But I digress. Chris and I thought it might be fun to share our reflections, experiences, and general whereabouts of 2012 with our fans and followers. After all, this was a momentous year for us: it was our first year following the completion of the Year of Living Unofficially. It’s hard to believe 365 (wait…366; it was a Leap Year!) days have passed since we reached our final goal on 12/31/2011, National Champagne Day. No more self-mandated daily celebrations. No more daily blog posts. Just life, as it had been before our project was ever conceived.

So what have we been up to during that time?

Let’s see. I had my 10 year “workiversary” this year, which makes me feel really old. But I’ve been with my company so long that work feels almost like a second home and I’m glad I’ve got to see the business grow and change so much over the past decade. It’s given me an opportunity to grow and change with it.

Chris still loves his job in DC. It’s a pleasure to see him so excited to wake up just because he’s looking forward to a day of work. The idea is actually a little foreign to me. I’m not a morning person, so there are very few things that actually make me excited to leave our cozy nest of blankets. I realize all of this will need to change when we have a crying infant down the hall.

Admittedly, we expected that Leap Day would be home to all sorts of strange and weird celebrations.  But after a little research we determined that the most agreeable “unofficial” to fall on February 29th is National Surf and Turf Day.  It wasn’t exactly the type of exciting celebration we were hoping to find for this uncommon day, but hey, at least Surf N Turf Day gives meat-loving Americans an excuse for a decadent dinner!

The term was “surf and turf” was first used in 1966, though the SkyCity restaurant in Seattle’s Space Needle claims to have used the name since the 1962 World’s Fair. Surf and turf refers to an assortment of dishes that combine seafood and meat.  Common examples include combos of sirloin and lobster, or beef steak and shrimp. Popular in pubs and steakhouses alike, it is the epitome of extravagance, often joining the most expensive foods on the menu.  So perhaps it is not such an awful coincidence that National Surf and Turf Day only shows up to empty our wallets once every four years.

To celebrate this leap day’s “unofficial” Chris and I had dinner at Red Lobster. Unfortunately, Chris had to work late so we were a bit tired during the feast, but as we whipped out the camera to take a picture for tonight’s post it brought back a flood of memories.  We enjoyed a lot of outings, a lot of dinners, and a lot of new experiences together in 2011.  So — just as National Champagne Day was the perfect way to celebrate our triumph on New Year’s Eve — National Surf and Turf Day was a great chance to enjoy an extravagant meal in celebration of everything we achieved last year.  And though I dined mostly on mozzarella sticks (with an obligatory nibble of our friends from land and sea), Chris embraced today’s “unofficial” with a hearty appetite that ultimately emptied a generous plate of lobster and steak.

And now, back into retirement we go — back to our regular lives, unofficial or otherwise!

As the flame of 2011 dwindles to a mere ember, our year of living unofficially is also drawing to a close. Over the past few days Chris and I have had several discussions about the end of this project. Like so many other things in life, as it ultimately comes to it’s end we are met with mixed, almost contradictory feelings. On one hand, we’re both looking forward to the deletion of a “daily must.” It would be an outrageous lie to claim that this blog project has never added any extra stress or worry to our daily lives. It would be a lie to claim we’d never had an argument over who should write the post or which “unofficial” would be the most fun to celebrate on a given day. And it would be a lie to claim that we aren’t fully ready to embrace the sense of relief accompanying the fact that we can take a break from writing for awhile.

But on the other hand, we’re sad to say goodbye. We’ve gained some followers and friends along the way, and we’ve done things together that would never have happened under other circumstances. I mean…we ate lox! And caviar! Two fishy things I swore I’d never touch with a ten foot pole! But more than trying new things, this year of living unofficially showed Chris and I that we can truly work together as a team. Hundreds of hours went into planning this project, designing our website, sharing the idea with others, and, of course, celebrating each and every day. It wouldn’t have been possible without both of us pulling our weight, and supporting each other when the other was unwell or lacked motivation or simply needed a break. I can’t help but feel that surviving this year of living unofficially bodes well for our future success as a team, as a couple, and — one day — as parents.

You’ll never catch me without a box or two of baking soda in my cabinets. As I’ve mentioned before, I love baking, so there’s no way I’d survive without a supply of sodium bicarbonate! And, as I confessed last month on National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, we only get rid of refrigerated leftovers every two or three weeks when we go to the landfill. Thus, a box of de-oderizing baking soda is a definite must for our fridge! Indeed, baking soda is so versatile, I’m considering trying some new uses for the simple compound. Specifically, my beloved KitchenAid pots and pans are starting to get a little greasy and hard to clean, so I’m going to try celaning them with a baking soda paste after their next use. I also have a little tarnished silver I want to hunt down and try to polish (admittedly, it’s there’s not muchs, as I usually buy stainess steel for this very reason…no fancy people here!).

All of these aforementioned uses are exceedingly domestic and practical. However, in celebration of National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, Chris and I decided to utilize our baking powder for FUN! Thinking back to our grade school projects and science fairs, we created our very own erupting Mt. Neigh! We considered scuplting the volcano from leftover Play-Doh but Chris pointed out that we didn’t have that much left and we decided that, when it comes to Mt. Neigh, size really does matter. So we opted for alumnium foil as our medium and Chris used his artistry to create a mountain of a respectable size. Next, we filled Mt. Neigh with appropriate amoutns of warm water, dishwashing detergeant, and baking soda. We colored the mixture with a little raspberry flavoring and, finally, we added vinegar and watched Mt. Neigh ERUPT!

I’m definitely a planner. It’s a quality that I know Chris appreciates when it comes to things like getting the bills paid, scheduling our dentist appointments, and keeping our household in order. But at other times I know it can be really, really annoying. For instance, I am constantly coming up with projects I’d like us to do around the house. And when we don’t have the time, energy, money, or ambition to start or complete those projects I complain about it. I’ve worked hard to separate the wish-list “some day” fantasy projects from those that will actually help us lead more efficient lives. And that work shaped four of the major goals I’d set for 2011:

1. Clean out the basement
2. Organize the tool shed and garage
3. Organize my home office
4. Clear out my email inbox

Unfortunately, goals 1 through 3 are going to have to carry into the new year. Although we’ve made progress on all three they still aren’t complete. But I think we’ll be finding a little extra time on our hands when our year of living unofficially is over so I don’t see why we can’t have these completed by this time next year. At least I hope so. Right? Anyway, I’m setting priorities and creating a plan of action since I’d really like it all done before we add a new Neigh to the family. The last thing I need is to lose the baby’s birth certificate in the great black hole I call my home office.

I always enjoyed playing cards when I was a kid. When I was really little I used to go visit my “Grandma” Helen (a resident at a local retirement home I’d “adopted” through Girl Scouts), and we would play Gin Rummy. When I was a little older, sometimes my family would play Poker after dinner, usually for five cents a hand. Flash forward a decade, to my college years, when the only card game I knew anymore was “Asshole,” a drinking game that I was oddly good at for someone who drank so little. Sadly, I’ve forgotten most of the card games of my youth. Now, on the rare occasion that Chris and I play a game our Xbox is usually involved.

Card Playing Day came just in time to rectify our electronic dependency. I’m not saying video games are evil, but we do lose power quite often in this neck of the woods, so its probably not a bad idea to “have a few extra cards up our sleeves.” And this evening Chris and I were already in a celebratory mood: my last work day of the year was last week, but Chris’s last work day of 2011 was today! Now we have a few days to relax, let loose, and finish up this year of living unofficially before life goes back to normal! So, when Chris arrived home this evening, we heated up some holiday leftovers and got busy learning the rules of Gin Rummy. I remembered how much I liked that particular game when I was young so Chris kindly agreed to learn it with me.

Our friend Deborah, who helped us kick the year off at the Mummer’s Day Parade, is visiting with us tonight and while discussing today’s holiday with her she said, “Fruitcakes are one of those things you either love or hate…unfortunately most people hate them.” All three of us asserted the fact that we side with most people when it comes to fruitcakes. Personally I find them absolutely revolting. In fact during our talk about fruitcakes I stated that I think they are one of the worst foods ever invented. I’ve tried fruitcake a few times before and it has never really done anything for me. The taste, texture and it’s look just aren’t right. Why it has become a traditional holiday season treat, I have no idea.

In the spirit of our blog, as well as the holiday itself we thought we would suck up our hatred for the fruity “delight.” Between the three of us, we DID finish our Bauducco mini Panettone Specialty Cake. Whether we enjoyed it is another story. ‘Tis the season!

Tomorrow is my second, and last day, of work for the year. Hopefully I can convince Brittany to stay up late and play some Texas Hold ‘em or Blackjack. Tomorrow is Card Playing Day.

There are so many wonderful things about the winter holidays and many of them happen to be delicious treats.  Every year there’s an abundance of fudge, glasses brimming with egg nog, and an assortment of cookies and pies.  But then there are also the simple sweet pleasures: candies like taffy, ribbon candy, and of course, candy canes.  Chris and I have been known to consume an unforgivable number of candy canes during winters past.  He really likes the off-beat flavors that come in gaudy, un-Christmasy colors, while I prefer the traditional peppermint variety.  And although he can suck on the same candy cane for a substantial length of time, I’m a chewer and end up going through mine in just a couple of minutes.  Either way, we both love candy canes.  They’re sweet, they’re delicious, and they’re versatile — anybody who’s had Chick-fil-A’s Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake knows how excellent any drink is once it’s topped with crushed candy canes!  And candy canes even make great swizzle sticks!

So, now that I’ve gone on and on about this mouth-watering candy, here’s the surprising thing: Chris and I somehow made it through Christmas Eve, and even Christmas Day this year, without eating a single candy cane!  I guess we were just so busy getting ready for the Christmas Eve family gathering we hosted, that we didn’t take any time to enjoy the season the way we usually do.  Most years I like to spend as much time as possible in the living room, cuddled on the couch while the fireplace blazes, with the Christmas treee twinkling and a cup of hot cocoa (candy cane swizzle stick preferred) in hand — not behind the vaccuum cleaner.  

I not sure if I can remember a Thanksgiving or Christmas without pumpkin pie. It seems as though it is a requirement for any sort of gathering after mid to late November. I won’t complain though, pumpkin pie is probably my favorite type of pie, closely followed by my father’s pecan pie. I even enjoy a nice pumpkin pie milkshake when I can find them.

We were fortunate enough to celebrate today’s unofficial with our family. Brittany and I woke up this morning, and after getting ready for the day, exchanged stockings before starting to prep for our annual Christmas brunch with our immediate family. After eating and exchanging gifts we came got ready to visit some family at my grandmother’s house. Earlier in the morning we alerted my parents on today’s holiday. We were going to bring a pumpkin pie with us to my grandmother’s but my father informed us he was planning on making a homemade pumpkin pie. Of course we didn’t argue with him, homemade is always better than a pre-made frozen food right? After everyone overstuffed themselves at dinner, we all gathered in the living room to take it easy for about 45 minutes before it was time for dessert. Three types of cookies, two different pies, whipped cream; it couldn’t have been any better. The pumpkin pie however was the dish everyone kept raving about though. Thanks Dad!

Tomorrow we will continue our gluttonous feast and consume even more sweets. Tomorrow is National Candy Cane Day.

This evening Chris and I hosted a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with our families. We were fortunate to share plenty of food and fun with some of our favorite people. And one of the staples of any great Christmas celebration is an abundance of yummy egg nog! We were so excited about tonight’s egg nog that we made a special call to Chris’s mom this morning to see if she could pick up some extra rum for it on her way over. And it’s a good thing she was kind enough to agree — we ended up drinking it all! I had a small glass or two, but Chris ended up having several. In fact, he spent a small portion of the late evening a wee bit intoxicated from his rum-heavy nog. Now he’s dozing on the couch, a Christmas cutie. I don’t think he’ll be hung-over, but if he is we’ll treat his headache with some Christmas morning mimosas. I love this time of year!

Tomorrow is the big day: Christmas is our favorite “official” holiday. And we’ll be enjoying a little pumpkin pie with our Christmas feasting, in honor of National Pumpkin Pie Day!