happy super-valentine’s-lunar new year celebrations

the day of the super bowl, we {last minute} had some peeps over.

we had been invited to a party but we weren’t really sure what we were going to do. then, we thought, why not just spend it together as a family, cook food, and relax? sounded like a grand idea, non? well that was definitely our plan! then a day before sunday, everything spurred together last minute. well, my family is always welcomed and they know that but everyone’s plans were in limbo as well. so, a small group of friends and family came on over and we had our super lunar valentine’s day party! woo hoo!

we weren’t going to see some of these people again before valentine’s day, monday was lunar new year, and obvs, sunday was super bowl. so, yes, we literally celebrated all three in one evening! haha! it was super fun!

hc cooked the most amazing items…savory, delicious meatballs, pulled pork sandwiches with a horseradish compote, and a corn salsa for dip. i made an onion dip with chips, guacamole, and everyone else brought over a dish! it was perfect for the small group we had.

we intermittently watched the game but us gals spent most of our time in the kitchen talking, while the kids ran around and played, and the boys were glued to the t.v. ya know, it all doesn’t really matter until half time comes on and then we really pay attention to the telly! ha!

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[yes, we had a lunar new year, super bowl, valentine’s day party]

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[please be mine]

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[don’t mind the diapy sticking out. she had to be a part of the group so she insisted on standing on the chair to be with everyone]

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[my lunar new year part of the decor and yes, we are still remodeling the kitchen but we are allllllmost done! yahoo!]

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[the new year goody boxes for the kids]

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[watching the game and eating and eating and eating]

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[olive was having so much with the balloon with avery]

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[yummy]

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[opening their goodies]

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[she would draw on the mask and then proceed to put the drawn, not dried marker part on her face. she pretty much stamped her face with marker each time she did that. haha!]

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[such a modge podge kind of party! whoop whoop!]

the kids had such a great time, they loved their goody boxes, the food, and especially the desserts auntie kim brought! i must say, it was the best tri-celebration i have ever experienced, if i do say so myself. baahaha! anyhoozle, it was a fab evening. hc and i high five’d each other after everyone left. we truly love hosting and having people over and we truly had a great, great evening with everyone.

xoxo

super sunday

well, it was quite the crazy sunday. the snowmaggedon ’15 was bananas. the snow came down hard and fast. they were ginormous cotton balls falling down fast like it was rain. it was exciting to watch {as long as you were inside, safe and sound!}. can you believe this past snowstorm was ranked the 5th highest snowfall in chicago history?! wowza.

hc, olive, and i just holed ourselves up in our cozy little house. we played, relaxed, and hc cooked up something tasty for dinner. i was so not ready for a mini super bowl party at our house {honestly, i’m so not a football fan gal}. but i’m always game {natch} for a party regardless! i could have gotten creative and made some fun super bowl snacks and drinks {hello pinterest!} but this one definitely got away from me. hey, there’s always next year for football cupcakes, football mason jar drinks, and football fun foods!

so, we kept it pretty simple. some apps and some chili. done. and it was all so delicious. i whipped up the guac and hc made the chili. for the guac, i sliced up the avocado and mashed it with a fork. i then diced up tomatoes and finely chopped a white onion. after i had mashed up the avocado, i sprinkled in salt and pepper, first, to taste and then i added in the tomatoes and onions. i know purist say that you should only put salt and pepper in guac but i beg to differ. i’m sure you are also wondering where the cilantro comes into play with this…um, that would be a no. this girly does.not.like.cilantro.

we then watched the game…well, hc really watched the game! i played with miss olive, we ate, and we played some more! it snowed and snowed and snowed outside but we were cozy and comfy inside. the game was exciting…so close!

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[hc not happy with a play…olive was like ‘hmph, i’m just enjoying my snacks’]

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[nothing fancy…just guac || avocados, chopped onions, diced tomatoes, a dash of salt & pepper]

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[daddy daughter time]

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[kisses]

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[hc’s chili…yes, i smothered it with sour cream, ginormous oyster crackers, and lots o cheese!]

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[ha! while hc sleeps, i’m snapping selfies]

it was definitely a low key super bowl sunday. we had a wonderful time together {i think hc shoveled/snow blowed outside 4x!!!…whoa!}. i hope y’all did something fun and ate too many bad foods for you this past super bowl sunday!

NFL Super Bowl XLIX
Final – Sunday, February 1, 5:30 PM
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

New England
Patriots(15-4)
28
Seattle
Seahawks(14-5)
24

xoxo

superbowl? i loved the commercials!

hc and i were invited to kevin and lisa’s super bowl party.

i had attended their party before many, many years ago. so, i was very excited to be able to go again this year. we met up at the p’s and we all dropped the kiddies off. hc drove us all {as in my sis kim & my bro in law terry} to the party, which was a quick ride to addison. as soon as we got there, the over indulging began!

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[double, double toil and trouble…matching shirts and cauldron bubble. apparently someone forgot to give hc the memo that we all were wearing plaid shirts!]

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[greeted by renata, the cute and cuddly cat]

as soon as we walked in, we were offered drinks. why, yes of course!  my sister and i decided to imbibe some delicious red wine {the boys reached for the beer}. kevin so graciously picked out a lovely bottle for us to drink!

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[delicious wine with a great story behind the label, ardently told by kevin]

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[enjoying the aroma and taste]

lisa and kevin had so much food! hey, it was the super bowl and over consumption is so american, non?

snacks, upon snacks did everyone graze on. there was guac and chips, dips, finger foods, sandwiches, bugles {yes, i said bugles}, bread, brownies, cookies, mints, candies, and so on! my appetizer of choice were two giant chocolate chip cookies. i couldn’t resist! it was home baked and looked so yummy and delicious. i downed one cookie and had to have another!

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[i haven’t seen these since i was a kid! 😉 lol]

the game started and we continued to nibble {so much for watching what i eat to lose this pregnant weight!}. we were all waiting for the biggie food of the night…chili!  kevin starts making his famous chili three days before the super bowl! he makes 3 huge stock pots of different kinds of chili. so stinkin’ good!  he made a spicy chili, regular chili, and a vegetarian chili.  there were also three types of cornbread that were brought by some guests.  regular cornbread, hot chili cornbread, and bacon cornbread…wha, wha!

of course they had all the trimmings as well, tomatoes, diced onions, sour cream, shredded cheese, oh my! i tried the spicy {holy spicy!} chili and the vegetarian, both excellent eats! btw, i love cornbread…i couldn’t stop eating the cornbread! i ate it by themselves then crumpled a big muffin of cornbread all over my bowl o chili – excellent!

of the times i did pay attention to the tube, i absolutely loved the radio shack commercial!!!! it was hilarious! really? ‘the 80’s called and they want their store back’?!  so freakin’ funny. there were quite a few commercials that were fabulous but this one really made me laugh out loud.

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[go ahead, click on it!]

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[i had to include this…love their cake topper // from etsy!  something similar here. // they just got married – congrats to the beautiful couple!]

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[super bowl shuffle]

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[i absolutely love that terry is ‘trying’ to cross his eyes!]

unfortunately, the game was very boring.  yes, boring. one, i’m not that into football and two, the seahawks just mowed, mowed over the broncos…so it wasn’t even exciting to watch.  just painful.

on the bright side, hc and i took home tubs of chili for some tasty leftovers!!! woo hoo!

***

NFL Super Bowl XLVIII
2.2.14  5:30 PM
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Seattle
Seahawks
(16-3)
Denver
Broncos
(15-4)
43 – 8
Final
1 2 3 4 Total
Seahawks 8 14 14 7 43
Broncos 0 0 8 0 8

ouch!  what a game!

xoxo

super bowl sunday = super snack sunday!

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to be honest, i’m not into football.  i mean all the technical talk…all the rules [blah].  i love parties, friends, food, beer, wine, fun.  so when this goes hand and hand with football, hells yes!  marina + corey hosted a few friends at their house and cooked up some good snack grub.  and so the mindless eating began!

bowl XLVII // ravens vs. 49ers

 fact: first time ever two brothers coach against each other at the superbowl

fact: the lights went out!  ooooohhhh, somebody got in trouble!

fact:  i ate too much [burp]