The Leslie- Billings' Winter Wonderland Wedding

What a wonderful weekend it was for a wedding! Brett and I arrived in Moline, IL about 3:30 on Friday. We attended the rehearsal dinner that night at Johnny's Steakhouse - FABULOUS!

Brett stayed out and celebrated the end of Jason's manhood until 3 am and had the best time. Saturday was filled with chilly weather and a nice walk around Moline. Not much to see but we did a little shopping and had a nice lunch. My favorite part of the trip was the leather couch in front of the big stone fireplace where we sat and (tried to) read. It was so relaxing!

The wedding ceremony was lovely with a full Catholic mass. Afterward we took the shuttle to Rock island Arsenal for one the most elegant wedding receptions I have attended. It was filled with various size dinner tables and cocktails tables decorated with white Christmas trees. There were passed hors d'oeuvres and a meat carving station and make your own pasta bar for dinner. Delicious!

The night was filled with much dancing and celebration! When we left the arsenal, it was like a scene from a movie - big white sow flakes falling to the ground! We celebrated for a bit more at the hotel bar until we finally called it a night. Congratulations to Natalie and Jason...may they have a lifetime filled with happiness!

At the end of the night, everyone was left asking, "Who is that guy?"

Happy Turkey Day!!!

To all of our family and friends we would like to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. Brett and I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many friends; we have so much to be thankful for this year.

Thanksgiving was quiet, just Brett, Cari and myself for dinner. We ate a late breakfast and watched the parade. Much of the day was spent perusing the ads for Black Friday...I don't even know where to begin.

Thanksgiving dinner was quite possibly one of the best meals I have ever had. Brett made a turkey that not only looked like it should be a Buetterball commercial but tasted better than any turkey I have ever had. To compliment we also had Apple Cranberry Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Baked Corn, Cranberries, and Rolls. It was a meal fit for a king or better yet for the Clancys.

And now...the process of making such a memorable meal.

Brett preparing his bird.

Brett placing his bird in the oven.
The table is set.
That is one good lookin' bird!


Ready to eat...

Aaaaaaaaand done!

The fight for the wishbone...

I won!

Can't take us anywhere

OK, so last Friday night Brett and I went out with Adam and Liz. We had an AMAZING dinner at Cafe Iberico, a Spanish Tapas restaurant in the city ( I could maybe get you there but I am so bad with street names). The food was so good and the Sangria even better. I think Brett is really starting to like this tapas thing. Funny thing about this restaurant is that on their TVs is Spanish broadcasting...right in the middle of dinner there is a program (in Spanish) and all we can see is that the people on the show are gutting the inside of a some board looking thing from its rear end to its head. Ummm, I have never been to Spain, but I am pretty sure in the US this is not your run of the mill dinner TV. Anywho, we left the restaurant with full tummies and went to...ummm...really I just drew a blank on the name of the bar, something with a B. Maybe Liz would be so kind to post and fill me in where we were. Well, we had a few drinks and I decided to take the camera out and what happened from there I do not know. The result was a lot of pictures of 2 well educated 20 something females and 2 moderately educated 30 something males doing a lot of dumb things...

Christmas Card Dilemma

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is deciding what will be the Clancy Family Christmas Card. Since Brett and I got married we have always sent a photo card and we try to be a little creative. However this year, w ear a bit at a loss....Here is what the past years have produced...

Christmas '05, Feliz Navidad

Christmas 'o6, Sitting on Santa's Lap

Christmas '07, a Clancy Family Photo

So...any thoughts for this year???

Just another day in the life...

Brett finished up his dental work today so I again get a free day off. Unfortunately I left my camera cord at work and so a real post from last weekend will have to wait because the pictures are a must. We had dinner with Liz and Adam on Friday night and just had the best time. On Saturday Brett went into the office and so I ran some errands and got a head start on some Christmas shopping. I also went to Super Wal Mart to get some Thanksgiving groceries...my, oh, my, is that place a mad house! Sunday was quite productive as we finally got our new storm windows installed (and by we I REALLY mean WE did it!). The week will continue to get more and more hectic as we get ready for Thanksgiving and then on Friday we are off to Moline, Il for Natalie and Jason's wedding. Fortunately, Aunt Cari is the in house doggie sitter so Tucker and Lucy get to spend all weekend with her and their cousin, Hera!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Our first walk with coats on this year...

Weekend Update With The Clancy's

The Clancy Clan got together for a large chunk of the weekend. Saturday night we went out to dinner to Mullen’s in Lisle, a favorite of mine and Brett’s. Great place to hang out, good specials, good food, but terrible bands (we have now been there twice on a Saturday night when there is live music and the only word to describe it is loud). When we got home, Cari, Brett and I stayed up to watch SNL...JT did a music video with Beyonce that was way funny. The video won't embed so click here to watch.

Sunday we spent the day in PJs watching football. I ran to the grocery store in the morning to get some last minute things we forgot and ended up being there for about 40 minutes – every cash register froze and their entire computer system went down. I thought there was going to be a revolt because it was about 25 minutes before kickoff. Cari spent the night so the dogs were happy to have their cousin, Hera, around. They played so much Saturday night and Sunday morning that we were able to watch the Bears game in peace because they were exhausted.

Cathy came over for the Bears game and Mike and Shari (Brett’s dad and step mom) came over toward the end and stayed for the Steelers game. If you are from Chicago you know that this was a big game – Bears vs. Packers. Unfortunately the outcome went to the Packers not the Bears. The other favorite team in the house had some better luck. What a fantastic ending to a pretty boring game! They made history with an 11 to 10 victory…yes someone actually looked that up to see that there had never been an 11/10 final score in NFL history (something like 12, 000 games!).

As for the soup, I made so many appetizers that we weren’t very hungry. Everything is prepped and ready to be thrown together so maybe tonight!

And for those of you wondering, I exhibited extreme self control and only shopped at one store this weekend. That Kohl’s sale was well worth it! Brett got some faaaabulous new clothes and we are now sleeping on luxurious 800 thread count sheets. On a good note, I realized that some of the sales are still going on so maybe a stop on the way home from work today is in order. Let’s face it - I really have no control when it comes to a good sale.

Cute Family Photo!

I just couldn't resist!

Let it snow!

We had flurries today and by tonight, it is official...it's snowing. The dogs and the people of this house are not looking forward to the 6 month winters that seem to occur in the Chi!

For goodness sakes, we haven't even raked all of our leaves yet!

T.G.I.T.W.

Thank goodness it's the weekend...Have you ever heard the very confusing commercial where the guy tries to change the days of the week to make the weekend longer. You know the “Thursday is the new Friday” idea? Oh, how I wish there was a way!

Brett had a continuing ed class yesterday, so he was home early. Funny scenario: he told me how the class was via video shown at a law firm on the South side so there were only a handful of people. One guy read the paper the whole time, another read and texted, another tried to pay attention but eventually fell asleep, and another guy watched and then said he had to make some calls and never came back. Why do I not have seminars that I can do personal things (or LEAVE) and still get credit for it. Well, I am proud of Brett for bettering his career and paying attention.

So last night, he got home early and we decided to order pizza for dinner, shocker! Can you guess where it was from? You guessed it…is it bad that I know exactly how much it is going to cost before they give me a total? $15.60. I attempted to make Brett brownie cookies. New recipe that I did not read correctly and I am again reminded of the Golden Rule when it comes to baking: When you bake, you can not act like you are cooking and “adjust” ingredients/ measurements because that’s how you think it should be made. Baking is simple, as long as you follow the recipe. Needless to say my cookies are about as thin as a piece of paper.

We then ventured out to Jos. A. Bank to look at some new suits for the attorney of the Team. Well, Brett made “Roger’s” day - walked in, picked out three suits, and walked out. (I looked on their website for pictures of them but they are just all shown in black. He got this REALLY great one in a taupe color with light blue and almost yellow stripe running through it..very handsome! He also got a chocolate brown and black pinstripe.) Unfortunately, two of them are on back order and the one they did have has to be tailored, so, although he picked out the suits and paid for them, he went home empty handed. Shopping is not as much fun when you don’t get to bring your stuff home, but he is happy and that is all that counts. Plus, he looks quite handsome in his new threads!!!

Just so you know, I am posting from Saturday detention this morning. I must have done something rght this week because the kids are behaving like angels. I secretly fear that they are plotting a take over as in The Breakfast Club gone bad. ..

Dinner out tonight and football tomorrow…woo hoo!!