#51 Mail

Karen: 'Tis the season of Christmas cards!! If you send us a picture it gets hung around the door. Here are just a few of the many we have received. tim and I didn't sent Christmas cards out this year- the first in many years. But seeing as we are living with my parents right now, it just didn't seem necessary. Hopefully next year we will be out in our own place again and back on the holiday card wagon again! Merry Christmas!!!

Cassie: Sorry for the late post, but I was working hard to get my inbox down to 3 emails. Gotta love getting everything done before a long vacation. Its when you are really able to enjoy it.

#50 - Toiletries

Karen: this is one of a few drawers I have full of crap in the bathroom. there are a few essentials I use everyday but it's amazing how easily the rest of the stuff piles up so fast! Looks like I need to do some early "spring" cleaning!


Cassie: I am heading back home for Christmas and needed to pack up my toiletries. I have never been a product person and this is probably the most I have ever had.
PS: Can't wait to see you Karen :)

#49 Tree

Karen: Today I went into the city with my Mom and met my bro for a nice day. We went to see a show, did some shopping, had lunch, and of course "took a pictcha by the tree!". For those that don't know the reference I lead you to one of my favorite you tube videos of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTs5eKZ0i1E

My mother also made us go back and see the tree at night too, although it was a great idea because it is such a beautiful sight to see and definitely gets you into the holiday spirit!

Cassie: This year I was a little late on my tree shopping and wasn't sure that I was going to get one. I went to the Farmer's Market and planned on only getting some roping but was able to barter and get the roping and the tree for what I was willing to spend. I love my tiny tree! It's about 3 feet tall, but just the right size for the amount of ornaments we have. I have never been one to put filler ornaments only stuff that I have received as presents or in ornament exchanges and the first year we had a tree in NC we didn't have any ornaments. You might be able to make one of the original the Diet Pepsi Cans, they decorated our first tree. I had to keep one!

#48 - Lunch

Karen: I had a great lunch a couple weekends ago with some of my favorite girls. I have remained close to many of my sorority sisters and I love getting together with them. We were all in Boston together celebrating the baptism of one of the "newest" girls to the group. One of our sisters, Nicole, recently had a beautiful daughter that we are all very excited to include in future "lunches"!

Cassie: Jimmi John's is my go to lunch cheap, fast, and yummy. I will buy the person with the best comment a JJ sub!

#47 What I Am Reading

Karen: I don't so much "real" reading these days, but I love my magazines! now that I am home at my parent's house there are tons of magazines to choose from! I swear my mother subscribes to every publication out there. My favorites right now are Food and Wine, and Ladies' Home Journal. i have been finding some great holiday recipes! I made a pumpkin swirl cheesecake for Thanksgiving for the first time from a recipe I found in Woman's Day and it was a huge success!

Cassie: I am currently re-reading the Deathly Hallows. This one of the first times I am re-reading a book that I can't remember exactly what happened. I need someone to tell where to stop for part 1 of the movie :)

#46 - Babies

Karen: It was a baby filled weekend! On Friday a new nephew was born!!! Welcome Viggo John Thomsen. He makes #16!!! He's a beautiful BIG boy at 9 lbs. 5oz. and I love every inch of him!! I also christened my first godchild on Saturday. It is an honor to be a part of the life of the beautiful Alexis Jane Osgood. And I love that now we can consider ourselves actually "family" with Caitlin and Dave.

Cassie: Sorry for the delay in post, I was having a hard time with this topic. Thanks Karen for helping me think outside of the box. My middle name is 'Ruth' and after some weekend showing of The Goonies in grammar school, I heard the famous line by Chunk 'Baaabbbbyyy Ruth' quite often. Other nick names I have are Sassy Cassie and Cass-dawg, which I only let Karen call me. Sassy Cassie originated when I was about 3, but it still comes out every now and then ;)

#45 - Kitchen Sink

Karen: This is the kitchen sink at my parent's house where Tim and I are currently living. It is at the center of the action. Even though it feels like the kitchen is the smallest room in the house, we all end up being there together. I think it has some magnetic powers in the faucet!

Cassie: This is my brand new kitchen sink and new facuet. Its deeper than our previous sink so you can have plenty of dirty dishes but you won't see them! But I do like when its clean and empty :) Thanks ;)

#44 - My Purse

Karen: this is my Harvey's seatbelt bag. I first saw it in a little boutique in Seattle and fell in love with it right away....finally after a few gift giving holidays passed by, Tim got it for me for my last birthday. It's the perfect size to fit all my junk without getting too messy and unorganized. i can't wait to add to my Harvey's collection!!

Cassie: This is my purse and its been my purse for about a year. I have never been one to switch out purses often. I was thinking that its about time for a new one, but this one is pretty perfect. I like the messenger style, the color is great because its neutral but with a little sparkle, and it has great pockets. Pockets are key for a great purse, at least in my perspective :)

#43 - My Favorite Thing Right Now

Karen: My favorite thing about this time of year, other than the beautiful, crisp weather and the vivid colors of the leaves changing around us is the reintroduction of the pumpkin latte!!! It is a delicious refreshment that brightens my mood everyday! The only good thing about the end of the fall and the end of the pumpkin latte-is the start of the egg nog latte!!! I should've bought stock in Starbucks years ago!!

Cassie: Halloween Candy!!! I can't stop eating it. I really wish we would get some tricker treaters to help us out. I have already had 2 pieces since starting this blog post...maybe just one more :)

#42 - Local Culture

Karen: jersey has a lot of culture- these days people are confused as to whether that is fist pumping (Jersey Shore), joining the mafia (The Sopranos), or overly spending money you don't have (Real Housewives). My favorite part of local culture here, though, is the bagels! You haven't had a bagel unless you've had a hot, fresh bagel from NJ. There is nothing like them! And if you're feeling like some extra culture you need to get a taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on one of these delicious balls of boiled dough!

Cassie: Its North Carolina State Fair time its like nothing I have ever expeirenced in New Jeresey or while I was at Elon. I have truly embraced this time of year and love so many things about the fair. I like to go to every area of the fair and its really convientent that everything is in the same spot each year so you get to know your way around. I visit all of the animal tents, check out the art building which has the honey cotton candy, there was a 874 lb pumpkin that won a blue ribbon this year, and who doesn't like some pig racing.

#41 - Dog

Karen: This is Lucy. She is the BEST dog EVER!!! She loves everyone and is just a big snuggler. I never grew up with pets, but since Tim and I adopted her 4 and a half years ago, she has become a big part of this family. My parents cannot stop spoiling her as if she were a grandchild and she loves to see all her "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins"! Honestly, I can't imagine my life without her!

Cassie: This is Sophie and she is a pretty awesome pug. But lets be serious all pugs are awesome. I wasn't aware of how awesome these cute little buggers were until I met the Queen, the orig, Ruby. I am such a dog lover, maybe I will get one some day!

#40 Family

Karen: I have realized that "family" means much more than blood relatives. My friends have become so important to me that many of them I consider family as well. I learned this from my mother. I always grew up calling many people "aunt" and "uncle" who were not blood related and never thought anything of it. On Wednesday I was out with "family" for my Dad's birthday. These are all my parents best friends- all of which I have known for a very long time. They have all become "extended parents" for both myself and Tim. They were all there to celebrate our entire wedding weekend and have not missed a beat since. I am very blessed to have so many great people in my life!

Cassie: Well I am not living at home with my parents like Karen to take a new picture of the fam, but when I saw this topic I thought of this picture. I am pretty sure its the last family picture we have had, and that was last summer.

To Do: next time home take a family pic

#39 Friend

Karen: I almost chose the same picture as Cassie!! But Wednesday (humpday) was Amy's birthday. I was so happy to finally be able to celebrate her bday with her after so many years of living away from one another! We went to Astoria, Queens and had a fantastic dinner with lots of friends...we also drank lots of Prosecco (cause it was her champagne birthday!! (29 on the 29th))

Cassie: I couldn't just pick one this week :) I feel very lucky to have so many great close friends. When I tell people I keep in touch with my High School friends people are shocked. We try to get at least one big trip together in each year, and this year we were able to all be together at the US Open.

#38 State of the Closet

Karen: I am very proud that we have been able to clean out multiple closets in the house. This one is in our bedroom (that used to be my brother's room) We bought a cheap organizer to maximize the space. It's working somewhat but we still have some rearranging to do before everything has a final resting place :)

Cassie: You can kind of tell that this is my sweater shelf. I am ready for fall weather and getting cozy in my sweaters. After taking this picture I can see that I need to get a little more colorful like my spring cardi's. Thanks to my shopping fairy I got a great blue sweater from a cool shop in Philly this weekend :)

#37 My Front Door

Karen: Lots of home pictures the past few weeks....so this is where I am currently residing- back at "home" with my parents. It's nice to have a big house again and space to move around!


Cassie: I am so happy that this topic came up after our homeowner board finally allocated dollars to paint our house. The front door looks a lot better...wish my plant did for the photo op!

#36- My Favorite Spot at Home

Karen: This is the center of my house. From this point there is an entrance to the kitchen, the living room, stairs going up and stairs going down. This room used to be carpeted which made it the perfect spot to lay on the floor and be in the middle of all the action. My brother and I did this often and Lucy also used to love this spot. Now it is hardwood so not as comfortable but there is an area rug not to far away in the living room which we have all migrated to. I still love being there and hanging out with the fam :)

Cassie: I had a hard time deciding on my favorite spot at home. I determined that the living room is currently my favorite due to the massive amounts of US Open tennis I have been watching. We have several comfortable seating options and our 'coffee table' has a nice soft pillow top that its great to rest your feet.

#35 - My Bed

Karen: I was a little worried about this week's topic until my bed actually made it into the room. Tim and I have a king size bed and my parents were convinced it wouldn't be able to fit up the stairs. They were wrong!!! Little by little we are settling in to our new home in NJ. (I'm a little afraid for when Cassie heads back to NC and there's no escape from my parents!) Lucy loved this week's topic as well because I let her jump on the bed for a short moment to snap this picture- let's hope I didn't give her the wrong impression that she's actually allowed to do this a regular basis!


Cassie: I thought about changing the topic so I didn't have to take this picture this week. I am home visiting the fam in NJ. When I come home I bunk with my baby brother. I made my bed because I always do. Its something I started in HS, because I couldn't start my homework until my room was neat, it was distracting. I obviously don't still do homework in my bedroom(s), but it makes the room look nice. (When you read this make sure that you say the 'but it makes the room look nice' is a jerz accent)

#34 - Sunlight

Karen: We finally made it home to NJ and there has been no Sunshine! Since we came on Sunday there has been nothing but rain. This balloon however was waiting for us on the front porch to welcome us home. When I come and go from the house it's a reminder as to how much we were missed while we were gone and how happy everyone is to have us home.

Cassie: If you are checking this post after Sunday night, this is a new picture. I was not happy with my original picture, and this is how I wanted to picture sunlight when I saw this week's topic. My wish was granted on my drive home to New Jersey and I had to update the blog. I think it came out pretty good since I was driving and going about 70 MPH. When I think of sunglight I think of when the light is broken up from the cloud like this picture. My baby brother when he was really little said that this looks like God. I agree with him.

PS: I saw the balloon at Karen's house...its still there!

#33 Road Sign

Karen: I saw a lot of road signs on our 3300 mile trip home....but this one was by far my favorite! This was outside a little souvenir shop near Devil's Tower in Wyoming (you can see the tower in the background) This shop had lots of random stuff but the cashier looked at Tim and I like we were aliens when we asked if she had any fresh flowers. (we were going to a friend's house and didn't want to show up empty handed) The town was also FULL of Sturgis motorcyclists which made the trip interesting as well.

Cassie: Recently there have been several traffic circles put in around our neighborhood. Being from NJ they are not new to me, but people around here aren't used to them at all. Its actually kind of scary, people def aren't going 15 MPH as the sign says. The circle by the NC State Bell Tower is two lanes but the circle is so small there is no time to get over into the right lane in time before the turn. The city of Raleigh should have consulted me during the design :)

#32 Milk Carton

Karen: So not a traditional milk carton- but it has to come from the cows first! Tim and I are in Greybull, WY now in route across the country and there isn't much here other than cows!
On a side note- the trip is going great and we have seen some amazing sites...and there are many more to come!

Cassie: I know I am showing off that I recycle but I feel more green when we get milk from Mapleview Farms. It's old school in the glass bottle and the milk is really good. They sell their milk at the Teeter and the new ice cream shop Fresh. in north Raleigh. All this milk talk is putting me in the mood for some chocolate chip cookies :P

#31 My Favorite Store

Karen: My shopping days have been curbed lately due to lack of funds. We are trying to save as now Tim and I are both unemployed until we get to NJ and find new jobs. BUT I cannot get rid of my addiction to coffee and the wonderful espresso shops that surround me. Here is my absolute favorite: Wake Up Call. The building itself is what first drew me in. The whole place is a big old school phone booth. I just love cute and ingenious ideas. And the coffee and sales girls are great too!!!

Cassie: It was pretty strange to go to Target this evening and not buy anything. I did return some items. I am a bit of a guilty shopper. I am scared that Target might have me on a blacklist of crazy returners, but they haven't declined my credit card yet! You need anything? I am heading to Target to pick up a few things...

#30 Messy

Karen: OK so which mess do I choose to document? There are many surrounding me right now. I am not a messy person, but with less than 2 weeks before the big move back east we have started packing up many things and leaving some messy, yet organized piles around the apartment.

And, yes, as good as those oysters were they were a big mess for Cassie! Poor girl!

Cassie: Who would have thought that this topic would have caused me such stress. I am quite a neat person and I couldnt think of anything that was messy today. I make my bed before work each day, I put my dishes in the dishwasher after I use them, I put clothes away and clean my kitchen floor quite often because its white. I was able to see Karen this weekend in Seattle and we enjoyed, with others, about 6 dozen happy hour oysters at Elliot's. Needless to say it was messy after....

#29 Water

Karen: Here a few shots from my adventure yesterday afternoon with Tim. We went to Coeur d'Alene Lake for the afternoon and went para sailing for the first time! I was a little nervous at first but it is actually a quite enjoyable experience. It is really peaceful and quiet up there about 400+ feet in the air. It was really nice to look around and view our surroundings from an entirely new perspective.


Cassie: Water is def necessary when the weather is 99 degress out with a heat index of 106 and working out. There are no excuses for Christmas Fitness :)

#28 8PM Local Time

Karen: I laughed so hard after I took my picture and went to upload it here and saw Cassie's picture. Are we pathetic that we both took pictures of TV shows? What's even more pathetic is that I have Big Brother DVR'd so that I can watch BOTH shows. I do love SYTYCD though. It's probably one of my favorite shows on television now. I wish it was on back in the day when I was a dancer and I may have pushed myself even harder so that I could possibly be on it. But, alas, now I am too old and too out of shape! I may however get back to my dancing roots this fall when I move back to NJ. (thinking about taking the adult classes at AEDE!!)

Cassie: I have never been a real fan of 'reality' shows, but I strangly like Big Brother. This love only started last summer with the introduction from ZD. I have always hated how American Idol made people commit for several days, but during the summer there is nothing else on tv so I am okay with it for BB. As I am sitting here, I am thinking that I do love more reality shows than I originally thought. I get into these shows later on, but I have always wanted to apply to the Amazing Race. And guilty of The Hills, but not since LC left and The City....haha I could probably list more ;)

#27 The Sky

Karen: Here I am up in the sky on our way back from Portland yesterday. Right out side my window was Mt. St. Helens. I really don't like flying at all but you have to be amazed when you see things like this.
Mount St. Helens is most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles in volume. (info taken from Wikipedia)

Cassie: I love taking pictures of the sky and clouds. I wasnt able to get a sunset pic like I really wanted, it was too hazy out. That could be due to the 100 plus temps today. The summer nights are so peaceful, lazy its my favorite time of year. I love listening to the sound of secetas.