Busy Bee

December always seems to fly by... but the last two weeks have been especially crazy!

I am still in a boot post bunion surgery but am taking every opportunity I can to take it off and crawl around rather than use my crutches and lug that boot around! (Gwen loves to call me her little cat and condescendingly pet my head, she has also figured out that I am frustrated and slow and learned to work this to her advantage. She is great about helping me carry stuff, or grabbing things for me, I am paying for it though. In all sorts of treats and presents and new toys. Smart girl.) However, I am still incredibly slow moving anywhere, and ten times klutzier even than normal. I have become pro at wearing my purses across my body despite how heinous it looks so they don't slip off my shoulders while crutching around. (I am also developing Madonna-esque arms from this whole situation, also heinous.) And these last two weeks were not the weeks to be moving slowly.

Starting right after Thanksgiving it seemed as though I had something planned for every single night! And while I have enjoyed going out to amazing dinners, seeing lots of friends, celebrating the Englishman's birthday etc. I am starting to feel like if I look at my calendar one more time I will go cross eyed!

Starting last weekend we went to Sonoma to start celebrating the Englishman's birthday a little early with some friends. It was rainy but gorgeous and it was so fun to hang out with friends AND I am pretty sure I only fell one time!

Rainy Benzinger

Mmmm! Susiecakes!

The following week I had dinner in Los Gatos with a friend, dinner in SF with friends on two different nights, got my stitches out, and had lots of silly surprises I needed to pull off for the Englishman's birthday.

Nick's on Main, Los Gatos

Heaven.

No more stitches means I can get my foot wet! Showers! Showers! YES!!

54 Mint, SF

Go eat their gnocchi NOW. Amazing!

Balloons with photos of some of our best dates in the Englishman's apartment - first birthday surprise... looked better on Pinterest... see below

I wish people on Pinterest weren't so much better at pulling off their own ideas

The Englishman had a great birthday on Friday if I do pat myself on the back! (PS on his actual birthday I posted all about him but someone got a bit blog shy so I didn't post a link anywhere... if you'd like to read it click here!)

I wish I was allowed to take pictures of how handsome he looked, or us at lunch at one of our first date spots, or the dinner we were underwhelmed with at Fleur de Lys, or at his surprise birthday party that night! (Thanks everyone who came, and kept it a surprise - if only I was more stealth!) He hates photos though, and it was his birthday so just know all those things happened. Oh, and that I do not recommend Fleur de Lys. The restaurant is gorgeous, if a bit stuffy, but the food was only so so and overwhelmingly rich. Bummer.

The dress I ended up buying for the Englishman's surprise party. I am not sure how surprised he actually was...

Saturday I squeezed in time for lunch with my two favorites.

And a bit of Christmas shopping. Ok, a bit of buying everything Christmasy for myself at J.Crew. Ok, a lot of buying everything I rationalized as Christmasy at J. Crew.

On Sunday the Englishman and I had a great time at the 49ers game! It was just chilly enough to wear my new scarf but not the cute matching hat to be fun and cuddly and our seats were amazing! I was grateful for the chili dogs to warm me up, and being close enough to the field that I got use the bathroom outside the locker room - walking halfway around the stadium and down one million stairs to get to the field was torture, no way I could go back up just to go to the bathroom! Oh, and I am grateful for a sweet boyfriend who waited patiently while I crutched up and down and all around the stadium to our seats, and for the few times you grabbed me by the scruff of my puffy vest to save me from eating it down the stairs!

Pre-game shot from our seats!

He took two pictures! It was a Sunday afternoon miracle!

Now it is time to focus on decorating my house for Christmas - including getting our Elf on the Shelf out - I am SO behind this year, buying presents for everyone and surviving this upcoming week/weekend with four Christmas parties, a lighting ceremony, final exams, three dinner plans with friends, and seeing musical the Book of Mormon. (Santa B also has to find time to sneak to the Englishman's everyday and drop of his 12 days of Christmas presents, he is leaving me soon to go to England for the holidays and I had to start yesterday to get all 12 days in!) Phew! Wish me luck!