Halloween

For the past few years, we have been invited to Doug's friend's house for Halloween. These people go all out for their Halloween people and this year there were about 30 people in attendance. Each year, Doug and I go back and forth on what costume we can showcase. After much discussion and A TON of Internet browsing......we still had nothing. We ran out the morning of the party and went to all of the party/costume stores in our area. Luckily, they weren't totally picked over. Doug found an awesome pirates costume (for only $40!!!) and I found the cutest leopard costume that was not completely trashy.

We had a blast, as always, and are already brainstorming about next years outfits! :)

Doug's 27th Birthday

OLD TV:

NEW TV:

I absolutely LOVE surprises. And I love surprising others even more! As you all probably know, Doug is a HUGE sports fan! If there is any type of game on...Doug will be watching! Since we have been married, he has been checking out the flat screen, HD TVs. Every time we are at an electronics store, he wants to go over and watch the HDs. So, I decided I would surprise him with a flat screen for his birthday this year. I did a bunch of research (since I really do not know anything about electronics) and decided upon a 46 inch Sony Bravia. I ended up ordering it at the beginning of the month, thinking it would take a few weeks to ship. Well, it shipped REALLY quickly! I decided to hide it under the bed in the spare bedroom. It wouldn't fit under the bed while still in the box, so I had to take it out (with my Mom's help, of course) and shimmy it under. Even though I love surprises, I HATE keeping secrets. Especially from Doug! We tell each other everything so to keep something so exciting from him practically drove me crazy! I thought it would be fun to give him hints about his gift for a few days leading up to his birthday. It was SO much fun to see him guessing!

His birthday was on a Friday night so we went out to dinner. Anytime we go out for a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, holiday) we always try to go somewhere neither of us has ever been. My Aunt recommended this little place in Wayne called Teresa's Next Door. It is a really cool restaurant that specializes in Belgium beer. They had TONS of European beers that were imported. Doug just loved it! He had a Scottish beer called a Skull Splitter. Definitely not my taste!!! For dinner...he ordered the trio: Elk, Quail and Kangaroo. You can probably guess what I had. Yup....Chicken! (To my defense-I did try a bite of his dinner!)

Anyways, while we were at dinner, Ashley and her boyfriend came over to the apartment and set up the TV. They removed the old 27 inch dinosaur and put the new 47 inch flat screen in it's place. As we were walking into the apartment, I was videotaping. I was hoping to get his reaction without him realizing I was taping but he caught me just as he was about to walk in. And, of course, Louis BOLTED out the door. Little stinker.

Doug was very surprised and very excited. I don't think we have watched anything but sports since his birthday!!!