Have Yourselves a Nutty Holiday!

These look tasty to me, but it may only be because I tasted them...
Here is my (ahem... MOH's) recipe for these easy Candied Pecans:

* 8 cups pecan halves (approx. 2 lbs.)
* 2 egg whites
* 2 cups light brown sugar (add another 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar if you want them extra sweet)
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 2 tsp cinnamon

- Preheat oven 275 degrees
- Beat egg whites til firm
- Blend in everything else besides the nuts
- Add nuts and coat
- Spread on cookie sheet
- Bake for 30-40 minutes
- Let cool completely
- Munch da crunch!

And no holiday is complete without remnants from your wedding if you just got married that year! The delicious pecans will probably be packaged in boxes and ribbons left over from projects like this one and given to friends and family.
OH! OH! OH! (source)

Disconnected

I always knew being without the net would be less than awesome, but I really didn't anticipate the level of irritation I'm currently experiencing.

AT&T and FedEx aparently both hate me, so I'm surviving on web lunch at work. This is ruffage.

Image by Photo David

Food for Thought

Happiness is...

1. eating delicious meals vicariously through others (pic: one of the holiday meals from da hubs' work, yes that's prime rib)

2. 100% (virtual) taste, 0% calories/guilt

3. having a husband who knows I'd enjoy this picture, and still married me.

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament

Got left over wedding invitations lying around and don't quite have the heart to throw them away quite yet? I've got a holiday suggestion:


1) Chop up a couple of them into long strips of varying widths showing the key lines.
2) Roll 'em up really tight (I trimmed the strips so that the words show up at the end of the rolls).
3) Toss 'em in one of those glass globe ornaments available in most craft stores.
4) Hang and go 'ooo' and 'aahhh' at your good work.
I still have over a dozen of these suckers left since the minimum order was 100, so they may very well contribute in a holiday bonfire this year. Grr... I hate waste.

My New Mug

The guys at work often give me crap about not wearing my e-ring, this 2 carat cup for my morning coffee at the office oughtta shut 'em up, huh?

I shoulda been working on the TY cards...

I'm not a game person, but I wasted hours on these TWO GAMES because I can't stand not beating them and I'm too stubborn to cheat. I'm also sad to say that I'll probably buy that first game when the deluxe version comes out.

The Tea Party: The Fashion (Faux Pas) Show

Previously: 1. Prelude , 2. Tea Ceremony , 3. Getting Ready, 4. The Kids

Did everyone but me know that there are so many rules on wedding guest attire before planning a wedding? Different resources yield varying info, but I guess black can be to too somber and red can be too distracting... and holy crap people get all kinds of worked up about wearing white!

I honestly didn't think I would remotely care if anyone showed up to the wedding wearing white. In fact, there were quite a few guests who wore white dresses with brightly colored accessories and they were all gorgeous! But when I first saw the hubs' grandma for the first time that day dressed entirely in white, my first thought was... 'Oh no!'

(his g-ma, my g-ma,
my mom, his mom)

Now that's not the 'Oh no, everyone will mistake her for the bride!' or 'Oh no, now she'll take all the attention away from me!' Rather, considering that the hubs' grandmother is pretty traditional, it honestly crossed my mind that this was her way of showing her disapproval for our marriage. I had only met her less than half a dozen times and don't know her well enough to tell you much besides that she's a very nice lady. I searched for an answer in my mind but then realized it was pointless, and so I moved on. The busy day kept my mind off the matter except for the moment when she came to speak to me (with hugs and nothing but kind words) at the reception.

My FIL called one day inquiring what he was suppose to wear to the wedding. The hubs asked him what nice clothes he had, and if he had a tie. His honest response was 'Oh man I have to wear a tie?' Needless to say I was ready for his nice outfit (the 80's suit with cowboy boots), though MIL made him get a new suit and a matching red tie instead. Thanks to her, I got a chance to fully see where some of the hubs' good looks came from.
I didn't care so much to put anyone in tuxes, but the hubs put his traditional foot down on this one. Since these were his boys, I didn't bother to protest.
The groomsmaids (left pics) were hard at work helping set up prior to the ceremony and we did not all get ready together. It was hot early in the evening and both of them had the button to the mandarin collar undone. I think it is as reasonable it is for me to assume they would have it buttoned, as it is reasonable for them to assume that it need not to be. No matter though, they were all beautiful regardless! But the lesson learned: if you're asking those who are unfamiliar to don cultural wardrobe, provide instructions because self-explanatory to you isn't necessarily to everyone else!

Here is a closeup of the 'fits modeled by MOH & BestMan. The girls appreciated my choice of fans over flowers in the heat, while the groomsmen complained about the hot tux the hubs put them in.

Mom: share da shade!
G-ma: No!

And the perfect cuties:

As you can see, there were red, black, and even white everywhere. Most were planned, some were not, but it all turned out wonderfully. As for my suspicion for disapproval, I will just have to take the hubs' word that it is not the case.

Anyone else caught off guard by wedding guest attire?

Images by Travis Hoehne

No Originality

I came away from Thanksgiving at the in-laws with these and thought they would make cool cuff links (would've been a good idea for the groomsmen but it's a little late now!). After a quick search I found that I was sooo not alone.

And don't even get me started on them Scrabble tiles.