Amusing/Embarrasing Moment of the Week!

I'm a book editor. And while doing some research for work, I stumbled upon a book I edited last summer sitting on the shelf at Borders.
What made this one unusual?
I was thanked in the acknowledgments.
Of course, I was very grateful to be thanked and giddy to see my (maiden) name in print!

The book would be one I was almost too embarrased to show off! Haa! So, if you're browsing the stacks at Borders and spot the above book (and are not embarrassed to pick it up off the shelf), look for my name in the acknowledgements! Ha!

Another Quiet Weekend

Dale rearranged the living room. And that's about it...
We're starting to bore the cats.
We're totally doing something fun next weekend or else!

Actually, we're thinking of going to see Body Worlds 2 at the Museum of Science and Industry next weekend. So we'll be sure to wake the cats for that...

A New Kitchen Gadget!

This is our stove. One of my goals for this year is to become a better cook and to cook at home and not just "reheat" or "thaw"!

So, we bought a reversible double grill/gridle, which is sure to change our lives! We grilled chicken tonight after letting the chicken sit in a DELICIOUS marinade I found on Kalyn's Kitchen Blog. She highlights South Beach Diet-friendly recipes and everything I've tried to far has been great!

I also purchased a small metal collander for steaming veggies. I steamed some Trader Joe's frozen organic asparagus and tossed some pepper, olive oil and lemon juice on it. Tasty! Dale had corn from a can.

Our stovetop, being fully utilized!

A Trip Downtown

We've had a very quiet month, minus a handful of outings. We went downtown so Dale could get his printer replaced while its under warranty. While driving around, I spied a couple of fellows in front of this building:

Sadly, I did not get the best picture. But look closely:

I spotted two gentleman in floor length fur coats and pimp-esque hats walking a very happy dog. I l ove the city.

It's All About the Shoes--and Dale!

We are VERY excited to announce that we just got a look at the first books in the warehouse for "It's All About the Shoes" by Yvonne L. Williams with photos by...wait for it... Dale Murray! Click on the photo above to pre-order your copy! Or go to your local book seller and ask them to order your copy today! Yay!!!

It's an adorable book, very girly, and highly "giftable" as they say in publishing. It's a bunch of stories about women and their shoes, with brightly colored backgrounds and fun photos of shoes scattered throughout. A great gift for a girl who loves her shoes or just because you want to buy enough copies that they have to pay Dale again for his photography! Ha! Kidding. Mostly.

More Architecture in Oak Park

In addition to the many Frank Lloyd Wright homes we are lucky to live near, there are many architecturally significant homes including lovely Victorian Homes like the one above!

We're not exactly getting snow this season but the homeowner here had lovely red bows lining their fence as well as plenty of garland adorning the railing along the stairs! So cute!

Christmas with the Kids

We were very happy to get to spend some time with the family and on Dale's side our niece and nephew--Ian and Lauren--were a lot of fun to spend time with on Christmas morning.

Lauren got a guitar, new outfit, earmuffs and a slinky for Christmas. All pictured here! Hee! I love teh slinky on her feet. Cracked me up!

Kitties Got a Brand New Bag...of Toys!

We had a lovely time in Flint for the Christmas holiday! We caught up with many friends and family members and we brought home quite the booty...for the cats.

Dale's mom got what amounted to a whole new toybox of toys for the kitties. I spread them out to show the cats (and to take a picture because I'm a dork) and Monty came 'round to inspect his winnings!

Realizing this was a bounty of toys for him, he took the appropriate action:

He started guarding the toys from me! God forbid he shares. Needless to say, he was exciting about his new goodies! The cats were particularly terrified by the battery-operated rolling mouse. They pounced on it at first but then grew frightened. It was pretty funny!

Happy New Year, Friends & Family! So happy we got to meet up with so many people but we're sad the trip was so short!