Meet George Hanna

Introducing the latest member of the Hanna House.....12lbs 4ozs...it's GEORGE

He was born on November 1, 2010 at Break of Dawn Kennel/Breeder here in Richmond; his mother is named River and his father is Super....see below for pics...

George's Mom - River

George's Father - Super

Brian and I picked him up on Sunday December 19th at 11AM.  It was a freezing day when we were introduced to two sleepy male black lab puppies.  We asked the breeder to help us find a low drive (less hyper) dog - from the start, it was clear that one of the puppies was more calm than the other (known as Wags - his tail did exactly that!).  While at Break of Dawn we played and took pictures in front of the random outdoor lighthouse, then it was the first car ride home to the Hanna House.

Such a sweet Christmas Gift

Just got home - think I'll hang here between the shoes

Baby Gates have been set up in the Hanna House so George has limits

Check out those huge paws - he is going to be a big boy

Life with George is wonderful - we get a little less sleep and are exposed to the elements for frequent bathroom trips - but all is all we got a good Dog!

Elf You

It's that magical time of year again - time to Elf Yourself....
Check out this one I made for my mom - in preparation for Christmas, her favorite elves like to boogie!

Christmas Cards for our Soldiers

Send a free Holiday Greeting to a US Soldier -

Xerox has a site where children have created cards that you can select and send for free to overseas US military personnel.  It takes only two minutes and will send a note of thanks to those who are risking their lives for our freedom - click here to send a card....two of my favorites are below....

God Bless America

Free Christmas Tunes

Target has a FREE Christmas album for download here.  Warning its an album of originals which I always think is a bit strange.  One of the things I love about Christmas songs is that you know them by heart and only get to listen to them for a month...or as my father calls it....the month when his favorite radio station (light 98) turns Holiday and he rides around listening to his Jay and The Americans CD.....

Another great way to listen to FREE holiday music (old favorites) is PANDORA - love it - especially the holiday station I created using Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas...check it out.... definitely makes rocking around the Christmas Tree more fun!

The price of being tacky?

One of our favorite parts of Christmas is the annual Tacky Light Tour - we got out of the gates early this year with a trip with The Stevens to see a few the first weekend of December (after an El Cap Fiesta of course)....

While driving around we got to talking about the cost implications of being a truly Tacky Light house...well luckily HouseLogic breaks it down here.

To light this house for example:

1,000,000 bulbs were the average 5 watt C7 bulb. Assuming the lights to run for 4 hours each night and 30 nights in total.....the estimated cost came out to be $686/hour  or $82,320 total. YIKES!  
Note - If they use LEDS, their estimate would drop down to $89 hour and $10,680.


It is amazing how much money these families are dishing out to get into the Christmas spirit!  To check out houses in Richmond...use this guide from Richmond.com.


Our favorites are 8202 Shelley (tune your radio to 99.5) and Asbury Court (two houses - mother/son)....

Santa Came Early

Santa came early to The Hanna House....first check out how the first snow dusting of winter....love our house in the snow...that red door really pops...

Now...take a peek through those front windows and you will see what Santa brought us for Christmas....

Curtains!  We...I mean Santa...got a great deal on these beautiful curtains at Impulse an amazing consignment/fine furniture store next to Bernies (yum!) in the Tuckahoe Shopping  Center.

Yesterday was Installation Day - and my wonderful husband did a great job installing the curtain rod and helping me to hang our new window treatments...

Mr Fix-It

Our finished product!
Window treatments can be outrageously expensive - by finding pre-made (and previously owned) curtain panels and ordering a curtain rod on Overstock.com - we were able to save hundreds of dollars and still get a beautiful refined look!

GLEE Christmas Tonight...Darling

FA LA LA LA!

Things Kate Loves

Kate Spade just released a book "Things We Love" - and there is a preview online....check it out here.

Although the Neiman Marcus Group bought a majority stake in Kate Spade in 1999 and then bought out the Spades in 2006 in order to sell to Liz Claiborne for $124 million in 2007 - the brand still has a simply fun sophistication that always makes me want to visit their boutiques and covet their latest handbags, shoes, and baubles!


The book (at least what is showcased online) is a really cute look at finding inspiration through simple pleasures - a few of my favorites....

I weirdly love the Cha Cha Slide....Slide to the left....Slide to the Right...Criss Cross - Criss Cross - Cha Cha Real Smooth

Hello...check out my profile pic - Brian and I had a photo booth at our wedding - and it was a blast!

Confetti makes me happy!

Happy Hanna Holidays!

I'm back - things were nuts in November...with this post I hope to return to my regular Hanna House updates and random blogger thoughts!

To kick off December - check out these pics of the Hanna House's first Christmas Tree - the arrival and finished product...

Yes - this is the earliest we have ever gotten a tree (11/28) -but we just love the real thing (can't beat that smell) and wanted to enjoy our Frasier Fur throughout the entire month!

Arriving from our Tree Lot - on top of the borrowed Jeep

Decorated and ready for some rocking....

My sister-in-law and her family gave Brian and me Christmas ornaments as our wedding gift -  it was such a thoughtful gift and made our tree decorating even more fun as we discovered all of the gorgeous ornaments that had been stored at Mom and Dad's since March - look closely and you can spot two "H" balls featured....

25 Days of Christmas begins today! "Tis the season to be Merry....well that's my name"

It's time to meet my muppet....

Last week while in NYC for work - a rep took us to FAO to create our own Muppet Whatnots.....it was a blast and my Muppet (his name is Melvin) has now taken up residence in the Hanna House...

How it works: You select body color (green, blue, or orange)...eyes, nose, outfit, and accessories....then while you shop (or jump on the giant piano in our case) your Muppet Whatnot is customized and put in a clear backpack carrying case (complete with the puppet wand)...see below...

Mine is the green one in the Hawaiian outfit 2nd from the left

Melvin attracted lots of attention not only during our apres puppet whiskey bar drink outing - but on the plane back to RIC...he was precious carry on cargo.....but was too large for under the seat in front of me and was forced to ride in the overhead bin...it's not easy being Green!

5 Muppets, 4 New Yorkers, 3 Agency Gals, 2 Reps, 1 Out of Towner

Can't make it to NYC - you can create your own here!

Get my heart racing, in my skin-tight jeans....

......be my teenage GLEE tonight
Teenage Dream next Tuesday... yippee...

Easy as Pie?

Can you believe it's already November?  Last weekend The Hanna House were in Northern, VA for Sara and Bill's wedding.  In honor of fall, Sara was so clever and wanted to have pies to fit the season instead of cake...see below...

Love the details - the cute chalk board signs and canisters full of pie filling to indicate which pie is which....and since they were mini....it was easy to try all four varieties....too cute!

Needless to say this was a huge hit at the wedding!  Congrats Sara and Bill - fun that they will have a anniversary tradition of pie every October 30th.


After the wedding it was home for more harvest activities - we carved our pumpkin for Halloween.  We were a little short on time this year so we went with the classic two tooth jack-o-lantern....sort of look like he's about to take a big bit out of that curvy gourd....

.....And had some visitors....Michael, Bridget (the bee...bzzz), and Laura

Guess its time to start think about Thanksgiving!

Q: What do you use to mend a jack-o-lantern?

Answer: A Pumpkin Patch

We are three days away from Halloween which means its time prep your costume, stock up on candy, practice your Monster Mash, and of course make a seasonal treat!  The Hanna House baked traditional Pumpkin Bread this week to get in the autumn spirit...this recipe was easy and super delicious...

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

3 cups white sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

NOTE - The Hanna House altered the recipe and opted for two regular loaf pans (9x5) instead of the 7x3 mini loafs (mostly because that's what we had on hand) - turned out perfect!
ANOTHER NOTE - Make sure to look for pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling - I had a difficult time finding the real deal - Martin's and Kroger only had the filling - finally found it at Wal-Mart

I just love the gorgeous orange color and the spicy aroma - our house still smells of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Ginger....enjoy!

We GLEE a little Christmas....

Last Christmas (Mary - do the dance!) one Glee holiday song was released.....this year a full album is being released on 11/16/10....three weeks prior to the Glee Yuletide episode (airing on Dec. 7.)...line-up of songs below....

1. We Need A Little Christmas (Jenna Ushkowitz, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer)
2. Deck The Rooftop (Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Kevin McHale, Heather Morris, and Jenna Ushkowitz)
3. Merry Christmas Darling (Lea Michele)
4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Chris Colfer and Darren Criss)
5. The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year (Chord Overstreet, Mark Salling, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Jenna Ushkowitz, and Heather Morris)
6. Last Christmas (Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz, and Chris Colfer)
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Lea Michele, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, and Jenna Ushkowitz)
8. O Christmas Tree (Matthew Morrison)
9. Jingle Bells (Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, and Kevin McHale)
10. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (k.d. lang and Morrison)
11. Angels We Have Heard On High (Amber Riley)
12. O Holy Night (Lea Michele)


This news should not trump Rocky Horror Glee Show tonight.....but it is interesting that they released the news of a Christmas album on the day of their big Halloween show....guess they are taking a cue from the rest of the retail world (Ben Franklin, Wal-Mart, and Home Goods were decked out this past weekend) and jumping the gun on the holiday season.....all pumpkins and orange/black candy will be officially replaced by next Monday with  dancing Santas and peppermint sticks....where did Oct go?!?

Don't Fence Me In

Sorry Bing Crosby....looks like the Hanna House is going against your recommendation and may fence in our backyard!

Yesterday we got an estimate (talk about sticker shock) - and were surprised by not only the price...but how many fencing options are available....

Decision 1: Fence Type

Vinyl 

Picket

Privacy

Horizontal Board

Aluminum

We are thinking a picket fence will best compliment our cape cod....

Decision 2: Post Style

Flat...French gothic...Wyndam...Williamsburg...Beveled and notched

Decision 3:  Fence Height  (This will of course influence your price)
4 Feet seems to be the standard except if you have a pool or want the privacy fence

Decision 5: Do you want the exposed posts to face you - or the neighbors?

posts facing you

posts facing the neighbor

Decision 6: Spacing between your rungs

1 and 1/2 Inch Spacing (we are considering 2" for cost savings)


The fencing company recommends looking around the neighborhood at other fences to decide on the style we like best....will keep you posted on the final decision....

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer....

In this crazy social media world - who are your closest connections?  Well hopefully not your enemies but - there are tools on Facebook to show you how your friends "rank" based on your interactions on the book....the one I use is Touch Graph....see below for my social web....

As you can see my biggest networks are work(TMA), JMU, and UVA....and my closest FB friends are the largest bubbles - Meghan, Marty, Lauren, Claire, Mary, and the hubby.  When you roll over specific friends it will show you their web of friends within your graph...pretty cool...

Once you get the application - you can go see it any time from your homepage....just click on Touch Graph (below the other place you click all the time - photos)...

Who is in your #1 Facebook friend?  Does it line up w/ your real life?

Let's do the time warp on Tuesday....

The Rocky Horror Glee Show is next Tuesday. I'm kind of surprised Glee is covering it - pretty edgy of a mainstream show to take on 35 year old movie about a transvestite's wacky castle...

I have not actually seen the full movie...so in preparation the Hanna House has plans to on-demand it this weekend...(NOTE -this may come as news to Briguy)

Glee has released the full Time Warp video below....looks astounding...

Brian passed the Bar!

Funfetti for all!