I Walk In This World

Because my birthday is nearly here (Monday) and conveniently adjacent to a weekend, I got to have a lot of pre-birthday celebrations with family.  We’re all here in PA but spread out.  PA is a big state, lol.

Saturday, Dad and his wife came here to celebrate with a birthday lunch at Macaroni Grill and prezzies!  And a baby carrot cake leftover from our NYE party.

Hello…spa gift certificate!  And the start of a new double-chin…apparently…

Friday I got to celebrate with my sista and brother-in-law before they had to move on to his family’s post-holiday-holiday celebration. 

Hello lots of fabulous new clothing and Starbucks gift card!

Lots of singing and merriment!

[Yes…I did spend the day in my sweats…twas the day after loads of drinking after all.]

It’s already been such a fun birthday and it’s not even here yet.  We’ll see what Monday has in store for Erin in her 31st year.

Backing up to Friday, New Year’s Day, we had traditional Pennsylvania pork and sauerkraut to ring in the new year.  The pork was from a local humane farmer that Hubz got at the Farmers Market Thursday.  Sorry for the horrid lighting.

I made it in the crockpot with an apple and smidge of brown sugar to cut some of the sour from the kraut.  I whipped up some mashed taters on the side, and had the perfect accompaniment…

Musselman’s Chunky Applesauce!

Yes I was sent this to review.  But I woulda bought it anyway cuz I totally dig Musselman’s (yeah PA companies!)

And a mocktail to round out the evening.  In my effort to be faithful to my New Year’s Ressie, I just went ahead and left the vodka out of this club soda and lime.  Was just as delicious!

We spent the evening lounging around and watching LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring.

<——–TO-tal LOTR geek

Ok, I gotta go root for my Steelers and hope to hell that the Jets, Texans, and Ravens ALL lose their games. 

Ciao,

Er

Oh what a fun partay we hosted NYE!

Foodz

• warm chicken dip
• cowboy caviar
• brushetta
• cheesy ranch dip
• homemade salsa
• Bretons, Scoops, Tostitos, Utz Pretzels
• goat cheese with cranberries and cinnamon (OMG)
• veggies and homemade hummus
• baby cheesecakes
• assorted magnificent desserts from a Philly bakery (courtesy of my sista)
• homemade truffles in cocoa and nuts

Drinkz

Peepz

Dogz

Miss Hillary was giving me the Stank Eye for much of the evening.  She didn’t like sharing her house with Nellie Grace.

Miss Nellie Grace (that is a dog…not a big cat)

Gamez

Taboo!  Girls are WAY better at this game than boys.  Light years better, just fyi.

OK, clearly by this point I was more interested in drinking hoppy beers and playing Taboo (funnest game!) to take pictures, so just imagine lots of laughter, watching the ball drop at midnight, and a hubby kiss with a champagne toast.

And Erin in bed by 2:30am…not bad for an almost-31-year-old!

I NEVER make resolutions.  Yet for some reason this year, I wanted to.

Erin’s 2010 Ressies!

1. no more drinking at home (something I’ve been meaning to work on)
2. dedicate more time to yoga
3. be kind
4. continue to push the message on Ethical Eating

And I stopped at 4 because I only like even numbers.  A list of 5 woulda been bad mojo.

C’mon 2010…the year of good things!!

Hi blog friends,

Woah, it’s been AGES since I posted.  Apologies.  It’s been hectic here in the IWITW household.  Bacehlorette parties, travel to see family, other stuff, cold viruses, etc.

I’m home sick today so there’s nothing super fun to post, food-wise.  Just lots of fluids, soup, etc.  It’s just a cold, but I don’t want it to morph into something more unpleasant.  And I don’t want to get my work friends sick either (I’m a BIG believer in keeping your germs at home).

Swenyway, I’ll leave you with some snaps of my sister’s bachelorette party from the weekend!  Twas SUPER fun, even with the rain.

Bachelorette.

Party!

Table decor.

Lunch was chicken salad (plain and curry), french bread, veggies, fresh cantaloupe, pita chips, sun chips, and Prosecco!

Manis and Cosmopolitans.

Dinner crew at Swanky Bubbles in Old City, Philly.

Having a cocktail with my sister…the Bachelorette!!

My bestie girlfriend Kate and I like to order lots of things and split them.  She’s my eating twin! 

We got…

Pad Thai (so good)

Sushi (split a Dragon roll and a Happy Marriage roll…awww!)

We moved on to dancing and cocktails at Plough and the Stars.

Waiting for the PSU game to end…and then dancing and cocktails at Mad River.

I killed the time with some vodkas and club sodas.

Bar hopping in the rain

Dancing and (I think, lol) cocktails at 32 Degrees.

And round out the night….Philly CHEESESTEAKS!!!!!!

Oh ladies and gents, if you’ve never had a proper Philly Cheesesteak, you simply must.  Chopped steak and Whiz.  The ONLY way to go.  So dang delish.

I wasn’t hungover the next day, just tired from 4 hours of sleep.  :)  Of course, somewhere along the line, I picked up a cold.  Eh…I kinda expected to.  It’s cold/flu season and  I was wearing a tank top and bar hopping in the RAIN. 

Ok, couch time.

Hope y’all are healthy little duckies!

Ciao,

Erin