On Friday, I went to Elizabethtown, Kentucky for an all-day meeting.  Ferdinand was in the building where we met.  Naturally, we all took our picture with him.  Naturally.


On the way home from Kentucky, we stopped in Cross Plains & I snapped this pic of Giant Tommy Lee Jones (not really).


The Book Swap group I'm in hosts an annual cookie swap around this time of year.  I've been eyeing this recipe on Pinterest for awhile now & decided to go with it since I'm so gay for brown butter right now.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles:  recipe here.


These brown butter snickerdoodles are the best cookies I've ever made.  Which, of course they are - brown butter.  And they're easy.  They were a big hit both at Book Swap, as well as the Christmas party I brought them to later.  I'll be making these again, like tomorrow.


This is the table of cookies at Book Swap Cookie Swap.  Needless to say, I ate myself into a sugar coma, but sooo worth it.  Tis the season.



This year, John & I got invited to our first Chanukah party.  Hooray, we finally have Jewish friends willing to invite us into their home!  Watch out, Gwyneth, I'm getting closer.

Saturday was the first night of Chanukah.  Kate prepared a feast of leg of lamb, potato latkes, smoked salmon & JELLY DONUTS!  There were also these skewers of pancetta, salami, olives, tomatoes & mozzarella.  I think we ate them all.  Sorry, Kate.

We had a great time.  Their house was gorgeous & all decked out for Christmas/Chanukah.  John ended up knowing half of the people there, including a fellow Eagle Scout, so there were a lot of shared stories about being 14, spirit animals, & being lost in the woods.  We had a blast!


After a few hours, we left Kate & Andy's & headed east for Dave & Alexis' A Very Paulson Christmas.  This is one of our favorite parties.  The house is always decorated, there's a breath-taking array of food, there's ice cream eggnog (don't ask) & basically everyone we know in the world is there, including Kitty Kitty Birthday.  You'll note her prominent placement on the mantle in the midst of the Christmas decorations.

As usual, after a few glasses of wine, I turn into an 80 year old & start haranguing people with all of my miscellaneous maladies.  It didn't behoove anyone that two days prior, I had two moles removed.  But I had a lot of fun.  I'm sure I can't say the same for everyone that got stuck talking to me, but whatever.  Enjoy your youth, girls.


As I mentioned last week, I'm training for my second half marathon.  Yesterday, our little group met for a 6 mile run.  How I managed to run 6 miles after a cookie swap, 2 holiday parties & 4 hours of sleep will remain one of the great mysteries of my life, but I somehow pulled it off.  We plan our runs around where I want to eat afterwards.  Yesterday we ran around Belmont/Music Row, so we feasted on Egg McBongos afterwards.  And then I basically slept the rest of the day.