Cocoa and Bowie, and it's not even my Birthday!

The cookie battle has continued. Last night it took up my whole evening...which I generally prefer to fill with sweet nothingness. So I got home at about 6 (stupid traffic...) and was going strong until 9:30 (at which point I was exhausted and passed out). This morning, I jerked up in bed after something had seemingly fallen on me (in my dream). George looked at me like I was a mad woman and my 5 o'clock alarm went off about a minute later...at least I was wide awake already? That didn't change the fact that I desperately wanted to crawl back under the covers and sleep for another couple hours.

So Little Red (mixer) was brought out again last night. This time I was making Mexican Wedding Cookies (I always knew them as Almond Crescents when my sister made them)...which are basically shortbread cookies with pecans (or almonds or whatever) that are dipped in icing sugar when at a temperature you can handle (or a little too hot really...the hotter they are, the better the icing sugar melts). Those turned out quite successfully (if I do say so myself), but no pictures were taken sorry...too busy, too sticky of hands!
For a recipe, I don't have a go to one yet. I just Googled Mexican Wedding Cookies and picked which ones were either rated the best or seemed the most suitable to me.

Afterward, I wanted to make a few plain shortbread cookies (only about a dozen) for those who can't eat nuts. So those were easy enough. I tasted the dough, which was quite delish, but I actually didn't have a baked cookie. By the time they were done (and I had munched on a couple of the other cookies), I was in no mood for anymore. (Again I just pulled any recipe off of Google).

Then I was wanting to make a little snack type recipe and I was curious about something Sally (from Sally's Baking Addiction) seems to rave about loving ALL THE TIME! Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites. So, fairly easy recipe...unfortunately, for me, it was a little difficult. I'm not sure if I just had too much peanut butter in there or if it was just way too hot in my place (which it was...) but the peanut butter mixture was pretty sticky for me, even though I kept adding icing sugar. Eventually, I just sucked it up and made it work because I didn't want to go overboard with the icing sugar. I do love peanut butter, but by the time I had finished these little guys, I was sick of liking the stuff off my fingers so I couldn't bring myself to eat one. But I'm sure they're really good! I'll let you know how they are once I've actually tried one...but for now, they're in my freezer. But thanks for the recipe Sally! Next time, I won't make something at the same time (so the oven isn't acting as a second furnace for the place) or I'll open all the windows :D
Again, no pictures...hands too sticky, Trudy too tired. Sally's look a little nicer anyways ;)

So that was my evening! This morning, after jerking awake, I did my usually morning things and jumped into my workout. Today I did an Insanity workout..."Max Interval Sports Training", if you were wondering. It's a toughy...good workout!

Do you remember last year, my love of Tim Horton's Candy Cane White Hot Chocolate? Well peeps, today was my first of the season and it was delish ;)

Though delicious, this thing seemed so dang sweet! (And it was too big, but someone got it for me and I was excited...). I don't know if it's just because I've been having a few too many sweets lately...but it was a bit of an overload. (But still yummy, love you WHCCC~!)

Never fear! I've been keeping up with my advent calender! Yesterday being the 18th, I got my first Santa! I will share though, that I have not eaten him yet... too much sugar yesterday!! Though tonight probably won't be better D:

So today is the 19th! What's my favorite stocking stuffer??
 I don't particularly know why, but I've always loved the stocking :D Usually just filled with a few little random things like chocolate, little piece of jewelry, lip balm (I always lost them) and my favorite thing was snuggled right up in the toe...... A CHRISTMAS ORANGE! I don't know WHY I love the Stocking Toe Christmas Orange so much...but I just do and that's the way it is ;)

What's YOUR favorite Stocking stuffer? What does Santa put in the toe of your stocking? ;)

12 Days of Christmas!
On the 7th day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, 7(+) songs for singing, 6 lengthy foot rubs, 5 booooxxeess of Godiiiivvaaaaaa, 4 festive movies, 3 pomegrantes, 2 pairs of sweatpants, and a fuzzy kitten named Georgey!

{Obviously I mean Christmas songs...I love singing Christmas music! (Ok, all music...but ya) ;).}

On tonight's agenda...MORE baking and I'll probably try to get the vacuuming done as well. We'll see what the night brings ;)

Toodles for meow :)!

PS. Only 2 days left for the giveaway yo! Only one person has entered for a couple of the things...chances are high! For goodness sake, why haven't you entered yet?!

The past few days I have just been CRAVING this song. I kept hoping it would play on one of the dang radio stations and it probably has, just not while I was listening. Well I decided to take things into my own hands... one of my faves! (Love the Bowie...and everyone loves Bing).
**Skip to about 1:50 for the song** ;) You're welcome.



Dang Bowie, your voice is so smooth...

Advent Calender has issues...

SO! It was back to the mall with me for about an hour last night. I really don't mind going to the mall during Christmas. Sure, it's absolutely insanely busy on the weekend (which is why I didn't go on Friday) BUT I don't know, it's just all bustling and festive and decorated. I like it!
I believe that I'm FINALLY done my Christmas shopping (hopefully), but you never know ;)

The past few nights, I've been waking up at about 2:30 ish and have been having a heck of a time getting back to sleep, THEN when my alarm finally goes off at 5...I feel DEAD to the world. I don't know what to do...but I hope this annoying little habit stops on the ASAP.

So, you may or may not know...but Scott has been gone for 3 weeks. Tonight, he's able to come back for about 24 hours then he goes back out until he's off for Christmas, on the 21st.
I don't know about you...but I'm DEFINITELY ready for some holidays...
How about you??

Want to see something lame??

Do you understand what's going on there? The KINDER EGG ITSELF is behind that door. On the 13th???!
NO! Gah...I had to skip the 13th for now. I don't know if it's just me...but that Kinder Egg is being saved for the final Kinder feast. 'Nuff said. :P

So, I still need wrapping paper and a bunch of ingredients to get some baking going! Hopefully that happens this weekend.

But the Christmas blogging must go on!

December 14th...11 days til Christmas! Real or artificial tree you ask??

Well...growing up, I think I only saw one or perhaps two real trees in our house.We had at least a couple (probably more) artificial trees stored in our basement. And correct me if I'm wrong family... but I believe almost all of my siblings get artificial trees? One sibling that I KNOW gets a REAL tree every year is the Strathmore bunch. (Remember how I talked about their Obese tree??...I'm so sad I forgot to get a picture!)
 {PS, my graham cracker house is still decorating my kitchen...it remains uneaten thus far!}

I know lots of people love going out to get real trees...and I'm sure that's a very fun and festive experience! Real trees also usually look great (or obese apparently...), and lots of people love the piney tree scent.
I, however, don't really care. Haha. I just love the look of a decorated tree - period! And I'm not a huge piney scent fan... so that doesn't really make me want a real tree. PLUS, real trees make a mess! (Also, who knows what critters you're bringing into your home in that tree bundle D: ).
So by the sounds of it, I think for me personally, I prefer an artificial tree ;)

How about you?? Real or artificial??

Almost forgot about the 12 days of Christmas!
On the second day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, 2 pairs of sweatpants and a fuzzy kitten named Georgey.

Now here's my explanation. I don't know about you...but when I'm hibernating at home for part of the holidays, I do NOT leave my pj's/sweatpants. My favorites are usually Lululemon...but I also have a really big, cozy pair I love! (I'm giving 2 pairs so you can cycle through... wash one pair while wearing the other). ;)
You're welcome.
You understand what I'm saying? ;)

TGIF!

Ciao for meow :)!

PS. If you haven't yet... don't forget to check out that giveaway! The chances are still VERY HIGH for winning SOMETHING!

So the Christmas song I chose for today took me a while to find. I had no idea what it was called, and I ABSOLUTELY did NOT know it was Brittney Spears. It's a catchy song though, so far, I was making up my own words because I didn't really know what they were. (Thus why it took me so long to find...). ;)
What do you think of it??

Fries and scrambled eggs

Well... I definitely live the life of a (not classy) single person. I got home last night and I thought - Hmm...what to have for dinner? I recalled seeing some frozen fries.
 'Nuff said Brain...I'll have those frozen fries ;)
But I can't JUST have frozen fries...
Why not? Nobody will know..
I should at least have a protein of some sorts...
*looks in freezer for meat*
Hmm... bacon and chicken...either will  take a while to first thaw and then cook.
*looks in fridge*
Scrambled eggs it is!

That's basically how this dinner last night came to be...
 

Strange? Probably.
Delicious? Definitely! :D It hit the spot.

But those tomatoes...I had to choke down. I've been forcing myself to eat them lately because, well...they're good for you (apparently). I was alright in the beginning, but I think I need a break from them. Once this container is done, it's friends off for a little while tomatoes. Don't take it personally.

George was trying to make like a bandit, and steal my eggs. Maybe I should just give him some unseasoned cooked eggs sometime...if it's allowed. He also has a strange obsession with grapes. If my hand is in the container, he just stares.

But when the hand is out...

ATTACK! He loves when all the grapes are off the vine too...he'll take off with it. He has a tendency to grab things and run.
(And yes, those are all his toys in the background... including an empty orange box, my (clean) socks, a hair elastic, and crumpled up paper. He's easily amused, but he gets bored easily as well....).

So, these reindeer are telling me it's the 11th (yes, I've been keeping up with my Kinders ;>)...which means there's only 2 weeks until Christmas. Crazy town! (Literally...Calgary is insane!)

So with the 11th, comes...my favorite Christmas tradition!

Well, first I'll start with my OLD favorite Christmas tradition which hasn't happened for probably at least 8 or so years. I actually talked about it in this post (about half the way down) from almost exactly 2 years ago.
My whooooolllllle family (give or take 1 or 2...there are 10 siblings and many nieces and nephews) would get together at the farm (which eventually moved into Lethbridge {the gathering...not the farm}) and there would be a big feast with a bunch of loud people. We'd play games, watch movies, eat more food and eventually we'd all get together and act out the Nativity. 
As I said before, the Nativity was an absolute gong show. Sheep running free, Shepherds sitting in a line to braid hair or scratch backs, the Star would sometimes fall or at least once, the Star was 2 people joined at the head with some tinsel. It was an interesting time...but it was always a fun time that I won't be able to forget (well, not until I get senile and forget everything that is...).
I'm still so grateful for my family and I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. 
I'm also grateful for my 2nd family (Scott's), and I'm looking forward to that side as well. 

Lately, our tradition has been to order Chinese food on Christmas Eve and still the standard... games, movies, just hanging out. Though we no longer act out the Nativity (which is probably for the best...and we don't all gather together anymore, so we don't have near as many people), we will always just read the story in the Bible...which is still nice. 
So, no huge traditions anymore... but that's alright with me. ;) I just like seeing the family! Pretty soon, Scott, George and I need to make our own traditions anyways!

What're your holiday traditions?? Old and new! 
And what's your favorite one?

Ta ta for meow :)!

Who's your easy gifter?

Today has been a niiiice relaxing Sunday. Got a bit of a sleep in this morning, meaning about 8/8:30...but felt great to me :D

Got a few things done around the house and considering making banana bread...but just didn't feel like it today. I'll probably end up doing it during the week. Loves my banana bread breaky :D

Then I also did my yogurt face mask and now my face is all shiny, soft and clean :D And George is all fluffy, soft and adorable :D (Yes, he had his weekly shower as per ush).
 Just as he was about dry, I had a visit from my parentals.
And looookkkkky what they brought me....

I have a tree! Little, with no ornaments....but a tree! And it changes colors ;)

And what is it under the tree?

"Mmm~! I love Turtles" ;)

As for Georgey...he had a little crazy spell but other than that, it's pretty nap filled.

The life of a George is pretty difficult...

Christmas Blogging!

We're already here at the 9th...almost halfway to Christmas!
So, who's the easiest person to buy for??

Well, obviously...it's easiest to buy for someone you spend a lot of time with, or know extremely well. If you see them/talk to them often, you know what they need they use the most, what they've been wanting or what they might enjoy and wouldn't get for themselves. I've always been able to get little gifts for my parents fairly easily. Scott is good as well. 
(I used to be able to get for W and Lambie pretty well).

Who's the easiest person you have to buy for??

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and until tomorrow...

Buh bye for meow :)!

PS...although I haven't been talking about it, I've still been enjoying my advent calender...don't worry ;)
Oh, I guess I didn't talk about Strathmore... guess you have something to look forward to tomorrow!

TGIF and gift talk

TGIF! We've made it. Do you have plans for the weekend??

After work, I'll probably head to the mall for an hour or two to try and round up a couple more gifty's.
Though I don't entirely know what I'm looking for...oh well.

I have a love/hate relationship with gifts.
On the receiving end... sure, it can be fun to get them sometimes. But I don't like it when someone feels the need to force themselves to find something...ANYTHING for me. If you think I'll enjoy something, I appreciate even just that you thought of me!
On the giving end... kind of the same thing but switched around. Sometimes you find the PERFECT thing, and you just HAVE to get it for them. But I hate trying to search out what they could possibly want (because everyone seems to buy what they need and usually what they want{I know I usually do...}).
IT'S HARD! D:
And I think that's why gift cards come into play quite a bit. They're generally the "easy way out" I suppose...but sometimes it's just the best option! Why guess what someone would want and leave them feeling disappointed , when you can just give them the gift of letting them PICK what they want. (But then, they do know EXACTLY how much you spent on them, and they don't really get anything exciting to open up).

I don't know.

What do you think about giving/receiving gifts? I'm curious!
What about gift cards??
Do share :D

So, last night when I first got home, I decided I wanted to vacuum and clean the house quick. Now guys, George does NOT like loud noises (he's a bit of a 'fraidy cat)... he hides when I make my smoothie in the morning, and he also hates the vacuum. When I was finally done, I checked for George (I knew where he was)...

From afar, he looked all nice and cozied! But up close... he looks troubled, like he's seen many horrible, horrible things. He got over it...after about 5 minutes of not hearing the vacuum, he finally headed out to get some food. Trauma makes him hungry.

I also got to open door #6, and I was right!

Sweet, little, delicious egg! And tonight (after hitting the crazy mall)...

I have a strong feeling, I'll be getting another sweet, little egg...
YAY :D

Enough of that...

So today we're at the 7th...so I get to discuss my most memorable Christmas.
Hmm... I actually don't think I have one that's significantly more memorable than the rest.
I love Christmas, I've loved them all thus far. I remember them being quite a bit more eventful when I was younger and pretty well EVERYONE was home for Christmas at the farm. If not everyone, it was at least 8 or 9. Those were some fun times :D

Do you have one Christmas that stands out to you above the rest??

Enjoy your Friday!

Bye for meow :)!

PS. My smoothie looks a little less green today ;)

On things green and also things fuzzy

I forgot to put this up yesterday! It was a sweet little Kinder bar (same as the first day). I know you need to see this everyday. I'm just here to provide for you. ;)

And tonight I'll be opening this little guy! I foresee it being a little egg as that's all that would fit behind that door.

So here we are at Thursday...which means it's getting close to Friday (and the weekend and hopefully getting a bit better sleep in). Though a few things also need to get done, Christmas gift type things mainly...

How far are you on your Christmas shopping??

I don't know how to gauge how much I've gotten done. Maybe 50%? 60% perhaps? I don't know. All I know is I'm not done.

So look at my smoothie this morning. I always put spinach in my smoothie, but this one is legitimately a "green smoothie".
What's in it? Well, spinach (quite a bit), about half a cucumber, a slice of lime and the juice from one half, an apple (without seeds..though they'd probably just grind right in as well), some frozen grapes, some plain greek yogurt, and some almond milk.
Taste? Hmm... it mainly tastes like lime and cucumbers with a hint of sweetness. (Good thing I like cucumbers). Not bad, but not that great. (Ok, it's pretty bad...)
What did I learn? Little less spinach, less cucumber, little less lime and a little more fruit. I prefer my smoothie a little sweeter. But it was alright, I mean...it was my first time.
(PS, I do have a Vitamix which can handle blending all these crazy things up).
Love you Vitamix!

This morning, I quickly made the bed and turned on the light...

A sweet little George! He wasn't ready to get up yet either...
Jeez, he's getting big. But still cute.
I mean look at the 'little' guy... lately one of his favorite "toys" is one of those fake candles.

How he got it under a bag is beyond me...and why does he like it under a bag anyways??
It wasn't just coincidence either, he kept doing it!

You're a weirdo. But an adorable weirdo...
Now stop trying to get in the fridge.

And on to more Christmasy things!

So today is the 6th, where I'm supposed to talk about my favorite tree ornament. I don't know if you've been following the blog at all...but I, sadly, don't have a tree. But if you go here, you'll see that my friend Nani has a pretty awesome tree ;). My favorite ornament there, would definitely be the construction paper star OR the candy necklace!
However, if we look back in my past (when I used to live on the farm)...we used to have 2 Christmas trees. 
One was upstairs that everyone would see...the perfect one with red bows, white lights and gold balls - it was beautiful. But my favorite tree was always the one in the basement...with its multi colored lights, random little ornaments such as stuffed animals and such, candy canes, popcorn - much more exciting ;).

And if we're talking 'in general' here...I love lights, tinsel, cool ornaments, candy canes - I love it all!

Do you have a favorite tree ornament?? In general? Or something on your tree right now?

That's it, that's all!

Ta ta for meow :)!

Christmas Blogging Challenge!

Alrighty! So while I was reading through my blogs, I happened upon this...

Christmas blogging challenge! Yes, I'm late. But better late than never...because I'M joining the festivities!

SO here's catching up...

On the 1st, I was supposed to go over my favorite Christmas movie!
I don't know if I have a favorite... but my top 2 would likely be...

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (of course). Remember the Nativity I got?
2. Elf (it's hilarious! can you believe it came out almost 10 years ago?!)

I figured to keep the list at only 2, otherwise it would get too long. But other movies worth mentioning are...
A Muppet Christmas Carol, Jingle All The Way (bad movie haha), Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty, Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th Street, The Nightmare Before Christmas, A Very Brady Christmas, The Santa Clause, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I'm sure there are TONS more...but I can't think of them right now...

What's your favorite Christmas movie??

On the 2nd, I was supposed to give my 2012 Christmas list.

Guys...I don't know if I've ever made a Christmas list and I'm not going to start now.
But if you want, I'll have...

- unending massages
- a Scotty to be home
- a less annoying, but equally adorable kitten
- a few nights of delightfulsome sleeps
- time to do nothing at all (nothing at all! what's that from??)
- but especially, a Scotty to be home...
(I miss him).

Don't get me wrong, I like gifts...but I more like surprises! I want you to get something for me because it makes you think of me or you think I'd really enjoy it. (I'll also be content getting nothing for Christmas).

What's on your Christmas List this year??

On the 3rd, I was supposed to talk about  how/when I learned Santa Claus isn't real.

Santa Claus isn't real?? D:

I'm going to do 4 and 5 tomorrow ;)

And for now...

I've got myself a Kinder to eat ;)

Ciao for meow :)!

Moooorrrrning!

(Google images)

I'm dead to the world. Really. Not a good sleep last night...but I'll be fine ;) after I take a little nap under the desk of course.


PS... what is up with that little stick man? Not only does it look like he's dead, it looks like he coughed something up right before dying. Nice way to be found, no?


 So how was the rest of your weekend?

Mine was pretty alright. Got some picture stuff **done and got some nice, relaxing down time in.

**Picture stuff...when we got our wedding pictures done, part of the deal is that we get a book in the end with some of the pictures (which we get to pick, of course). Let me tell you, there are a LOT of pictures. So we've definitely been putting this off again and again. But this weekend, I FINALLY went through and picked my faves. Now Scott will have to go through and then we'll have to collab and mix our wishes together and get this done! But that'll have to wait til Scott gets back anyways.

I also got a little red bow with a bell on George...he looked so cute! Though he HATED it. He likes bells and things that make noises... but not when he can't see/find what it is that's making the noise. He was running in circles, darting across the room...pretty entertaining. He did eventually get used to it,  but the bell got annoying when I was trying to sleep...so OFF with that - until later, of course ;)

Awh~! He's so dang cute! ^.^

The sun actually came out today...making it SO bright! It's reflecting off the snow and blinding everyone! But hi there sun, nice to see you again.

And that's about it for today! A little bit later, I'll be opening this up...

:3 

Enjoy your Monday... share what YOU (yes, you) did this weekend!

Ta ta for meow :)!

PS! Here's my favorite song of my drive in this morning ;)



I always thought they were saying "Don't bring me down, Bruce" but apparently it's actually "Don't bring me down, (German word) Gruß" which comes from the phrase 'Grüß Gott' which essentially means 'God bless you'. The lyrics were written on the back of the CD as "Don't bring me down, groosss". But this lyric was so misheard, that the main guy, Jeff Lynne, started to actually sing "Bruce" at shows.

You don't care? WELL TOO BAD.
Don't bring me down. 
Good day.

Sunday - that's my fun day!

Or rather my rest day. Ahhh ~ that's the stuff.

So how was the rest of your Saturday?

I actually got all readied up to go out for the work Christmas party! It's always a good time...what happens at the Christmas party, stays at the Christmas party.

On Friday, I went to the mall briefly and stopped by Sephora because I had a coupon. Although I probably didn't (really at all) need it, I ended up getting a Laura Mercier palette. The colors were just so pretty and the eyeshadows, so soft! Oh well. Merry Christmas to me?

So here we are at December 2nd. I haven't opened this little guy up yet...but I will!

This morning, I made another loaf of banana bread (I like to have a smoothie and slice of banana bread for breaky!) and guys...this one was good! The outside isn't too crispy, the inside is soft...moist and flavorful. Mmmm~!

Do you want me to share the recipe? Hmmm? It is scrumptious.  Even George wanted it.Though, he does want everything...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you tomorrow!

Peace for meow :)!

December 1st

Good bye November. Hello, 24 days til Christmas! Crazy...

I mentioned December 1st in my last post... and asked, what it meant?

Well both Leinani and my sister, Lambie guessed it! (Go team L!)
(I would send you one as a prize...but alas, Leinani already has one and Lambie probably wouldn't even get it before Christmas!)

Advent Calender! My traditional Kinder of course ;). {2010} {2011} (Scott also has his out on the rig).

(PS, there are a BUNCH of different advent calenders now...don't have to get boring old chocolate) ;)

So I got to open number 1 today! (It was a little kinder bar - George looked at me with hunger in his eyes...).

It's nothing big, and they're not for everyone....and you're all insane. They're delicious.
So, Happy Saturday to you! I generally don't blog on a Saturday...but figured I could get a post up quick.

Today George got his shower...and although he still doesn't like it, I think he's getting used to it.
Here, he's mid drying in front of the "fireplace"...although it's not real, it dries him off much quicker. 
(You have to sit with him, or he'll run away...shivering - silly cat).

 

And here George is...in his fluffy glory. He's still adorable.  

Today I did my yogurt mask (for face and hair) again, and I learned something. If you have yogurt on your face, George will try and eat it (moreso than normal...).

And that's my Saturday ADVENTure (you get that one?? :D ) for you.

Got one for me??

Ciao for meow :)!