Chardonnay's famous fruit dip

In a few hours we're headed off to a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house! We're bringing a bottle of champagne and this beautiful tray of deliciousness:

The fruit dip is super simple. I've brought it to many parties and I'm always asked how to make it.

The ingredients: 1 cube of cream cheese and 1 jar of marshmallow creme.

Just mix them together and let the compliments roll in. I prefer it with strawberries.

Happy New Year!

Happy blogiversary!

It was one year ago that I blogged my very first post. Since then, I've posted 170 blog entries.

I love blogging because it allows me to share my life with family, friends and strangers who live far away, because I can express myself however I want, and because it's a way to document my life.

I love that I can look back on everything I did in the past year... go to broadway shows... go to civil rights rallies... travel to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Oregon, Washington, Canada... get promoted... turn 23... get engaged... host Thanksgiving... it's all there for me to look back on and remember!

Those were the exact reasons I wanted to start my blog. Happy blogiversary!

Christmas weekend

As expected, Christmas weekend was a great time. James and I drove to Corning on Christmas morning and we opened presents once everyone was there.

My secret santa was my sister Samantha, so I got lots of stuff from Thailand! She and her husband spent 3 weeks there recently. I got jewelry, a jewelry box, a key chain, a cute little buddha, pillow covers, candle holders and placemats.

Later more family came over and we played games, like always.

The day after Christmas I went wedding dress shopping again with Mom and Victoria. I ended up ordering my favorite dress from last weekend [final choice is a secret]! I realized that I compared every dress to that favorite, and nothing could compare. I love it! It'll be delivered in March.

That day we also went after-Christmas clearance shopping and got some cards and ornaments for next year, and tons of white lights for our wedding reception! 50% off woo hoo!

Now we're relaxing at home. Aside from this cold I've had all weekend, Christmas 2009 was a success. Happy holidays!

Photo Friday: Christmas lights

Merry Christmas! I hope you're having a fantastic day and enjoying what Santa delivered. And more importantly, spending time with those you love.

Last night, James and I went to his mom's house and on the way home we drove through East Sacramento to check out the awesome Christmas lights. One of the streets had these lights going all up and down the block, as well as over it!

Thankful Thursday: Christmas

Today I'm thankful that it's almost Christmas, of course! I have a 3-day weekend starting tomorrow. I really wish it was more, but that vacation time is being saved for my trip to Europe and our wedding. Hopefully next year I can take a few more days off around the holidays.

However, a long weekend is SO needed right now! It's been a long, anxiety-ridden week at work. Nothing I can't handle... but I'm welcoming the short break.

Tonight we're going to James' mom's house to exchange gifts. Tomorrow we're leaving early in the a.m. to go to my parents' house 100 miles away. Christmas presents will be exchanged first, then probably games (We love games! I got a new one - Last Word - at our white elephant party at work), then my dad will cook a fab meal for dinner. Saturday is another round of wedding dress shopping with Mom and Victoria, my brother's girlfriend.

I'm thankful for all the time we get to spend with family.

Happy hour with friends

Last night I had the chance to go out to happy hour with some friends. Well, it started as happy hour and turned into pizza at 10 p.m. We used to go out all the time, but I hadn't in months! I miss seeing everyone and doing fun things together! Luckily one of the couples is hosting a New Years Eve party at their house, so more fun is coming soon :)

Wedding dress shopping

I went wedding dress shopping this weekend! It was so much fun! I can't thank my mom, sister Samantha and friend Michelle enough for joining me. Their advice was so needed and appreciated.

So, wanna see some pictures? Thank you Michelle for being the perfect photographer!

First I'll show you some definite NO dresses. There were some that looked great on the hanger but not so much on me:

1

2

3

4

5

6

[Yikes! Horrible on me!]

7

Here are some that were okay - but no.

8

9

10

11

12

[Doin' the robot]

13

I'm not going to reveal the final choice, of course. You'll have to wait 10 months for wedding photos for that! But here are some good ones that have wedding dress potential.

14

15

16

17

I haven't made a final decision, but there's a leader here...

Tell me your vote!

Photo Friday: James & Chandra

James' sister lives in Washington and he rarely gets to see her - probably once every year or two. Yesterday Chandra had a 3-hour layover here in Sacramento on her way from Washington to Florida. He was able to meet her at the airport to visit and have lunch.

I was happy for him, since they really don't see each other enough!

I got to meet her (and her husband and daughters) for the first time in August on our vacation. I loved them all!

Here's James and his youngest neice at their house in August. She and her sister are both really sweet. You may not to be able to tell from this picture, but it's true! ;)

Thankful Thursday: Christmas shopping

I'm very thankful that I didn't have to shop for Christmas presents for my whole family. Just finding gifts for my secret santa person and James' mom and nieces was hard enough!

Photo Friday: 2nd Annual Land Park Barbecue

My cousin Heather just found and posted on Facebook some photos of the barbecue James and I hosted back in May.

Brother-in-law Andre, me, Rose & Uncle Lee

Heather & Mom

Rusty, Mother-in-law Rita & James

Our third annual barbecue will be scheduled sometime next summer :)

Thankful Thursday: Holiday parties

I'm thankful for all the holiday parties going on lately. Last Friday we had a party at my boss' house, and the week before Christmas we're having another party at work where we'll have a white elephant gift exchange. It's all so much fun! Someday when we own a bigger house we'll host a holiday party. A tacky sweater holiday party! How fun would that be?!

Snow forecast

Last night I learned that it was predicted to snow in Sacramento, and let's just say I was a little excited! It never snows here!

The last time it did was 8 years ago (according to the news). My hometown is 100 miles north and has the same climate – it also never snows. It did briefly when I was a sophomore in high school, and it was awesome! For those of us who hardly ever see snow, this is big news!

I was hoping to wake up to snow this morning, but sadly I was disappointed. It was just rain.

There was quite a bit of snow about 20 miles to the east of us – where the elevation is just a little higher. I SO wish I could have seen it!

I will say that although snow once a decade is exciting, I’m very glad that I live in a place where it doesn’t snow all winter long. That’s just too cold for me! I was only looking forward to it because it’s so rare here.

All images from weheartit

Thankful Thursday: TV with James

Thankful Thursday is getting hard! I know I have things to be thankful for, but it's tough to think of what they are and how to make a good blog post out of it.

Today I'm thankful for the TV shows James and I watch together (he helped me think of this topic last night as Glee was about to start). It's something we can do together every week and share.

The shows we watch religiously together: Desperate Housewives, Glee, Family Guy and Law & Order. He says he watches those first two for me, but I know he loves them!

Of course we enjoy doing other things together... but there are so many TV shows that we disagree on that it's really nice to watch something together, that both of us are interested in, while cuddling in bed.

Shows that I love and he hates: Anything on HGTV, Real Housewives of... (anywhere), The Little Couple, Jon & Kate + 8.

Shows that he loves and I hate: Everything on ESPN, wrestling, sports, sports... and sports.