Our First Wedding Anniversary: 11-08-09

The weekend of our first wedding anniversary, was a gorgeous, sunny November weekend in Chicago. So Dave and I headed to the beach with the camera to just enjoy the last of the warm weather.

That evening, we finally used my Christmas gift card from last year and went to The Chopping Block for a "Wine & Dine!" cooking class. There we learned how to prepare (and devour) Wild Mushroom and Bacon Puff Pastry Tart, Herb Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Potatoes & Root Vegetables and Chocolate Ganache Tart. Oh, and the class included wine :-) Everything was DELICIOUS. And roasting a whole chicken for the first time was a good "dry run" of sorts for our turkey we were about to prepare a few weeks later for our first Thanksgiving.

The next morning, Sunday 11-08-09, was our actual anniversary and we decided to head to the Chicago Botanic Garden. There we enjoyed a leisurely stroll, nature and each other's company.

See autumn is beautiful, too:

Peek-a-boo:

I also got a great shot of my anniversary gift, this gorgeous Tiffany Sparklers Smoky Quartz cocktail ring!

And also a shot of our wedding rings one year later:

Overall it was a wonderful weekend!

Little Stephie Homemaker

So Christmas has come and gone; in fact, it flew by so fast I did not even snap any photos (so unlike me!). But I did have fun wrapping, giving and receiving gifts. And the gifts that I got this year were extra heart-felt and fun for my new life as a wife. We had just gotten so many new things off of our wedding registry, that I didn't have anything I really NEEDED. But I have been really excited about learning to use all of my new kitchen gadgets, so most of my gifts I got seemed to revolve around that theme.

First of all, after reading Kristal's post about aprons, I was so excited to see an apron in the very same wonderful print in which I bought a Shabby Apple dress for our little niece this summer. 

When I saw it, I simply showed my husband the apron over my shoulder on the laptop and that was that. Actually he told me not to buy it because the price seemed high for an apron "Can't you find a cheaper one at Wal-Mart?", he said. So I was VERY surprised (and impressed) to see this under the tree on Christmas!:

Yes, ladies, he managed to not only create an Etsy account all on his own, but ALSO searched page after page until he found THE apron that I had pointed out. I know this may sound very stereotypical 50’s housewife to get this from my brand new hubby, but it is my fave gift!

Second, he also gave me a gift certificate for us to attend a class at The Chopping Block, a cooking school here in Chicago. I love getting gifts like these that we can enjoy together. This will make for a fun, yet useful date night for us. Check out the schedule of January classes and help me choose!

My mother-in-law also got me Martha Stewart's Cooking School Cookbook. I can't wait to break into this and learn all the basics! Like how to cut correctly with our new Wustof knives :-)

And lastly, there is still one related thing on my "wish-list"... good thing my birthday is in a few weeks (hint, hint, wink, wink). 

It's the newly released Iron Chef America Supreme Cuisine Wii game:

I love this show and I figure with this gift, I could practice "virtually" as well.