Shower Season is Upon Us

I have been asked to co-host a lingerie shower for a friend of mine getting married this spring. I consider myself somewhat of a pretty decent shower hostess=) I have fun throwing them at least!

At these types of functions, many people will decorate the food tables/gift tables with confetti. I'm REALLY not a huge fan of shiny metallic confetti at ALL...

When looking for decoration ideas for our red/black themed lingerie shower, I actually found confetti that doesn't look like it belongs at a child's birthday party! It's pretty cute and certainly appropriate for our theme:

It's from: http://www.partymakerdiscountmegastore.com

Christmas 2009

I'm so late with this post! Here is our summary of Christmas 2009!

J and I always have a private holiday dinner with just the two of us the weekend before we head out to visit family during the holidays. We have done this every Thanksgiving and Christmas since we have been married. This year for Christmas, it was our turn to visit J's family up North! Here are some of the pics.

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J's really excited about Christmas=)



Our Christmas dinner! Since it's just the two of us, we had ham, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Obviously, we still had puh-LENTY of leftovers!



We took our furbabies on the trip with us. Love them! This was one of the more quiet moments=)



Here are some of the scenery pictures we took while on our visit.




More snow....



Last but now least....the snow boots J got me for Christmas! (Previously mentioned in below post) This Southern girl had her feet protected. It's kind of ironic that I decided to take this picture on the one patch of land without snow on it=)

Christmas Vacation

This weekend and next few days have been committed to getting ready for our big Christmas trip.We have been packing, wrapping presents, and getting the house vacation ready. J and I live in one state, but our families live in two other states. We alternate spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with both sets of families. I would like to add that both of our kitties will be making the trip with us again this year. That is always interesting=)

This Christmas we are heading to J's hometown. I will be getting my first pair of snow boots. Although, I have had a white Christmas before in my home state, I've never been in colder weather for this length of time before. 

We are looking forward to spending time with family, enjoying some down time, and Christmas in general!

The epitamy of great Latin dancing...

I'm posting this purely so I can have it to watch over and over again.

Here is Ricarrdo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko dancing at the 2008 The World Super Stars Dance Festival in Japan:

We Danced Last Night!

Last night, our dance studio had their annual Winter showcase! Below is a picture of me and my parents after I danced my Samba. Since I am a perfectionist, and believe I have a ways to go, I'll save my video for mine and my teacher's eyes only=) I did overcome the fear of dancing a showcase routine. Everyone was surprised when I told them I was nervous since I dance in competitions. For me it was a different type of experience and I'm so glad that I did it. I hope to dance in many more! Last night was the first time I was able to overcome a lot of my nerves and focus on the performance. I still have a ways to go on that..for sure...but last night was a good start.

Here is my video of my hubby and his dance partner dancing their Foxtrot. It's lovely!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year, J and I spent Thanksgiving with my family in my hometown. We had a great time visiting with parents, grandparents, siblings, sister-in-law, aunts, uncles, and cousins.



We got in late Wednesday night. Thanksgiving day, we helped my parents get the lunch ready. J and I were able to help them with a few of the dishes they were making. I also made pumpkin bars for dessert. The recipe for the bars is from the Food Network. I cant take credit for them.

Pumpkin Bars

Recipe courtesy Patty Ronning as adapted by Paula Deen on www.foodnetwork.com

Prep Time: 15 minCook Time: 30 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 48 small bars or 24 larger bars

Ingredients

Bars:

* 4 eggs

* 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

* 1 cup vegetable oil

* 15-ounce can pumpkin

* 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

* 2 teaspoons baking powder

* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

* 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

* 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

* 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

J's November Performance!

My hubby, J, performed with his partner at our dance studio's recent anniversary show. The did a beautiful waltz! Enjoy!