I started off the year as a recent college grad who was holding down three part-time jobs and trying desperately not to become hopelessly discouraged. Looking through iPhoto it appears that, besides working a lot, all I did from January to April was cook and eat. Which makes sense — I had no money and the Boyfriend was still in school — what else are a poor post-grad and a senior college student supposed to do in the cold Upstate NY winter? During these first few months of 2010, I did make scallops for the first time, jump back on the bacon bandwagon, and enjoy several lunches on our back porch, but aside from that there was nothing particularly new and noteworthy in the early months of the year.

April is when it all turned around for me. On the evening of April 1st — April Fool’s Day, mind you — I got a call about a job I had interviewed for in February. The interview had gone so well and I’d immediately clicked with the team, but funding fell through and so did the job. This phone call, however, signaled the rebirth of the job and the hiring of one very thankful Page girl! I’m currently exploring the Development side of non-profit work and I find it suits me well.

This spring brought me a new job and it brought a college diploma for The Boyfriend. And in keeping with the Spring Whirlwind, the Boyfriend, Roommate and I had to deal with the end of our apartment lease in May. The Roommate made plans to abandon us and move downstate to live with her boyfriend, taking Sid, her fabulous cookbook collection, and all of the clothes I used to borrow with her. Meanwhile my boyfriend and I struggled to find a landlord who was willing to rent us an apartment even though we have a dog. Yes, even dogs as cute as Jack are unwanted by landlords.

The stress of not potentially not finding a place that was okay with Jack’s size and overall canine-ness wore away at us throughout the spring until we finally found a gorgeous place in a quiet neighborhood:

I really love our apartment — the location, the size, the style. It’s really perfect for us and our growing zoo.

In June I turned 23 for the first time with the help of my family and some sombreros.

Compared to Summer 2009, July and August were fairly quiet. The gang made a trek north in August to do a little camping — our first group trip together.

And by “camping,” I mean eating, drinking, boating, swimming, eating, kayaking, campfiring, drinking, S’moresing, eating, and sleeping in real beds.

(Jack only went swimming twice: once when he fell off the boat trying to rescue the Boyfriend and as seen above when he ran into the water trying to rescue the Boyfriend and I from our kayaks. That’s puppy love.)

October was a banner month: the Boyfriend got his EMT certification, had a birthday, and carved his first Jack o’lantern.

Jack is so proud he’s fighting back tears.

My big moment in October was the 17th, when my sister and I took a supersecret trip up to Saratoga Springs…

…to get tattoos!

I was incredibly nervous, but it’s been a wish of mine to get a tiger lily tattoo for a few years now. Tiger lilies bloom in the summer right around my birthday and my dad brought my mother a bouquet when I was born.

The pain is not as bad as you think. The actual art of having someone draw on you is far more impressive than the sting of the needles. (By the way if you’re in the Capital Region and looking to get a tattoo, go to Needlewurks. They are professional, friendly, talented, and clean!)

My sister got a Linnea flower after her name.

As the months turned colder and cuddling became more necessary, I began to greatly miss my pudgebucket, Sid. So in November I dragged The Boyfriend to the animal shelter where we found Penny:  

Who, like her doggy brother, is an odd mix of lazy and crazy.

“Excuse me, are you gonna eat all that?”

To round out the year, in December the Boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary on Cape Cod.

And finally, Santa topped off the year nicely by bringing me one of these for Christmas:

(image courtesy of gdgt.com)

It’s love.

I’m watching L.A. Story which is one of my all-time favorite movies.

It’s hilarious and the ending is so sweet. It’s a feel-good movie that’s not too sappy. It means even more to me know because The Boyfriend gave me a copy for Christmas. I used to have a VHS copy but then my old VCR ate it (oh yeah, I still use my VCR!) and I was crushed. So The Boyf tracked down a copy for me! He’s so thoughtful!

Jack is looking bored. It’s so sunny out but the wind is a-roaring, which makes for very cold Albany weather. I want to take the monster to the dog park but that wind is making it difficult.

Pleeeease?

He’s so social and loves hanging out with his buddies. I’ll layer up in a bit and make the trek out into the arctic temperatures.

If my morning looked stressful, check out my afternoon: dog park, grocery store and meal planning for the week, and baking (?!). Phew.

After presents Christmas morning, my mother got to work on Christmas dinner.  The main course was Cornish game hens:

Jack gave her some cooking pointers.

As soon as the family arrived, appetizers went out.

Pita crisps, gorgonzola toasts with pine nuts, and smoked trout with dill dip on cucumbers.  Yum!

We opened presents while we ate:

Look at this pillow my sister made for my cousin’s family.

It’s so cute! She needs to open up a store ASAP.

Once every present was tore into, we moved into the dining room for dinner.

We started with arugula, pear, and parmesan salads topped with my mother’s vinaigrette.

This was incredible.  Next we had the hens with roasted potatoes.  There were Brussels sprouts, too, but apparently I snapped the photo before they made it onto the plate.

Dinner was superb, but everyone knows the highlight of Christmas dinner is the dessert.  There were several plates of Christmas cookies…

But the main event was this chocolate tart with macadamia nut crust and caramel drizzle that my mother concocted.  Hello dessert coma!

After chowing down on all this sweet and savory food, we were ready to take a cue from Jack and take a nap on the floor.

Santa was especially nice this year.  See that KitchenAid mixer? That baby is mine!

I immediately dug into it and offered to start mixing away. But apparently my mother has already made dinner…

Speaking of cooking, my mother made a pork strata for breakfast. Holy Christmas deliciousness!

You can also see my Christmas orange on my plate. We always get oranges in the bottom of our stockings, but we’re the only family I know of who does this.

My creative little sister made me Notes On A Page recipe cards! She is so awesome.

I gave my mother some framed photos as one of her presents.  From top to bottom: all of the Page girls pose during her wedding a few years ago, my sister and I years ago, and my sister’s high school graduation.

Jack had a busy Christmas running around like a hyper toddler.  Linnea and Jack Christmas shot!

Jack has that “I will not sit still!” look in his eyes.  I finally let him out in the backyard for some much-needed zooming.

No time to stop for a photo, Mom!

He has been out in the backyard approximately nine times today. Something about that fenced, no-leash-necessary yard just makes him even more bonkers than usual!

I’m blogging at the kitchen counter while my mother preps dinner.  Everyone else is preoccupied, leaving me with the arduous task of consuming all of the Christmas cookies.  But if anyone is up for the job, it’s me! My extended family is coming over soon to eat, exchange presents, and help me out with this cookie situation.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

I had so much fun doing this! For the sugar cookie recipe, I added a little almond extract to a standard recipe, and these turned out to be delicious!

We got all of our wrapping done, too.  Phew!

Jack admired the presents and tried to figure out which one belonged to him.

The Boyfriend and I are spending Christmas with our families, so we had a mini Christmas on Tuesday night.  And we took a family holiday photo, of course!

It took a few tries since Jack doesn’t believe in sitting still.