April 2010 Weddings
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Christmas/Hanukkah Recap!
How was everyone's holiday??
1. Where and how did you celebrate?
2. What were your favorite gifts?
Re: Christmas/Hanukkah Recap!
1. Where and how did you celebrate?
we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Staten Island with my extended family. On the Eve, we went to mass and then went to my aunt's house for the Italian seafood feast! After dessert, my dad dressed up as Santa and gave out the presents. On the Day, me and hubby had a nice leisurely breakfast, I made baked french toast, and we went to another aunt's house for dinner. Both days were so much fun with a ton of little ones to play with! On Wed, we are meeting up with the in-laws for dinner and to exchange our gifts.
2. What were your favorite gifts?
My very thoughtful husband surprised me with diamond earrings that I saw in a jewelry store a few weeks ago! I was SHOCKED because I asked him to just get me $100 in yoga classes, but instead he went for a blingy gift. I LOVE them!
My mom made me a great gift, she put all of our family home movies on DVD for me!!! Everything that used to be on VHS is now on DVD. There are tons of movies of me as a baby and a kid, and even videos of my mom as a baby from my grandparents. There are about 15 DVD's to watch, and it's such a precious gift!!!! I was watching them late last night, crying and laughing. Love it!!
Since my little brother is in Kuwait and my big brother is in Vegas, we decided to do Christmas with my mom and step dad, grandma and grandpa and had my ILs over to keep my mom company. It was nice only having ONE Christmas, unlike last year before my dad moved we had 3!
I stole a bunch of our childhood pictures from my mom's house awhile ago and made them into a shutterfly book for her. She cried!
I have a very generous family. I got a $135 GC to my favorite hair salon, $250 to JCPenny to get window treatments for our new house, a comforter, sheets and mattress pad all in King size for when we buy the King bed for the new house and a new Coach purse! DH got a bunch of bullet making supplies and really, we shared most gifts.
1. Where and how did you celebrate? Friday Mike, Amanda, Mom & I went out to dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousin on my dad's side. My cousin is here from FL so it was nice to see him and visit.
Christmas Eve we opened gifts with Amanda and the neighbors, then took Amanda home to her mom, went to 4:00 mass at our church then lasagna dinner over my cousin's house (my mom's niece) with her, her DH, 2 girls and SIL, niece, great niece.
Christmas Day we had breakfast over my mom's and opened gifts with her, picked up Amanda at 1:30 then had dinner over SIL's house with Mike's family. Left there around 6 and went back to my mom's, Amanda opened gifts with my mom and my cousins then we dropped her back to her mom and came home around 9:00.
2. What were your favorite gifts? I got lots of cool gifts. DVDs, WWE PS3 game, Gift Cards to VS, BBW, BBB and the Aveda salon where I get my hair-did, lamp, ornaments, Pit Bull CD, some perfume, hair accessories & stuff from Ulta.
1. Christmas Eve day I spent cleaning while the kids were at their mom's doing Christmas with her. I made a corned beef in the crockpot and made Reubens with it for dinner for me and DH. We watched tv/movies with the kids for the evening and then told them they had to go to bed soon or tell us when they were getting up b/c Santa doesn't come when they're awake/downstairs! (i.e. they can't stay up til 1am and then get up at 6am without telling me b/c I put the presents under the tree before they come down just for the fun of the surprise of the pile of stuff). They went to get showered and go to bed so I got the presents out while they were upstairs otherwise occupied with doors closed.
Christmas day we opened stockings first, then had pancakes, bacon and sausage for breakfast, then opened the main presents. They seemed happy with what they got, especially Reid- TRON on DVD/Blu Ray and Batman Arkham City for Xbox. I gave them sheets for their beds- Reid a set of Microloft sheets from BBB which are AMAZINGLY soft! and Randi a flannel set with snowmen since she had a set which don't fit her newer pillowtop mattress. The old set is going to her mom's where she can use them and still enjoy them! My dad and grandma came over for lunch, and DH's mom did make it over to join us and the kids. We had ham, green beans and the Hasselbeck potatoes Laurms suggested and they came out great! I also made a blueberry cobbler in the crockpot that didn't turn out bad, to eat with vanilla ice cream :-)
After my dad and grandma left Reid played more Xbox and then we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then TRON, then DH & I went to bed shortly thereafter while the kids wanted to watch Its a Wonderful Life on the DVR. Oh and I talked to my brother in Indiana (the one who lost baby Hope) for almost an hour! It was great to talk to him.
2. DH gave me gold hoop earrings (per my request, just specified a size area to stay in which he did great!), a crochet book (200 crochet blocks), Rachael Ray Lazy spoon and ladle! a wine chiller and opener, an EZ Pass for the toll roads, and a reusable Keurig cup so we can use our own coffee in it! Funny enough I think someone here mentioned the Keurig reusable cup and I went online and looked at it and commented to DH how cool that would be, but he said let's wait til we use what we have of the cups before we get that. Little did I know he already bought it for me :-P So I'm pretty impressed with DH's gift giving this year, he even put some things in my stocking :-)
Hope the rest of you ladies had a wonderful holiday weekend!
April 2010 Siggy Challenge: Next Vacation Destination
I hope everyone had a truly wonderful holiday!!!
We actually spent our first Christmas at home alone together! I cannot tell you guys how awesome that was :-) H had to work Christmas night and Christmas Eve, so we had our dinner early and hung out together with our fur-babies watching the Ravens. We plan to visit our families/friends beginning tomorrow, as we are both off from work until Jan. 3rd - and we are looking forward to seeing them all.
I had a lot of favorite gifts this year!
The guys that I work for gave me $500 in gift cards ($200 Nordstrom, $200 AMEX gift card, $50 Amazon/Starbucks cards in addition to some other lovely presents)...I am quite looking forward to finding some great things with them after the holiday hustle and bustle slows down :-)
And H, as always, knew the way to my heart with some serious Ravens gear (I am not hard to please!), a Joyce Byers 'Caroler' for my growing collection, gift cards and my favorite gift from him this year: a diamond bracelet that matches my wedding rings perfectly!! Girls, it is gorgeous...I didn't want to take it off! When I said as much to H, he just smiled and said to enjoy it - I love my bubby!!!
1. Where and how did you celebrate? We started off at my parents house...we had lunch there and hung out for awhile and opened gifts. Then we headed to my BIL's house, which is about 45 mins away, and had dinner and gifts with the IL's.
2. What were your favorite gifts? I got a LOT of awesome stuff! Here are a few of my favs...from DH: New moccassin slippers, Vera Bradley pouch/wristlet; from my parents: Vera Bradley weekender bag, new purse; from IL's: flannel sheets, cute Pandora dog bead
It was a wonderful, fabulous day and I'm sad it went by so quickly!
10/11: Dx PCOS, 2000mg Metformin
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April Nesties March siggy challenge: Next Vacation, Anguilla!!
We had 5 Christmases (yes 5) in 3 days, so we were all over the place.
Friday night we had my dad's side and just ate dinner with them. Then, we went to ILs house and exchanged gifts with DH's immediate family. This is when we told our niece that we got her a swing set. She was so incredibly excited about it that she gave her mom the biggest bear hug ever and had tears in her eyes. It was certainly the highlight of the night.
Saturday morning we had brunch and exchanged gifts with MILs side of the family. That evening we had dinner and exchanged gifts with my immediate family. DH and I went to 11 pm candlelight service at church.
Sunday morning we went back to my parents for breakfast, then headed out to DHs aunt's house for Christmas with FILs side of the family.
By the time we got home last night we were exhausted.
I got some really great gifts and we still have Christmas with our friends Saturday night. DH got me some new boots, a diamond snowflake necklace and completed my Harry Potter DVD collection. I also got some Hallmark ornaments, the accessories for our bathroom, Christmas dishes/platter, $$$$, and some other small stuff.
DH loved his Blues hoodie so much that he can't wait to put it on. He was so excited with his stuff.
We made Hanukkah dinner on Friday night for the in-laws at our house. Then Saturday we went to a cousin's house from Xmas Eve dinner. Christmas was lots of family (DH's side) at our house again. Needless to say I am DONE cooking for a while - but we had a great time!
DH got me diamond earrings which (like allison) was a big shock since he wrapped them in a huge box with one of my hand weights in it. I seriously thought he got me new hand weights when I opened it and was about to be a little WTF?! He tricked me
We also got the most amazing softest blanket from MIL and FIL with a dog outline stitched in the corner that looks like Bruce - super cute 
And SIL/BIL got us the Eleven Madison Park cookbook (we had an amazing meal there in NYC so it's kinda meaningful and also awsome food AND a pretty book that we can display) and a super cute clutch filled with makeup for me.
Overall a great Christmas....although they are still in my house for 2 more days!
Christmas Eve morning, I had to work, but the manager wasn't there so we left early. I pre-made some food for Christmas Day and finished wrapping a few presents. We went over to the in-laws house to open presents Christmas Eve. My sinuses were just awful (mainly due to MIL's smoking). Christmas Day we had both parents over for dinner. We had a free 10 pound ham from Honey Baked Ham (thanks to a company that works with DH's company) and it was delicious! As was the rest of the food.
My favorite gift was my KitchenAid Stand Mixer from my MIL! It was exactly what I wanted... red with the glass bowl. DH got a leaf blower, dvds, and PS3 game. We also got a humidifier which we really needed... only it leaked so MIL is returning it for a different one. Oh and DH got the small flat screen TV he had been wanting for in the garage. This way when he is working on the cars he can still watch his Blues games or other sports.
1. Where and how did you celebrate?
We had both of my sisters' families at our house from Friday night - Sunday morning. We had cake Friday night for my oldest niece's 5th birthday (that was the 21st), Saturday I made prime rib dinner with roasted baked potatoes and a romaine salad (everything turned out AMAZING), Saturday night we had soups and appetizers after church then opened gifts. Sunday morning we had cinnamon rolls and mimosas (and virgin mimosas for me and the kids) before everyone left. Then I went out the my BF's parent's for Christmas dinner with them (crab legs, steaks, baked potatoes...yum...)
2. What were your favorite gifts?
Well, Jeff got me exactly what I asked for...a Blu Ray player that connects to the internet so I can get Netflix on it, too. It is wireless, which is awesome! It works so great!!! I got lots of other great gifts. Baby Mohlman even scored a couple of good ones, too!