Happy Halloween!

I'm popping in for a belly bump update (Halloween edition) before the trick-or-treaters start rolling in...

{21 Weeks}

 

 

It's been quite a while since I was all that into Halloween, but it is the first official holiday of the season, and I do love a good pumpkin carving sesh.

{Carving pumpkins with Mom, just like the old days}

Boom!

Unrelated, I cannot get enough of this dog. She is pretty much perfection on four legs, so I bought her me this festive canine bandana as a special holiday treat.

 

Happy Halloween, witches!

Christmas!!!

What? I was six months behind on the wedding; a six week delay on Christmas blogging should be viewed as an unqualified success. 

So....the day after Tom and I got back from Florida Christmas, we headed down to my parents' for San Diego Christmas, which for those not in the know, was on December 27th this year. My brother and Erin had arrived on the 26th, so it was one of those all-too-rare weekends when my family is all together in one room.

Not only did I get to spend real, live, in-person time with Mike and Erin, but I also got to hang out with a puppy, which as we all know, makes everything that much better.

{Coya}

{I'm confused by Tom's expression... but I mean, really. How cute is that puppy?}

We did Secret Santa this year, and Michael got Buckley this totally rad hipster giraffe t-shirt.

{Remember how I said he was weird in all the best ways? Case in point.}

Mo got all the ladies matching bracelets.

{faith, hope, and love}

My dad was very excited to surprise my brother with Chargers tickets.

{They had a great time despite some hail and a near miss with a vomitous fan who was seated behind them.}

I had ordered Michael a Chargers shirt for the occasion, but it was late to arrive so I had to improvise.

After some present opening, we broke for a trip to the movies. The guys were having a hard time generating the appropriate level of enthusiasm for the planned viewing of Les Miserables, so we split up. The boys got their Tarantino on at Django Unchained while us girls bawled our eyes out at Jean Valjean's noble struggle. [Side note: Is Jean Valjean not the best character? Ever? Sigh. I love him. And the music. Oh, the music... I know every word. I found myself mouthing the lyrics to just about every song...Castle on a Cloud being the obvious exception. Baby Cosette is kind of a whiner.]

After the movies, it was beer tasting time. Apparently, this is becoming a holiday tradition.

{Coya obviously can't hang.}

After a delicious dinner (popovers, mmmmm!), I broke out Cards Against Humanity, a Christmas gift from Tom and my new favorite game. It's like the adult version of Apples to Apples, and some of the cards are pretty x-rated. We censored a few for my mom's benefit, but after the beer tasting and the wine with dinner, everyone was feeling pretty loose.  

Still, we don't mess around when it comes to games....serious decision making (and more wine, naturally) going on here.

The prompt on this round was, "What gets better with age?"

{I don't remember which card won, but I really hope that it was "Home video of Oprah sobbing into a Lean Cuisine."}

I'm not sure how long we played (an hour? two?), but there was a lot of laughing. Like tears streaming, can't catch your breath laughing... Playing this game (and hearing my mom say things like "Harry Potter erotica") - probably my favorite memory of San Diego Christmas '12.

Lastly, just because I love it so much, here is a series of Meghan with Lucy, the biggest lapdog of all time, and a jealous Coya. Just over a month ago, Meghan left for Haiti to spend six months teaching a school in Port au Prince because she's a badass with a heart of gold. Seriously, I'm so proud of her, but I miss her face so for now, I have to get my Midgey dose from pictures of these.

Finally Fall and Thanksgiving

Fall snuck up on my this year, but once I realized that it was here, I dove in. Pumpkin scented candles were purchased, zucchini bread was baked, boots were purchased, and cozy sweaters are in full effect.

Among the palm trees, there is proof of fall to be found.

I got a head start on Thanksgiving and headed to Coronado on Tuesday, just in time to see my dad make his official entrance into the Rotary. Baller.

Thanksgiving itself involved lots of my favorite things: time at the beach, champagne, traditions, Christmas decoration peeping, family dinner, board games and lots of and lots of delicious food.

I'm so thankful for this guy. Seriously, he's the best.

And, man oh man, do I love this dog. She's practically levitating she's so happy.

Back when we first started dating, my parents and sisters were still on the East Coast so Tom and I were on own for Thanksgiving. This lovely self-timer shot captures our first Thanksgiving together:

{Hopefully I paid my roommates that $17 I owed...}

Since it doesn't take too long to cook up a few turkey breast roll-ups, we always had plenty of time to fill on Turkey Day so we started going to the Del in the afternoon to check out the Christmas decorations and sip overpriced holiday-themed cocktails on the beach. Pretty sure this was my idea, but Tom is a good sport and we've done it every Thanksgiving for the past six years. So after we wore Lucy out, we headed to the Del.

{This year's theme - A Time to Celebrate}

After the Del, it was back to my parents' for the main event where Mo and Buckley were keeping it old school with full costumes.

 We also started a new Thanksgiving tradition - pre-dinner beer tasting.

Because my mom is the best and she still keeps all of my holiday crafts despite the fact that I am almost 32, the Thanksgiving garland I made last year was in effect again. 

Summer, Part I

Soooo, summer happened. I did new stuff. I sucked at blogging. I've said all this before. Shut up. Here's the re-cap in mostly photographic, mostly chronological form.

 There was a picnic and a jazz concert.

There was a trip downtown see Tootsie at an old theater.

                 Geena Davis was there.

There were bachelorette shenanigans in a fabulous house in Palm Springs.

 

There was lots of QT with Lucy and her people.

{Lucy watches TV.}

{Lucy also gives cuddles.}

{Lucy loves the beach almost as much as my parents love taking her.}

{Lucy, the Laprador}

There was a beer fest at the boathouse.

There was some running.
          Coronado Ride and Stride.

     America's Finest City Half Marathon

There were wedding dress fittings.

 There was a visit from Mom and Dad, which involved an outdoor viewing of what I think I can safely say (Hold on to your hat, Dad.) is my favorite movie.

{How cute are they?}

    Oh yeah, Wesley was there...

    Since I have seen The Princess Bride approximately eleventy thousand times, I know most of it
    by heart and have the admittedly annoying habit of saying them along with the characters. I added
    captions so you can enjoy the full experience...

{Damn but that is a good movie.}

Part II tomorrow...