I honestly thought that I wouldnt have many things on my wish list when I started putting together this post. Boy was I surprised when low-and-behold, I came up with 11 decent items I am wishing for this Christmas.
They arent numbered in any sort of order, so dont use that as a relavance of which I want more. These are all actually just wishes. I think I might get 3 maybe 4 of these in actuality.
The thing I want the most off this list is actually the 50mm lens for my Nikon.
And although I really have been wanting the riding boots as well, I cant seem to find ones that fit urgh!! i have wide calves that i absolutely hate and none of the riding boots ive tried on fit well in that area :(
As for the rest, they really are just "nice-to-haves," but i think some of them are really cool. I mean come on, isnt that travel case for bras like genius? that would be perfect for cruises! ;)
And the willow tree figurine I just love. My mother in law started giving them to us a few years ago and we've gotten quite a lil collection going on. We even had this one for our wedding cake topper. I forgot to show a pic of it, but they also have a nativity seen, and I absolutely love it!!! but each piece is kinda expensive so I doubt Ill get it. Maybe 1 piece each christmas till I have the whole collection? *wink*wink*
Also, i dont really know how badly i want the camcorder. I keep going back and forth on it because i have an iphone that can record, a dslr that can record, and a olympus rugged digital camera that records as well. Do i really need a camcorder as well? I want to be able to catch matthews first steps for sure, but how badly do i need a separate device for that? I dunno. Would love to hear anyones suggestions and opinions on this subject.
Whats on your wish list this year? Anything you cant live without? Any good amateur photographers gifts you think i should ask for?
Dont forget to link up with Becky and get some great ideas for gift-giving and your wish list this year!
If you missed last weeks show & tell, you can read about our normal thanksgiving traditions, and then come back here and read about what we did this year.
Ill skip the whole sob story, where i tear up about the fact that my side of the family wasnt even a part of Matthew's first thanksgiving, and instead was in a completely different country.
Moving along, Matthew woke up around 7am and hubs brought him into bed with us for some morning snuggles. I love when we do this because it puts us all in a great mood from the very start of our day, even if it is a lil earlier than we would have liked to be woken up ;) I did our normal morning routine (change, feed, breathing treatment) and then rushed down the street to my parents house to let their dogs out (yes I was dog sitting, since the were off in some tropical oasis, insert jealous face) before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade came on.
Now I dont know about you, but watching this parade on TV has been one of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving growing up. So of course I wanted to make it a tradition to do the same with my son. So I spread out a blank on the floor and camped out with the cutest lil boy I know to watch multiple hours of the parade.
Since my family was out of town, we would be spending the day with hubs family. My mother-in-law was in town from earlier in the week when we had Matthew baptized (post coming). So we were planing on her coming over to our house before we all went to hubs aunts house to gather with the rest of the fam.
Now, im not sure if I have mentioned this on here before, but im not really the cooker (or cleaner for that matter) in our house. Hubs usually does the cooking, especially since I have almost burnt the house down twice. (who knew that milk froths when put on the stove, not me, at least not until the second time when i actually witnessed the milk catching fire). Needless to say, no one in my family counts on me to cook for the holidays. However, I am very good at baking. At least I would like to think so. So when I realized that I would not be having said potato casserole this year at thanksgiving, i knew I wanted to make it and bring it to hubs aunts for dinner. Only problem? I dont have the recipe.
I was literally searching my parents house for days trying to find where the recipe was. With no luck, i went out on a limb and emailed every person in my family on the cruise, yes 5 out of 6 of the people were on this thread, only excluding my niece because shes 6 and doesnt have an email, to tell me where i could find the recipe. My brother-in-law happen to be the one to check his email at 6am out in the middle of the atlantic ocean, and said he would ask my mother and try to email me back. Needless to say, all morning I kept checking my email, when finally around 9:30am i got an email basically stating there was no written recipe and therefore i would be going off my mothers memory, and then he proceeded to give me my mothers off-the-top-of-her-head recipe.
I made hubs run out to Albertsons, since its like the only store open on Thanksgiving, and get me all the ingredients I didnt already have. Plus, i figured I would make these oh-so-delicious homemade pumpkin woopie pies, since I had those ingredients on hand too!
Both turned out great, by the way. And I only have one lonely battle wound on my right arm when I burned myself taking the casserole out of the oven.
Once we got to hubs aunts house, Matthew was most definitely the life of the party. He was such a happy boy being passed around to different family members. Plusalso, there was football on, and our lil man, he loves to watch some football. Even though the Dolphins wouldnt be playing until Sunday, he was content with watching any team play. ;)
We did get a few great pics as a family of three and also a few of 4 generations, but those are on my mother-in-laws camera. Ill share once i get them.
I also think, that i should defintely mention that it was quite a scene once the turkey was ready. Im not exactly sure how it all began, i just know that there was an issue when it came to getting the turkey out of the actual pan. Lets just say, all 3 guys tried their hand at this task. Not until the third came in, did they realize it was probably not a good idea to take the turkey out of the pan bare-handed considering it just came out of the oven. lmao
I even got video of it because it was becoming so ridiculous.
Basically, the entire day was absolutely perfect. There was alot of laughter, family, food, and chubby baby legs. Isnt that what Thanksgiving is all about anyways?
And Ill leave you with some outtakes.....
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Dont forget to go link up with Becky.
It's monday again, and you know what that means, show & tell time! this week is:
Cold Weather Activities
1. Tell us what you like to do when it's cold outside. love toastin some marshmallows! but really, just being able to hang with friends outback by our makeshift fire pits, is awesome. since we live in south florida, we dont really get many cold days, so when we do, I try to completely take advantage of it. (even if i do look ridiculous with a beanie, mittens, and snow jacket, when its only 50degrees outside lol)
2. Tell us some of your favorite "winter" recipes. hhhmmm, i love my moms sweet potatoe casserole. like to die for. but then again, I could eat that even when its not winter ;) and sorry, but cant give out the recipe to this one, my mom would freak lol
3. Show a picture of something that makes you think of the cold. this was the first time I had ever seen snow, and it was also the most snow the Jersey Shore had seen in years. Unfortunately, I was in New Jersey at the time for my grandmothers funeral.
4. Tell us /show us some of your favorite accessories/outfits for the winter
I want these boot socks by Grace & Lace badly! (and the boots too for that matter lol)
5. Tell us if you had the option of snow or no snow, what would you pick? well i guess considering I live in florida that kinda answers this question. but the long answer would be, if I didnt have to shovel snow, scrape ice off my windsheild, drive in snow or on ice, and all i had to worry about was playing in the snow then sure, it can snow all it wants. unfortunately that would never happen, so yes to "visiting" snow, no to "living" in snow hehe.
Next weeks questions are about the upcoming holidays and anything holiday related is exciting to me, so check back next week, and dont forget to go link up with Becky!
So I didnt get a chance to post this yesterday since I was so excited about my very first giveaway. The odds are looking good for you guys right now, not too many entries, you should def go check it out! This Weeks Questions: Careers/Your "Job" 1. Tell us what you studied in college. Is your job now related to what you studied? I studied and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design, and today, my 9-5 job is working remotely as Graphic Designer for a large corporation in their Advertising department. So yes, I think I studied the right thing in college! 2. Tell us what your everyday job looks like. Well lets see, after I drive Matthew over to my sisters (yes even though I work from home, I still have my sis watch Matthew during the week while I work), I login for the day. I check emails, make sure I know my schedule for the day and if I have any client calls, and then I get down to the real part of the job. I create & design ads for the web. You know, the ones that show up on the sidebars of webpages like yahoo. And I do this for some major companies, im not at privilege to say which, but lets just say I definitely have more fun designing the ones that are for fashion and brands I like ;) 3. Do you have a picture of you at work? Show us. Wow, so please excuse the crappy quality, the messy desk, and the crazy bad hair. I literally just took this photo. (unfotunately this is usually how it all looks though) Anyone notice my "My Vote Counted" sticker? Did you all vote? You better!
4. In 10 years, what do you see yourself doing? Same thing? More? Tell us. Honestly, I would love to continue what I do, but be on a more flexible schedule. And really I already havea very flexible schedule. I would just love to be able to work only mornings, so I could spend more time with matthew and our other children, when we eventually have them ;) 5.
Tell us what you have learned, and what {if any} recommendations you
may have for those looking to go into the field you are in. For those looking to go into the graphic design field, my number one moto is: if you are a designer, you are an artist, the computer is your tool, not what makes the art. You have to know the basics of design, color theory, layout, typography, etc, before you can even begin to use the computer. Then once you have that, you can use the computer as your tool to make great designs. (my college professors would be so proud of me! lol)
And Wow, there is actually alot I have learned being out in the real world. For one, if you find something you love to do, you dont ever have to "work" another day in your life. I know it sounds corny, but I absolutely love designing, so to me when I go to work, it doesnt even really feel like "work." I could go on and on about all the things Ive learned, but I would rather sum it up with a few motivational sayings that help me while I work:
2. What are you "signature pieces" to wear.. your go-to outfits?
Definitely jeans, tank top, and reefs or maxi dresses.
3. Show us your style through pictures {of you or pinterest finds}.
Sadly, I dont take alot of full length body pictures to be able to show you my style, but as I mentioned above, its normally jeans and tank. But these are definitely styles I love. (check out my style board on pinterest too!)
5. If you had to spend money on clothes or home items, which would you choose?
Thats a hard one. I feel like our house could be so much more decorated, yet I feel like I spend waaay more money on clothes than home items.
6. Show us your favorite accessories.
Honestly, i dont really wear alot of accessories. Just my wedding band and engagement rings, a bracelet and a purse. But I do admit I have alot of purses! the majority of which are Coach :D
7. Tell us in one sentence your philosophy behind shopping. {What makes you buy an item}
Well lets see, if its a good deal, or if i have a coupon for it, it usually comes home with me! hehe, bad I know, but honest none the less. lol
man I cant believe I was 17 almost 10 years ago! crazy how time flies when your having fun! 1. When you were 17, tell us what kind of car you drove, where you worked, and what you were usually up to on the weekends.
I drove my sisters hand-me-down 97 teal Saturn. The sun roof leaked, like majorly, and the air conditioning didnt work. Remind you, I live in South Florida, where a) its hot all the time b) its extremely humind and c) during hurricane season, it rains, ALOT. So try having a car with no A/C and a sunroof that leaks. When it rained the back floorboard would fill with rain water and because it was raining I couldnt have the winds down, plus no A/C made it smell incredibly bad. Needless to say, that summer I got my first job so i could save up and buy a new car.
Said first job, was as a hostess at a seafood restaurant on the beach. I actually really enjoyed my job and loved where I worked, so much so, that I stayed there through college and began waitressing, then became a bookkeeper on the weekends, then got promoted to a manager, then started bartending there for extra money. I only recently stopped working there about 2 months before Matthew was born. Which means I was there for close to 11years. Im still really close with the people who work there and go visit often. Oh and my mom still works there too, she does the bookkeeping I used to do. :)
Usually on the weekends you could either find me working (i really wanted a new car) or at the beach with friends, or at hubbys house (boyfriend at the time hehe).
2. Show us a picture of you when you were 17 {roughly}.
3. When you were 17, tell us what you wanted to be when you "grew up."
I really wanted to be a fashion designer. It was my dream to move to New York and become successful at designing clothes! Then i realized, it was highly unlikely that I would become rich doing this with the amount of fashion designers already out there. So I decided, really as long as I could design something I would be good. Today I am a graphic designer! 4.
When you were 17, tell us the kind of boys that you dated. Did you have
a type? Do you have a relationship you remember well? Tell us about it.
Well, technically I really only "dated" one boy, my hubs! :) hes my highschool sweetheart! but i guess you can say there were a few "flings" that I had. All of which were baseball players, and i guess coincidentally they were all the "bad boy" types lol. And yes, hubs falls into both of these categories as well. ;) 5. When you were 17, tell us where you pictured your life 10 years from then. Did it turn out the way you expected it to?
In my mind, since i had been with my hubby for so long, i had told myself that i wanted to get engaged at 20, married at 21 (you know so i could drink at my own wedding lol), pregnant at 21, first kid at 22. All the while, I would have a degree and be at least on my way to being successful with my career. We got engaged the day before my 23rd birthday, married at 24, pregnant at 25, first kid at 26. And although I cant say we are rich, i do believe we are both on our ways to very successful careers. So ever though It didnt turned out exactly how I had expected, I would change it for the world!
