Good things come...

...to those who wait!

Thanks for your patience. Many things have happened in our little city life in the last week, and I'm excited to finally share them with you now:

UPDATE #1- Friday I (Alyssa) was invited to join the team of College Advisors at Truman College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago!!! This is my dream position at an amazing institution. The senior administrators and other staff members I have met so far are completely student-centered, progressive, and motivated to be a premiere student services staff. I can't wait to start my professional journey at Truman!

I will be attending the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, November 3rd, after which point, pending approval, I can start working full-time. Even though I'll only be there a few weeks before Baby C's big debut, I'm looking forward to learning more about the department and meeting Truman students =D!

Just before my first interview for this position, I was relishing in a great sense of peace. I had decided that this interview was simply going to be great practice for my future job search, and I entered the interview feeling very comfortable, confident, and calm- Mark and I agreed that I could back off from the job search and start looking again in earnest in March. If anything, this job offer has taught me that being genuine, relaxed, and confident in my "best self" really pays off.  Let's see where this adventure takes us!

UPDATE #2- Even though the job is VERY exciting, I'm sure this is the update you have all been waiting for.....

Baby C




is





a





little






GIRL!!!!!!!!!




Mark and I had an ultrasound yesterday morning and saw her sweet little face! She was busy sucking on her fist and moving her little legs around. It was hard to not be overwhelmed with emotion when the ultrasound tech told us that she looks completely healthy and normal. We can't wait to meet her!!!!!


For those of you who have asked: Our nursery colors are black, white, and dove gray- and now we can add a splash of PINK in for good measure! (not a lot, just a splash...) I have a pinterest board dedicated to nursery things, and I'm sure it will soon start to collect all things adorable and baby girl (as opposed to gender neutral as it is now...) We will be working on a registry this coming week/weekend, and I'll post that here for convenience as soon as it is up and running. 


*The rest of this post is a recipe, so if you don't like fall drinks, all things pumpkin, saving money on expensive lattes, or DIY success stories, you can stop reading here! ;)


Thanks for all of your support, encouragement, and well-wishes as Mark and I have navigated 2011 so far. We're so grateful for all of your in our lives, and we can't wait to keep sharing our adventures with you as we keep moving forward! 


***


UPDATE #3- This is nowhere near as important as the other updates, but I had several requests for the recipe for my homemade Pumpkin Chai Latte... so here it is!  This drink was inspired by my recent obsession with this drink: 

My version takes a few minutes to assemble, but doesn't cost $5 a cup! (which means less guilt when I make more than 1 a day!) 


You need: 
- a BIG mug! (milk expands when it is heated and frothed) 
- gadgets to brew loose leaf tea if you use the Argo brand. 
- milk frother (this is mine, and works great to mix and create foam!)


- Argo Red "Rooibos Chai"  loose leaf tea (You could use any other chai spiced tea, too. I plan to try black chai tea when I add caffeine back into my diet after Baby C arrives.)


- 6-8 oz. milk (I use skim)
- spoonful organic pumpkin (mine is Trader Joe's. I keep the rest of the can stored in the fridge) 
- squeeze of honey (to taste) 
- dash pumpkin pie spice

1) First, heat your water and start brewing the tea. I brew mine in a separate, small tea cup- it will be added to the milk later. This red tea is recommended to brew for 6-8 minutes, and it can be strong. There is no caffeine in red tea, and the milk tones the flavor down a lot.

2) Combine the milk, pumpkin, honey, and spice in the big mug (I fill mine about halfway). Heat (microwave is faster, stove works... but who needs extra dishes?!?!). This morning I heated for 1min on high.

3) Froth/Mix milk and pumpkin combo. Be sure to move frother from top to bottom of mug to completely combine pumpkin. Froth at an angle to pull air into the milk and create foam.

(Depending on temp- I often heat an additional 30-45 seconds. Just don't scorch the milk! ew.)

[ SAFETY NOTE: If you don't use all the heated milk in your latte, DO NOT save the extra to re-use or re-heat later. Throw it out and just make less next time! It isn't safe or sanitary to heat and cool and re-heat milk. Trust me. ]

4) Add brewed tea to pumpkin milk. Argo steams/froths their tea WITH the milk, so you could try to mix them before heating and frothing, but I like the foam I can get from milk when heated on its own. ) Top with dash of pumpkin pie spice if desired =)

Can we say YUMMMMMMY!?!?!?

Let me know if you try it, or if you have any improvements!

xoxo,

Alyssa