I'm Free!

Mj baked these sugar cookies with a dab of strawberry jelly in the center.  It's a secret recipe from his grandmother.  We packaged them up for our co workers as gifts. They are so delicious but I'm glad they are gone so I can stop trying not to eat them.

grilled chicken topped with cilantro, tomatoes and onions

Last night I made dinner.  Mj was shocked to see me making dinner AND using real plates.  He actually said, "What's going on, this never happens."  I'm sure he wondered where his wife was and what I had done with her but it was me.  I haven't cooked in a longer time then I'd like to admit so I thought I'd get in one meal before the holidays. Mj is making dinner tomorrow night and then it'll be mostly eating out after that. I actually impressed myself with how good it turned out.

You know it's time for Christmas Break when you find yourself and your co workers positively riveted by a remote control flying shark balloon. This thing was a given to my boss and it was a fun distraction from cookie munching and the slowly ticking clock counting down the last days of work.  I didn't even know these things existed but apparently they sell them at Bed Bath & Beyond of all places.  My boss was kind enough to let me leave early today.  There were only the 2 of us left.  It was the best feeling ever walking away knowing I'm done and don't have to go back until next year.  I'm free!  Let the lady of leisure lifestyle that I look forward to so much every year begin.  I had already planned to go to the gym so I went straight there and I had time to work out and still get home before I normally would.  It was nice to see daylight after work and I even beat Mj home for a change.

My mother in law will be here tomorrow and I'll be up first thing tomorrow cleaning house before she gets here.  This year I'm sharing my entire Christmas staycation with Mj.  He got tired of seeing me sleep in  every day during this time while he still has to work so he took some extra days off and his last day is tomorrow.  I had a nice long vacation in October but even still I'm plain old worn out.  I'm pretty sure the world isn't going to end so I'm looking forward to this much needed break.

Happy Holidays to you all!!

 

DSW Giveaway Winner.....

The saying goes that it is better to give then to receive and I have to say I agree.  As much as I love getting a thoughtful gift and something I didn't have to buy for myself it feels really good to give something away.  I'm pretty sure I'll do this again sometime.  Thanks to everyone who participated.   I'm not cool like all the other bloggers so I didn't use rafflecopter to set this thing up but at least I didn't pick names out of a hat.  I used an online random name selector so rest assured that the results are legit.

I really want everyone to win but we all know that's not the way it works.  Sorry to those who didn't.  I feel your pain as I haven't won a single one of the many giveaways I've entered within the last week either.  Without further ado I will announce that the winner of the $50 DSW gift card is MLMR of My Life Moments and Realities. Those extra entries you got by posting about the giveaway came in handy!  She really wanted a new pair of shoes for her Birthday so I'm glad that I can help her get them.  Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to you!  I will be contacting you for your mailing address and get it sent ASAP so you can get your shop on.  Speaking of which I have still been getting my shop on myself even though I said I was done.  I need an intervention.

 

Holiday Par-tay

I have this thing about company holiday party's.  That thing is that I love them.  It's a fabulous night out that doesn't cost me anything so what's not to love?  At my job we just got a holiday luncheon during the work day.  Mj's isn't until January this year but my friend B invited me to hers.  I met her at Hotel La Jolla right after work on Friday, got myself all dolled up and then it was time to party.  This company went all out.  Cocktail hour with appetizers at a swanky hotel to start.  Filet Mignon for dinner.  Dessert bar and a DJ next door.  Oh, and just in case you overdo it on the all night open bar they throw in a hotel room for the night.  I've spent 6 months and then 5 months apart from Mj back to back so it felt kind of silly that I was going to miss him even thought it was just one night.  I felt sad for some reason that he was going to be home without me but not sad enough to stop me from going.  We each do our own thing and we don't have to be together all the time; nor should we.

The cool thing about going to someone else's holiday party is that you can act a fool and you don't have to see those people on Monday morning at work.  When you are the friend your husband doesn't have to see those people at work either.  You can dance like nobody is watching even though the room is full.  You can drink too much and laugh way too loud.  Not that I did any of that of course, but I will say that open bars tend to have quite an effect on me.  We both had a really fun time.  Maybe too much fun.  The next morning we stayed in the room right until the very last minute for check out recovering and then I felt sluggish for the rest of the day.  I definitely don't bounce back like I used to so it's a good thing I don't do this all the time.  Every now and then it's fun to really let loose like that though so it was worth it.

If you haven't entered my giveaway yet the last day is tomorrow.  Go here to enter.

 

Confessions for the Week

I confess that the only time I watch the news lately is at the gym.  On gym days I come home and it's did you hear about this, did you hear about that?  Those are the only days I might be more in the know on current events then Mj is.

I confess that I love Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition and Dance Mom's.  The finale of Abby's Ultimate was on Tuesday and Dance Mom's starts up again on New Year's Day.  It feels like a kid show and the drama among the moms is out of control but it's entertaining and I love the dance part.  While I'm at it I might as well 'fess up about being hooked on Teen Mom 2.  Mj won't watch it with me anymore.  All of the girls are annoying the hell out of me right now and I'm to the point where I don't even really want to watch it anymore either but I can't stop. 

Link up with Leslie @A Blonde Ambition

I confess that I still haven't totally figured it out yet with all the # and @ business but Twitter is fun.  I didn't want to be bothered with it at first but it's been fun engaging in mindless banter and it's a good way to discover new bloggers.  Mj isn't allowed to follow me on Twitter.  Isn't Facebook enough?  I'm keeping Twitter for online blogging/blogger buddies and Facebook is for friends and family.

I confess that I'm spending the night away from my husband tonight and even after all the separations that we've had over the years I'm gonna miss him.  It's just one night so it feels ridiculous but yeah, I'll miss him.

I confess that I haven't sent out Christmas cards in years.  The one year we really should have was 2010 because we could have used our wedding pictures but we didn't.  Oh well.  Maybe next year but probably not.

I confess that it's getting harder and harder to get out of bed every morning and when I finally get my tired butt to work I am dragging.  I am dying for Christmas Break.  I need it bad!! Five more work days and I won't have to go back 'till next year.

I confess that I have entered a million giveaways over the last week and I probably will not even win a single one! Speaking of which if you want to enter another giveaway and maybe not win it's not too late to enter mine!!  Click below for details.  The deadline is Tuesday, December 18th. 

 

Holiday Giveaway :: Shoe Lovers Only

 I've been feeling like a bit of a shopaholic lately. This whole concept of seeing something I want and actually being able to buy it without having a near nervous breakdown is still relatively new to me and it's making me feel extremely excessive. In the holiday spirit of giving AND so as not to feel so bad about spending money on myself this time of year I've decided to do a giveaway of one of my favorite things.  You know, like Oprah's favorite things except I don't have my own cable network or TV show and I'm not rich so it's only one thing and not 25.  I love DSW and I'm guessing a lot of you do too.  I really appreciate everyone who reads and/or follows my blog so I'm really excited to give something back to one of you.

Last day to enter :: Tues Dec 18th

The Prize: 

One winner will receive a $50 DSW gift card

Entry Period: 

From now until December 18th, 2012

How to Enter
You must be a follower of my blog  
You must have a US address that I can ship to as it's being delivered direct  

One Entry:

Be a follower of my blog via GFC
Comment on this post that you are and that you want to enter

One Additional Entry:  

Follow me on Twitter; comment with your user name  
 (If you already follow just indicate so)

Three Additional Entries: 

Post about the giveaway on your blog
No need to dedicate a whole post to it, just a mention with a link back to this post will do 
Comment here with your post url


 It's simple enough giving you the option of between between 1 to 5 entries depending on how much you like me what you want to do.  It can all be in one comment but you must mention each entry you qualify for.   If you do one entry and decide to come back and do additional ones later just leave more comments accordingly.  The last day to enter is Tuesday December 18th and I will announce the winner on my blog that week.  Thank you and good luck! 

X-mas Tree :: X-mas Shopping Done

This year instead of buying our tree, having it sit undecorated for two weeks and finally decorating it the week before Christmas we were on it.   We picked up AND decorated our tree on the same day!!  Mj compromised and we went a little smaller this year like I wanted.  And it's a good thing too because we don't have an SUV this year.  We bought the tree from the lot down and across the street from our house and Mj literally picked it up and carried it home. It looked so funny watching him run across the street with a Christmas Tree in his arms.  He got kind of filthy along the way but he made it.  We put on some Christmas music and drank wine while we decorated.   We didn't even need all of our decorations and lights because the tree is smaller.  I used two boxes of candy canes because half will be gone by Christmas...I have a tendency to eat them right off tree. 

I also did all of my Holiday shopping on Saturday in about 3 hours and 4 stores.  Things aren't too crowded yet so it wasn't so bad and I pretty much knew exactly what I was going for.  I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to think about doing it anymore as the stores get more crowded by the day.  Our family keeps it simple to save time and money by doing a gift exchange among the adults.  We've been doing it for the last 5 years or so now.  As adults we don't need a lot of presents and it gets harder and harder to think of things we want anyways so this works pretty well.  We write down three things we want, draw names and aren't allowed to have our significant others.  This means I only have to shop for the family Secret Santa, my little nephew and Mj.  I spend less time running around buying things and more time enjoying this time of year.  I have to pick up two more items but other then that now I can just sit back and enjoy the holidays.

Check back tomorrow for my giveaway!  You won't want to miss it.