Ferris and Simone

So, the day has come. My new camera arrived. And I’m a happy girl.

I used my old camera to take a picture of my new one.

And here’s my new baby, a Nikon D60. Neal and I scored a huge deal on eBay. Everything’s new, and I got a boatload of stuff along with the camera. Two lenses, two cases, two tripods, lense filters, software, etc. Here’s a pic of the box of goodies.

I also took a shot of my old Nikon 35mm camera that my parents got me back in college for photography class.

OK, so now’s the time. You want to see the first shot I took with my D60? Do you? Do you?

Introducing….

Buddy! How cool is that pic?

It was dark when I got home so I had to use the flash, which was a bummer. I’m really looking forward to using natual light. But anyway, here’s some shots I took of the cats. I’m now completely head over heels in love with my camera. Neal should be jealous.

And here’s Neal and I.

So there you are. Oh, and click on each of the above photos. A box will pop up with a large size of the photo, and I think you can see the photo quality better that way.

I’m a little overwhelmed with all the options on this camera, but I’m really looking forward to having a blast taking photos. I’m sure I’ll make some fun stuff in the kitchen this weekend, just so I can practice food photography. And in honor of this day, I made a new blog category for “Photography.”

OK, I’m off to take 50 million more pics of the cats that I don’t need…

So, as promised, I have plenty of cat pictures to show you.

Friday, I got up early, put on the Christmas music, and started carrying up my boxes of Christmas decorations. I really love decorating for Christmas. But, I sort of forgot how difficult it is to decorate with the felines in my house.

First, I opened up my box of Byer’s Carolers. Lately, my parents have been getting these figurines for me each Christmas. I really love them, because they are handpainted and therefore, each are unique.

Apparently, the cats don’t care about the carolers. But they do care about the box they come in.

Needless to say, I’ll have to find a new box to store these guys now.

Then, I started putting the garland up on my staircase. The dangling, fake pine needles were just too much temptation for Ferris and Simone.

**Sigh**

So I have this little puppet/marionette nutcracker that I hang on a doorknob in our kitchen. It’s got this little string that you pull and the nutcrackers arms and legs go up. Ferris enjoyed making him dance. A lot.

Sense a trend here?

So, we decided to give the cats a new toy to keep them busy, and away from the Christmas decorations. We gave them these soft mice with bells at the end of their tails. Ferris kept doing this funny thing where he’d take the bell in his mouth, and then sway the toy back and forth. It was hilarious.

And fortunately, this kept him busy for a long time.

Simone had to investigate, and then guard the new decorations I put out on our “football table” (that’s what Neal calls it because it has these leather “laces” on the top).

So, Mom and I went shopping Saturday. Usually crowds in stores overwhelm me and give me anxiety attacks, but I didn’t really have an agenda, so I was able to just chill and enjoy the afternoon browsing sales. I did pick up Christmas presents for the cats, and I decided to be evil and buy a little shirt for Ferris. I was getting back at him for being such a shit while I was decorating (He chewed on my freakin’ window candles! What animal chews on glass bulbs!).

So Neal and I put it on him.

He HATED it. I couldn’t get a decent picture because he kept wriggling around, haha.

HAHA! How cute is that!

OK, and I forgot to put bread on the list when Neal went to the grocery store today. I have toast in the morning, so I kind of panicked, because I hate my routine messed with. I decided to improvise and make my own bread! I have been eyeing up this recipe for English Muffin Bread and decided to give it a shot. It was actually really easy, since I didn’t have to knead it at all.

The house smelled amazing while the loaves were cooking.

Yum! I’ll let you know how it tastes when I enjoy it tomorrow morning with my coffee!

I can’t believe tomorrow is December already. Neal and I are going to get our tree next weekend, so I’m going to try to think of some yummy treat to bake up while we string up the lights. It’s crazy to me to think that there are only three weekends until Christmas.

Oh, and exciting news. Neal and I ordered a DSLR camera, something we’ve both been wanting for a long time. It’s a little Christmas present to ourselves. I’m looking forward to taking great pictures for the blog. So stay tuned!

So, we had a really great holiday weekend. Lots of fun, food, family and friends. What more can you ask for?

Thanksgiving dinner at my parents was AMAZING, as always.

That’s Shiraz, checking out the table.

Here are my parents, making the gravy:

And funny story: My mom and aunt look a lot alike and are often mistaken for each other. They also dress alike. To the point of creepiness. It’s a joke that they always show up to holidays wearing the same color, similar outfit, etc. One year, I think they both showed up to Christmas with the same color blazer.

Well this year, my mom and aunt didn’t dress alike. But my aunt and I did. We had the exact same shirt, different color. It’s just ridiculous.

HAHA!

Anyway, here are my mom and I:

And my mom with Merlot:

It was such a wonderful and relaxing holiday.

Friday night, Neal and I went over to my brother’s house to hang out with his friends. Boy, was that a fun time. We mostly hung out in the basement, played some games, etc. I swear that the contents of all the yellow cups is just water. **wink**

I took pictures of my niece dogs, Meadow and Bella. Meadow is a German short-haired pointer.

And Bella is a Weimaraner.

And let me tell you, nothing tastes better than pizza at 1 a.m.

Neal and I had such a blast.

I have a bunch of pictures of the cats that I took this weekend that I’ll post later.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

So, we had a great Thanksgiving and I’ll post about that soon. First, I got to tell you about last night’s TEIV. I got out of work early (YAY!) and was home by 4 p.m. I then had plenty of time to do some more cleaning and prepare the food.

I baked my bacon cream cheese crescents and put them on the platter.

And also set out my pecan tarts and chocolate chip cookies that I had made a little while ago (I later had to take away the cookies after Neal confessed he might have already nibbled on some). And a note about the pecan tarts. The recipe I have linked to uses tart pans. I just put my dough in a mini cupcake pan. They worked out fine that way.

And I had Neal put the swedish meatballs in the crockpot earlier that day, so they were all ready to go. I just used a recipe on the back of the package.

I also made some oven-fried chicken nuggets. These things were sooooo easy and soooooo good. I forgot to take pictures of these right away and they went so fast, I only took a picture when there was one lonely nugget left.

And then our friends showed up and descended on the food.

Jess brought some really good (and healthy) chicken continental. Andi and Amanda brought chips and dip. Everything was so tasty. With some wine and beer, we had ourselves a really nice evening.

We had planned to play it by ear and maybe head out to a bar, but we were having so much fun chatting, that we just decided to stay in.

We actually had a BLAST playing Mad Gab, which Andi brought.

Here are Andi and Jason trying to sound out the phrase. Hilarious. Loafer’s Revenge? HAHA!

The cats loved hanging with new people and making new friends.

And then I made everyone take pictures. ‘Cause that’s what I do!

Neal and I had such a fun time with great friends. I think next year, TEV, we’ll have to really do it up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think we all have a lot to be thankful for.

Love,

Megan, Neal, Ferris and Simone