Last Sunday Kim hosted a nice brunch with me and some of my closest friends (we used my birthday as an excuse to get together!).  It was really nice to see some of the kids and just hang out and relax.  Laura (brown) has also just gotten her first D-SLR  and will be taking Michelle’s online photography class with me this spring, so we both brought our cameras along to practice using them.

Old college roommies, Laura (blonde), Me, and Laura (brown)

Laura and her daughter Keira

Me and Bradie

Keira and Neven

Me, Kim and Bradie

Laura, Me and Kim

Everyone else was shy about getting photos taken but the Three Little Pigs showed up and didn’t mind me taking their photo (over and over again!)

Thanks for hosting, Kim! It was fun to get together :)

Many of my friends wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday this year and for once I felt like keeping it mellow and avoiding a big dinner at a restaurant somewhere.  I love doing that too, but with as busy as I have been lately, I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.  Lanee and Roger invited us over along with our neighbors for a delicious dinner of homemade shrimp stir-fry and fried rice.  I couldn’t have had better at a fancy Asian restaurant!

The table looked so pretty and festive

Lanee also spoiled me to the max be making her famous ice cream cake.  This was worth every one of the million calories, trust me!  Oreo cookie crust, peppermint ice cream, cool whip, chocolate sauce and more cookie crumbs?? Pretty much to-die-for.  I might’ve gone into a sugar coma after eating this!

Thank you very much to L & R for making me feel so special on my birthday! I love you guys xoxox

PS And a very happy birthday to Lanee today who celebrates just three days after me.  Looking forward to doing something nice for you too!

Last week was my Bff Mary’s bday and so our little group of girls (minus LVJN – we missed you!) plus a few of Mary’s friends from work went and had a nice dinner on Saturday night at Loring Pasta Bar .  You know we always take 79845245985754 photos when together, so here are a few to share!

Hope you had a great Birthday, Maria Elena!

My friend Shannon (who I went to HS with and who also happens to live just a couple houses down from me) had a jewelry party at her house the other night with some friends from high school.  I haven't seen many of these girls since I took a break from scrapbooking, so it was nice to catch up a little bit. 

Thanks for getting everyone together for a night of fun, Shannon!

Last weekend was my long-time amiga Cassie Rae's birthday so a small group of us went out to celebrate at Pizza Luce and then we went back to Cassie's place where we stayed up late catching up (and eating popcorn and drinking Chai Tea!)

I made Cassie pose for a couple of pics….

Cass took a couple of pics of me too! I don't like them because I look like crap but here they are anyway (proof that my hair is in total chaos-yuck)

Cassie has all sorts of cool stuff around her place to take photos of so I took advantage!
I loved the shadows that this awesome crystal chandelier creates

Photo Settings:  26mm F/5.6  1/125  (Totally Rad Action- "Pross Crossessed")

Photo Settings 55mm  f/5.6   1/125

Photo Settings: 38mm  f/5.0    1/8    ISO 1600

This was a light at Pizza Luce that I thought was pretty cool 

Photo Settings: 40mm  f/5.3   1/8  ISO 1600

Glad we got to hang out Cassie, thanks for inviting us!

The full moon on December 31st, 2009 was the 2nd full moon in December, making it a BLUE MOON.  It was FREEZING cold outside but I braved it anyway (for a few minutes!) to take my new camera and tripod outside to try to capture the special blue moon.

Have you ever tried to shoot the moon??!!  It is hard! Every time I try (here is another good pic of the moon I took with the Canon G10 back in September) it takes a lot of playing around with the settings before I get it right (otherwise it looks like a blurry white orb).  This was taken with my  55-200mm Lens at f/5.6  1/320

New Years Eve was pretty laid back again this year.  We had a very nice (but early!) steak dinner at the Lakeside Club, which has become a New Year's Eve tradition over the past five years.  We had planned to go to a party later at our friends Miles & Becky's pace but opted not to drive all the way to NE Mpls.  Too many cops and drunk drivers on the road made me feel safer at home!! I hung out with my neighbors for awhile and played a few games of darts

Noemy also stopped over for a little bit and since we were both wearing hats, I made her pose for a pic with me :) Now honest truth…..do I look like Elmer Fudd in that Hat??!! I thought I saw a wabbit!

Whether you went out or stayed home, I hope everyone else had a nice New Year's Eve too!

One of my newer favorite traditions is getting together with a some
dear friends the night after Christmas and making lasagna.  This is the
2nd or 3rd year we have done this now and I love it.  'Tis the season
for feasting!

Browned and bubbly

Beautiful salad

Thanks L & R, love you guys!

I spent Christmas morning baking a few different cookies to take along to my in-laws for dinner and to a party at my neighbors' house later in the evening.

Peanut Butter Blossoms- The best!!! I had never made them before but they turned out amazing.  Looking at this photo makes me want to make more right now just so I can have some again. I got only two out of this batch because they disappeared so quick!

White chocolate chip macadamia nut (with coconut).  Another fave of mine :)

The weather was slushy and snowy on Christmas Day this year so I am glad we didn't have far to travel to get to my in-laws'.  We had the traditional turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes/ham/creamed corn meal and it was delicious!! 

After a few hours we headed home, relaxed for a little while and then headed next door to a birthday party for Darrell who shares his birthday with Baby Jesus.  Every year Darrell and Denise throw a Christmas/Bday party for friends and neighbors.  It is so much fun! This year we had smoked pork carnitas with fresh pico and rice.  Fabulous.  If I haven't mentioned before how lucky I am to have D & D as neighbors and for Denise to be such a wonderful cook (especially authentic Mexican food), they are the best!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas too!