What Santa brought.

Let me just preface this post a little bit by saying that we are video game nerds. Well, I guess I should just speak for myself. I love video games. Not necessarily the shooting games, but the ones with cute characters and music. Now that I have spoken for myself, I will let this picture speak for itself:

Suffice it to say, I think Micah has been playing video games his whole life. Our poor parents were left to wonder what would become of us.

Well Santa never worries about wasted time with toys and rotted candy teeth!! He got us just what we’ve always wanted!

Hurrah! Hurrah!. More Christmas posts to come.

America!

Ok so this post may just be a scramble mamble pamble of ramble. But I have pictures and thoughts and sometimes that’s all I can do. I think I’ll start with some pictures of our crazy New York trip.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree!

Lost in the crowd in Chinatown.

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Statue of liberty.

View from the ferry.

A 9/11 memorial on Staten Island. I was too cold to see anything else there. Not that there is that much more to see there…

Tourist photo in Times Square!!!

Going to New York was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Especially since I am pregnant and libel to throw up anywhere. But I made it alive.  And it was worth it for the pizza.

Now we are chillaxin in Seattle for Christmas and New Years. It feels good to be amongst the trees.

Pike Place Market!

We rode the Carousel.

Micah and the Dilettante chocolates.

I will post more (about Christmas, etc)  as soon as I can get my cell phone pictures uploaded. Happy New Year everyone!

Dude.

So I am intimidated to write something without posting pictures (even though I have some to post around here somewhere) but here I am posting. Late at night in a hotel room. I managed to get free internet because we found a cockroach in our bathroon (FOUR STAR HOTEL MY FOOT!) and I complained about it. Boo. Yeah.

So basically Micah and I have been gallivanting about the country for interviews. Interviews as in residency. Blah blah doctor stuff blah blah Med school blah blah.

Traveling is fun. It can be wearisome at times. So far we have been to Washington, Oregon, LA (Micah only) New York, San Diego, and now San Francisco. The plane rides have been aplenty. We have eaten out far too much. I think Micah is growing tired of the interviewing process. He is literally zonked out, exhausted, in bed beside me.

But we will press on. There is still Sacramento and Washington (even though we already went to Washington, we visited family and Micah drove to Portland from there). And then finally back to Chicago. I miss that ole town. It has become another home to me.

Where is home anyways? It is hard to determine where we will spend the next 4 years. I feel stretched out, having lived in several states in the US and even abroad. I am slow making new friends. I am also slow at waking up in the morning. That is irrelevant, for irrelevancy’s sake.

I realize I have a lot to complain about living the life of a doctor spouse, if I tried really hard. But I can’t being myself to do it. I don’t know why. Life is hard. Yeah, sure. But it’s so awesome. We freaking went to New York. We totally messed with a guy in China town to get 2 hats for 12 bucks. We got to see the Statue of Libery and the Golden Gate Bridge. I saw West Side Story on Broadway.

There is still much to write, but this will have to do. I will fill you in on all the fun details. Including my own bit of work as a model in San Diego. Oh, the intrigue.

Thanks for tuning in. I’ll shut up now.

Watch this when you want to feel a little smarter.

Or if you have the same insane fascination with fire as Micah does.

 

Don’t try this at home. Go to a friends house.

Oh, and another recipe we tried last night.

This one comes from my sister's blog, which came from Martha Stewart.

Can’t get enough pumpkin flavored food? Well then this recipe is for YOU.

It’s Pumpkin Pancakes!!

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each: cinnamon, ground ginger, salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1 c milk
6 Tbsp canned pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 egg

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Stir together milk, pumpkin, butter, and egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat; pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup. Makes 8 to 10.

SO DELICIOUS. PLEASE TRY!

Chagall Windows

The Art Institute just re-installed the America Windows by Marc Chagall.  Yesterday was the first day it was open to the public, so we got to use our handy membership and see it.

We also get to hang out in the members lounge with all the rest of the old rich people and sip our complementary herbal tea.

On another note, somebody please buy this hat for my husband.

The ‘stumes

We love foxes. We also loved the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox. Foxes are clever and quick on their feet. I am neither of these, but it’s something to aspire to.

Thankee, Jess for the pictures.

Micah’s pumpkin

Happy Halloween! And remember, science can be scary too.

Our costumes are forthcoming, as soon as we can get the pictures.

The pumpkins.

Halloween is great for people like me who need the creative expression. So I take my pumpkin carvings a little seriously.

Stay tuned for Micah’s creation.

Sometimes life is hard.

But there is always youtube.

Don’t mind the title.

Random things that make me happy 2.0

Jamba Juice.

My ipod and the cute owl bag I got to hold it (purchased at H&M…a store that makes me very happy)

Books, and this little guy I made out of felt (let this be a clue as to what we are going to be for Halloween - - no, we’re not going as books…)

Fall decor. Autumn in general.

My sewing machine. It’s just a pretty blue. It also works really well.

Cool macro shot.

Organizing with Hello Kitty.

Artichoke Bruschetta. So easy. In fact I’ll just give you the recipe right here, right now. BAM.

Ingredients:

• 1 (6.5 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I get the big jar from costco because we LOVE ourselves some artichokes!)
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 French baguette, cut into 1/3 inch thick slices

How:

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. In a medium bowl, mix marinated artichoke hearts, Romano cheese, red onion and mayonnaise. Top French baguette slices with equal amounts of the artichoke heart mixture. Arrange slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
3. Broil in the preheated oven 2 minutes, or until toppings are bubbly and lightly browned.

And I like to sprinkle some parsley on top. OH YUM.

Moving right along…..

Sipping tea out of this guy.

Ok, so you may laugh at this, but it’s really a miracle.

I read somewhere that barkeepers friend works well on stainless steel pots. I was desperate for any kind of help trying to save these precious pans given to us by Micah’s parents. See the before picture:

And see AFTER. WHOAAAAA!!! It really really worked. With some elbow grease, but it was SOOO worth it.

Look at that shine! It was like I had new pots and pans all over again. Makes me so happy. Don’t you love that forest green counter top. Yeah, Merry Christmas.

I went a little crazy with the stuff and did them all. Oh what a joy.

Makes cooking so much more satisfying:

Mmm. Meatballs.