It's bad...

I have been bitten by the Christmas spirit bug way too early you guys.

I am a huge lover of the holidays. All of them really, but especially Christmas.

Usually I try not to get too into Christmas until after Thanksgiving because I think all holidays deserve their time in the spotlight.

That is just not possible this year though. I just can't even wait. I have already watched three Lifetime Christmas movies and have been buying decorations like it is my job.

I think this weekend is as good a time as any to get my tree, and I plan to bust out all my red and gold shit from the storage bins.

I haven't done a whole lot of shopping yet other than a few things for Jose, but I do have my handy list with gift ideas and my secret boards on pinterest ready to go.

I like to make a Christmas craft every year to hand out and I think it will be ornaments this year. I might even try my hand at baking some cookies...it's about to get wild ya'll.

So in lieu of my holly jolly spirit I am going to list off a few of the reasons I love Christmas. I would appreciate if you would share your reasons too, 'tis the season kids.

-The music. My god do I love Christmas music. My top songs are: Baby it's cold outside (any version really), All I want for Christmas it you (Mariah), and Dominick the donkey (it's incredible).

-The food, good lord do you have opportunities to chow during the holidays. I mean I feel like that is really all that happens in the month of December...it is like a constant buffet and I am ok with that.

-Holiday parties. My work has about seven various parties during the month of December and it is great. Who needs to work?

-Presents. I mean sure I like getting them and all, but my real love is buying them! I get such a high off finding the perfect gift for someone. And I am a damn good gift wrapper.

-People are so nice. It seems the spirit in the air makes everyone just a little bit nicer during the holidays and that is a great thing.

-The hustle and bustle. I love rushing around getting things done and seeing the stores crowded with people...it makes me feel warm and giddy inside.

-The decorations. I love looking at Christmas lights, and trees, and everything in between. And don't even get me started on Christmassy events like tree lightings...I go to them all, they make me feel like I'm living in a Lifetime movie, which is honestly my goal in life.

-The drinks. There is always a reason to drink during the holidays and that is ok in my book.

-Family shit. It is nice to see my extended family from time to time and Christmas forces me to do this.

-Christmas movies. They are all so good.

-Dessert. I feel like there is no time where it is as acceptable to eat dessert seven times a day as it is during the holidays. No one will even judge you for having cookies for breakfast.

some shit I'm thankful for...

Since according to my Facebook feed it is mandatory to list a bunch of things you are thankful for this month, I have decided to play along.

Truth be told the month of thankful statuses are one of the few things on Facebook that don't piss me off.

I think it is pretty damn good to give thanks now and again.

1. My family. Mainly my mom, dad, sister, uncle Kenny, Evie, and Arthur. They are all crazy but are also always there for me. I never have to worry about whether or not these guys love me because by law they have to.

2. My non-family family. Between here in Maryland and back in Michigan I have quite a few folks that are 100% my family though not by blood. These are the people I can count on to no end and who know me better than anyone else. The ones that take me in when I need a friend and give me shit when I deserve it.

3. Yoga. I know enough with the yoga already, but it has legitimately changed my life and made me feel so much better physically and mentally. Plus my ass looks much better than it did when I started practicing a few months ago.

4. My job. Sure it grinds my gears from time to time, but I honestly love my job. That is more than about 90% of people in the world can say and for that I am so grateful. I have a job that allows me to be creative and I work in a beautiful park overlooking the water...I am lucky.

5. My dog. I love my dog more than a human should love an animal. He is my baby boy and he puts a smile on my face every single day. I think everyone should have a pet in their life because they are the best.

6. Wine. Because it makes me drunk.

7. Manfriend. Just like work he can annoy the shit out of me on occasion, but I don't know of many other people that would put up with my antics on a daily basis. I am lucky to have found someone who likes to drink and eat as much as I do, finds it acceptable to spend more money than we make on travel, would rather be hiking outside with me than watching TV, and loves to laugh at anything and everything. He's pretty ok.

8. My health. I hopped on the clean eating band wagon about 5 months ago and have never felt better in my life. I have tons of energy and just all around feel great. I am also thankful that I can still enjoy garbage food from time to time and not feel too guilty about it.

9. This old blog. I am so thankful that this silly little blog has made me write on a regular basis and that is has allowed me to connect to some great people. And it makes me a tiny bit of cash now and again so that is pretty cool too.

10. My new found love of nature. Before I moved to rural Maryland you were more likely to find me in a mall than outside, since that is no longer an option I have embraced all things outdoors and have found I really love it. I am all outdoorsy and shit and not just in the sense of drinking on patios. There are some beautiful places to explore in my neck of the woods and I am enjoying doing it.

What are you thankful for??

oink

As you probably know if you read this little blog of mine, I am not much of a meat eater these days. I typically prefer eggplant or mushrooms to aminals, but every now and again I let manfriend have his way and we eat some meat. And don't get me wrong, I am not vegetarian by any means, I just don't like to eat meat everyday.

Here is a recipe that is one of my mom's old classics. It honestly probably sounds a little weird but I can assure you it is awesome!!

Pork Chop Supreme

You Will Need:

Pork Chops (I usually use bone in, they taste better in my opinion)
Oranges
White Onion
Ketchup
Brown Sugar

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350.

-Lay your pork chops down on a sheet pan and place a handful of brown sugar on each chop. Smooth it over the chop to cover.

-Add a thin slice of onion and a thin slice or orange. Cover with ketchup

.

-Bake for 45 minutes or until the chop is fully cooked.

I know they sound sort of odd, but they are honestly delicious!

the things I say when I've been drinking

oops I did it again you guys...

Got super hammered and said a bunch of dumb shit that is.

It never fails, whenever I get a little rowdy the next morning as the flashbacks start playing in my head, I am always a tad embarrassed. Not enough to change my behavior or anything, but a little embarrassed none the less.

Saturday evening started out innocently enough. (I am not sure if I used innocently correctly or not, to be honest adverbs always throw me for a little loop).

The boyfriend and I made some dinner and shared a bottle of one of Dogfish Head's new special release beers called American Beauty. I loved this beer because not only was it hoppy and delicious but it was named after a Grateful Dead album, contained granola, and had a dancing bear on the bottle...win win. Naturally we listed to American Beauty while we sipped it.  After that bottle was polished off we popped open another. And I was tipsy. And it was before 9pm...

Drinks o' clock

So then we headed out to a new little bar in town that makes specialty cocktails and is called the Speakeasy. It's pretty f-ing cute. You need to call in advance to a get a password and then you arrive at this little coffee shop and pick up an old school phone, tell them the password and they let you in via a secret door behind a bookcase. The decor is all super 1920s and the bartenders wear fedoras. Oh and the drinks are pretty divine. I had three particularly strong gin drinks.

It would have been wise to call it a night after those three cocktails, but that's just not my style so we hightailed it to another bar...this one more of a local dump than a cute themed joint.

At some point I decided a bathroom selfie was a great idea...

Here I had lord knows how many jack and diets and ran into some friends.

It was at this bar where I started to pull my usual annoying drunk Erin moves. There are two of them and it is a wonder my boyfriend doesn't leave me stranded in the road when I start pulling this shit.

1. I invite anyone and everyone over to our house. Usually I invite them over for after party drinks post bar and things tend to get pretty rowdy in our tiny little apartment. This particular evening I was inviting everyone over for dinner on Tuesday night. Why, I don't know as Tuesday we are having just a few close friends over for a going away dinner for a neighbor, but I decided it was a good idea to invite every stranger I met that night. I pray to God none of them show up, but I guess only time will tell. I did have a few missed called from strange numbers when I woke up, so obviously I was passing out the digits.

2. I get on a yoga soapbox. It is no secret, I am addicted to yoga. I love it, like a lot. But normally I just love it and I don't annoy everyone in the world with my yoga preaching, that is until I get drunk. When I get drunk I turn into a door to door salesman or one of those religious cult leaders trying to get everyone to convert to the yoga life. I seem to particularly target men who have absolutely no interest in the practice. I am not proud of it, but it's the way it is.

Sunday was a little rough, but not nearly as rough as it should have been. I am going to try and dry out for a week or so, but we will see what happens come Friday night.

Yes those are grocery store ice cream sundaes, and yes we ate them in the parking lot.

Possibly the sweetest thing I have ever done

Now, I am not what one would call sweet. I am many things, but that is not one of them.

Snotty might be a better term to describe me to be honest. Every once in awhile though, the mood strikes me and I do something out of character. Recently I did such a thing for the old manfriend because he is a pretty nice guy.

I made him a little coupon book of dates that I plan to give him as a stocking stuffer. I am pretty excited about it, mainly because the website I used Datevetation allows you to use your own photos in the book. Naturally I gave Jose and Afro, and my cartoon has a super sassy look on her face. I figured it was fitting.

yes that is an iPhone photo of my computer screen...I know I am so high tech!

Anyway, the website was super easy to use. They have all kinds of dates you can add as pages to your coupon book ranging from dinners to movies and all that jazz. And like I said you get to add your own face which is always awesome.

I really like the idea of a coupon book for just about anyone, I might go ahead and make some for my mom and sister too. Especially since they live in another state and I would probably never have to make good on my coupon promises.

I know Jose will redeem his seeing as we live together and all, especially the one for a trip to the zoo. And I hate the friggen zoo.

The site offers all kinds of fun date ideas in case you're like me and aren't good at coming up with romantical stuff.

look how happy you and your man or woman friend could be?

Check out the website for some more details on these little date books and if you decide to order one before December 13, use this promo code for $10 off plus free shipping: PARTYGIRLS10

Oh and extra bonus, you can enter to win a free Datevitation book of your own, so do that by clicking below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here is a little bit more info about the gift books and the company owners:

• Datevitation.com is the web's first online platform to create a custom love coupon book. Unlike the pre-packaged love coupon books on the market, you pick the dates and can customize the text to your liking.  Once you are done customizing the text in your book, Datevitation will print it out and ship it to you.
• Our library contains over 500 date ideas ranging from skydiving to stargazing to steamy adult-only activities. We also have over 100 book cover options to suit any occasion.
• In addition to being the perfect romantic gift for your sweetie, Datevitation now has "boy" and "girl" characters with over 200 new activity illustrations specifically for kids and parents.  There’s also an exciting feature that allows you to add photos of your own faces to the illustrations!

• Books normally start at just $25 so it makes for a thoughtful yet economical gift.  But as a special treat for my followers, you can use the code  ‘PARTYGIRLS10’  for $10 off your purchase plus free shipping (total value of $13.50)  That means you can get your loved one a one-of-a-kind gift for Christmas starting at just $15!  The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Christmas is December 13 so make sure to get your order in before then!
• Datevitation is a family business run by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman.  You can get to know them on the Datevitation blog, where they offer video guides to date ideas and romantic gestures.   You can even watch Alex propose to Olga in a video they posted on Youtube as a Save The Date, and now has over 1.5 million views (you can view the video here)!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Some more pumpkin shit

Even though Halloween has come and gone, the world's obsession with all things pumpkin is certainly not over.

Just ask Starbucks, or Dunkin Donuts, or anywhere in American...if you can eat it or smell it they will put pumpkin in it. Just the other day I was trying to buy some Febreeze at the Family Dollar (because I won't pay full price for shit like that) and the only flavor on the shelf was pumpkin. No thanks.

You will never catch me drinking a pumpkin beer or late or Febreezing the dog smell out of my house with the scent. That is not to say I hate pumpkins. In fact I find them quite adorable. And delicious.

But only in their natural form. I do not eat pumpkin flavor, just real pumpkin. I will eat a pumpkin pie or soup any day...just keep it away from my coffee.

But enough of my pumpkin rant, I present to you today one of my newest concoctions: Pumpkin Hash.

This post is also the perfect proof of what an awful blogger I am. I made this delicious recipe that actually looks gorgeous on account of the purple potatoes, and I did not snap one photo...not one!! Trust me, I am as disappointed as you are.

But I am going to share the recipe anyway because it was really good.

Pumpkin Hash

You Will Need:

1 Pie sized pumpkin
Jalapeno peppers (if you like is spicy)
Garlic
Onion
Purple and regular potatoes
Carrot
Eggs
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350. Cut pumpkin into chunks and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until tender...I left the skin on, then it peeled off easily after the pumpkin was cooked, but if you want to be wild chop the skin off first.

-Chop purple and regular potatoes and carrot into bite sized pieces and roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes or until they are pretty well tender.

-Cut up your peppers and onion and saute in olive oil for a few minutes. Next add in your roasted pumpkin and veggies and salt and pepper to taste. I did not use any other seasoning because I put in a shit load of jalapenos for flavor, but I am sure rosemary or sage or any other seasoning that doubles as a song lyric would be tasty.

-Stir the pumpkin in carefully so it doesn't get too smashed. A little smashing is ok, but you want some chunks. Lastly add in your garlic. I always add my garlic in last so it has a stronger flavor. If you aren't addicted to garlic like me, add it in whenever you want.

-Keep your hash mixture on low heat and get your eggs going.

-I only eat poached eggs so that is what I made for myself, but the boyfriend likes a fried egg so I made his over easy. Any style egg you prefer would work, but some yolk really brings it all together so my vote is poached or fried.

-Serve the hash on a plate with your egg placed on top and enjoy.

It tastes like a combination of breakfast heaven and fall. You will like it.



The youngest man in my life

So the other day I told you kids all about my niece Evelyn. Now it may seem like I am some sort of jerk aunt who plays favorites and doesn't pay any attention to her nephew.

Well I am here to tell you all that is a bold faced lie. Truth be told it is little Arthur who is the actual crab not me.

Arthur is 6 months old. Until last week I had only met him once when he was about 2 weeks old. We had a few drinks, but didn't really get to know each other. So you can imagine my excitement to really learn who this Arthur character is, his likes, dislikes, favorite movie, all that jazz.

I could hardly contain my enthusiasm when I was sitting in my parent's living room two Sundays ago and my sister pulled up both kids in tow.

I got a glimpse of Artie and instantly wanted to hold his ass.

I mean look at the kid.

He is so adorable that Satan himself would probably want to blow raspberries on his belly. My sister handed him over I got one whiff of baby powder and a tenth of a second of warm baby skin against my cheek, then all hell broke loose.

Dude hates me. He started screaming at the top of his lungs. I thought he had probably shit his pants or something else babies do and passed him off to my sister. He instantly stopped crying and returned to being a delight.

Later I tried picking him up again. Same reaction. My best friend happened to be over that night. She had met the little guy only once more than me. He was fine with her.

Fast forward a few days, I still had not been able to hold Arthur. My sister brings him by to visit. She puts him down for a nap. I have a particularly severe hangover. She tells me she needs to go pick his sister up from pre-school and I need to watch him while she goes. I say hell no, I will go get Evie you watch Cryer McCrierson. She says that won't work because they apparently don't allow pre-schoolers to leave with just anyone. 

So she goes. I sit and pray that the baby will not wake up. Sure as shit five minutes after my sister pulled out of the drive way, I hear whimpers. I go in pick him up, he thinks for a minute, then starts to wail. And he does not stop. Not for one breath. Not until my sister came home...I thought bright lights were the worst thing for a hangover, turns out it is screaming babies.

Anyway, I hope as he gets older Evie will explain to her brother that I'm not all that bad, and that I will buy him anything he wants because I have a problem saying no. Here's hoping our next encounter goes a little more smoothly.