Collards, Black-Eyed Peas & Hog Jowl

New Years Day is fast approaching, and according to folklore, collards, black-eyed peas and hog jowl, when served together, promise a year of good luck and wealth. Sounds like a great way to start the new year. Speaking of, that means in less than 14 hours we will be arriving in 2010, and in just over 8 months we will be attending our wedding! 2010, here we come! (We are still so excited!)

Our Christmas holiday was lovely. We saw family and friends, had lots of good food, and had lots of good fun enjoying each others company, playing games, and lounging by the fire. We also had a white Christmas which we haven't had in a long time. We tried to build a snowman but the snow was so powdery that we really couldn't form anything or pack it down so we left him to lie on the ground. All in all, it really was a beautiful holiday weekend. We really couldn't have asked for more.

Polar Express

It's Christmas Eve. Less than 24 hours til Christmas, and the holiday is well underway. With a festive 'ugly christmas sweater' party under our belts, we are in full holiday-go for the countdown to Christmas. Ironically, we ran into Santa last night fulfilling some last minute gift wishes in Columbus, OH.

Fortunately enough, Brian and I will be spending the holidays together! He is flying in to Maryland on Christmas and I am very excited that he will be able to join in all the fun!

With that, we are ready! Full steam ahead! Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight! (Santa asked me to pass that along last night...)

Due Amici

In Italian, due amici means 'two friends'. In Brian & Erin talk, due amici means 'we've got a rehearsal dinner site'! Both meanings fit the title well because not only have we really found a great rehearsal dinner site - Due Amici (had you any idea that it would be called that?!), but Brian and I both are two wonderful friends to each other. So, with 228 days til the wedding (227 til the rehearsal dinner) and 5 days til Christmas (4 til I fly home), we are still making headway with our wedding planning!

What's even better, folks, is Due Amici and The Venue at Smith Brothers have some very similar characteristics which Brian and I have both been drawn to. The exposed brick, the lovely lighting, the elegant atmosphere, and without really even trying I think we're kind of stumbling upon a 'theme'...almost. (I suppose it could just be a common atmosphere...)

Nevertheless, we are excited to have one more item checked off of our list of things to do. Still on that list are the DJ, the florist, the bridesmaid dresses, the groom and groomsmen attire, oh, and the honeymoon, among other things. With 2010 right around the corner, I think we are doing quite well with our planning.

On another note, as 2009 is wrapping up, we have decided to expand the family with the addition of a new puppy!

He will be arriving on January 8th or 9th, and along with our preparation of a new puppy - gathering of toys, putting away shoes, reading about puppies, thinking of names, purchasing a bed, rearranging for a kennel - we have also been preparing Bun for his new puppy friend. We've yet to determine Bun's reaction to the situation, time will only tell, but it's sure going to take some transitioning to get used to this one.

All in all, we are extremely excited for our puppy to be here. Even though we still don't have a name picked out, and we will be house training and walking our new puppy in the middle of winter, we are just ecstatic about his arrival, and are looking forward to introducing him to Bun and all of our other family members.

(And hopefully, just hopefully, we will later be able to add a new dynamic duo to the due amici list: Bun & Puppy. Either that, or the title of our next blog post will be Due Nemici - two enemies.)

Holiday Spirit

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a wonderful Columbus Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated with Brian’s Dad and family first, and then headed to his Mom’s a bit later. It was so nice to see everyone. We had some delicious food and were all around grateful for the day. We even got to see the first snow flurries of the year!

And speaking of holidays, we’ve decided to spend our Christmas holidays with our own families this year. We figured we’d deal with the swap thing next year when we actually have to! I’m looking forward to heading to Maryland and having a Christmas Eve sleepover. There’s no way to not be in the Christmas spirit then.

So, in lieu of us celebrating our holidays apart, we decided to put up our Christmas decorations so that we can fully enjoy them for the entire month of December. I’ll tell you what - it’s amazing how simple decorations can transform an everyday living space into the North Pole. Every time we turn on the Christmas lights I smile. It’s just so warm and cozy, and such a fun time of the year. Now, it really feels like Christmas!! Happy Holidays!