Thanksgiving!

I know I'm a little late to be reporting on Thanksgiving... Now Christmas is what's on everyone's mind!

Brian and I had a fantastic, fun trip out to Massachusetts and Vermont for Thanksgiving. After being picked up at the airport by two of Brian's uncles, and a few road soda's later, we found ourselves dancing until 3am with Brian's Aunt Linda & Uncle John--good times! Not so great of a good time the next morning however... ;)

Thanksgiving dinner was, of course, delicious and I feel head-over-heels in love with the caramelized pearl onions that were made and I'm hoping Brian will recreate next year at my family's Thanksgiving. After dinner we, Brian's parents and sister, as well as his sister's boyfriend headed up to Vermont for the remainder of the long weekend. When the rest of the family arrived the next day we did what every hot-blooded American family would do--we had a second Thanksgiving, and it was glorious!

There of course was also the cutting of the giant Christmas tree, gluttony in many forms, football, hot tubbing, some Words with Friends battles and seeing Brian's pals who were also around for the holiday. Great time all around!

Exciting Week!

First off, today is someone's (Brian's) 31st birthday, so we are celebrating by going out dinner and opening a few presents--I can't wait for him to open up his gift(s)! :)

Then tomorrow we are off to the East Coast for Thanksgiving! Have a great one everybody!!

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

Oh, hi again.

Brian and I had an awesome weekend filled with friends, children of friends and football! We had the opportunity to watch little Alex for a while on Saturday and it was a lot of fun--boy, is he cute! And (sorry Shannon) I think about ready to start walking... although seeing as my knowledge of babies is quite limited, perhaps I am dead wrong.

After that we hit up "Spamalot" at the Morrison Center here in town--awesome. I have been a fan of the movie for many years but Brian had never seen it before, so I think it probably would've been more fun for him if he had. We still had a great time, but the play "Spamalot" is really only the highlights of the movie "Spamalot" so a plot was nary to be found...

On Sunday we hosted a mini-Thanksgiving at our house as we had received a free turkey from Brian's work and thought we should put it to good use! We had a blast eating all the delicious sides everyone provided, as well as watching all the kids present play--there were about five in all (Ranging from 5 mos. to 4 years) and things got a little crazy at times! I didn't realize just how high those little guys could reach...

Well, on to the next weekend! But first, Sippin' in the City tonight with Shannon! :)

The Life of Brian.

We had a nice, quiet weekend at home which was especially relaxing after the past few (awesome) ones. Literally, Friday consisted of us eating pizza, drinking wine and watching "Hall Pass." Heaven.

Things here are going okay--Brian and I are trying to be social and do a bunch of things (in fact, leading one of his co-workers to say last week "wow, you guys sure are a social couple!" Not really though, we just aren't lame) but the main problem is, we seem to be doing most of them with just each other! :) Not all the time or anything, we do have some friends here thank you very much, but we are definitely missing our East Coast pals and all their mid-week, casual festivities and hang out sessions. Especially Brian, after all the Patriots games he's had to watch by himself or with only me as company (read: someone who really doesn't care but is trying to be a nice wife).

But I am excited for a few Happy Hour's this week--those are always a good time! Again, except for Brian, who will now just eat yogurt for dinner for the next two nights. Sorry, hubs!

San Francisco--a real treat (get it?)!

Sorry for the delay in posting--things have been pretty busy in my little world and that didn't leave much time for blogging. Last Tuesday I flew into San Francisco (well, Oakland technically) to be picked up by Mush, and taken over to her and her husband Brian's place for some delicious fajitas made by the man himself--you can read about it here. We had a great time, and I'm pretty sure I drank most of their bottle of Rose... weird.

Both Wednesday and Thursday consisted of meetings in San Jose for work, as well as some stops at a few of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco of course. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Maru Sushi by Union Square, be sure to order the Popeye and the Jalapeno Bomb... you are welcome in advance. The other restaurant I love is Nopalito--great, upscale Mexican food in a relaxed environment. On a side note, we discovered a little gem of a pizza place in San Jose called Pizza Bocca Lupo in San Pedro Market if you are ever in the area.

On Friday, Brian flew in and we ate at another of my favorite Mexican places Don Pisto's (are you sensing a theme here?) with my co-worker--fantastico! After that we headed to AT&T Park to catch the premiere of TOTEM in San Francisco--the show was AMAZING and since I hadn't seen it since February, totally re-inspiring for my work inspirations. Brian loved the show as well, his favorite so far! After the show we hit up a few bars and then lay our little heads down for rest... around 3 a.m.!

The next day consisted of a work activity in the morning, and then we hit up ThirstyBear Brewing Co. inbetween the nighttime event we also had scheduled. The Halloween event, held at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, was amazing and both Brian and I had a great time. Of course afterwards we hit up a local brewpub, Social, which Brian really enjoyed (and me too!).

Sunday morning was spent exploring Alcatraz, which we both really liked. Neither of us had been there since we were kids and to be honest I really didn't remember much at all! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone--really insightful of the island's past.

Last but not lease, we HAD to hit up my number one Mexican stop, La Taqueria, before Brian could leave on Sunday (I was a few hours later). I had talked up the carnitas burrito quite a bit so I was happy when Brian said it lived up to all his expectations! :)

Old Pen

This past weekend out friends Sarah & Brian were in town visiting, and we had a fantastic time. One of the highlights was a tour of the Old Penitentiary, which was used from the late 1800s to the mid-1970s, when a riot and general condemnation forced its closure.

We really enjoyed the guided tour and learning about all the failed attempt escapes--it seems the criminals really never put so much thought into follow-through, many inmates got through one security barrier but forgot about the next 2-3 and I think there were only two successful escapes in the jail's history. Amazing!

It made me really excited for our tour this next weekend of one of the country's most storied jails--Alcatraz!

Things I'm loving right now.

1. "Boardwalk Empire" on HBO.

2. My Tassimo Brewbot... Chai Tea Lattes every morning? Don't mind if I do!

3. Southwest Airlines--they've just been rocking my world lately with their customer-friendly policies.

4. Our new couch.

5. BodyJam class at the gym--imagine eight 25-45-year-old women dancing to hip-hop. Amazeballs.

6. ... to piggyback off number 5, only having a 4-5 minute walk to the YMCA for classes is also pretty rad.

7. Brian's cooking--I was graced with beer can chicken and a delish sweet potato salad on Saturday, and braised shortribs with herbed mashed potatoes on Sunday. I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing cook!

8. The new fans on my MacBook.

9. This commercial.

10. Frozen M&M's.

Diabetic pumpkin

Oh this made me giggle today... maybe I'll have to do this? It is pretty scary... ;)

American Woman

Pretty much nothing in my world makes me sadder than the current state of the American woman, and young girls who will join those ranks soon. I was recently pointed toward a video that I think does a great job of showing the facts of what is going on right now in America when it comes to the female gender.

I am not too proud to admit that there are certain shows shown here that I do watch for fun, but I am old enough to understand that that is not how I need to act in order to succeed in this world--and that makes me in the minority of their viewers.

The video makes a good point--men and women do not have the predisposition for misogyny; the media and mainly family members (since these patterns are taught so early) account for this change in behavior/attitude. I am lucky to have come from a family where I was taught that I could be whatever I wanted to be, and had daily reinforcement of how smart and beautiful (which is a whole other subject altogether!) I was. I am also lucky to be married to a man that appreciates my intelligence and knows that, most likely, I will always work and have little interest in becoming a stay-at-home mom. I would like to be clear that this does not mean I think anything less of people who do choose that route, it is just a matter of personal preference. Plus, I haven't had a kid yet, so who knows! ;)

One thing Brian and I have had a conversation about in regards to all this is that he will sometimes make "funny" jokes about women doing (or rather, not being able to do) math or become president or other things that the media has deemed more male-appropriate. I know he means it totally as a joke, and I usually laugh, but I have said to him (and I mean it) that the second we have a child (boy OR girl) those have to stop completely. I may know it's a joke, but a young child doesn't.

Let's be frank though--I was always on a bit of a different wave-length than my teenage counterparts. When they were all reading Cosmo, I used to curl up with the newest copy of Biography magazine, and read real-life stories and interviews many times from or about woman growing up in an era where a powerful woman's worth wasn't built around how she looked or what size dress she wore.

Ladies Night

I am so excited for a little 'ladies time' tomorrow night! My friend Shannon's hubby is out of the country so it was the perfect time for a ladies sleepover.

I love being able to make treats for nights like this--it's a great opportunity to remake successful recipes, as well as try new fun ones! My buddy Susie made these delish tortellini caprese skewers for a ladies night back in New Hampshire and I recreated them today. They are beautiful!

I am also planning on making this pumpkin dump cake tomorrow, and am pretty pumped about it. We'll see how the ladies feel about it tomorrow. ;)

On a side note, I am absolutely loving Pinterest, as it gives me a great place online to post all the recipes I want to try. I have used it a few times this week to get back to recipes--no more searching the web or your email to find that recipe, amazing! You have to be invited to Pinterest (kinda weird), so let me know if anyone out there wants an invite, it is pretty cool (you also get to see what your friends are pinning!).

Holiday Travel

Because our family is spread out (just like 3K miles though), we have to start planning for the holidays pretty far in advance. I am so excited for the holidays this year as we are going to be spending Thanksgiving in Vermont/Mass, and Christmas in Oregon!

Up until last night, we were scheduled to fly into the Northeast (I say this because we usually fly into Albany, NY to get to Bennington) on Thanksgiving night, and head out on Monday. This meant we would be missing the large Lenkowski family Thanksgiving celebration in Northampton, Mass. No bueno. But the cost difference was insane, and Southwest didn't even offer any flights on Weds.

Cut to last night. Brian decided to start poking around, and realized that we could actually fly into Bradley (Hartford, Conn.) on Wednesday for a minimal amount of miles. And thanks to his United premiere status (NBD) we would get two free bags! So, I called Southwest to cancel the first leg of our trip (I love you Southwest, no change/cancel fees is the BEST), and Brian booked us in for a Wednesday evening arrival. This means we now to get see Brian's grandmother and all his aunts and uncles, in addition to his immediate family over the rest of the weekend. Huzzah!

We only wish we had learned of this news a few weeks earlier before we booked our Christmas flight to Portland on Alaska Air, then we could have used that Southwest credit that expires in February 2012 (long story) for that leg. But, I am pretty excited about this because now we get to go to Vegas in January to celebrate the nuptials of Matt Huntington! :)

Sore.

I am definitely getting older. I'm not saying I'm old (unless you consider 29 old?), but my body is not doing what it once did, that much is certain.

I went to PiYo (pilates/yoga) last night at the Y and thought I might die. I've never been particularly flexible but this was kinda ridiculous. Yoga always looks like it would be easy ("oh, it's just stretching" you might say to yourself), no. Not at all. It is definitely one of the hardest workouts there is, as evidenced by the intense core work and pain in all my joints.

Well, BodyPump (weight lifting) is tonight--wish me luck!

Weekend of deals.

This weekend was spent attempting to get our house into at least acceptable living conditions. While we succeeded in a few rooms, there is still a lot more to do--I have a feeling next weekend will be spent doing much of the same thing. We have visitors coming the next weekend (the Cutsevichs'!) so that gives us a good deadline to get everything in order.

But we did take a little time off to score some ridiculous deals this weekend. Brian and I decided we needed to get some bikes since we are pretty close to downtown and the Hyde Park area we love so next spring/summer we can take to the town! At first I thought a cruiser would be nice, but Brian talked me into a regular hill-friendly bike--nothing crazy, just something that could potentially get us to the Vealitzeks'--although I fear I will never make it up the hill to their house on any bike that isn't actually a car.

We decided $100 was our limit (per bike) so we took to Craigslist. There were a few bikes I was interested in, but a little purple number posted for $95 caught my eye. We went out to visit the bike in Star, Idaho (WAY further out than Brian or I expected), luckily I liked the bike and the lady sold it to us for $80, which is good since we probably spent the $15 difference in gas to get out there (however, we did also purchase our two pumpkins and 15 gourds out in Star for $10 total!). I felt great about this buy as it had only been ridden a few times and when we saw similar bikes at Wal-Mart later they were $150+.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, that is where Brian got his bike--he reached out to a few people on Craigslist but no one got back to him so we headed over to check out a bike he had seen online for $90. He tried another bike when we got there that was a little bit more expensive but darn his long body, his knees were hitting his arm as he peddled around the bike area. He then tried the bike we had come to see and it was perfect! Boom--we came in under-budget! :)

In addition to the bikes and pumpkins, we also found Brian a kick-ass pair of cowboy boots! I had been to an estate sale in Boise on Friday for my Etsy shop (found a bitchin' old military coat for $20!), and ran across a few pairs of cowboy boots. They were listed at $30 and $40/pair. When we went back Saturday afternoon (on our way back from Star) we stopped in and they were still there! Brian tried them on and one pair fit fine, although it did cause him to say "I feel like I'm wearing high heels." This was the $30 pair, so we went out to the ladies running the sale and I offered them $20 for the boots and the other five things we had come across on our way out of the house (new tarp, work gloves, etc.)--they said yes! Score. On a side note, I had left my favorite travel mug there the day before and they still had it. :)

Wow, that was quite the long post about bikes and cowboy boots. But you know the feeling when you score a good deal, electrifying! ;)

Fall. Glorious Fall.

Oh, hello again.

So last night was a little mini fall festival in our house. I baked up some pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and made some cheddar potato soup (don't get too impressed with that one--it's a mix). Suffice to say, the house smelled glorious when Brian got home from work.

The sudden change in weather here is what brought about this urge to bake and eat/drink warm things. I had my first hot tea of the season this morning! The pumpkin bread came on a whim at about 5pm last night. I had opened a can of pumpkin the other day (I was convinced out new "no-edge" can opener was broken so I tried opening a few things... turns out I was just doing it wrong) and while the cats had enjoyed a small amount of it, it needed to be used. I found a few recipes online for a "healthy" pumpkin bread, and the one below was the only one where I already had all the ingredients at the house--winner! I of course added a bit of my own flair (the chocolate chips), and it turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe

From Good Housekeeping

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt (*I actually just used vanilla yogurt and cut out the vanilla extract below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• *Handful of chocolate chips :)

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" metal loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, with wire whisk, combine brown sugar and egg whites. Add pumpkin, oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract; stir to combine.
3. In medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir until just combined.
4. Add chocolate chips at this point. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert pumpkin bread onto wire rack; cool completely.

Each slice (without choc chips) has about 140 calories, 4g fat and 25g carbs.

Baby Boy Stewart

Exciting news has come to the Stewart clan--my cousin Ian (well, technically his wife Katie) is having a baby boy!! The baby will be arriving around Valentine's Day and joining his big sister Hannah. I must say I'm pretty excited to know, for sure, that the Stewart name will live on.

Although I guess I can't say "for sure" just yet as maybe some day, a looooong time from now, Baby Boy Stewart (BBS) will do one of those combined names with his future wife? ;) I tried to convince Brian to do that--I mean seriously, how badass would the last name Stewkowski or Stewski be? (Lenart just doesn't have the same ring to it.) No dice.

Anyhoo, congrats to Ian, Katie & Hannah!

Etsy Shop

So a month or so ago, as I chatted with my friend Ingrid at Michelle's (amazing) wedding, she told me all about her little venture on the side--a shop on Etsy where she sells vintage clothes. This inspired me to do the same thing, but with housewares, as I just don't know enough about clothes to make that leap just yet. ;)

With that being said, Stewski's Vintage Finds was created! It's been really fun for me as it combines two of the things I love most--shopping and the satisfaction of a good sale (hence why I loved my days at Nordstrom so much!). Granted, I have only sold one item so far but hey, it's only been a few weeks, ok??

I don't plan on making it big with my shop, but some extra income is always good! Although as my sweet husband has pointed out, I'm still in the negative as of now... hopefully not for long though!

If you know of any lovers of all things vintage please be sure to send them my (and Ingrid's) way!

Boise... so far.

Dear Boise (with a "c" not a "z"),

So far you have been treating Brian and I very well. Between the few sprinkles and afternoon oppressive heats, your weather has been positively amazing and I have been especially enjoying the night-time strolling weather.

You have presented a downright cornucopia of events for us to attend--Oktoberfest, Food Truck Rally, Hyde Park Street Fair and, of course, the weekly AMAZING farmer's market you offer up. Especially now that we live within close walking distance of downtown, these events become even better... :)

Brian is really liking his new job and co-workers, so thank you for that--it was a hard decision to leave his previous job and all our New England friends and family (who we miss a ton!) so that helps for sure.

We can't wait for fall to really get in full swing--besides dodging Boise State fans (it's not a state!!) left and right!

So, thanks again for a great first month--we look forward to many more!

xoxo, The Lenkowski's

It's happening.

I swear. This time I really am going to keep on this. With the move, many people have wanted to get a glimpse into Brian and I 's life, so here it is. Hope you enjoy! :)