Life

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Happy New Year!

Whew! That year was a quick one. Am I right? Well, to me it seems quicker than usual. My kids keep getting bigger and older and more wise with each second. And all of my will cannot keep them small. Their schooling is harder. Their stress load is higher. Therefore, my stress load as a parent is astronomical.

I humbly bow to those that completed their New Year’s Resolutions. I honestly do not think I accomplished a thing. I did write a silly children’s story that I might have my kids illustrate for me, but I did not write the book I wanted to. All of my time seems to be taken or trickling into unimportant things mixed with the urgency of importance.

And I gained weight instead of the goal I made last year of maintaining it. Oh, sigh. And harumph. And oh well. I can still fit into my clothes and that is all that matters. If you must, you could sing “Jenni gained weight and I don’t care,” to the beat of “Johnny Cracked Corn…” But only if you must. I always seem to must.

I am having a hard time making goals this year. Because my heart can dream big but my soul is so lazy. It is an odd train to be upon with a thumping trumpeting heart as the conductor pulls a long train stuffed with my prostrate spirit oozing sleepiness and lethargic doom, followed by the caboose of reality. Choo! Choo!

There were so many beautiful moments with my family this year. My daughter turned fifteen and soon will be getting her driving permit. Gulp. My husband and I got away to Las Vegas. We went to Maui as a family and I had l planned upon returning this coming summer, but my son and I were convinced to take a family road trip instead. And by convinced, I mean my teenager bombarded us with the persistence of youth, to do so. The long trip terrifies me with its planning and I worry for my slothful soul. I even booked us a yurt to stay in. A yurt?! Hold my hand. 2015 is looking adventurous.

This is where most blogs put up their favorite posts of 2014. Well, most blogs did that last week. This lazy soul is late, as ever.

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My favorite outfit post was Bohemian Black Lace. This is my husband’s favorite dress and my favorite shoes. Together, they made me happy.

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My favorite food post was A Better Crockpot Salsa Chicken. I use this constantly and for so many recipes. I love it!

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My favorite short story was My Husband’s Secret. I wrote it in bed one night and it still makes me laugh. In fact every time I see his secret, I smile. It truly is the little things.

Are you making goals and resolutions for the new year? Do you plan your vacations this far in advance? Do you party tonight? Stay home? Stay up until midnight? I watch Anderson Cooper’s New Year’s Show. It is our favorite. Ever since I saw him on The Mole, I knew he would be my very best friend. Maybe in 2015?

Cheers.

May 2015 be the year you are most proud of.

With or without Anderson Cooper as a bosom buddy.

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“I did a bad thing.”

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My husband crawled into bed next to me and laid his head on my shoulder. He opened his mouth and instead of sweet words of love pouring from his lips, five scary words came out instead. “I did a bad thing,” he mumbled into my arm with worry.

“What did you do?” I was not too concerned, but my heart fluttered a tiny bit and my stomach did a little flip.

“I ate your all of your reese’s pieces.”

The body spin cycle stopped and I wrung out my emotions by hand.

“Oh. I don’t care. I forgot I bought them.” Then I laughed. I stopped and looked at him.

“It’s not like The Twix Bar.”

“I didn’t eat that Twix bar! Look, I ate your candy and then I told you about it. If I had eaten your Twix bar, I would also have told you about it.”

“Not if you are trying to throw me off your trail.”

“Are you saying I ate your reese’s pieces and then confessed just to convince you that I did not eat your Twix bar sixteen years ago?”

“It is highly suspicious.”

“I didn’t eat your Twix bar!”

“That is exactly what someone who didn’t eat my Twix bar would say.”

The criminal sighed into my arm. His breath smelled of sweet peanut butter… And lies.

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Oh Christmas Tree

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Picking out our Christmas tree was a bit of a scavenger hunt this year. We went to our tried and true place. The one we have been going to for the last ten years. And they did not have a single Noble Fir. They said they had been selling out of them by 4:00 each day. Well, with my husband’s work schedule, kids’ schooling and life, 4:00 was out of our reach for the week.

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We decided to search for a Christmas tree elsewhere.

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I am a true have-to-have-a-real-tree girl. I just am. I like the picking out of the tree each year. I like the smell. I like the tradition. I just like it.

We drove to a place that used to sell Christmas trees the year before, but they were not selling trees this year.

I remembered seeing a Christmas tree lot on the other side of town earlier in the week. We drove there and it was amazing. They were hoarding all of the Noble Firs!

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The tree we picked out for our main tree (we also get a smaller one, because I am a greedy tree decorator) ended up being about nine feet tall, but was marked 7-8 and the guy gave it to us for that price. It was a steal! And since my husband refuses to look at any tree taller than eight feet, my stealthy sneaky big-tree-heart exploded with joy.

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It almost made me as happy as this dress. I purchased Free People’s Bombora Dress during Free People’s annual 25% off sale. It showed sold out, but in my cart it went to backorder. I honestly did not think it would ship, so I never mentioned it. I thought it was a fluke. I was very surprised to see it show up at my door three weeks later.

It was a happy surprise.

It reminded me of my favorite Christmas movie, “White Christmas.” When I was a little girl my mother would tell me that when it was time for my prom she would make me a prom dress exactly like the ending Christmas dresses in that movie. By the time I finally went to my prom, I no longer wanted a fur-lined red velvet number for an event in May. Instead I opted for a custom designed (by myself) little number modeled after Marissa Tomei’s dress in the movie, “Only You.” In my head it was perfection. In real life, the seamstress did not understand what I was going for and I ended up going to prom in a periwinkle dress with triangle cutouts. Oh. It was bad. So very, very bad. As reality versus dreams usually are.

If only they had had this dress back then. Then both my mother and myself could have been happy.

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It only took twenty years for that scavenger hunt to come to a conclusion. What look from a movie do you love? Do you love the hunt for an item? If you have a Christmas tree, do you go real or fake? Theme or sentimental? Our big tree is sentimental. Our little tree is a gnome forrest theme… Of course.

*Also, I am sorry I have been behind on emails, comments and blogs. I plan on catching up this weekend. : )

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The Winner Of The 21st Giveaway and Cravings

Congratulations to Jennifer Leite for winning the recent blog giveaway! I hope you enjoy your gift card! I loved reading everyone’s answers. It was wonderful to get ideas for my own random acts of kindness and it just gave me the bestest of warm fuzzies inside. Spellcheck is trying to dissuade me from using both the words “bestest” and “fuzzies.” This just reinforces my conclusion that Spellcheck is a reincarnated grumpy spinster with a yardstick to be doled out as punishment. Thankfully she can no longer physically whack people and instead resides in our computers, taunting us with our inadequate spelling. She is grumpilcious (I swear I just felt the air whiz by my ear and the faint sound of a “thwack”).

Is it wrong to crave things in the midst of gift giving? In the midst of thinking of others? Well, probably. But that does not stop me from looking ahead. I will not be doing a gift guide. There are so many out there. Here are a few things I have purchased recently and some of the items I like right now:

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To be perfectly honest, there is nothing in particular that I want right now, except for books. Lots and lots of books. And then top that off with some whipped books with a book on top. I have so many book reviews I need to get done, but that would get in the way of my reading of the books. It is a tumbling slope to a creative dungeon. I will say I have loved The 5th Wave this month and its sequel. And I just finished a surprisingly delightful book entitled Throne of Glass. Both are easy reads aimed at teens or folks who want to read something light for a change.

For Christmas, I have asked my husband for a large saucepan. My old saucepan had to be discarded as the nonstick coating had begun to shed into our food. Which probably is not the safest thing. Nor is it the most exciting gift. However, all of the saucepans I have been eyeing sold out this month. Did you all ask for a saucepan, too? I cannot believe that they are all gone.

I have to keep it real and say that not one of my favorite large companies have come out with anything this month that I really, really want right now. I am waiting for this dress from a few months ago to hit a good sale. But it is the only item in my wishlist besides jeans that I am waiting on (oh, and maybe The Tasseled Maxi Dress). So I am going to discuss some random items. Some purchases, some gifts and some recommendations.

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I previously showed the afghan cardigans I purchased at The Rose Bowl Flea Market in this post. Some sweet people wanted to know more about them. Here are all of the details that I can recall: I do know the seller had approximately forty more of these in sizes small and medium. Each one was very different. I took a medium. My daughter took a small. Most of the hoods are a different pattern than the rest of the sweater and the sweaters come to my knees. The brand says, “American Vintage.” I am unsure if the vintage shop puts its labels on their sweaters or if this is an actual brand. The flea market I went to was in Pasadena and a few things popup for that name in that city. The woman selling them gave me a discount because I purchased three. They were priced at $35 each but I paid $30 a piece. She told me they sell for $65 in her shop, most retail sellers offer a large discount if an item is purchased at the flea market versus their retail shop, so they must be available somewhere, but I am sorry, that is all of the information I gathered. Good luck if you are trying to track them down! I hope you find them! I love mine!

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I will be giving these small See’s chocolate boxes filled with milk and dark chocolate molasses chips to a few people on my list with gift cards attached. If I can manage not to eat them all. We buy gift cards to See’s at a discount from Costco and then drive directly to the See’s store and redeem them for large amounts of chocolate during the holidays. We bought nine pounds on Monday and I think we have eight pounds left in the bag and ten pounds more on my thighs. Isn’t that just lovely how the calorie math is so generous with its gifting?

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If you are looking for art, I can highly recommend the artist Aja from Sagittarius Gallery on Etsy for the art lover. I adore her abstract impasto nudes. I own two and definitely want more in the future. I like the small sizes because they are not in your face, but just add a touch of female beauty to a gallery wall.

And Ginette Callaway is another artist currently selling on Etsy whom offers originals and prints of beautiful subjects. I own a multitude of her paintings and they always make me smile.

Are you craving anything right now? Did you ask for anything exciting this holiday season (it has to be more exciting than a saucepan)? I am hyperalyzed with this holiday season (thwack!)!