Holiday Hangover

B and I have begun our annual winter hibernation, but before we go totally off the grid, here are a few shots of our holiday celebrations!

Our tree - sorry it's a little blurry

Oh look - a new ornament!

Brandi*'s annual friend gift exchange

Brandi's cousin goes to Clemson, so it was a bit of a family rivraly at Christmas.

But we all know how this game went down ; )

Brady showing Brandi's cousin Sydney how to jam on her new guitar. Brady now wants one in pink too.

Sue's Steelers' Tree

Bi-Annual Brandi + Dana Fireplace Picture

We then departed for New Jersey for some more festivities with The Smith family

Smith Kids

Brandi's new desk accessory - a Hello Kitty Water Cooler!

Smith kids on NYE - we clean up well (Ryan's even wearing pants!)

Well there you have it folks! Our holiday update in photos!

We are looking forward to an amazing 2012 filled with fun, family and some awesome weddings of our dear friends!

Smithkowski Wordle

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Have you heard of Wordle? It's a site that takes the homepage of your blog and makes the words from the posts into a fancy graphic. I was showing fellow blogger Jason Sacks how to use this tool and entered in the Brandi & Brady blog and - voula! The Wordle Cloud above!

I thought I would share it with you all as we are VERY excited for some of the bigger words - Family, Friends, Traditions and of course Christmas and Trees! We can't wait to see all of you in the next two weeks!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Season’s Greetings from Brandi!

Being a newlywed (or old married, suburbian lady as some will call me), I’ve been thinking a lot about traditions during the holidays. While most traditions are passed down, but for my new husband and I, it’s never too late to start one!

Here are some traditions my family has:

· On Thanksgiving, after all the turkey is cooked and consumed (and the family has napped), we go bowling! I don’t know why, but that’s what we do and its fun! Brady participated this year!

· A newer tradition for the day after Thanksgiving that Brady has also adopted includes attending or watching on television the Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pitt (go Mountaineers!). This tradition can always change thanks to the scheduling gods at ESPN. Look at us here being nice to Pitt fans ; )

· Now on to Christmas, for the last five years, my close high school friends and I have had a gift exchange. This typically involves a theme (sparkly gifts, books, earrings, etc), dinner at a restaurant and then some libations. Another Brady spotting – for the last 3 or 4 years, Brady has been playing the role of Santa and assigning the names!



· When it comes to trimming the tree, I have some special ornaments that I put on the tree. For the last 30 years, my parents have gifted me an ornament with the date on it. Typically the ornament links to something I like at the time. Hanging them is always fun – you’ll see my collection of baby ornaments, sports, Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty, shopping and wine! Based on a tip from my friend Amy, we’ve started buying ornaments from places that we vacation to add to the tree as a couple.

· On Christmas, the Bonkowski girls are always extra good, so Santa comes to our house first and we get to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. Sometimes we are SO GOOD that he even swings by on the 23rd. Oh and recently my sister J Bo and I have brought back the cheesy tradition of wearing the same outfits (yes, we are well aware that we are both over 20-years-old).

I’d love to hear any holiday traditions that your family has!

Happy 2010! Let the Countdown Begin!

Happy Holidays from Brandi & Brady!

We are pleased to say that we had the opportunity to see many of our blog readers over the last two weeks on our trips to New Jersey & Pittsburgh. Here are some highlights from our trips.

On December 23rd, Brandi participated in her annual holiday gift exchange with her best friends from high school. It's amazing that we are able to get everyone together considering we live in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Pittsburgh! Bridesmaid Dana wasn't able to make it home, so we used Skype to have her join the party.

Holiday gift exchange: Steve, Bridesmaid Amy, Bridesmaid Melissa, Brandi & Brady

Next it was off to New Jersey where we spent some quality time with the Smith Family. We enjoyed a candlelit Christmas Eve Service and opened up a number of wonderful gifts in the morning.

Smith Family: (bottom) Amanda, Norbert & Sugar; Top: Brady, Brandi, Deb, Mike, Ryan

While we all enjoyed playing Super Mario Brothers on Wii, Brady's cousin Joey dominated Brandi in Toy Story 3D (shown here).

Uncle Jim, Jenna, Brandi, Joey and Norbert

After numerous petitions to "Save the Pearl," a local New Jersey Bar, it appears that this hometown favorite may be closing its doors to make room for a highway. Brandi & Brady were able to enjoy one final "Zombie," a famous Pearl beverage, before it closes.

Brady, Andy & Ryan enjoying Zombies at The Pearl

After enjoying some cheesesteaks from the famous "White House," on Tuesday we departed New Jersey for Pittsburgh in Brandi's sister's car (or as Brady calls it, the "J Bo-Mo-bile"). We enjoyed dinner at the most amazing BYOB in Western Pennsylvania, Sausalido, with Bridesmaid Melissa, her husband Brian and the Bonkowski parents. If you are a PA reader, you MUST eat here. Tell the owner, and future wedding guest, Nick that Brandi sent you (we go way back - he is a high school friend)!

Brian, Bridesmaid Melissa, Brandi & Brady

After fantastic dinner with family and friends at another BYOB (where we enjoyed bottles of Sangria brought back from the Renault Winery in New Jersey!), we rang in the New Year at the Bonkowski house. The party included lots of champagne, dancing and a slew of delicious appetizers!

The Bonkowski Family - Jillian, Lew (J Bo's man friend), Joe, Sue, Brady and Brandi

We are very excited for 2010! Not only will we finally be husband and wife, but the upcoming events will provide us with a number of opportunities to see our family and friends again soon!

Trick or Treat

Brady was Joaquin Phoenix from his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this year, and Brandi was a cupcake!