The Girls

This weekend was the annual roommate reunion weekend (minus one. We missed Kristin this weekend). This year we headed to New York City. Holly and I were looking forward to our first journey on the train from Lancaster to NYC. We all met up at Penn Station and the talking and giggling began. Right away we went to find our hotel and check in. Lunch was on the agenda immediately after that. Following lunch at PJ Clarke's we headed over to The Met (mostly to get warm, the weather was colder than cold). After meandering and warming, we took a stroll through Central Park on our way back to our hotel. There was a bit of complaining about the frigid temperature, but Kelli . . . and the rest of us survived. For dinner, we met up with Jen's friend Heather at 5 Napkin Burger, where we saw a "famous guy," at least that's what we kept calling him until we figured out that it was Victor Garber (played on Alias, Titanic and now has had a few appearances on Glee). Dinner was delicious and the company was, as always, spectacular. We did go to bed fairly early. We're no spring chickens anymore. Sunday dawned icy cold, but clear. Jen ventured out in her PJs to bring us back some hot coffee and cocoa from Starbucks. Thanks, Jen! Then the four of us made our way to the Empire State Building. Tip to travelers: go to all the tourist sites when it's freezing outside. You won't have to wait in line! We took the elevator to the 86th floor observatory. In spite of the wind and cold, the view was spectacular. Crystal clear skies and views. When we could take the cold no longer we checked out the sights from inside. It was time to say goodbye to Kelli after that. She had to go home and we had some more time on our hands. So Jen, Holly and I jumped on the subway and headed over to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I had never been there and it was beautiful. Though I was wishing for warmer shoes. I had some concern that my toes would be frostbitten. We couldn't go up the Statue on Sunday, so we just took some photos and looked around. After that, it was time to part with Jen and we said goodbye to her at Penn Station before Holly and I made our way to our train. I'm already looking forward to next year's reunion. I love my friends and am so thankful that we just pick up where we last left off. True friends are a beautiful thing! Love you girls!

Photo Link

Christmas in California

This year Christmas was in California for the Steele family. Sean and I flew in late on Christmas Eve and we all met up at Glen and Amy's house in San Jose on Christmas Day. After enjoying some restful family time, Glen, Amy, Sean and I went on a little excursion to Napa Valley. Nana and Grandpa stayed behind with B. We toured and sampled at several wineries, had dinner at Mustard's Grill and stayed over a night at a lovely hotel. The next day, the 7 of us headed into San Francisco to poke around The Presidio, walk along the beach, and eating lunch at the Warming Hut near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. And we did need to get warm. It was brisk and chilly along the water. On our last day, Sean, Glen and I headed down 17 Mile Drive to end with lunch and a bit of sight-seeing at Carmel-by-the-Sea (where Clint Eastwood was once mayor . . . I found that to be interesting). Of course all vacations must come to an end, so Sean and I headed back to PA on New Year's Eve. At least we got to enjoy a little luxury by upgrading to first class. Now we are home and reunited with Winter, who apparently "had a blast" at the kennel while we were having a great time in California. We are slowly easing into the new year and trying to get our bodies onto eastern standard time. Enjoy these photos of our trip . . . Link

Happy New Year!

Bye Bye, Puppy. Hello, Doggie.

Happy birthday, Winter! One year ago today she was born in the snow. This is what ten months of expensive dog food will do to your puppy.

Winter at 8 weeks.

Winter at 12 months.

Dog Brushing Follow Up

Sean never posted a photo of dog brushing. Well, here's Winter and her new grooming table. She hates it. We love it.

Letter

Dog Brushing

Winter is nearly a year old. We have gone from a small puppy jumping gleefully up and down to a massive polar bear roaming around our house. Grooming her has become a twice weekly event. We need to do this, or her big beautiful coat stars to get matted, so tonight Marci and I assembled a new grooming table that helps a lot.

She has also taken to burying her bones in various places in the yard. Strange since we give her more than enough food. Last night Marci watched as our dog skillfully and carefully tried to bury her rawhide in the couch. Very cute I'm told.

We hope to transition her from the crate soon - just not sure I trust the massive beast alone in our house all day by herself. The fear of coming home to pieces of our furniture is still all to real.

She loves the snow - she romps around outside in the cold loving every minute of it, I guess with that big coat she doesn't feel the cold too much. Winter is still in love with the neighbor dog - "lucky" When she was a pup he used to knock her right off her feet, now at a full gallop towards him from Lucky runs for cover.

If I get home early enough and let her out, her favorite part of the day is to sit on the front lawn and wait for the school bus to drop off the kids. A few of them walk by and give her a nice pat on the head and a hug. She just sits there, and then trots off to the backyard, ready to give Lucky a good stare down.

We love her, she's full of character. Marci tells me all the time that she thinks she's the cutest dog ever. I cant help but agree.

Sean.

Tree Time

It's that time of the year again. Christmas tree and decorating time! I love this part of Christmas. The tradition of getting a tree. When Sean and I first were married, my sister-in-law and I made the men go with us to pick out and cut down a tree. While it was fun for us to do it together, I don't think Sean fully got into the spirit of it all. Having come from South Africa where Christmas is during their summer time and they don't have a Thanksgiving that marks the beginning of the holiday season, he didn't quite understand the importance or tradition of it. For the past several years, we just chose a pre-cut tree from the local nursery. This year I was determined to have the "experience" of going out and cutting our own tree. This was something my family had done many times and I loved it. Instead of braving the shopping foolishness on Black Friday, Sean (a little reluctantly) and I ventured out to Elizabeth Farms, north of Lititz. It was windy and cold, but I think that added some excitement. The farm is fantastic, very old and historic. Sean and I spoke with the owner himself and learned that it had been in his family since the 1750s. There are 3 or 4 farm houses throughout the farm and a huge manor house. For the past few years it has been run as a Christmas tree farm. So, we sipped hot chocolate in the basement of the old barn to brace ourselves against the elements. Next, we hopped onto a large wagon pulled by two very docile mules. We were taken out among the thousands of trees and left to our own devices. Grabbing a saw, we traipsed here and there over the hills and muddy ruts in search of the perfect tree. Not too wide but fairly tall with fragrant branches but not too many dead spots in the center and few holes among the branches. Finally we found it, our 7 foot tall Fraser fur. Lovely. It had a few imperfections, but don't we all!


Then we loaded it back onto the wagon to return to the barn where the tree farm workers would shake off the loose needles and bale it for us. We wandered through the gift shop and Santa's workshop while we waited for our tree. It was much warmer inside. Finally, we carried the tree (it was a bit heavy) and shoved it into the back of the Subaru (which, by the way, is great for hauling Christmas trees) and headed home for some decorating. On the way home, Sean commented that I was right, getting the Christmas tree was fun! I think the pungent smell of pine was going to his head! Or maybe he truly was getting into the spirit of it all.

New Look Take 2

Looks like I fixed the blog look. I have nothing really to blog about but I'm glad I could "pretty it up" again.

Blog Troubles

I'm not sure why, but my pretty new blog design went missing. Hmmm? Until I can come up with something else new and pretty, plain old is what you get.

Organization

For those of you who know me well, know that I'm the queen of organization. I can't help myself. It's the only way I function. So, this weekend I completed a new organization project. My closet. I've been wanting some sort of system since we moved in two years ago. Finally, I found a nice little DIY system at Lowe's. It's nothing fancy, just Rubbermaid. But it had all of the little components that I wanted and a low price tag. Sean helped me hang the hang rails and uprights and I finished it off with the shelving, rods, drawers and bins. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

Now if only I could get Sean to let me organize his closet!