yesterday brit m, brit l, and i went on a tiny thrifting adventure.  the glasses shown above were my favorite purchase of the day.  they’re small and perfect!  new cups can be my excuse to drink too many mimosas, right?  i’ve been looking for weekend at bernie’s on VHS for at least a year.  for some reason i’ve been wanting to watch it and brit spotted it at goodwill!  i can’t remember ever watching it so i may be disappointed.   it was only $1 so it won’t be too much of a loss.

 

+ leaving for vacation soon!

+ aveeno chapstick (my friend denise introduced me to it)

+ gathering little things for an easter basket for jared.

+ making lots of mix cds. (i always love trades)

+ waking up early enough to eat breakfast before work.

+ shopping trips with my sister and niece.

winter is officially here.
boots and gloves have been worn.

+ getting off work hours early & getting cozy at home.
+ trying to send out lots of postcards.
+ listening to my tennis record.

here and there

+ christmas 2011 was just about perfect. well, it really was perfect. i spent it with my family, we feasted, we covered the living room floor with wrapping paper. everyone was happy and content. that makes me happy.

+ we had our second secret santa gift exchange at wacky wednesday (my group of friend’s weekly craft/eat/watch videos club)

my friend alicia had my name. she bought me super cute cupcake stationery and the tiny, food erasers that i collect! it was a perfect gift.

+ i don’t know why a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves to have a good new years eve. it’s probably my least favorite celebration of the year. that said, mine was spent drinking sangria and playing games. (and that was perfectly fine with me)

+ staying in bed for way too long. i blame this on my new sheets.
+ watching arrested development.
+ jared and i are visiting his family in florida in three weeks!
+ discovering dum dum girls.
+ all the sunshine we’ve had this week.
+ how much i love my boyfriend.
+ pear tea.
+ having customers tell me i’m good at my job.
+ so addicted to pinterest.
+ buying myself things (that i don’t need) without feeling guilty about it.

one of jared’s favorite things in the whole world is salmon. so on christmas eve i surprised him with salmon + cream cheese + dill roll ups, brie & grapes, biscoff cookies, and sparkling apple cider. we snacked and watched a charlie brown christmas, like we always do. i can hardly believe that this is the 7th christmas we’ve spent together. crazy, crazy!

look at all of those presents! on christmas day we had a big brunch, opened lots of presents, and watched the home alone i got from my mom. it’s pretty ridiculous that i’ve gone so many years without owning this movie because it’s one of my favorites.

my sister & my niece.

some presents…

sweaters, pajamas, sheet set, scarf.

+
these posters and record are from jared along with a new record player and speakers!

he set everything up while i was in the shower christmas morning then told me to come upstairs to “help him wrap presents.”

i love it!

2nd annual cookie exchange

my sister and i hosted a cookie exchange at her house this past weekend. if you’re not familiar with what a cookie exchange is, it’s a small party where you take a certain number of dozens of cookies to swap with others. how many cookies you make depends on how many people are invited so everybody gets the same amount to take home. at our exchange, everybody made six dozen cookies then took half a dozen of each cookie home with them. normally you’re supposed to print out a recipe of your cookie for everybody but we had everybody email their recipe to us and we made a little booklet so they were all together.

our menu: potato soup, sticky ham & cheese sandwiches, (if you haven’t had these before, make them. they’re so so good.) tiny cheese balls, and a raspberry vinaigrette salad.

hot chocolate toppings…

i suggested that next year everybody package their cookies individually so the flavors don’t mix so much. (and i like an excuse to personalize everything)

i found a recipe online for hot chocolate milk so i bagged that and tied a cookie cutter to it as favors.

baby baby

last weekend my sister & her husband took a little trip to new york and i was the designated babysitter for my niece, jenna. i baby/dog/house sat from thursday – sunday evening. i was a bit nervous to be taking care of a tiny being for four days straight because i hadn’t done it before (and i over think everything) but it went perfectly! no complaints on my end.

we built a blanket fort in the living room, read lots & lots of books (which i love)

we made banana pancakes for breakfast…

i had time to write some letters.

i think jenna had fun too!

what a cutie.

this is my 100th post over here! hooray!

i’m helping host a cookie exchange tomorrow so i’m getting lots of little bits and pieces ready for that but i wanted to share some of the advent calendars i put together this year:

24 gifts for my friend mallory.

for jared. (wrapped in charlie brown paper!)

a tea advent for my friend ali who is more excited about christmas than anyone i know.

i printed these squares using photoshop then wrapped a different tea bag in each one…

and covered clothes pins with newspaper…

not pictured are the two giant bags full of gifts my sister & i bought for my elderly neighbor and my grandma. we did the same thing last year and you can read about that here. my grandma called me the other day and said, “today i opened batteries! i think tomorrow i’m getting soap..i smelled it!” it was so cute.

advent inspiration

in the past years i’ve become obsessed with advent calendars. i like counting down to things and little gifts so how couldn’t i love them? i’m in the process of putting together six advents this year for christmas! (as gifts for people) i’m being generous with these because i’m trying to do lots of random acts of kindness this holiday season. (Random Acts Of Kindness Christmas RAOKC? ok, maybe the acronym won’t work..hah)

here are some beauties over on etsy…

while i’m on the subject of christmas, i’m taking part in the angel giving tree this year! “The annual Christmas gift drive provides toys, clothing, special-needs gifts, or other wish list items to kids and senior citizens experiencing financial hardship.”
i saw a commercial the other day and was really excited about the project so i “adopted” a four year old from this little area in ohio. there aren’t photos or names. just the age, location and what they need and want. you pick the location/age of the person you want to adopt, buy whatever presents you’d like, then mail or drop off the gifts at the nearest salvation army! i strongly recommend you do this if you feel inclined. i’m already finished buying my presents. i love this kind of thing! read more about it here.