a belated stage hands holiday party

our stage hands union wanted to have a holiday party but it was absolutely impossible to schedule one in december since there are so many holiday-related shows that we all work during that month.  so, they decided to have it in january.  the only problem with having a party in january is that when you get a big snow storm no one wants to come out.  even though the weather wasn't great and i really wasn't feeling well, ryan wanted to show face at the party for a little while so we pulled ourselves together and went over for a bit.  only 17 people made it to the party (it really should have been postponed).  at least the ice sculpture was cool.

love, laurie

is it summer yet?

uhhh, i was out of commission the entire weekend with this stupid stomach flu/virus that then turned into a full-blown head cold.  way to kick a girl when she's down.

on top of not feeling well, the weather was gross with lots of snow, sleet, and more snow.  i hate shoveling on a normal day but especially hate it when i'm sick. 

i was shocked to see the sun come out for a little bit on sunday and actually see some blue sky show through the trees.

is it summer yet?

love, laurie

dr. leko

man oh man, i came down with some type of a stomach flu/virus this week and it really took a toll on me.  i'm glad i have the best two doctors and the cutest two doctors around! 

love, laurie

keeping an eye on the neighborhood

who needs a watch dog when you have a cute watch kitten keeping an eye on the neighborhood?!

love, laurie

back to school again

school starts back up today and i'm back at it teaching.  it's time for lots of photocopying!  gosh, how did the spring semester get here so fast?

love, laurie

a little spring in winter

my parents bought us hyacinth flowers at the grocery store for our kitchen window.  we couldn't keep them at home in our kitchen because of a very curious furry 8 year old who is obsessed with water in vases, so i brought them into work to enjoy.  it's probably better that way since i will get to see them more in my office than i would at home.  they are enjoying the sunlight on my window ledge in my office.  it's nice to see a little bit of spring in mid-january!

love, laurie 

will travel for food!

the weather was gorgeous on sunday (it felt more like a spring day than a mid-january day) and we had the day off work, so we took a day trip to new jersey with my parents for . . . food!  the main purpose of our trip was to have lunch at the cheesecake factory since we all had gift cards and certificates for free slices of cheesecake from christmas. 

while we were in new jersey, we stopped at a brand new trader joe's that just opened up a few months ago for groceries.  on the way home we stopped at another grocery store too.

yup, a whole sunday revolving around driving to new jersey for food! 

love, laurie

birthday (veggie) burgers

we like to make birthdays last as long as possible in our household.  it's easy to do when so many stores and restaurants give great birthday freebies!  the other night we went out to red robin to use my free birthday (veggie) burger coupon.  it was a nice little date midweek on a cold january night!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

king of the blanket

it has been cold lately, and we've been putting a blanket that my parents gave us as a gift on our laps whenever we sit down on our couch.  leko wastes no time getting up on our laps.  he loves cuddling and he especially loves this blanket.  we had to laugh the other day at the position he was sitting in because it looked like he was holding us down and didn't want us to leave.  i don't blame him.  what a cutie!

love, laurie

birthday dinner inside an igloo!

ryan and i both had to work during the day on my birthday on monday, and we had a stage hands union meeting that we couldn't miss in the evening, so that gave us a two hour window of time to celebrate my birthday.  i was looking for somewhere for us to have dinner between work and the meeting when i remembered seeing that a local restaurant in our area put up igloos on their patio for winter dining outside.  i called the restaurant and was sad to hear that they were pretty much booked up until march, but then really happy to learn that they happened to have one opening that night which was the perfect timing for us!

we had the igloo for two hours from 4pm-6pm which was awesome timing because we got to see the igloo in daylight and then the sun went down while we were eating dinner so we also got to see it all lit up at night.

the igloo was so neat!  there was seating for 8 people, but we had the whole thing to ourselves.  it was decorated so nicely inside and each chair had a warm blanket to cuddle up in and there was a heater inside too.

the food was great.  we shared an order of homemade chips covered with blue cheese and thick balsamic drizzle.  for dinner we shared mahi tacos and a sweet potato chickpea burger.  we finished off our meal with an awesome chocolate peanut butter dessert which came out on a decorated birthday plate with a candle. 

it was such a great experience and a great meal.  a very nice way to celebrate on my birthday!  here are some pictures from our dinner inside the igloo . . .

love, laurie