Midnight Blogging. Woo!

I ate too much chocolate (is there such a thing?), too late in the evening and now I cannot sleep. So I will attempt some midnight blogging.

First, a word about my blogging absence:
Our internet provider lured us with "wicked" speedy internet advertising then when we proceeded to use the internet constantly during working hours (Steven) and again in the evening (Wii Netflix Instant Queue streaming) they decided that we used too much and cut our "wicked" speed. So I cannot post photos while Steven is working. Which is the time that is convenient for me to blog. Hence, the midnight blog and probable lack of photos. For now at least.

Onward to the updates:

We spent Labor Day in Astoria doing lovely Astoria things like visiting the Astor Column and the Farmers Market and walking on the beach, and seeing CHRIS AND MICHELLE GET MARRIED.

Chris and Michelle tied the knot in one of the most lovely weddings I've been to in a long time. The church was absolutely stunning and the ceremony was very touching. Then the reception totally kicked some major butt. It was a pretty epic reception. In fact, I need to email Chris for the playlist they used, because it was legendary. I danced all night (and most of the night in my shoes- go me!) and Steven even got out on the dance floor! We had a lot of fun getting to see old college friends that have moved away and catching up with them. We stayed up way too late and got up early the next morning to help clean up, which we were happy to help out with. As a thank you Michelle's Dad passed on a bottle of champagne- YUMMY!

After that amazing weekend we had some downtime to practice canning. We went out to my parents house and Steven made his now famous roasted red pepper sauce and we got to can 6 pints of it. We'll be going back to do some more soon!! It was a total family affair as I helped prep, Steven cooked, Mom attended to the jars and Dad worked the pressure cooker. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to try out some other things. I love seeing home canned goods in my pantry. It makes me feel better about what I'm eating because I know what we put in there.

After that we had a second Family Reunion at my parent's house. Last year we had a large party for my Dad's side of the family for Grandma's 100th birthday. This year we decided to host a smaller gathering for my Mom's side of the family, for no particular reason other than it was a heck of a lot of fun! I couldn't have asked for it to go smoother in terms of preparation and execution. Everyone came and camped out and we had a bon fire and roasted marshmallows and ate and ate and ate. I came home with an extra couple of pounds for sure.

Mom, Shelly and I sponsored the "Friday" night meal- a Mexican Fiesta. While Steven gets all of the credit for cooking a top notch meal, I have to say that it was, in fact, my idea. Although, I did kind of steal it from Tara's grad party. Bygones. Suffice to say that we had a massive taco/nacho/fajita bar with choices of marinated flank steak, shredded rotisserie chicken (done on Dad's BBQ!) and grilled shrimp plus ALL of the fixings. On Saturday Mike and Shannon smoked an entire pig for pulled pork sandwiches. I have never seen the pulled pork before it gets pulled. There is no work at all, if you do it right, it just falls right off. It was so tender and yummy. Pretty sure that Steven is excited about getting a smoker now. Just wait. If it comes out half as good as that, it will be money well spent. And because its Steven, it will probably be even more awesome.

After four days of partying and living it up at the reunion we came home exhausted. I spent quite a bit of time recovering from lost sleep and trying to shed some of my "I had a brownie for breakfast because we are camping!" weight. This last weekend we played low key and I finally feel rested up. Which is good because I told Shelly I would recover her dining room chairs as part of her Christmas gift. I'm trying to remain calm and trust in my sewing skills. I recruited Mom to help out. We picked out some amazing fabric for the chairs and curtains. I'm using her as a curtain guinea pig. Curtains are my next thing that I want to get good at making. We also tried a new fabric store- The Mill End. I had never been there, but we met THE MOST HELPFUL EMPLOYEE EVER. He seriously chatted us up for like an hour detailing to me how exactly to sew these slipcovers. So awesome.

In terms of sewing and crafting, there are Christmas presents to finish up, more babies on the way and all of Sister's new projects. I shouldn't be bored any time in the near future.

I'm looking forward to my favorite fall things- Picking pumpkins at Mom's and maybe trying some Apple Picking! Of course, I've already decorated for fall in here and it screams halloween. I got some lovely orange roses at the store today and they look great on my table. I made myself my first set of napkins on the serger- Serged Rolled Hem! Go me! The fabric is adorable and I have some left for cocktail napkins and also I have an apron half finished. I love that I get to make something for me. Finally. :)

Beyond the orange in the house there is always rooting for orange-it can't be said enough- Go Beavs!