my unnamed blog.

xmas numero dos

2012-01-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

the next morning we had our traditional christmas at my mom's house. like usual, my mom spoiled us rotten and we all got a bunch of great gifts. here are some of the highlights...

typical isaacson christmas tree... fatter than it is tall. and i love it.

awww pretty mama :)

an ornament my mom got tommie. if you can't read it, it says 'we interrupt this marriage for hunting season.' haha.

isaacson tradition: everyone gets booze as a gift

my booze :)

missy's first isaacson christmas. i think she enjoyed herself.

the super cool brewers artwork that my mom got tommie.

a red tea kettle. yay!

the fam comes to visit

2012-01-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

ok so admittedly i'm a little behind on my blogging again. so let's travel back about a month in time to begin catching up...

the weekend after christmas my brother and his wife missy were in town so my aunt, cousins and first cousins once-removed (aka my cousin's kids) came to visit at my mom's house.

we ate, drank and were merry :)

in order of appearance (aka left to right): my aunt barbie, missy, paul, my mom & my cousin stephanie

my cousin chad, his girlfriend marissa & my handsome hubby <3

paul & missy... so cute :))))

stephanie's sons christian and bennett. i love them. so frickin' cute.

this is what happens when you give tommie a baby. i'm slightly concerned about the well-being of our future children...

christmas day

2012-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

christmas morning tommie and i quickly opened our stockings before heading out for another jam packed day of family activities. as many of you know, last year tommie failed miserably at stuffing my stocking. i'm happy to report that this year he did much better :)

our first stop of the day was at tommie's parents' house where we enjoyed brunch & gift opening.

nothing like a screwdriver to start the day off right!

gifts for everyone :)

our next stop was to fall river for my mom's extended family gathering. the festivities included a visit from santa (played by one of my cousins), eating, drinking and of course card playing. i must have been too busy to take pics. the highlight for me was when my mom and i whooped my cousin and his girlfriend in a couple games of euchre.

on the road again...

our final stop of the day was back to our house to watch the packers game with my mom and dad. go pack go! a perfect way to end the christmas weekend :)

my brother even got in on the party thanks to the modern marvel of skype :)

christmas eve

2012-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

christmas eve was jammed packed for us as usual, but it was worth it for all the fun family time. the evening started out with church at tommie's grandparents' church downtown madison. after church, the entire piller/rittman clan went back to his grandparents' house for dinner and gift exchange.

family pic in front of our christmas tree before church <3

tommie with his mom and aunt gretty

tommie's bro dave and his cousins kalley & hannah

tommie's uncle greg & aunt kit

tommie's grandpa bill opening a leg lamp (a la A Christmas Story)

after we finished at his grandparents' house, we went back to my dad's house to open stockings and gifts. i got some great gifts including foldable, red ray ban sunglasses from tommie and a green bay packers stock and some clothes from my dad.

my super awesome sunglasses. i'm obsessed.

i'm an official owner of the green bay packers!

tommie also got some awesome gifts including an automatic tinting welding helmet and some other tool thing that i can't remember from my dad and a foosball table from me (which unfortunately now means that i'm going to have to learn how to play).

looking good...

tommie and i got my dad some clothes from l.l. bean, a new badger hat and a beard trimmer (exciting, huh?).

my dad modeling his new sweater

a hat that fits his giant head... it's a miracle!

scoops or daggers??

2011-12-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

does anyone else agree that eating tostitos scoops is really painful? don't get me wrong, they're great for picking up salsa or queso dip, but i can't help but feel like daggers are stabbing the roof of my mouth every time i take a bite. major FAIL.

jenna's joy of the day

2011-12-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

i'm not sure if you love amazon.com as much as i do, but today i discovered something AMAZING. not only do they sell groceries, but you can set up automatic delivery for items that you eat all the time. there's FREE shipping and you get a 15% DISCOUNT for signing up for the automatic delivery. so now every 6 months i'll get a pack of 6 boxes of my Kashi cereal for under $16 (roughly $2.65 per box). at Copp's it costs me $4-$5 per box. if that's not awesome, i don't know what is.

an interesting mix of spicy & sweet

2011-12-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

So I was browsing Crate & Barrel's website when I should have been working this morning and I stumbled upon this... Jalapeño Lemonade Mix. I love jalapeños and I enjoy a cold glass of lemonade every now and then, but this does NOT sound good to me. Would YOU try this?!?

go pack go!

2011-12-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

two sundays ago tommie and i were given two FREE tickets to the packers game. it was a 3:15 game, so we headed north mid-morning, got into green bay around 1 and met up with jeff and erik for a few cocktails before the game at a bar that had some of the most delicious fried cheese curds that i've ever had. the game was a blast and naturally we stomped our opponents to the ground. my only complaint is that lambeau doesn't have nearly enough restrooms. i mean, don't they know how much i have to pee when i've been drinking?!?

my sexy husband & i <3

me and the boys on our way into the stadium.

the happiest place on earth :)

i have a super cool video of the drummers that we found near the concessions during halftime, but i can't figure out how to post the damn thing, so you'll just have to take my word for it ;)

movie recommendation - crazy, stupid, love

2011-12-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

if you're looking for a good movie to watch, i highly recommend crazy, stupid, love. it stars a lot of good actors including steve carrell, ryan gosling (yummm...), julianne moore & emma stone. it has a great combination of comedy and romance and was just and all-around heart warming story.

and here's a little eye candy, just because...

a christmas carol

2011-12-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

last friday my mom and i went to see the opening night performance of a christmas carol at the overture center. and it was GREAT! thanks again for taking me, mom!!

badger game!

2011-12-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

the weekend after thanksgiving my mom, dad, brother and i all went to the badger football game. it was a rainy gloomy afternoon, but the badgers kicked a$$ so it was a good time. while we were all at the game, missy and jerome went to see a movie. after the game, we picked up a rocky's pizza (yummmm) and went back to my dad's house to eat and have a few more beverages. jerome even got a belated birthday gift from my dad.

don't mind the chocolate all over jerome's face.

yep, that's my dad.

i may be biased, but i have the best family :)

thanksgiving

2011-12-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

i hope everyone had a fabulous thanksgiving. i know i did with the help of my dad, brother, sister (in-law) and nephew. here are some of the highlights...

two not-so-confident-looking chefs

delicious stuffing and a homemade apple pie courtesy of missy

my dad and jerome :)

the newlyweds and jerome as we're about to dig in to all the delicious food!

love this pic <3

after dinner we decided to burn off some calories at the nearby elementary school playground.

weeeeeeeee!

thanks for having us, dad! and thanks to everyone who contributed to the amazing meal. i love you all!

new christmas stockings!

2011-11-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

new stockings and a tree skirt for the whole family! now i'm definitely in the christmas spirit :)

my birthday :)

2011-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

opening gifts from tommie on my actual bday.

a couple days after my birthday i got to celebrate with my dad and tommie's parents. we went out to dinner at babe's

after dinner we went back to my dad's house for gift opening and cake (isn't that a cute cake?)

the following saturday my mom came over to our house for some more belated birthday celebrations

family photo op! (please excuse my cat. she doesn't always look that possessed.)

i got to open more presents. i'm so spoiled! but i wouldn't have it any other way :)

more cake! just what we all needed. dairy queen ice cream cake is so delicious though!

thanks again to all my family & friends for all the birthday love!!

paul & missy's wedding... part 4

2011-11-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

the day after the wedding missy's parents had a party for the newlyweds that involved eating, drinking and a Scottish Ceilidh. for those of you who don't know, a Scott Ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering that involves lots of dancing (to learn more, click here!). all the dances were led by one of the guys in the band and while some of the dances were an epic failure amongst the group, we still managed to have a super fun time and dance the night away.

my mom and aunt barbie were a little pooped from the night before and chose to watch most of the activities from the comfort of a chair.

paul, his friend nick and my dad taking a shot (of whiskey i believe). you know, it's what real men do.

missy and my cousin sheila :)

this was the first dance of the evening. you better believe we were just getting warmed up.

the night was filled with these types of shenanigans. and i loved every minute of it!

jerome left his jacket behind at the party. i just had to keep it since it fit so well.

the final stop on the journey of paul and missy's wedding was a brief brunch at a delicious cafe/bakery on sunday morning before everyone headed out of town. unfortunately, paul sent tommie and i to the wrong location so by the time we showed up to the right place everyone was just about done eating and my hangover had set in so badly that i couldn't eat. i spent the next 5 or so hours (mind you, this was my birthday) bent over in the car and making periodic pit stops to puke. a somewhat tragic ending to an otherwise absolutely wonderful wedding weekend. i couldn't be happier for my brother and my new sister-in-law.

i love you both so much! <3

paul & missy's wedding... part 3

2011-11-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

part 3 of the wedding festivities was the most important.... the ceremony and reception. both were held at a beautiful old manor in the historic district of st. paul. admittedly i didn't get a ton of great photos because i was too busy enjoying myself :) but here are a few...

my mom helping missy get dressed

jerome having some fun on the light pole outside

tommie fraternizing with the photographer (who also coincidentally is one of my best friends)

paul & missy's first dance (i love this photo!)

me and my cousins

paul & missy's wedding... part 2

2011-11-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

on the morning of the big day (friday, oct. 21st) all of us ladies gathered at the salon where missy works to get beautified. missy's co-workers were nice enough to close down the salon to other customers so we had the place all to ourselves. for a couple hours we were able to relax and enjoy getting all done up while enjoying starbucks and then mimosas (because really, what is a wedding morning without a mimosa or two?).

p.s. anyone in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area should check out the salon. it's called Head to Toe - the place has a super cool vibe and all of the stylists (missy included!) are super talented :) if i lived there i would make her do my hair all the time...

Check out their website!

paul & missy's wedding... part 1

2011-11-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

my brother and his fiancé (now wife) missy got married two weekends ago. it was four days of fun-filled, action-packed activities. on thursday we started off the afternoon with manicures and pedicures to pamper ourselves. the best part was that the salon gave us a bottle of champagne to drink...cheers!

missy and the champagne :)

missy's sister leslie and leslie's mother-in-law

my cousin sheila, aunt barbie, me, missy & my mom

on thursday night we were all treated to a pseudo-rehearsal dinner (i say pseudo b/c there was no actual rehearsal. yay!). dinner was at a delicious thai restaurant that's owned by leslie's good friend. they served the food family style, so we got to try a little bit of everything. it was all super delicious! (note to self: i must find good thai restaurant in madison)

the happy couple :)

me and my boo <3

my dad and bro... doing a little accessory switch-a-roo.

my beautiful mother and my bro

stay tuned for parts 2-4 when i get around to it...

movie recommendation!

2011-10-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

last night tommie and i rented the movie Bridesmaids. it was super funny and touching at the same time. and it's definitely not a chick flick... tommie was laughing harder than i was most of the time. i definitely recommend you all see it if you haven't already :)

http://www.bridesmaidsmovie.com/

p.s. happy halloween!!!

tommie's birthday

2011-10-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

october 17th was my wonderful husband's 27th birthday. the day before his bday we went to my mom's house for dinner, cake & gift opening. the next night we went out to dinner at Abuelo's with tommie's parents and then went to my dad's house for some more cake and more gift opening. he's such a spoiled little boy. but he deserves it!!

badger football game!

2011-10-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

two weekends ago my wonderful dad took me to the badger football game. it was a cool, sunny fall day. the game was a huge blowout (i couldn't even tell you who we played against) but we still had a great time.

after the game we met up with tommie's parents at a nearby beer garden. don't be fooled by that mike's hard lemonade in my dad's hand. that was mine. and yes, it was gross.

next we made out way to babe's bar & restaurant where tommie, his bro dave and dave's girlfriend sam met up with us. we ordered food and drinks (naturally) and unfortunately i ended up with some really disgusting nachos.

our final stop of the day was back at tommie's parents' house where we continued to drink away our brain cells while tossing around a baseball, playing video games and watching sports on t.v. amongst other things.

party shenanigans

2011-10-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

while us girls were throwing missy a bridal shower, the boys were at the badger football game. after the game and a brief stop at a bar or two, they joined us back at our house to continue the party. as drunk as everyone was, i got some surprisingly good pics :)

me and my dad (with a hint of goggly drunk eyes)

my handsome hubby and i <3

my three favorite guys in the whole world :)

paul's facial expression #1

paul's facial expression #2

ok we get it, it's time to go home. party's over.

such a fun day. i love my family.

missy's bridal shower

2011-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

the weekend of sept. 24 my brother and his fiancee missy came home to visit. part one of the weekend was missy's bridal shower, which was thrown by yours truly and my mom. basically we had the shower at my house and i did the decorations and my mom brought all the food (everything except the cupcakes... i made those myself thank you very much). we opted out of the regular lame bridal shower games and instead just opened gifts, ate some delicious food and chatted.

the beautiful bride-to-be. notice the awesome 'bride' button that i forced her to wear :)

decorations and cupcakes!

my mom and some of my aunts

cutest cousin EVER! i love babies.

lisa & derrick's wedding

2011-10-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

wheew... so september kind of got away from me. i apologize to all my loyal followers. it seems that we were busy just about every weekend and i never blogged about all our exciting activities. so here goes....

mid-september we went to tommie's cousin lisa's wedding that was held in appleton. if you don't already know, tommie's dad's family is big into drinking and can get rowdy with the best of them. there was also an open bar, hard liquor included, ALLLLLLL night which only added to the shenanigans. the highlight of my night was when tommie's dad somehow got ahold of a cowboy hat and then proceeded to bust out some crazy dance moves while wearing it. i literally laughed for about an hour.

tommie and his mama

greg, rachael & roxanne

me and my hubby

jim and the infamous cowboy hat

the entire wedding was a blast. my hangover the next day....not so much.

dress for wedding!

2011-09-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

i got my dress for paul and missy's wedding... it's super cute! it's black and from j.crew (who could have guessed, right?) i can't wait to wear it! now i just have to find shoes....

t-minus 41 days until the wedding! yay!!!

taste of madison

2011-09-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Over labor day weekend Tommie, my dad, my stepmom Kate and I ventured down to the square for the Taste of Madison. We met up with Tommie's mom, bro and sister in-law and we all sampled some beer (duh), crab rangoon, pulled pork sandwiches and cheesecake among other things.

After we had our fill of wandering around through the crowds the four of us headed to the Great Dane where we devoured some delicious nachos and some more beer (another duh).

We ended the night back at our place where my dad and Kate got their first taste of an in-home 3D movie and then we all watched a plain ol' 2D movie. It was a super fun day all around!

trip to MN

2011-08-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

this past weekend tommie and i took a trip to good ol' minneapolis, mn to get in some quality time with both of our families. on friday night we hung out at my bro and missy's house where we got to meet their adorable new puppy nita!

banana splits with homemade butterscotch (courtesy of missy) were on the menu for dessert. as you can see, jerome clearly enjoyed his :)

on saturday we went to the twins game with tommie's dad's entire extended family to celebrate the 30th birthday of his cousin. our group totaled nearly 50 people (wow!) and things got a little crazy.

after the game we walked around downtown minneapolis for awhile. the initial plan was to get dinner somewhere, but every place we stopped we ended up just getting drinks and moving on to the next spot.

on sunday morning we went for a really nice long walk with my mom, bro, missy and puppy nita. there was beautiful scenery and it was the perfect activity to do before we hopped in the car to make the long journey back to middleton.

weekends like this make me feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. i love you all very much!

new car!

2011-08-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Good-bye Jetta...

Hello new car!!!!!

yesterday tommie and i traded in my jetta and got me a new mercedes benz (ok, it's not new new, but it's new to me). it's a bit flashy and maybe a little unnecessary but i LOVE it! yay!!

invitation!

2011-08-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

yesterday we got the invitation to my bro and missy's WEDDING! isn't it pretty?!?!

now i just have to decide if i'm going to go or not...

JUST KIDDING!! we'll be there and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

go brewers!

2011-08-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

this past saturday my dad was kind enough to take us to the milwaukee brewer's game. as you can tell from some of the pics, it was a somewhat dreary day, but that didn't stop us from tailgating and having a spectacular time! grill master tom whipped up some delicious cheeseburgers to go along with our chips, beans, fruit salad and BEER.

brewer's tennis shoes... obviously.

and we'll finish this post off with a pic of braun's beautiful rear end :)

oh, and in case you're wondering... the brewers won 1-0.

thanks again for taking us dad!!!

concert in the park

2011-08-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

last wednesday was the annual concert in the park in middleton. we went with my dad, my mom, tommie's parents and tommie's grandparents (aka 'nana and papa'... aren't they the cutest?)

it was an absolutely beautiful night to be outdoors listening to music, drinking wine and hanging out with our wonderful family. at the end of the night we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show that's better than most you'll see on the fourth of july (i'm being serious).

you say tomato, i say tomato...

2011-08-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

i hold in my hand the very first tomato to come off our one and only tomato plant this year. isn't she a beauty?

right after this picture was taken i sliced it up and made a tomato sandwich. yummmmm.

happy anniversary to us!

2011-08-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

well folks, we did it! tommie and i made it one year as a married couple! in honor of our first anniversary, we decided to take a trip down south to chicago for the weekend. here are some of the highlights:

after getting stuck in some major traffic (due to the MLS soccer game), we finally made it to our hotel. of course, the first thing we did was pop open a bottle of wine (courtesy of my in-laws). cheers to us!!

after walking up and down michigan avenue for awhile, hanging out on the beach for awhile and stopping for some tasty beverages, i gave in to tommie's pleas to open our gifts to each other. mine... a shiny new Michael Kors watch. i die for it.

and for tommie... a new iPad! although, admittedly i might regret buying him that. he never puts the thing down.

side note: there was a GIGANTIC spider with a MASSIVE web on the window of our 21st floor room. yucky yuck yuck

later that night we went out for dinner and drinks at a somewhat swanky restaurant called Tavern on Rush. the food was delicious and the company was so-so. j/k, he's the best :)

the next day when we got back home we feasted on a cake from the bakery where we got our wedding cake (same flavor too - raspberry chocolate...yummm)

All in all it was a fantastic weekend :)

sun & fun

2011-07-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well.. I'm getting a little behind on my blogging responsibilities. But I swear, I have a good excuse; I've just been having too damn much fun enjoying all the beautiful weather and fun outdoor activities that summer brings! Here are a few pics from what we've been up to over the past couple weeks. Enjoy!

celebrating father's day at tommie's grandparents' house (aka nana & papa's :)

later that night, celebrating father's day with my one and only daddy (note all the delicious food and giant bottle of vodka)

celebrating my mom's birthday at my aunt barbie's house in brandon, wi. it also would have been the 60th bday of my late uncle larry who passed away a few months ago. he was an awesome guy and everyone misses him tremendously.

enjoying the beautiful weather during the 4th of july weekend and partaking in some pool activities with the entire piller family.

over the 4th of july weekend, we had the pleasure of meeting dave's new girlfriend (i know, right?!?). her name is Sam (short for Samantha) and she's really cool. we all had a great time getting pretty hammered at our house.

at my mom's house on the 4th of july. we grilled out burgers and my mom opened her belated bday gifts (opening presents is hard work, eh mom?)

That's all for now! Be back soon :)

happy father's day!

2011-06-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Happy father's day dad!!!!!!!!

i looooooooooooove you!

a little late...but some memorial day

2011-06-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

i know i'm a little late... but here are some pics from our super fun memorial day weekend

saturday night we enjoyed some good food and drinks with tommie's parents at my dad and kate's house.

sunday we headed out to my mom's to grill out and hang out with my aunt and cousins. look at those two little ones... cutest things ever!

rain garden

2011-05-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

last weekend tommie and i planted some new plants in our very own rain garden in our backyard. isn't it beaaaauuuuutiful?!?

to be honest, neither of us know diddily squat about plants or gardening so by next year we could be starting over at square one...but i'm going to keep my fingers crossed ;)

trip to Minnesota

2011-05-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago my hubby and I made the looooooooong haul up to Minneapolis to see my brother, his fiancee, her adorbs son Jerome and their new HOUSE. Friday night was pretty low key... Missy made some delicious ribs (which my bro almost ruined by putting in a pan of standing water), we played some Playstation Move and we consumed some alcoholic beverages.

The weather was mighty shitty on Saturday but we managed to still make the best of the day by going out for a delicious brunch (where I discovered a new love for white cheddar cheese... yumm!), driving around looking at mansions on the lake & going out to dinner, amongst other things.

On Sunday morning we had the luxury of sleeping in (because the little guy had spent the night with his dad) and then we shared some tasty pancakes courtesy of Missy before we hit the road to make the journey back to Middleton.

What a wonderful weekend. Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my big bro :)

Paul likes beer. Beer is good.

Zelda, the bizarre cat who likes to sit on shoulders (but always the LEFT shoulder)

Sweet shades man

Doin' the wheel barrel

Paul, Jerome & Bear Bear Pear

Me and my boo

Tommie and Spider Man do the crab walk

mother's day

2011-05-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

As you know (or you should know!) this past Sunday was Mother's Day. To celebrate, on Saturday night we had my momma over to our house for some good food, cold beverages, a little gift giving and some good ol' fashioned movie watching.

two of my favorite people <3

My beautiful mom in one of her new outfits :)

Grilled hanburgers courtesy of Tommie, corn on the cob, pasta salad and some fresh fruit.... yumm!

me and my mom. she's so pretttttttty.

On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day and my father-in-law's birthday at Tommie's parents' house. We enjoyed a delicious brunch and then lounged around outside in the nice weather (a little too nice perhaps... I ended up with a mean sunburn)

Chillin' on the patio and opening gifs.

brooke's photo

2011-05-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

Brooke, my amazing business partner and photographer extraordinaire, was published on National Geographic's website! She entered a photo of the day contest and was selected out of what I can only imagine was thousands of entries. And what's even cooler is that she is one of the few winners who isn't a National Geographic photographer.

Check it out at National Geographic's photo of the day!

brooke's birthday!

2011-04-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last night a bunch of us went out to celebrate Brooke's 27th birthday (which is on May 1st). First we hit up the Comedy Club and saw a hilarious stand up comedian. I had never been before and it was super fun, so I'm definitely going to have to go back again! After that, we made our way to Paul's Club for a few beverages and finally ended the night at Merchant bar (which unfortunately is super loud and reeks like fish...blah).

All in all... a super fun night with some of my closest friends.

And a very happy birthday to Brooke!

me and the birthday girl :)

Northey, Brooke, Hanson, Kiley

Hanson, me, Northey

McKenzie, me, Brooke

my sweet hubby

2011-04-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

happy friday!

tommie has gone up north to spend the weekend 'working' on his shack with his dad and brothers. so that has left me all to my little ol' lonesome.

but he's an amazing husband and i was lucky enough to come home to this sweet little note :)

easter 2011

2011-04-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter :)

I was a bit upset that there was no Easter egg hunt...

but I did have some wonderful company

and a delicious rack of lamb that my mom made!

good times with old friends

2011-04-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I was lucky enough to get to hang out with some old friends that I hadn't seen in awhile... Caroline, Colin & Bennet. Caroline and I had dinner at Biaggi's and then met the boys at Colin's parents' house to hang out for a bit (and watch the Brewer's lose).

Good times!

welcome!

2011-04-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

blogging looks fun, so i've decided to give it a whirl.

welcome to my life :)