ohhhh my. i'm going to (mostly) ignore the fact that it's been nearly two months and just sort of dive right in here... because progress has indeed been made!
i bought apartment flowers (#44) for my fancy schmancy dinner party (#65) a.k.a. THANKSGIVING IN SEATTLE!!! this year marked the first time in our familial history that the elwarts did not celebrate turkey day in the greater chicago area, and it went off without a hitch! surrounded by loved ones who traveled from near and far to spend the holiday in my home, i truly felt blessed. and distracted enough by all the new recipes (#59) that i didn't take a ton of pictures, and certainly none that illustrated the massive, two-day undertaking that this really was. and no group shots (actually pretty bummed about that). but, here's what we got:
why yes, i arranged those myself.
and picked individual buds out for these little bottles that i've had for years but never used
oh, and we had turkey, dressing, potatoes (mashed AND sweet), green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, baked brie, salads (yea kelly!), homemade bread (thanks john!), pretzel/jell-o mold (whoo kyle!) two different kinds of pie (again, props to kyle on the pecan), and probably some other things i'm missing. it was seriously wonderful, i learned a lot, and i'm jealous of my three-weeks-ago-self.
totally busted being helpful in the kitchen. (mac + ipad + mixing bowls)
i'm really excited to be using my new mixer!
one of the dinner tables
and the other. hard to see, but those are last-minute place settings fashioned out of a cut-up envelope. martha stewart, SIT DOWN.
the elwarts have landed!
sister, sister, never knew how much i missed ya! (sigh... she's probably too young to get that)
haha his face isn't actually blurry there, but camera malfunction or not it's all i got!
guests of honor. all class.
for part one of kyle's birthday gift we went to see passion pit at the moore theater (#35). of all the live shows that i actually counted towards this goal, this was hands down my favorite. i realized i hadn't paid more than a ten dollar door cover to see any band, let alone one whose songs i already knew, for over a year. so i was really looking forward to this.
we went out to a nice dinner beforehand, but i promptly felt sick afterward and we ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT. but i persevered. for passion pit. i took a timeout in the backseat of my car as kyle drove around the city looking for the perfect spot that would allow us to run right inside as soon as i was feeling better. he miraculously found a space right outside the theater, and although we missed the first song of their set as we were running up to the tippy-top of the balcony to snag some of the only seats left, once in place we danced it all away. and i even remembered to take some shots! they don't capture the band very well, but they do perfectly illustrate the second best part of their show - the lights display. oooooOOOOooohhhh.
green!
and blue!
omg and red!
finally, i've been going over and over this list and have realized that i'm just not as into some of these goals as i was one year ago, and others of them just aren't as feasible anymore. on my next post i'll go through each one i'm eliminating (and why), and what it's being replaced with. right now it looks like i'll need to replace seven goals. i've got some great ideas, including tasks that didn't make the original cut last year, but i'm open to more suggestions so lay 'em on me!
i bought apartment flowers (#44) for my fancy schmancy dinner party (#65) a.k.a. THANKSGIVING IN SEATTLE!!! this year marked the first time in our familial history that the elwarts did not celebrate turkey day in the greater chicago area, and it went off without a hitch! surrounded by loved ones who traveled from near and far to spend the holiday in my home, i truly felt blessed. and distracted enough by all the new recipes (#59) that i didn't take a ton of pictures, and certainly none that illustrated the massive, two-day undertaking that this really was. and no group shots (actually pretty bummed about that). but, here's what we got:
why yes, i arranged those myself.
and picked individual buds out for these little bottles that i've had for years but never usedoh, and we had turkey, dressing, potatoes (mashed AND sweet), green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, baked brie, salads (yea kelly!), homemade bread (thanks john!), pretzel/jell-o mold (whoo kyle!) two different kinds of pie (again, props to kyle on the pecan), and probably some other things i'm missing. it was seriously wonderful, i learned a lot, and i'm jealous of my three-weeks-ago-self.
totally busted being helpful in the kitchen. (mac + ipad + mixing bowls)
i'm really excited to be using my new mixer!
one of the dinner tables
and the other. hard to see, but those are last-minute place settings fashioned out of a cut-up envelope. martha stewart, SIT DOWN.
the elwarts have landed!
sister, sister, never knew how much i missed ya! (sigh... she's probably too young to get that)
haha his face isn't actually blurry there, but camera malfunction or not it's all i got!
guests of honor. all class.__________
for part one of kyle's birthday gift we went to see passion pit at the moore theater (#35). of all the live shows that i actually counted towards this goal, this was hands down my favorite. i realized i hadn't paid more than a ten dollar door cover to see any band, let alone one whose songs i already knew, for over a year. so i was really looking forward to this.
we went out to a nice dinner beforehand, but i promptly felt sick afterward and we ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT. but i persevered. for passion pit. i took a timeout in the backseat of my car as kyle drove around the city looking for the perfect spot that would allow us to run right inside as soon as i was feeling better. he miraculously found a space right outside the theater, and although we missed the first song of their set as we were running up to the tippy-top of the balcony to snag some of the only seats left, once in place we danced it all away. and i even remembered to take some shots! they don't capture the band very well, but they do perfectly illustrate the second best part of their show - the lights display. oooooOOOOooohhhh.
green!
and blue!
omg and red!__________
finally, i've been going over and over this list and have realized that i'm just not as into some of these goals as i was one year ago, and others of them just aren't as feasible anymore. on my next post i'll go through each one i'm eliminating (and why), and what it's being replaced with. right now it looks like i'll need to replace seven goals. i've got some great ideas, including tasks that didn't make the original cut last year, but i'm open to more suggestions so lay 'em on me!
