updates!

Life has certainly been uber-busy. That is what the holiday season is all about. I have really enjoyed hanging out and having relaxing time with the family. We have eaten so much good food and I have had a few cocktails. 'Tis the season to live it up and I certainly have been living it up!

So, D and I made the long trek to Miami and truthfully the drive was not bad at all. D did the first stretch and I amazed myself with driving the whole state of Florida...straight! Well we did make a few stops to fill up the ride but I broke my previously held 4 hr maximum drive record! Go me. I think it was the Georgia line Waffle House stop that fueled my push. I LOVE Waffle House! We had passed many and I knew we would stop at least once on the trip. Yummy!

Every time I come home I notice all of the changes. It is so pretty. D noticed the palm trees as soon as we hit the state. So very lush and gorgeous! The beaming sunshine and respectable temps was a bonus too :)

There was not much time to deck the halls before Christmas. I did manage to get all of my shopping done- a 7 am wake-up and mall run pretty much did the trick. I am so glad I waited. The mall near my parents is simply the best. Outside shopping in December with waterfalls and holiday decor can't be beat. Christmas morning was a real celebration. My niece took forever to wake-up so it took a lot to keep N away from the tree. I mean really. I had to sing songs, play games, use on demand television. It was crazy. Finally she was up and we spent an eternity opening gifts. It was ridiculous. Between N and R there were presents on top of presents. And that was before we even saw the other relatives. Yeah, those little ones made out like bandits! It was a great day of fun, good food (homemade rolls!) and family. Can't beat that at all.

And then there was the 26th! My birthday was the best. I think my family really does an awesome job of making sure my day is special. Which as I get older and hear all of this combined birthday-Chrismas nonsense I see how big of a deal it is! Well my Daddy made me a yummy breakfast- I told you there was a lot of good eating- of french toast on challah, bacon egss...delish. Then I went and got a manicure and a pedicure and did some shopping with my Momma. After that I went out to Joe's Stone Crab for a dinner to die for! Appetizers of calamari, chips with crab dip, fried conch fritters followed by steak and stone crabs (super duper yummy) followed with Key Lime Pie and there may have been a cocktail or a few mixed in for good measure. There were many reasons to support Joe's being super well-known. Just great eating. Did I mention my father baked me a triple layer chocolate cake!? Yeah, the 26th was the best. Not to forget I am typing this post on my spanking new MacBook Pro...a birthday gift from my hubby. Totally, freaking, awesome!

And my vacation continues. More good eating, more sunshine, more hanging out with the family. I may never return to the DMV :)

Wow, Awesome just doesn't cover my wonderful day!

Okay, my day was just fantastic. Nico stayed at home with his PaPa so I did not have an am drop off. Good thing number one, check! Then I happen to be driving next to Beeps who promptly called me and encouraged me to stop at Starbucks. Good thing number two, check! My yummy hot-chocolate, good thing number three, so done. Then Beeps gives me my birthday gift because, well I know she was excited but she told me it was because I could get some use out of it before the holiday. I unwrapped.... (for the anticipation and all) lovely, gleaming, sharp as can be pinking shears. Oh wee! So awesome that they come resting on fabric in a lovely metal box! I love em. I am sure these count as good things, 4-10 but I will say number 4, check. And then as if my day could get any better, I won a giveaway on a blog I like. I won two patterns from a cool sewing, crafting blog. Good thing number 5! Yes! All before lunch.

10 holiday things I enjoy

1. Seeing the twinkle of the Christmas tree lights

2. getting gifts ;)

3. wrapping presents and watching the number of gifts grow under the tree

4. listening to Christmas carols...favorite is Gee Whiz It's Christmas

5. Eggnog- a glass or two can last me until the next season

6. unwrapping the ornaments that I haven't thought about for a year

7. seeing the neighborhood transformed

8. the knocks from the UPS man

9. picking what holiday greeting I am going to send

10. spending relaxing time with my family!

Monday Meal Plan

Monday- Mexican corn soup (easy peasy out of the freezer) w/tortilla chips

Tuesday- Slow roasted beef w/ potatoes and carrots and roasted broccoli and cauliflower w/rolls

Wednesday- Pork chops w/ applesauce and steamed spinach

Thursday- Chili w/ rice and corn bread

Friday- Leftovers

Tis the Season for Photo Cards and FREE ones are the best!

Well, years ago people sent cards with trees, snowy nights and wreaths NOW it is all about sending photo cards. Since getting married and having my son, I have totally embraced sending holiday cards. I guess I love showing off my little family. It is not one sided I love getting photo cards. I keep them and see how much the little ones have grown over the year. True story my niece loved the birth announcement/New Year's card that we sent that she carried it around AND refused to share it with her family. I like to think that it was because the card was just so dang cute and not just the fact that she was 2 and a 1/2 at the time. I mean after I obsess over what card to pick, what photo to use and the wording of said card I like to think that it can't be put down or forgotten ;P

So what do I have in mind for this year? Ugh, haven't decided yet. If I don't get it in gear than I will have to send Happy New Year cards. Which I am not opposed to as the past two years- post baby years- I have only managed to get it in gear to send out Happy New Years Cards. I happen to think New Years cards are pretty darn spectacular :) But any way back to the choices. I told you it's hard and Shutterfly has so many amazing choices.

You can go fun and fabulous with a card like this one:

You can do sophisticated and chic:

Or maybe something with the funky, bright colors:

It doesn't really matter because you can't go wrong with any thing you choose. Shutterfly HAS something that speaks to your style! Plus you don't want to spend too much time making your cards because you NEED to get some of the cool photo gifts ordered for all of those hard to shop for folks on your list. My mother has taken over the family calendars but there are still So many ideas, mouse pads, ornaments, stickers, puzzles etc. There is nothing like an adorable little bitty face to make a gift even more celebrated. And lucky me I have one of those little faces running around me as I type ;)

So get in gear!!! I will be checking my mail for your photo holiday card. And if you blog Shutterfly is hosting a great promo for bloggers that could get you 50 free holiday cards- go take a look at the offer http://bit.ly/sfly2010.

S,C,S is the best!

Sewing on Saturday

w/Sarah

and Candice (too bad it's not an S)

made Shanea

superbly satisfied!

a blogation

So what started off as a few days has turned into a mini-blogation. Not that I haven't had blog ideas going all around my head. Because I have- I have done so many things that I wanted to share with all of you. My sewing adventures. My birthday party planning. My holiday prep. And yet it all boiled down to nada. My apologies. Please know that you were not far from my thoughts. I have been reading blogs like crazy and coming up with some cool things to do. There are so many inspirational folks on the interwebz. But the biggest thing that is consuming my mind is the gifts that I need/want to make for Christmas. My list is short which matches the amount of time I have to devote to crafty endeavors. I do have an active little one you guys :)

I am comforted by the many other folks who are busy working on their holiday gifts. My friend Beeps is even hosting an open house this weekend so like minded crafters can get together and craft. Wonderful idea too. A cool blog that I visit is having a Dare To Series and right now she is hosting a Dare to Give Homemade Gifts. I am all in! You should really check out her blog. I like it a lot.

Other blogs that I started visiting on my blogation are:

Another Day in Paradise

33 Shades of Green

Everywhere Orange

Sewing in No Mans Land

Now go check these awesome blogs out. You are bound to be inspired!

Shutterfly

I am always looking for ways to allow N to exist outside of the confines of my Nikon. Yeah, sometimes he gets stuck in there. You know, a little over 2 and I am still printing pictures of him crawling :) Kinda bad. Well we just received a great stack of photos from Shutterfly. Just great! They look fantastic and they shipped super fast. I think we have our spot for where we are going to go to get all of those pictures downloaded. Oh and getting them uploaded was a breeze- I had a couple of options but with the size of pictures I needed to upload- the only real option was downloading the software and doing a fast upload. Quick and now I have all of those long-forgotten pictures. There are some awesome holiday promotions going on right now, maybe N will be multiple gifts ;)