Table Settings

With three kids, my mom tried split the chores three ways, and we'd rotate each week: set the table, put the dishes away, or do the dishes. Setting the table was always my favorite task, not only because it was the easiest but also because it was the most fun. I loved putting the plates out, making a pattern with the different-colored plates or giving the girls pink and the boys blue.

And when company came, my mom would always save this task for me because she knew how much I loved it. (And maybe because she knew I really couldn't do much to help with the food?) Together, we'd add leaves to the dining room table while Steph and Joe and Daddy would help carry up chairs. We'd pick out the table cloth--the red and blue checkered, the sailboat checkered, the pink and green and blue checkered--and lay them out before getting the spray bottle and stretching them to get out the wrinkles.

The plates would be carried out from the kitchen, or sometimes if we were lucky (VERY LUCKY) we'd get to use the pink china and grape glasses. More often, the fancy silverware that was my dad's mom's would get pulled out from the buffet, along with the platters and salt and pepper shakers and candlesticks. Then we'd lay everything out, remembering how the placement went thanks to our cotillion training and the little tricks we'd picked up since. (The knife, spoon and fork were all in a fight. The fork left because the spoon and the knife were right.) And I would still try to make a pattern with the plates.

As I get ready for my dinner parties now, setting the table is still my favorite part. I rearrange the living room depending on many people we need to seat, put up the leaves in the drop-leaf table my father-in-law built custom for us, and lay out the tablecloths. Of course, one thing we didn't think of when designing the table was what size tablecloths we would eventually need, and I think of how excited I was when my dad and I realized that shower curtains fit just right, and together, my parents and I picked out the first shower curtain tablecloths for the first dinner party with them at our house.

It's fun for me to pull out some of our "fancy" things when we have people over--the silverware my family got us for a wedding gift that is essentially the same pattern as the one that was once my grandma's, the platters and pitchers and glasses from family and neighborhood friends, the plates and bowls from my aunt, the place card holders from a friend. There are so many people associated with our dinner parties that it seems as though everyone we love is there, even just in spirit.

And even when it's just me, my process is the same as it always was when helping my mom in our dining room with the view of the mountains. And especially when it's just me, I wish my mom was here so she could help me make sure the tablecloth is even on both sides.

Cornfields

Yesterday we went down to Elmwood to see Nathan's parents and let Shelby explore the cornfields. After his Grandma and Uncle came by, we decided to take a family outing to search for missed ears that could be fed to the squirrels. Shelby loved it, and being the grown up puppy she is, veered off from the rest of the crowd. I started following her, and she made up her own obstacle courses, jumping and running and ending by jumping up on my back, then starting over. She eventually decided to book it up the hill, so I followed and we weaved in and out of the rows. I started thinking about how much fun I was having, and how it is a uniquely midwest thing to experience. I thought about how peaceful it was, with the wind blowing and the husks rustling, and started writing about it in my head. Of course, then there was an unexpected turn.

Shelby had grown tired of exploring on her own, so we headed back to the house, with her close by my side. Then she saw Nathan, and wanted to play again. Unfortunately, her idea of playing was jumping the barbed wire fence. Nathan and I stood there, in disbelief she had done that, and then we looked over and couldn't see her. So we split up and eventually saw her running toward the house, which happened to also be toward the highway. I hoped that, like the last time she ran out, she would just run to the front door, and luckily she did. She had a really fun time, that's for sure (we think she was chasing an animal of some kind), but it was a little more scary for us. And definitely ended my peaceful moment picking up corn and listening to the wind.

Thanks Meagan, for posting about the changes in your life. We'll have to get together so I can drop off your bag, and I even have one for Mr. K as well.

Staycation

Hello, and here I am, back again. Over Labor Day weekend, my parents came to visit, and then my mom and I spent the next week together--she had a Lincoln vacation and I had a staycation.

We had a LOT of fun while my dad was here. We got to watch the first Huskers game, shop for a door, put up some handrails so I don't potentially hurt myself when I fall up or down the stairs, and spend some time exploring Lincoln. We took the dogs (Macie the Newfoundland and Shelby, of course) to Branched Oak Lake and James Arthur Vineyard, Bread and Cup in the Haymarket, the stadium, and Pioneers Park. Everyone had a lot of fun, especially the dogs. Here they are swimming. Macie is a very experienced swimmer, and Shelby is the kind of swimmer that likes being in the water, but doesn't like everyone being all over the place. It's the herder in her.

 

During the week, my mom and I worked on embroidering a set of dish towels for my cousin's bridal shower and watching Netflix. Oh yes, and drinking wine. We went garage sale-ing on Friday and she found lots of good stuff, plus some stuff for me. Over the weekend we had two bridal showers: one for my friend Leah and then one for my cousin. On Monday, we went and saw "The Words," which I highly recommend, not just because it is about writing. She and Macie left Tuesday though, so it was back to real life for all of us. 

Summer Loving: Antiques Road Show & Other Travels

I know that many of you have noticed I haven't been around all that much this summer, so this week, I thought I would share some of what we have been doing before the summer is over.

Back in July, I was able to take 10 days off and spend some time with my mom in Colorado. But we started our 10 days visiting my grandparents and also going to Antiques Roadshow in Rapid City, South Dakota.

We all brought treasures with us--I had my minature books and a bracelet, my mom had a Santa figurine and her collection of glass cocktail toothpicks, my grandma and aunt both brought jewelry, and my grandma also brought a ship in a bottle she got when she worked at the POW camp in Scottsbluff in exchange for a suitcase. We didn't make it on TV (even though I thought we had the coolest stuff) but we had a lot of fun.

The rest of the week, I was able to see some friends and spend time with family and do a lot of summer Colorado things I've missed, like swimming in the lake. We also worked on a couples shower we were having for my best friend from high school. It was a "Colorado Living" shower, so we used blue, red, and yellow for the colors. Mom made table squares and napkins, and we used mason jars with candles. Joe did the catering, BBQ pork and beef + all the best sides that go with it, and we had lemonade and tea with vodka. We were having so much fun that I didn't take any pictures to share with you, of either the process or the finished product. Nathan was able to come out for the weekend, too, so we had a fun mini-vacation together, too.

"P" Night

Today is a very special lady's birthday--my mom turns...29...today!

When we were in Key West, the family was talking about childhood memories, and one of my favorites was "P" night. Every Friday, "P" night, we'd have pizza and pop and get to watch a movie. Because I was always a nerd, I named it "P" night. It was all very exciting and a change from our everyday life.

I mentioned this to my mom a couple of years ago and she said that she would do it because by the end of the week she was tired of cooking and wrangling three kids and that was a good solution. I told her that she ruined "P" night for me because it was always something awesome, but I realize that really, this whole story is kind of representative of our relationship and how it has changed over the years.

I had the best mom growing up, a mom who even when she wasn't trying to gave us the best memories. She was always there for us and even though I didn't realize how awesome it was at the time, my parents came to watch nearly all of our events--plays and concerts and tennis matches and lacrosse games and gymnastics meets, etc. She would pick us up from school, make cookies with us, help us with our homework.

And now, she is one of my best friends--and we have the kind of relationship where she can tell me the secret behind "P" night. And now, we can have a different version of "P" night, where we get pizza and salad take out and cupcake wine and sit on the couch and watch one of the many similar shows we watch. Again without trying, she has given me memories and tradtions--going to PF Changs before I leave on the train, shopping trips, walks around the neighborhoods with the dogs.

In April I went back to help my parents pack up our house and I realized that I wasn't as sad as I expected. Because, as I told her, she is always home for us, and she and my dad will make wherever they end up our home, because we will be together, probably having "P" night. 

Florida Sunshine

Over Memorial Day weekend, Nathan and I took a trip with my family down to Key West to visit my aunt and uncle. We had a fabulous time and really enjoyed getting the chance to relax and take a break from real life.

Some of our vacation highlights, other than spending time with family:

• CUBAN FOOD (that's, as always, my No. 1 thing, though tapas comes in at a close second now.)
• Parasailing, snorkeling and jetskiing
• Sunset at Mallory Pier and the cat guy
• Shopping on Duval Street
• Sloppy Joe's
• Nerd Day, which included visits to the Hemingway house, lighthouse museum, Truman house, Audobon house, and the Custom House. Yes, many houses.
• Sunset cruise, where we saw the green flash (we think) and drank (maybe too much) champagne
• Enjoying time out on the water and by the pool
• Late-night chats and glasses of wine

And because our travel days were so long, I got a lot of reading in, so Wednesday will have several mini book reviews about my vacation reading.

Friday Fancies

It's been a while since we've had a Friday Fancies post, but here we go. It seems like Friday really is almost over, but I've been busy working on some long-overdue projects, including redoing my desk chair using this tutorial. (Thanks, Pinterest!) But I did "draft" a few links that I wanted to share, so it will just be short and sweet.

I just recently saw this commercial and it reminds me of my dad! But his additional warnings when I got my first subaru were about listening to the radio.

Some fun things were posted on facebook this week: Disney princess costumes and this blog post about being happy. I think I do all of those things, even though I do consider myself to be pretty happy.

Books I've finished this week: Girls In White Dresses, by Jennifer Close. All That Matters, Jan Goldstein.

On Handwriting

Last week was my dad's birthday and for his gift, each of the kids made him one of his mom's recipes, which my sister found and scanned for us. (Obviously, because of my limited cooking skills, I got the easiest one, nut crisps. Butter, walnuts, powdered sugar. Yum.) I copied my assigned recipe down on a random scrap of paper and realized while doing so that it was the first time I had ever seen her handwriting. Now this might sound silly to people who don't see handwriting the same way I do. You see, for me, handwriting is part of a person, something identifiable, and something I actually find comfort in, like when I get mail from my parents and grandparents. So making the recipe was definitely a way of getting to know my grandmother, but so was actually seeing the recipe.

Home Again, Home Again

Since I've started working part-time, I've found that my perception on Mondays has changed. Maybe it's because generally I'm not as busy on Mondays or because I'm getting back to my normal routine, but I have found that I actually look forward to the start of another week. This week was the exception, however, because this Monday means I have to get back home from a fabulous vacation. Our destination of choice? Bloomington, Indiana.

That's right--my cousin Phil was getting married and so we all met in Bloomington to help him celebrate! Thursday night we flew into Indianapolis to meet the rest of my family. My sister Stephanie was on our Chicago flight, so we got some more time with her, and then we met my mom and brother Joe at the airport. My dad had held down the fort at the hotel, so we had a big reunion in the parking lot.

The next morning we drove into Bloomington for a golf scramble. I am not so much a golfer, but Nathan was very good in high school, so he played, as did my dad, Joe, Stephanie, and most of my cousins. So my cousin Carrie drove me around in the golf card for the first nine holes. We had a bbq and then a really fun rehearsal dinner with disco dancing.

Saturday was the wedding day, but we had some time in the morning to drive to IU to check out the campus, as it is one of our new Big 10 rivals. I have to point out how wonderful everyone at IU was. As my dad said, we ran into three people on our self-tour. The first asked us if we needed directions and then gave us recommendations for lunch. The second offered to take a photo of the four of us. And the third gave us some history of the campus and then drove back around to find us and give us a magazine. We also had lots of people tell us that they all expected Nebraska to take the Big 10. :)

After some cocktails and time at the pool, we headed over to the golf course for the "10th tee ceremony." It was a beautiful ceremony, with so much personality. And all of the details were so pretty. The colors were orange and dark blue, and Kate had a gorgeous short dress. The centerpieces were cool--oranges and blue ribbons and orange roses and lilies--and there were really fun touches, like trivia cootie catchers and cupcake flavor labels. On top of all the pretty details, it was awesomely fun. Great music, great company, and great food. We had a blast.

Of course, on Sunday we had to head home. We were lucky in that all but one of our flights was on time, so we made it home about when we were supposed to. We also had a night without Shelby because we couldn't get back in time to get her from the kennel. She is back though, recovering from her time at the dog motel.

Tomorrow, I'll show off some pictures of our trip. Now, I have to get back to unpacking and recovering!

Our Easter Company

We had some special visitors this Easter weekend. My parents came to us, and their dog, Macie, came to see Shelby.

Macie is a newfoundland puppy who is not quite a year older than Shelby. They met previously at Macie's house in January, back when Shelby was not quite so fond of playing/seeing/being within 50 feet of another dog. But now, she was quite happy to have a playmate, even one that was much larger than she was. They played and played and played.

Shelby also loved giving Macie kisses. Though we couldn't tell if she was kissing Macie or using Macie as her personal water fountain.

It was a very quick trip, so we fit a lot of stuff in just a couple of days.  We went over to see my mom's great-uncle and her cousins when she got in Friday afternoon, leaving my dad with the dogs. We had pizza and watched "The Fighter," because so many people had told my mom how good it was. And the dogs played.

Saturday morning, we went over to the nursery and picked out Nathan's Easter/birthday/our anniversary present, which were three hydrangea bushes and two other bushes. While Nathan planted those, my mom and I went to JoAnn's to get supplies for the baby present we made for my friend Meagan, who is due in June. We worked on that, and the dogs did this.

A trip to Lincoln wouldn't be complete without a visit to campus, so we loaded the dogs in the car and drove down. My cousin Jeff came with us as we explored, and the dogs (scandalously) got to be off their leashes and wander around.

We went out to dinner that night at Dish, which is probably my new favorite restaurant in town. It was a great location, delicious food, and great company. I had the salmon, and we had creme brulee for dessert, wine and chocolate martinis, and scallops.

Sunday, we had to say goodbye. We had Easter breakfast at Burger King after packing up the car. We all miss them still.

P.S. Sorry for the bad pictures. I only used my phone to take them, so they aren't the best!

Life Lessons

After scorching my first batch of homemade spaghetti sauce (it still turned out, thank you very much), my mom decided I needed a lesson. So, she decided that my dad and I would make a small birthday dinner for some family this weekend. I love our secret family recipe for spaghetti sauce, not only because it tastes great, but also because I love hearing my dad tell stories about his parents, who I did not get the pleasure of knowing. He paints pictures of their cafe and what it was like growing up there, and that's truly the best part of the making

He started off by teaching me the correct way to hold a knife and peel and smash garlic, how to follow the recipe but also follow my tastebuds, and the best order to follow the recipe in. And in the end, we ended up with some delicious sauce.

While we were cooking together, I started thinking about all of the things he's taught me over the years, even though when he asked me what I was thinking about, I told him I was thinking about when we needed to stir next. And here's what I came up with.

For starters, there's work ethic and determination, the value of hard work, strength and patience, protecting your family and standing up for what you believe in. He taught me how to make friends, telling me to just go up to people and say, "Hi, my name's Whitney, what's yours?" and this was especially useful for someone so shy.

After I'd memorized my prayers, he taught me Hail Mary, leftover from his Catholic teachings, and I find it is my favorite prayer, one that I repeat over and over to myself on nights I can't find sleep; perhaps because I'm not Catholic, I find it beautiful and comforting all at the same time, and it is always the cure for my insomnia (which he also gave me).

Of course, there's car maintenance: I can check the air in my tires and fill them when they get low, and I like to think I could change the brake pads on my car if only I could get the car jack thing (isn't that the name?) to work. He helped teach me to drive, even though I was less than successful on the "big roads." I feel like I know how to pack a car efficiently, though he's the best, and to always be prepared, especially during cold Nebraska winters.

There's also a love for the ocean and the Nebraska plains, the basics of skiing and sledding and swimming and snorkeling; riding a bike, cheering for the Huskers, caring for family pets, looking words up in the dictionary, even if you don't know how to spell them. The best way to find open houses, how to buy a house, inspect a house, fix a house, and how to see potential in everything. How to put everything in piles while cleaning, which I still do, even if I don't pick up the piles.

He instilled in me a passion for adventure, and taught me that life is adventure, family is an adventure, love is an adventure, and to try and live each day as an adventure, which is perhaps the best lesson of all. 

Finding Fancies

On Saturday, my mom and I hit up the shops in Downtown Littleton. I couldn't believe how much has changed in the small downtown Main Street. When I was in second grade, we took a field trip, stopping at Two Potters (I believe this was the name . . . )  and Chocolates by Mary Carol, which are now gone and replaced with Lola's Sweet Shop, where we stopped for half-price Valentine's Day-colored sour gummy bears and Twin Bings for my dad for his birthday, and a paint-your-own pottery shop. This is where my brother and I went to paint together before I left for college. He painted a fish for me that moved to Lincoln with me and has lived on my desk in each of the sorority rooms I moved into, my first apartment, and then my first real grown-up job. When we had the big move to the other building, the fish stayed on my desk, despite the suggestion it move to a drawer, and I would say it is one of my prized possessions; it now has a safe spot on my desk at home.

What has not changed is the number of antique stores, and we spent the morning exploring several. It has only been recently that I have acquired a vintage taste, though I don't think it's surprising, considering, well, my mom. She  took us to antique stores when we were younger, telling us to keep our hands in our pockets and DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. I am still to this day a very tactile (thanks for the word, Mom) shopper and not letting me touch anything may have been smart on her part (especially considering how clumsy I was) but was torture to a younger Whitney. But now that I'm older, I'm glad to go with her, because she knows what's new and old and what's a good price for the things I want. And I found many things that I wanted in Littleton Antiques and Such and the Pink Attic Cat, among other stores. I love vintage ribbon and lace, half-completed sewing projects, aprons, books, paper and postcards and photos. There were vintage glass door knobs, depression glass, champagne flutes, and other kitchen knick knacks that caught my eye. In the end, we walked out with four dessert/champagne glasses (mom) and a printer's press block in the shape of an L (me), plus a present for my friend Kaitlyn's wedding. But more than that, I walked out with a few ideas and lots of inspiration.

Looking Back: 2010 In Review

Before I talk about 2011, I want to show some of the highlights of 2010. It was a big year for us: We moved in together, got married, went to Europe for the first time (and experienced our first International flights), got a puppy, and made a lot of improvements to the house (even though we were forced into most of them!). We went to concerts and plays and visited Vegas and Denver. We've had friends and family members celebrate babies, engagements, and weddings, and we've enjoyed times with those dearest to us. Overall, a very good year, and I can't wait to see what 2011 brings.

Top pictures: Our wedding; the Colosseum; Little House On The Prairie: The Musical. Bottom pictures: Shelby; Las Vegas trip; our family at the end of 2010