Hey there!

Hola amigos...

Just popping in to say hi and I'm alive and toss out some excuses... 

I haven't been feeling great (a sinus thing and then a stomach thing) so I haven't been blogging and I miss it! Especially the interaction with all you lovely bloggers! 

I don't really have a post or many pics to share at the moment.  I'm sort of planning one out in my head to review my December (a fun wedding, Christmas, etc) but have not made much more progress than thinking about it!   

 

(Here is one of the lovely tables at the wedding, Winter Wonderland!)

 

I hope everyone out there enjoyed the holidays!!

 

I hope to be back on some sort of schedule after the new year.  

I have been reading blogs!  Just not writing...or commenting.   

Blah. 

Secret Santa Swap Reveal!

Today is the big day and I am so excited to link up with the wonderful ladies who organized this gift swap.  Santa must have been a very busy guy lately because there are so many fun gifts flying around between bloggers!

I had a lot of fun shopping for my recipient, Desiree, over at All At Once.   Desiree lives in one of my favorite cites, San Francisco, and is a mom to 2 cute little boys.  She is expecting her 3rd (another boy!) in a few months! It's been fun blog stalking her and getting to know more about her.

Hop over there to see what I got for her.  :-)  

My Secret Santa came through big time!  This mustard infinity scarf arrived (from Kiki La' Rue!) a couple weeks ago and I have worn it 3 times already!  It matches quite a few of my work outfits PERFECTLY and is really soft, warm, and comfy!   Whoever you are, thanks Santa!!  (Sorry no pics of me in it, I have had a sinus thing for a few days and did not get my act together to model it.) 

 

Big thanks to Janna, Kelly, and Tabitha for organizing this.  

It was a lot of fun!  I hope we can do it again next year.  :-) 

Links I'm Lovin...

 Hola amigas!   I couldn't rouse myself to put together an OHP post today, but I do have a little growing list of links I want to share so...here they are!    I hope you find something you like, laugh at, or want to buy!   :-)  

Also, hop over to Janna's blog to see her (our) Very Elf Filled Blogiversary Giveaway!  

(And read about her soldier finally being home from deployment!)  

Me, as an elf...?  Cute, Janna!

On to the links....

Yes, yes, yes...Book people are good people.  :-)   

 http://bookriot.com/2012/11/28/the-readers-bill-of-rights-illustrated/


Love this!  Hi, I'm 36 and I love Disney.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattessert/high-fashion-disney-princesses-6p54

 

I love this blog! I love these baby names and all the careful thought taken in choosing them.

http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2009/01/behind-name.html
http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2010/05/faq-2.html

http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2011/11/naming-boheme-reverie.html

I keep coming back to this... (MOM, CLOSE YOUR EYES!) for my mom's big bday coming up...
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83885609/hand-stamped-tripple-band-sterling?ref=usr_faveitems


I know this is "so last spring", but this never gets old for me. Ever need a smile?  Check these kiddos out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNtoq6SJ3_A

 

Hahaha  (thanks Jenni!)
http://www.freecrappyportraits.com/

 

I'm a little old for this.  Google didn't even exist when I was 13!!  But still, pretty funny :)

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/32-things-i-googled-when-i-was-13/

 Hahahaha... OMG, so much good/horrible stuff on this website! It's like "Seen on TV" to the hilarious max. 

http://mewanty.net/

  

Two recipes I want to make SOON...

Fried Brie and Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

Brie Grilled Cheese w/Balsamic, Prosciutto, Honey (OMG)

Have you found anything cool on the interwebs lately?  

Share in the comments so we can all enjoy it! 

Weekend in Review

Hey!  I'm alive.  Been in a funk.... But I'm trying to get back with the program (somewhat)!  

I have a few sponsorships/features going on and I don't want to get totally out of the habit of writing my blog, and reading everyone else!   I've been slacking at both.  Anyhow... thanks for sticking in there! :-)

Last week (the last 2 weeks actually...) we spent a lot of time taking care of our crazy stapled up dog.  He got the staples out Wednesday and we took him to "day care" at the vet all last week, since we didn't trust him not to scratch or lick at the staples/wound all day long!  He did pretty well. He likes to charm the ladies at the vet.  He's still pretty obsessive about licking at it when we take his t-shirt off.  

But... we left him home today, so hopefully he behaves himself!  

(On the way to the vet Friday morning... He likes to have his paw up on the center console thing while I am driving. Check out his cool turtle neck.  hehe)

Saturday morning we went and picked up our Christmas tree!   We ran a few other errands and did some stuff at home (cleaned up garage, installed a couple of shelves out there, took some crap to donate at thrift store, cleaned up our STILL GROWING LIKE CRAZY tomato plant).  Saturday night my BF went to a friends for a couple of hours to watch UFC and then we just watched some more TV and called it a night. 

December 8th.... dozens of tomatoes still. We pulled 2 this weekend.

Sunday we (mostly I) decorated the tree, did some grocery shopping, and made butternut squash soup (from THIS RECIPE). It was a homey, chilly, turn on the heat kind of evening.  :-)

 

 A few of my favorite ornaments...

From top left: Mickey ornament from DisneyWORLD, my beautiful swap ornament, our teddy/boxer ornament we've had for years and makes me laugh every year, and the pickle (also from DisneyWorld/Epcot, the German pavilion, it's got a story behind it). 

Other random decorations I threw on the table, nowhere else to put them!

This coming weekend I am heading to Oregon for my cousin's wedding.  I am planning to get a couple of posts in before I head up there.  

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend! 

Ornament Swap!

You may remember a few weeks back I mentioned I was participating in a couple of holiday swaps.  One of them was an ornament swap, and today is reveal day!!

 

Erin and Jessah hosted this swap and I had a lot of fun blog-stalking Elise (who I purchased for) and Crystal (who bought for me!).  Is it weird I stalked my gift giver?  Whatever, you can never have too many blogs to read! ;-)  

Both of my swap mates are sweet ladies and I was excited to shop for an ornament.

Elise recently bought her own home, so I sent her a couple of small holiday decorations for her new place, along with the ornament.  I hope she loves it all! :-)  

(Head over to her blog to see what I got for her!)

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Crystal did an excellent job shopping for me.  Is anyone surprised my ornament is green??  Hooray!  :-)  It's a gorgeous crackly green ball with twine around it, it reminds me of one of those glass balls fishermen use.  (Do those have a name?)   I really love the ornament and can't wait to get our tree up (hopefully tomorrow!!) so I can hang it. 

Oh hi, me.

 In addition to the ornament, she sent me a cute little Christmas tree soap, a candy cane, and a lovely card.   

Thank you so much, Crystal! 

 From reading her blog I know Crystal has been going through a lot of tough times trying to have a baby.  I just really appreciate her taking the time to participate in this swap with me.  I'm sure something like this could seem so unimportant and silly when you are dealing with fertility stuff, but I hope it gave her a little time to think about something else.  

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I'm heading over to link my post up and see all the ornaments everyone else got!  Thanks again to Erin and Jessah for hosting. This is a great way to kick of the season! 

FRIDAY - Phew, I made it...

 Dear This Week... You sucked. Work sucked. I felt crappy. The dog was hurt and then was a pain in the butt all week. My BF is grumpy.  

 

Dear Friday.... Seriously, so happy you are here.  It's been a rough week all around.  I'm very ready for the weekend.

Dear Blog Swaps... You were really the one bright spot of my week!  I got 2 swap packages and can't wait to blog about them. 
 
Dear Readers... Thanks for hanging in there! I promise to return to more regular (and less whiny) posting next week. 

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Fancies!  This cheered me up a bit. :-) 

Per Alison: Have you ever been shopping with a friend when they point out a top which is "totally you"? For Friday, November 30th, you'll have your chance to channel you into an outfit. Dress yourself = express yourself!!

I am big on layering and have a cardigan handy almost all of the time.  I just love the casual/comfy look of this outfit and it is totally something I would wear.

Caual Tea by katiejeanne featuring essie nail polish

I hope everyone has a great weekend 

and hopefully I'll be feeling more like myself next week. 

Throwback Thursday - Disney Style!

(Throwback Thursday is a way to document pre-blogging life.)

These e-cards basically tell my Disney story...

1) I think there might be something wrong with a person if they hate DIsney.

2) I'd prefer to be at Disney rather than work, any day.

3) I don't even know any Nickelodeon stuff. 

4) And yes, I do love Disney as much as (if not more than) your average child. 

So what?  

**********************************

I've taken so many trips to Disneyland, I honestly can't even begin to count them. 

It's one of the advantages of living in So Cal.  

Almost every time we had out of state visitors when I was a kid, particularly my mom's side of the family, that's where we went.  The happiest place on earth!  

It's a family thing.  

Anyhow, here are some pics from before my blogging days, of various trips to both DisneyLAND and DisneyWORLD over the years.    

(Prepare for a photo overload!! It wasn't easy to cut any out! )

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This one is a classic.  Splash mountain splash camera!  

This is from 2003.  

My little brother in the front, he's 21 now.  ;-) 

This was a trip I took about 5 years ago (with my mom & 2 aunts) when my cousin was doing an internship at WDW.  See that Mt. Everest in the background?  That's where she worked while she was there.  The best roller coaster in all of the parks!

On the left of this collage is the 5 of us (plus a totally awesome and willing participant riding next to my mom) sleeping on Expedition Everest after our 12th time riding it that day.  hehehe   

Then us getting ready to ride it AGAIN! and me with my "baby" cousin. 

More of us on that particular trip.... group shots in front of Disney landmarks.

 An earlier DisneyWorld trip with just one aunt...lots of ME at Epcot!  :-)  (I LOVE Epcot.)

This is from a trip when my aunt was in SoCal visiting.  We like visors. 

Same trip, in front of the Haunted Mansion.  YIKES!  ;-)

Do you guys remember that year when Disney was letting everyone visit the parks FREE on their birthday?  Well, I took full advantage.   I forced convinced my MIL to go on her birthday (in January) and we had a BLAST!  She is not a big Disney fan but it was a really fun day, and I think I swayed her toward the Disney point of view.

I also talked my Dad into coming down from San Francisco so we could go on HIS birthday (in March).  This was a really fun trip, too.  I got him a birthday pin so every park employee wished him a happy day, and he was so genuinely happy and thankful, it was adorable.  (Still in my visor stage.)

And...a few other randoms that make me smile.  

We never get tired of the "no dancing" signs on the rides. ;-)

OK, I better stop with FB/MySpace reminiscing before you all fall asleep.  ;-)  

DISNEY!  I love it!  That is all.  :-) 

(If any of you are ever in SoCal and going to Disneyland, I'm a great tour guide! haha)

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Sometime in the not too far future, I am hoping to turn Throwback Thursdays into a link up, with the lovely ERICA of Mi Todo.  She is in the process of moving to another country right now (!!) so it might be a few weeks more before we get anything figured out.  

But, if you're interested, leave a comment so I can try to remember to let you know once I know more.