Christmas

So the past few days (weeks?) have been ultra busy for the husband and myself. As I am sure they were for you too. Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday, but even with all the cheerful festivities and family traditions, it is one of the more stressful times of the year. I hate to admit it, and I am sad Christmas is over, but I am also really, really relieved.

Now my living room *will* be clean again, my spending can go back to being *somewhat* controlled (ahem) and I don't *have* to eat cookies and sweets, like Christmas basically requires.

I thoroughly enjoyed being with my family, both my own and my in-laws. I laughed, I ate and I received many thoughtful presents galore. I am a very lucky lady. :)

Unfortunately, I was also combating one pretty nasty ear/nose/throat thing. Being sick over the holidays is TERRIBLE. I seem to always be sick on either Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. Last year was NYE. Hopefully this year I got it all out of my system at Christmas. One year I was sick on all three! Ack.

Anywho, I will post some pictures once I am back in the swing of things. I go back to work tomorrow after a 3-day weekend, and that will ensure I am thrust back into normalcy whether I like it or not.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Bring on the new year :)

Also, now that Christmas is over, does it still have to be cold outside?

New Girl and new blog!

Tonight I had the house aaalllllll to myself (yay!), so I watched last night's episode of New Girl, made some soft pretzels and threw together my new header image... and I kind of love it!

Christmas lights, deer and navy blue are so in right now.

Well, at least in my brain.

Which I think is pretty credible.

And I just had to include the teal... cause who do you think I am?!

Speaking of New Girl, I really think that might be my new favorite show. Zooey Deschanel is one of my favorite actresses and I think she nails her character... I mean, it was totally written FOR her, but she does an incredible job at being awkward, loveable and actually completely normal all at the same time. She makes me want to wear cute clothes, grow my hair out and be adorably kitschy. Le sigh.

Anyway, I just wish it was snowing.

It was 60 degrees and thunderstorming today. WHAT!

It better start blizzarding next week in time for Christmas, that's all I have to say.... you hear me, mother nature!?

Currently..

Obsessing over:

Joey and I have been watching Psych over and over on Instant Netflix. We watch all the new episodes on USA and it's also definitely a show that I can watch in syndication without getting bored. We started with season 1 last week and just started on season 2 tonight. The cast is fabulous and I laugh at every episode!

Working on: 
I finally got all of our Christmas cards addressed tonight, now we have to go get stamps and mail them tomorrow. It's so exciting... these are our first Christmas cards together! So cute. We are just so damn cute.

Thinking about: 
My momma. The holidays were her favorite time of the year and it's just not the same without her here. This will be our 3rd Christmas without her... and I'm just hoping it's going to be a quiet and simple weekend full of family and friends.

Anticipating: 
New Years! I keep thinking I want to do something fun this year, but I also love just staying in and eating junk food with the hubs. All I know is that I am looking forward to a new year... new resolutions, new opportunities for change. We'll see what happens, I suppose!

Listening to: 
Psych, weren't you listening?! but also Joey clicking on his computer and the loudness of my laptop as it slowly overheats into oblivion.

Drinking: 
I'm not drinking anything, actually. But I did drink a glass of milk about an hour ago.

Wishing:
For a white Christmas ;)

Thanks for the fun survey, Katie!

Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

This morning I woke up and immediately thought, "I need to mail our Christmas cards!"

I have been putting off doing these cards because the thought of hand addressing all of them just reminds me of the wedding and how many invitations, thank you cards, shower cards, blah blah blah I had to send. I mean, obviously these are completely voluntary... but it just is a daunting task.

So to get in the spirit, I decided to start my day off being crafty. I made donuts!

I got the recipe from Little Bit Funky and knew I had to try them for a weekend breakfast.

They super easy to make.

First, fill your pan about 1/2 inch high with vegetable oil and heat on medium heat.

Meanwhile, lay out your biscuits and using a cookie cutter or something of the like, cut a hole in the center of the biscuits. [To make you feel better about yourself, I used the lid from a vodka bottle.]

Place the biscuits in the oil and fry until golden brown. Flip and do the same.

Melt butter in the microwave, approximately 2 tbsp, and combine cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl. [I used splenda, so that's why my cinnamon sugar mixture looks suspiciously like sawdust. Splenda for baking is not fine, but it tastes the same to me and my diabetes thanks me.]

Once the biscuits *now donuts are done, place them on a paper towel lined plate to cool. [pretend there is a paper towel on this plate. I need to go grocery shopping...]

Once they are cool enough to touch, dip one side in the butter and let it drip off. Then place in the cinnamon sugar mixture and voila! 

Homemade donuts!

I also fried the little donuts holes, hehehe.

Happy eating!

Clothes for Christmas!

I am really really excited about the dress I found tonight at Kohls. I plan on wearing it on Christmas day when we go to my Dad's house for our extended family gathering. I tried it on tonight with a black belt (totally looks like Santa! ha!), a gray cardigan, black tights and silver shoes. I love how it all came together and it's so totally festive. Yay!

For Christmas eve, I think I am wearing a black floral lace skirt, a red satin shirt and a black cardigan, with black tights and flats. Simple, but refined. Cause I'm sooooooo refined. ;)





So yeah, I am pretty excited for my new finds. All at Kohls, all on sale (of course!)

Is it Christmas yet??

Ornament Party

Last Sunday while the boys watched football, my gal pals Kirstie and Kristin and I had a super exciting, off the wall ornament party. By that I mean we made ornaments while gossiping and eating guacamole taco dip and bagel bites. That is some pretty compelling stuff.

Okay, okay, I am making it sound like it was lame, and I guess to others it might sound lame. But I had a blast and I really love hanging out with those girls. And crafts; I love crafts!

The ornament party in its conception was meant to bring all of the lady friends together to make ornaments for each other. You know, pick an ornament and make one for everyone there. That way we would all leave with an ornament from our friends! We still did that of course, but since only 3 of us were able to make it, it was a lot more low key and we just kind of free balled it. But it was so much fun and I definitely want to keep on the tradition next year!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the ornament I made. Basically, I had a clear plastic bauble and filled it with white glitter to emulate snow. Then I placed a miniature pine cone that I 'dusted' with snow and some holly berries on top and glued the ornament closed. It was pretty cute, I have to admit. 

Kristin brought some clear glass baubles and different glitter paints and we all made our own colored ornaments! I made a teal one, of course, and I'm obsessed with it! I want to make more, more, more!

Kirstie got all fancy pants and made each of us a swirled one with our favorite colors. She made Kristin a black and white one, with red/black/white feathers attached to the top. It was stunning! When the paint dried, it kind of feathered inside of the ornament and it totally made it look professional. 

She made me one with green and blue paint, with a little owl pendant. I love it because it kind of turned into a globe, which is great because I have an obsession with globes. And the owl is just perfect. She knows me well!

My pretty new ornaments! Too bad I don't have a tree this year. I decided to rest them in our key holder because I want them to be seen and I love looking at them. :)

Then Kirstie surprised me with a second ornament.... Golden Snitches from Harry Potter!!

I am pretty sure I squealed. SQUEALED.

Look at how amazing these are!

The instructions she found on Pinterest included painting a gold bauble in swirls with golden paint. Kirstie found these premade ornaments in the clearance section, with red and green ones included. How lucky was that? Then she just painted white felt with silver glitter paint and affixed them to wire, creating the wings. Super easy, super cute.... super nerdy but I'm totally okay with that! I put all 3 of them on my little tree. ha!

I love my friends! 

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Tomorrow is our annual Christmas Party at work! We typically do a luncheon and this year I signed up to bring cookies. I had an idea for red and green cookies and was pretty much set on them until my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine came in the mail. Flipping through, she had some pretty amazing looking cookies and I was enthralled. I was taken, though, with these chocolate cookies that had York peppermint patties inside.

INSIDE! 

Count me in.

Looks delicious, right?

They are.

Here is the recipe for all your holiday cookie needs! I've also included a link for easy printing...just copy the URL to this specific blog post!




DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES [WITH A PEPPERMINT SURPRISE]

Makes: 2 dozen
Prep: 30 mins (plus chilling)
Bake: 15 minutes

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 egg
24 miniature York peppermint patties
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
Peppermint candy canes, finely chopped 

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, salt and baking soda on low speed. Beat in the butter, then the egg. Turn out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disc; seal. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.


2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment. Working with 1 tbsp of dough at a time, use your fingers to evenly encase each peppermint patty with dough. place on the prepared pans and smooth the dough with your fingers. Bake, switching the plans halfway through, until just firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool slightly. Transfer the cookies on the parchment to a rack to cool completely.


3. Meanwhile in a double boiler or small heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt half of the white chocolate, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining white chocolate until smooth. Using a large spoon, drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies. Sprinkle immediately with the crushed peppermint candies. Let set completely before serving or storing.

Merry Christmas!

I may have mentioned this before, but our apartment this year is too small for a traditional tree. So we've had to improvise with a small tree on our bookshelf.

This tree has been in my family since I was a little girl. I remember we would have our big tree in the living room, and my mom would always let me and my sister decorate the little tree in the den. It was always one of my favorite parts of Christmas.

Hehe.

Look at my bowl cut. And my purple tights. And the terrible nineties decor.

This year though, I opted out of my mom's ornaments and tree topper and bought some funky colored baubles and garland from Target. It was hard for me to not use the trinkets from my childhood, but I can't help myself when it comes to miniature sized things.

I also kind of like that it looked like our old tree from last year. 

Compromise is the reason for the season! [that's probably not right.... oh well..]

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I think that I'm a pretty good wife..... sometimes. Joey would probably tell you I'm the best, and god love him for it, but I doubt myself a lot.

I do know one little thing that makes him love me, though.

One super hot, cheesy little thing.

Buffalo Chicken Dip.

We could probably be in the biggest fight of our life and he would concede if I made this dip. Which is actually kind of funny, because there are only like 5 ingredients and he could totally make it himself.

Let's make it! You'll need:

- 3/4 to 1 cup hot sauce (depends on your hot stuff preference)
- 2 cans chunk chicken
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese
- 1 cup ranch salad dressing
- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the chicken and hot sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, until heated through.

Add cream cheese and ranch dressing. Stir until well blended and warm.

Add shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Transfer the dip into your slow cooker and set to low.

Add the rest of the shredded cheese and cover. Cook until hot and bubbly.

Enjoy! We use Chicken in a Biscuit crackers and it's delectable.

And congratulate yourself on winning that huge fight with merely a saucepan, and without hitting him over the head with it!

I'm a great wife, remember? ;)

Lazy Weekend

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Joey and I sure did. It was full of family, laughter, drinks and FOOD! Loads and loads of delicious food. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it definitely didn't disappoint this year.

I only wish I had leftovers!!

Today Joey and I are starting our Harry Potter Movie Marathon on this lazy 4 day weekend.

We plan on watching 1-4 today, and finishing up with 5-8 on Sunday. [Tomorrow we have another family Thanksgiving get-together.] I am super excited to finally watch all 8 movies in a row. They definitely aren't as good as the books, but I can't help loving the movies for what they are. I love the cast, the special effects and their British accents (ha!). I know they aren't 100% true to the books, but I don't care.

Besides, I want to be Emma Watson.

Watch this now. Thank me later.

10 Quotes on Pinterest that I Love

So, pretty much around this time of night you'll find me wasting time on Pinterest while Joey plays Modern Warfare 3. SNORE! (I'm definitely referencing MW3 here.. hehe.)

I love Pinterest, as I'm sure I've said before. My favorite things to pin are clothes/shoes and crafty things. I also love stumbling across quotes and inspirational thoughts, because more often than not, I find one that speaks to me and the mood I'm currently in.

Personally, I think that is one of the best parts of being able to think creatively. Not everyone can hear a song and relate it to an emotion they are feeling or to a memory they have. I can hear a song, a phrase or someone's voice and be instantly transported to days, weeks, months... even years in the past. Even smells or tastes can remind me of things I might have forgotten about unless otherwise reminded.

I remember walking into Joey's grandmother's house one day recently, and smelling the air freshener she had plugged in. I had the same freshener in my dorm room back in 2008, and for no reason other than my crazy brain doin' its thing, I remembered a conversation me and my suite-mate Janna had one night in our dorm's shared living room. I would have never remembered that conversation, nor would I have had any reason to seeing as it was a completely random night, but that plug-in totally transported me back to that dorm room, and it made me so happy.

I feel extremely lucky to have the ability to be reminded of events and conversations and emotions based on the trivial act of hearing a song or smelling an air freshener. That is a gift, and while I'm sure it's more common than I think, I do know that you should not take these things for granted because you never know what might happen.

I can't help but be reminded of my Mom every time we change the ink cartridges in the printers at work. Random, right? Ha. See, I used to help print and fold our church bulletins as a teen when my mom worked there as a receptionist. I spent many a summers day in a tiny windowless room in the back of the church, printing and folding, printing and folding (and trying not to swear when I got a papercut for fear of being smited). But my Mom was in the next room and I could hear her talking with her friend and colleague Jane, and she would come in every so often to check on me, and probably to make sure I hadn't passed out from the ink fumes. Those days were always some of my favorite days during those summers and now, I can't smell fresh ink and paper without thinking of my momma.... and god, actually. Don't smite me, bro.

So yes. Well. That kind of went totally off track... but I kinda like it. I hope you did too.
Do you have any examples of songs or even smells that remind you of particular memories? Please share! :)

The thought behind this blog was to share my Top 10 Quotes on Pinterest that I Love.
Obviously, I'm aware there are millions more that I probably would like, maybe even more, than the ones I have listed here. These are just my top 10 from the ones that are currently pinned on my Quotables board. Here goes!

(These are in no order... I'm not that OCD.. ahem.)

1. The below image is kind of what brought on this whole post.... I just love that something like this can make such an impact on your day. :)



2. Seriously, this makes me smile so much. I love this. Hold your head high, have your dignity and keep your cool. You are what matters, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.



3. As you can, hopefully, tell... my mom and I were very close. She was my best friend. I said goodbye to her in 2009 and it was THE worst experience of my life. I would not wish this kind of heartbreak on my mortal enemy, if I had one.

4. This quote has been everywhere with me. I have a magnet of it on my fridge, and it thumbtacked to my cube at work. It has provided me so much comfort. I know it by heart. I love it.


5. This one is haunting. I love it. I wish it had punctuation because I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while. But I do really love this. The people you love become just as much a part of you as any part of you is. Chew on that.




6. This speaks volumes. I'm not going to talk about it. Just read it. And live it.



7. This makes me happy because it's just true. :)



8. I have to tell myself this one a lot, too. My mom used to tell me that just because nothing "exciting" or "new" happened, doesn't mean I had a bad day. She would get so upset when she asked how my day was and I said "boring" or "bad"... she would tell me that if something new! and exciting! happened to me every single day of my life, I would get so overwhelmed and wish for nothing to happen! I agree with that now... even if some days I wish weren't so boring. ;) I'm a work in progress.

9.  This one rings true for me because I have such a hard time letting things go. Even some of the more ridiculous things that shouldn't bother me so much. But how can I grow and move on if I keep letting little things trip me up?



10. And finally, paraphrasing my friend Cayse... life does not need to be taken so seriously! There ought to be more dancing. Especially awkward white girl dancing in a family full of Puerto Ricans. Is there any other way?!

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

I love going out to run errands, knowing dinner is at home cooking itself. That is the magic of slow cookers.

Even though my slow cooker is in need of a.. well, I need to throw it away and get a new one. Mine has seen better days. It's 2 years old, but I don't know the life expectancy of a slow cooker to know if that means it's time to buy a new one. I just know it.. I can feel it in my gut. That and the lid doesn't have a handle and I burn myself every time I try to pry it off. So that blows.

Today Joey and I went to Old Navy to buy our winter coats. It's pretty much been in the 60-70's here lately, so a winter coat hasn't been necessary. But with Thanksgiving being next week, I knew I was tempting fate not having a winter coat that fit.

Old Navy was having a sale on their outerwear.... 75% off! That is HUGE! But that also meant I was battling against every other woman in the metro area because Old Navy's are few and far between out here. I finally snagged one that I adored (after fighting like 5 overzealous moms and their ridiculous strollers for a mirror)... and it was the only one of its kind! I think it was an online return because it didn't have a tag either. Oh well, score for me! :)

I also got some pretty cute gloves.. they weren't on sale, but I am such a glove freak. I hate having my fingers covered. I feel like I have no range of motion when I have gloves on. Even things like locking my door or fumbling in my purse for my chapstick become The Hardest Thing Ever when my fingers are clothed. So these pretty gloves don't have finger holes at all. I love that!

Anyway, while we were out shopping (and saving $150 on outerwear... thank you Old Navy!), we had Chicken Caesar sandwiches cooking in the crock pot. When we came home, all we had to do was shred the chicken, add the fixings and wait another 30 minutes for it to get all hot and gooey. 

Ingredients! Yes, we are cheapos.

Shred that chicken.

 Combine the above mentioned ingredients and chicken into the crockpot.

Make it into a delicious blurry sandwich.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN CAESAR SANDIWCHES
source: The Girl Who Ate Everything


2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup Caesar dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley OR 2 teaspoons of dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
lettuce, for topping
buns


1) Place chicken in your slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.


2) Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon and drain the water from the slow cooker. Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.


3) Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top. Stir until mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.


4) Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto your buns. Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve.

These are facts.

1. Thanksgiving is next week. (whhhaaattt????)

1a. I am making green bean casserole for the first time. Watch me mess this up.

2. That means Christmas is just one measly month away.

3. Christmas lists are hard to make.

3a. #firstworldproblems, anyone?

4. No one will buy me an iPhone, so everyone sucks.

5. I really want a new pair of Toms. These, particularly:

5a. But if I had the lady balls, I would totally get these. OMGlitter!

6. Seriously, though, tell me what I want for Christmas. This is impossible.

7. We don't have room in our apartment this year for a full sized Christmas tree. It makes me so sad!!! But we are borrowing my families old mini-tree to set on our countertop. It won't be the same, but at least we'll have some Christmas cheer in this tiny old apartment.

8. I spend way too much time on MarthaStewart.com lately. They have awesome organizational tips, fun crafts and mostly tasty looking recipes.

9. I think I am going to make this for the Christmas cards we get this year... I sure hope we get a lot!

We are sending our own out this year. We didn't send any out last year, so these will be our first "married couple" cards! I wanted to get ultra-cheesy and send out over the top photo cards, but we'll wait a little for those. We need a kid or something. Or a gerbil. (because apparently, we aren't dog people.)

10. I'm not going to ask again. Tell me what I want for Christmas.

What a week...

This has been such a roller coaster week. I am still really upset about it and can't really think about the decisions we had to make without completely crying. Basically, we adopted a puppy and then found that it was a terrible decision for our life right now. We bonded with him for a week but then had to take him back to the shelter. I feel like a monster, but little Leo deserves a better home than what we could have provided for him. He was a bright light in our lives, but he was also way more work that we ever could have imagined. But I want to end my talking about Leo on a happy note... so here is a cute picture of the fluffy little man that peed all over my carpets. ;)

But here are some other things that happened this week that made me happy:

• Seeing Ben Folds in concert with my lovely friend Kirstie. He performed a show with the St. Louis Symphony last Sunday... it was incredible. Honestly the coolest thing I've seen. He played an entire show by himself on the piano, with his entire set scored to include an orchestra. He played "Gracie" and it was phenomenal. That song seriously makes me tear up for no reason, and hearing it on Sunday was magical. (lame!)
  
  
• Joey wrote me a love note (okay email... but it's 2011 come on!) since I've been so down about the puppy. I'm obviously not going to share the note with you, but I'll just let you know that I love him very, very, very much. On November 23rd we'll have been together 6 years, with 1.5 of those years as a married couple. That is CRAZY! :)

A surprise date in Forest Park: Summer 2006

• Kirstie, as mentioned above, and I are planning a sweet Ornament Party to kick off the holidays! If it turns out a success, I hope it can become a tradition and our Christmas trees will be forever filled with homemade tokens of love from friends. (gag!) Seriously, I'm gagging. But it was cute so I'm keeping it. It's fun since Pinterest is sooooo crazy explosively huge right now. Finding a cute DIY ornament for each of us to make will not be hard. The plan is for everyone to have enough supplies to make everyone at the party an ornament, and we'll all leave with one from everyone there. I think it's an awesome idea and definitely a great way to spend a Sunday while the boys (ahem, men) watch football.
  
  I think I am going to try making the one below, although it might be a little extreme if we have more than 5 people show up ;)
  
  

  

  source // Pinterest

  But I made my Felt Flower Wreath using these flowers and had a TON of fun doing it... and felt is really cheap at Hobby Lobby. I should have pins leftover somewhere from the wedding... maybe... and then yarn is mega cheap too. The most expensive thing I'll buy is probably those foam balls - those are PRICEY!
• This is a little materialistic..... but I'm super excited about my new Bath and Body Works Christmas scented soaps. Fact: Christmas scents are the best.
  
  
  

• Finally.... HARRY POTTER PART 2, YA'LL!
  
  
  
  
  I want to be a total nerd and watch all 8 movies back-to-back(-to-back), but then I stumbled across this little downer.... but... I still think I could do it! ;)

 

Whew! I think that was a pretty lengthy blog post for not having blogged in almost 2 weeks!

Until next time, nerds! <3