my holiday requests.

For the last few years my mom has requested that my sister and I create somewhat of a Christmas wish-list. For some reason I am having a tricky time with it this year. Truth is, I have a longer list of 'holiday requests' rather than items that I would like to see under our Christmas tree. Here are a few of the things I am hoping to eat/drink/enjoy over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

• My dad's egg nog. I am not a fan of regular egg nog at all but my dad makes the yummiest stuff you'll ever have!
• A shopping trip with the fam. I don't even care if I buy anything, I just love spending the day shopping and having lunch with my family. (Yes, my dad is included in this one. He isn't a major shopper but almost never passes up a trip with his girls!)
• Fresh, homemade apple pie. My Grammy makes a pretty incredible pecan pie but my dad and I are apple pie professionals.
• Mani/pedi with Mom and Jenn, followed by lunch at the famous Sandy McGee's! 
• ESCALANTE'S! I cannot tell you people how badly I miss this restaurant and everything about it. I am more than okay with enjoying this treat in November and December.
• I'm not sure what movies are coming out soon, but I would love to go see a super girly one with any gal pals that would like to join. I try not to drag Kyle to these movies so I have to take advantage of the opportunity while I am home.
• This last one should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. I cannot wait to spend time with my family and friends back in Texas. 

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures from our anniversary date and the evening we spent with Aisha Tyler! 

wish list.

A few weeks ago I decided to start thinking about what I might want for Christmas. My mom always asks for a few suggestions so I decided to make note of anything that came to mind. Would you like to see the very first thing I thought of??

{image via target.com}

Yep. A hand-held vacuum is the first thing I could come up with. I was as shocked as the rest of you. I was feeling pretty lame for requesting one of these until I stumbled upon request number 2...

{image via jcrew.com}

J. Crew coats are the best and I think this would be the perfect new addition to my closet. Maybe I'll wear this pretty little thing while I use my vacuum. At least I'll feel lovely while I do my chores!

Is there anything on your wishlist that I should have my eye on?

ooooops.

It seems that I accidentally let an entire week go by without posting! By the time I get home at 6:30 I just want to have dinner, watch some tv shows, read all of your blogs and go to bed. Writing it all out like that made me realize how very un-cool it sounds!

Work is still going great. I am getting a lot more comfortable with knowing how to fill out dress orders and feel like I am starting to learn more about our dresses and designers. I'm sure I'll have all of the dress facts down perfectly by February... just in time for the new dresses to come in!

In other news, I didn't work at the shop on Friday but got called to sub in a pre-k class. It was such a great day! The class is one of two pre-k classes in a technology high school. I was filling in for the teacher's aide so I spent the day helping out instead of running the classroom. I loved the teacher that I worked with and the kids were great. We did tons of fun Halloween activities and the kiddos even got to have their faces painted. It is definitely a school that I would love to go back to.

I don't work a full day until Saturday this week, just a few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. A girl at work gave me a list of her favorite restaurants in Atlanta so we may try one on Sunday to celebrate our anniversary (yep, we're still celebrating the original one even though we are old and married now!)

Last but not least, look at the sweetest new little member of our family. My cousin Kyle and his wife Olivia are now proud parents to this little lady. I do believe she will be stealing the show this Thanksgiving!

Psalm 126

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

We read this at church on Sunday and it has stuck with me. I took it as my little reminder to be thankful for the many blessings that fill my life with joy. So instead of writing paragraph upon paragraph about our weekend, enjoy this little list of things that have been bringing me lots of joy lately...

• The beautiful weather that we had while walking to church on Sunday (and the tasty pumpkin spice I picked up on our way home)
• Coming home to dinner on the table after working late on Friday (thanks Kyle!!)
• Picking out invitations for the bridal shower I am hosting for Jenn.
• Having a job that I enjoy.
• Getting to know the girls at work! I've been waiting quite a few months to know some girls in this town... I'm enjoying every minute of it. 
• Thinking about spending the holidays with our families.
• Knowing that we will have a brand new little baby with us for Thanksgiving (my cousin, Kyle, and his wife are having their first baby in a few weeks!)
• Finally feeling like I kind of know my way around this town (this will probably jinx me and I'll get lost tomorrow!)
• Going to Six Flags Over Georgia (that will always sound strange to me) for Fright Fest. Kyle and I rode tons of rides and even indulged in a funnel cake treat.
• Fall weather. I love it even more than I thought I would!

A few people have asked for the name of the store I am working at. If you're interested, you can email me at stephaniemariekrueger@gmail.com. I would love to tell all of my friends, real-life and blogging, I just don't want to put it up here and let the whole world know where they can find me :)


I hope the week got off to a great start for all of you!

day one.

First off, thanks so much for all of the sweet words of congratulations! They all made me smile and were so thoughtful!

My first day of work was great! Kyle had breakfast with me before I took off and it was beyond beautiful outside. I met three of the girls that I will be working with and will meet everyone else tomorrow at our staff meeting. I learned so much that by the time I got home I was feeling slightly overwhelmed. There is definitely a lot to learn and I will be asking LOTS of questions! It is not at all like working at a store in the mall where we scan a price tag and the computer does the rest.

Here are a few of the things I now know how to do:

• write up orders (both for regular purchases and wedding dresses)
• check in new dresses that get delivered for brides
• organize dresses that are waiting for fittings
• contact designers 
• take measurements

I still have a lot to learn about the wedding dresses that we sell. For each dress, I need to know the fabric, price, cut of the dress, the name of the dress and who designed it. I am not kidding when I say, I will be spending today and tomorrow studying wedding dresses! I much prefer this kind of studying to what I can see Kyle studying at his computer. 

I work again on Friday and then three days next week. I'll be working four days a week once November rolls around. I am looking forward to getting to know the rest of the girls and getting more familiar with the shop. If any of you are ever in Atlanta and need to pick up a wedding dress, I'm your girl :) 

And in honor of my new job, here is one of my favorite pictures of my wedding dress...

working girl.

Let me just start by saying, today has been a fantastic day. 

The biggest challenge I've had since moving to Georgia has been adjusting to a pretty empty weekly calendar. I went from student teaching five days a week, plus organizational meetings Sunday-Wednesday, to a pretty open schedule. It didn't bother me during the summer, because Kyle only had one meeting a week and we had a great time being completely lazy together. But since he has started school and I didn't find a teaching job, it has been a bit of a struggle. Don't get me wrong, I have loved getting to sleep in late and stay in sweatpants all day if I feel like it. I have just had my fill of those rather dull days. 

Well ladies and gentlemen, today I got a job! 

About a month ago my family came to visit and we took my sister to look at wedding dresses here in Atlanta. I fell in love with one of the shops we went to. All of the girls working there were great and it was a more relaxed bridal shop than most. I inquired about job openings and a week later sent in my resume. I had two interviews this week and today they called to offer me a full-time job. I could not be more excited!!

Like I said, the shop is really different from any wedding dress shops I have ever been to. In addition to the wedding dress side of things, it has a boutique attached to it. I'll start out working on that side of things and eventually transition to bridal. How fun is that?! I think it is going to be a great experience and am looking forward to my first day (Monday!). I am so excited to have something to fill my days with and to hopefully meet some great new people. 

I still hope to have my own classroom one day and to use everything I learned about working with children, but I know that this is going to be a wonderful experience.

Thanks for letting me share about our exciting day. We celebrated with a Starbucks trip this morning, fajitas for dinner and are about to enjoy cupcakes and a movie. I hope all of you have had wonderful weekends as well! Can't wait to share all about my first big day!

foodie friday: pumpkin cookies

Happy Friday friends!

Today's recipe is another Theta classic. The recipe makes a lot of cookies, definitely more than we need just for the two of us. If you're in the mood for a fall treat, these are definitely the perfect fit.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Sift together and set aside:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat until well-blended:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 stick butter, softened

Add and beat until smooth:

1 cup canned pumpkin (the recipe called for Libby's pumpkin but I used some that I found at Whole Foods. Turns out there is a pumpkin shortage so I had a hard time finding any)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Gradually add flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 fro 15-18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Drizzle with glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon melted butter

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

My 'glaze' was a little thick so it was more frosting-like. You can adjust how much powdered sugar or milk to make the glaze whatever consistency you like. We're frosting fans here and Kyle isn't crazy about pumpkin flavored things (although he loves these cookies!) so I figured thicker was better for us.

Let me know if you try the recipe! Enjoy the weekend!