Xmas Cookies

I'm made my favorite Xmas cookies last night. This is my first attempt at making them and they're not nearly as pretty as the ones my Mom makes, but still really yummy. I got the recipe out of my hand-me-down Betty Crocker cookbook that is probably older than I am.

Here it is!
Russian Teacakes, makes about 4 dozen

What you'll need:
1 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cups of finely chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp of salt
some extra powdered sugar

Heat oven to 400ºF
Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until the dough holds together.
Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased sheet about an inch apart.
Throw it in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until they are set but not browned.
Remove from oven and let cool for a bit. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar, let cool. Roll again when cool.
Then Enjoy! Yum!

Yogi Tea

I love tea, all kinds. I've especially been hooked on Yogi Tea's just plain old green tea. I think what I really love about Yogi Tea are the little fortunes that come on the tea bag. This weeks have been extra good. Todays is: "Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give."

Mr. Murray

I'd really like to think that this is all one big prank, how great would it be if it was?

http://www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/issues/20081207/Bill+Murray+NYCs+New+Party+Boy

Paige Russell

An old friend & former band mate has been popping up all over the place lately. I've seen her wonderful work on some of my favorite blogs and magazines. I have such a love for ceramics, especially ones that are so unique and thoughtful, which hers most certainly are. You can view her work on her website or if you want to buy you can find her locally at Hermitage or Life + Limb.

Some of my favorites:

Way to go P, can't wait to see what's next!

SGIF

Every Friday morning before we get out of bed, either Robb or I will say to each other "SGIF!".
Today I'm especially so glad its Friday. Enjoy the blue skies today and have a happy weekend!

Recipes

I've been meaning to post some recipes for a while now. I"ll post one of our favorite recipes once a week. Feel free to share any of your faves with me!

Fish Tacos, serves 4.
We had this originally with our friends Jeff & Jess. Jess is from Australia and this recipe comes from the Australian chef, Bill Granger.

1 cup of roughly chopped cilantro, leaves & stems (one of my FAVE ingredients)
2 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of cumin
1 small red chili, seeded & chopped
1 tsp of sea salt
fresh ground pepper
zest of 1 lime
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 lb. of firm white fish, cut in strips (we usually use cod)

Place all ingredients except the fish in a blender or a food processor and blend until it forms a paste. Place the fish in a bowl and stir in paste, marinate for 15 mins. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat until hot, add the fish strips in a single layer and cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side for 1 minute, or until the fish is fully cooked. Place on a serving platter and garnish with lime wedges.

I usually serve this with some shredded cabbage & lime mayo. The recipes for the lime mayo is as follows:
1 cup mayonnaise (this makes A LOT, you could cut it in half even for 4 ppl)
finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sea salt
Then just mix it all up and put on top of the tacos.

We usually use the small soft corn tortillas and just warm them up in the oven before putting the fish it. Easy peasy.

Thanks.

Thanksgiving might just be my favorite holiday. Cooking, eating, drinking friends, family... Does it get much better than that? There's no pressure of gift buying, crazy holiday shopping, it's all just about coming together with the people that are most important to you and being grateful for what fortunate lives we all live.
This will be our second year hosting and we can't wait. I love the feeling of having our home filled with our greatest friends, everyone so happy to be together, all the yummy smells from the kitchen. I know, I know, I'm totally cheesing out right now, but it really is such a wonderful time. There will be 12 of us this year which is perfect considering that's about all our table can hold. Everyone is bringing a tasty dish or 2 and a bottle of wine for the table. Robb & I will be heading up the turkey & mashies (Robb's a master mashie maker) again this year, sure to be yummier than ever!
So wherever you are and whomever you're with, Happy Thanksgiving from Mia, Robb & Mona!

Get in here...

Robb says this to me all the time. Whether he's referring to getting into his sweatshirt for a hug, under a blanket for a movie or into bed for a snuggle. I saw this and thought of him...
via Oh Joy

Wedding Pix

We were finally able to finish looking thru our wedding pix the other night. They are so amazing and we couldn't be happier with HVK as our photographer. She & her assistant Heather were so great with all of us and captured some wonderful shots.

Just a few of our faves:

Nemo First Friday

My talented husband will be exhibiting new work this Friday November 7th at the Nemo 1st Friday group photo show. The show is titled "Thanksgiving" and is a silent auction to raise money for the Oregon Food Bank. The artist's only direction was to shoot something they are grateful for.
Should be a really interesting show, I love seeing how other people interpret what something means to them.
I'm also really excited because this is the first time since we moved to Portland that Robb is showing new work. I'm so proud of him and I'm totally in love with the piece he submitted.
Come and check it out for yourselves! Nov. 7th, 6pm-10pm @ Nemo 1875 SE Belmont St. PDX

Just 10 More Reasons Why...

You MUST vote for OBAMA:

Hey Ladies

Just gotta share, this made my day...
via A Cup of Jo

APTS

With trying to figure out what to do about our living situation, we've been entertain lots of different ideas. We're just not sure if buying right now is the best idea, especially with the economy the way it is and who knows when or if its going to get better...
Anyway, we have to take into consideration living in an apartment again. This apartment that I found on sfbaygirl's blog makes it not seem so bad:

My Ladies

One of the most amazing parts of this whole wedding week experience was having all of my best girl friends out in PDX all at once. They planned a fabulous night out the Wednesday before the wedding and it was all a surprise to me. We started off at Loyly Spa in Southeast. I have been DYING to go there for the past year and we had the whole place reserved for just us! It was amazing, champagne, chocolates, steam, sauna, masks, scrubs, honestly so amazing. After all this we got all dolled up and went out to Masu for sushi, another favorite of mine! Tons of ridiculously good food and of course, great company! From there it was time for martinis (boy do these girls know what i like!) and meeting up with some more of my local girls, lots of celebrating and fun times.
We ended up taking a Pedi-Cab which is another one that has been on the "to-do" list. It was seriously one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time. I can't even explain how wonderful it felt to be with all the girls that I love most in the world. Thank you so much to all of you and I can't wait for us to all be together again!! I love you all so much.

Ice Cream, Yous Cream

We got an ice cream maker in the mail last week for a shower gift!!! SO excited to make some soon. We got all the fixins to make coffee ice cream to bring over to S&O's but we didn't realize it would take 6-22 hours to freeze the bucket. Lame. Anyway, we'll be ice cream makin' in no time! Thanks J&C!

Fife

R & I went out to dinner at Fife on Friday night.
When we first moved here it was on our list of places to eat and for some reason we haven't made it there yet. S&O have gone the last 2 years for their anniversary and LOVED it. Can't believe we waited this long.
We ordered an amazing bottle of Rosè to start, which was a great way to end the summer.
We shared a delicious order of Fried Green Tomatoes & a creamy Butter Lettuce Salad.
Then an order of medium rare Albacore over a bed of shredded cucumber, basil and red pepper.
The highlight of the night was our dessert which neither Robb or I would have normally chosen, but the waitress said was fab, so we went for it.
Some sort of peach cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce drizzled over top.

If you haven't been to Fife yet, definitely go soon. It's such great food.

Engagment Sesh

We met with our wedding photog a couple weeks ago and did an engagement photo session. The pix came out so great and we're so excited to have HVK shoot our wedding!

Cai Guo-Qiang

R just reminded me of this artist we saw a couple years back at Mass MOCA. We both LOVED his installations and it was great to take a look at some of his work again. Check him out here. I love the Inopportune Stages:

Honestly these photos don't do these installations any justice. Those are actual size cars above, suspended from the ceiling. Same with the tigers, it was surreal.
Thanks R, for the reminder. That was such a great day with you.

We're Back from ACK

Sorry for not posting in a while. We've been on the east coast for vacation and I tried to stay as far away from a computer as possible. I'll give an update on the shower and the rest of the trip soon.
Just wish I was back on that island instead of at my desk...

There Once Was a Man From Nantucket...

Wow, it's been a month since my last post. Time flies, sorry about that!
We leave tomorrow morning to head to the east coast for 11 days of vacation!!! Such a long time, I'm so excited. I just really wish Mona was coming with...
Anyway, we fly direct (yesssss) to BOS tomorrow, my step sis is picking me up at Logan and we're headed up to York from there. I'll be up in ME solo for Friday, prepping and getting ready for the shower on Saturday. Saturday afternoon we're having a small gathering of friends and family for a little east coast bbq/shower. I can't wait to see everyone!
Sunday will be spent at the beach with my parents and hopefully some other peeps that have stuck around and then back down to Boston we go! We'll have Sunday night in BOS with the Farrington sibs and then we all head to Nantucket on Monday morning for 7 days!! I really can't wait, it's one of my favorite places on earth and Robb & I both have a special place for it in our hearts.
We've already got a list of things we're going to do, clam chowder at The Brotherhood of Thieves being one of the first!

2 Months from today...

... I'll marry the most amazing man in the world.

Limoncello

Last week Robb and I decided to make Limoncello. It's one of our favorite after dinner drinks and surprisingly easy to make.

All you need is:
1 liter of Everclear alcohol

10 medium to large lemons

1 1/2 liters of water (6 1/3 cups)
3 lbs. of sugar (6 1/2 cups)
From there, you use a potato peeler and take all the lemon rinds off so there is no white pith on the peel. Place the rind peelings in a large container with the Everclear. Cover the container and let it sit for 7 days.
After a day the peels turn the alcohol a great yellow color. (see pix)

On day eight strain the peels and discard.
Next, make the simple syrup in a large saucepan. Combine the water and sugar and let it simmer "fast" for 15 minutes. Then let simple syrup cool to room temperature. Finally add it to alcohol!

Just put it in the freezer over night and it's ready to drink by the next day! It's oh so yummy.

2nd Annual Girls Camping Trip, Watch Out!!!

About to hit the road for round 2, this year we're heading to Lost Lake. Let's try to avoid the Trenchcoat Mafia this year girls?
Yeah Ladeez! Let's pitch a tent and roast some wienies!!!

Funny Confession

I'm stealing this idea from SKF, b/c it made me think of her.

So the other night I was having a really great run and this Jackson 5 song came on and i just started singing at the top of my lungs (after looking around and making sure that no one was around). Then I saw this group of runners up ahead and my first reaction was to stop singing, but then i was like "no way!" I started singing even louder and continued until I passed them. By the look on their faces, they were quite amused ;) I have to say it was one of my best runs yet because of it...

Invites

So the invites went out yesterday!!! Robb & I couldn't be happier with how they came out. I'm not going to tell you much, you'll just have to wait and see, but they are just totally us.
It was really hard choosing between the several different designs. We narrowed it down to 2 and here's the one we didn't end up going with. It was really hard to pick between the 2, but seeing the final product, we knew for sure we'd made the right choice. Guess you'll just have to check the mail to see the final pick!
It's all really coming together! I had my first dress fitting last week with my Mom. I hadn't seen the dress since the first time i tried it on close to 4 months ago. I was super nervous that I wasn't going to like it anymore or that i changed my mind. But it was even more beautiful and perfect than the first time i put it on. I'd wear that thing everyday if i could. 81 days to go!

photos

I stumbled upon this blog today and just fell in love with Denis Darzacq's work. Especially his Hyper series. The color is amazing, this one is my fave:

Beach Bum

We had a blast at the beach this weekend. Mona's a pro with the frisbee!

The 100 Day Countdown!!

Only 100 days till our wedding!!! I'm really starting to get excited now. We've been getting notes from family & friends that are just making me so excited. It truly is going to be the greatest day.

Robb's dad sent us a note in the mail the other day:
"Just thinking about your wedding makes us very happy. It will be a great celebration."

An excerpt from an email from my bridesmaid Leah:
"we are all still best friends celebrating your wedding, a once in a life time event that will be forever unforgettable."

Just having all the people we love saying such supportive and kind words makes me so happy to be sharing this day with them. It's going to be surreal having all the family & friends we love most in the world all in one place celebrating together!

Thank you everyone for all of your love & support thru this process. It means the world to us.
See you in 100 days!

One Word...

CELTICS.

A Mrs.

So it's really starting to sink in that I'm going to be a Mrs. in less than 4 months. (One hundred & eight days to be exact!)
Lots of people have been asking me about the name change thing. Am I going to change it, hyphenate it, or keep it just the way it is?
Well... as some of you know this kind of goes along with the whole marriage thing and how I've completely done a 180 with my feelings on all of it.
Many of my old and dear friends have said to me "the girl who said she was never going to get married, is getting married!" And it's true. I had sworn marriage off years ago, didn't want anything to do with it.
Not to sound totally cheesy here, but never say never. I used to say I would never get married before I met Robb. Things changes, especially when you meet the person that you know you'll never be without.
So to make a long story short, I've changed my mind on many things related to marriage. The name change being one of them.
I thought that if I ever did get married, I would always keep my name. I am one of the last Phair's left and that used to mean something to me. But like I said before, things change. I no longer feel a connection to that name and honestly I am excited to have a new name. I think it will be amazing to share a new name and new life with the person I adore the most in this world.
The option of hyphenating it is just hilarious to me: Phair-Farrington, HA. And of course we still have people wanting both of us to change it to Phairrington, I'm not so sure about that one either ;)
In any event, in 108 days I'll be Mia Joy Farrington & I cannot wait!
Writing that just now put a big smile on my face...

Dear Winter,

I know you've been hearing all about me. I've been hearing (and seeing) all about you too. I just want you to know that even though I haven't come up to meet you yet, doesn't mean I don't already love you to bits. If anything I love you even more! And just think, that means quadruple the amount of snuggles and kisses when we do actually meet.
Yes, it's true, I've got this pesky cough that just won't end. But I'm going to visit the doctor this week to figure out how to get better, so we can hang all the time. My goal is to be cold-kickin' it on the porch with you by this weekend. how does that sound?

So since we're so close yet so far away, I thought I'd write to you so we can get to know each other a little better. That way we'll be best buds before we know it.

Here are somethings we already have in common:

-You really love your parents (S & O), I really love your parents!
-You live on Hamilton Terrace, I live on Hamilton Terrace!
-You've got a great head of dark hair, I've got a great head of dark hair! (or used to, i'll fill you in on that story another time)
-You're an only child, I'm an only child!
-You like to sleep all day, I like to sleep all day!
-You met Uncle Robb and think he is the coolest dude ever, I also think he is the coolest (and hottest i must add) dude ever!

Ok WKF, that's just a few to start. Plenty more to come trust me.
Just know that the only reason I haven't come to meet you yet, is cuz I love you so so much. You're strong and growing boy and you don't need to be hanging out with any sickos just yet. You'll come across plenty of those in your lifetime. (literally and figuratively, but that's a whole other ball of wax)

Anyhoo, I'll let you get back to your day of eating, napping and hanging out with the coolest parents around.

Can't wait to kick it with my new best bud! Hammy T for life!

All my love,
Auntie Mimi

ps- Tell yer Mom to save me a slice of that cake, it was da bomb!

First 5k

I wrote about training for a 5k before and the time has come for the first one! After 3 months of training, (man that flew by!) I'm ready to get my 3.2 miles on. This Saturday at 10am Mona & I will be at Mt. Tabor Park ready to run our little butts off. Robb might join us and do the walk instead.
Come join us if you're up for it!

Next mission, 10k on August 9th. Think I can do it?

Lazy Sunday

After a great hike with great friends thru Forest Park and up to the Pittock Mansion yesterday, we grabbed some lunch and lounged in the back yard to enjoy the sun. Mona might have gone a little too far with the relaxing...