It's Turkey Day...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

If you can believe it my parents in Seattle are having a "White Thanksgiving"...here's hoping they will have a "White Christmas" too. The "blizzard warning" that halted SLC on Tuesday and then did not materialize (I didn't complain...I got to leave work at 1 pm and still got paid for the whole day) hit the Seattle area hard. On Monday it took my dad 4 hrs to get home from work! On Tuesday it took him a little over 2 hrs. Craziness! We only have a few inches here in SLC, but Logan got hit pretty bad as well, which is to be expected. Good old Logan. So dang cold!

My mom called me this morning to say hi and that she was missing me. I love my mom! My little brother and Dad spent 4 hrs delivering newspapers this morning. All of the "Black Friday" shoppers better appreciate their Thanksgiving newspaper! If I was at home with the fam I would be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but instead I am here at my apartment with no TV. Ah the single life; you've got to love it! I am also missing the legendary "Fidler Turkey Dance". My first year at college away from home my family sent me a video of it. Good Times.

I just finished making real cranberry sauce for the first time ever---the single girl's assignment. Let's hope it cools and turns out ok. My family never makes real cranberries. They eat the jellied stuff, which until a few years ago I detested. I actually am excited to have real cranberry sauce. I hope it's yummy!

I've got to go jump in the shower, but in honor of Thanksgiving here are a few things I am thankful for:

My Family
Utah State University
My USU Alumni Association Co-Workers
Good Friends--Just to name a few: Sarah, Josh, Chad, Emilee, Amy, Keely
Hot Chocolate
Fall Leaves
My Savior, Jesus Christ
The Book of Mormon
My Kitchen Aid Mixer
Good Books--Just to name a few: Rebecca, I Capture the Castle, Marley & Me
Magazines--Just to name a few: Country Living, In Style, Time, Real Simple
My Car (I don't know how I lived so long without one)
Grey's Anatomy
Target
TJ Maxx
My Cell Phone

Here is some evidence of my cranberry sauce making adventure!

Some of My Favorite Christmas Songs...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...everywhere you go. There's a tree in the Church Office Building, one in the park as well--the sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow. Baby it's cold outside so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! I'm dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I have yet to write. There's nothing that's going to slow me down this Christmas I'll be home. Ah and I wish I could ask someone...what are you doing new year's eve?

Christmas Favorites
Santa Baby - Ertha Kit
Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! - Michael Buble
Baby It's Cold Outside - Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone
White Christmas - The Drifters
Sleigh Ride - Harry Connick Jr.
The Christmas Song - Mel Torme
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters
I'll Be Home with Bells On - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby
Mary Did You Know? - Kathy Matea
What are you doing New Year's Eve? - Harry Connick Jr.

Shiny Brite Makes Me Happy...

Last night at TJMaxx & Homegoods (what I like to call TJMaxx on steroids)I had an amazing discovery....dun dun dun...Shiny Brite ornaments by Christopher Radko! I was so excited! I got three boxes for a total of 40 ornaments for $38...now that's what I'm talking about. They are in my Christmas colors of pink, teal etc. I know, it's weird that those are my Christmas colors but they are and for me, it makes sense. Ah I'm so excited to decorate for Christmas!!!!!!! But, I can wait...I love fall too much to fast forward to Christmas.

Here's a little history on Shiny Brite ornaments, via good ol' wikipedia:

The Shiny-Brite company produced the most popular Christmas tree ornaments in the United States throughout the 1940's and '50s.

In 1937, Max Eckardt established "Shiny-Brite" ornaments, working with the Corning Glass Company to mass produce glass Christmas ornaments. Eckardt had been importing hand-blown glass balls from Germany since around 1907, but had the foresight to anticipate a disruption in his supply from the upcoming war. Corning adapted their process for making light bulbs to making clear glass ornaments, which were then shipped to Eckardt's factories to be decorated by hand. The fact that Shiny-Brite ornaments were an American-made product was stressed as a selling point during World War II.

Dating of the ornaments is often facilitated by studying the hook. The first Shiny-Brite ornaments had the traditional metal cap and loop, with the hook attached to the loop, from which the ornament was hung from the tree.

Wartime production necessitated the replacement of the metal cap with a cardboard tab, from which the owner would use yarn or string to hang the ornament. These hangers firmly place the date of manufacture of the ornament to the early 1940's.

Following the war, Shiny-Brite introduced a line of ornaments with a newly designed metal hook that provided the user with two lengths of hanger. The long hook traveled through the center of the ornament and exited the bottom, where it attached to the foot of the ornament. This provided the "short" hanger. Unlatched from the bottom, the entire length of the hook was available, allowing the ornament to dangle at a greater distance from the tree limb to which it was attached. This arrangement was designed to allow the ornament to fill sparsely limbed areas of a natural tree.

The increasing popularity of the aluminum artificial Christmas tree, first manufactured in 1958, made this device far less attractive to the consumer, as an artificial tree had no gaps to be filled. The added expense of the lengthy hanging wire coupled with the diminishing need caused this feature to be discontinued in 1960.

The demand for glass ornaments waned as plastic ornaments became more popular, ultimately bringing the Shiny-Brite company to close its doors in 1962.

During its peak, Shiny-Brite had four factories in New Jersey, located in the cities of Hoboken, Irvington, North Bergen, and West New York. The company's main office and showroom were located at 45 East 17th Street in New York City, NY.

Shiny-Brite's most popular ornaments have been reissued by Christopher Radko since 2001.

Things you may know & others you may not...

I think Tillamook Cheese is the best cheese around.


I hate road kill...it seriously makes me want to cry every time I see it.


I think the best present my future husband will be able to give me when we are parents is to let me sleep in.


I put mayonnaise in my scrambled eggs...it's weird, I know...I blame my parents.


I miss Sarah Miller every single day!


I have a strange fascination with ducks. I love them! A few of my friends could tell you about my glee about ducks. It's kinda ridiculous.


If I could afford it, I would have Starbucks EVERY morning without fail.


I'm obsessed with wedding blogs, but that you probably already know.


Going to the movies is flipping expensive, but I love it.


Using green works products makes me feel like a better person. So does recycling.


I didn't have real friends until I came to college.


I don't think I've ever lived my life without a sense of time.


I've never been to Southern Utah (however, that will be changing in August).


I hated summer as a kid (don't worry, I grew out of that).


I wouldn't have gotten through the last six months without my friend Chad.


Coming to Utah State saved my life.


Daphne Du Maurier is my favorite author.


Grey's Anatomy is my favorite show.


My dad and I have a dream of going to New York to visit Cooperstown and see the David Letterman Show.


I love singer-songwriters.


I will never escape the fact that I am a country music girl at heart.


My girl friends and I quote She's the Man more than any other movie.


Coke is one of my guilty pleasures.

The Spiral Jetty and more...Memorial Day '09

Saturday night Chad and I were talking to his roommate Dalin and the spiral jetty came up. I'd never heard of it but Chad has learned about it in all his modern art classes but never actually seen it. Talking about it further, Chad remarked that it would be a great memorial day activity. That was that.

Monday we had lunch and then left for our Spiral Jetty adventure. On our way there we stopped at the Golden Spike to take a few pictures before heading off on the dirt and gravel road. There were tons of huge potholes and major puddles on the road out to the Spiral Jetty. Luckily, Chad has a truck, so we had an awesome time roughing it through the mud...in the words of Brad Paisley, we "gotta a little mud on the tires". Driving to the Spiral Jetty was just as fun as seeing the Spiral Jetty.

After 9+ miles of road we made it! We walked the entire length of the man made rock spiral and took a bunch of pictures. It was absolutely beautiful. On our way home in a rainstorm, we discovered the ATK Rocket Display. We got out to take pictures and explore the rocket park. It was amazing seeing all the different parts that make up rockets, the parts weigh a ton and are huge...plus we took a lot of fun pics. Later on in the evening, after we'd gotten back and relaxed for awhile, we drove up to walk around the Logan Cemetery while the sun set. There were so many flowers and neat graves. Chad loves the Logan Cemetery and I can see why. It had a peaceful, content feeling about it. It was amazing seeing all the graves and thinking of the lives people lived and who they were. To finish the day, we watched Valkerie with a group of friends. I couldn't have asked for a better Memorial Day.