Happy 101 award-Top 10 holiday things!

Jenny DB at So Say I gave me the Happy 101 award last week! Thank you so much, Jenny!! Go read about her adventures with her fabulous pup, Bondi and her fun friends! (She just posted some fun photos, too) :)

Rules:

* 10 things that make you happy

* 10 bloggers who brighten your day

Okay, soooo I opted to do 10 things that make me happy about the Christmas season! :)

1. I've never had a mantle... We didn't have a fireplace when I was little (I dont know how that's possible considering it seems all houses have them now. And of course mom's house has one now... sheesh.) and my apt has one, buuuut it has no mantle. *sigh* Oh how I want to have my own mantle to decorate and hang stockings from! Someday for sure. :) Anyway, they're my fav for holidays!

2. Lights! Lights! Lights! They just make everything all aglow and pretty and almost seem magical!

3. Cookies! I saw some poinsettia ones on the CBS early show and really want to try to make em... yum! (I've been on a baking/cooking kick lately. Maybe I'm just hungry.. I dunno.. haha)

4. I heart Santa cokes. I dunno why. I just like em.

5. Gift lists on my favorite blogs (thank you for some GREAT ideas!) I've seriously gotten some GREAT ideas from you guys-hostess gifts, friend gifts, stuff for my own wish list.. Thank you! I scour the blog world for these... :)

6. cider. cider. CIDER. (and cocoa)

7. SANTA!!!!! You can't help but smile when you see a jolly dude in a red suit. :)

8. The smells! I recently got a Tyler candle called "Cathedral." Get it. It's holidayriffic! Like Christmas trees and yumminess!

9. Holiday parties with friends and time with family! I had one of these this past weekend actually. I need to post pics, but I'm trying to knock out my remaining online shopping tonight and I'd already started this blog, so weekend stuff will have to wait. :)

10. Last but NOT least... New Years!!! I LOVE New Years Eve! I'm actually quite a freakshow about it. I make resolutions and evaluate how I did every year (prepare for that one b/c I kinda rocked it this year...er...I think). And there's just something refreshing about New Years Eve. It just makes me smile to celebrate with people I care about. I'm a cheeseball, but I.just.love.every.second. The countdown part makes me feel like a kid at Disneyland.. no idea. I'm weird. I know.

There's so much more... finding that perfect gift for someone, wrapping presents while playing holiday music, jamming to Christmas Carols in my car, midnight mass with my mom on xmas eve and watching the kiddos struggle to stay awake through it...ahh.. I could go on and on.. I'd like to say I wouldn't list the bitter cold that we've got going on right now. hah.. That is all.

And for the tagging part, I'm copping out again (I know I know) but seriously.. I know we're all cuhrazy busy.. But I would like you to do this if that counts for anything...and I'd love it if you'd stick to your top 10s of the holidays! That's so fun to read! If you did it, feel free to leave a comment that you did b/c I totally want to read!!! :)

I have a BIG meeting tomorrow morning early early.. like 7am. Whoa. Well, the meeting isn't that early, but I have to be there that early since I prep the speakers/presenters, etc. Annnnd our 8am speaker just got stuck somewhere sooo we had to fill the agenda with randomness. Niiiice... haha.. Could make for an interesting day tomorrow, peeps... haha...

Hope your week is off to a great start and you're getting closer to being ready for Santa!!

Honest Scrappness

Yo yo yo! Two posts in one evening! Woohoo! Fun stuff-Ashely over at My Acronyms Give Me Character gave me the Honest Scrap Award-Thank you so much, Ashely! She has an adorable blog and my personal fav is the running list of acronyms down the side...Some of them never fail to break a smile on my face..She's freaking entertaining. Just sayin. :)

So, here are the rules!

Rules for the award:

1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.

2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself.

3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

********************************************************************

So here are some random things about me lately... I didn't feel like posting all "truths" about me, but rather just stuff I'm thinking about currently..I mean it's all true.. yeah yeah I make my own rules...haha..

1. All the emails I'm getting about sales, specials, coupons, etc from everyone from Amazon to Pottery Barn and JCrew are freaking.me.out. I can't get personal email at work ...and those are sent to my personal email.. so they arrive on my phone. And for reals.. it's like my phone is on freaking crack with the way it's hyper-vibrating with every email. I go see it and guess what.. it's another special. Good gracious. And while I'm on this...hey, Cole Haan, that $100 bucks off the $400 is great, but if you're gonna send me an email, I'm gonna need it to say $300 off $400. Thanks. Also.. Jcrew sends me emails called "Jenna's picks" Okay.. who the hell is Jenna and why is she picking things for me? hahaha! (I know she's the creative director...just sayin).

2. I think I want to do a couch to 5K program. So far, I have the couch part down. Goal: St. Patrick's Day Run (aka when it's not 5 degrees outside). Thoughts or advice appreciated if you've done a program like this to get in gear. I am also looking for easy, healthy recipes...EASY.. haha.. :) Jackie=wanting to get healthy AND save cash/stop eating out.

3. I see the pics of pretty lights in big cities and it really makes me want to get all bundled and freeze my arse off walking around NYC or Chicago or somewhere. *sigh* I really don't dig cold, but I dig taking trips when it's cold...even to somewhere ELSE cold. *shrugs*

4. I really dig my job. Yesterday, my co worker and I were moving offices and while packing individually, each came across our "incident response team" vests. Basically, if there's a major catastrophe, we help direct people. (I guess that's 'other duties as assigned.' No idea how we were lucky enough to be selected for said job. You're jealous. I can tell). Anyway, we each put ours on without knowing the other had done it and then saw each other and laughed. My co workers are fun. Fact. (please ignore the fact that I look like a crazy person. Someone woke up late...er..me.)

I also have a lot of randomness in my office. I'm sure people think I'm a wack job if they used my office while I was at the United W@y. I really dig kiddie meal toys that shoot things like disks, etc. Sonic is awesome at these kinds of toys. I randomly shoot said projectiles at coworkers. (ignore the 100 calorie oreo pack. It was my lunch. Busy day today).

5. I have a concert addiction lately. Our new concert arena/center is new... as in a year or so old. And we've gotten some AWESOME acts.. and have one of the top ticket sales in the country (yeah, we really do-who knew?!) But, I'm about to go broke buying tickets for things. And the worst part.. I wanna get my boom boom pow on b/c Black Eyed Peas are coming and tix are on sale this weekend. I will resist..b/c I have to. *sigh*

6. Another addiction: Emergen-crack... er... Emergen-C.. It's the same thing I think b/c I can't.stop.drinking.it. I drink two one or so daily and yeah... amazing. My recommendation: raspberry

7. Confession: I'm still laughing at the Tiger Woods jokes. I realize they're not that funny. Maybe I'm just needing a laugh. hah.. I dunno. And also.. I really dig the name Elin. Never dawned on me, but I do. Anyway....

8. I thought the gap commercials with the kids were cute for about 5 seconds.. Now, I'm kinda over them. "I love my comfy sweater..how cute are these boots?!" Aghhhhh stuckinmyhead!

9. I got tickets to see Legally BLONDE when it comes here just after the first of the year! YAY!

10. I made Gracie wear a Santa hat yesterday. Pictures are to follow.

I hate it when people just say do this if you want, BUT it's a VERY busy time of year and I know a lot of us have been hit/missing on our regular bloggage... So I'm quite serious when I say I want to read your random honestness if you're game to post them so please consider yourself awarded and tagged!! XOXO!

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

Thurs is my mom's bday! We don't always see eye to eye, but I know she has my back no matter what..and I've got hers. She's an awesomesauce lady even though I have no idea how she's so short considering our whole family is taller.. haha.. I used to pick her up and spin her around for fun. She didn't love that. I was definitely a challenge to deal with at times in my life, so this woman gets a LOT of kudos.

After my dad died, she worked a second job (she's a teacher) in the evenings to help make ends meet..(and when I could work, I worked too (in high school)). Yet, no matter what, at every swim meet...every football game (I was on the pom squad), there she was...cheering me on. She let me get away with enough to feel like I had freedom, but kept a watchful eye on my activities and ensured I made good choices (read we had screaming fights where I almost got my car taken away repeatedly for doing something stupid or jerky or basically teenage dramaish).

Her favorite show used to be Jeopardy (think it's the Apprentice now) and she's always had beagle dogs. No matter how many times they HOWL with the sirens and eat everything in sight, she swears by the breed.... *sigh* haha... She used to march around the house with me singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" carrying sticks/canes/whatever we could find.. and we'd change it to "born on the 3rd of July" b/c hello.. that's my birthday. She helped with Camp Fire, even though she's seriously one of the least craft people I know.. haha... But she tries. That's something. It's weird to think of our parents getting older, right? Yeah. It is.

And she doesnt know this.. and doesn't read my blog, but her boyfriend (who she only calls her "friend"...even after over a year) invited me to dinner with them tomorrow night as a surprise! Cute. :) So, Happy Birthday to MOM! (My dad was a photag.. hence the life size photos of Jax as a child in the den. I purposely cut them out). These are from Christmas last year.. Self timer-awesome. The dogs didn't behave.

Her beagle, Beau, is abooooout 100 year old.. or more like 14.... haha.. :) Gracie annoys the hell out of him keeps him young when she's over there.

Grounding Myself

Alright folks.. we're in the TEENS in terms of days from Christmas. And if you're thinking about ordering something online, then well.. you've got aboooout 10 days MAX to get it here by Christmas, so realistically, we're looking at what....5-8 days for some gifts to be ordered. Holy.sh!t.

Let me tell you about gifts and me.

I like to give them.

A lot.

And random, little, spur of the moment, "I was thinking of you" gifts are well.. kinda something at which I'm awesome. (hear that? it's the sound of my own horn tooting).

And timed gifts...like birthdays, etc.. well.. I'm okay at them b/c I get to hone in on ONE person.

But Christmas...where I have more than one person to buy for...all at once...stresses.me.out.

You'd think the solution would be to plan further in advance? Yeah, I'd think so too. Yet, every year.. here I am... haha.. Arg.

I think I know what I'm getting my mom at this point...and I've picked up a few things for friends along the way I know they'd like...and well..Gracie is a no brainer-bones, toys, t-r-e-a-t-s (we have to spell it around here b/c if she hears it, she goes bananas ;) )

But Eric....

...the person I care about more than lots and lots in this world...

..has.been.kinda.stumping.me.

I refused to ask him what he wants b/c I can come up with it on my own! Hmph! And we set a budget this year b/c we tennnnd to overspend with each other...or just in general...haha... So, I have great ideas, but they're not within my "budget." (mocking voice like a child's saying "buuuuuudget.") hahaha... :)

I have lots of ideas...but I'm the person who likes to get "the" gift.. ya know.. the one that shows you pay attention...that shows you know someone...that shows you planned ahead...that shows you have a vested interest in the relationship! *frazzled, overdramatic raised voice as you're reading that sentence* ;)

So basically yeah, I'm overdramatic about the whole thing.

Anyway, I grounded myself to do some serious intense research tonight (aka no blogger, no facebook, no twitter...Biggest Loser was a different story.. Hello, it was the finale!) and I think I'm about 75% there in the narrowing it down department! YEEHAW! Hopefully by the end of this weekend (5 days, folks), I will have ordered what I needed to! I need to do some investigating first.. *sneaky pose with head down and eyebrows raised*

(We can go ahead and admit now that I'll change my mind 150 times and then have to pay ridiculous fees in shipping, but it is what it is).

I hope you're gift-buying is coming to a close! Who's the hardest person to buy for on your list this year?

Weekend Recap!

LIVE! from my sofa watching Desperate Housewives on the dvr a little late ..and blogging of course. :)

My Friday evening kicked off with Eric's work Christmas Party-it was really fun... especially as far as work parties go. :) He works with a great group of people! We played some Pictionary (yes, we did.. and...the girls won), had some festive beverages and lots of food. Then, the men all went outside and smoked cigars and had a few belly laughs us chicks could hear all the way inside... then came inside smelling...um.. interesting. haha.. And I had enough of a voice to not scare anyone! :) Seriously.. I WASNT sick, but I sounded sick. I had this fear that no one at the work party would talk to me for fear I had the swine or something.

Afterwards, Eric and I headed to meet up with Timberly and some peeps for her bday! Her birthday isn't til this week, but some of her friends surprised her :) I would like to borrow her long, gorgeous hair for just an evening. Just sayin.. :)

Saturday night, Eric and I had dinner at a fab little Mexican place in Broken Arrow I'd never tried (side note: Eric knows ALL the best little Mexican places and I know how to try them all. Together, we're a good pair. haha.. mmmmmm... ) (Additional side note: I can't stop craving Mexican. I'm usually pretty bad, but it's getting ridiculous. I could eat it um.. right now... and then again tomorrow) Anyway, then, headed to Rhema for some Christmas light looking :) I was a leetle over excited for some colorful lights wrapped around trees. It is what it is.

No idea.. bahaha...He looks like someone stole his candy cane...
Things every light display needs: techno music. (Sandstorm may or may not have been playing as the lights flickered with the beat at one part of the walkway). Dance party ensued for like 3 seconds :)
Self timer + hilarious leg kick = this photo
Played with some camera settings so you could actually make us out in the pic without killing the lights.. Not great, but I still dig it! :)

"Is the security guard looking? No? Okay.. go now!" We're so mature... :)

Then we headed to a coffee/tea place for some warm beverages b/c um.. we were numb. Side note: Did you know red tea doesn't have caffeine? Like it. :) I had so much fun Sat night! If there hadn't been a line for Santa, I might have sat on his lap. Or stood next to him. Whatever is less creepy. ;)

Excellent, but COLD weekend! A water main broke down the street (it seems things are always breaking around here, huh? haha). I didn't have water for awhile, but now it's back. Now if the incessant drilling would stop... Eh, well.. I just hope they restore everyone's water tonight. It's so cold; I couldn't imagine working out there right now..esp likely standing in water. I'll take my job as a strategist inside the warm office even if I did have to go in to work for a bit today...

I've been going back and forth from holiday cheerful to semi funktastic. It's very bizarre and I'd like the holiday cheer to just come and stay. I'm actually kinda excited about the post where I tell you what's been stressing me b/c I'm totally hoping for "good decision, you rock" comments.. haha...

Today, I put out my nutcrackers (did you know I LOVE nutcrackers)? When I have a mantle, I will have lots and lots of nutcrackers on it.. I mean.. not an absurd tacky amount, but ya know...haha... :) And my little tree is all lit up! I kinda think I want xmas lights to stay up til March.. b/c they make me happy. When spring returns in March, people can put them away. Jackie has spoken. *affirmative nod*

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend!

(and did you see Holly's show? It makes me sad.. b/c it's um.. a bad show. But also b/c I miss her with Hef. :( I actually sat and thought "maybe they'll get back together.." Wow. I know).

Festive Friday!

I was sitting here and decided to post randomly about Christmas. No rhyme or reason, just random stuff I was thinking about.. Sooooo...

My fav all time Christmas movie-White Christmas. :) My dad used to LOVE it and I felt so grown up getting to watch it with him when I was a little girl. And it has dancing...and we all know I heart dancing... And it has romance...and well, I'm a sucker for romance... And it's not the typical fav....and I like that. So, yup. I haven't watched it in a couple years.. I dont even think I own the dvd actually (I should fix that)... but totally love this movie! :)

Do you do tree toppers? If so, what? Angels? Stars? Light up? Non light up? My parents used to let me select what we put on the top of the tree when I was a kid.. and it was hands down my fav thing ever about decorating the tree. We had a few and would alternate every year (well, unless I was indecisive and wanted to alternate every week-bonus of being an only child). My personal fav was a pretty angel. When she broke somehow, I cried. A lot. Too much to be in 5th grade or so.

I have years where I seriously hear Christmas music and immmmmmediately turn it off. I guess sometimes I'm just not in the spirit. Dunno. Side note: this year, I'm diggin it. Anyway, regardless, this song makes me so.happy. :) I was reminded of how much I loved this song when Tracy posted about it the other day! Christmas songs shouldn't be sad. Just sayin.

And b/c I'm feeling like I want to make some superfluous purchases to destress myself (I'm not going to. I need to save.), I'll list some things I'd totally buy and wrap for myself under the tree.. haha...

Lookie at the fun bag I found online....

The only TU sweatshirts I have are from law school or say Chi O all over them (and why did we think including the year was a good idea on those shirts? B/c um.. pretty sure I forget about that til I'm at the store in sweats and a Chi O 2002 shirt. *nervous* I'm old. Sometimes my sorority shirts still make it in public. Whatever.) And Suzanne got this super cute one at the bookstore not too long ago! Love the plaid, don't you?!
Gracie's hair is whoa. But I wouldn't trade her for anything, so it is what it is. But, um.. her fur is about to destroy my semi cheap vacuum. I never thought I'd lust after a cleaning tool, but dyson animal, you're pretty cool. Just.sayin.
I have cute lounge pants. I have a couple cute hoodies. They do not match each other. Apparently, I didn't think that was a good idea? *shrug* Kinda want some cute, matchy track suit or something.. but not b/c I plan to wear it anywhere except my sofa, the gym...and possibly to the grocery store. And this isn't one I love, but the VS fashion show this week just made me remember how much I dig Miranda Kerr. She's cool. So, the suit she modeled got posted. :)
I don't want anything with brands screaming from every angle. *ew* And for some reason, I really didn't care about the Burberry trend... til recently. No rhyme or reason, but I want a scarf. This is the reg pattern, but slightly off.. kinda fun I think....

Oh, and I'd buy that bedroom set I posted about not too long ago. Yeah, I would. It shot back up to regular price the DAY after I blogged. Lame!!! So, whatevs. Wasn't meant to be. *sigh* (That's code for- I'm stalking it online every day in hopes it goes on sale or shows up on ebay).

Thanks for the fun comments on my weekend post.. that I finally got around to yesterday. :) Ooooh yeah and thanks so much for the kudos about the dress/tights I had on last weekend! I actually borrowed it from Marla! She got it at a local boutique, I think! I'll def tell her how many fun compliments it got! :) Prepare yourself for many more ridic photos b/c Ashley is coming back over xmas! YAY!

Hope you have a great Friday and weekend, peeps! Eric's work holiday party is Friday night and I'm hoping I sound less like Darth Vader and more like myself, but hey.. at least I don't feel bad..it's just the voice! (knock on wood). :)

Um, I take a lot of pictures...

Thanksgiving weekend in photos...and this isn't even half of the ones I took...My camera is still recovering from the random firing I kept doing all weekend...

Brooke and Paul were blessed with little Parker on Thanksgiving! A week late and just in time for a great day of thanks, Parker decided to make his appearance! Sara, me, Ashley and Jenny headed up on Friday to hang with the new, adorable family! :)

Hello little guy!! :) (if you'd heard me out loud, it would have sounded like "Herrow widdle gwuy.." haha) (isn't he simply beautiful?!)

Proud dad :)

So happy for them!! :)

Wednesday night was a friend's annual Thankswigging party (aka people wear wigs...except for the three of us apparently). Note the Wendy's wig behind us.

******Things I feel pretty badly about-not getting a photo of my mom and me on Thanksgiving. We went out to eat and since I'd locked myself out of my apt, I forgot my camera. :( Major boo. Picture my mom and me smiling and laughing over a table full of food.. HERE. ********* I shall not make the same mistake at Christmas.

However, I also DEFINITELY consider my friends part of my family and am so very glad I got to spend so much time with them this weekend. I love these peeps. :) I'm very blessed to be surrounded by great people.

Friday, went to dinner to hang with Ashley and Tinoush in town from LA! It was Tinoush's first trip to Tulsa! From left to right: Ashley and Lee, Tinoush and Ashley, me and Eric, Andrew and Sarah :)

The girlies
Headed to a new local bar afterwards... :) A couple serious photos....

And now for the photoshoot that always occurs when Ashley comes to town... I'm sorry in advance for the minutes of your life I'm wasting...

First, "the pose" that we MUST do when she's here. I cannot explain it, but we make people dive through it. Just go with it. We take great pleasure in it and don't care about people rolling their eyes at us... :) It made it in quite a few photos this time.. hahahaha..

And now for the "why are our bangs always messed up in these? arg. I know, let's take pics like cousin it!" photos.

Take one.

Take two.

First glance "That's funny." Second glance "We look like we're making out." Retake.
Third take: "Maybe if we hold drinks we don't look like we're making out." ....*picture ensues* "We still kinda do...haha..crap."

Randomness=these photos.

Yes, he's licking my face. No, I don't know why. No, this is not a normal thing. And uh... no, I dont know why I felt compelled to share this photo with you. haha..

And the inevitable....senior photos.

(No, this never gets old. Every time she visits, stuff like this takes place and I love it. Miss you, Alove! )

Saturday morning, had dinner with Audra at Utica Square and took this photo! I look weird..like my head is floating all off my body or something, but it's the only one we got so it is what it is... :)
So, there ya go... last weekend in photos for the most part. :) I'm kinda sicky... I sound like a 12 year old boy going through puberty. It's hott (with two t's). Ew. So, I'm going to bed to rest my throat. I've been stressing myself out lately over a random decision. I will explain later (promise!) but I think the added stress hasn't helped my health. I came to a conclusion today and actually feel tons better. I really stress myself out about random things sometimes... I mean.. this certain thing deserved a lot of consideration, but probably not the undue stress I was putting on myself. I mean.. it's not THAT big of a decision.. haha.. I'm not meaning to tease. I'll totally blog about it when I can-cross my heart! :)

Take your vitamin C, peeps! Otherwise, you can join me in a career as a 1-900 operator soon. *ew* Have a great Thursday! XOXO!

Part of the weekend!

I try to comment on your blogs and once I get to like blog 5, my work computer FREAKS out and starts opening about 300 windows all at once and I have to force quit and reboot. Sheeesh. It's not like I'm a slacker.. This is my lunch break! Arg. So, anyway, looking forward to catching up on more later! :)

I don't have ALL my weekend pics n stuff, but figured I could blog about Eric and my one year anniversary for now! :) So, I know some of you remember this post and are therefore confused about Eric and my one year anniversary NOW... :) But, I think I said before that we're both stubborn, stubborn people...And had also each had our own respective reasons for taking things slower...and I'm so glad we did b/c I feel like we are all the better b/c of it. :) So, we officially threw all caution to the wind (overdramatic? me? Never) and got serious a year or so ago! We decided to celebrate this "official" anniversary on Saturday!


Oh yeah.. here's me taking my flowers home from work :)

Saturday, Eric had made reservations at Mahogany, a really nice local steakhouse. :) They even had a little anniversary card for us (in the center of the table). Awww. :) It was yummy all the way from the tuna app to the berry dessert! *just got a little hungry thinking of it* Then, we headed to Ciao to hear Eric's friend/former classmate, Olivia sing. She's awesome, peeps.. and I love jazz... :)I like playing with iphoto's affects.. It is what it is... haha.. :)
This guy has put up with me officially (I like to say "officially"..It's funny) for a year now.. and sometimes I ask myself how the hell he does it... (one of those times may have been recently when I got kinda seasonal-cranky for no reason...*oops*). Anyway, we had a really fabtastic time! :)

The rest of the weekend was family, friends, more friends and some shopping. :) Pics to come later!

Today, I'm all Sniffles McSniff! What are my allergies doing attacking in DECEMBER? Goodness. Don't they know it's winter? Arg. While I'm really excited for the Presidential Address tonight, I'm seriously hoping I don't miss the Biggest Loser finale (that's tonight, right?) or the Victoria Secret fashion show. I realize I should want to know what's going on with our country.. I know.. but I also have a sinus headache and was looking forward to some tv therapy. Hope you're having a great day!!