A Peary Nice Gift Indeed

So as I have mentioned several times before, I love to bake. My family and friends know this, and apparently Santa got the memo as well because on Christmas morning I opened the Holy Grail of baking gifts...


Not sure why my picture is so small but insert "Hallelujah" here.

 That's right folks, a KitchenAid Mixer.

It is "Pear Green". It came with a cookbook. Its shiny. Its new. I am so excited about it I can't even form a well-constructed sentence. People at work have been asking me how my Christmas was and I respond with "I got a KitchenAid mixer!!"; most of the women know what this means, the men look confused and walk away but I don't care because I am now a lean [or maybe not so lean], mean, green baking machine. It makes me so happy to look at it when I get home and I am currently trying to decide what the inaugural recipe should be; I am open to suggestions!

I will write more soon about Atlanta's White Christmas but just had to quickly share my KitchenAid joy. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, thanks for reading!

Mary

So Flashy

I was in desperate need of a new digital camera and lucky for me Blair's birthday present has definitely filled that void so here is a glimpse of life lately. Thanks CoolPix!


Tacky Christmas Party. Clearly.



Wofford vs. Georgia Southern Play-Off Game



The Yellow House



Wofford girls "Secret Santa"; Martha hated her present...Not. Please note the outstretched arms to feel the scarf.

Red velvet cake ball snowmen. That's right. Meagan is the world's best/most thoughtful baker; their hats had each of our initials on them. A-maz-ing.



Blair is a great gift giver and always does his research and I am sure this is a gift that will get a lot of use over the holidays (sorry family!). Thanks for reading!

Mary

A Slice of Humble Pie

After sharing this story with a friend she told me I just had to post about it as she found it highly entertaining so here it is:

Like I said in a previous post, the week of the Wofford-Georgia Southern play-off game, the Wofford crowd at the office was electronically abuzz with excitement about the game. I felt like I had made it "in" with my fellow Terriers; especially since some of them laughed at my jokes and enjoyed the links that I sent them, etc. Anyway, Thursday rolls around and one of the brokers sends an e-mail to everyone saying that we should all wear our Wofford spirit wear to work on Friday since the dress code is casual. Without my knowledge he has also sent an e-mail to the other Wofford alumni saying that it would be really funny if only I sported the black and gold on Friday...

Friday morning: I am decked out. I am wearing black boots, tights, a black and white skirt, gold sweater, and I may or may not also be wearing the terrier earrings (that's right) that I managed to acquire at some point. I cruise into the parking garage, eager to see what everyone else is wearing, bee-bop (practically jump) into this broker's office and very enthusiastically say "Gooo Terriers!". Well, my excitement quickly diminishes as my face turns every shade of red and my shoulders slump as I realize he is very obviously not wearing anything remotely close to Wofford, black, gold, or collegiate sports in general. He is bowled over with laughter as he buzzes the other two Wofford brokers on the phone saying, "You  guys have got to see this, she really went all out!"

Cool.

I might as well have shown up in this.

So I am standing in his office, on the brink of embarrassed tears as one of the brokers points out that even the buckles on my boots are gold. I am now thinking that I have clearly not made it in with the Wofford work crowd and wander back to my desk to lick my wounds. They all eventually add a Wofford sweater or sweater vest to their casual Friday work-wear but I still definitely won the award for most spirited. They now like to e-mail me whenever Wofford has a basketball game, glee club concert, one even e-mailed me during exam week telling me I should wear my earrings all week in support. Hahaha...

So yes, the joke continues but I prefer to now think that they would only tease me if they liked me. At least that is the thought that keeps me from crying at my desk. I hope everyone is getting excited about Christmas and thanks for reading!

Mary

Christmas & Wedding Bells

One thing I have learned about Christmas decorating over the past few years is that people have very different kinds of Christmas trees. One of my mom's good friends actually has several Christmas trees in the home that she shares with her husband and their two sons; one has all white lights and white/gold ornaments, one has only red and green, and then there is the "Kid Tree" with all of the homemade ornaments. Well in my house growing up we only had one tree and it was definitely a "Kid Tree". Looking back it was very sweet of my parents to decorate our tree with ornaments that Laura and I made at school. I am sure Laura and I thought that these were priceless pieces of art when they are really just, well, not. One of these "ornaments" is actually a shoe that I wore in preschool that is spray painted gold. A tad bit odd but I think it's one of my mom's favorites.

Anyway, I told you all that so you might better understand how truly special the tree at the little yellow house is this year. One of my roommate's parents are doing renovations on their home and as it has become a construction zone they allowed us to borrow their Christmas ornaments and decorations. Her father came over last week and set up our tree and all of the roommates hung the ornaments and lights on it this past Tuesday as we listened to Christmas music. Our tree now has lots of presents under it although I am still waiting for the pony from my Secret Santa to arrive (Hint hint, Marsha). I am thrilled that Christmas has come out full force in the little yellow house this year with lights, ornaments, garland, and of course baking (It is what our house does best after all).

Garland: Compliments of Sam. Poor decorating skills: Yours truly.

PRESENTS! 

THE tree. Poor photography skills also compliments of me.

On a slightly different but still merry/marry note I would like to congratulate my friends Anna and Ashley on their recent engagements! Ashley's fiance Michael proposed to her this past Saturday and Anna and her fiance Steven were engaged Wednesday night! They are all wonderful matches for each other and my friends and I are bubbling over with excitement for both of them; it looks like it really is the most wonderful time of the year, thanks for reading!

Mary

Dear Old Wofford, Hail!

Ok, so I know I have already gone on and on...and on about how much I love Wofford but it turns out that our little school's football team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the play-offs, no big deal. My fellow Terriers at the office have been sending e-mails back and forth to each other all week long. We are all going to the game and one of us may have even made up a creative poem about the Georgia Southern team we will face on Saturday at 2:00 in Gibbs Stadium (It is not appropriate to share, although the rhyming is impressive).

Thank you Google Images.

My roommates however, are not thrilled about the Wofford game as our house is hosting a "Tacky Christmas Party" on Saturday that I will be missing. I have tried comparing Saturday's game in Spartanburg to their trip to Atlanta this past weekend to watch the Gamecocks play and I know that may seem like an unfair comparison but it very exciting for our school and again I think that the amount of alumni that return for events like this is really a testament to how special this place is for so many.


How intimidating, I know.



So, I know now you will all be rushing to your televisions this Saturday to watch the Terriers play while I will be [most likely] freezing in Sparkle City as our small, but mighty football team takes the field. Thanks for reading!

Mary

Thing Two is 21!!!

Today is my sister's birthday!!!

 I love that her birthday is so close to Christmas because she is so much fun to shop for and I like being able to give her her presents right away. I typically consider myself a pretty good gift-giver (not to brag or anything) and love it when I feel like I have found just the prefect present for someone. Laura has been wearing the same pair of starfish earrings for years now and loves all things turquoise so when I spotted a pair of Stella & Dot turquoise, starfish earrings, I thought to myself, "Self, this is the perfect gift for Laura and you are the greatest sister ever". So imagine my satisfaction when I gave Laura the earrings over Thanksgiving and she wore them all weekend. And no, I refuse to believe that she wore them just so she would not hurt my feelings.

So from Thing 1 to Thing 2 (the nicknames Dad gave us when we were kids); I hope you have the happiest of birthdays and I cannot wait to see you at Christmas...mainly because your present is the bomb.com. Love you to the moon and back.


Clearly I am the better-looking one on the left.

Thanks for reading!

Mary

[Victoria's] Secret Dream

So in case for whatever reason you have happened too stumble across this blog and have never met me in person you should know that I am about 5'4 and not exactly all skin and bones. However, despite this fact my secret dream reemerges this time every year and that is...

To be in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.


Look at me go.

 So yes, I realize this a bit odd coming from someone's whose dream career is working at a history museum but I love the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I don't know if it's the music or the wings or what but if I was 6 foot-something feet tall and looked like a bean pole I would be all about it [sorry Dad]. My roommates and I eagerly huddled around our television on Tuesday as we picked out our favorite girls, "costumes", and sang along with Katy Perry. I didn't hate it. Oh to dream...Thanks for reading!

Mary