Chiweenie

This is our cousin's new dog! She's a Chi-weenie and is only 9 weeks old. I'm in love!!!

Unmotivated

I am literally counting down the days until this week is over! Who the hell is motivated to work during the last week of the year? So Christmas has come and gone and the decorations will probably stay up until the middle of January because I have no motivation to put them away. Christmas was fairly low-key for us this year. We had a steak and seafood dinner at the in-laws Christmas Eve which went okay. Hubby had to work part of the day and there was a minor issues with him and his parents, but dinner wasn't a knock-down drag-out fight, so I guess I should feel lucky!

Christmas morning we woke up and Hubby and I exchanged presents first. He surprised me with a massage gift certificate that came with aromatherapy, foot reflexology and a hot stone treatment! I also get to pick out a new camera since mine is possessed. Hubby bought himself a dirt bike last month, so that was his big present. I did get him the Hangover DVD, new coffee travel mugs so he'll stop stealing mine and live DVD's of Rob Thomas and Kings of Leon. Afterwards, we headed over to his parents to do the big exchange. I was surprised with 3 hours of maid service (hot damn!) and a super warm blanket. Hubby got a new blower for the backyard and Sirius radio. It was a very nice Xmas morning and we finished it off by watching the Hangover and laughing hysterically.


Later that evening was the family get-together for a ham dinner and a funny White Elephant exchange. The gifts I brought were a hit! I picked up a kit of all kinds of stick-on mustaches and a funny pen set with totally random companies written on them.

Saturday we hit up a bunch of stores trying to find my new camera, and eventually found one later in the evening. We also went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, which was awesome! Totally fun and the cast of characters was great. Sunday was spent picking up the new camera and making chili. I was so over family by then, I was happy for a break.

Randomness

While waiting for Hubby last night, I popped into World Market and picked up this cute dog bed!

Then I headed over to Ann Taylor Loft and scored this jacket on sale for $34! I'm in love!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I know I say this every Monday, but I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Friday night I ended up staying late at work to help my boss finish his Shutterfly photo book for his wife. I had been helping him make a book documenting his new baby girl so he could surprise his wife at Christmas. My boss is a bit of a procrastinator, so of course we're rushing to finish it on Friday so we could get it shipped by Christmas. I finally got home about 7:30pm and we went to dinner in the hood with our friend B. Dinner was super yummy, I had the Southwestern Grilled Chicken, which was topped with a melted Buffalo mozzarella that was out of this word. The cilantro butter sauce that topped it was ridiculous and made the rice fantastic. I passed out for the night around 10ish, while the boys drank and goofed around until 2am.

Saturday morning I hit the ground running and started with my Body Flow class. The boys went off to the shooting range to act macho for a few hours. We all met up for lunch afterwards and chatted and laughed for about 2 hours. Then Hubby and I went off to finish up our Christmas shopping. I'm happy to report we are done! We were exhausted and went home about 7pm. We totally spaced about our friend C's pub crawl, so sadly we missed out on the fun. Hubby zonked on the couch by 8pm and I watched Enchanted on TV. I love Amy Adams and the movie is so damn cute!

Sunday I cooked breakfast for us while we relaxed a bit. Then it was off to get my hair colored. I was a deep chestnut brown and this time I went for espresso bean dark. It's REALLY dark, about as dark as you can go without being considered goth-y. I'm still getting used to it, but so far C and T have said it looks good, so I'm going to stick with it until March. Then I'll gradually go lighter for the summer months. What's cool is I can amp up my eye-makeup with out it seeming overdone because it matches my new hair color really well. I met up with C. for a yummy lunch of Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai at Fire Bowl, my new favorite lunch spot. Then we went to Party City and stocked up on New Year's decorations. Our theme is Black, Gold, and Silver and we picked up some really great supplies. I've already designed the cake theme, so this week I'll start piping out the pieces in both royal icing and fondant.

New Hobby?

I'm thinking of taking some photography and darkroom processing classes in the new year. As much as I love digital cameras and their capabilities, I've always been drawn to the whole process of developing the film you shoot. I took photography classes in my freshman and sophomore year of high-school and loved it. I'm pretty sure I have an old school film camera somewhere that I could use to save money in the beginning. After doing some research, I've found a few people who will teach you the basics of the darkroom developing process for about $125 for 20 hours of lesson time.

My plan is to do more research on the general cost of supplies and the time involved to re-learn the developing process. Once I get a hang of it, I would need to find a darkroom to join so I would be able to do and develop whenever I choose.

I Heart Zooey Deschanel

I watched Elf again the other night and I love this girl! She is too cute and has a vintage-y style that I adore. Plus she's a great singer and I love her hair.

Here's a clip of her in Elf:



She's in a music group called She & Him as well.

Dear USPS

As you probably know, the holiday season is here and Christmas eve is knocking on our door. Every year people scramble to send packages to their loved ones far away and they rely on USPS to ship them with tender loving care. So why is it I see the same issues repeating themselves each year? From 25 people in line and only 2 cashiers, packages marked "Fragile" that show up beat to shit? Really, I'm so confused on why we must play this game of cat and mouse each year. Aren't there enough people to hire to help cover the expected holiday rush? Sigh.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I feel like I always start my weekend recap blog with "Another busy weekend for the books," and it certainly rang true again for last weekend. Friday I was feeling a bit under the weather and took the day off work. I dragged my butt to Yoga, which made me feel fabulous and also did some light grocery shopping. I headed over to T's house to watch Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and drink some hot chocolate. Later when Hubby got home we cooked some dinner, danced around to music and watched tv until we crashed.

Saturday was our girls Xmas trip and we kicked off the day at a vineyard where we did a wine tasting. Our somelier, James, got a kick out of 8 pretty ladies ready to taste some wine and take lots of pictures. He gave us extra tastes and even had us try a port shot! You dip your glass in caramel sauce, then lick it off, slam the port and throw back some chocolate chips. It was super yummy! He even got us a tour of the winery even though they weren't scheduled to do another tour for 30 more minutes. It totally pays to dress up and look fabulous! Afterwards we headed downtown for lunch and our White Elephant. The food was great and the gifts were even better! There were a few steals and sad faces, but everyone walked away with a fabulous gift. We even talked about doing a theme of personalized gifts for next year's party.

After lunch we strolled Main Street and ducked into cute little shops and crossed items off our Christmas list. A few of us picked up some new charms for our bracelets and we stopped to take lots of cute pictures along the way. We called it a day around 5pm and most of the girls headed home. T and I stayed at her Aunt's house so we went to eat yummy pasta and fried quail for dinner. Then we headed back to make truffles, which didn't go exactly as planned. Her Aunt used all the chocolate, including what was to be reserved to dip the truffles in! A few trips to the grocery store got us back on track and we rolled, dipped, laughed and talked until well past 1am.

Sunday we got up and had green smoothies that were super yummy and hit the road. We went to relieve the husbands of their child-watching duties so they could go dirt bike riding and relax. Us girls went into town to do more Christmas shopping and to waste some time since we were up and showered and looking good. Later than evening I made my last batch of cinnamon rolls and we babysat D for a bit. I introduced her to the original Chipmunk Adventure movie which I loved when I was little. Hubby even gave her a guitar lesson which she loved.

Peeling Back the Layers

I've been having quite a problem with my skin since I went off of birth control in late September. I have been having major breakouts and my T-zone is annoyingly oily and I'm over it! I've tried adjusting my creams and lotions to see if that would help, but I've had no improvements. I went to my dermatologists office to get the scoop and they gave me some different creams to try and suggested a gylcolic peel to help speed up cell turnover and possibly decrease the oil productivity.

I love facials and peels and I'm willing to try anything, so I set up an appointment for yesterday. Glycolic acid peels are popular due to its high acidity which works as an exfoliating agent and its easy solubility. Glycolic acid goes under the damaged upper layers of skin and destroys the 'glue' which holds dead skin to the surface. As this dead skin is chemically burned off, the other ingredients carry the individual flakes away and a water rinse neutralizes the remaining acid. You end up with smoother skin and a more youthful appearance. After the acid is applied and sets, they wipe it off and my doctor put a pumpkin enzyme cream on my face that felt so luxurious. It smelled wonderful and calmed the skin right down and I really had minimal redness.

She suggested I switch day creams to one that is non-comedogenic, paraben free, fragrance free,etc,etc. The nice thing is that is has sunscreen included with 46SPF. That's better than the 30SPF I was currently using, and a medium bottle was only $26. I love the way the new day cream feels and it really sets well on the face. I think combined with the peel it has already made a difference in my skin. I'm experiencing light peeling around my nose, which is common and a good sign. I've already made a second appointment for another peel next month. I'm thinking I'll probably get a total of 3 treatments and hope my skin regulates by then. After it regulates, I'll do a peel every 3-4 months for maintenance.

Peels and facials are great methods to help your skin look refreshed and lesson sun spots, etc. However, please consider only getting a peel done at your dermatologists office and to not use over the counter products. This is an acid chemical and needs to be stored properly for best life expectancy and in case any problems arise, your doctor can fix it immediately. The peel I did cost $85, which is very reasonable and I highly recommend getting a consult to determine the best care for your individual skin needs.

Make This Soup Now!

This is my favorite chili recipe, and it's White Turkey Chili. It's really simple and extremely tasty. It doesn't call for salt, but I normally throw a dash or two in towards the end.
Makes 8 servings.

White Turkey Chili

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
ground cayenne pepper to taste
ground white pepper to taste
3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions
1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is well browned. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and white pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.

2. Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I love unplanned weekends! Friday night Hubby and I went to eat a full turkey dinner at his parents house. Then we went home and crashed in front of the couch and watched G.I. Joe. Saturday I woke up EARLY and volunteered at the Coats for Kids event. Basically, we helped families in need get warm coats for their children. It's a really gratifying experience because you get to interact (albeit quickly) with the families and help the kids pick out new coats. Afterwards, a group of us went to breakfast and chatted a bit. Then it was off to the mall to hit up a few stores and knock some presents off my list.

Once I was done at the mall, I met up with T to help her buy presents and to see if I could get something for Hubby. We power shopped and T knocked a bunch of gifts off her list and I scored a few good ones as well. Hubby was gone for the day watching football, so we took our time and had a lot of fun. We went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner and then headed back to my house to uncork a bottle of wine (Vampire Merlot, lol), wrap presents and watch movies. We did watch the last 5 minutes of the UT game and about had a heart attack! We did win 13-12 in the last second (literally!). Then it was on to movie time. I love Saving Sarah Marshall, and T had never seen it, so we watched that while drinking. Damn that movie was even funnier with a nice wine buzz! We called it a night around 2am and I fell into bed and had a wonderful sleep.

Sunday Hubby and I work up and he wanted to go out to the Lake House for breakfast. I love it when he takes me there! Afterwards we visited with his parents for a bit and talked Christmas gift strategy for some other family members, including my SIL. Then we headed home where the baking commenced. I made pizzelles for my grandmom, mom and sister to ship be sure I could ship them off today. Then I made a huge batch of cinnamon rolls which I froze to give as presents later. I also made a batch of truffles to mail out to friends today. By 6pm we were getting hungry so I whipped up a batch of White Turkey Chili, which was super yummy. We watched Transformers 2 and Angels & Demons, both which were really entertaining. By 10pm we were zonked for the night.

T.G.I.F.

I'm a little disapointed this morning as there was no snow or ice on the ground to give me an excuse not to come to work, but at least I had a fabulous evening!

I went to the bookstore at 3:45pm yesterday to get my ticket to have my Pioneer Woman cookbook signed. Lo and behold 100 people were already in line and when I finally made it upstairs, I ran into E and the twins!! I was super excited that I would have someone to hang out with for 2.5 hours until the book signing started. It was cool to hear Ree talk about the ranch and her cookbook and plans for the future. She has another book coming out in 2011. I had a ticket that got me into the signing group right after her 25 minute Q&A. Not only did she sign the cookbooks, she took pictures with everyone and gave out adorable t-shirts that she designed. We even took pics with her hubby, Marlboro Man, which she lovingly calls him.

Book Signing

After work I'm heading to a local bookstore to attend a book signing by my favorite bogger, The Pioneer Woman. She released a cookbook last month and is doing a promotional tour which I'm super excited about. I read her blog every morning and laugh at her stories about being a cattle rancher's wife, a mom to 4 kids whom she home-schools, and an amazing cook. She whips up Cowboy and Cowgirl recipes that are yummy and super easy. I've made quite a few of her recipes, including her Cowboy Sandwich, salted chocolate truffles, and cinnamon rolls.

I'm wearing my cutest outfit and have my cookbook and camera in hand and ready to document the first book signing I've ever attended. If you're interested in her blog, check out www.thepioneerwoman.com You won't regret it!

Snuggie Confession, Part Deux

The doggie Snuggie sucks! It looks all weird and I didn't even bother to take a photo. I'll be returning it and getting my $10 back. Bummer.

Snuggie Confession

I bought my dog a mini-Snuggie for a Christmas present last night! Hubby thinks I'm off my rocker, but I couldn't resist. I'll take pics tonight and post tomorrow.

Belated Weekend Wrap-Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I'm still in a gluten coma! Thursday morning Hubby and I headed out to spend the weekend at our friend's family ranch to do some relaxing and hunting. I was excited to read a bunch of books without being interrupted and Hubby was really hoping to bring home some deer meat. I was expecting a more "executive ranch" experience, but the ranch was a very simple single-story building with minimal creature comforts. You couldn't flush toilet paper down the toilet and there was no hot water for the shower. This was a little disturbing considering I take 2 showers a day.

It was so peaceful and pretty and I took a lot of photos using my new tripod. I finished 3 books and Hubby shot a coyote but alas, did not bag a deer. After 3 days, I was ready for a shower and my own bed and some privacy. We headed back home late Saturday after the evening hunt.

Sunday I woke up early and decorated the house for Christmas. I put up our 3 foot tree and my Rudolph claymation figurines. C, K, and S came over for a candy making party. We made 2 kinds of truffles and lots of fudge and almond bark. We made a mess, laughed and sang along to the radio. I smell a fun Christmas tradition coming on, and it smells like melting chocolate!