Say Cheese!

As you may remember, my simply amazing (albeit injured) husband got me a pretty sweet (as in, thoughtful AND rockin'!) Valentine's Day gift. Though we usually don't exchange big gifts, this year he surprised me with a shiny, brand new Kindle. I know, my jaw was on the floor with surprise while I simultaneously squealed with excitement.

Of course, this absolutely upped the pressure that I get him something pretty fabulous as well. Since we long wanted to {finally} try out a Mario Batali restaurant together (I had only been to Otto in the past, where this classy photo was taken...),

I thought it would be the perfect, surprise gift for my husband who always, always takes me out for dinner. A little table turning, if you will. And since I wanted to get a little creative with my gift (you know, rather than just proclaiming Happy Mario Batali Dinner Date Day!), I created a cheesetastic poem to announce our future date. Did I mention that I also read it aloud to him with perfect inflection, eye winks and all?

I attached it to a bundle of Mario Batali menus from all of his restaurants in NYC so that Shaun could pick which he wanted to try. And because I love you guys too, I thought I'd share my foray into sappy, cheesy greeting card writing here on the blog. It's a first for me, so I hope you enjoy.

To my love
It’s Valentine’s Day
and what can I say?

My sweet honey pie
I’m not gonna lie
You’re the love of my life
and I adore being your wife

A love that will never end
You’re my very best friend
Just thinking about you makes me smile
For you, I’d swim the Nile ;)

Your gift was so sweet
I just couldn’t compete
I scoured the (online) mall but,
what’s better than an e-book after all?

So I pondered and obsessed
And discounted all the rest
And then I thought, hey that’s it!
A romantic dinner that’s candlelit

Mario Batali is the guy
Let’s hope his shorts don’t show any thigh
You choose the place if you get my gist
For next Friday evening is the date of our tryst

I really hope that you like this idea
Or a sad little wife I will be a
If you’re smiling, I’ll say “Phew!”
Because I’m simply incomplete without you

I love you more each day
in every single way
...so I really hope you’ll say
Take me out on a date next Friday!

Still there? Don't worry the cheese factor isn't lost on me, and as soon as Shaun decided on Otto as his choice, he proclaimed that I just had to share this on the blog. So tonight is the night of our date and I'm so excited! I actually have been to Otto before, but Shaun has not. The cheese platter with brandied bing cherries and truffled honey alone is worth the trip.

Yep, I've been dreaming about this since the last time I was there. In fact, the truffled honey is worthy of Best Thing I Ever Ate status. I cannot wait to finally take Shaun here so he can understand what I've been raving about for the last 1+ years.

So that's how Shaun and I will be enjoying his Valentine's Gift this evening. Not too shabby huh? So for today's question, I just want to know...what super sappy/cheesetastic things have you done for a loved one?

My New Notebook + How I Keep Track of Things

The other night I had zumba and pilates class at our gym, which is literally down the hall (which I love) though it didn’t end until 9 (which I hate). So that meant Shaun was on dinner duty (which I also love). Using some leftover lump crab meat from our Jets party on Saturday night, he whipped up some delicious crab cakes with a creamy cocktail sauce on the side! Where does he get these wonderful skills? I wanted to share this yesterday but didn’t get the photo uploaded in time. It was so yummy so I obviously could not let it pass by without sharing :)

So though I’m not necessarily down with starting a new year, a new year means I get to start a new notebook! Nerd alert!

I purchased 2 pink moleskin notebooks a couple of years ago and only recently started filling them up. I absolutely love new notebooks and all things paper in general (Shaun says I should have worked for Dunder-Mifflin).

I keep many things in here. To do lists, grocery lists, apartment furnishing ideas, new blogs and websites to check out, you name it. Most of my life is housed in those pages since I love having one go-to spot for everything. I’m constantly jotting down thoughts, especially about the blog and article ideas. I keep it with me all the time and find that I’m so much more useful in daily life when I have this little friend to keep me company. Some other things you might find in there? My list of The Little Things, party menus, my name doodled in fun ways...I cannot wait to break into the new one and start filling it up with ideas and personal organization!

The rest of my life? It’s housed in my Google calendar. Ah the Google calendar. It’s a borderline obsession. I love that I can color code different calendars and fill it in accordingly. I have one for my own stuff and reminders to myself. Here's a peak from a week in Sept/Oct:

One for Shaun’s things just so I can remember if he has drinks planned with friends or is scheduled to go to a client dinner or bachelor party. I also have a ‘humistons’ calendar which I am trying desperately to get Shaun to look at. So that way before he signs up for things - or signs us up for things - he can easily check the calendar. I also have a Giants/Jets calendar (royal blue and green respectively), a weather tracker, a {real} work calendar and a holiday calendar. Lastly, I have The Avid Appetite editorial calendar where I try to plan at least a week in advance what I’m going to be writing about. Sometimes things do change, though, if I’m just dying to tell you guys about something in particular! So that means I effectively have 8 color coded calendars on Google. But I like to think I’m fairly organized at least :) My hope is to eventually whittle down my-Shaun-Humistons calendar into one, but it may be a pipe dream.

So that's how I try my best to keep my life - and all of its moving parts - together. It's not a perfect system, but it's working for me right now! How do you keep yourself organized?

7 Things

I was very excited when Jenn over at Pea & Crayons tagged me in her Stylish Blogger Award and asked that I share 7 things about myself. Yay! It's my first fellow blogger award! Obviously I love talking about myself (you know you're a blogger when...), so this award is extra fun :)

Here's how it works:

1. Make a post + Link back to the person who awarded you this award - Donezo!

2. Share 7 things about yourself - Don't mind if I do!

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers so we can share the love - On it!

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them they've won!

So without further ado, here's 7 random things about me!

1. Aruba never gets old to me, even though I go every summer. Sometimes I cry when it's time to come home.

 

2. I've seen You've Got Mail many more times than I can count. And still look for it on TV every so often. (Did I mention that I own it, too?)

3. I had a crush on Shaun for almost 3 years before we started dating. He was my high school crush who I admired from afar! Who knew 10 years later we'd be very happily married?

4. I use all Lush hair & body products (that's all-natural, organic people, and it works!), thanks to my sister Christine. This includes a shampoo bar, conditioner bar and alternating between Happy Hippy & Olive Branch body wash.

5. My entire sock drawer needs a major overhaul. Each and every sock in it needs to be thrown away and updated, from boot socks and athletic socks to tights and knee highs. It's just one of those things that I never think to spend money on!

6. I own no less than 10 different blue and green shades of nail polish. Obsessed much?

7. Each and every comment that I get on the blog leaves me perma-smiling all day long. Thanks to everyone who has been commenting lately, I hope you are enjoying the site!

So there you have it. 7 random things about me! What are some random tidbits about you?

And to pay this fun forward, I'm selecting some more fab bloggers to participate! These are all blogs that I'm loving right now - keep up the great reads ladies! Hope you'll all accept :)

Baking 'N Books
Bites and Bliss
Black Book Kitchen Diaries
Delish Living
For Sweets Sake
Haute Apple Pie
Healthy Eating for Ordinary People
Keep it Sweet
Like Mother Like Daughters
OliePants
Pretty Good Food
The Cookie Battle
The Healthy Apron
The Ketchup Diaries
What Megan's Making

Take it away girls!