Happy Ballet to Me :)

 

 So...I think the fact that I still get carded for my aerosol Pinterest crafts (the legal age of purchase is 18, mind you) made me still wake up this year on December 11th with a "Yes! Happy Birthday to MEEEEE!" attitude. I may be a quarter of a century old now, but I still love the annual excuse to eat cake and ice cream and be happy to be me for the day.

And for my birthday, I tucked aside my germophobia (just for dinner, of course) to wear the big sombrero and have some waiters sing "Feliz Cumpleanos" to me.

 

After dinner we went out to our favorite frozen yogurt shop, and waiting for me were a few of my close friends! Brady had called them beforehand and asked them to come celebrate my birthday with us. And with ten different yogurt flavors and one very happy birthday girl, how could one say no? :) 

 

 

But...thebirthday just kept on giving, because that Friday Brady and I opened my birthday gift of two ballet tickets to the Nashville Ballet's Nutcracker. During intermission, we were walking around, and after some (serious) begging, I persuaded him to take a photo op with some of the ballerinas and the dancing bear. After taking a photo with a 2-year old that was so young and innocent that she didn't even know how to look at the camera, these ballerinas probably thought that I was a bit old for wanting my picture with these sugarplum backups. But then again, it could be worse. I could actually look my age :)

Meet Captain Dearden

 As of December 1st, the 159th Brigade has a brand-new captain. One of the best parts of being promoted? For us, it was inviting our friends to come celebrate and eat cupcakes with us. And...watching my multiple failed attempts to pin on his captain's shoulderboards:

 

Ok, seriously Stefanie? How complicated could this be?

Brady gave a solid speech about his feelings about leadership, and I think I fell in love with him even more after he was done. And I won't lie, the surprise delivery of florals didn't hurt :)

Our First Thanksgiving :)

 

Apparently there are no small turkeys, so...we settled on a turkey breast. Here our little "turkita" is making friends with our "gratiturkey," the little origami creation who held expressions of gratitude for each day in November.

 

 

Brady refused to scale down his 16-serving recipe for sweet potato casserole. He let me quarter my Paula Dean's Southern Cornbread goodness, but even after reminding him that I don't even like sweet potato casserole, and so wouldn't be helping him finish it at all, he wouldn't budge.  

 

To his credit though, he was so patient with me as I tossed out not one but TWO recipes of Apple Crisp...because I was so adamant about using a lower-fat recipe. After the second one came out of the oven after an hour looking a little mushy (causing Brady to ask "Did you even bake this, Dear?"), I decided to finally give in and follow his Grandma's recipe, High Fructose Corn Syrup and all. (And yes, it's scrumptiousness was worth every ounce of preservatives)

 

 And if it looked like we had too much food, it's because...we did. But isn't that week of no cooking worth having the fridge stocked for a bit?

 

Dearly Baked Cakes

 

Retirement, here we come - one cake at a time.

The entreprenuerial powerhouse that formed when an opportunity uber-achiever asked an I-love-to-create-everything-yummy-and/or-cute extraordinaire to marry him should not suprise anyone. In fact, after Grandma Dearden mentioned that she increased her liquid assets last Thanksgiving by selling pumpkin pies, Brady and I sifted through, creamed over, and whipped up business plans until (drumroll, please) Dearly Baked Cakes was finally formed (yes, that is a hyperlink to the blog of decadence right there).

 

This past weekend's first ever Tasting Party was so much fun we forgot this was work! Ok...Monday afternoon no longer felt like work. But Friday through Monday morning had enough measuring, toothpick-poking, and KitchenAid bowl washing to make one postal (or shall I say...'pastral?' Bwahahaha!).

 

Yes, Brady thought it would be humorous to photograph my breakdown for "future posterity"

 

 

 

Before the guests arrived, we set out each cake before a recently-sharpened Wustof knife and a brief description of the layers, filling, and frosting. This party showcased the Signature Hot Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cake, White Coconut Lime Cake, Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake (my favorite!), White Christmas Cake, and Melt Away Red Velvet Cake. Seeing the spread of cakes, along with our adorable tasting records and signs (that Brady was so kind as to print off for me!) made every round of dishwashing worthwhile.

 

As our first guests walked in, we explained the tasting records and invited them to fill out the cards for whatever cakes they tried. The winners' circle? Melt Away Red Velvet, Signature Hot Chocolate, and White Christmas.

  

 

And...speaking of Christmas, our Christmas stockings came in! If the FedEx man wouldn't have run off so quickly I would have hugged him, I was so happy. The moment they went up, so did everything else pertaining to Christmas - I even switched out the Wallflower in the living room to one of our Christmas scents. Yep, the Dearden home officially looks, smells, and (if we are snacking on leftover White Christmas Cake, that is) tastes like the holidays.

 

Day 3: Almost Home!

 Leaving our cabin was a bit sad, but the vacation-planner extraordinaire (i.e. ME!) planned so that there would be plenty to look forward to following our departure.

Goodbye, water wheel

King Kong apparently wasn't too happy about our quitting the area. Who knew that the outskirts of Gatlinburg were so touristy? Driving through it on our way out was like Panama City, but on a packed Tokyo subway...and with hillbilly families in the place of spring breakers.

Now that's spooky.

And speaking of spooky, the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens was celebrating two of my favorite things - Halloween and Hispanic culture!!! Ok, so Dia de los Muertos isn't exactly Halloween. Actually...it has much more of an Easter-esque focus than my beloved final day of October, but they use skulls and grave sites so bear with me for a moment.

The Taco Truck...Ah...Mission Sweet Mission :)

We loved this event!!! Ok, well actually, I loved this event, and bounced from booth to booth learning and doing all that I could, while Brady lovingly assured me, "It's ok Sweetheart, I'm sure I'd feel the same way if it was an Oktoberfest." We watched live dancing, listened to Mariachi bands, decorated sugar skulls, and read every single text panel to learn about this amazing holiday.

Ancestor Tree

Ok, so I didn't want to leave!!! But realizing that I still had an Art History deadline to meet - and a husband to feed - I relinquished my desire to camp out in the Botanical Gardens and acquiesced to a brief tour of the Art Museum on property.

And upon returning home? A quick pasta dinner and an early bedtime. Our "relaxing mountain weekend retreat" left us needing a bit of restful recovery.

Day Two: Sunrise to Sunset

When the Deardens work, we work. But when the Deardens vacation, we vacay. We woke up for sunrise with about...hmm...five minutes to spare. I then taught Brady that kettles truly do whistle when ready by singing "I'm a Little Teapot." He then taught me that he can make a mean cup of hot cocoa for a chilly morning in the mountains.

 

After a hearty breakfast of Greek yogurt and cocoa (breakfast of champions), we stopped off at a local arts & crafts district for some shopping.

And, after encountering a homemade candy shoppe, we decided to add a mid-morning snack of chocolate-covered pretzels, fresh lollipops, and bottled cream sodas to our agenda.

 Between a pilot and an Art History major, neither of us could really figure out the trail map for the Smoky Mountain National Forest. So I walked into the closest store to ask for a recommendation. Before long, I realized I was in a liquor store. Am I old enough to be in here? was my first reaction, and from the raised eyebrows the shaggy guy behind the desk gave me, I figured his feelings were mutual.

He did, however, recommend what turned out to be a truly beautiful hike. Though definitely not for amateurs (i.e. me, who is the only one in our marriage who does not regularly engage in 13 mile ruck marches), Ramsey Cascades was worth every ounce of sweat:

 

Pretty fall foliage :)

Lunch break in the middle of a stream

Pitas...which were eaten in haste to avoid sharing with bears

Sunset in the mountains...even more beautiful than photos :)

We made it!

 Six hours and eight miles later, we were hungry.

Like...really hungry.

So we went back to our cabin, changed into cute clothes, and checked into a yummy restaurant on the side of the mountain.

Tackling an entire pound of cow

 
Brady used our time waiting for a table to tell me the history of the Alamo, which was great timing, because we were so famished and the food so incredible (or maybe the food was so incredible because we were famished) that the moment our food arrived we barely noticed each other! But by the time we left Alamo, our tummies were happy and our eyes gazing at one another's once again.

Day One: Homecoming

 The Monday prior to Brady's return, I received a phone call that went a little something like this:

Brady:  Hey Sweetheart, it looks like I'll be coming home on Thursday.
Me: [inside and out] Yay!!!!!!!!!!
Brady: And...I also found out today that we have a four day pass for the weekend! I won't have to come back into work until Tuesday, how do you feel about taking a trip?
Me: Wow, yes, of course! Where do we want to go?
Brady: Hmm...wherever you want to go, Darling. How about you surprise me?

And so from there I began my very first experience as the family vacation planner extraordinaire...

...In some families, this is called the "Mom."

And, as with all firsts, I learned a few things. I learned that a hotel's listing price is not the real price - there are menacing fees behind those seemingly benign numbers. I learned that TomTom's ETA does not account for my numerous bathroom stops - especially when we have to check out a few gas stations before one meets my standards of cleanliness. And, I learned to check time zone boundaries - sharing a state does not always mean that we share the hour.

Day One of our trip together began at 0200 (I've officially mastered Army time, by the way) with a welcome home party for Brady. We had everything a party needs at 2 am - glizty decor and lots of unhealthy food. I had a "kiss" (from Hershey, not me) for each morning and night that he was gone, since he missed those kisses at JRTC. After catching up on some needed rest from training, Brady set out with me on our "surprise" trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!

Credits to Pinterest for "Military Homecoming Ideas"

A five hour car ride is like a trip to the store when you have catching up to do with your bestie. We didn't even have enough break in the conversation for The Five Love Languages audiobook I had checked out from the post library. We decided to just check it out for another trip...we had dinner reservations to catch:

Bistro 109 filled our tummies with Chicken Parmesan and our ears with live piano covers. In one evening I was serenaded by Phantom of the Opera, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and, of course, my recently-returned husband Brady. After a winding drive up the mountains, we were checked all in our cabin and snuggled up for the night.