christmas list

I have finally compiled my Christmas list! My mom threatens that we will get nothing from Santa unless she receives a list (and she wants it early!) So here it is! This year there is nothing really big that I want (besides a $1,200 camera lens and I know that is just not gonna happen), so I have some small things that I want. Maybe you'll even get some ideas too!

Always Cardigan from J.Crew. It looks so comfy and it's only $29.50!

Sticker frames from Paper Source. I want to make my fridge sort of art gallery looking. They are $25 for the set and can re-stick to anything!

Cuisinart 3-Cup Mini food processor. I have a large food processor but I think this would be perfect for smaller amounts of food. I hate to take the big one out just to chop an onion or something. These are so cute, from Sur la Table and only $39!

Jackie Cardigan from J.Crew in Bright Seaside. I have always wanted a Jackie and have never bought one. I love this bright color. So lovely!



Biggest Loser Wii game. I think this looks super fun and I actually think I will play it. Hopefully it will help me lose 30 pounds. Ha! (yeah right)

Sephora Color Play Palette has 36 eyeshadows, 12 lip colors and 3 blushes. I have started to run out of all of my "color" pieces of makeup so I think this could hold me over for a while. Guess what, it's only $24! I may have to get this before Christmas because I can see it going fast!

Pieces of Eight earrings from Anthropologie. I think these are beautiful and delicate.

This One Line a Day journal is perfect when you don't want to write down four pages of each day. This gives you one line for five years, which I think would be pretty neat to look back on since we just got married. I can see it saying "1st Christmas together, cat knocked down Christmas tree." Can be found on Amazon.

Copper cookie cutters! I found this one at Sur la Table and I think it could make the cutest cookies. I found that copper ones last the longest!

Bobbi Brown has the prettiest makeup. It's so natural with some shimmer and I love it, but it's crazy expensive, so that's why I ask Santa for it :) This is the Velvet Plum Eye Palette.

I have a first generation (old) iPod Nano and I would love to have the new one that takes video and pictures. The only problem is that currently I cannot play it in my car so I'm on the fence about getting a new one if I can't use it all the time. Those little plug-in-your-car-thingys do NOT work (I've had two of them).

Yes, I seriously want the DVD first season (and only season) of Kath and Kim. When this show was on it was hysterical! They cancelled it so that is a big bummer, but I loved it so I want to relive every funny moment!

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Things I already have for Christmas sitting in my mom's closet (she will kill me if she sees this because she wants us to act like we never picked this stuff out and were not there with her at the sales counter as she was purchasing!).

Nordstrom Ribbon Trim Cardigan. I thought it was so pretty and I would probably never buy it for myself.

Boden Ruffle Cardigan in red. I'm going to beg her ahead of time to wear this on Christmas Eve.

Ann Taylor V-Neck sweater but not in this color. I got it in a bubblegum pink and for 50% off!

happy thanksgiving ya'll

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving today! Make sure you eat lots and lots of yummy turkey and drive safely when traveling!

i did something!

Yes, I know my cat is cute, but these pictures were part of my first photoshop tutorial by MckMama. Justin bought me Photoshop Elements 7 last Christmas and honestly I've hardly touched it (because it made me want to chuck my computer right through the window). Lately I've been really interested in taking better pictures with my Nikon D90 and using Photoshop to edit. I like my more basic version but I would love the pro Photoshop but I guess I'll have to perfect Elements before I get the real deal. I did a tutorial on making a photo layout by resizing and doing some crazy stuff, and this actually took me a half hour to make this layout (I'm slowly learning). Does anybody know any great online Elements tutorials?

that's how you win christmas

Okay ladies, I know that you've seen the Target 2-day ads on tv. I happen to think that they are really funny. So funny in fact I've dedicated an entire post to this crazy blonde lady with pearls, side ponytail and red tracksuit with matching heels. Target has yet to release the final 4 commericals before Black Friday (on which I will probably be somewhere shopping at 5 am), so I am looking forward to those as well. Enjoy!

christmas cookies: round one

Christmas cookie baking is in full swing! I did these bright cookies for a Christmas open house today. They wanted three dozen cookies so I decided I would make them bright pink, red and chartreuse. I think they turned out really cute!

Present boxes

Candy Canes

Christmas Trees (with a little black icing too)

I just thought this picture turned out really neat. And if you were wondering, you can make chartreuse icing by using a lot of lemon yellow gel with a little bit of leaf green gel. It was a lighter color but I wanted it to be a little deeper so I added more green until I was satisfied.

These cookies were done for another open house last weekend. They were just red and white but I think they turned out just precious. I used white non-pareils on the hats and mittens to give them a "fluffy" feel. Then it was time to jazz them up a bit...

How about polka dots?

...and stripeidy stripes!

These were bite sized cookies for patrons to sample.

I'm kind of embarassed by these snowmen, they could have been so much cuter. Sometimes it is hard to get the icing to be stiff enough as not to spread and run when doing detail work. I will need to practice to get these right.

All packaged up and ready to eat!

It takes a lot of work to do these so if the mood strikes you to whip some up, give yourself plenty of time. Just use whatever sugar cookie recipe you love and then whip up some royal icing. All of these recipes can be googled and you can twist them until they are to your liking. I like to make my cookies at least 1/4" thick so that they are nice and soft. They don't burn as easily either. I got some rolling pin spacers at Sur La Table and they make perfectly uniform and thick cookies. I highly recommend them! If you really want to practice with royal icing, I highly suggest you get a copy of the book Cookie Craft. It is very resourceful!

show us your life: pets!

**Please be prepared to see a sickingly large amount of pictures of my babies!

Today is Show Us Your Life: Pets Edition over at Kelly's Korner! I had to share some pictures of my sweet girls.

Mia

I found Mia two years ago on New Years Eve at a friends house. She was outside in the cold without a collar! I kept going outside to make phone calls to Justin (who was working at the time fightin' crime) because he was supposed to come over (and it's also his birthday!!) after he got off work. This little kitty stole my heart so I took her home (where I lived with mis padres at the time) and I begged them to let me keep her for one week while I found her owners. I put up signs in the neighborhood but noone claimed her so I kept her for good. I love this cat! She is very sweet but has a plethora of weird illnesses that suddently strike. When you talk to her sometimes she does this high pitched chirp and it's so cute. She'll even let you hold her like a baby for however long you want, although not if a ceiling fan is in the room :)

Mia being the Sphinx

Mia all streeeeeetched out


Mia winking and giving a high five because she loves her shirt so much (yeah right)!

Mia being Santa's reindeer

Oh how she loves being dressed up

Molly

Molly was born in a litter of kittens at my friend Sarah's house. We went to look at them one day last year and Justin got really hooked. I'm not sure which one she is in this picture!

We picked her up when she was 8 weeks old and brought her home. She and Justin became best buddies really quickly. She didn't want anything to do with me because she loved him so much. She would always curl up on his chest and take naps. She still does.

Now she's about full grown but all kitten. She's wild and crazy and likes to wake us up in the morning by walking around the bed and crying a low pitched moan. It's so funny/annoying.

She even likes to help her dad set up his layout blind! What a helper!

Even though I don't live in the same house with them anymore, these are still my babies too. I lived with my family until I got married so I have known these animals for a long time.

This is Lucy (chocolate) and Jess (yellow). We got Lucy as a puppy when she was 5 weeks old in 1999. She is such a sweet dog but she barks a lot so the police get called. Poor Lucy! Just trying to protect her family from the crazy neighbors. Jesse was a rescue lab and when I was studying abroad in Spain almost 3 years ago my parents took her in. When I got home she was a suprise. She also helps keep Lucy's behavior in check. It's sad because they are both 10 years old and getting gray.

Lucy

Lucy loves going to the dump with my dad and getting Bruster's ice cream treats!

Jesse

Jesse is always happy. We're her third family. Her first family dropped her and another dog off in the woods and said which ever dog came back first they would keep. Needless to say Jesse did not go back. How sad is that? She finally has a loving home where she gets lots of treats (even though they make her breath s.t.a.n.k.y.)

Little Ted

So at first her name was Teddy because she looked like a teddy bear when she was a few weeks old (born in our house in a litter). Her name has since evolved into Lil' Ted for short. She is skiddish and weird but so sweet and pretty. She is part Maine Coon and her fur is so soft. She spends most of her time upstairs away from the dog and Reagan...

She once got out of the house 2 years ago and after 11 days we found her underneath the shed in the backyard. She's not the brightest. My mom likes to say Little Ted, under the shed, a million times to remind us all that she was almost gone once. Funny.


Reagan

She's kind of a terror but I love her. She annoys my mom to no end and she always threatens she's going to give her away. She cries. All day. If you talk to her she talks back. I can see how that could be annoying. She thinks the recliners are hers and if you try to sit down on top of her she will tell you like it is.