A Holiday Wine Tasting

What a wonderful night we had last night we some good friends. We got an invite from a friend of ours to go to a wine tasting at a local Maryland winery, and the winery really had a great event. There was of course a wine tasting  and some tasty hors d'oeuvres. Then when we were done with that we got a few bottles of wine and a pizza and sat around some tables that were set up outside and talked and listened to Christmas music. This little guy on the right sat with us and begged. It was like being at home.


We want to thank our friends Leah and Jeremy for such a great time, and want to recommend that anyone in the Maryland area check out the Basignani Winery if you need something to do. Good wine, and they have lots of events throughout the year.


As we left, the snow began to fall, making the evening that much more perfect. We finished the evening off watching Elf in the car on the ride home. A great way to spend the last weekend before Christmas!

Christmas Cards

Another checkmark on the Christmas to-do list last night... Christmas cards written out, stamped, stuffed and placed in the mailbox! We can't wait until everyone gets them so we can share some photos from our annual family photo shoot! And if you are keeping the whole Martin family Christmas card collection, we are up to card number four.

This year we sent cards to friends and family in eight different states, and sent cards to as many people with the last name Barnes as we did Martin. We sent the most cards to people in Maryland, with Washington and Massachusetts coming in with a tie for second.

Anyway... we hope everyone loves them, I know I did! I had to make 8 different choices for Tyler to help me choose from, and amazingly we both had the same favorite.

And we have absolutely loved all of the cards we have received so far from our family and friends. It makes opening the mailbox not so scary... oh right the credit card bills from holiday shopping don't come until next month when the Christmas cards stop. Hmmm something to think about...

Well Happy Friday!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

My favorite holiday is finally here! It's Christmas time! So it has taken me longer than usual to get in the Christmas spirit, the weather in Baltimore has been insane. Sixty degree temps in December, I simply cannot take it! It is finally in the fiftys which is a bit better for this winter loving gal, but I think that my hopes and dreams of a white Christmas have been shot. Anywho... I guess that the warm weather was a blessing in disguise as Tyler and I went to chop down a Christmas tree. This is not a fun task when it is freezing out, however, I was not in the mood for the hot apple cider this year as in years past. We got a beauty though!

 We went to the same tree farm we go to every year, and tried to find a Douglass Fir, which is what we get every year, but changed it up and got a Fraiser Fir instead. Tyler graciously cut the tree while I snapped pictures!

Here is the nine feet of glourious tree in our living room! I love having high ceilings!

 

 And here she is with all of the lights and ornaments! We had lots of new ornaments this year after all of our travels this summer, so it was fun to think about all of our trips! For those of you who don't know, Ty and I get an ornament from each place we visit as a souvenir.

 

And no presents under the tree yet, but a silly little Corgi who thinks that the tree skirt is his new dog bed.

We hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far, and we cannot wait to spend some time with our family and friends in the next few weeks celebrating!

A Holiday Treat

Every year my office has a potluck holiday party. For some this may be an annoyance, but I find it to be a time when I can be creative and bake or cook, which I love to do. In the past I have taken Pillsbury crescent rolls and made them into a wreath and a Christmas tree with veggie dip on top. Both turned out great and were a big hit. This year I went with a dessert, and it turned out pretty good, so I wanted to share! 

It's a Santa hat brownie bite!!

So these were really simple. I took one box of my favorite brownie mix. Made it in a bite-size muffin pan. Then took them out and let them cool. Once cool I used some white icing to secure a strawberry on the brownie bite, I had cut the top off of the strawberry to make it flat. Finally, I piped some white icing around the bottom of the strawberry and placed a dot on top.


They were super simple, and I think that they turned out super cute too! Tyler was my taste-tester and said that they were delicious. We will see how everyone likes them tomorrow!

One box of brownie mix made 2 dozen brownie bites.

Thanksgiving Round Two

After spending Thanksgiving Day at the Ravens game, we still needed to celebrate with the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with family and friends, so we did... but on Saturday. I got up bright and early Saturday morning and headed up to Mama Rogers's house to help create a delicious Thanksgiving feast!

When I got there I found that the pies were already made and waiting for us to dig in. But it was alright because there was plenty of other things to do to get ready. We set the table and decorated, and got out all of the plates and silverware. We were ready for the twelve people that were coming to eat! 

There were four dogs who were there too! Thanks to my parents for letting us bring our little monsters to the feast. So while we waited for the turkey to finish cooking and the right time to start the sides, I played outside with the dogs, which helps with my sleep at night I have to say. I can't believe that Jack is five and Oliver is seven and they have so much energy. But enough of that... that can be for another post. Jack kindly posed for a picture in the yard, but Oliver was not as cooperative, so here he is!

Well dinner was ready around six, and we all sat down to a feast. Turkey and all of the trimmings! It was absolutely delicious, and I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only once a year! I think that whoever has to cook probably appreciates that fact though! So after eating we watched some football and headed home with two sleepy pups and full bellies! 

Thanks as always to Mama Rogers for being the hostess with the mostess! Dinner was amazing and can't wait until the next one!!

Marathon Madness

This post is long overdue, but it HAS to be done. Last month, we cheered on one of my closest friends as she ran AND completed the Baltimore marathon. While running 26.2 miles is in no way easy, I have heard that the Baltimore one is one of the toughest with all the hills. Thankfully it was a beautiful day, not too hot or cold, which hopefully helped. And while I could never imagine running 26.2 miles in 4 hours, I worked really hard with the help of another friend to make some signs and get up nice and early to be out there cheering. Congrats to Soph on completing her first marathon!

Here are all the girls bright and early at the starting line. We didn't get to see Soph start, but we left from here to go and find her. And here were some of our signs... the pink says: "getting up early to make this sign wasn't easy either" and the orange says: "We love our marathon running best friend"

On to our second stop! We parked the car and walked to miles 10-12 to hold up signs and cheer on the runners. We finally got to see Sophia and she was going strong and still smiling.

And at our last stop we saw Sophia again... right before the finish line!! That's her in the bright yellow tank top! It was so awesome to see her make it to the finish.

And then we found her in the crowd with her finishers medal and all she wanted was a beer, so we helped her out!

Soph with her training partner Meg who also finished the marathon. Meg actually finished under 3 hours and 20 minutes so she qualified for the Boston Marathon. And Soph with her roommate Jess who also came to cheer.

Best friends since high school! At the finish line with balloons, beers and the signs. So proud!

Congrats again to Sophia on finishing the marathon, it was quite the feat! Time to start training for the next one!

A Very Ravens Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Instead of heading to see family and sit around the dinner table, we headed out with thousands of other Ravens fans for a tailgate and some NFL football. We had a delicious turkey dinner thanks to the guys of the Tailgate Taskforce and headed to the game to watch the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers... which helped in the trash talk with my college roommate. A different Thanksgiving, and a lot of fun!!

Our hosts for Thanksgiving Dinner... Tailgate Taskforce. They had four turkeys and all of the trimmings!



Commemorative cups from the day

Everyone at dinner! Even though we were outside we were with my mom and a few of our good friends along with all of the Ravens fans!

Our seats to watch the Ravens win!

And a new Ravens tradition... at every game, the fans sing along with this White Stripes song. It is so cool to hear everyone yelling and getting into it, and getting energized for the home team!

To everyone, near and far... we hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever and however you may have celebrated! All of our love!