Merry Christmas!

I had the best of intentions to do a Christmas wish list post, Christmas treats post, yada yada...but alas, time got away from me. Doesn't it feel CRAZY that we're almost to 2013?! The year flew...with many blessings along the way. :)

I hope you're gearing up for a fantastic Christmas with family and loved ones! Our Christmas festivities start this afternoon with a movie with my mom and continue into the Eve with Eric's family. We're planning on seeing my mom tomorrow morning then heading to OKC to visit Eric's family, but the forecast is calling for 100% chance of snow, soooooo we all might re-evaluate that plan. 

This was our first year to send out Christmas cards together, so I thought I would post the finished product. :) Little Winston hadn't joined the family yet when these were ordered or else he'd be in them, antlers and all! 

(back of card)

Wishing you love, family, friendship, laughter and all the blessings the holiday has to offer. Merry Christmas, friends!

Your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite

After a Christmas dinner with friends tonight, Sara and I are headed back to her house to watch the finale of our favorite fictional socialites. Six seasons of Monday nights spent sipping wine with friends and sighing over Chuck Bass all come down to tonight. Yes, I am 31 years old and yes this season has been slow and crappy, but am I ready to ride this sucker to the end? Hell yes!

Do you watch? If so, who do you think GG is? Do you think they'll tell us? I don't even know who I'd want it to be...

"You know you love me... XOXO...."

Weekend Recap!

Hiya friends! Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? I'm getting close, but not quite. Something tells me a lunch break this week will be spent at the mall because I have NO desire to go next weekend when it's an absolute madhouse. 

Well let's see... I'll start off with how the doggies are doing. What a difference a week makes! At first, I was so nervous b/c Gracie was warming so slowly. She wasn't growling or anything, but she just seemed "off." I think she still has moments of "why is this dog up in my grill?" but overall, they're really fantastic together! They've even started sleeping on the same bed most nights. It's pretty cute; not gonna lie. 

This looks like tug of war. But in reality, both dogs were just standing there refusing to let go or move. It was pretty funny. 

I'm sure the neighbors have been getting a kick out of watching me attempt to walk both dogs. Especially because Winston isn't used to a leash and decides to sit down and not move halfway through most walks. (Picture me carrying Winston and trying to walk Gracie simultaneously. It happened.)

Friday night, Eric and I headed out with some friends for dinner and wine. We were all very somber after the day's news. I have no words that can adequately describe my feelings about what happened. I don't even think my heart really understands that level of horribleness. My prayers are filled with wishes of peace for the families of those children and teachers. My mother is a teacher. She's armed with books, lesson plans, chalk and crayons. I will never understand...

Changing gears before I start crying or ranting about our society. My heart is heavy and my prayers are long...

Saturday, we hit up two Christmas parties. One was for our little group of girlfriends at Ashley's house and the other was for a community organization Eric's involved with. I didn't take any photos at party number two b/c I didn't know anyone so that might have been a tinge weird...:)

Sunday was full of cleaning, errands, and attempts to finish Christmas shopping. Close, but no cigar. I've also started to realize I have a slight problem buying Christmas ornaments. Our tree needed a few more, so I started buying them everywhere I went. I think I need an ornamentivention.

It's official!

You guys... thank you SO much for your sweet comments about little Winston- especially for the comments about adding an additional dog to your families! You really, really put me at ease. I just realized some of you don't have the "reply" feature active so I couldn't respond directly to your comment in email, but seriously.. I really appreciate you. Gracie is already coming around a TON and even barked at the foster mom tonight when she came over to sign paperwork! ha! I think she was saying "Hey now...you can't take this guy!" :) 

Gracie was about to bolt off the couch, but this was cute for a second. :)

I think little Winston was a little sad to see his foster mom go. He sat at the door looking out for a bit. But, then he came and laid beside me with his head on my lap. I already love this little guy. So happy he's found his home here with us. 

I had a couple friends give me tips about making sure Gracie feels like the alpha and the tips have helped immensely! It's crazy actually! It's as easy as greeting her first, putting her food down first, and giving her a treat first. Winston always steps aside and lets her go out the back door first (a sign that he already thinks she's the alpha). Doing those little things has put her at ease a lot more than she was initially. She's so demure, so it's funny that she's the alpha dog. She's even the alpha with my mom's bigger dog. Bossy little thing! ha! :) 

Finally, I believe in rescuing. I won't get on a soapbox about it, but please know you can find fantastic, healthy,  full breed dogs (if that's what you're looking for), but you might just have to be a little patient if you're looking for a specific dog. In Tulsa alone, over 7, 500 animals were euthanized last year. That's just heartbreaking. If you are ever, EVER told to meet a breeder at a parking lot/random place, be cautious the dog might be coming from a mill.  There should be no reason a reputable breeder wouldn't be okay with you seeing their home. We had a dog from a breeder when I was a little girl and he was great! He's the reason I fell in love with doggies! So I don't mean to imply that I shun reputable breeders because I definitely don't. But, please, please consider rescue if you're adopting a new furry family member. 

Here's where we found Winston! If you even read some of the many stories on the site, you'll see why I was often in tears every time I spent more than 5 minutes on their page...haha.. So many good dogs just needing some love. :) 

I'm so glad Winston found his home with us!! :)

Recapping!

First, THANK YOU so much for all the kind words about our engagement photos! :) I'm really excited about they way they turned out. :) I didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth after that last post.. Sheez. It was a busy week last week...

Since I've blogged last,

...we got everything all decorated...

Favs: Santa ornament from Maui and my little Gracie ornament Eric brought me from his family trip to CO our first Christmas together.  :)

...I made this project I saw on Pinterest  to keep my pretty ring safe while I shower or clean. Love how it turned out! I got a set of three frames at Pier1 for under $12! So I went ahead and made a couple of these! :)

...I went to my first tacky Christmas party for Timbo's birthday! :) We had antlers. It was awesome. 

What else? Hmm.. Oh! TU won the Conference Championship! Wahoo! Bowl game is in Memphis, but Eric and I probably won't go. It's a big year for us and we need to save $$ like good kids. 

That said, I'm kind of not helping with the saving cash because I may have found something that moved to the top of my Christmas list pretty quickly...

Meet Winston...or  if when we keep him, Sir Winston Churchill. (We added the Churchill. Obviously). If you're on instagram, you've already seen some photos of this adorable little guy! 

You might remember me blogging about thinking of adopting a brother or sister for Gracie... The first dog we tried wasn't a fit. I'd kind of quit looking. I mean, she doesn't seem to care one way or the other, so whatever. 

BUT...

I randomly searched a national website I follow for Cavalier rescues. I feel really strongly about rescuing. Mind you, there are never any rescues in Tulsa, so I just go read the sad stories and then wonder why the hell I just went and made myself really sad. Well...on Thursday, there WAS a dog in Tulsa...on the front page! I speed-read every little detail about him... 2 years old...healthy...housetrained...sweet-natured...hasn't ever had a 'forever home.' (Poor guy). Likely escaped from a mill when he was a baby.

My fingers typed a comment on his post before my brain could even process what I was doing. :) Then, I text Eric a "Please can I apply? PLEASE PLEASE.." He said I could give it a shot, so off went the application through my email. 

I knew it'd be really competitive, but on Friday, I was so excited to get a call! By that night, Eric and I were taking Gracie to meet little Winston at the foster home. By Saturday afternoon, I had picked him up for a trial at our house. :)

I was (and still am, if I'm being honest) a little nervous about Gracie's feelings about the whole thing. She seems cool with Winston, but I think she's also kind of like "What the hell is going on here?" haha... I just don't want her to feel like I'm trying to replace her. And I also have a really tight bond with Gracie (in case you can't tell), so I don't want to ruin that OR make it unfair to Winston. So I'm nervous. I think it's going fine, but I'm just paranoid. 

Checking him out.

I have to admit that little G is certainly warming to W quite a bit. She doesn't go snuggle with him or anything but she lets him play with her toys now (she didn't at first) and will lay by him sometimes. She gets up and moves after a few minutes, but it's still cute.

Ignore the computer wire. I was vacuuming and saw this preciousness. Had to capture it. :)

Little W has some anxiety. His previous owners kept him in a crate A LOT and he didn't really get a lot of love or play time. When he gets nervous, he hides under things. It's cute, but also a little sad now that I know why he's doing it. Poor guy.

We still haven't fully committed to keeping him yet, buuuuut I may have gone to purchase him a bed today. Whatever. He can't just sleep on a blanket! It's gonna get cold tonight! (You can totally see where this is headed...haha). And I also got G a new bed, too. I'd say both went over quite well...(The below photos were literally 2 minutes after I put the new beds down on the ground). 

She came over to check out his bed, too. Cute. 

So, yeah, looks like we have a new family member just in time for Christmas unless something crazy happens! But, I'm also still looking for any words about how anyone adopted a second dog and how it went with your first dog still feeling special... I think I might be putting emotions on Gracie that aren't even there b/c she seems a little cautious but overall pretty fine. And I really do think she's gonna dig having a friend around, especially while Eric and I are at work. And he's just a doll. He's basically the male version of Gracie, but with some anxiety due to his tough little life. I just love him already.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to! Oh and tomorrow is my lovely mamma's birthday! We just got back from dinner to celebrate! Happiest birthday to an amazing, strong, outstanding woman that I'm fortunate enough to call mom! :)

Stay warm, friends! It's supposed to get COLD tonight in T-town!

Friday photos...engagement style!

So I've already mentioned that one of the most important things to us about our wedding day includes the photos we'll take away and have forever. :) We haven't made decisions on food, finalized decor, figured out music, etc., but we found our photographer and I'm thrilled with our decision to use Ace Cuervo. :) Thankfully, Ace had some availability on Veterans' Day when we were off work, so we were able to do a little session in the fall foliage for some pics to use for Christmas cards (if I get on my a-game soon that is..haha) and for our engagement party invite! :) 

Honestly, I really hoped we'd get at least 4 or 5 images we liked a lot...but I love at least 20+ of the ones he took! Awesome! If you're my friend on Instagram (Ok_Jax), you know I posted outfit options and asked people to vote...haha... Well.. thank you if you voted, buuuuut I ended up not going with either option. I decided if I was that unsure, maybe I should just go back to the drawing board. I thought "What would I wear if Eric and I were just out any regular fall day?....Sweater and boots. Done." I went to Banana, found an awesome little white sweater (for half off!) and boom! Engagement pic outfit was born. I guess I over-thought it a little bit. 

I'll stop ranting now and just show you some of my fav photos... :)

 Gracie had issues sitting still...

 ...but she finally locked it up when we started walking. It was funny though b/c she really wanted to walk on Eric's side, so he finally just took the leash. High maintenance little fur child. :)

:) Happy weekend, friends! Big game for TU tomorrow in the conference championship! Send positive thoughts of blue and gold our way!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

It's been awhile since I've done a WILW post, so thought I'd mention some randomness I'm digging... :)

1. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. Okay, so I'm currently loving the Davine's line of products my stylist recommended (specifically, I use the Momo line), but I've noticed my hair getting dried out with this cooler weather and the heater kicking on a lot more. And Davine's is kinda $$, so I thought I'd read up on some other products to see if there was a cheaper fix I could use one a week or something. I read really good reviews about the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle and my friend loves Aussie stuff, so I thought why not! I mean.. it's 3 dollars. Worth a try, right? So glad I did b/c I really like it! My hair is SO fine, but I also dye it so I have to be careful what I put on it. I don't want to weigh it down or strip the color. I used it once and noticed a big difference in how soft my hair felt after I styled it. I also had less flyaways and no static! Plus, it didn't weigh my hair down! Since my hair is so fine, I just plan to use it through the winter once a week or so, but I really like this product! Just if you're battling winter dryness, too. :) 

 2. Shea Cashmere from Bath and Body Works. This stuff is at my desk at work and in my handbag. Affordable, moisturizing, not overpowering (the scent is actually light and pleasant). Love this stuff, especially for dry winter skin. (I didn't realize I was blogging about two things for winter dryness when I started this. Sheesh. Maybe I just need to drink more water..haha). I love the Aveda hand lotion, but it's kinda $$, so this is a great alternative. :)

 3. Glee Christmas music! I love the Glee Christmas album and am so glad it's time to start playing it again! :)

 4. Okay, so if you've been reading awhile, you know I'm a sucker for ANY holiday makeup sets. When I had my makeup done for our engagement photos (coming soon!! I just have to pick up the DVD!), I ended up purchasing the MAC eye palette she used. Perfect combo of winter sparkle with a pretty bronze-plum color for more drama. I dig.

MAC 

5. Half marathons! Okay.. I'm actually not loving them yet, but Eric has talked me into signing up for one in the spring. How far can I run now? Oh... maybe 2 miles...if I'm being chased by wild dogs. (Seriously). So this should be interesting. But, I have to admit I've always wanted to do a half. I've never really cared about completing a full marathon, but a half sounds like an awesome achievement for this non-running blogger. Needless to say, this should be interesting...

6. Safe Haven. Okay, so when Ashley and I were at Twilight last week, we saw a preview for this. I thought it looked interesting and I got on a bit of a Sparks kick last year, so I know I like his writing. Bought it and am already almost done. I used to LOVE historical fiction and true crime type of books. Lately, I've been a sucker for lighter, fictional reads. Weird how your reading tastes can change, right?

What about you? What are you loving?!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap!

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend and as usual, the weekend went by way too quickly!

Eric and I started out Thanksgiving with lunch with my madre at Ti Amos. I really wanted to get a family photo before we started our day, so we self-timed it like pros. Eric set it to take 5 photos and I just sat there smiling the whole time like an idiot while he- unbeknownst to me- made funny faces and even kissed my head (below). He's a keeper. Just saying.

My momma and me after lunch. :)

Ti Amos had quite the Thanksgiving spread- I was really impressed! With full bellies, Eric and I hit the road to OKC to visit Eric's parents in their new house! (They just moved to OKC this year from Tulsa). They already had Christmas lights up! Super adorable, right? :) 

Irritated with myself that I failed to get a pic of the family, but we had a great time with his parents, uncle, sister and brother. :) We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, including a pie/dessert for each person in attendance. YUM. #Ineedtohitthegym

After dinner, we all went to see Skyfall. I think it's probably my fav Bond movie to-date! I've heard people call it darker than some of the others, but I really liked it... Maybe I'm just dark.. haha.. 

We stayed Thursday and Friday night in OKC before heading back on Saturday. With his parents' move and lots of stuff going on lately, it had been awhile since we'd all just been able to chill out together. It was a really good time. :) 

Exploring OKC and doing a little Black Friday browsing.  

Eric was outside and decided to be a creeper outside the window. Yeah.. that's me sitting in the living room...haha... Sheez. *eye roll* 

Oh! I almost forgot! Eric, his brother and I went to lunch on Black Friday and ran right into Kristin Chenoweth! So cool! She was so adorable and super sweet. I was fighting every internal urge to wasn't going to ask for a photo, but we were near each other by the soda fountain and the words just spilled out of my mouth. haha... She didn't even look slightly annoyed.  I already liked her, but that makes me like her even more. :)

After getting back to Tulsa on Saturday, Ashley and I went to see the finale of Twilight! 

Admittedly, I wasn't as into it as I used to be when we headed into the theater. I mean.. I read the books forever ago and I really just wanted to finish the series of movies. I've also been annoyed by the mere mention of any Kristin Stewart drama in the news lately. Anyhoo, it was SO.GOOD. I think it might have been my favorite movie of the series. Plus, it probably helped that we went a week after it opened and therefore weren't subjected to the adolescent screams throughout the theater when Jacob/Edward took of their shirts. That always made me feel old and pervie...haha.. They changed some stuff from the book, but I actually LIKED what they changed! That said, at one point, we heard the whole theater collectively gasp at something that was EXTREMELY different from the book!

Today, Eric and I decided to put up the Christmas tree! We inherited Eric's parents' tree when they moved, so I was really excited to put it up! It's a gorgeous, big, full tree...much different than the one I got at Target last year that's about my height...

Anyhoo, turns out that we had to trim our tree...quite literally.

Please note Eric's the tv blocking the fireplace mantle. It's not a working fireplace, but still.
So much for stockings on the mantle...*shrugs*

After a trip to Lowe's and some metal sawing action on Eric's part, our tree looks fantastic! So excited to have Christmas living with Eric this year! I can't wait to post some photos when it's fully done!

I hope you had a great holiday and are gearing up for Cyber Monday...er... wait.. I mean.. the work week. ;)

Sunday Social

While I wait for Eric to finish doing some stuff so we can decorate the Christmas tree (!!!!!), I thought I'd post a quick Sunday Social! :) 
This week's questions are all about 4's... 
1. Name 4 jobs you've had in your life. 
* customer service rep at the mall (I got to clean rental strollers and sell gift cards. And I wore a santa hat. Be jealous.) * lifeguard/swim lesson instructor  * attorney * communication manager 
2. Name 4 movies you could watch over and over. 
* You've Got Mail (Bouquets of sharpened pencils!)  * Love Actually  * How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days  * Shawshank Redemption
3. Name 4 places you've lived:
* The Chi Omega house at TU * A renovated old home made into cute apartments in downtown area * East Tulsa (where I grew up and went to high school!) * with Eric :) 
4. Name 4 things you always carry with you. 
* Lip Gloss (usually more like 5 or 6 of them) * iPhone * hair tie (almost always on my wrist) * wallet
5. Name 4 places you've been on vacation.
* St. Lucia * Barbados * London/Venice! * Maui 
I was going to include some photos, but Eric's ready to put up the tree and is attempting to start it alone. I need to go intervene...haha! Happy Sunday, friends. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 

Thankful.

I am thankful for so many things...for family...for friends...for love...for health...for a good job.. I am beyond grateful to have so many blessings and be surrounded by so much positivity and love. Even during any less-than-awesome days, I have food on the table, a roof over my head, friends/family I can call... I am blessed.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving will be spent first with my mom and then with Eric's family in OKC. Both gatherings will undoubtedly be filled with laughter, great food, and the clink of glasses as we cheers another Thanksgiving together as a family. :)

I hope that your day tomorrow is spent with loved ones- whether friends or family (or both!)- and you have an oustanding Thanksgiving. I know I say this every year, but it's true so I'll say it again... I am thankful for many things, including this blog and all of you.  I will be raising a glass to all of you from Oklahoma tomorrow. Thank you for reading, supporting, commenting, commiserating, sharing laughs, and becoming my friends. :)

And Snoopy.. I am definitely thankful for Snoopy. But, I mean...who isn't? :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Venezia!

We're still in the process of moving all my stuff from my old computer to my new one, but I was able to transfer some pics on a thumb drive to upload a few. :) 

I took over 700 photos in Europe and I'm sure that's no surprise to you. ;) Picking some of my favs was really hard, but I realize the highlight of your day is not looking through 300 photos of my vacation, sooooo I tried to narrow. :) I landed in London on Wednesday and Lauren and I took off for Venice on Thursday afternoon, so I thought I'd just do one whole post dedicated to Venice and maybe one or two dedicated to London. 

We spent Thursday afternoon-Saturday morning in Venice and got to experience SO much! We arrived, checked in to our fabulous hotel right on the Grand Canal then immediately set off to explore. We grabbed a couple of cokes (fending off my jet lag) from a local cafe and were off to take in our first views of Venezia! That night, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner right off the Grand Canal with a view of the Rialto Bridge. The next morning, we explored the local market, St. Mark's Basilica, Doge's Palace, Frari Church (breathtaking), St. Mark's Campanile (the bell tower), and every adorable little street in between. We had fabulous food-from local pastas to gelato to espresso to wine. We even got to experience a real Venetian flood! Photos to follow, but it was actually a really cool experience that I'm glad we got to have.

The photos recap our trip better than I ever could in words, so here goes...

Postcard views in absolutely every direction. 

Our fantastic hotel, the Foscari Palace. 

St. Mark's Square

Playing paparazzi during this couple's romantic gondola ride. 

Little cafes line the adorable stone streets. While many modern storefronts take over street level, a quick glance above them reminds you of the amazingly charming and historical architecture all around. 

Good morning from the Rialto Bridge!

This was the view in almost every direction on every little pedestrian bridge...approximately every 500 feet. Impossible not to be blown away. We often didn't even know where to look first because we were so in awe of everything around us!

Venice is very small, but the streets wind, turn and criss cross! Lauren's navigation skills saved us. I was snapping photos nonstop while she actually figured out where the heck we were going... haha... 

Crowded St. Mark's! I was standing in front of St. Mark's Basilica facing the place where I'd stood the night before to get the night photo (above) :) Also, note the bench-looking things. We were so oblivious, we thought those were for a presentation or something. No. Those were set up because Venice was about to flood (we had no idea) and folks walk on them when the water rises! 

View above St. Mark's from the bell tower 

It's raining; it's pouring! 

Awesome little restaurant where we had the BEST server who brought us lots of wine...which is probably why we didn't realize flood sirens were going off overnight...haha...

Well worth the 10 euros in order to keep my pants dry en route to the water taxi/airport :)

Walking down the street to the water taxi! See- people are walking on those concrete things!

Flood? No big deal in Venice! Everyone just keeps on keepin' on. This is NOWHERE near as deep as the flood can get. Google some pics if you're curious! It's crazy! 

Yeah, that's someone's door. 

I think I fell in love with Italy...flood and all. I want to go back and see Florence, Pisa, Rome, and so much more. I've already been talking to Eric about a potential one year anniversary trip and we're not even married yet...haha... (We'll probably do a beach for our honeymoon, but that's still TBD). Sure, Venice was touristy in some regards... I mean if you don't run a gondola, restaurant, shop, or hotel, there probably isn't much for you in Venice in terms of work. So, of course it's packed with tourists. But, the history, people, architecture, food all just make it so easy to look past the rest of the tourists and feel like you've just stepped back in time to one of the most beautiful places in the world. I'm so thankful that I got to visit Lauren and that she and I were able to do a little side trip to this fabulous city!