Puzzle

Puzzle, originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

This puzzle is exactly as difficult as it looks. Thanks for nothin Kratzsch's!

Famous

My big sister is famous, which means I'm awesome! Everyone follow?

See here is Ms. Hollie Larkey being my big sister in my sorority:

















Here she is being famous in a national print campaign in Real Simple:















Seeing as how I was also published in Real Simple in their "Your Words" section, I think we have to assume it runs in the family.

Christmas in Kentucky 2007

Christmas in Kentucky 2007, originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

We had a very happy holiday. We drove straight through to Kentucky Friday night. Saturday was Allen family Christmas which went swimmingly if you don't count the dog fight and the small fire. ;) We had Skidmore Christmas on Sunday and chilled out on Christmas Eve. Santa was good to us on Christmas morning. I got my face scrubber from Oprah's favorite things list and comfy heels and a non-iron shirt for work (both essentials I assure you). Nicholas got several cookbooks and a new fishing rod he is very excited about. We drove all the way home on Wednesday and got home around 1am.

We had a great visit, yummy food, awesome presents, and safe travel. Can't ask for much more I suppose. :)

Visitin'

Next Day Brunch
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

The thing I miss most about home is visitin'. Luckily, there was lots of visitin' when I was home recently for the wedding tour of Kentucky. Visitin' is when you come over to for a breakfast and stay till 3:30 (like we did at the Staffords) or when you go over to someone's house only to hang out and enjoy their company (like we did with Timily). When I'm home in Paducah, my grandmother often comes over to visit and the visitin' is so good, we end up "playin' all day long" as my mother says.

Of course, some of my best visitin' is always done with my beloved friend Annie and her husband Kyle. When the four of us get together, we have such a blast it is hard to put into words. Now, when it comes right down to it, Kyle and Nicholas are amateurs and Annie and I can stay up talking late into the night. If I had to make a list of my favorite people to visit with, Annie would definitely be in the top 3. :)

Wedding Duty Complete

Erin's Wedding
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

So, my first (and last) foray into wedding planning is now complete. Erin and Seth got married in a beautiful and pretty much mishap free ceremony on Friday night. Then, we celebrated the happy event at Glassworks, where we danced our booties off all night long.

Erin looked absolutely gorgeous and held up admirably despite a pretty strong case of nerves. Everyone else also held up well considering I was bossing anyone within a 6 foot radius to any number of tasks that popped into my head. I was extremely happy with how the reception site turned out and I think all my added touches (snowflake ornaments, adding machine grooms cake, Golden Girls serenade) were a big hit.

The most important thing is one of my best friends in the world married the man she loves and I couldn't be happier for her. :)

One down one to go

Lauren's Wedding
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Last night my maid-of-honor Lauren Johnston wed her longtime boyfriend Clay Wallace. The wedding was really beautiful and the reception was a blast. I think it is an under appreciated joy in life to dance your booty off with your high school friends AND their parents (including your own). ;)

Christmas in New York

We had a fantastic time in New York this weekend. We got in later Friday evening and had a great dinner with our friends Laura and Dan. We were able to stay in my friend Lindsey's apartment, since her and her fiancé recently bought a country home in Connecticut. Her apartment was absolutely adorable and very conveniently located.

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. The early wake-up was totally worth it because we walked right onto the ice (after a hefty price tag) and skated our hearts away. It was so fun and I couldn't believe I was actually on the famous rink! Afterwards, we walked up Fifth Avenue and checked out all the festive windows while doing a little shopping.

We met my good friend Dave for lunch and then he graciously agreed to go over to Rockefeller with us to help us take our Christmas card picture. We did some more shopping and had delicious pizza for dinner. Then we met back up with Dave to go see an improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade.


On Sunday, we woke up to SNOW! Y'all I love Christmas in New York. The only thing I love more is snow at Christmas. Combining the two about make my head explode. I kept saying, "I can't believe it snowed!" We went over to Central Park to check it out and went to the Natural History Museum to see their origami tree, which was really beautiful.

Nicholas met some high school friends for dim sum, while I went to my friend Laura's wedding shower at Lady Mendl's. The place was absolutely gorgeous and we had like a six course, completely mind-blowing tea. A wonderful time was had by all.

Nicholas and I met back up later that evening for a lovely dinner at this darling cafe on St. Marks Place. We then took our happy little butts to Penn Station to catch our train home! It really was a completely wonderful weekend.