fuzzy time of year

Love me some holidays! I wasn't in such a great mood for the last few weeks and a few people mentioned that it might be due to that limbo period between gorgeous cozy autumn, which ended as quickly as it began, and fuzzy holidays. Totally true. But now that Thanksgiving has officially come and gone, I'm totally in that festive Christmas mood! I've started my annual Christmas card making, made my first gift purchase, Mandsi decorated the apartment, and this afternoon I had my first peppermint mocha. I'm definitely going to try and maintain this good mood for the rest of the year in hopes that it will be a good way to start off a MUCH better new year.

Anyway! Some end of the month updates:

#17 - I don't remember being particularly outlandishly selfish at any time this month...but something selfish-y comes to mind, so I'll just count that.

#29 - The "Harvest" dinner party for 11 last weekend was a huge success! Mandsi and my menu included: spiced nuts, crackers with brie and fig spread, barbecue meatballs, roasted butternut squash and apple soup (which of course fulfills #45 and #50), to-die-for fried ravioli with pumpkin dipping sauce, and pecan bars and pumpkin bread for dessert. We also had beverages aplenty! Gin martinis, spiced wine, and Leinie's Fireside Nut Brown ale to name a few, and I partook in all ;)

#50 - I'm going to try and find a unique recipe that uses cranberries since they're in season now.

#51 - No eating out worked really well this month! As I mentioned, the one dispensation I had was for Monica and Tim's anniversary party at Fox & Hound since I didn't really have a choice. I did turn down several invitations to go out though (one of which I spent the night staring at my silent cell phone and clawing at the walls) so I'm proud ;) This month is another difficult one, however, as I'm giving up all alcohol except wine, and preferably only drinking red. But once again, a couple dispensations as it is the holiday season: a. either while my sis and I are in Chicago or afterwards at Blu/Centanni, I may have to indulge in a fancy martini, b. I'm going to have one holiday cocktail at my parents for Christmas (we make a special batch every year). But other than that, I'll only have wine on occasions like my work holiday party and even the hours leading up to midnight on New Years. Now while wine isn't your nice cheap Miller Lite and this might put a little bit of a dent into my checking account, I'm hoping that'll make me drink less as I have had WAY too much lately. This past weekend alone was enough to kill a small horse.

#68 - Fox & Hound as I ate an absolute TON that night

#87 - Can't say that I really discovered anything new, but I did put a Ladytron album on my Christmas list and I haven't really listened to them before??

And that's that! I can't say that life has been particularly exciting lately, but I guess no news is good news. At least for now.