Resolutions

Every year I try to come up with a new year's resolution. Most years I fail to come up with anything. Years when I do think of one, I usually fail at keeping it. Sure, "watch less TV" sounds like a great idea on January 1st when you're motivated to be a better version of yourself in the new year. But then you get home from work on January 2nd and start to make dinner and you're too tired to read and mentally exhausted from the workday so end up vegging out on Friends reruns and have no regrets because Friends is the all-time best show ever.

Here's the thing, I LOVE watching TV. Chuck and I love finding a new show to binge watch and discuss and talk about with friends. (Just started Narcos and we are already obsessed.) It's just something we enjoy doing together and always have. So why would I make a resolution to stop doing something I love? I feel like a lot of people do that. And the point of new year's resolutions isn't to make yourself miserable. It's to make yourself better and enjoy your life more!

So what if we quit making resolutions with "less" or "stop" in them and instead made resolutions with "more" and "start" in them? The less and stop resolutions seem harder and you're almost setting yourself up to fail from the start.

How about....

Take more pictures. Call more people on the phone when you drive. Go to more concerts. See more movies. Start a book club. Start a wine club. Start writing a book. Go on more spontaneous weekend adventures. Play more games. Watch MORE TV. Eat more vegetables. Try a new food. Read more books. These all seem easy!

So I've given this a lot of thought, and I am feeling pretty confident about my ability to actually keep my 2017 new year's resolution which is to.......

Eat MORE donuts.

What's your new year's resolution?

A Post About Cookies

This blogpost is all about cookies.

On Friday, I hosted my 4th annual Holiday Cookie Swap Party. I hosted my first Cookie Swap in Boston with some of my girlfriends there, and it was so much fun that I've continued it every year since. The idea is this- you bake one kind of cookie. Invite your family and friends to make one type of cookie and bring it to your house. Everyone swaps cookies and then gets to go home with a variety of cookies after only having to make one! Whoever came up with this idea is genius.

Of course, you also have to test all of the cookies during the party and then vote on them too. Or is that just us?

This year we made everyone go around and say which cookie they brought and what it was. People got really into it this year as far as trying new and more difficult recipes. Some turned out really well, and some... not so much. Whether their cookie turned out great or not so great, everyone seemed very stressed by the whole process this year. I have a feeling people may not be as adventurous next year.

Baby Henry got to join us at the party even though he didn't get to try any of the cookies. :( Maybe next year, Henry!

And while we're on the subject, can we talk about how freakin' cute Henry is ALL THE TIME?!?!

After we ate entirely too many cookies, it was time to vote. This year we voted on Best Looking cookie, Best Tasting cookie, and a booby prize for "Aw, at least you tried. Maybe baking isn't your thing."

Of course there were prizes.

And the winners were.... Jennifer for best tasting- SHE MADE HER OWN CARAMEL. WHAT?- Anna for Best Looking -she made the polar bear cookies - and Laura for "aw at least you tried" because her cookies somehow became one giant cookie that was kinda collapsed in the middle and may or may not have fallen apart if taken out of the pan. It's ok. She owned it.

We had such a good time, and even though I was awake with a stomachache most of the night from too many sweets and felt like I had a hangover the next day, it was totally worth it. I can't wait to do it again next year!

(The group minus one- Pat had left already when someone said "hey we should take a group picture!" If I knew how to photoshop I would put her in but just imagine her standing to my right.)

We Heart Vermont

Last weekend, Chuck's mom, Pat, came up to visit us in Boston. Like my parents, she had come to see us in Seattle but hadn't spent much time with us exploring Boston/the Northeast. She arrived on Friday and we did the typical North End dinner and pastries that we always do with our visitors.

Saturday morning we started a weekend road trip- beginning with Salem, MA and ending up in Burlington, VT.

In Salem, we explored the town, took a history tour (which became a private tour when we were the only people signed up for it), and ate lunch on the water. It was cool to hear the history of Salem and learn new things about the town, but he didn't really talk about witches enough for our taste. We wanted to hear the juicy stories! Oh well. We saw a lot of cool landmarks, including the hall where they filmed a major scene from everyone's favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. We saw real historical landmarks too of course, like one of the oldest remaining houses in the U.S. and the second oldest cemetery.

Hocus Pocus shooting location- where Bette Midler sings "I Put a Spell On You"

I want this house.

View from lunch

After Salem, we drove to Vermont towards Burlington and took a little scenic detour along the way. Vermont is famous for it's old covered bridges, so we looked on a map and tried to find some that weren't too far off the beaten path. While searching, we also found there was a place called Quechee Gorge, aka Vermont's Little Grand Canyon. So obviously we decided we had to see it.

The best way to see it is from a bridge, and we found it was pretty freezing when we stood out on the bridge. So we snapped a couple pictures and ran back to the car. Picture Clark Griswold at the Grand Canyon. That was us.

Then we found some of the covered bridges. This red one was my favorite.

Finally we made it to our hotel outside Burlington, and after checking in we decided to drive into town to find Church Street. First we stopped at Lake Champlain to snap some pictures because the sun was setting and it looked really pretty.

It reminded me a lot of Puget Sound in Seattle and for a second I missed living in Seattle and also thought about moving to Vermont.

After the lake, we walked around Church Street for a little while but most places were closing and it was kind of chilly, so after about an hour we left. We found a Texas Roadhouse right by our hotel, so of course we had to eat there. :) It was great, as always.

Sunday was Easter, so we headed into Burlington again for an Easter Brunch at a place called the Bluebird Tavern. It was delicious.

After brunch we walked Church Street again and got some truffles from the famous Lake Champlain Chocolates.

We then decided to go on another scenic drive, this time to a little island in the middle of Lake Champlain. We found a state park and got some pictures of the lake from a campsite within the park.

Before heading back to Boston, we made one last stop- at the Magic Hat Brewery just south of Burlington. Our tour guide asked why the 7-8 of us on the tour were touring a brewery and drinking beer on Easter, to which we responded "why not?" The tour was short and sweet and at the end we got to do a free tasting. Magic Hat isn't my favorite beer but we all found one or two that we liked.

And with that we ended our trip and headed south to Boston! We love Vermont a lot and I wish we had explored more of the state in our time here. I guess we will just have to come back someday for a vacation!

Chuck turns 27

Last year you may remember I basically failed at celebrating Chuck's birthday in Seattle. We went to brunch and I gave him a gift, but overall it wasn't a very exciting birthday. I forgot to make him a cake or dessert of any type and gave him a lame (in my opinion) gift. In my defense, we had JUST moved to Seattle, our furnished apartment had no baking appliances or pans, I had only a day or two to find a birthday present, and we didn't know anyone else in Seattle yet who could celebrate with us. On top of all that, he had to fly to Phoenix the night of his birthday, so spent most the afternoon packing and getting to the airport.

So this year I made an extra effort to make the whole weekend fun and birthday related. Unfortunately, Chuck's birthday weekend happened to fall right before the due date of the first draft his thesis. Stupid thesis trying to ruin my plans! So he had to spend a majority of the weekend writing, but we got to squeeze in a little fun here and there.

On Friday, Valentine's Day, Chuck had made reservations for us at a restaurant in Cambridge we've been meaning to try forever. It was really good food and a lively atmosphere so we had a lot of fun.

Before dinner, Chuck gave me a Valentine's gift in the form of donuts. He knows me so well....  But seriously. Who wants a box of chocolates when you can get heart shaped donuts?

For his birthday gift I had purchased tickets to see a comedian, Mike Birbiglia, at a theater in Boston on Friday night. So after dinner we killed some time in a bookstore and a Starbucks and then headed into Boston for the show. Mike was pretty funny and I'd definitely recommend going to see him if he ever comes to your city. Also the Wilbur Theater, where we saw the show is a great venue to see a show in and it has this trippy ceiling thing going on that will entertain you while you wait for the show to start.

The ceiling design is oval, so it looked like the ceiling was crooked from our seats. Or is the chandelier crooked? (Neither are but tell me it doesn't look like something is off here?)

Saturday and Sunday we barely left the house on account of a blizzard and Chuck's thesis. At one point we left to go to a friend's house for dinner and some Olympics watching, but other than that we didn't really leave the house.

 On Monday, Chuckie's actual birthday, we were both home due to the President's Day holiday. He still had to write his thesis AND do homework for his Tuesday classes, so I tried to make his day still a little fun by cooking him brunch and a late lunch. I basically just kept bringing food to his desk all day.

A french toast sandwich, chicken and cheese quesadillas, and birthday strawberries, because Chuck isn't a huge lover of cake.

That night he took a break from working and we met up with friends at Green Street Grill, another restaurant we've been meaning to try forever that is literally 2 blocks from our apartment.  It was so nice of our friends to come out and celebrate his birthday, even though some of them were also in the middle of thesis writing!  We had a lot of food, a lot of drinks, and sang "Happy Birthday" to Chuck not once, but twice at the table.

Pinkies up!

All in all I think it was a birthday win this year, especially because on Monday night before bed Chuckie told me it was "one of the best birthdays ever." Mission. Accomplished.

Happy 27th Birthday, husband! I think this will be your best year yet!

Murder Mystery New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve we decided to spice up our traditional game night with a different type of game.  Several months ago, my sister Laura bought a Groupon for a Murder Mystery Party package. It comes with everything you need to have a full blown Murder Mystery party right in your own house. Everyone gets a character, envelopes with information about your character's personality and history, goals to accomplish at the party, etc. We had several themes to choose from but ultimately voted to do the "30 Year High School Reunion" theme. We decided the only way we could make it successful was if everyone really committed. And commit, we did.

I had planned to write out a whole summary of the night and events, but Laura, who is a long time blogger and hilarious writer, summed up the night better than I ever could have over on her blog. Seriously. It's so good. Especially the Cast of Characters post. You can click the links below to go straight there.

Part 1: Cast of Characters
Part 2: The Case

The night was a huge success and we're already talking about when we can do another Murder Mystery party.

After the murder was solved, a photo booth session took place, drinks were had, games were played, and of course, we watched the ball drop at midnight. The Murder Mystery was most definitely the best part of the night, but another favorite part of the evening for me was right before the ball dropped. We were all sitting/standing around the living room and we decided to go around and share our favorite part of 2013 (besides Grayson's birth, of course). This group of friends is goofy/ridiculous 99% of the time, but that 1% serious time is what always reminds me why I love these people so much. As everyone shared their favorite moments, I teared up (naturally....I cry daily) and Chuck and I both shared that our favorite part of 2013 was finding out we get to move back and spend more time with these crazy people we call family.

And now... a few pictures of the night post-Murder Mystery.

Party Animals

While we were home for the holidays, we partied quite a bit! 

Hagan Family Christmas Party
My extended family has decided that Christmas is not enough of a theme for our annual Saturday before Christmas party together. So a few years ago they started adding a theme on top of Christmas. So far we've had Mexican Christmas, Chinese Christmas, and this year, Cowboy/Country Christmas. We all dress the part, bring food and games/things to do that relate to the theme. My sisters and I use the party as an excuse to wear appropriately themed mustaches. Three years of themed parties, three sets of mustaches.

We made sure Lucy was dressed in the theme too, even though she wasn't invited to the party.

Fake guns on the table, gentlemen.

We ate chili and other country food, took pictures of ourselves looking like tough cowboys, did a "piece of junk" gift exchange where everyone brought a piece of junk from home and traded it in a game of "Dirty Santa," (we each donated the $10 we usually spend on gifts for this exchange to Kosair instead), and played games, including the "make reindeer antlers out of panty hose and balloons" team game, which our team came in last but was decided had the best antlers. Well, we decided we had the best antlers. I don't know about everyone else.

We added an extra balloon after the fact to make them actually stand up instead of laying straight across like a giant caterpillar....

I love my crazy family! We can't wait to find out what the theme is for next year.

Christmas Eve Eve
Every year since my senior year of high school, I get together with my girlfriends Emily and Elizabeth on December 23 for what we've dubbed our Christmas Eve Eve celebration.  We eat a lot of food, decorate Christmas cookies, and exchange gifts. It's always a good time and fun to spend a few hours feeling like we're still kids. :)

Tacky Christmas Sweater Party
Our friends Justin and Jenny have started a tradition of hosting a Tacky Sweater party right before Christmas. The party is always full of people who now live out of town but come home for the holidays to see their families. It's so much fun to see our old friends who we haven't seen all year and catch up with them, play games, and this year, sing karaoke. Oh man did we sing some karaoke. Elizabeth and I gave an emotional, heart-wrenching performance of Wrecking Ball. It changed people's lives. Or maybe made them all hate us. We aren't sure. But it was pretty memorable to say the least.

Wine and Cheese Pajama Christmas Party
Our Gamenight friends decided this year to have the Christmas Party separate from the New Year's party since we were doing the Murder Mystery thing for New Year's this year. Since the two parties were only 2 days apart, we thought we should do something different and classy, hence the wine and cheese. Then someone suggested a pajama party, so then it turned into a Wine and Cheese pajama party. (Our friends are ridiculous, as you may remember from previous stories about them.) We ate a lot, drank some wine, and exchanged gifts "Secret Santa" style.

Chuckie and Shane both came in superhero onesies. Unplanned. Perfect.

Obviously Grayson participated in the pajama theme because he's a dedicated Gamenight member.

New Year's Murder Mystery Party
I just decided this party will get it's very own post. There are just way too many pictures and things to tell about. Here's one picture to hold you over. Stay tuned.

UofL Sports Day
This year, the UK vs UofL basketball game fell on the same day as the UofL football bowl game. So obviously this deserved a party. With my parents, sisters and Chuckie's dad, we headed down the street to our friends Andy and Clay's house (who were out of town, btw, and were ok with us going over there anyway!) and watched both games on their gigantic projector screen.  Oh and of course there was a lot of gameday food. Did you have any doubt?

We lost the basketball game to UK (womp womp) but won our bowl game against Miami. So it was a good day overall. 

And that concludes the recap of parties! Murder Mystery New Year's Eve post coming soon.