Showing posts with label Advent Calendar. Show all posts

Jingle Rails

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 -

Day 17: Western Cold Front found us at the Eiteljorg Museum. Out of all the museums in Indy, hubs and I had never been to the Eiteljorg. I have no idea why. With the exhibit 'Jingle Rails', I decided we needed to make it happen.

The main reason we went was for Jingle Rails, an exhibit full of model trains and models of locations in the Indianapolis area and in the Western part of the country. These exhibits were great - I was so impressed with what was built out of stones, sticks and other natural products. Take a look:

And of course, being an American Indian and Western Art museum, there were a lot of great exhibits about the Native Americans. We even got to built our own tee-pees.

It was a great day ending with a great night at the JW Marriott. We dined at their restaurant, High Velocity, with burgers and fries before relaxing without any plans. It was really great to not have plans and relax with the beautiful skyline behind us.

Perfect for preparing for day 18: Lazy brunch morning. We dined at Granite City to give it a go - caramel rolls and build your own benedict. We had a busy afternoon, so starting our Sunday with lazy was definitely the way to go.

Day 19: Who was an evening of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, though we ended up not even watching the movie. Prepping for the holiday weekend, we knew it was going to be a busy week so we had to get a move on with laundry and packing! Stay tuned for the rest of the advent recap (and of course, holiday photos!) this week.

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Labels: 25 Days of Christmas, Advent Calendar, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, JW Marriott

Cccccchanges (David Bowie Style)

Thursday, December 22, 2011 -

Changes. Mr. Bowie informed us that changes happen. Changes even effect the advent fun of our household. Small change of course, but it happens. Here is a quick recap of what has been happening:

Day 14: Deck the Hall with Globes - the venue where I am a special events coordinator at had their staff holiday party and I was excited to add this to the calendar. Rather than the typical staff party of eating, drinking and being merry with co-workers, we had the opportunity to make something besides memories. Being an art school as well as a great wedding venue, we all participated in glass blowing. Among the eating and (non-alcoholic) drinking - after all, we were literally playing with fire - we all took a turn to make our own holiday ornaments. It is much more difficult than it looks, but is a lot of fun at the same time. Great holiday party for sure, and we walked away with something for our tree.

Day 15: Holiday Murder Mystery - and this is where our change happens. We had a busy week and the upcoming week wasn't looking any slower, so hubs opted to pass on his evening plans of attending a holiday murder mystery dinner at the Propylaeum. This was fine with me because something like this is just more fun with a group, and unfortunately, none of our friends were joining us. So what did we do instead? Well, we each got some gifts. Mine had been coming in from various vendors throughout the week, but I found all of his at Target randomly that day. Perfect timing if you ask me! As mentioned, hubs loves his Rudolph. I couldn't pass up these when I saw them, especially since I have a few of my own (Disney Villian style of course). And to add to my Vinylmation collection, I received (by received, I mean gifted myself or had my hubs buy them for me as I watched) the Jingle Smells collection. I LOVE them!

Day 16: Holiday Gift - we had a busy evening ahead of us with a friend's dinner and comedy club celebration, followed by another friends holiday party. Couldn't really 'plan and execute' anything for the evening, so hubs got a new shirt. He strut it that evening - always good when he likes the clothing I get him versus it sitting on the shelf!

The holidays are in full swing and we continue to be busy with each day. How are your holiday plans coming along? Is your shopping complete?

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Labels: Advent Calendar, Glass Blowing, Indianapolis Art Center, Propylaeum

Gifts for the Holiday

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 -

My hubs is a homebrewer. And not just any kind of homebrewer. He is a fantastically gifted homebrewer. What I'm saying is this guy's hobby is the best hobby for him because he is raging good at it. Right now, he has a variety of beers at home for drinking, including Hefe, cider, and two others.

I mean it. This guy is good.

I like to think of him as a beer connoisseur in his own right. And that made day twelve's gift very easy. Themed beer connoisseur, he received a magazine subscription for Beer Connoisseur magazine. I don't know much about beer magazines. He really wants BYOBrew, but this was a great deal from Sweet Jack that I couldn't pass up.

The funny thing about his brewing, it is a perfect bachelor activity. So when I'm traveling for work or have an evening event, he always lines up a new beer to brew. Another thing he loves about his bachelor time is the random food that he eats. Things that I just don't understand. Like Funyons. I mentioned this last year too - he loves his Funyons for a bachelor evening. Day thirteen was easy on a busy night (which ended up not happening, but he still appreciates the crunch). Themed bachelor food, he (and I'm sure the pups helped) unwrapped a bag of Funyon treats that he could enjoy all to himself.

Sometimes it is the simple things.

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Labels: 25 Days of Christmas, Advent Calendar, Home Brew

Silver & Gold...Almost

Monday, December 12, 2011 -

My hubs loves Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It is his all time favorite holiday movie. However, we have specific circumstances to watch the movie.

It has to be snowing or snow must be on the ground.
No talking is allowed.

It only makes sense that this is his stocking.

Day five was St. Nick's Day. That means this stocking was full of treats, including movies, candy, more popcorn shakers and other items. I wasn't home to fill the stocking as I was still in Vegas (for work), so prior to departing I set up a scavenger hunt for him to find when he arrived home. He searched for his favorite movie, then a board game, and a few other items around the house in search of the stocking.

Maybe this was a reward because the next day, he had to do a little 'work'. He helps out with holiday cards for family and friends by labeling them. So any of you who receive a card, know that hubs helped out on day six, family & friends. And if you haven't picked up cards yet, consider looking at Two Designs. Tara is extremely talented, just sayin'. Yes, a shameless plug for a bestie - it happens.

I would have loved all the labels were stuck when I got home on day seven, themed cuddle time. But alas, we wrapped them up together that evening when I got home. A holiday movie followed with warm and cozy blankets. Even the pups were warm and cozy.

Was it Rudolph? Well, no. The weather wasn't quite right.

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Labels: 25 Days of Christmas, Advent Calendar, Pups, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Shiba Inu

Bright Lights & Vegas Delights

Saturday, December 10, 2011 -

Hubs and I made our way to Las Vegas for a long weekend. We both just needed to 'get away,' and we had a variety of reasons for a vacay.

It was our delayed anniversary trip. When we got married, we promised one another we would always travel for our anniversary, alternating international with national travel. In addition, it had to be somewhere we had never been together.
I had won a two night stay at the Green Valley Ranch from a silent auction, so we had our hotel taken care of.
I had a work conference in Vegas, so we were able to make this happen without me having to add another trip towards the end of the year.

A vacation was the perfect way to kick off hub's Advent calendar as well! Day two brought winning big, an opportunity to walk the strip and gamble a little bit, to see all the hotels and what the strip has to offer. We walked around stores, dropped some money in the casino (and no, we didn't win big), and even sampled a local brewery, Sin City Brewing Company.

Day three - see the talent of Vegas - brought us to see a show on the strip. But first, we started with a day trip to Hoover Dam to take in the sites. We also stopped in at a local brewery, Boulder Dam Brewery. And let me tell you, that day, the 'dam' jokes didn't stop.

That evening, we saw Cirque du Soleil's Mystere show at Treasure Island. It was the first Cirque show in Vegas which is why we picked it versus all the others. The stage was immaculate - amazing how it could change and what it could do to impact the show. Of course, the actors/gymnasts were amazing, their strength is something that words just can't describe.

Unfortunately, hubs couldn't stay with me while I worked, so he found himself flying back to Indy on day four, themed vacation relaxation. When he arrived home, he found a simple gift of popcorn, popcorn shakers (honestly, hubs loves to flavor popcorn) and hot chocolate to help him relax after a weekend of fun in Vegas.

We had a great, unscheduled, relaxing vacation. It is always great to get away and enjoy time with your best friend. Hope everyone else enjoyed the first weekend of the holiday season in December!

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Labels: Advent Calendar, Anniversary, Cirque, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas

Oh Christmas Tree...

Thursday, December 1, 2011 -

I want to live in a house that has multiple trees.

There. I said it (again.)

This doesn't mean I need a huge house, but I just LOVE the idea of having multiple themed trees. One may ask, why would you want multiple trees? Well, as mentioned, themes! I'm almost to the Disney themed tree that I've been collecting for quite sometime. Here are a few other trees I would like to have:

Classic red and green tree
Silver and blue tree
Family oriented tree - this means all those great ornaments from our parents and grandparents
Travel tree - since hubs and I collect ornaments when we travel, it would be great to have a tree just full of those ornaments
Snowman tree - I like snowman, so I have quite a collection of those ornaments

Really, there are so many more that could be had. And right now, I'm happy to report we've got two. Sure, they aren't straight up themed, but both are pretty close.

Our artificial tree is on the first floor. This is a combination of a snowman and family oriented tree. This tree has seen a good few years, and I think after this holiday, it may be retired to the land of discarded holiday trees.The second tree is our real tree. And if I do say myself, this tree is a pretty great tree. We picked it out in a matter of five minutes, and it is perfect for us. Around 8 feet, it is a great size and has that classic shape. Sitting in our main living area, it lights up our living room every night. And, this tree is almost a full Disney tree. There are a few ornaments regarding travel, or special meaning ornaments between the two of us.

With the trees up and ready for gifts (yes, I theme my wrapping paper every year too. This year, purple and green,) that means December is just about here. December 1st means the return of hubs advent calendar. I'll be keeping you posted on all the events as I did last year. It may be delayed though, because hubs and I are celebrating our four year anniversary a tad bit late (yes, September 29th has come and gone this year, I know that. Sometimes new additions delay things.) by taking a trip to LAS VEGAS!

Photo Credit

So...December 1 is "Sparkly Night Lights" meaning our night flight to Las Vegas to the strip lights!

And yes, if you keep track, I may recycle some themes from last year. Don't judge.

We leave today. Bags are packed, pups are at the 'spa', and we are ready to go! If you have advice on things we must do, please share. We have a slight itinerary, but everything is extremely flexible!