Thursday, December 29, 2011

Candy Canes and Bubbly

Hope you are ringing in the new year with sweets, bubbly, and surrounded by your besties!  
Cheers to all of you and wishing you a healthy and happy 2012!

For those of you that requested a pic of the sweater...one last (and only two of two) what I wore photos this year...and because it just happened to be taken by a professional photographer (thank you Brian)...just like the first.


Signing off for 2011.

MUAH!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Wearing your heart on your chest

Hearts are my favorite shape.  Always have been.  I just adore their big red boldness.  And it seems that this is a great time for the romantic shape as heart sweaters are popping up all over the place.  I recently saw a tutorial on making one, so you know they are big right now.  I wore a similar black with red heart to our holiday office party and loved the pop of festive red.  Of course I had purchased it that day and this is how the conversation with my husband, who met me at the party, went:

H:  "Ahh, new sweater?"
M:  (silent)
Friend from work:  "No, I've seen her wear it before, remember she got it last year for Valentine's Day..she thought you would like it."


Gotta love a friend who can whip out that answer...and we all got a huge laugh out of it!  It's the running joke between me and the hubs when he ask if something is new (and I'm not sure what it says about us or me, but who cares, it's just fun).  Best answer yet was in response to a hat, "Yes, I got it at Walgreens"

BTY
Add caption

Back to the holiday hustle!





Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Perfect Holiday Red!

Second annual post about holiday reds!




The perfect holiday red.
Essie Shade:   Wild Thing
Give yourself an hour break from the hustle, go get a mani




The perfect holiday red.
La Vieille Ferme
big wine at small price of $13.99      




The perfect holiday red.
M&M Red on these easy holiday treats
Great time consuming & fun activity for the kids





Monday, December 19, 2011

The holidays put me in the mood to watch these two movies, not The Grinch, A Christmas Story or any of the holiday classics.  Just a glass of red wine, my barefoot dreams blanket, and a good chick flick are all I need for a cozy escape from the holiday bustle.




Friday, December 16, 2011

You Rock!


Rocks collected at the beach + magnets + alphabet stamps + gorilla glue = perfect little student made gifts for the teachers! 
Add a gift card and it's done!

last year's wrapping
All thanks to these alphabet stamps!

Last Call

Last call for Keihl's mineral mascara.  Apparently, Kiehl's is taking it off the market to focus on their facial products.  Hoping this is true and not a rumor spread by the man behind the Kiehl's counter at Saks in a strategical ploy to get me to stock up, because I did.   I'm going to have to purchase a few more though to refresh my stock until I find its replacement.  I've posted about my other favorite mascara but I like to use a mineral base for everyday use!  Any suggestions?



Ok, I did not mean to post this...misfire.  But since it's already out there...

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Perfect little gifts


I love this flower in a can for a perfect little gift for $15.00!  Great for stocking stuffers or adding a sweet little touch to an end of the year bonus for the sitter.  Great hostess gift.  Just cute all around and I have heard, from people I have given them to, that they do bloom.  My sister n law still has her, fully growing and blooming from three years ago. 

west elm alphabet mug
$6.00
Last year, one of our stylists gave everyone in the production office an alphabet mug with the letter from our name.  It just added a personal touch to the gift.  Plus, I love drinking a nice big cup of joe of out it!



Fun holiday shades for the girlie girl!


A year of cookie cutters
$24.99
For the baker!

Just a few ideas I'd share if you find yourself scrambling for ideas, oh and the gift itself!



Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Triple Tri

Have you ever competed in one of these events?  I am sure you have, so please share your triple tri experience.  Here's a little recap from mine the other day!  The transitions were tough, but I pushed on through.  And the event started pretty early...a little too early for my liking.

LEG ONE OF THE RACE - 5:45am start (and I am including my times for each event)
-Make coffee and drink one cup - 15:01
-Fix breakfast for the kids - 17:02
-Get kids dressed, check backpacks, pack lunch - 24:10 - this is where i lost some time - i was struggling


LEG TWO
-Get myself shower and dressed 7:34 - i whipped through this part
-Run kids to school - 5:30  - i actually had to walk this part - phew was i tired
-Volunteer at school, wrap and organize gifts for the giving tree - 59:10 - this took much longer than anticipated

TRANSITION:  Mommy to Working Woman (transition was tough, i felt like i already finished the race, but it was only 9:15am and I had another entire leg to go- someone in the crowd handed me a paper cup of coffee - threw out a little "you can do it" and I was off to the next leg.

LEG THREE
-Work a full 9 hr day  - 9:00 duh
-Run to car, drive as fast as possible to make my son's first piano recital - 10:20
-Make it to recital just in time - THANK YOU  green lights - and shed some tears at my son's first ever anything on stage and in front of a large group of people 30:00


TRANSITION:  Back to Mommy - my easiest transition

LEG FOUR - ok, it was more like  a quadruple tri - and they didn't give me times for these ;)
-Bath
-Bedtime stories
-Bed




Yes, it was an all day race, but I made it!  Tell me about your latest race?!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Fudgy Oatmeal Goodness



Going to a cookie exchange party, want to make something for that special someone, and forgot to build this baking time into your schedule?  Oh, like I did!  Try this recipe, besties.  These are no bake, no fuss, cookies that turn out tasting delicious.  And the very best (and worst) part, you can eat the dough right out of the bowl because it doesn't contain eggs.  Good old fashion lick the spoon, eat a million calories in two seconds, feel guilty that you haven't been to the gym goodness.  Recipe found at this beautiful baking blog, BrownEyedBaker!


 2 to 3 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes  (yep, follows my 10 and under rule)
Cooling Time: 30 minutes (who cares on cooling time, really.  you've already moved on to another task!)
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1. Add the first four ingredients (through the cocoa powder) to a 4-quart saucepan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute. I didn't let boil for a full minute (just brought to a boil) on my second batch and they were better, not so dry.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.
5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets.
6. Let cool until set.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Think we could add a few extra weekend days to this month?
Otherwise, I'm going to be pulling some good old fashion college all nighters.


Speaking of calendars....this Snow and Graham wall calendar hangs in my office at work and is the perfect office gift.  Despite all the "e" schedules we have, I still reference this for a quick date reminder.  Now, if it could only remind me to get that field trip permission slip in on time, order the teachers' gift, sign my daughter up for ballet, not to miss my lunch volunteer day at the school.....well, you get the point.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Clementine Candle


Have you seen this tutorial? What a great idea for a little holiday party!
And I'm going to try it as soon as I can carve out an extra hour in my day, which will probably be at about 4am when I wake up stressing about all the things that need to get done.  Besties, I know I have a lot of reading to catch up on, so I'll be stopping by soon.  xo