Bonxai!

For a couple of weeks now, My cousin Kelly and i were very excited to take out our friend Heather for the night. She was Kelly's friend first, but I think I am ready to say she is my friend now too! Heather is a great gal and I wonderful mommy to 2 ADORABLE little boys, Miles and Asher. So we thought it would be fun to get Heather out of the house for a night. WE met up at Cafe Bonxai, a nice Asian-Fusion restaurant on University Ave. Kelly's BFF Sarah also joined us, and she never fails to totally crack me up. Our plan was to go eat and then a movie. We made it through dinner, and were about to see the movie, when Heather says, "I have some scary and sad news to tell you." I was thinking the worst, but really she couldn't join us for the movie, because her kids were coming down from their Christmas high and her husband Ryan had to catch them. :) So we of course were disappointed, because we like you Heather! and I was really only mad at your for maybe 10 seconds! :) Next Time!

So just Kelly and I went and saw the movie Juno. I had seen it already, but not Kelly and she loved it! Honestly, I think it was funnier the second time! Oh and let me back up, while we were standing in line to get tickets, Kelly says, "Do you want to go to a 24 Walmart after the movie?" Heck Yeah my Cuz! So after the movie we made a trip to the Eagan Walmart. There we got lost in rows and rows of discounted Christmas decor. At one point Kelly fell madly in love with a deluxe makeup set. You know those huge boxes of every eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, nail polish under the sun. It looked so tempting that i put one in the cart too... until we realized, we probably didn't need another 50 eyeshadow combos. I did however get a whole set of fun wrapping paper and my next year's Christmas cards all for 50% off! It was fun, and the best part is, we both didn't have to work in the morning, so we could browse to our little hearts content into the wee hours of the night. Fun Times!

Hair and Pumpkins and Mraz, Oh My!

Breaking news! My cousin Chad and his wife Kristi are going to have a baby!! Whoo Hoo!!! My Cousin Kelly explains the situation best in her blog here.

So I made the grown up step and got my hair cut last Saturday. Along with a much need color upgrade. Auburn with red highlights... I am missing my long hair, but I love how healthy and shiny my new hair-do is. I don't think I honestly could go any shorter. I had thought deeply about getting the Katie Holmes hair-do, not the newest one with the bangs but the one before that with side-swept bangs... Instead I went 6 inches shorter, and I still have shoulder length hair. It's not as curly as it is when it is long... I miss that too. But I do like it, for now, but I think it needs to grow out more. New Year, New Hair! :)

Anyway, one of my favorite gifts, and there were many, was a total surprise gift from my cousin Kelly. I had seen this totally cute soup tourine and bowls in the shape of pumpkins at Z-Gallerie but they were way out of my price range. Happily, Kelly had found a similar set on QVC! I just love it and i can't wait to make some pumpkin soup and have some friends over to share in the goodness.

And on a final note, I wanted to share a quote with you from the wonderful Jason Mraz. If you haven't heard of him or his music, it is a must, especially his live cd! I was reading his blog last night and he had this great quote about the new year, about living life to the fullest. This is exactly what i was thinking for awhile, but didn't know how to express it. Mr. A-Z says it best and this is my New Year's resolution:

"Another year is fast approaching. Go be that starving Artist you’re afraid to be. Open up that journal and get poetic finally. Volunteer. Suck it up and travel. You were not born here to work and pay taxes. You were put here to be part of a vast organism to explore and create. Stop putting it off. The world has much more to offer than what’s on 15 televisions at TGI Fridays. Take pictures. Scare people. Shake up the scene. Be the change you want to see in the world."

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas day goes a little something like this: Me running across the snow in my party dress to the barn to shut off the electric fence so my cousin Kyle can go out and shoot a pheasant. As I walked back from the barn, with the snow falling down, I had to stop and laugh, thankful for the moments of sheer randomness of family and the beauty of this day.

The night before I had Christmas Eve at my parents house, and my aunt and uncle came over for dinner and gifts.Later that night Kelly and Kyle came over to crash so they could just be here for the festivities the next day. Christmas morning, Kyle's wish was to go out and shoot some clay pigeons, and of course he would need a launcher: ME! So we bundle up and made our way through the snow, me with a shot gun and Kyle with a box of clay pigeons. We walked through the fields over snow drifts and past the woods to reach the edge of my parents property. There, I shot a few and Kyle shot the rest. And due to my lack of proper wrist snap, I couldn't get the darn pigeons launched. So in my sabrina fashioned way, I launched them by hand. It was fun. But some day I will get the launching technique down. Later that day Kelly and I got the meal ready and our family showed up and we all had fun... until, Kyle spotted a pheasant and ran outside to get his gun and i ran to the barn to shut off the fence. And thus i am back to the beginning of my story. Christmas always seems to go as fast as it comes, and this year was no exception. I had a great time with my mom and dad, opening gifts and watching my brother get excited over all his movies he received. I am thankful over and over for my family for the joy they bring to my life, and thankful for their health and safety!

God is good, and that is why we celebrate! He is good because he loves us enough to send his son Jesus! Amen!

And on another festive fun note, Sunday night I got together with some of my favorite gal pals. We had talked about it all week, but once Sunday arrived, along with the snow, I thought twice about my original plan. My friend Cindy, who lives in Chaska, was going to have me, Shannon and Jaime over for one last hurrah before Christmas... we would all crash at her place and then Christmas Eve day head off to our respective families. Well Sunday it started to snow, not a little, but a lot. The thing is, I do not like to drive in bad weather, it makes me nervous and anxious, and i really don't like being either. However, after I talked with Cindy and assessed the roads (not great) I said, screw it, you only live once. So I bundled up in boots and hat and mittens, with survival gear intact and headed out to Chaska. Which from St. Paul on average in about a half an hour drive. I just went nice and slow, and in about an hour, I made it safe and sound to Cindy's! Yeah! I did it! :) We had a great night of laughs and silliness, wine and Pinocchio and merriment. I'm glad I went, you can't beat a fun night with your good friends! Cheers!

P.S. I cut my hair off... not all of it, but about 6 inches! which for me is pretty drastic! I love having really long hair, but sometimes change is good! I will post a pic, when I get a good one... New Year, New Hair!

Christmas Slideshow

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your day is not only Merry and Bright, but filled with Peace and Joy as you celebrate with your loved ones. Repeat the Sounding Joy, Jesus is born!!! Blessings to you!

December 24, 2007

The Babe in the Manger... Immanuel!

Christmas Pasta!!!

Back in October, my cousin Kelly found this really cool multi-colored pasta. It was a fun mix of green, red, gold, black and orange. Kelly separated the orange and black from the other colors and made some Halloween Pasta. Then she bagged up the rest of the pasta and handed it to me with a mission and said, "Make some Christmas Pasta with this." Fast forward to December, with all the hustle and bustle of the season I had completely forgotten to make the Christmas Pasta. As I was cleaning out my pantry today, I found the bag of Christmas Color Pasta tucked way in the back of the shelf. Sadly, the pasta was curled up, whimpering and crying big rain drop tears... they looked up at me with sad eyes and said, "You forgot about us!" My heart melted and I said, "Never fear green, gold and red pasta, your time has now come!"

And so I present my Christmas Pasta, along with Mr. Herb Tomato and Mrs. Artichoke Heart and their children, onion, garlic and red pepper flake. Ta-da!

December 23, 2007

Fantastic Family!