Quickie

     Because I have lots of work to do today, but isn't this adorable?







Gingerbread House Luminary from Bath and Body Works

     In the Christmas spirit yet? :)

Where have I been all November?

     Why, getting married, of course! You are now talking to Mrs. Miller, but you can still call me tishtacular. :)

     And as I've been talking about all autumn, my wedding had a fall theme. Below, I'd like to share a few pictures with you to show how that was accomplished.

Item 1: My Centerpieces

Twenty-two of these were lovingly created by my mother and my aunts.

Item 2: My Favors

Yes, that is a leaf-shaped bottle of maple syrup, purchased from The Maple Guys, a company that was a pleasure to work with. I'd recommend them for all of your maple-syrup-favor needs.

End Result: An Indoor Fall Wonderland

This photo was snapped during the ceremony.

     We really had the best time, and although it went quickly, I truly appreciate the effort and joy that went into making the day so special for us.

     And finally, I found what looks like an awesomely easy dinner recipe: Tortellini Stir-Fry. As I'm trying to keep to my budget this month, I'm going to try not to charge anything else until Monday. I've got $20, my pantry, and my freezer to cook dinners for the next six days. I'm sure the Thanksgiving holiday will help! :)

What's for Dinner?

     Today, I'm asking that same all-important question--what am I going to make for dinner? Abbreviated, WFD. Yesterday, I tried to make chicken soup. My best friend's mother had the best recipe for chicken soup and chicken salad. A month or two ago, I called my mom and asked her how to make it. I wrote it down then, but forgot to save it. Last night, I tried to make it from memory, and it didn't turn out as good. I can identify three things that were different: 1. My first recipe used fresh, organic, boneless and skinless chicken that still had some fat attached. It might have even been thigh rather than breast. Last night, I used frozen, fatless, boneless and skinless chicken breasts. Usually, you can skim the fat off of the top of the soup, but no fat came to the top last night. I would bet that even though you remove most of it, the fat still must impart some flavor. 2. Because there was no fat, my initial boiling of the chicken was shorter. You usually boil until the fat is no longer rising, but I couldn't tell when that would be with fatless chicken. 3. I definitely over-salted. The last bunch of salt I threw in was too much. When we ate the soup with crackers in it, it helped to cut the saltiness, but now I know that if I'm salting to taste, I should probably take some time to taste. Sadly, the chicken salad isn't as good this time, either. Usually, you would make extra chicken in the soup, then take out a bit of it and shred it for chicken salad. The flavor of the soup stays with the chicken and is amazing. My chicken last night was not as soft as it usually is, which means I either under or overcooked it. I'll have to ask my mom to know for sure.

     So tonight, I have a ton of leftover soup in the fridge, and I don't mind leaving the containers for lunching for the rest of the week. I might pull the soup out again tomorrow and bake up some instant biscuits to go with, but for now, I'm trying to make something new tonight. I have a pound of fresh salmon in the fridge, but I'm limited in many other ingredients. So limited, in fact, that I've already submitted a Peapod grocery delivery order. I can't seem to find the time to make it to the store and purchase the big things I need, so it is so convenient that I can arrange for the groceries to come to me instead. It also allows me the time to flip through online recipes and figure out what I need. I'm bad at doing this in the store. But back to my point, I'm a little strapped on ingredients, so I think tonight's menu will be:

Maple Salmon and Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce

The broccoli is frozen and everything else is stock ingredients in my pantry, so I think this should work out well. Occasionally, I'm not the best with pantry cooking, but tonight it will do the trick.

     Anyone, if you have good ideas for dinner, please share! What are you having for dinner tonight?

November!

     We've made it to November! How was your Halloween? Mine was great! It was just as I remember it from my childhood, with a few special changes. My fiance and I got to spend the holiday in Pittsburgh with my family, which I haven't done since we moved to Washington DC. We were really in town to finalize the wedding plans (12 days away!), but it was still a good excuse to enjoy the fun. I didn't realize it, but my mom had invited my entire family over for the festivities, just like when I was younger. I wasn't expecting this, as both of my brothers are too old for tricks or treats. It was a nice surprise. I scoured the house for Halloween-themed movies (we ended up with cassette tapes of Monsters, Inc. and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, which fit the bill nicely). My youngest cousin is nine, so he went trick-or-treating while we all stayed home, talked amongst ourselves with pizza, extra candy, and mulled cider. My two aunts were working on the fall-themed centerpieces for my wedding, and even that was fun. My fiance and I, in the middle of the trick-or-treating frenzy, took my family's golden retriever for a walk in the dark. It was perfect--just like trick-or-treating for adults! We got to see all the costumes and greet my candy-laden neighbors, and look at their decorated houses. The night was cool and dry, which was perfect. Kids didn't have to wear their winter coats, but it wasn't too hot to walk the hills of the suburbs. All in all, it was really the perfect way to spend the night.

     Now that we're into November, it's time to really buckle down and think about the holidays coming up. What's great is that they're largely food-based holidays--hooray! I'm looking forward to starting my cookies and thinking up side dishes to bring to Thanksgiving dinner. Tonight after work, I am going home to make some chicken soup (to guard against the colds and flues that we always seem to find in Pittsburgh), and then I'm going to start to clean and plan for the holidays.

     If you're looking way forward to Christmas, note that the Countdown has already begun at Organized Christmas. I could not recommend that site more highly for helping to keep things organized so you can keep the true spirit of Christmas in sight. As my wedding falls right in the middle of a major Christmas-planning month, it's good to have that site to remind me of the things I'll need to take care of, as the world does not revolve around my marriage! I've already sketched up my budget, I have my Christmas cards bought from last year's end of Christmas sales, I have my new Christmas card return labels printed with our new married names, and I'm just waiting for the Christmas postage in the mail. Once you hit November, it's really a relief to have all of that stuff out of the way so you can enjoy the entire month of December. Don't let these times rush by! Relish them!

     I found a great holiday recipe resource. Visit the Recipe of the Day Calendars page at MyRecipes.com for many themes--Cookie Countdown, the Season's Best Pies, and Your Daily Soup, just to mention a few. I'm receiving new cookie recipes daily until 2010, so I'll have no trouble finding something special to make.

     We're now in the holiday season, friends, so it's time to plan a little and enjoy a lot! If you can stay focused, you'll have a lot of fun this year! If you have any other ideas, please let me know.

     Until next time!

Autumn Appreciation: A few of my favorite things

     I think it's safe to say that we are officially in the heart of fall. I think that the Pennsylvanian peak was over the last two weekends. Say, from October 16 to October 26. DC's peak may still be a week out, as the ten day temperature report still predicts temperatures in the 70's. DC cannot officially be in the heart of fall until I have to break out a jacket. :-P

     I took this photo last Saturday on my cell phone. It is on Rt. 99 between State College and Altoona.



My fiance says that it looks like the vibrant colors of the trees may have been muted by the snowfall that State College received over the October 16th weekend. While that might be the case, the view is still spectacular. I bet it was even better on Sunday, when the clouds were replaced by sunshine.

     I recently picked up Whole Living: Body + Soul magazine in my lunch room at work, and I'd like to share with you the goal for October.

Change is in the air. You can see it, of course, with the colors transforming and all of nature's moving marts starting to shiver and spin. But you can also feel it--the elemental shift that happens internally, viscerally. You begin to crave warmer foods and cozier corners. You find yourself growing quieter, more aware, each sense sharpening. Indulge in this richness while you can, letting the shift in season invigorate your health, enliven your home, draw you more completely inside. This is, after all, what harvest time is for: reaping what yous ow, gathering up your treasures, and holding them, with gratitude, in both hands.
--Terri Trespicio

If you have the opportunity to read this magazine, I recommend reading the article "12 Ways to Get Ready for Fall" as well.

     So, while everything still feels "fall-y," I'd like to share three things that really help make the season for me. I already own the first two, and the third I plan to own soon.

     First on my list is products from Bath and Body Works.



Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin! As the site says, "...This fragrance brings together all the sweet and spicy scents of fall – apple, cranberry, cinnamon, pumpkin, and clove." I can attest that I have been using the bodywash daily since I purchased them in late spring, and the smell in the shower is really great. I use the lotion and body spray less frequently, but I always enjoy the rush of warmth that they bring. It's a great way to incorporate fall into some of the everyday things you do for yourself.

     My second favorite fall thing--Yankee Candles! I like Yankee Candles because I find that I am pretty sensitive to whatever's in the wax of other candles. I've burned candles and developed asthmatic-like symptoms, so if I find a brand that doesn't make me sick, I'm likely to stick to it. My mom is the same way, and also likes Yankee Candle.

     I think that scent is a really important part of really feeling a season, so I purchased the following large candle:



and my fiance convinced me to buy the following votives, since they were a dollar each:


Autumn Fruit, Fall Festival, Autumn Leaves, Be Thankful, Cinnamon & Sugar, Farmer's Market, and Harvest
I keep the big candle in the middle of my dining room table, and I burn the votives in my kitchen while I'm cooking. I really enjoy the very personal and warm aromas they create in my house. It makes my small basement apartment feel full and cozy, even though it's only me, my fiance, and the kitties.

     The final thing I'd like to mention is a set of kitchen products made by Williams-Sonoma. Oh, Williams-Sonoma, if I had a fortune, it would be given to you entirely in exchange for your many treasures. Although I can find one of your $20 potato mashers at the local hardware store for $3, I still value your presence and presentation.

     The item of fall interest is:



The Essential Oils Collection in the scent of Spiced Chestnut. If I had my way, I would purchase the cleaning kit, which includes the liquid hand soap, hand lotion, dish soap, and counter top spray all int he warm inviting spiced-chestnut scent. I'm hoping that I'll decrease my mess-making proclivities in the kitchen, and rather replace them with cleaning aromatherapy. Perhaps a Pavlovian response will devlop, and my stress relief will correspond with cleaning my kitchen counters! A girl can dream...

     Those are my three favorite items for encouraging the celebration of autumn! In closing, allow me to urge you to tune in to your local ABC affiliate this evening or next (Tuesday or Wednesday night), as they will be showing this year's It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!. Tonight's showing is an hour-long special, but if you miss it, there will be another broadcast tomorrow (but it will only be a half-hour long). My fiance is a Peanuts fan, and the broadcasting of Charles M. Schultz's Peanuts cartoons really highlights our holidays. We like to be prepared with blankets on the couch and warm drinks. I'm thinking some apple cider may be the trick tonight. Enjoy!

Autumn in DC?

     It could finally be, but it's difficult to tell with all the rain the East Coast has been receiving. In my beloved State College, Pa, they received almost nine inches. The city is most likely in the height of the autumn foliage, but I imagine it will be difficult to see under all of that snow.

     I apologize for being so delinquent posting! I have been very busy lately. Last weekend was my bridal shower, and my girls know me so well. It was decorated so beautifully in a--you guessed it--fall theme! I had to travel to Pittsburgh, Pa from Washington DC, and along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I picked this up:



     As you can see, I have already pinned it up in my cubicle. The post card is not an exaggeration, either--the leaves of the Pennsylvania mountains are spectacular. If you've ever seen the miniature train set at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh (and if you haven't, I recommend that you visit it if you get the chance), it really looks just like the fall section. I love it!

     Today, I've spent the day making a bolognese sauce. I really wish I had one of these to finish off the meal:



     This is one of my future mother-in-law's apple pies. It's amazing.

It's finally October!

     Hooray! Today is October 1^st, and when I woke up this morning in the usually sticky city of Washington DC, the temperature was 52°F--a pleasant surprise! I think the temperature is raising in this city later in the week, but for now, I am pacified. Most people are affected by seasonal affective disorder when things are chilly--I think mine, if I have it or were to have it, occurs May through August.

     October 1^st is officially the day when people stop giving you weird looks for putting up your Halloween decorations. It is officially the start of the celebration of the Halloween season! So many holidays occur at the end of the month, and you really don't get to enjoy them adequately if you only start celebrating around the middle of the month. I fully advocate that if your holiday occurs at the end of the month, you may start celebrating at the beginning of that month--it is fair game! Everyone, start putting up your Halloween decor if you haven't already.

     If you are like me, you spend much of your time in an office. That doesn't mean that you can't celebrate the season, though! Today, visit the American Greetings website and find yourself a (free!) new computer desktop background and screensaver! For your desk, it might also be nice to add something that smells of the season. If you could have candles or hotpads, that would be awesome, because there are so many candle scents from which to choose. I am not allowed to have these things, though, so instead, I have a Renuzit:


Mmm...Apple & Cinnamon.

On my filing cabinet, I also have a nice set of decorations that I got from CVS two years ago. I put them on my filing cabinet so that my co-workers can also see them and enjoy something different than our drab office:



I'll also add candy occasionally to lure co-workers into my (lair) cube for friendly conversation. That is what this season is all about--joining together in friendliness as the weather grows colder. Enjoy!

Budget Yoga Tips

     I receive emails from yoga.about.com. The yoga guide is Anne Pizer, and I often enjoy her articles. Today, I received an interesting article: Budget Yoga Tips. My favorite tip was this one:

Yoga in the home.
We have a yoga instructor come to our home each Tuesday night. My wife and I and 3 or 4 neighbors have an instructor who comes and does an hour and fifteen minute yoga class for us in our family room. We pay by the month and there is no overhead to pay. Most yoga instructors have "day jobs" and do yoga as a side. They're paid poorly but love yoga. As a group, we pay about $50 per session which is more than the "Y" pays and she's delighted to do it.
—Guest Roger Hoskin

     I don't really know enough people in DC (or have enough room in my apartment, for that matter) to make something like this worth the effort, but maybe when I move back to Pittsburgh...any takers?

A Visit to Happy Vally.

     Good afternoon, blogosphere. I've been in the lovely town of State College all weekend. On Friday, the weather was just lovely, and autumn is quickly approaching. State College is pretty much perfect in autumn--the trees are just spectacular, the football is plentiful, and the weather wavers from the rainiest, chilly days, to days of crisp sunlight and blue skies. I appreciate (and have experienced) both extremes this weekend, and I think they both have their charm. When it's rainy, State College is a great place to snuggle in with a blanket and watch the storms. It's also a great place to grab a camera and photograph the natural sublimities when the sun is sunny. You can still find places that aren't too busy in State College (even on a football weekend), and it makes me feel very peaceful. I've spent some of the best years of my life in this town, and I really love coming back.


Mt. Nittany in October

     Also, I had the pleasure of getting a new phone this weekend.



     This is the LG Dare. It has a touch screen, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, and a headphone jack for the MP3 player. Those were the three major selling points that made me like this phone. I just need to get some good ringtones into it and we'll be good to go. My phone number is the same, so don't worry about not being able to contact me. If you were able to contact me by phone before, you will still be able to do it now.

Autumn Appreciation, Day 3

     I know I said I would post about Martha Stewart next, but instead, today I must post about Better Homes and Gardens's 100 Days of Holidays. (If the link doesn't work, let me know, and I'll try to find another.) From today until New Years Day, I believe, they are sending out an email a day with ideas on decorating and celebrating. I can't think of anything better!


Sign up here!

Stuck in my head.

     File this under "stuck in my head for the last three weeks." I can keep listening to it and listening to it, but still, every day, it's there again! I chose this video because the sound quality in it was awesome.





Is true love a trip to Chinatown
Or being held in one's opium gaze
Under the peach trees
There I'll sit and wait

Is true love a long walk through Bryant park
Or being held in the month of May
under the peach trees
There I will be, will be until you come and get me

Cause I'm so tired of waiting in restaurants
reading the critics and comics alone
With a waiter with a face made for currency
Like a coin in ancient Rome

And I really do wish you were here next to me
cause I'm going to see James Dean
There I will be
Under the peach trees with him

Invitations!

     As of yesterday, all but about five of my wedding invitations are completed, and the only thing delaying their arrival at the homes of my wedding guests is the arrival of the appropriate stamps at my house. I had prematurely purchased stamps adequate for a one ounce invitation, so imagine my dismay when the invitations arrived and I weighed them--1.3 ounces! I had to purchase the required number of two ounce stamps, just to be safe. Luckily, they are both attractive:

       

     Also, of course, a bunch of wedding-themed $0.44 stamps aren't entirely useless. I needed some for the interior return-envelopes for the RSVP card, and I may need them in the future for Thank You cards. There's no problem here, then.

     I am very excited about my invites. I took the time and care to hand-label and address all 120 of them (and there are a few more to do, pending my mother's approval).



     My autumn enthusiasm is palpable, isn't it? These invitations were purchased at InvitationConsultants.com. I must admit that I was excited by seeing my fiancé's and my name over and over again. After the invites are sent out, we will be so close to go-time, it's almost scary. My wedding is on November 14, 2009, so yes, we're getting very close. This Friday, we will be taking a day off of work to travel to Pennsylvania to collect the marriage license (sidebar: I think I hate writing Pennsylvania. Why did my entire family have to live in the state? Why couldn't they live in Ohio? Or Maine? But no, over and over again, P-e-n-n-s-y-l-v-a-n-i-a! My hand gets sore just thinking about it.).

     Why did I hand-write my invitations? There are a few different reasons. One is that it just seemed so formal and domestic, two qualities that I enjoy. Another reason is that I find my handwriting attractive, especially in a formal setting. I think the entire idea of receiving a hand-written note feels so elegant and intimate. I am sure that no one else will even notice the work I put in to the invitations, but at least I will know that I wrote them to my satisfaction, and that's what's important, isn't it?

Housekeeping.

     I've had to remove my twitter feed, as it appears that the coding is erronous in returning, rather than my twitter comments, the comments of user undefined. It appears that soem part of the code returns an "undefined" result, and since there is a user named "undefined," voila! I'll keep checking back periodically to see if they repair the feed, and when they do, my tweeting shall return.

     Another thing I wanted to address is the general format of my blog. I think I'm going to post separate posts based on topic, so that when my labels are searched, there's not a hodge-podge of things to sift through to find the topic of choice. I prefer this, so it shall be done!

Autumn Appreciation, Day 2

     Today, under the topic of autumn appreciation, feast your eyes on--this!:







     This is "Zelda's Wax Museum," a lit house from the Department 56 Halloween collection.



     And this is "The Candy Cauldron." Department 56 is best known for their lighted winter holiday villages and the Snowbabies collection. Hooray! They also make houses for Halloween! This is the first step in bumping Halloween to the importance level of Christmas without the sanctimony. I think that these would make a great addition to any Halloween decor.

     Next in Autumn Appreciation will be about Martha Stewart. See you then!

Thank goodness I bought that.

     I have a grand passion for bags, but I they also give me great frustration. My optimum situation is to carry a bag back and forth to work. I'd prefer to carry a single bag that fits my lunch for the day, my coffee for the morning, and all of my purse things, which include: my umbrella, a water bottle, my keys, lip balm, hand lotion, a 50ml bottle of Evian Brumisateur (don't knock it until you try it--some days it is a life-saver), Lysol Disinfectant Spray-to-Go (public bathrooms!), a small hair brush, sunglasses (Rx or conventional), a travel shopping bag,...you get the picture. I'm so prepared, you'd think I was a boy scout.

     As you can imagine, no normal purse can handle this much crap. I truly struggle in the summer to find a solution that allows me to be prepared and not have a back ache every night. For the cooler months, though, I bought a bag back in 2007, and it's been invaluable to me ever since:



     Try hard as I might, I could not find a place to buy this specific bag. However, I would recommend Ogio products, so long as they work as well as the bag that I have. We are going on three years of usage, and this bag has been awesome. Unfortunately, I cannot use this bag year-round because of the cross-body strap. The strap likes to hold on to my right boob for dear life and makes me look a little lop-sided in a cotton tee.

     So yes, a good cross-body, fashion-forward messenger bag can really make the difference between being prepared and not being able to find your car keys in the rain.

Autumn Appreication, Day 1

     I'm going to forgo the obligatory "first post" tone and jump right into the fun stuff. Our first Autumn Appreication article is from About.com's Container Gardening Guide, Kerry Michaels.




How to make a Pumpkin Planter

     Enjoy!