We chipped in our $20.99

We gave in and went shopping today, so if the economy continues to spiral downward, don't blame us.

Eye-opener

Often shyness is approached like a problem that needs to be overcome, but really - it is just a character trait - perhaps the opposite of being outgoing. Some people might think that being outgoing is preferable to being shy, but I disagree, the two personalities balance each other*. (That is the nice way to say: Just as a shy person might come across aloof, sometimes an out-going person just needs to be quiet. ;) )

Tessa is shy when we are in public and rarely leaves my side (rarely as in never). Despite my above opinion on the validity of a shy personality I sometimes get exasperated that she won't show her cute personality to more people. And sometimes I want to be able to walk without an extra 22 lbs clinging to me.

A few weekends ago we were at some friends house for breakfast and a bunch of kids were playing in the next room. Oh, Tessa wanted to go play with them, but she wouldn't go by herself, she wanted me to come, and being a party-pooper adult, wanted to be where I could chit-chat with the big kids. Later I was telling this story to Aaron and he simply said "Of course she wanted you to come. You are her best-friend."

I don't think he meant that so be so profound but it totally opened my eyes and made me even more appreciative of Tessa's sweet personality, and flattered that she wants me to be involved in all events of her life.

Emily's Helpful Marriage Tip

This will solve 0.5% of your marriage woes - you are on your own for the other 99.5%

Tip 1-A: Make sure your bedspread has a pattern with an easily recognizable center (I of course think pieced quilts work best for this). That way when you make the bed you know that each half of the bed has the exact same amount of covers.

Tip 1-B: Make sure you have a headboard with a easily recognizable center (combining this with a matching foot board works even better.) That way you know for sure that you are justified asking your partner to scoot over when they are hogging the bed! Of course this is always said in a loving manner.

Fait au Hasard

Sometimes I go to a store just to get some candy. (I know Aaron will have a comment or two about that fact alone.) Friday I went to the store solely to get ingredients to make the first FUDGE of the season! Mmmm!

(Aaron before you finish that eye roll you should be proud - I was also tempted to buy a roll of cookie dough and white chocolate covered Oreos and I RESISTED!!)

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.

While I was in the checkout line two adult women employees got in a fist fight.

Tessa Look-alike Meter

Because I definately needed to spend my time today doing this...

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Free family tree

November Colors

On Saturday I was heading to my office and got sidetracked for some time taking pictures of these leaves. Leaves on trees are fine...but I love newly fallen leaves. And don't even get me started on Japanese maple leaves (the pointy, bright red ones). I was busy crunching the yellow and brown leaves when I realized all the red mixed in. I love the variety of color.



On my walk home a few hours later all these leaves had been raked up. I'm glad I took the pictures when I did.

Desire

Friday night, after Tessa had gone to bed I was quite flattered when Aaron leaned over to me and whispered

"I want you.

Then he continued with

"To take a picture of this meal I made and post it on your blog.

Don't worry, I wasn't too disappointed because the meal he MADE was WONDERFUL.



P.S. Christin - The fish came from Haymarket, which means I actually remembered to ask Aaron to pick some stuff up! Yeah me!

October Fun - Part 4

The next visitor to stop by was a good friend from high school (pause for dramatic effect)

Christin! (Applause....)

The really great thing about having friends from the distant past (10+ years...geez!) is that you can just jump right into activities and conversations without that whole "So where did you grow up?" and "What did you major in at college" conversation. I was immediately able to ask her about...well...stuff...you know - gossipy girl stuff.

We had a lot of fun. This was her first visit to New England so I got to go back to the old-school tourist stops.

We had some fun times in Concord, MA.

Christin was such a fun playmate for Tessa! She was like a completely overqualified yet still amazing nanny! The three girls had a good time.

And the next day we traipsed around Boston.

Daddy bought this rose for Tessa...he haggled the seller down by 50% and the seller sealed the deal by "recognizing she was a girl..." as in "for this beautiful girl, half price..."

This is when Christin and I were papparazzied by Aaron - I feel violated.

You'll be surprised to find out that we went to Marblehead on Sunday (perhaps old age is making us predictable?)

Tessa has become incredibly fond of doing her own walking, particularly if she is holding the hands of people prone to swinging her on the count of three. While we were walking around Marblehead she was just tromping along and would not let me pick her up. When we got back to the car we discovered that she had been walking for who knows how long with her hat like this...can anyone see a trust metaphor in the making?

The big deal of the trip was HaLloWeEn (same day we went to Concord)...and we had so much fun.

Christin made a rocking Goldilocks costume...Aaron teased me for checking the stitching on the sleeves but they seriously looked 100% store bought!

Our pieced together bear costumes were a bit shabby in comparison but still super fun.

I know this post is about Chrisin's visit but I have to do a Tessa side note:
While we were getting dressed Tessa was cruising around the house laughing and chattering. She obviously had no idea what was going on but still got all caught up in the excitement. We trick or treated down the fancy street a few blocks from our house. Tessa and her entourage.

I am not kidding - this was one of the funnest nights I've had in a long time. Tessa got a LOT of candy for someone who weighs 22 lbs...but since we all helped we didn't feel guilty eating as much as we wanted.

Christin and I headed back out to walk around Salem (sans wallets unfortunately...with no abandoned cottages with porridge to be found). While Daddy was putting Tessa to bed she remembered the candy and be-bopped out to have a snack.

This is a picture of Mommy letting Tessa break the pretty strict family rule that "pretzels are NOT a snack!" Poor kid, I'm pretty sure all the adults were sneaking Snickers behind her back...wait, was it only me?

Hum...what other highlights of the trip might be of interest...

Oh yes - Christin got roped into making us dinner. I had meant for it to be a "cooking together" experience but she did all of it. However, it did fulfill one of my fantasies about participating in one of Christin's fabled dinner parties. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the 3 game hen roasting, bum up, in our oven. It was delish!

October Side Note - Major Clue #4

Here is a picture of the whole family in costume, under the glare of the always flattering fluorescent lights.

Just in case you don't get it Aaron is a baker and I am an oven.

Get it...Get it...?

Cause a lot of people at the party didn't.
"Oh I get it, he's a chef and you're a microwave..."

Of course you all have the benefit of 3 previous clues...and above average intelligence.

I was afraid that this costume/announcement would be bordering on tacky (and who knows, perhaps it was), but so many people didn't get it that it ended up being rather clever*.


*Since I'm now addicted to using asterisks you should check out this funny post about Halloween costumes on the blog "Stuff White People Like" ...