My 29th Birthday

I think I had the most birthday parties I've ever had for a birthday this year!  The celebrations started on my actual birthday night, February 26th.  Matt and I went out to the Tenderloin Room for dinner.  It was freaking delicious!  Matt started off his meal with the U.S. Senate Bean Soup:



Then we went straight on to the main course.  I got the signature dish, Pepperloin a la Tenderloin:





And Matt got the Filet Mignon:



Next came my birthday dessert.  They were delicious little cakes that were just perfect for us.  One was white chocolate (Matt prefers) and one was dark chocolate (I prefer):



After our amazing dinner, Tim and Sarah invited us over to their house for some random fun.  Sarah and I reverted back to the old days and we danced around the house to "Lucille":



The picture makes it look a lot nicer than the video, but this is still a pretty funny video so why not!  (Warning: We CAN'T sing):



We also played Wii for a while and just had a blast with Tim and Sarah. 

Saturday morning came long before I wanted it to after that great night.  But we had things to do.  We needed to straighten up the house just a little bit before we headed out for our next birthday adventure.  I took this picture because I told Matt that this is the hottest he has ever looked (a man is always hot when he is cleaning, am I right ladies?)



Later that day Anna and I had our double birthday party at Chandler Hill Winery.



Someone told them it was our birthday and they gave us these delicious cannolis:



And everyone sang to us possibly the worst version of "Happy Birthday" ever:



But it made us laugh (like that takes so much with Anna and me!)

The scenery was beautiful and it was a gorgeous February day so I wanted to get some pictures with Matt outside.  Of course he wouldn't cooperate.  Here is the best picture we have:



We were so fortunate to have so many good friends there to celebrate with us!  Adam, Katie, Tom, Jenn, Vicki, Chad and Christy all came out to celebrate with us.  What a treat to get to hang out with such close friends!





After the winery we decided to go to El Maguey:



Dinner was a good idea - but based on our eyes in the following picture, the drinks were not so much!



Needless to say, I went home and went straight to bed!

The birthday celebrations did not end that night however.  We ALWAYS go to Cunetto's for my birthday, and we wanted to wait till Wednesday so we could get spedini.  So the following Wednesday we had yet another birthday dinner for me! 

Yummy Chicken Spedini:


Delicious Pasta:

(look at that smile on my face . . . the way to my heart is definitely through my stomach!)

Then they gave me cheesecake for dessert.  I posed for a picture for my blog:



But Erin thought that was so not cool.  We had to really get the action of me eating this delicious cheesecake.  So here's what we got then:



Not nearly as attractive, but definitely real!

I regret to say that I don't have any pictures of my last birthday party (yes, there was another one - I told you I had a lot this year!)  It was wonderful though.  Matt's grandparents had us all over to their house for some wonderful white chili.  Gerry made me a fruit platter - actually she made me two fruit platters - one to share at the gathering and one to take home with me.  I have such great in-laws!

29 was definitely a great birthday!  I hope all my birthdays can be just as wonderful!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• Great friends who came out to celebrate with me!
• Great family and family in-law who came together to make my birthday special
• Great food (ummm, just look at all the pictures above!)
• Having a birthday buddy (Anna and I have been celebrating birthdays together since first grade!)
• Celebrating another year of my wonderful life!

Valentines Day

Matt and I had a very fun Valentines day this year. We got to spend our afternoon with the best Valentine EVER . . . Will! James and Ann were on their way home from Nashville so Matt and I got to babysit! We started off our time with him by making him wear a ridiculous headband that we got at fanfest. We had originally intended to start a facebook page of random people wearing this headband. We keep forgetting to bring it out with us though, so this whole facebook page might not happen. Anyway, here's a picture of Will with it on (no one would have looked as cute as him in it anyway!):



We had so much fun playing with him that day! We played with all his toys and watched him do his new trick, pulling up! I tried to get a video of it to post here, but as soon as I turned on the camera, he was way more interested in checking that out than pulling up. It's still cute though:



Oh! Those big blue eyes get me every time!



After hanging out with Will, Matt really wanted to go somewhere to eat. First off, I was wearing sweat pants. Second off it was snowing. Third - Ummmm it was Valentines Day and we did not have any reservations anywhere. Matt just wanted to go to some place close to the house. Keep in mind we live in LEMAY (for those of you in St. Louis, you know what I mean). So this is where we ended up on Valentines Day:



For those of you NOT in St. Louis, Show Me's is basically the same as Hooters. The only difference is that the girls wear pink instead of orange. In all reality it was just fine. I mean we both had to work the next day and they do have some really good wings!

We did exchange gifts this year. We really don't usually make a big deal out of Valentines Day, but whith everything that is going on with me right now, we decided that everyday should be treated as special. And quite honestly we would have given each other these things eventually anyway.

Matt was very sweet although you will not think so with the way this story starts. Some background . . . I have a stuffed bear from Build a Bear that I have had since I was 16. Her name is Magill (she calls herself Lil, but everyone knows her as Nancy - yes, I LOVE the Beatles). Anyway, Magill (better known nowadays as Gilly) was bearnapped by Matt. Yes, he took my beloved Gilly away from me for an entire afternoon. Well, here comes the sweet part. Matt took Magill to Build a Bear to get her restuffed. She has lost quite a bit of volume being around for 16 years and having many "baths" with bleach and hot water. So now she is good as new and really fat - just the way I like her. The best gift ever! Matt also gave me some dark chocolate rapberry Lindt Truffles. There were quite delicious!



I am just going to come right out and say what I got Matt . . . I got him a Boppy. Yes, as in the little pillow that people use to support their baby when they are feeding. And NO, I am NOT making an announcement. I am NOT pregnant. Matt just happens to like the boppy. It all started at Anna and Matt's house. I made him feed the baby, so he used the Boppy. When Braden was finished feeding, Anna took him but left the Boppy. Matt LOVED having it there. He claims that "it's like being obease without having all the health problems." It's really funny to see him using it! Here is one picture of it. He likes to use it when he is using the laptop. So since this is a product for a baby, he decided to pretend like the laptop was his baby . . . I know, I know, I married him . . . don't rub it in!



Honestly though, the best part was the card. In the picture above it shows the card that Matt gave me. It was wonderful and I love getting cards from him because he always adds so much to them. Matt requested that I make a card for him like I used to always do. So I obliged . . . here is what came of it:

Front of Card:



Inside Card:



If you watch LOST, you get it, if not well then sorry, it's too hard to explain. Either way you know that I am a huge geek! I believe Matt called me a "dork" when I gave it to him. But in all reality, he LOVED the "Heart Station" Dharma card.

So that was our Valentines Day. Low key, but fun!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• The smartest, best looking nephew ever (wow, I think I have been hanging out with his Grandma and Grandpa too much!)
• Gilly is stuffed!  And she is so much more comfortable to sleep with!
• Chocolate Raspberry Truffles - yum!
• A husband with funny little quirks that always keep me on my toes

Matt's 29th Birthday

We had a very eventful weekend for Matt's 29th Birthday this year.  First off, Sabrina surprised us by coming in for an impromptu visit!  It was so much fun to see her.  As you can see from this picture, we miss each other a lot!  We ended up falling asleep like that for several hours!

On Saturday night we had the big bash. Matt Hutchinson's birthday was January 1st and Vicki's birthday is the same day as Matt's (January 11th) so we celebrated a triple birthday! We started the night at The Drunken Fish in the Central West End.  Here's a picture of the gang:

And a cute one of Sabrina drinking her Martini that Matt, "the instigator" talked her into ordering:

After dinner, we headed over to the Chase Park Plaza to hang out at Cafe Eau for some cocktails. And of course the birthday boys and girl had to take a shot:

I love their faces in this one:

We stayed at Cafe Eau for a while sipping drinks and enjoying our friends:

Matt and Vicki - aka "Birthday Buddies" aka "BBs":

After Cafe Eau, we decided to try a place called Sol, upon my sister's recommendation. It was a really cool place. It's an old 3 story mansion converted into a dance club/game lounge/bar. On the way over to Sol, Matt decided it was time to pull out the aviators:

We all had a lot of fun hanging out at Sol:

We stayed till closing time and then we went home.

So Matt had a wonderful birthday! Other celebrations we had for him were Cunettos with our parents (yes, all 4 of them!) and Erin. As well as dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's for Debbie, Gerry and Matt's birthdays. I think 29 was a good year for Matt! Let's hope his 30th year is even better!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• Celebrating my fantastic husband's birthday with him
• Having Sabrina in town
• Having great friends to share the celebration with
• Trying new places in St. Louis 

New Year's 2009-2010

We had another simple New Year's Eve again this year.  Sarah, Tim, Adam and Katie came over to our house for a pajama party.  We tend to like these little pajama parties since it takes very little prep and we are all very comfortable.  Adam and Katie brought over some Little Caesar's Pizza and we had a few appetizers as well.  We pretty much started and ended the night the same way, playing Wii.  Adam and Tim brought over some new games and we all took turns playing them:



Then the boys decided to keep up the annual tradition of burning the Christmas Tree.



Those are 3D Glasses Adam has on - because that's really good protection when using a chainsaw!




And even better, Matt is wearing cardboard "2010" glasses - smart guys we have!


The girls smartly stayed inside until the fire was burning bright.  Even then, we didn't stay out there for very long though!


The boys came in to see us doing our Carmen Electra workout video.  They took a bit of video of that, but it's too long to put on here just yet.  If I can cut it down, I'll be sure to add it. 

Before we knew it, midnight came along and we broke out the champagne.  Matt insisted on drinking out of the bottle:


Which is probably how this happened once Wii got back in session:


Bruce also came along for the celebrations.  Matt insisted he drink some champagne and wear some glasses:


We had a great time playing Wii, Squabble and Catch Phrase until everyone decided to go home and we all went to bed.

Today's Wonderfuls:

• Celebrating New Years with close friends
• Champagne
• Easy disposal of the Christmas Tree
• Playing fun games

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a lot of fun this year.  As usual we went over to James and Ann's house on Christmas Eve.  We had simple but delicicious dinner and some drinks.  It was very good, as usual,  to see the family together.  It was Will's first Christmas, so of course he is in the bulk of the pictures.

Will with his Grandma Colleen:


Will with his Great Aunt Tammy:


Will and Aunt Caitlin (aka ME!):


Will with Grandpa Ray:


Will with Uncle Matt:


At one point in the night, James gave his godchildren their Christmas Gifts.  Grace (Heather and Mandy's daughter) got a princess skirt and wand.  Grace sported the skirt, while Brooke (her sister) took over the wand duties.  Brooke proceeded to turn everyone into different animals.  The funniest one was Matt who she turned into a horse.  We made him play along and actually had Brooke ride him:

Grace looking beautiful in her princess skirt:


Brooke with Grace's Wand:


Brooke riding Matt "the horse" (Matt looks so thrilled!):


Nathaniel is also James's Godchild and he received a really cool Cardinals sweatshirt and jeans.  Of course he couldn't wait to put it on and show it off.  I tried to get a picture of him with Conor, but Conor was playing "doctor" with him at the time and trying to give him a "shot."  Needless to say, Nathaniel wouldn't go near Conor:


After a few hours as James and Ann's house, we headed to St. Simon for mass at 7:00 and from there headed over to my Mom and Dad's house to exchange gifts.  Nathaniel asked Ann if he could sit with her.  Apparently the last time he saw her was when she was in the hospital with Will and he was very worried about her.  He was glad to see that she was doing ok:


Cute picture of Mom and James:


And of course one of MY baby, Sunny (Matt put the bow on him):


On Christmas Day, we spent most of the day with Matt's family at his mom and dad's house.  Much as Will was the focal point of the Christmas with my side of the family, Alyssa was the main focus of Matt's side of the family.  Here is one picture of her with her mom, Debbie.  She got a PONY!



One of me with Alyssa:


Alyssa with her Grandpa Rick:


Gerry and Me with Grandpa Herm (Grandpa turned 90 this year!):


And of course the oldest and youngest, Alyssa and Grandpa Herm:


After Rick and Gerry's house, we headed over to Aunt Pat's house.  Back in the day, this side of the family used to stay out really late on holidays.  Well, not anymore.  There were only a few people left when we got there.  We stayed for a little bit anyway with the people (and birds) that were left:

Me with "Blue Boy":


My Godfather, Uncle Johnny:


Aunt Pat:


Cousin Charlie:


Cousin Jimmy:


Aunt Patty's Dog, Hailey:


It was a really nice Christmas!  Oh, and as promised, here's one of our Christmas Tree with the star actually standing up:


Today's Wonderfuls:

• Great family on both sides!
• Delicious food
• Celebrating the birth of Jesus with so many that are close to us