointment of my Halloween that wasn't, but at least there's always Purim: