holiday cards 2013

been a terrible blogger this year, but i'm planning to make up for it. starting with holiday cards. i'm a hallmark addict, and i've decided to add my blog peeps (if any of you are still out there) to the list. if you'd like a card from this crazy gal, just fill out the handy form below :)



when school is finally over, i'll try to stop being such a neglectful blogger

xmas 2012

heh sad that my first post in weeks is about my holiday gifties, but i do love documenting what i get each year. helps me organize my list for next year :)

bath & body works - forever red
carol's daughter hair products
the closer seasons 4-6
hunger games boxed set
heroes for my son
the wire boxed set
lego harry potter
epic mickey: power of illusion
sex & the city perfume
johnny walker black
"people i want to punch in the face" journal
meat thermometer
woodberry kitchen gift card

after opening presents all morning (well the first hour we were all awake ;)), mom and i made breakfast. then we had to haul a bunch of stuff to my place because the oven had a malfunction christmas eve. at least that was what we were told by my ridiculous father. we spent a few hours cooking, baking and watching auntie mame in the peace. we repacked christmas dinner and headed back to the house... to find my father had put the damn turkey in the oven to keep warm and everyone had eaten a late lunch. i maxed out my level of frustration. so i spent the rest of the evening drinking and talking to mom. i also made friends with my sister's dog. she's jumpy around people, but we're making progress through belly scratches. i finished my night with the preacher's wife with the madre. christmas continued today with a few more xmas movies, leftovers and a too short nap

i love being on vacation

holiday haul

so much goodness this year :)

start off with my winter swap package from annie in ireland. technically, it wasn't a christmas gift, but it arrived on christmas eve. so it was the first thing i opened on christmas morning. so perfect!

snowflake ornament & hurling stick keychain (in her county colors)

claddagh ring, real cadbury chocolates and a knitted garland

i seriously love this package. annie made the garland, which is the. sweetest! and it looks perfect on my mini tree. european cadbury is a million times better than american so i'll be gorging myself on more sweets this week. for all my fascination with ireland and handful of friends of irish descent, you'd think i'd know something about claddagh rings. i don't! so it's fabulous that annie included information about its history. the ornament looks fragile so it's not on the tree; i'm saving it for when we have a full sized one :) i'm going to google hurling. annie's county is the best, and i'm intrigued to find out what it's all about

thanks so much, annie!!!

the rest of christmas was pretty awesome, too :D

for neal, i got portal 2, an apple slicer and an antique edition of tennyson poetry. for jesse, we (my family) got him the limited edition zelda 3DS. for me, two very happy boys ;) and...

limited edition disney princess ornaments
professor layton and the unwound future

professor layton and the last specter
visa gift card
subscription to food network mag
tetris axis
rufus wainwright rufus wainwright
rufus wainwright poses
ravens gnome
tons of bath & body works:
- shower puffy
- shimmer body butter (be enchanted)
- slippers
- shimmer mist (be enchanted)
- mini nail files
- large candle (cranberry woods)
- make up bags w mini postbac
- shower gel & body lotion (be enchanted)
- basket of hand cream (twilight woods, japanese cherry blossom and dark kiss)
- aromatherapy: sleep body lotion (night time tea)
air fresheners (for when the new car smell eventually wears off... details on that coming)
if you give a dog a donut, laura numeroff
a colbert christmas: the greatest gift of all!
to sir, with love
simply irresistible
the birds
hello, dolly!
the witches
the closer (season 3)
harry potter DVD box set
AZ special soap & mesquite honey
bracelet & framed ray lewis photo

i loved everything i got :) my favorite gifts are the HP boxed set, gnome and slippers

they're super comfy and warm :)

i hope all of your holidays were fabulous. on to new years!

happy new year

welcome to 2011. so far it looks just like 2010, complete with sleepyhead next to me :p ;)

i've been doing a lot of catching up on my blog reading while i have the time. hooray for school breaks and vacation from work. over the last month several people have been reflecting over their 2010s. some organized, some not. people have also posted 2011 resolutions. i still don't really believe in resolutions, so i'm sticking with being a better me. however that evolves throughout the year doesn't matter. the point is to keep moving forward in the building of self

to kickstart my year, i'm participating in a challenge "to be the best we can be in the midst of winter"

my goals focus on my weight/fitness, personal relationships and professional aspirations. as such, i'll be posting on both blogs. don't worry, i'll try not to overlap too much. wouldn't want to bore/annoy anyone ;) i simply adore challenges and can't wait to put up my first post on monday. it's going to be a very interesting 13 weeks, which i hope leads to an interesting 39 following weeks

it's time to start winning 2011

true meaning

what christmas means to me: opening many bags and boxes. i'm not religious so it's all about the presents. this year is definitely not about family. so what did i haul in for 2010?

the unofficial harry potter cookbook
traveling with pomegranates
killing your mother is not an option*

batman returns (still my fave batman)
pet sematary
big daddy
alice in wonderland
the nightmare before christmas
the closer season2

a hallmark mug
bath and body works (secret wonderland gift set, wild honeysuckle lotion, wallflower, twisted peppermint pocket bac)
itunes gift card

i apparently have more stuff, but the package didn't arrive yet. i have an inkling it's more movies

*mom always gets these random things we end up not liking. one day we'll convince her to stop *sigh*

[update]
i was right. sin city, red eye, wanted and house (seasons 5 & 6) made it :)

merry christmas

family vacations

oh how the time flies. it's christmas eve, and i've been MIA for weeks. i had intended to post before, but always got sidetracked. oh well...

i'm currently sitting in my cousin's house fuming. i am officially over the holidays and family vacations. spent wed in the car, overheated and cramped. do not get a dodge journey if you intend to travel with more than four adults and two bags at one time. i ate so much that day, and i still feel disgusting. in an attempt to work off a little bit of wed's gorge, i volunteered to chauffeur tasha and mom around yesterday. what should have been an easy trip to the grocery store and mall turned into a 10 hour nightmare. tasha couldn't find her up to date insurance so we couldn't get on base to hit the commissary. as we circled back around, she finally located it in her disaster zone of a purse. we got through about half the grocery list, but got hung up trying to pick out gifts for the kids. stopped at home to drop stuff off and grab lunch. anthony decided to ride with us to the mall and for groceries round two. he had the same idea i did: get out of the house for a bit and walk around. first stop was ham. the place was packed so i ended up taking a nap in the car. then we hit the mall. once again, the indecisive twins strike. i had to berate mom into buying some random thing because she kept circling the toys r us asking everyone if she thought each item was good. calaya is fucking four; she likes EVERYTHING. after that we hit jc penny's where they discussed falcons jersey sizes for half an hour. earlier in the day tasha decided she wanted cookies, but i insisted that she let me make them. so i wandered off to find holiday cookie cutters. i ended up buying a set with cutters, a cookie sheet, cooling rack and cute spatula. by that point, they were done purchasing jerseys (which i again had to nudge them along on) so we headed to best buy. i decided to wait in the car because they only needed one thing. i thought it would be 20-30 min. an hour and a half, two phone calls and a screaming fit later, they finally tottered out with nothing. tasha had to order the disc online, but not until she'd wandered the whole store searching for a potential replacement gift. at this point it was 945 and we still had to get to the liquor and grocery stores. along with the volunteered cookies, tasha had asked me to make drinks and the bread pudding i was going to make for xmas eve for last night. attempting to be nice, i agreed not realizing it would take us forever to buy what i needed. when we got to publix, i went in to dictator mode, dividing and directing everyone. we were in and out in 20. we got home to find all the groceries we'd bought earlier still sitting on the goddamn floor and two grown ass men watching a movie. stace at least put the perishables away. at that point, we'd been gone for six hours and no one else had done a damn thing. furious, i ate leftovers and came upstairs. around midnight, jesse got home so we could finally have our skype date. i had been falling asleep after that exhausting day, but i managed to stay awake for an hour to talkvent to him

i got up this morning to find a sink full of dirty dishes and not a single clean bowl. i washed one so i could have my cereal and promptly came back upstairs. when i went back down to drop my dishes, mom had washed everything in the sink. it's like living in the fucking 50s in this house. my dad won't eat if my mom doesn't bring him food. kid you not, he sat on the fucking couch and watched stace, anthony and cameron eat leftover chinese while we were at the fort. we were gone for a few hours. mom walks in, arms full of groceries, and he's all "i'm hungry". FUCK YOU. you have two arms and two legs that are completely functional. the fridge is 10 feet away. tasha keeps talking about the lack of clean dishes yet neither her husband or son lifts a fucking finger to clean them. we're going to be doing all the fucking cooking and cleaning in the next three days while these assholes sit around watching movies and jon stewart


FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU
it infuriates me coming down here and seeing this. it also makes me happy that i don't live with my parents anymore. neal may sometimes suck as a roommate, but at least he tries. when i visit jesse, i am a bit more domestic than usual, but he doesn't expect it. he'll do the dishes if i ask (yes, sometimes i have to ask). he'll take the trash out before it starts smelling like a landfill. he's the one that makes sure there's enough tp in the house... i just want to slap people. and it's not going to end. mom bought all this shit yesterday so i am going to have to use it or return it. i'm leaning towards returning all the food and stuff i picked out, but i'm being talked out of it. the cookie set is definitely getting returned when we get home. i have no need for it outside of the cutters. i had intended to leave it for tasha, but screw that. she won't appreciate it at all... i need to start cooking this shit. ugh today is going to suck so hard. i have officially vented three times, and i'm still angry

i can't wait to go home

it's that time of year

nothing i would rather do

well wishes

ray pumpkwis wishes you a happy halloween

don't eat too much candy ;)

i don't feel any different

not that i was really expecting to...

there's all this build up to a fresh start, but nothing seems to really change... sorry for the downer. i'm in a meh mood today.

i'll put on my happy face later for a weekend recap and award acceptance :)

happy new year, everyone!

it's time to start kicking some ass...

day 31: resolution

from gwen bell's best of 2009 challenge: "Resolution you wish you'd stuck with. (You know, there's always next year...)"

i didn't set a bunch of resolutions for 2009. i've never really believed in them, but set a few for 2008. of course, i don't remember what they were, and i didn't follow through with any. so, for 2009, i decided to just be better: a better employee, a better friend, a better activist, a better daughter, a better whatever

there are things i would like to change about myself, but i'm mostly happy with who i am as a person. it took me years to realize that who i am is not a bad person, and people will actually like me for being me. so i don't want to mess too much with the awesome. instead, i am going to continue to just be better: a better student, a better blogger, a better adventurer....

a better me

*little J took this photo of me (sans flash) last week

day 29: laugh

from gwen bell's best of 2009 challenge: "What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?"

i've laughed a lot this year so it's hard to pick the biggest/best of the year. instead i present the most recent: resulting from my cousin's crazy antics. he's three, adorable and HILARIOUS! my sister and i were dying

 

posing for his brother, photographer #2

playing the trumpet (lol it's a plastic one for kids) and busting out the marching band moves

jumping on the trampoline, a second before he gave me the best crazy face ever

swagtastic

time for the annual christmas swag round up (mostly for HB):

DVDs-
Batman Begins
Edward Scissorhands
Beaches
The Lake House
Gone Baby Gone
P.S. I Love You
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Incredibles
Memento
House - S4

Books -
Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman)
Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman)

Misc -
magic gloves (lol i have no idea)
bath and body works set - twilight woods

items to be returned:
The Year without a Santa Claus [bought a copy on black friday, but forget to tell mom oops]
Stardust (Neil Gaiman) [previous Christmas item]

for "Christmaslite", this was not a bad year :) did y'all get (or give) any good gifts this year?

[update]
MA made me something; it hasn't arrived yet. and i got tees from my bestie. he knows me so well :)

from threadless

made just for me

photographic proof of our awesomeness

the spread (broccoli/carrots, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, stuffing, turkey w gravy, kale, rolls, cranberry sauce and mac n cheese)

  

munchkin's approval:

J at best buy and target (we love her :)):

and for good measure... family portrait:

i didnt take photos of my black friday purchases (meh). overall savings: $150. best purchase: dollhouse season 1

turkey recap

before i get into the details, i'll tell you the moral first: N & i are fucking AWESOME, and this weekend was exhausting. though everything went a hell of a lot smoother than i expected...

we went out with the A's for beers, burgers and polka. i was roped into dancing by scary jesus (eek). there's photographic evidence, but i'll be damned if i share that with you little blog :p G is still cute as ever (and totally her mother's daughter ha!); we had fun catching up and whatnot. N & i got home around 11/1130 and cooked until 3am. i successfully made mac n cheese (from scratch) and stuffing (from box). N managed to chop, boil and mix a ton of stuff in preparation...

thursday (dun dun dun....), we got up around 1030/11 to continue. i got the chocolate melted, graham crackers crushed and the two combined in no time. making the damn shells took for fucking ever. popped them in the freezer and took a break. N was cooking and mixing for ever and a day; we "watched" youtube to keep from freaking out. i filled the shells and put them in the oven with the turkey. new strategy: bake on bottom rack (no choice) for 20 min instead of middle for 45. i had N pull them so they could cool while i assessed. some were "done"; others were still goopy. phase 2 of plan: after cooling (let them cook a little more in the middles), pop them in the toaster oven to finish. i peeled the eggs (N made deviled eggs), then took a much needed nap. N was, naturally, frantic when i came back down. after running in circles for 20, he finally took a break. i took over the carrot stirring, turkey watching and broccoli making so he could shower and decompress. this of course meant that i was still in my pjs when everyone arrived lol... i got the mini pies done (new plan was a success), we got the food in serving bowls and the rolls got baked while i was in the shower. guest list ended up being: my siblings, N's parents and M (she abandoned B & G at her aunt's lol). we were insane people, but we got so many compliments. everyone loved everything :D and we made them take home leftovers hahah. awesome 1st thanksgiving at our place (although, im not sure i want a 2nd lol)

post dinner clean up was minimal. we mostly stacked everything on the breakfast bar/stove. because we forced so many leftovers on people, we got everything into 3 containers. our fridge looks awesome, considering our previous parties... dishes are another story. i did a few, but N did the bulk. it took him 3 days to finish (starting friday)... i shooed him to bed about 10 min before J arrived for black friday shopping. oh yes, it was happening this year...

at midnight, we headed to the mills. because of nonsense at victoria's secret*, i stood in line for over an hour. J had time to pay (in a different line) and get starbucks. we both got done at the same time so my coffee wasnt cold. then we kinda wandered. she got shoes and jewelry. S ended up at the mills with her bestie and one of her roomies. she needed a ride home so of course my phone decided to die. so at 3am, in the middle of the mall, im fighting J's droid to look up the number on verizon. yes, J got a droid (it was 2 days old lol). yes, i totally used the internet on a cellphone to pull up an old bill and locate my sister's number. yes, i'm lame for not knowing my family's numbers by heart. i called S and 5 minutes later ran into her (almost literally). oh my life is ridiculous. J and i wandered for a little bit longer, realized we'd made a loop and headed back towards tjmaxx to grab the girl. oh S and her crazy friends... i wish i could explain to you my goofy sister, but you just have to know her lol... K & C took off (haven't seen C since she was itty bitty. weird!) so M and the boys left too. as we headed to J's car, L called. she was getting mcdonald's on her way to my place for shopping round 2. unfortunately, before 4am mcdonald's doesn't serve full breakfast. there was one across the parking lot, and it was 358 when we got in line. i got a sausage biscuit and J's hashbrown (and sass from S). glorious :D

we got back to my place about 10 min before L arrived. N was still feeling sick (his tummy hates him) so he bailed on best buy and target. S napped/watched sex and the city, while we ventured out. L and i got done pretty quickly at best buy (we cheated thanks to cameras lol) so wandered/mocked other customers. J got a ton of dvds and wii accessories. we couldnt talk her into buying a 3rd ipod (and jumping to a different, shorter line), but it wasnt the worst wait. we cut down her dvd pile as we went. quick trip to the car, then we popped over to target. the real crazies were at target :) teenager riding in a cart ("you're the bestest friend i ever had" to the kid pushing her); woman pushing two carts hooked together; and old lady making a woman cry because she was blocking the aisle. i reached my "god im fucking tired" point somewhere around 6am because my profanity per sentence increased greatly. at one point, i got distracted by movies with L, and J kept walking with her giant cart full of more dvds (i think she has a problem lol). i didnt see her cut through a break in the line (there was a line at electronics), so i just started laughing... "how the fuck did you do that? are you fucking magic?!"... good thing there weren't (m)any small children around. im horrible. we got in the quick moving checkout line (woot) and had a great conversation with the cashier. back to the house to get ready for...

round 3: annapolis mall. me and J. N was still out of commission; we dropped S off at home; and L had to meet her parents. running on i dont even know what, we hit express, nordstrom's, coach and sephora. i ended up with a gorgeous trench and sweater from express. J had a whole pile of stuff, as usual :) we finally got back to my place around 1130. nearly 12 hours of shopping did me in. J headed home, and i took a nap. i ended the day/crazy/night with the say yes to the dress marathon.

the rest of the weekend was pretty low key. went out to watch the tech/uva game (go hokies) with L. got CZ to come hang and she brought her brother. then N (who finally felt better) and i got to hang out with AG [lol im gonna have to start using double initials cause i have too many friends]. sunday, i slept til 2 in the afternoon, vegged on the couch, watched SNF (go ravens) and putzed around online. it was a great end to the holiday weekend... i'll put some pictures up later tonight :)

how were your thanksgivings?


*idiots (high schoolers) thought it would be funny to hold us up by slowly weaving through the lines (and rest of the store). they were all dressed up (banana, douchebag hipster, etc) and one kid was playing a keyboard. i couldve punched someone in the face at that point