Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! Hope you all get some time with your friends and family over this holiday weekend.

lately

Shall we catch up on some current events in my little world? I'd love to hear what you've been up to recently - so definitely let me know!

reading: The Blood of Olympus - yes, the final Percy Jackson book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. I've read all of the Percy books and really enjoyed them all. Sad to see this is the last one for maybe ever.

watching: HBO on demand. I watched all of Game of Thrones and now I am on to Girls. I also want to watch the Newsroom. Finally getting HBO means hours upon hours of shear delight in marathon show binge watching.

looking forward to: my weekend guests this week. Some of my lovely ladies from the old neighborhood are venturing north to visit. I am looking forward to catching up and hanging out. I also now have an excuse to make the corn bread muffins I've been eyeballing.

making: vegetables and healthy foods. I've been really bad about food choices since my move. I am super motivated to get back into better eating. Pizza, we are breaking up... we can only have short one night stands once in a while, on special occasions.

planning: dream vacations, or at least a vacation to a warm location. Arizona is hot on my list for a winter getaway. It's bad to have the winter blues before winter starts isn't it?

thinking about: resolutions, new year is not too far away now.

Happy Friday Lovelies - hope you have a fantastic weekend!

warm wishes this holiday season

I wrote out my holiday greetings the week of Thanksgiving, but it took me until mid-December to get these out in the mail. For every bit of preparation I managed, I watched the pile on my counter everyday - I'd say tomorrow I'll mail those, nope, nope, nope.  The sad thing is someone managed to get a Christmas card in my mailbox the day after Thanksgiving - over achiever (that I wanted to be). Anyway, at least I got them sent. Don't you loved the little mittens? - just so cute.

On a funny note did you see what one woman did when she got kicked out of the family picture? Hilarious - I might have some inspiration to step up the cards next year.

ghosts of christmas past

I believe it was fifth grade when Trolls became the rage again, they were so ugly they were cute. As with any fad, you weren't anyone unless you had a couple of Trolls. I don't know how, or where I got an angel Troll, but here he is in all his glory. My angel Troll still lives with Mom and Dad, and gets a prime spot near the top of the tree - he's an angel after all.  Really, look at all that hair- isn't the rule the bigger the hair the closer to God?

Anyone else have some great ornaments from Christmas pasts? 

read, need, wear, want

One of my favorite ways to do Christmas presents is the something to read, something to wear, something you need and something you want. I think that's a great way to think about gifts for the young and old. It also covers one of my fundamental favorite items to gift - books. It's no secret that I love to read - so I almost always give the kids on my gift lists books. Literacy is our friend. Given this favorite approach to a gift wish list I thought I'd share my list with you all.

Something to Read: One More Thing - B.J. Novak. All things Mindy Kaling, it's time for me to read B.J.'s book. I also think I drive by his high school on my way home from spinning most weekends. This is top of my list of books to read in 2015.

Something to Wear: This beautiful cardigan from Banana Republic.I picture myself wearing it at work, curled up on the couch with my book and a coffee, as an extra layer of warmth in the polar vortex. I also love that it comes in my favorite neutral - grey.

Something I need: a new Crock-Pot. Mine is super tiny, and every time I use it, it overflows no matter how hard I try not to get to that point. I'd love a new one that's a bit bigger so I can make meals for the work week.

Something I want: Snowshoe Lessons. Something that's long been on my want to do list, I figure if I got them as a gift I'd have to use it, and stop finding reasons not to go do this.


What's on your list? I'd love if you'd share your read, need, wear and want in the comments.

current favorite jam

I am so not cool, but this song is my new jam. I want to dance to this baby all night long - preferably in the comfort of my own living room. I also really love Bruno's pink blazer - I kind of want one - you know or maybe copy his whole outfit. Anyway I hope you enjoy this on a lovely Monday.

Anna is better than Elsa

I confess, I only saw Frozen while in route home from the UK. I am beyond late to this party. I love going to the movies, but I don’t make it to the theaters the way I’d like to, so I love the day flight home from Europe because there are so many newer movies that I get to see, that maybe I’d never see. If you’ve been living under a rock, then you don’t know that Frozen was the masterpiece that Disney put out at the end of 2013 – very popular and I think everyone knows the lyrics to Let It Go (the song has been on my Spotify since the Oscars). I think everyone I knew with little girls has had to buy an Elsa dress, and that made me think she’d be the best character in the movie, but no no no, Anna is the best. Alas, I present you why Anna is the best Frozen character.

Anna is the younger sister, who just wants to be friends with her older sister. Now, I do think the parents keeping Elsa locked away was weird, but Anna just wanted her friend.

Elsa flees to the mountains to live in solitude, Anna makes friends with Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, Hans.

Anna sings “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” which is my favorite song from the movie.

Anna saves her sister, she could have kissed the boy, but instead she protects her sister from death. She’s all about the family even after being shafted for years.

Anna is so kind, Elsa kind of comes across as a b-word. And no, that’s not beautiful.

(image via pinterest)

December…. Remember Me….

 

It’s the last month of 2014, and I am sure everyone is going wait a gosh darn minute, didn’t we just ring in the New Year like maybe 2 months ago? Alas, I decided in November when I was just not getting to the blog to make myself get some posts ready to go before December started and then just start getting into some regular posting. For me, the end of the year is so busy between work, life, the hustle and the bustle of the holidays – I decided to be kind to me.

In salute to the day that is to give thanks, or in layman’s terms – Thanksgiving. I decided to tell you three things I am thankful for to start the last month of 2014.

1.    Getting to take a 5 day weekend last week. Family, Turkey, Shopping, Reading, the Gym. All good things to relax before the year end work crazy begins (looking forward to you January 23^rd - I see you and I am excited.
2.    Game of Thrones –TV. As you probably remember I read all the books starting around this time last year, but never saw the show. I now have HBO and I love seeing my favorite scenes come to life. Joffery is an a-hole and the actor here is fabulous.
3.     Living closer to the family. It’s sort of strange not to need to save up vacation time for the holidays any more. It’s also nice not to feel like I’ve got to spend every minute of a holiday weekend trying to see friends, family and still manage to feel relaxed. Total win for living 30 minutes away.