Chris and I decided to do a joint present this year and get the Wii U for Christmas. I love it! Something that we can do together sounds like the perfect present for me! I had a wish list already started, and I figure hey…I always love looking at every one’s lists! Just in case you were wondering what to get me for Christmas…or just because 😉

1. Michael Kors Hamilton Large Tote  – Any color would do. I love the gray, black and the deep dark tan color. They are all wonderful! I also love that it comes with a trendy looking shoulder strap to give you the option of carrying it that way and being hands free. A lot of purses mean to be carried by hand or on your wrist usually end up looking odd on the shoulder, but not this bag!

2. The Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment – I suffer from horrible dry skin and lips in the fall and winter. Well, really all year. I would love a great lip treatment and I have heard nothing but amazing things about this product!

3. Too Faced Soft and Sexy Eye Pallet – I love the Too Faced Eye Pallets. I have the Urban Decay Naked for my every day, but I love all the soft colors in this pallet that get away from the neutrals and  browns that I usually wear. Lap Dance is one of my all time favorite colors and I am completely out of it!

4. Clarisonic Mia 2 – I have had my eye on the Clarisonic Mia ever since it hit the market. I know there are a lot of cheaper brushes out there, but I have heard such amazing things about this brush and I feel like you get what you pay for.

5. A cute little Kate Spade Clutch for a night out. I love how sparkly this one is, and that bow is adorable!

6. Loft – I love the Loft! Shut up and take my money.

7. Leopard Infinity Scarf – Give me all the leopard print! Rawr!

8. The Body Shop body butter. My skin needs it ASAP!

9. Storage for my sweaters in my closet. I HATE digging through the clothing basket I have on our closet floor. Every day I waste so much time trying to find the sweater I am looking for. It would be so nice to have something like this to organize them in!

10. Work out shoes. A pair that doesn’t KILL my feet every morning. I am in need of serious arch support. I would like to be sore because my muscles are working not because I have shitty shoes.

There are only 8 more shopping days left! Can you believe it?! What is on your wish list?

Well hey there last full week before Christmas! You sure did come quick!! I am still pinching myself in disbelief that Christmas is actually next week and that 2013 is coming to an end!

This weekend I did not lay on the couch like a sloth and gorge myself on every Christmas movie under the sun like I wanted to. No, we had shopping to do and things to handle! And princesses to save.

Friday – Friday evening Chris and I stopped by his parents house for a few minutes, then decided to stop by Walmart to look at the toys. We still had one nephew left to buy for! While we were at Walmart, somehow we found ourselves in the video game section staring at the Wii U and Xbox One. Two games systems we dont have yet.

We were thinking that instead of getting presents for each other, we could get a game system as a joint gift to ourselves. Something that we could do together! Then I decided that if we were going to buy one, we needed to get it from Target to get 5% off, duh!

So we headed over to Target, sat on the floor of the game area and decided if we really wanted to do it or not. We looked at all the games, decided the Wii U would get more use right now, plus Target was giving a $25 gift card with purchase! That would pay for half the extra remote. We walked around the store, looked at the toys for Will and thought about it some more. We grabbed some toys and the Wii U and headed to the register. We paid for the Wii U first so that we could use the gift card to put towards the remote. Well, when the transactions were done and our coupons were printing out, we got one for 20% off the remote! Score!!! Then after that transaction I got a coupon for $10 off $100 next time we shop! (Which was Sunday for groceries.) So basically, I got $45 in free money!!!! SCORE!

We got home and started moving stuff around in our entertainment center to make space. Sent the Wii down with the retro gaming systems, and turned that baby one! Oh it needed updating. FOUR TIMES!

This is Chris sleeping at 2:00 am still waiting on the damn updates to finish! How annoying! We didnt even play Friday night. 

While it was updating, I did get to watch the Grinch, so not all was lost 🙂

Saturday morning we played some Wii U since it was all updated, then got ready to head out for the day. We went to Game Stop to get one last thing for our nephew Christopher, and the new Super Mario 3D for the Wii U. Then we headed to The Summit to finish the rest of our Christmas shopping. We got my moms present, and then decided that after battling all the traffic and people, and hearing those damn salvation army bells ringing…that it was time for a cold one!

We headed to one of our favorite pubs, Blackwells for a beer! I got the Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout and it was delicious! Afterwards we headed to The Village Tavern for our “date” dinner. We enjoyed some crab dip. It was soooo good!

Then we went over to Bottletree to see our friends premier of Dean and Company Christmas! It was awesome! We took a picture there but it is on Chris’s phone. Oops.

We did score this awesome Snoopy Christmas set when we were at Toys R Us! It was 50% off!!!

Sunday I did our meal planning and grocery shopping. I met up with my sister in law for a few minutes at Target since we discovered we were in the same place at the same time! I picked up some rocks at Michael’s for a craft project, then headed to God’s country to my sister’s house to do said craft project.

My sister stole some empty Jack Daniel’s bottles from my dad’s house so that we could make them lamps for Christmas!

We think they turned out awesome!!!! Another set of presents down and taken care of too! Yay!!!!

Sunday evening Chris and I watched Home Alone 2 and I watched most of Jack Frost. I love Christmas Movies!!!!

This morning I started my second week of T25. It kicked my ass. That’s what I get for staying up too late watching Christmas movies on a “school night.” I know better than that! My last full work week of the year! Yay!!! We can do this!

Where do I even begin?! I LOVE Christmas movies. I feel like I cant get enough of them during the holiday season. There is nothing better than snuggling up under some blankets, sipping some hot coco and watching Christmas movies!!! There isn’t a Christmas movie that I have met that I haven’t liked! So, instead of just five total…I am going to break it down into three lists of five: newer Christmas movies, the classics and cartoons/animated.

New Movies

1. Elf – Last Friday, I told you all why Buddy would be my best friend…so naturally Elf is one of my favorites.

2. Family Stone – I just love this movie. After seeing it the first time, I suddenly worried that one day I wouldn’t fit in well with my future husbands family. I think (gosh I hope!) that I do alright!

3. Bad Santa – Freaking hilarious! Need I say more?

4. The Santa Clause – I love all three of them. I cant help it! Could you imagine if your dad was Santa?

5. The Holiday – Could you imagine switching places with someone in another country? I wouldn’t exactly want to do it for Christmas because I love to be around my family…but this movie is just so cute.

Classics

1. The Grinch – I seriously can quote this entire movie and sadly, apply most of it to my life. Perhaps I might do a post on that! Ha!

2. Home Alone – Both the first and second Home Alone are classics!!! I love all the shenanigans that Kevin manages to get himself in to!

3. Miracle on 31st Street – I just love the story line of this one. I like both the old one and the newer one.

4. Jack Frost- Parts of this movie make me bawl my eyes out, but I LOVE this movie!! I feel like this one is highly underrated and not talked about nearly enough!!!

5. Jingle All the Way – The lengths some parents will go to ensure their kid gets what they want on Christmas!

Cartoon/Kid

1. Charlie Brown Christmas – I love Snoopy. Chris loves Snoopy. My mom loves Snoopy. My nephew Will loves Snoopy. How can you not love Snoopy or this movie?

2. The Grinch – LOVE the original cartoon classic.

3. Frosty – When Frosty comes to life and says Happy Birthday, tears come to my eyes.

4. Rudolph – I cry when he gets made fun of. I cry when he gets accepted. I am just a big baby.

5. A Christmas Carol – I love the Jim Carrey version of this movie! And the Mickey one too!

What are you favorite Christmas movies?

Linking up with Joy for the Friday Five (or fifteen)

Growing up, we always had fake trees. Pretty much everyone in my family is allergic to a lot of different things, so that is the main reason. Plus, real tree needles make a mess, and to be honest…they are a little wasteful and not environmentally friendly. I am in no way knocking the people who get real trees though. I think they are beautiful, they make your house smell like Christmas and I know a lot of people who have a tradition of going and picking one out and making a day of it, and that is special.

When I was younger we had a white Christmas tree, then around high school my parents decided it was time for a new tree. They bought this big beautiful pre-lit rotating tree. It was gorgeous. When I had my own apartment, I went to Walmart and bought a clearance after Christmas special 6 foot no frills tree for about $19. It was perfect when I was in college and later on my own. When my dad remarried, I inherited his 7 foot pre-lit rotating tree. Score! That is what now sits in our living room. It is a perfect size for us.

I do not have a themed tree. I think themed trees are beautiful and very put together, but I just cant bring myself to do it. You see, over the years my mom would buy me Christmas ornaments for Christmas. I have Care Bear ornaments, Strawberry Shortcake, Smurfs, Scooby Doo, Blues Clues, Lady and the Tramp, lots of ornaments that remind you of our childhood. I also have ornaments that have been passed down from my great grandmother to my mother and others that I have received as gifts over the years. So needless to say, our Christmas tree is filled with sentimental ornaments, just about every single one holding a story. There is no theme, or color pattern, it just a bit of everything.

Every year when I get all of our stuff out, I start to reminisce and want to tell stories behind some of them, or I am reminded of a time in the past. It is super fun for me. Here are some of my favorite ornaments from the tree.

Lets start with the top! This angel was on our Christmas tree growing up until my parents got the new tree when I was in high school. They bought a new topper and saved the angel for me. She might not be the prettiest tree topper out there, but she reminds me of childhood. She lights up, but I dont ever plug her in anymore.

I got this ornament my senior year of high school, I was the class of 2001. And I love penguins. If I could have a pet penguin, I totally would!

My mom bought this ornament for me from an antique show, it is my birth year! Plus it is Disney…so you know… 🙂

This crystal angel is from my Grandma Jerry’s tree. She isnt with us anymore, and every time I see this angel I like to think that she is my angel. She used to have a little tree that was full of these angels, and I dont know what happened to all of them but I am so thankful that I have one!These are some of the ones I have gotten as presents over the years from my mom.

This one is very old. I think it was my great grandmothers. It isnt just a ball, it is handmade out of some material that isnt plastic. I just love it! Plus it still has the original piece of yarn to hang it by!

Another one that my mom bought me. I used to love Barbies and their outfits and constantly changing them. We used to look at all the Barbie catalogs and stuff when I was younger to see how fashion had changed.

I got this guy when I used to work at Kirkland’s. I have about 12 different ornaments from when I worked there over high school and college.

I got this Alabama snowman for Chris our first Christmas together so that he had an ornament on our tree. Roll Tide!

This smurf is another old ornament from when the Smurfs first came out way back in the day. His arms open and close and you can attach him to anything.And of course, Lady and the Tramp and the Care Bears. I LOVED the care bears, and Lady and the Tramp was my favorite non-princess Disney movie. How could you not love the spaghetti eating scene? So sweet!

And so you see, there is NO theme or plan for my Christmas tree. Just a bunch of memories from my 30 years here on this planet. I can literally tell you about every single ornament on my tree. I love it. It is so special to me and I will always have these ornaments up on a tree somewhere in my house every Christmas no matter what.

Amber and Jennifer also have some festive questions, so I thought it would be fun to answer those in this post too!

1. Favorite Christmas song. I seriously SERIOUSLY can not pick just one.

2. Christmas song you can’t stand. Feliz Navidad. It gets on my nerves so bad, yet I find myself singing along to it and getting stuck in my head.

3. Favorite holiday movie. Elf and The Grinch are a tie for me.

4. Real or artificial tree? Artificial.

5. White or colored lights? White.

6. All matching ornaments or more random personal ornaments? Random. No tree is more random than mine!

7. Favorite ornament. The crystal angel that was Grandma Jerry’s. (Anyone feel like some of these questions are testing whether or not you read this entire post ?!)

8. Angel or star tree-topper? Angel

9. Does Santa wrap presents or leave them unwrapped? Ummmm he wraps them duh!!! Half the fun is unwrapping them! Plus wrapping paper is cute and fun.

10. Favorite childhood memory.  There are so many wonderful memories. Going to church Christmas Eve with my parents and Grandma Jerry, waking up super early Christmas morning with Tracy and goofing off, and just how magical my parents made Christmas for us!

11. Coffee, hot chocolate, or eggnog? Give me all of it! Just not in the same glass!

12. Christmas morning at home or do you travel? When I was little we spent Christmas morning at home. Now, Chris and I open our presents to each other then we head to his sister’s house for breakfast.

13. Traditional holiday meal or something unconventional? All of the above. Chris’s family does more traditional items. My mom has a few staples and then either an Italian dish or Pierogies.

14. Personalized photo Christmas cards, store bought cards, e-cards, or “ain’t nobody got time for that”?  I’m lazy. No cards this year.

-So this week is my first official week doing T25. After Monday (cardio) and Tuesday (Speed 1.0) I was thinking wow I really like Shaun T and these work outs. I am sweating like a beast and I really feel like I am at least burning calories if nothing else. Then enter today, full body circuit. FML. Dear heavens this one is hard! I had to go with the moderator a lot more in today’s work out verses the last two days. Trying to figure out what we are doing, trying to to slip and loose my grip on the carpet with all of these push ups and plank walks, all the jumping and squats. Yikes. I think full body circuit is going to be my least favorite work out in the series. I still love the set up though and listening to Shaun talk is a lot better than Jillian. She got on my nerves. I will tell you this, I am never bored during the work outs.

– I went to the doctor yesterday to get my lab work done, we need to see if my vitamin B level has come out of the “dangerous” level yet or not. I somehow doubt it seeing as how I feel like I am losing my mind still. Vitamin B deficiency is no joke. If you are feeling tired or sluggish for no reason, if you tend to forget what you are doing or get a little foggy now and then, if your eye twitches, or if you have any nerve freak outs….get that shit checked. There might be something wrong that you dont realize.

-Also, make sure if you know you are having blood work done to drink a TON of water before hand. Last month they couldn’t get anything because I was “dehydrated.” I drank 8 cups of water before 10:30 am yesterday morning. There was no problem getting my veins flowing!

– I sort of love wrapping presents. I dont know why, but I do. I take that back, I know why. Because I love wrapping paper and gift bags. I stopped at Walgreens yesterday and got some new Snoopy wrapping paper. I cant wait to use it!

– I am seriously excited to see the sun out today. While there is some serious frost out there, the sun is shiny and that is a pleasant change from the week of rain that we have had. I am trying to soak it all up before the rain comes back Friday night. Boo. Bring me snow not rain! The frost looks like snow! So there is that!

– I said it Monday and I am going to say it again, there are only two weekends of shopping left before Christmas! I am trying to fully comprehend that Christmas is 15 days away!! Seriously the last two months have really flown by!

– I had sushi yesterday after my doctor appointment. I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up the brown rice half salmon half tuna and made a small side salad at the bar with spinach, mixed greens, chick peas, carrots, sun dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar no oil. It was delicious. I know it sounds weird, but I just love their sushi. The brown rice really makes it so much better! Maki Fresh has really good brown rice sushi as well, I just wasn’t willing to mess with their parking lot yesterday!