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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Lordy, I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

To kick things off, Thursday night was spend waiting in line for the midnight premiere of New Moon. We all got in line starting about 6pm and found out you could see the first movie, Twilight, at 9pm. For $5 we said hell yes! So we sat through the first movie and laughed our asses off. The acting really wasn't great and everyone was yelling out funny comments (def. a lot were coming from me!). Then at midnight we watched New Moon and let me tell you, seeing Jacob all beefed up is enough to make me a switch hitter! I don't mind a vampire or a werewolf! After that was all said and done, I was at home by 3:15am and exhausted.

7am on Friday the alarm went off and I was super pissed. So sleepy! I got a huge coffee to get me through the morning. Work was a blur (mostly because I couldn't keep my eyes open) and when I finally got home I got changed and Hubby and I headed out for a bday party in the neighborhood. I seriously had no intention of staying out till 2:30am and dancing on a bar all night! We went to the Moon, a local dive bar in our neighborhood, and we sang and drank and danced all night long. It was hysterical and my cheeks hurt from laughing so hard.

I slept in until 11:30am on Saturday and T convinced me to run into town with her for a bit and grab some lunch and to do some browsing. I don't know the meaning of browsing, and ended up spending a good chunk of change on myself! I do love my new sweater, so it was totally worth it. I went home and took a nap and then Hubby and I got ready for the Train concert at 9pm. Uncle Cracker (who we nicknamed Uncle Pervy) was the opener, and we skipped seeing him. Train came on at 10:30pm and they rocked the show! They were so happy and smiley and they sounded incredible live. I had forgotten how many songs of theirs I liked and knew the words to. Afterwards, we hit up a local bar to wish a friend happy birthday. For the third night in a row I didn't get to sleep until well after 2am.

Sunday we slept in again and caught up on some Tivo'd shows. About 2pm we headed into town to buy new bedsheets and find a winter jacket for our ski trip in January. We scored both items on the list on sale! We hit up the grocery store and picked up items for an Italian Sausage soup. It was yummy and after we ate we caught up on Vampire Diaries (holy shit, we both LOVE that show!) and promptly passed out at 9pm.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I love lazy weekends when you open up the windows, make a nice cup of chicken tortilla soup, and watch silly movies with you significant other. That's how we spent Friday night, ignoring the phone and just relaxing. We both really needed it since we've been burning the candle at both ends for quite some time.

Saturday however, was a different story. Hubby got up early to head to the dirt bike course to go test a dirt bike he was thinking of buying. He had his money in his wallet and high hopes in his heart that the bike would be in good condition and would be worth it. We found out later in the day that he purchased the bike and was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day. So I had the perfect excuse to go shopping!

I went to the gym and met up with T to do some power shopping! Steinmart had a good sale and we both picked up a new shirt and some cute Christmas decorations. We then braved the mall to check out some stores. We hit up White House Black Market and scored on some half price jeans and corduroys. T got a size 0 which made me want to vomit with jealousy and I stuffed my booty in a 6. Then we headed to the Galleria to meet up with C and little S. Scored some new bras at Victoria's Secret thanks to a coupon and then went into Ann Taylor Loft to do some damage. The clerk let me use a coupon that was only for sale items, so I scored 2 pairs of corduroys and 2 sweaters for only $100!

After 5 hours of walking and shopping our feet were protesting, so we called it a night. We headed back to my house to cook up some pork loin, drink some wine and unwind in the hottub. It was a perfect way to top off a great day. I'm pretty sure Hubby and I were both passed out by 9:30pm. Sunday we woke up early and finished cleaning up the Halloween decorations and putting them in the attic. We decided to take down the Christmas decorations so we would be ready to go next weekend. We got rid of junk that we didn't need and it was very cathartic to put it all in the trash. I decided to make a slow cooker pot roast and by 5:30pm we were starving and it smelled so good! I was very proactive after dinner and addressed my Christmas cards as we watched a movie. What a great weekend!

Playing Catch-Up

Ugg, being under the weather throws my whole week off!

A quick weekend wrap up for you: Friday night was spent decorating brownie bites and throwing up. I promise I washed my hands well! Ate too much at the new raw-foods restaurant I tried with T earlier that day. Saturday was up bright and early after spending the whole night being sick and headed over to finish decorating the cupcakes and getting the cafe ready for K's babyshower. The shower turned out great and E really outdid herself on the flowers and games she designed. A wonderful time was had by all and I'm so happy the group was able to pull off a totally different type shower for K. We like our momma's-to-be to feel special and unique!

Saturday night was spent with family as we celebrated my FIL's bday. Our MIL was absent (take a wild guess why) but the evening was lovely. Sunday I finally took the Halloween decorations down and packed them away. The house looks so bare! Hubby and I went to do some light shopping and I had a frickin' mental breakdown and bawled my eyes out. Going off BC has been super tough and I'm hoping these fits subside in the near future.

Monday I had a nasty sore throat but went to work anyways. I ended up falling asleep by 9pm. Tuesday morning was terrible, my throat was sore and my ears were clogged, etc. Took the day off and went to the Dr. who said I had a slight infection and sent me home to rest and take some medicine. Started feeling better late in the day, but still pretty run-down. I'm looking forward to having nothing on the calendar this weekend!

Belated Weekend Wrap-Up

The Halloween party was on Saturday and it was called "epic" by many attendees. It warms my heart to have so many people come to our parties and also that they have a great time. I decorated the house like crazy because it's all about presentation and made sure there were items all over the house for people to see when they don't expect it. I made a 2 tiered cake that was a bitch to make but totally worth it. Everyone said it looked so pretty and we never even cut into it!

Food was plenty and the shots were even more bountiful! I carried a bucket with sand and nestled the shot test-tubes in and offered them up. I made quite a few rounds and we used all 1oo test tubes and even had to wash them out and start re-using them. Our friends who came in from Orlando had a blast and the live music aspect just adds a little something extra to a party. By 3am, I was done and ready for bed. We had to get up early to grab some yummy breakfast and take our visitors to the airport.

I love hosting the Halloween party, but after it's over, I'm so glad it's only a once a year party!

Weekend Wrap Up

I love lazy weekends! No big plans, just doing whatever you feel like it. Friday night the minute I got home I changed into comfy pants, a sweater and fuzzy socks. It was awesome and short-lived because Hubby wanted to go party at a neighbor's house. With my ass being firmly entrenched in the couch, I sent him alone to go blow off some steam. I didn't expect him to stay out till 2am, but whatever. I got to relax and watch some girly shows.

Saturday I hit up the gym early to start my treadmill interval training. It's a 6 week program, where you basically start with running for 2 minutes, walking for 3 minutes, and doing that for 6 cycles. I only made it for 3 cycles, but I'm going to try to complete the whole 6 week program and hopefully kick start my exercising goals. I then did an awesome Body Flow class that left me sore but feeling pretty light on my feet if you will. After class, I had to hit up Spec's for some liquor for the Halloween party shots as well as a cool costume gift for the grand prize winner. And since I was by Party Pig, I decided to stop in and see what kind of decorations were on sale. Sadly, nothing was, but that didn't stop me from picking up a few odds and ends! Saturday night we went to our uncle's house in the neighborhood for chili and football. It was a totally laid back night and it was great.

Sunday I had a hair appointment and had my hair colored darker. My celebrity reference was Zooey Dechanel and my colorist hit the nail on the head. I love the color and I think it complements my winter skin-tone. I need to rework my makeup for the darker hair, but I'm in love with the overall look. I meet up with C for some lunch and some shopping. She found 2 great jackets and I got some new makeup at Sephora. Then I headed home and Hubby helped me with my levitating table. It's about 75% done, and I need to get some last minute items to finish it up.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night Hubby and I just wanted to relax, so we took some champagne out to the hot tub and relished in the cooler weather and yummy drinks. I got so relaxed I zonked out at 8:30pm! So much for a romantic evening. But I've been running on full steam since I got back last Sunday and obviously needed some sleep.

Saturday hit my yoga class that I haven't been to in two weeks, so I was in desperate need of some stretching. Class was great and I really enjoyed the Tai Chi portion of it. Afterwards I hit up the grocery store to stock up on all my items for my Bunco dinner this week. It's my month to host and I'm going to make Bowtie Pasta with homemade Roasted Red Pepper sauce, mystery rolls, salad, pumpkin pie bites and chocolate truffles with sea salt. Later than evening a group of us went to see Vallejo at a free concert near the house. It was a beautiful evening and we sat outside in the amphitheater and rocked out.

Sunday we headed to brunch at Moonshine to celebrate out 4 year wedding anniversary and our 9 year anniversary of our first official date. It was a yummy brunch and then we headed over to C's house to check out her new baby. S is looking adorable and already has gotten so big. Her mommy showed me her expanding wardrobe and she has the cutest clothes. I'm sure her Daddy is thrilled with that! Afterwards we headed home to do some housecleaning and Halloween decorating. T came over to help me get all the decorations up and I must say, we did a great job! It looks like Halloween threw up all over my house and I love it! Hopefully the Bunco ladies love it this week as well.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I took advantage of Hubby being away for the weekend to catch up on my girly movies, finish my current book, and shop! Friday night I met up with some friends to help celebrate her hubby's birthday. We enjoyed some yummy Mexican food and a great band. I called it a night around 9pm and headed home to relax.

Saturday got up and hit the gym for Body Flow. I was so relaxed I managed to fall asleep during relaxation and it was amazing. T met up with me and we headed out to the Halloween store to see if we could find some inspiration for costumes and new decorations. I was waffling between a few costume ideas but decided to go with a fun gypsy costume. The costume has beautiful colors and is totally fun and flirty. I'm in love with it. The Halloween store had some amazing decorations for the party, but my sensible friends had to help talk me down from buying the whole damn store. They had some amazing pieces. T's little girl ended up falling in love with a Dorothy costume, so now she's all set as well. We went and grabbed some yummy lunch and then headed out for more shopping. We hit up Ann Taylor Loft and I scored a large addition to my fall/winter wardrobe! I can definitely do a lot of damage in that store. After we made our purchases, we went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 3D. I have vivid memories of reading that book as a child so it was pretty cool to see it as a movie. It was really cute and I enjoyed it.

Sunday I got up and went to town cleaning the house. I'm talking organizing guest bedrooms and closets, my linen closet, my laundry room, my closet, etc. I went nuts and it was very cathartic. I fit in some time to lay by the pool and read another book. My friend C came over and we took the dogs to the park for an hour or so. By that time I was ready for dinner so I made rice spaghetti and meatballs which totally rocked. I settled in for the night and flipped between a few movies and zonked around 10pm. I do enjoy my alone time, but I'm so ready for Hubby to get back into town today!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another busy weekend for the record books! It was the weekend of our much anticipated and long awaited girls trip. We haven't had rain in oh, about 300+ days and of course, the sky decided to open up and pretty much pour all weekend starting Friday morning. K quickly thought of a plan B, and we went to see 500 Days of Summer to kick off our trip. The movie was cute and quirky and we had some yummy food at Alamo. By then it was about 1pm and we headed off to Lost Pines to check into our hotel.

The rain was nice enough to let up so we could unpack our 3 car and the ridiculous amount of luggage and coolers we brought without getting soaked. We had some yummy passion fruit Mimosa's at check-in and managed to get rooms that were right next to each other. We settled in, did some unpacking and arranging of the bar and snacks. We figured out our room assignments and decided to wander the hotel for a bit and check it out. We hit up the spa to make sure they had our reservations correct and thank goodness we did. They had my name down for 7 treatments! We all went to eat dinner together and unfortunately a few of us got upset tummies for the rest of the night. It was a pretty tame evening and we called it a night around 10:30pm.

Saturday we awoke to the rain pouring down hard. Not such a bad thing since we were headed over to the spa at 9:45am to check in for our treatments. We all got fun things like facials, body scrubs, foot massages, etc. We had all finished up about noonish and we decided to splurge and order room-service at the spa. The chicken tortilla soup was yummy and my Riesling was kick-ass good. The hot tub was so inviting looking most of us soaked and relaxed a bit more. We finally called it a day at 2:30pm. The group consensus was we all felt like butter and were so relaxed. The rain had let up so a few of us went to brave the cooler weather and try out the lazy river. It was fun and I'm glad we at least tried it out. T and I got some great mojitos from the bartender, whose real name was Michael Jackson! We had a good and tipsy laugh at that.

We tried to make reservations at the fancy restaurant at the hotel, but they were booked solid. So at the suggestion of the concierge, we headed downtown to Nancy's Steakhouse. Looks were deceiving, but the food was pretty darn good! And we saved a ton of money not eating at the ultra-fancy place. Some of us were feeling pretty good from the wine and sangria and I had a roll thrown at my head, my sangria replaced with water, and M smacked our waiter with her menu! We laughed so hard tears were shed and tummies were hurting. Thank gosh for K and C for being our designated drivers, they were life-savers. We had the music turned up on the way home and were jamming out. I also surprised everyone with a video montage of pictures we're taken over the last 3 years. N, I swear, I didn't plan on every picture of you having a drink in your hand!

We attempted to crash a wedding that was taking place at our hotel when we got back. We met Aunt Debbie who said we could go in, but the music was lame so we declined. I did however get us a piece of wedding cake that was scrumptious! We also scored mimosas' from the front desk and took those back to the room. We all brought old photo albums so we could laugh at each other and boy did we ever! It was fun to see your friends before you knew them.

Sunday we slept in and then went for a walk on the local trail. It was nice to clear our heads from a night of drinking. We went to eat a yummy breakfast buffet and went to relax on the rocking chairs as we digested our weekend over-indulgences. We were packed up and our trip came to an end around 1pm. Then we all headed home to rest up from a busy weekend!

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday night we did nothing, which was awesome. Went to bed early and caught up on some sleep. Saturday I hit the gym and also tried out the new hydro massage bed. It's a flat bed which uses warm jets to massage your body. Pretty nice, and for only $10 a month, you get unlimited use. Pondering the necessity of a membership!

Saturday night we headed downtown for the opening college football game thanks to some free tickets! Since it's a college stadium, they can't serve beer. We were lucky enough to get tickets for a tailgate section that requires a yearly membership. I like the laid back atmosphere and it's way easier to get food and beer since the lines are shorter. We trekked to the stadium to watch the game until after halftime. Then we headed back to the tailgate area for more food and beer and called it a night after the third quarter. We were beating the snot out of the other team so it was a no-brainer who was going to win.

Sunday Hubby and I went to cut down two pesky trees at work. They harbored a gazillion birds who managed to poop on my car every day. It was quite a site, Hubby on the roof and me with the cord wrapped around my waist and pulling so the limbs wouldn't fall and damage the building. We got it done in about 2 hours and headed home. We had a labor day party to attend that evening. Gotta love free BBQ and frozen margarita machines! I had a few Mango Margaritas and then the sugar gave me a killer headache. We called it a night around 11pm, which was fine by me.

Monday was spent lounging by the pool with friends and family. We had yummy venison/beef burgers and deviled eggs. Everyone called it a night around 6pm and I decided to watch 17 Again with Zac Efron while Hubby snored on the couch. It was a really funny and cute movie, I laughed a bunch. Then it was off to prepare for a 3 day work week! LP here we come!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I seriously need to know where the hell the weekend went? It flew by at the blink of an eye and I'm not happy about it!

Friday night I went to Verizon to figure out why my phone went all poltergeist on me, and of course the tech turns it on and it acts completely normal! It starts right up no problem and the lady looks at me like I'm crazy. So they reactivated it for me and hopefully it will hold out until January when my contract is up. Later on we went to a wine bar and met up with some friends for a light dinner and some drinks. The owner of the bar was awesome and had the chef make me a beautiful plate of mozzarella cheese, sliced tomato, basil and prosciutto. They even gave me rice crackers which was greatly appreciated. We headed home about 10ish and I dropped Hubby off at our uncle's since all the cousins and uncles were drinking and having fun. I went to bed cause I'm an old woman! I was abruptly woken up at 2:30am by Hubby and 3 of our cousins cause they were drunk and wanted to say hi. Good thing I love those boys otherwise I would have strangled them! They stayed up drinking and laughing until about 4am when they all passed out in the outdoor man cave.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 7am to get ready for C's maternity photo shoot in my backyard. Best light is 8am or 7pm, so I told her to get over to my house by 7:30am so we could pick her outfit, put on lashes, etc. Her Hubby was a good sport and kept his complaining to a respectable minimum, considering we had 3 outfit changes and location changes! The photos came out beautifully and by 10:30am we had enough good ones to call it a wrap. After they left, I went back to bed until 2pm when I had to bake a cake and get the pizza dough ready for the slumber birthday party at K's house that evening. Hubby went into town and surprised me by buying me the awesome Halloween wreath that I've been drooling over! I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Saturday evening we had a slumber party for C's birthday and we seriously laughed and talked to so much my stomach and cheeks hurt! We ate yummy food, exept for my pizza which I had serious dough issues. We had some good laughs over a cockroach or two and I even got a TMI lesson in childbirth issues. We finally called it a night around 2am and fell into a blissful sleep.

Sunday I was lucky enough to go see Wicked! K gave me her ticket and it was seriously the best play I have ever seen. The set, the music, the costumes, everything was so fantastic it got me a little choked up a few times. The actors were amazing and I really enjoyed the whole production. I hope it's playing next year in NYC when I'm there because I would totally splurge to see it again. I headed home afterwards to hang out with Hubby and we snuggled on the couch and passed out. We were exhausted from a busy and fun weekend.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night was spent shuffling between Academy and Red's to compare 2 guns Hubby was considering buying. He was taking his concealed license class the next morning and wanted to have his own handgun instead of borrowing. Bottom line, we would have needed one of our own eventually, so we just bit the bullet and went ahead (pun intended). After much debate, we settled with the Glock because of their reliability and ease of use. One background check and about an hour later we were happily on our way. We decided to go grab a quick bite at Iron Cactus before heading home.

Hubby flew out of bed Saturday morning at 6:30am, which was about an hour after he set his alarm for. He set it for weekday, not weekend, lol. So he had 10 minutes to get ready, grab his materials for class and head out to meet his cousin. The class was a good hour away, so they couldn't be late. I was a good wife and packed a bag of snacks for Hubby and his cousin (which they later called and told me the food was a godsend). Later that morning I headed off to another babushka, this time for my boss's wife. The location was cute, the food was amazing and the women were very nice. I had a great home-made mojito which I drank in 3 sips it was so good. After the shower I headed out to browse some stores and kill some time. I ended up dropping some serious cash at White House/Black Market. They had fabulous fitting jeans and a cute top, so I splurged. Later that evening I went to the movies and saw G.I. Joe, which was actually very entertaining. I went with my FIL and we really like all the action.

Sunday we got up bright and early to head to the lake so the boys could do some scuba diving. We have family friends who have an awesome house on the lake, which actually used to be an old dive shop. So they have sunken houseboats, canoes, planes, etc, in their back yard lake area. I sunbathed and read a book the whole time and it turned into an all day event. After they boys were done diving, Hubby took me out for dinner. It was very yummy and then we headed home to hit up the grocery store. I needed cake ingredients for this weeks cake class. We called it a night pretty early since the sun had whupped us.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Holy cow, I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Friday night found us setting up and decorating for C's baby shower. We moved furniture, hung up kites and decided on a table setting. We figured out our game plan for preparing the food on Saturday morning. We finally called it a night around 9ish.

Saturday had us running around and putting the last minute touches on the decorations and food. When C walked into the house and we all saw her surprised face over the theme, it was totally worth it! C looked beautiful in a blue maxi dress and her hair and nails all did. We had a neighbor friend come and take the photos all day so the hostesses could enjoy the party. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it! We had everyone decorate onesies and we also played the much loved and equally hated "Don't Say Baby" game. K put together a tough game where baby items were placed in paper bags and you could only feel the contents to guess what item it was. I sucked at that game, only getting 2 out of 7 correct. We ordered a fantastic chocolate cake with strawberry icing that was decorated like the Dr. Seuss book "Oh Baby the Places You'll Go."

After the party was over, the hostesses headed to a friends lake house for some swimming and relaxing. It was so nice to float in the pool and let my feet rest. They were killing me from standing all day. The boys enjoyed their "Manshower" and were enjoying the effects of Jack Daniels by the time we arrived. Most of us called it a night around 8ish.

Sunday was spent recovering, not only from the weekend activities, but from the wheat I ate. Dumb move on my part. But the roast beef sandwiches were amazing and the cake tasted so good!!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another busy weekend for the books! Friday night found me over at N's house helping her out with a baby shower project that needed to be completed by this weekend. We had a blast going to dinner and chowing down on some Pad Thai and working on our project. It's really impressive and I'll post pictures of the finished project next week.

Saturday was spent hitting up the gym, Micheal's and going grocery shopping. Later that evening a bunch of us hit up the Friends of the NRA charity event. Hubby's company donated an engraved table that ended up in a bidding war between two women. We were hooting and hollering for them to raise the stakes and it finally ended at $2,500! It was the second highest priced item that evening. T and I were the only ones not wearing denim as we had opted for cute summer dresses. We were way overdressed, but we felt cute! We bid on some items and we were each hoping to win the ladies handgun for which you had to buy a $20 raffle ticket. We were sad when we didn't win, but T's FIL won a leather vest which was way to small for him. The whole table had a good laugh over that win. It was definitely a country evening, but we laughed the whole time so it was totally worth going to.

Sunday I cleaned the house and made my cake and frosting's for my cake class on Wednesday. I helped C finish her mosaic birdbath while Hubby took a chainsaw to the trees in the backyard. We were hoping to let more light in so the pool would stay clearer. He succeeded in trimming the trees but I almost had a heart attack when I saw how precariously the ladder was perched on the tree. After the mosaic'ing we hit up the pool for a few hours. We all spontaneously decided to go eat sushi at 7pm and it was yummy! Hubby and I split a Spider roll, Philly roll and California rolls. I also got Miso soup that was out of this world good.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Another fun filled weekend for the books! Friday night we chilled out and I got into a cleaning frenzy and decided to organize all the loose paperwork and bills that were floating around the house. I finished filing the 2008 junk and made a tidy bankers box for all the 2009 paperwork. It felt very cleansing to clear up the clutter.

Saturday I headed to the gym and then the grocery store to pick up the last items for my new cake recipe. I made a gluten-free, dairy-free coconut chocolate chip cake that came out amazing! I also tried out a raw recipe for "pirogi." It calls for a jicama sliced extremely thin and a stuff of cashews, soy sauce, garlic and red bell pepper. T introduced me to the fun and healthy appetizer and it is so addicting! Saturday night was our aunt's 50th birthday which was an appropriately themed 50's party! Our uncle called in a favor and had 2 hot rods from the 1950's brought in and we all took a dozen photos in and around the cars. I donned a poodle skirt and pink top as well as homemade saddle shoes! Elvis made an appearance, as well as Fidel Castro, and lots of Pink Ladies and Greasers. We danced the night away until well past 2am when we finally called it a night. Dancing the hand jive and hula-hooping takes a lot out of you!

Sunday we got up at the crack of dawn (okay, 8am) to get ready for E & E's babies baptism. It was so special to share in that occasion, and I even got to be the official videographer and photographer! We were exhausted so we skipped the brunch and headed home where we proceeded to nap until 5pm. We finally got up to eat some dinner and watch mindless TV. Whew, I need a weekend to recover from this weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night was a glorious night of quite pampering and girly movies. I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic (movie was good, book was better) and deep conditioned my hair. I worked on some baby shower projects and called it a night around 11pm.

Saturday I got up and hit the gym for my favorite class. I headed into town later that afternoon to do some shopping until C was done her errands. I ended up finding an awesome dress for the wedding I'm attending in October. It's a deep red color and it was 40% off! I also found some shoes that will work for the 50's party I'm attending this weekend. A group of us meet up for dinner and then headed off to see The Proposal. I seriously laughed my butt off at the movie! I had to control myself because I thought I was being too loud. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Renolds were really great together and there were a ton of funny moment. Former Golden Girl Betty White was the grandmother and she was really great.

Sunday morning I had to head to Walmart (uggg) and wait for over 2 hours to have my car battery replaced. Luckily T picked me up so I didn't have to miss my first Dim Sum experience. A group of us went to Shanghai for their famous Dim Sum Brunch. We were all pretty hungry by the time we were seated, and they loaded our table with various Dim Sum and other dishes and we proceeded to stuff our faces silly. Next time, we'll pace ourselves because we missed out on several carts that had some seriously yummy looking food. My favorite were the sesame balls with red bean paste. I wish I had a few right now! It was definitely worth $12 a person, and I would go back to try the rest of the food.

I headed back home after lunch and relaxed by the pool for a bit. Cooked some fish for my friend and her daughter and then decided to clean out my pantry. I was super embarrassed on the amount of un-opened expired food I had to throw away! I'm buying less in bulk from now on, I felt so wasteful. After dinner I snuggled down to watch New In Town with Renee Zelwegger and Harry Connick Jr. It was a predictable but cute movie. Glad I was getting all my girly movies in while Hubby is gone!