Christmas in Review: Der

Y’all, my husband claims to NEVER read Tipsy. And if you knew him, you would believe it with all your heart. He is not too good with the technology. Let’s just say he has asked me not to send him emails with the “paperclips” on them because he doesn’t know how to open them. Well, this Christmas I found out he is a big fat liar. He visited my tipsy wishlist and man did he deliver! Here is some of my loot:

  1. Amazon, Modern Family – I just popped this in the other night and am trying to convert other family members. I know it won’t take long.
  2. Amazon, Timi and Leslie Diaper Bag– OMG so cute. The husband claimed to have fought a preggo in Neimans for the last bag in the store. My hero.
  3. Amazon, Bare Minerals Starter Kit– Holy shit balls. This is the best make up ever. I am a makeup junkie and have tried and used every thing out there. I swear to the beauty gods that I am converted for life.
  4. Sephora, Shimmer and Shine Collection– This was just icing on the mineral cake! Sparkly shadows and the best lipgloss eva came in this baby.

Scrub a Dub Dub

My skin has turned dry as the dickens since the birth of my son. So dry that I was having my own little snow storm of flakes coming off everyday.  I have used the same face wash since I was 14 and it never ever gave me issue before. Having very sensitive skin (my dad’s a redhead),  I am usually not one to venture out if it’s working. I had no choice but to look for an alternative so I could remove the flakiness that was driving me nuts. Loreal Paris’ Go 360 Clean, Deep Exfoliating Scrub works miracles on dry skin, doesn’t break me out and smells delish. It even claims to reduce your pore size. Jury is still out on the size of my pores, but my face is ultimately way more smooth. My husband has even adopted it and would kill me for telling you that.

Get The Stink Out

We have a Diaper Champ in my son’s room and while it’s great to have it as an enclosed trash can in his room, I don’t think its ever worked on the stink. So we’ve always taken poopy diapers outside or used these (which are great by the way). However I ran across these Arm & Hammer Nursery Fresheners at Target the other day and thought I’d give them a whirl. Has anybody seen/tried these? I just threw one in the bottom of the Diaper Champ and we’ll see how it goes!

New Year’s Resolutions: Der 2011

  1. I want to finish losing the 8-10 pounds I have remaining of baby weight and get back into working out like I did pre-baby. It was all coming off so fast and then the holidays came and everything seemed to stop in that area.(I swear by Jillian and have been diving into kettle bells with this one)
  2. I am going back to school to become an elementary school teacher. This is something that I have always wanted to do and after having my son, I realized that I really want to have a career that inspires me and makes me want to go to work every day. (cutest backpack ever here)
  3. I want to learn more about photography. I love looking at and taking pictures and always have. I have this camera and I use it regularly, but I know I’m not even close to using it for it’s full potential.
  4. Cherish every moment I have with my son. I find myself saying ” I can’t wait til he can walk or talk, etc” , but I need to not wish away the adorable infant stage he is in now and remain focused on just enjoying every single thing because it really does go by way too quickly. I honestly can see why some women have 10 kids. Not saying I am one of those, but you know what I mean.

Christmas in Review: AK

We had a great Christmas! My husband and I think this year has been the best so far in terms of celebrating with our son.  He got excited to hand out gifts and open gifts and play with everything.  It was super fun.  Here are a few things I got for Christmas this year:

  1. Jewelry Cleaner, Brookstone-If you’ve ever thought about getting one of these things, do it! Do it now! All you do is add water and it uses sound waves to clean everything.  I immediately did my wedding ring and watch and embarrassed at the amount of gunk that came off both of them.  And I THOUGHT I kept them clean.  This also does eyeglasses, which I haven’t done yet but am psyched to do.
  2. Jackie cardigan, J.Crew-I love these cardigans and buy them at the outlet store or ask for them as gifts.  I’m a cardigan addict.  I received navy and cerise for Christmas.
  3. iPhone Case, Kate Spade-I was in need of a new case and received one like this and it’s right up my alley what with all the colors!!
  4. Apple gift card, Apple-In combination with my husband we received enough apple gift cards to purchase an iPad.  However after a twitter questionnaire we’ve decided to wait on the next version to come out before we buy it.  I think that’s in April.  I think.
  5. iSi Flexible Mixing Bowls, Amazon-A month or so ago, in an effort to do something in the kitchen, I gave my son a couple of mixing bowls and a wooden spoon to occupy him.  That turned into me needing new bowls.  I don’t think these will break.

The best gift of all might be what Santa brought my son.  He loves it more than anything and it gives his parents a chance to sit and chill for a few minutes. Little Star Bouncer, Walmart

Christmas in Review: Sarah

The Holidays this year could not have been better…ok, I could have done without the chilling cold and the torrential downpours, but other than that, it was a great low-key, and relaxing time!

I also must have been VERY good this year because Santa was VERY nice to me. Check out some of the loot:

  1. Michele 18mm Patent Leather Watch Strap
  2. Nikon D3100 Digital Camera
  3. “What to Cook and How to Cook it”
  4. McKenna Travel Folio

New Year’s Resolutions: AK 2011

Last year was the first year I really made New Year’s resolutions.  I think I was a bit too ambitious with some of my list.  I did plow through several of them, but a couple just were not feasible.  I definitely got my closet organized, the extra bedroom closet organized and the junk drawer organized.  I got in more date nights with my hubby and made a ton of those movie nights as well!  I started off the year reading a lot more but ended the year with not reading again.

So this year I’ve decided to shorten my list and have everything be 100% attainable.  Here goes:

  1. After having a baby in May, definitely get back into my twice a week gym routine, no matter what. (shoes here.)
  2. Take more pictures.  We took a ton of pictures of my son his first year and at a certain point that sorta dropped off.  I want to have these memories and I definitely want the new baby to have all of his baby pictures to look at when he’s older as well. (Does anyone have one of these “best of both worlds” cameras? yay or nay?)
  3. Get craftier.  I still want to do the baby clothes quilt of my son’s first year.  I would love to crochet a blanket. I would also love to start doing more crafty projects with my son, especially for Christmas!  If I get one of these accomplished this year I will count that as a success!
  4. Keep organized along the way.  We just cleaned out the extra bedroom to make room for baby #2 and it was super simple because we had organized it last year.  I want to continue to keep things organized so that I don’t have to take time to overhaul things because it’s gotten so bad.

So there you have it, much shorter but I think definitely attainable!

Holiday Muffins

All your shopping is done and all your presents are wrapped? What a gal needs now is some pre-holiday pampering before all those family members see your crusty muffins. Here are some perfect holiday shades that are sure to have you looking festive as can be.

  1. Amazon, Sparkle- icious
  2. Amazon, Something About Cherry
  3. Amazon, Shop Around the Clock
  4. Amazon, Cocoa A GoGo
  5. Amazon, Extra-va-vaganza
  6. Amazon, Glow Up Already

Olive Garden Brownies: The Perfect Holiday Treat

Are you in need of something thats so incredibly simple, but tastes amazing to take along with you to your in-laws or any other holiday gathering? Well, you are in luck. I recently attended a holiday gathering where I was introduced to the most fantastic form of a brownie I’ve ever devoured. These have passed my taste test. In fact, they passed all 12 times.

Make your brownies from a mix. Don’t go all fancy and homemade… it won’t matter.

Once your brownies are done, unwrap enough Andes mint candies (you know those super awesome mints that Olive Garden gives you at the end with your check… totally one of my favorite things about OG) to solidly cover the entire top of the brownies.

Pop them back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the candy. Remove once melted and smooth over the top with a spoon.

Refrigerate until the candy topping is hardened once again.

Cut and I dare you to eat just one.

Thanks Erin for introducing me to these. (or no thanks actually… because my ass won’t be thanking you when my pants won’t fit)

Manly Stocking Stuffers

So I gave y’all some ideas for Girly Stocking Stuffers yesterday.  Here’s my version of the dude edition.

  1. Lotto Tickets-What man would not get excited about the possibility of winning a ton of money?!
  2. iPod Shuffle, Apple-These are only $49!
  3. Hanes Crew Socks, Amazon-Men are always losing socks. They will always need more.
  4. J&D’s Bacon Salt, Amazon-I love the tagline on this… “Everything should taste like bacon”.
  5. iTunes Gift Card, Amazon-Music! Books! Whichever!
  6. Penguin Mints, Think Geek-Caffeinated mints for those late night work crunches.
  7. Magwear Magnetic Wristband, Uncommon Goods-I gave these a few years ago and they were a huge hit!