I was rich for 5 minutes.

It's over now.

Cyber Monday sucked me in again. I’ve been sitting here for about an hour, clicking on shopping carts. They sure know how to reel ya in to their world of 'free shipping, one day only, last chance, don't miss out, web busters, deal ends tonight' marketing gimmicks. I know, it doesn't help that I know my credit card number by heart.

But not everything about cyber shopping is bad... The receipts get sent right to your email and cannot end up laying around for your husband to find for easy insta-budget tracking! I just create a “Christmas09″ e-mail folder and hide neatly store everything away. Viola!

Oh, and I am really good at finding online promotional codes. If it exists, I WILL find it. I will never, never, never order online until I've done a Google search to find any available coupon codes.

The only thing is, sometimes, my trigger finger goes wonky and extra items fall into the cart just for me.

Ooops?

Happy [early] birthday to ME!

If you known me at all, you may know that I love being a paparazzi taking pictures. And my husband today surprised me today with a little big gift.

it's MINE!

Yay! I’m now the official proud and happy owner of a new Nikon SLR! It’s my early birthday + advanced Christmas present rolled in to one nice little package.

I have been lusting after a DSLR camera of my own over the last year or so, and I cannot believe I got it.(thankyou,thankyou,thankyou,THANKYOU hubs!)

I am even thinking about signing up for a photography class or two. Ah, I forsee many picture-laden posts in the future! :)

Woooo Hooo! Yippee! Happy dance (with jazz hands)!

A Special Thanksgiving :)

I hope you all had a fantastical Thanksgiving, celebrating and enjoying those you love. And I hope your pants still fit. I know I did. :)

I have been so blessed and am extremely thankful for so many things this year.. I consider myself one very lucky gal to have the life I have. The most important thing that I am thankful for and that I could not live without are the relationships I have in my life. My family is the best gift I have even been given. My friends are the greatest treasure I have ever found. And my husband is the best combination of both.

Yesterday we spent the entire day visiting our families. I feel like this year we have been so insanely busy, that we haven't seen our families as much. It was nice spending time with our loved ones and just catching up. Our families keep us grounded.. We are lucky to be surrounded by such a teriffic support system. Being around them really forces us to slow down a little, and puts things in perspective.

Speaking of slowing down, today is Black Friday, and since I'm something of a shopaholic, I'm headed out to join the masses for a day of elbowing and kicking people fiscal debauchery. I love love love Black Friday. It is so fun getting out into the hustle and bustle of the start of the Christmas season. My little sis and I always go together. It's become a tradition. We are 'Team Black Friday' haha.

We are never really on a mission for one particular thing on Black Friday. I'm not a crowd-fighter or someone who camps out overnight to get that 'must-have' item, but I still want to get great deals! So while I won't be out there mowing down innocent bystanders while swan-diving for the latest 'must have', I will be prepared with my elbows sharpened and my eyes acutely aware. :)

And in the words of my bright little sis,
"If someone ends up fighting anyone to save $15 on a toaster oven then something went wrong earlier in life." HA!

So what are you on the prowl for this Black Friday? And did you find it?

Out with the old, in with the NEW.

We all have those temporary lapses of better judgment moments in our lives that make us feel OLD. I have unfortunately had one or two a few of those in my 21 25 years of life. I know you are *shocked*. Because normally I can get by thanks to my Us Weekly subscription automatically granting me working knowledge of the works of Zac Efron, and thus making me totally a little up to speed on what’s hip & young.

But I swear to you, lately my mind has been playing tricks on me.

EXAMPLE #1
You see this week Matt and I decided to buy new appliances. Well, ‘what’s the big deal’ you ask? The big deal is that I have been SO abnormally excited for these new appliances that it’s borderline odd. I have been barely able to sleep and all I can think about is my beautiful new French door fridge, and my piece of art won’t sound like it’s getting ready to explode at any moment dishwasher. And the stove… Oh the stove.

*swoon*

I love the new stove so much that I am on the verge of getting inspired to maybe even turn it on every once in a while cook. Who am I? Since when do I get excited about new shoes,bags appliances?

EXAMPLE #2
When shopping with my sister a few weeks ago I had to ask her if a certain item of clothing I was debating trying on was supposed to be a top or a dress. She was embarrassed but I was disproportionately excited when she revealed it was a top. [Don’t shake your head at me! You never know these days.]

EXAMPLE #3
Or when recently, I had to be dragged in went into Abercrombie and Fitch to look for gift for someone and all I could think about was how loud it was in there, and how dark. It borderline resembled your local strip cub joint. Speaking of strippers, did anyone see how inappropriate their bags are?!?! So obscene! I mean, honestly, I had to walk around the mall with a man's half-naked crotch on my arm. My lord.

Hope you all have a happy Friday and I good weekend! I will be back Monday with pictures of my fabulous new dresses appliances. :)

These are a few of my favorite things!

[In no particular order]

• Getting to work after being gone and having no new voicemails!
  
  
• Deciding I’m finally going to make that recipe I have been wanting to try and realizing I have ALL the ingredients.
  
  
• Getting amazing parking, somewhere really busy and crowded.
  
  
• When a plane takes off from the runway and the feeling of excitement and adventure and new experiences.
  
  
• The first bite of Pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving!!
  
  
• Holding a brand new baby in my arms for the first time.
  
  
• When I get in the car, turn on the radio and one of my favorite songs begins just as I start to drive.
  
  
• Getting to the register and finding out something is 30% off and I didn't know it!
  
  
• Getting unexpected mail.
  
  
• Having a long laugh with an old friend without even having to vocalize what's so funny.
  
  
• Coming home after a long day at work to a waiting glass of wine and a hug that goes on for days.
  
  
• Making that final car payment/ credit card payment/ etc.
  
  
• The feeling I have in the pit of my stomach on Christmas Eve.
  
  
• Knowing that the man beside me is the one I was supposed to find and spend the rest of my life with.
  
  
• Enjoying spontaneous happy hour on the first warm Friday afternoon on the patio of my favorite bar with my girlfriends.
  
  
• Collapsing on the couch Friday night and watching hours of trashy TV and not feeling an ounce of guilt b/c I know I earned it.
  
  
• Putting on an old pair of pants and all of a sudden they're loose.
  
  
• Knowing the best is yet to come.
  

Add your own favorites below :)

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Today is my sweet boy's 1st birthday!!! Can you all believe he's 1 already? I sure can't! Charlie has brought us so much happiness over this last year, and I am absolutely head over heels in love with my 14 pound precious little child furbaby. He is the world's sweetest doggie and I am so proud to be his Mama!

And in true birthday fashion, Charlie had a birthday celebration filled with cake, candles, presies and friends! He's gotta celebrate in style. Afterall, he only turns 1 once ;)

Here are some pictures from our weekend birthday celebrations!




















birthday boy all worn out from his extravaganza.


Happy birthday, Char! Your Mommy loves you :-)

Gaga to the extreme!

I have a confession-

I have been slaving at work watching Lady Gaga’s new video “Bad Romance” five times in a row now and I have no intention of stopping. Honestly this video is AHHHHHMAZING. Gaga to the extreme! I am dying ... in the Rachel Zoe way, of course!

Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is how you do a music video! And I smell lots of VMA noms next year!

Oh, and happy Wednesday! :)

Cooking Shows Are Not My Style

Cooking shows are so overrated. Anyone else with me? This weekend I actually fell asleep watching one. Food channels really bore the crap out of me.

*I need to be entertained*. Yelling BAM! at your salt doesn't do it for me. Cussing out your chefs-in-training doesn't humor me at all. And describing your ingredients as textures like they're wallpaper or something doesn't make me hungry.

I mean, if you possess the skills to cook/bake/some-other-cooking-adjective-here then I'm sure these shows are super helpful with their fancy, gourmet recipes chock-full of ingredients I've never heard of, let alone own. But for the more... novice chef like myself, watching these chefs chop/dice/some-other-cutting-adjective-here is totally a bore.

You can't smell the food, they don't even cook in real-time (ingredients into the pot to simmer and WHAM! they pull out an already simmered sauce to fit the 30 minutes time slot) and worst of all, you can't taste any of it. WHAT'S THE POINT?

I know, I know. Who am I to criticize world-renowned chefs when, no, I can't cook but my apron is fabulous... BUT i CAN do something they can't! I can start a mean kitchen fire, make a terrific mess, explode various meals with such force they leave holes in the ceiling and grind up a fork in the garbage disposal like it's my job. That my friends is *talent*.

And while my meals might not always ever turn out, there is at least some action! and drama! and often, comedy! happening in MY kitchen.

Anyone want to come over for Thankgiving dinner? I won't even charge you admission to see my cooking in action. :)

Yes, I am a Twi-hard :)

14 DAYS, 9 HOURS and 2 MINUTES until NEW MOON.

EFF. YEAH.

:: swooooooooooooon ::

Not that I'm counting or anything.

(I totally am. TWO weeks!)

Who is excited?

(me!!!)

*jazzhands*

Lusting Waiting impatiently patiently,

A squealing 12 year old Rpatz biggest fan and someone who is totally going to the midnight premiere!

Squeeeeeee.

One Heck of A Halloween!

Hello lovelies! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I sure did!

Halloween is by far one of my favorite holidays! The simple act of dressing up and getting my make-up done is reason enough to love it! ;) Not to mention that our party was a MAJOR success. So, let's go straight to the pictures, shall we?

[party host and hostess]

[Miss Universe 2009 Contestants]

[with my baby boy]

[funfetti cookies were the bomb dot com!]

[with my PRETTY BESTIE <3]

[Miss Ireland, Miss Greece, Miss USA, Miss Brazil]

[with my hubs!]

[love her!]


[our cute little hippie neighbor baby]

[making sure I didn't contract the swine]

[best costume of the night, hands down]

[all 8 of the Miss Universe contestants!]


[pumpkin carving battle 2K9]

[my drawing of Charlie's face :)]

[charlie thought mama did a good job :)]

[of course hubs' pumpkin HAD to be sports related]