Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,

I’ve been good all year and would love for you to put any of the following underneath the Christmas tree!

J. Crew Crystal Cluster Ring in Shore Pink

I think this ring is just plain lovely

Ugg Cardy Classic Knit Boot in Grey

Because they’re comfy

Philosophy The Bakeshoppe

Everything in this set smells delicious

Tiffany Crown Key Pendant

The new Tiffany Key collection is classic and I just think this is simple and pretty

Pink Gasoline Pink/Green Damask Coffee Cozy and Key Fob from Etsy

All of those Starbucks cups would like mighty cute with this wrapped around it!

Scout 'Lil Slim Laptop Bag in French Twist Pink

Pink and portable perfection!

Roxy 'Glow' Cable Knit Infinity Scarf in Pearl

Warm and cozy…and I cannot get enough of scarves!

What's on your list?

Happy 101 Award & Happy dog

I was given the Happy 101 Award by the always wonderful Miss Sweet Tea over at Sweet Tea Diaries. The Happy 101 Award is to thank the wonderful bloggers that make you smile. Thank you so much for this award. Angela makes me smile too :)

The rules are:
1. List 10 things that make you happy.
2. Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day.

10 things that make me happy
1. Geof
2. My family
3. My friends
4. Chase & Mandy
5. Christmas lights
6. Traveling
7. Purses
8. Lip gloss
9. Beautiful sunsets
10. Ice skating

I would like to pass this award onto the following bloggers that make me smile:

1. Blair @ Reasonably Swanky
2. Brittany @ Living in the Momment
3. MCW @ Saving the Best for Last…(fingers crossed)
4. Annie @ Chapters of our Life
5. Melissa @ Love, Marriage and (Someday) A Baby Carriage!
6. Bonnie @ The Browns
7. Kathie @ My Net Finds
8. Whitney @ That Girl & Her Pug
9. Anna @ Southern Champagne Wishes
10. Katie @ The Adventures of Katie and Josh

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The award above is appropriately named for my story of the night. My mom came over to keep me company and decided to surprise me and bring Happy (her black lab) along with her. Here is a quick background on good, old Happy. When I was 19, I was at the pet store and saw this adorable puppy that was 3 months old. They said they had named him Crazy. He looked like he really wanted a home, so I did what any irrational teenager that thinks they’re an adult would do and bought him against my mom’s wishes. When I walked in the door back at home, my mother’s exact words were, (before she saw him from the other room) “you better not have brought that….awwww” (that’s when she walked into the room and instantly fell in love). He was supposed to be my dog, but became our dog. When I moved out Happy stayed and he is now very much my mom’s dog. He is still doing well and is almost 12.

Onto the night’s story; Happy got here tonight and was being harassed by my dogs and was all out of sorts. Within 5 minutes, he had an accident on the floor. Great. We cleaned that up and then I went to feed my dogs. The next thing I hear is “oh no, Happy got sick”. Good lord. Okay, let’s clean it up. Finally I thought it was all well and good until his power tail came along and knocked my mom’s cup of tea all over the coffee table and living room floor. Poor guy couldn’t catch a break. Here is the sweetie just relaxing after his rough night.

Weekend recap

Friday, Geof finally came home from his business trip to Chicago. I hadn’t seen him all week, so it was great to have him back. He was a good sport and came on a quick trip with me to DSW (I didn’t get anything) and then we went to Five Guys for dinner. He loves that place. We came home and had a relaxing night just catching up and watching some of our favorite shows.

Saturday, we had ice skating and then went to Macy’s to do some Christmas shopping during their Friend’s & Family sale. Geof found some shoes for work that he liked and I just need to order them online. We scooped up a few things then browsed the Coach section and there was a lady that was putting a bag on hold and it was the last one. I instantly fell in love with it. I spoke with the sales associate and she tried another store for me, but they were all out as well. She gave me a printout of the stores that might have one on hand and said that I could call them if I wanted to and she would call me if they still had the bag after 24 hours. More on that later.


The bag!

After the mall, Geof and I went to Rose Tree Park for the Festival of Lights. We also had our first snowfall of the season and it was a perfect scene for all of the pretty lights. They had a tent set up with entertainment and a salute to our troops. This is a place that we like to visit a few times during the season and I hope that we’re able to take the dogs for a walk there next weekend and get a good look at all of the scenery.


Festival of Lights! I need to bring my camera next time.

We came home and then I started on my Macy’s list of stores. After several calls, one was finally located for me at the Macy’s in Appleton, Wisconsin! This bag was a steal. It is not often that I find a ridiculous deal, but this was one of those. I basically got it for over $300 off the original price because it was on clearance and then the 25% F&F coupon took an additional amount off of the clearance price. I was definitely doing the happy dance.

Sunday, Geof left again for another work trip. At least he was home for a few days. I’m really looking forward to him getting back, so that we can spend next weekend getting ready for Christmas. I ended up taking it easy and got sucked into another Lifetime movie, 12 Men of Christmas. It was cute and Kristin Chenoweth is adorable. Runaway Bride and The Holiday came on, which are two of my favorites. It was just another relaxing Sunday. I don’t get many days like this, so I take advantage of them when I can.

Christmas favorites

The holiday season is officially upon us and I thought it would be fun to start my own Christmas season favorites list and I also hope that some of you will take these questions and answer them yourself. Please let me know if you do, because I would love to hop on over to your blog and read your list!

Traditions
1. Cutting down our Christmas tree at Linvilla Orchards and then warming up by the fire roasting marshmallows and drinking warm apple cider.
2. Decorating the tree and our home while listening to Christmas music favorites.
3. Spending Christmas morning together with my mom and Geof and then heading to my aunt & uncle’s to spend the evening with family.


This is pretty much what it looks like at Linvilla when we head out to cut down our tree!

Songs
1. The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) – Nat King Cole
2. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
3. All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey


My family played this song along with many other classics during the holidays when I was a child. It brings back so many great memories.

Movies
1. A Christmas Story
2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
3. Home Alone


"It's a major award!" ;)

Treats
1. Homemade Christmas cookies, specifically sugar and chocolate chip
2. Chocolate covered pretzels
3. Starbucks Gingerbread Latte


I wish my cookies looked like this!

Decorations
1. Special ornaments (once I dig everything out, I’ll try to post pics)
2. Glittery trees
3. Pretty wreaths


This is a little bit of my decorations from last year, courtesy of Target.

Weekend recap

Friday, my mom and I braved the King of Prussia Mall for Black Friday. We headed up there in the early afternoon hours and missed some of the early-bird madness. The mall was still very crowded. Police were directing traffic and there were even lines for the ladies room. Overall, it was a fun trip. People were in good spirits and deals were popping up all over. I purchased a few Christmas gifts and even got some things for myself. We shopped over 4 hours and were beat. After shopping, we went to Charlie Brown’s for dinner and just got the salad bar and dessert.


Some things from Old Navy, Ann Taylor Loft, Sephora and a bracelet from Express


Love this grey sweater from Ann Taylor Loft. It is nice and long and will be great with skinny jeans. Headband and some jewelry from ATL and Old Navy.

I don’t know how I had the energy, but Friday night Jess came over and we went to the Clifton Inn and met up with some of our friends. I had never been there, but it was a total dive bar that had cheap drinks, a pool table and a jukebox. I got to catch up with my friends Tim, Dan and Steven. We had a nice time and ended up getting a late night bite at Denny’s.

Saturday, I had ice skating and then came home, cleaned a bit and relaxed. I got sucked into watching Honeymoon with Mom on Lifetime and it was cheesy, but good. My mom came over to keep me company since Geof is traveling.



Sunday, I had a much needed lazy day. I slept in late and got sucked into 2 more Lifetime movies. I watched, I Me Wed and I Do (but I Don’t). They were both cute and perfect for watching on a relaxing day. My mom came over again and I made us an easy dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup. For dessert, I finally made the soda cake that I had wanted to try for months. I used strawberry cake mix and Sprite Zero. I also made a low calorie frosting for the cake, but really I could have just used whipped cream. It tasted better than I expected, and I don’t know if I’ll make a normal cake ever again.

Cake fresh from the oven

Frosted! Next time I'll add some more Confectioners Sugar, since the icing was a little thin.

I hope everyone had a nice, long weekend!

Thanksgiving 2009

Geof and I slept in extremely late and I was shocked that the dogs didn’t wake us up. My only regret is that we missed the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. We spent what was left of the morning catching up with friends and family on the phone to wish everyone a happy day.

In the afternoon, we headed to my aunt & uncle’s house and spent some quality time with the family. I honestly don’t know how my aunt does it, but somehow she manages to make a homemade and delicious meal every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Somehow it all gets on the table warm and fresh and each meal tastes better than the one before.


Geof and I at my aunt and uncle's


Table for 18 - not including the kids table


2 of my many cousins. They crack me up!

It was a great day filled with lots of turkey, pecan pie, love and football! I hope that you all had a Happy Thanksgiving too!

Thankful

With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I thought that it would be the perfect time to reflect on some things that I’m thankful for.

My husband, Geof. No matter how ridiculous I can be at times, he is always there to keep me grounded and make me smile. When he came into my life, I knew it was something special. We may not be perfect, but we’re perfect for each other. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not happy to have him by my side.



My mom. Words cannot describe how thankful I am to have someone as caring and selfless as she is. She puts herself before others and works so hard. She’s achieved so many goals and even taken some chances I don’t know if I would have had the guts to attempt. I remember when I was in my early 20’s, she bought a small motel at the beach and ran it for the summer. It was so great to spend weekends there with my girlfriends. After that summer, she decided the motel business wasn’t for her and turned around and sold it. I give her so much credit for even taking that chance. She raised me as a single parent with help from my grandmother and she is so strong and I admire her for everything she has taught me and the women she has encouraged me to become. She has refused to let me believe that anything is impossible.



My dad. Growing up, he lived about 50 miles away and there was never a weekend or visit that he missed. He never complained about the drive and always used it as our time to catch up. Each visit, he had fun activities planned and wanted to make everything as special as possible. He took me to Disney World when I was about 8 and I remember it being so magical. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t have done to try and make me happy. I have so many fun memories of our times together while I was growing up; fishing trips, theme parks (he’s the first person to get me on a roller coaster), sledding, ice skating…ahhh, there are so many.

My dad lives in South Carolina now, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not thankful for how hard he worked to be an important part of my life. I wish that I could see him more often.



My friends. I’ve said it so many times and I’ll say it again. I’m an only child and my friends mean everything to me. I have some of the sweetest girls in my life and I couldn’t ask for more. Being an adult definitely teaches you that it’s the quality verses the quantity of your friendships that is most important.



My dogs. They’re the sweetest, cuddliest and cutest little dogs I’ve ever seen. One of the best feelings that I get on a daily basis is coming home to them and seeing how excited they are to see me. A dog’s love is unconditional.

I’m also thankful for beautiful sunsets, 4 different seasons, having my own house (even if it’s small), having a car that’s paid off (even if it’s old and needs repairs from time to time) and holidays filled with lots of family!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my wonderful blog friends! I hope your day is filled with lots of yummy food and happiness.