The Neverending Holiday Break of 2017-18

My friends, I've been to my office twice since Dec. 21. Between my work's generous and lengthy holiday break and a bonafide blizzard, I barely remember what it's like to wear clothes that aren't pajamas! Not complaining, mind you, but just marveling at the craziness of it. Here are some snapshots from the past few weeks.

For Christmas, I enjoyed time in my hometown with my dear friends at our 18th holiday gathering in a row!! LudaChristmas is a cherished tradition and I look forward to it all year. 

The single greatest picture Sarah and I have ever taken, brought to you by vampy lips and strategic fake eyelashes. I used this really great NYX Lip Suede in Cherry Skies, a deep wine color.

We spent Christmas Eve at my dad's house (regretfully I barely took any pics!) and Christmas at my mom's, where she straight up freaked out over the Mother Ginger Nutcracker ornament I gave her. This is the level of excitement I want from everyone when I get them a gift this random. LOL.

We killed at least 40 minutes playing with Christmas Snapchat filters. What was life like before Snapchat filters?

We'd barely returned home before I hopped in the car and trekked back north to spend a fun day museum-hopping and complaining about the cold in D.C. with my beloved college friend Mark. We popped into the Hirshhorn Museum and poked through the Ai WeiWei exhibition, but my actual favorite thing we saw was Arthur Jafa's video piece, "Love is the Message, the Message is Death." We also wandered around the National Portrait Gallery and saw some stirring silhouettes by Kara Walker.

I spent the next morning poking around IKEA (reveal of what I got later this week!) and then bounced around the house practicing my hand-lettering and watching The Crown, and then obsessively Wikipediaing everything I saw in The Crown.

Then, no sooner did I return to work than we got a bonafide blizzard, dropping 11 inches that haven't really melted yet!

It's certainly lovely, and I am obsessed with how bright our house becomes with the beautiful sunlight bouncing off the snow. But yes, I am ready to actually get back to life — especially the gym, because as you can see, I've been eating whatever I want for three weeks:

A chronicle of delicious things we've made and consumed in the past two weeks, clockwise:

1. Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies: I used boxed brownie mix, but followed Deb's instructions for the peanut butter portion here on Smitten Kitchen. 
2. Chicken Tortilla Soup: I made a big batch right before the storm came and this yielded about 4 servings. 
3. Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie: Sean sent me this silly Facebook video recipe as a request for New Year's Eve and I guess because I really do love him, I watched the video approximately 20 times and figured it out. Only one tricky thing I noticed: I had to double the amount of puff pastry to have enough rolls for my pie plate. 
4. Plated's Steak with Smoked Paprika Compound Butter and Roasted Winter Root Vegetables: Holy moly this was scrumptious. We're still loving our Plated subscription, one of the luxuries I'd be loathe to give up because it gives us so many good ideas, is relatively healthy-ish and taught my husband how to cook! I love it. 

How are you spending your winter break? I'm hoping to create a lot more art worth sharing, catch up on Oscar movies and get back to exercising. 

Dream Come True: Staying at the Inn at Wise

 When I was growing up, downtowns were over and strip malls by the large thoroughfares were in. But I've always treasured the idea of a vibrant downtown, with businesses filling the historic buildings, sidewalk cafes, art-house movie theaters and weekend farmer's markets.

Wise just took one step closer to that dream town with the renovation and reopening of the Inn at Wise (formerly the Colonial Hotel), which has sat empty and crumbling on our Main Street since I was in elementary school. It always broke my heart to come home and see it fall further into disrepair, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out recently that the project had moved forward and the hotel was ready for guests just in time for our holiday visit!

 The hotel was originally built in 1910 beside the bustling Wise County Courthouse. The renovated lobby retains much of the look of the original building; it was emotional just to walk in because it took me right back to the last time I remembered being there, as a very little girl.

 For my money, the most beautiful space was and still is the elegant patio. If I had a reason to have a private event in Wise County, I'd book this area in a second.

 The inn has a diner called The Corner Diner, featuring delicious hamburgers and milkshakes similar to those served at my dearly departed favorite Wise restaurant, Shannon's. I thought the Nutcracker display was the CUTEST. I love shelves in front of windows for this very reason.

 Most of the wood floors appeared to be original, and I was blown away by these floors with the wood peg-covered nails joining the boards. So pretty.

 A shot of the hotel in its prime.

I was in love with all of the duck blue trim and old-fashioned lights...gorgeous.

The entire Inn is filled with local and regional artwork. I was beaming with pride when I saw our room included a file photo from my dad's newspaper.

 Behind the front desk was the original mail shelving. I love that so much was able to be restored...it's truly a miracle, because the Inn suffered a fire in the early 90s and then sat empty for two decades.

 Everyone in Wise County came out to get a picture with the beautiful tree in the lobby.

 The tree was decorated with past pictures, a lovely reminder of its former glory and hopefully, fortunate future. I can honestly say the hotel was not only the nicest place to stay in the county; it's one of the nicest places I've stayed anywhere. I highly recommend it!

The Giant Christmas Circle of 2014

 We just completed a nearly 1,200-mile round trip for Christmas and we. are. pooped. BUT, we feel so lucky and blessed that we were able to see so many of our loved ones and enjoy great time in our favorite places. We started out on the road last Tuesday, with Sean nursing a heinous cold that he's thankfully managed to shake off. We returned last night, with my voice completely gone! Sure sign of a fun time! Here are a few pics of our holiday adventures:

We started our trip in Alexandria. I got to eat the most delicious steak tips with lime penne pasta at Mike's American Grill with my California favorite, Mark.

 I loved this present from Sean: a promise that I can FINALLY get a cat. (Side note: I'm a little nervous he might have a pet dander allergy...so we have to investigate that first.) We also got a fireplace starter kit, which I'm champing at the bit to try out! From there, we drove 7 hours to visit my grandmother, and then another hour to my hometown!

 In Wise, we stayed at the newly renovated and reopened Inn at Wise (more on that later!) and I got to celebrate my lifelong BFF Jamie's birthday!

 From there, I carried on to a dinner reunion with hometown friends, and we staged our annual Melrose Place-inspired photo shoot and played Cards Against Humanity with hyper-customized cards that had us dying laughing. The next morning, Sean and I set off for my dad's house on the border of Tennessee, where we had a fun time visiting, exchanging presents and having delicious pizza at Mellow Mushroom.

 I had the Red Skin Potato Pie, which is basically a pizza version of potato skins. Super sinful and super worth it.

 Daddy and I with the Mellow Mushroom's crazy sculpture guy.

 We drove another hour further to Asheville, NC where my grandpa's family rented three cabins for the week! I wish we could have stayed longer, but alas, we only could stay for the weekend. I can't wait to go back.

 It was great to gallivant around the city with my mom...

And admire the mountain sunset with my Papa.

Whew! What a whirlwind trip. We got spoiled to death, with new tools and much-needed house stuff, plus chocolate galore and books for the new year. I also had the pleasure of seeing lots of art, so I'm going to post about my favorite things I saw later this week! How was your Christmas?

The Holidays (So Far)

 Just popping in to wave hello and share some holiday pics so far! We're celebrating with Sean's family for the next couple days and then it's back to the real world...dun dun dun. Last week, we did a whirlwind tour visiting my dad, mom, hometown friends and grandma, plus we managed to see "American Hustle" and "Nebraska."

 I loved seeing my nephew, Spencer, who I only see once a year, but he's always so much fun! He's becoming so smart!

 I loved watching holiday movies with my mommy, who cries in all of them, just like me.

I was blown away by thoughtful presents from my friends, including the full set of American Girl Samantha books (I'm 9 years old again just looking at them!), YSL Touche Eclat concealer and Wise County-made wine.

 And it wouldn't be the holidays with them without naughty word games and Melrose Place cast pictures.

 Sean and I had a low-key Christmas morning together...he, as always, did his signature Christmas wrapping with newspaper.

I got up early and made Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, to at least make it feel a little more Christmasy (Sean had to work. boo!)

 I delighted in Sean's gifts to me: a Jackie O needlepoint pillow by Jonathan Adler and taco holders!

 For dinner I made an apple-stuffed, bacon wrapped pork tenderloin that was not really the best thing ever, but what can you do?

And we finished with mammoth pieces of Dewey's Moravian Sugar Cake and eggnog. It was too sweet and just perfect.

What was your favorite part of the holidays? Favorite gift: go!

I Survived Both My Reunion and a Hurricane

 Well friends, I did it! I survived not only my 10-year high school reunion (it was so much fun! everyone should go!), but also survived this amazing pile of junk food. We went home last Friday, when we met up with some of my old classmates for a tailgate at the football game. I've said many times that I grew up in a real honest-to-goodness "Friday Night Lights" type of town, and it brought back amazing feelings to see those lights blazing in the darkness.

On Saturday, the memory lane journey continued with a group lunch at Annette's Dari Barn, a classic fried food 70s-era restaurant that will always have a place in my heart. I spent so many days riding my bike there to pick up cheese sticks! On this visit, I got cheese sticks (natch), onion petals with "orange sauce" and a cheeseburger.

 I forced Sean to get the seasoned crisscut fries. SO good!

 As my mom shows here, they don't kid around with cheeseburgers.

 The decor has barely changed in my lifetime. I hope it never does!

 On Saturday night, we headed out to the sole fancy restaurant in Wise, called The Tavern on Main, for the reunion dinner. Not many people came, but we still had a lot of fun. There's nothing better than giggling with people you met when you were in elementary school!

Actually what might be more fun is legally drinking with people you met in elementary school. HA!

 

On Sunday, we left just in time to miss the beginning of a blizzard back home and got home in time to beat the start of the heavy winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy. We weathered the storm just fine, and worked all day on Monday making sure our readers knew what was closed and what roads were flooded. 

We are so blessed that's as bad as it got, and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone up north. Half of my family and many friends live in New Jersey and New York, and I'm aching knowing they're suffering, even if it's just from boredom. So much love to you!

10 Years Later

Today I'm homeward-bound for my first high school reunion. I've been trying to remember what high school was like, what it felt like and who I was. I'm surprised I barely remember, but I can bet it will all come back. It feels like no time has passed and yet it feels lifetimes ago.

How does it feel to look back 10 years on? Well, this girl wanted to be an entertainment reporter at a major magazine, live in a city for a bit, but by now, hoped to be married and buying a historic home in the burbs of a major metro.

I'm a reporter (not quite at a major magazine...those barely exist these days), I haven't lived in a major city but in some perfectly quaint ones. That girl in the pictures might have been disappointed, but I'm not. I'm happily married to my college sweetheart, and maybe I'll be buying an old house in the next year or two. I'm proud that I was able to leave my tiny little corner of the world and make every new place feel like home. Once you can do that, you can do anything.

Ludachristmas 2011

Are you familiar with Ludachristmas? The long explanation is available here, but in my circle of friends, it's the most recent incarnation of our annual Christmas Eve Eve get-together. This year, we did it up good, meeting for dinner at the sole fancy restaurant in town, Tavern on Main.

Afterward, we retired to my friend's house for our signature cocktail of the year, Andre champagne with rosemary simple syrup.

We played a new favorite game — "Uncle Fritz Sits Happily In the Bathtub" — as explained in this episode of Side by Side with Susan Blackwell. We proceeded to our favorite game, which is crappy White Elephant, using only items purchased at the dollar store. I won a feather boa!

Our final tradition is to take a series of ridiculous photos that look like cast photos. This is us, fake laughing (or are we faking it?).

Fun was had by all!

Do you have big New Year's plans? Sean and I decided to go low-key this year, so I bought filet mignon steaks to make steak frites, two bottles of Asti (I prefer it to champagne) and we plan to get tipsy and maybe go to the movies. BIG FUN!