Holiday Home Tour

Come on in! I've been waiting for you...Here is your hot chocolate...let's take the tour! I know you think you've see all this before..but not so fast...I got some new balls on my Xmas tree! and I am desperate for a new blog post.

Let's start in the living room with my tree....no one lays a finger on this tree. I don't even like my kids looking at this tree. Buster already broke one of the ornaments this year.



A close up:



And if you turn to the left you will see my entry decor.. My mom bought these knitted stockings for me last year. I love them:



Now, into the family room where we have the...wait for it...family tree! My kids help me decorate it. Don't look too close. I had to appease my children with the PBK stockings.



Check out these big balls...hehe. I found them at Taipan. I obviously have a thing for red and white polka dots. These balls were sold out and I had to drive to Orem to get them. Truth be known, I would have driven a lot further..I love them so much.



And turn around. What is that? My hutch. Probably my favorite piece of furniture. I try to cluster my Santa stuff here:



In the kitchen, I have my Xmas plates:



And candy jars (these are my only claim to fame..they have been pinned thousands of times on pinterest:



One of my favorite things about this season is displaying the cards from family and friends:



Let's go back to Sammie's room. Remember this candy tree? I am anal about it because it is flocked and it loses more flocking each year. I used my lamanze breathing and let her help decorate it.



Back to my bedroom..this is where the magic happens.. (I hate how they always always say that on MTV cribs...get a new line!) Just kidding. We're not going in my messy bedroom.

Let's go into the boy's room. The sports tree. Ryan decorated this one:



And finally out front. You saw my elaborate Halloween display (wink wink) I decided to keep it simple for Christmas. My sole piece of outside decor:



And my new star wreath..waiting for my friend Heidi to come adorn it with ribbon..hint hint.



And of course, my favorite thing in my house...these four! Their excitement about Christmas is palpable. Ryan talks non stop about reindeer, Santa, and elves. I love it.



Now I am coming over for a tour of your house. Don't stress, I will let myself in. Just leave the Fernwood mints out on the table!

First Demi and Ashton and Now This...

I never saw it coming. Ali and Roberto are splitting up. Why do I ever think it's going to work? And to make matters worse, I'm about to have a caveman for my bachelor.

My Trip to Visit Ashley

I returned home from my trip to visit Ashley on Sunday evening. Here it is Thursday and I am finally blogging about it. Re-entry to the grind was hard. I am still doing laundry and battling a nasty head cold. But it was all worth it.

The trip was anything but relaxing. She lives in the Bay Area and there is a lot to do. Ashley had us booked every minute and I never knew from one minute to the next where we were headed. But she is a great hostess and I had a blast.

Here is what was waiting for me on her bed (we sleep together when I come!)



There are movie passes there, warm socks, trashy mag, and an assortment of other goodies. When she comes to my place, she is lucky to find a clean towel.

Here are the highlights of the trip:

The Eating:

The meals are a big deal for me and Ash. This time we shared almost every entree so we both felt better about eating out for every meal. This trip wasn't quite the binge fest that we've done in the past..but the food was still delightful. We ate at a place called Xanh with the Mostess (Kaari) and another friend from the blogging world, Kristine. The food was to die for. Here we are outside the restaurant:



We went straight from dinner to see Moneyball..fantastic.

We also got to go to lunch with one of Ashley's old bosses who we are friends with on Facebook. He is hilarious and he definitely entertained us. We ate at an Italian restaurant in a shi shi little area of town called Santana Row. Ashley and I outside the restaurant:



We also ate at our beloved CPK (where the waiter thought we were twins. We got that A LOT on this trip). We also ate at Chevy's. We split the fajitas and Ashley admitted to me she has never had fajitas before...what the?

We made a short trip into San Francisco and ate at Boudin Bakery in the basement of the big Macy's there. We were impressed with this new diet coke fountain machine that makes your diet coke to order with lime, orange, cherry, etc...snazzy.



The Shopping:

Ashley and I did a ton of shopping. That's what we do. I won't bore you with all the stores we went to but we did find 40% off at nearly every one of them. Ashley was completely bugged by this. "Oh look! Another 40% off sale..no way!"



Here we are in one of our favorite stores..can you tell where we are?:





I love the Container store's Christmas gift wrap section..so festive:



Ashley spent her time looking for a brown cardigan to go with some brown riding boots she is getting. I teased her the whole trip about how the brown boots are a mistake and she will call me in a month and tell me as much.

Here I am in my favorite store WHBM. I shopped so long they had to bring me water:



Ashley did find this awesome canvas in TJ Maxx for above her bed. I have to admit I was horribly jealous of it and was trying to think of any way I could to buy a matching one and take it home with me....but no dice.



Activities:

Hot stone pedicures: These are the bomb ladies. We went on a rainy day and I loved being in a cozy place getting a pedicure.





The Temple: Ash and i did a session at the Oakland temple. It was nice and I felt better about all of our shopping. I also went to church with her for all three hours on Sunday so that should count for something.



It was just really fun to have all that time to chat with Ashley. Everytime I am with her, I am reminded what a good person she is. Plus, we laugh a lot and she just gets me. I can't wait for our next trip.

A very hearty thank you to my mom and dad, Sam and Tyler, who made this trip possible!

Thankful

Our family usually goes out to dinner for Thanksgiving (yeah..we're weird) but this year, my mom cooked dinner at her house (everyone helped with something) and it was really relaxing and nice. We fed the kids first and then sent them downstairs to watch a movie. The adults got to eat their meal in peace and then we all hung out around the fire and chatted and ate pie, etc.

On this day of gratitude, I just want to say how grateful I am for my family. My friends are always always telling me how lucky I am to have my mom (she deserves her own post!) but I am grateful for the rest of my family too. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such loving, fun, supportive people. I am also grateful for Sam. He is a great dad and he does so much to help me. Sam has a wonderful family too and I'm grateful for them as well. My kids are the joy of my life and make me a happy lady.

Here are some photos of our Thanksgiving dinner (I wish I would have taken my good camera..these photos are the worst...and I apologize for not getting any photos of the menfolk.)

These are the placecard turkeys my mom made with the kids a few days before the big day:



My obnoxious boys:



Sweetness:



Ashley and my mom hovering over the bird..I wish I had gotten an action shot of everyone in the kitchen working on their different assignments:



My mom with Ashley's boys:



My sis-in-law Katie made these darling candy turkeys for the kids to eat for dessert:



Look at Buster's face..can you tell he loves Katie:



Okay..now onto Christmas. I put up my tree this morning!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Doesn't that song make you miss John Denver?...may he rest in peace.

Tomorrow morning, I am getting on a plane to go visit my sister Ashley for a weekend of eating, shopping, eating, pedicures, eating, movies, meeting up with friends and did I mention eating? It has been nearly two years since I went down to see her (though she comes here a lot.) I am so excited.

Thank you to Sam and my mom for making this trip possible. I think they know my sanity depends on it.

In the meantime, check out some of my new (to me) favorite blogs:

http://www.designtimesfour.com/. This is written by my very talented, fashionable friend Andrea and her uber talented husband. They both cook, redo furniture (I have no idea what the correct term for this is) and have the most stylish modern home. Check it out..they post almost daily.

http://www.maryromney.com/. This blog is written by one of Mitt Romney's daughter-in-laws. I may or may not have a small crush on Mitt. If you do too, you will love this blog. The daughter-in-law, Mary, has amazing taste and you get a glimpse into their very fun life. Go Mitt 2012!

http://www.ablogaboutlove.com/. This blog is about love, divorce, forgiveness, infertility and life in New York. It is written by a husband wife duo (it is a second marriage for both of them.) I love their happy love story and their optimistic outlook on life. If you are going through a divorce, or struggling with anything really, this blog will appeal to you.

Enjoy! I will be back soon with a full report!

Which Brad Do You Prefer?

I am dying to see Moneyball while it is still in the theater. Has anyone seen it? Is it worth my time? Generally, anything with Brad Pitt is worth my time.

My sister Ashley just saw Moneyball and gave it the thumbs up. That doesn't mean the movie is good. It just means Brad was good.

The tricky thing is, sometimes Brad can be totally hot in a movie..think A River Runs Through It:



and Ocean's Eleven:


(gratuitous photo of George!)

and sometimes he can be on the edge of nasty..think Legends of the Fall:



Angelina has not done good things for that man.



I much preferred him in his Jennifer Aniston days.


How cute were their his and hers highlights?

I guess I just prefer a more clean cut Brad:


Damn Baby!

This one, I have no use for:



Which Brad do you prefer? And if you don't prefer Brad, please refrain from bagging on him in your comments. This blog is a bagging on Brad free zone.

11 Things on 11/11/11

1. I met a guy at my gym's spooktacular who told me I look just like Keesha. I had no idea who he was talking about. I went home and googled her and found stuff that looked a lot like pOrn. Unfortunately, I kind of see the resemblance:




2.I am almost done Christmas shopping for my kids. I love shopping for them because they are so easy to please and I know just what they would love. This time of year, I have this neurotic condition where if I buy anything...(think underwear or a clock radio) for one of my kids, I have to fight to urge to save it for Christmas. Anyone else have this problem?

3. Buster is finally taking steps....not walking. But this is not nothing people! The kid is 18 and 1/2 months old and heavier than a load of bricks. He is one lazy mother and I didn't think he would ever turn the corner.



4. Snapfish has the best customer service on the planet. I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed to admit that I have called them twice in the past week to get price adjustments for various things. Both times, I spoke to some guy in India who I could barely understand but both times the dude totally hooked me up...yesterday I got $19.99 in shipping refunded to my account just because I called and asked him to do it.

5. I am the proud owner of a new yellow handbag! Thanks mom. Isn't it cute?!



6. I've got my eye on a Shellac UV nail dryer on Amazon for about 50 bucks. If I bought my own Shellac polish, I could do my own manicures and save a ton of cash. It usually costs 2o bucks to get a shellac manicure and that is if you are getting a Groupon deal and it doesn't include anything except getting your nails painted. So my friend Lisa recommended buying my own dryer and doing it myself...what do we think folks?


7. Are flower headbands still in style for adult women? I am guessing no. I was going to wear this to the Spootacular and then felt silly in it. These headbands are much cuter on Sammie.



8. I love Tiny Prints Christmas cards. This year, their selection of cards are colorful, modern and original. You will pay more, but they are the cutest. I went with Snapfish this year (thanks for the free shipping Rashan!) but I still think Tiny Prints are #1.





9. Ryan recently went on a field trip to a fire station with his preschool where they each got to hold the hose and knock down orange cones with the water. This was heaven for a little boy who is obsessed with being a fireman.



10. I love Fall and this year was no different. I love the leaves on the ground before they get raked. I wish it could be fall year round. Notice Luke is in his cub scout uni. I am his Akaela...for those of you not down with cub scout lingo..that is his leader. Shoot me now. I am trying to learn to love it.



11. Is it totally tacky to return a giganto unopened bag of candy to Costco? Good, because I am doing that today. The alternative is that I will eat the whole damn thing before Thanksgiving.