confessions link up

1. i've learned a few lessons this year:

you should never delete/get rid of pictures. save all of them. one day you'll think of a certain picture or party or whatever, but then realize you deleted all of the pictures for one reason or another. and there's no way to replace them. i deleted soooooo many pictures from the last ten years (and threw them away i guess before digital cameras?) and i regret it.

never ever take your health for granted. never take a day you're feeling really great (or just average and well) for granted, and never skip working out on one of those days unless there's a really good reason. because one day, out of nowhere, something could happen or you could have some crazy or annoying medical issue pop up, that leaves you unable to work out/do much for however many days, and you'll regret wasting so much time and taking so much for granted before. or you'll end up in the hospital/at home taking care of someone and you will feel like you don't have any time for yourself.

along with the never taking health for granted, never slack off on nutrition and eating. you never know how what you're putting into your body affects your health. i had been eating pretty healthy for the past few years, and then this year (and most of last), i just ate such junk. and then suddenly i had health issues popping up out of nowhere. yeah, it could just be part of getting older i guess (but i'm not that old, haha), or, i'm convinced, it could be a result of all the bad eating/not taking care of yourself/etc.

2. i had one of the best mini christmas vacations. i miss florida. (but i don't think i'd ever move back except to be with family/friends. there are no jobs!)

3. i can't stop watching gossip girl...help.

4. i'm sort of boycotting new years. it's sooooo much hype and 99% of the time is a huge letdown. i had 2-3 amazing NYEs during law school, that can probably never be beat, so i'm not even going to try. plus everything is so expensive! (and so packed.)

5. i want to start writing again, like really writing. i used to have this notebook full of random poems i'd write during middle school/high school. i'm not sure if the poems were even good, i have no idea where the book is, but it seems like a good idea to get stuff onto paper...

6. how is it december 30?! i don't feel like this year flew by at all, each day was like 10 years long, but now it's december 30th and i feel like i wasted a ton of days. i hate that.

“Don't do what you want. Do what you don't want. Do what you're trained not to want. Do the things that scare you the most.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

“You can only hold a smile for so long, after that it's just teeth.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

don't smile don't smile don't smile...

how. cute. are. these?!

(linked from cupcake take the cake!)

heart therapy linkup :)

What are my values? (I'm shortening this to just the first few :)

Education: definitely, definitely important. although certain degrees may be overrated, and whatever you actually go to school for may not end up at all related to what you want to do :) i wish we actually had to get experience in something and then get the degree while continuing to get experience.
Politics: i avoid politics at all costs. and religion talks too.
Love Relationship: i really really value honesty. once lying starts and trust is broken, it's pretty impossible to go back to how it was before :\
Weather: sunny or snowy, or sunny and snowy, or sunny and warm :)
Flowers: daisies, peonies, calla lilies, giant gerbera daisies, baby's breath

and then i wasn't sure...

dear monday...

dear monday, again?! i wasn't ready for another monday.

dear 2011, please end now. thank you. i don't know what it is about the end of the year, but i always just start thinking about the year and how it compares to previous years, and then i get all nostalgic and sentimental and want to go back to previous years because the current year is just never as good. right?

dear all companies, please give us all a week or two holiday break. i really miss having christmas breaks, being able to drive/fly home for a few weeks, and see everyone since everyone was home. christmas has just..lost its touch for me this year i guess. i want to go home and see family, but since we have a pup, if we board him it's like 50+ a night, so at 5 nights that's $250. and then plane tickets are around $500 roundtrip per person now, so we'd have to come up with a thousand bucks. and then we don't even know how j's body/head/etc will react to flying and the change in altitude and i don't really want to chance it. and, well, that's $1250 that i do not have. but driving is SO tiring, especially when you're the only one driving, and you have a husband and a dog in the car, neither of which will be feeling well i'm sure. it's just like..more added stress on top of everything i'm already stressed about..and i'm not a stressed person! until this year, i was never really stressed about anything in my life..not even law school finals, not even graduation...

dear lottery gods, if i enter a lottery could you please let me win? i wonder if i'm the only one who feels so poor and stressed after marriage. is this something everyone feels? i used to have money to be able to travel, to do fun stuff, to buy nice gifts for everyone, to throw parties. and now..i don't, at all. now i just have more debt, more bills, more worries, more stress.

these are my confessions

linking up :)

-I haven't bought anyone anything for Christmas yet. Not one thing. I do have a list..kind of, with some options, but I'm cutting it sooooo close! After being on the computer all day at work I just don't want to shop online once I get home :\ But I'm definitely not going to the malls around here...they're going to be insane. Tyson's was crazy in late November before black Friday...

I'd love to wrap gifts like this:

-I have no idea what to buy my husband for Christmas. He's suddenly very into photography but he keeps buying stuff and I have no idea what else he would need. And photography classes look to be around $300 here, and I don't know if he could make the schedule or if it would be worth it. And I don't want to just buy him clothes...I would definitely just buy him some alternative medicine treatments (more acupuncture, a yoga class pass, etc.) but I feel like then I'd be pushing him to do things again which I don't want to do (because you can't help someone if they don't want help or aren't open to newer things).

-I'm a little worried about gifts - I guess this kind of sounds selfish but, I mean, worried about gifts I'll receive. The problem is, I'd rather someone spend less money on something more meaningful, than a bunch of things that don't have any meaning, or a bunch of things that I may not like. I'm tough to buy for, and I hate getting gift certificates, so there's that..and I don't really share what I want. But I would much rather my husband spend like $100 on a LivingSocial or Groupon deal for 1-2 nights away on a mini-vacation, than a bunch of other stuff. I really like getting (and giving) experiences instead of material things.

-I reallllllllllly need to get my hair cut, or highlighted, or dyed, or something. I bought some of the foam dye a few weeks ago but I'm so scared to use it because I've never done it myself before..and I've only ever had highlights before. So scared of a tiny little box...

-I have not sent out Christmas cards yet but I did finally address them and write them all out last night :)

-I still send Christmas cards to some exes..but they're friends too. Is that weird? I mean I know their families...

-I really really really miss having a Christmas/winter break while in school. That's not the reason I want to go back to school, but I do really miss it. I miss being able to go home for 2-3 weeks and just have fun and not worry about things. And it was so much fun in college because everyone else would be home for the holidays too, so one giant party for two weeks. Kind of the same for law school, but people started to move away and/or not come home for the holidays :\

-I'm not pumped at all for new years, and I actually have zero plans. Some of my friends are going to one of the big nye parties here, but it's like $199 or something, which I can't afford and don't want to pay anyway. New years are usually SUCH a letdown! And I'd hate to pay 200+ bucks and then have it be a letdown and have wasted that much! I wouldn't mind getting dressed up, but there's no way I'm drinking and eating $200 worth of stuff! The best new years eves I've ever had have actually been in FL..at my house..just having a few friends come over and just sit around the pool and drink. So relaxing and a good way to just end the year (better than pushing through people to try to get a $15 drink at a bar). I miss those years. I miss those people.

-Writing Christmas cards I realized I have fallen out of touch with sooo many people from high school and college, and a few from law school too :\ I wish we could just have one giant party/reunion type thing.

And now I really want to make these Nutella cookies:

and then i wanted to bake cookies...

http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/12/the-serious-eats-guide-to-american-cookie-styles-types-of-cookies.html

i love all cookies. i don't discriminate. actually, i think i kind of do sometimes :)

and then i wanted to move to lake tahoe

i need a vacation to recover from vacation..even though i slept more than i should have while on vacation. why does this happen?!

i also now want to move to lake tahoe. i've always liked california, and i was actually looking forward to the napa part of the trip more, but tahoe is sooooo pretty. mountains. lake. trees. "beaches." what else can you ask for? (nice people, amazing grocery store..they have those also.)

(look at that house way up there!)


i actually wonder how much it costs to live near lake tahoe, and what people do for work. i just looked. one bedrooms are under a thousand bucks. like way under. AND there are four bedroom houses for $1500. that is so cheap compared to dc!! and then there are amaaazing houses like this one. heaven??

but everyone there seems sooo happy and so happy to be there, and just so relaxed. also, they have morning happy hour specials at some places. i guess in the winter everyone just skis/snowboards and drinks. doesn't sound too bad to me...

But maybe that's what it all comes down to. Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way. And maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all. -Love the One You're With (Emily Giffin)

2012 goals

holiday blog challenge - day 9

these are all from my 101 in 1001 list (if you don't know what a 101 list is, go here.)

-run napa half marathon in under 2 hours (i'm worried about this one because of recent health bs/pain, blah!)
-go 100% paleo for 30 days
-start coaching tennis again
-be able to do a pull up without bands
-attend a nonprofit gala
-have a successful relay for life event
-clean up our apartment so we have space
-pay off good portion of credit card
-host a holiday party
-write thank you notes to 3-5 teachers/mentors from past
-write thank you notes to 3-5 people in underappreciated jobs

wish list

day 6 of holiday blog challenge
christmas wish list

apparently i'm really hard to shop for (but i don't really think i am?). we used to make christmas lists for santa when we were little. i feel like as you get older, you get more and more clothes/gift cards as christmas gifts. (definitely not as fun as toys!) i would LOVE to "get" the christmas gift of everyone being healthy (and taking away all of their current health issues). that would really be the best gift, ever. i also would realllly love to be living in a townhouse, or a house, in the same area but..much larger than we're in now. i just want a bigger kitchen. and a bigger closet. that's all i ask for. but for realistic wishes:

i love this map. i think it would look awesome on our wall.

i really want these inov-8 shoes for crossfit.

i need to get a foam roller:

or rumble roller (but i'm pretty afraid of this one):

and maybe finally an iphone. my blackberry battery dies so quickly, and i love/hate the blackberry itself.

i need to re-join a crossfit gym, but definitely don't have the $200/month for it. so maybe a 10-20 class punch card at one of the gyms here...

i also need new workout clothes (some of mine are, somehow, from literally..high school) and shoes for work (because i literally wear holes into my flats). and probably some more professional looking work clothes (but i hate work clothes). and a vacation on an island somewhere. and more paid time off from work. and a job i really love. lalala...

i want to try a trapeze class:

(photo from TSNY site)

oh, and for christmas i'd also like:
more blog followers!!

celebrating

day 5 of holiday blog challenge
how do you celebrate the holidays?

first we'll make snow angels for two hours...

then we'll go ice skating
then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can

and then we'll snuggle.

anyway, i actually celebrate the christmas season this way:
i bake cookies:

put up a mini christmas tree:

maybe wrap our front door...

send out cards...

hope it snows...

have a little christmas party...

and bake more cookies...

side note, some of these questions are tough, because there are traditions/things i did when growing up, and when i go home for christmas, and then things we've done last year..not really our own new traditions or celebrations but, kind of? and it just makes me miss being a kid. when we were little it was fun to wake up early christmas morning (or sneak out of bed some time that night) to scope out the presents and try to guess what we would receive..then sneak back into bed and pretend to be asleep until around 5am when we could wake up our parents. now, not so fun..i just want to sleep in, haha.

holiday recipes!

day 5 of holiday blog challenge - holiday recipes!

caramel apple cider cookies (from the girl who ate everything)

(pic is from recipe link) -these were so quick to make and are amazing out of the oven, or out of the microwave. they taste so much like holidays! when i was putting the cider mix into the butter/sugar mix, the powder formed clouds of apple cider that went onto my face..sooo strong!

i usually make these homemade oreos

sometimes add a little peppermint oil to the icing) and then dip them in chocolate and add colorful sprinkles :)

and i make these

hazelnut truffles and variations of them to give out...

even though i love chocolate, i think my favorite christmas cookie is just a plain sugar cookie (in a christmas-y shape)

decorated with frosting.

so easy/fun to make (but kind of a pain too, haha). i made chocolate sugar cookies last year from this recipe.

(pic from smittenkitchen - i can't find a pic of the ones i made :\ )

i really want to try these

hot chocolate cookies (pic from the girl who ate everything link)
and these chestnut cookies sound holiday-y too!
and these

candy cane eggnog macaroons sound amazing (yet difficult) (pic from recipe link)

bonus pic -

he was so cute when he was teeny!

day 5 of holiday blog challenge, or, first time i've posted 5 days in a row.

Holiday Blog Challenge - Day 5!
Ideal outfit for Christmas/New Years

We've always stayed in pajamas to open Christmas gifts (should I wear my onesie this year? I think my mom would think I'm crazy!)

And then we change into something a little more presentable. I always opt for comfort over style on Christmas since it's family. Maybe I'll styleit up a little this year with this Express dress:

or something like this (I love Rachel Bilson):

Star: RACHEL BILSON by majksister featuring satchel bags

or something a little understated:

Extras - Leighton Meester by thegossiplook featuring platform high heels

For new years, I love this dress that Amber posted:

I can't see the front of it, but I love sparkly things for new years.

Style inspiration: Olivia Palermo by missnoelle featuring vintage jewelry

I also love this lacey dress by JCrew:

I'm going low-key this year for new years (I think) and either staying home or hangin out with little cousins, so I'll be wearing either:

(pjs from jcrew)
or something just as comfy :)