Helping Out Society

Over the Thanksgiving break, we went out and did a little shopping. We ran across this adorable little coffee shop and stopped in for a treat. Next door to the shop was the cutest little bakery, Society Bakery to be exact. Apparently, the bakery is well known and was even voted Top 10 Cupcakes by The Ellen Degeneres show. Well, we had the gluten free brownie and a chocolate chip cookie. Both were absolutely incredible. I didn't really want the gluten free brownie but the sales lady who happened to be the owner's mother, convinced us that it was really the best thing under the counter. I believe she was absolutely right! The cookie was amazing but that brownie...Oh My!!! It was to die for! So if you are ever in the area, stop by Society Bakery and help yourself to a treat. One thing that I also love about this bakery is that they donate back to the community. I will definitely be stopping in to help out society and my sweet tooth!

Staple Item

I think everyone has that one staple wardrobe item that they could wear with anything and everything. I have found my fall/winter staple this season and I have just fallen in love with these.

I was in desperate need of a new pair of boots for the fall and after many hours of searching and trying on and trying to figure out what pair looked just right and felt great, I decided on these. I have two pair of Frye boots in my closet that I have had for roughly 10 years and they still look wonderful so I knew the brand was great but I wasn't 100% sold on the style. I tweeted about them and received some great comments on how well they would look with jeans and dresses/skirts so I knew I could dress them up or go more casual with them. I've had them for a couple of months now and have worn them every chance I have had. In fact, I love them so much, I went and got a black pair too!

It's What You Have To Do Sometimes

I have always enjoyed the Real Housewives shows. I like them all..Orange County, New York, Beverly Hills, New Jersey so basically if it says housewives in the title, I probably have it on my DVR. Well, I watched RHofNY and Bethany kind of stuck with me so I watched Bethany Ever After too. I decided to go out in search of her Skinny Girl margarita and found it and liked it. Then I heard that there were two more in the Skinny Girl line that I needed to try. Before the Amica Gala, we all met the night before to decorate and set up the ballroom and we each brought snacks and wine to share. I brought the white cranberry cosmo and sangria. They are equally as yummy as the margarita and maybe even a tad better. I think I've found some new favorite beverages!

Mud Pie!

My friends on Twitter have always talked about Mud Pie and I have seen these cute baby things in stores and have even bought some for gifts. However, I have always been thinking about what my first Mud Pie purchase would be for myself and I actually got something recently that is absolutely perfect. Here it is...Santa Paws by Mud Pie

Maggie has her very own Santa Claus collar courtesy of Mud Pie. I'm happy and so is she!

Deck the Halls

As much as I love Thanksgiving, I also love when it's over because that means I can decorate for Christmas! I actually cheated a bit this year and got my tree up earlier in the week. It's just nice to get it done while I'm off during the week and not have to stress about getting it finished the day before I go back to work. Growing up, we always decorated the day after Thanksgiving but since I've been on my own, I always have slowly started putting up my decor inside during the week of Thanksgiving. I think I can enjoy Thanksgiving and my Christmas decorations all at the same time! Here is a sneak preview of my decorations. I'll be back later on with more detailed pictures!

Black Friday

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I know our Thanksgiving was wonderful. I got to spend time with my niece who is expecting her little boy in April. I can't wait to hold that sweet baby and spoil him. I also ate and ate and ate but luckily for me, I will be working it off really soon. I'm about to head out for some Black Friday shopping. I have no idea what I'm looking for but I just love the rush of getting up early and heading out to find that awesome deal. I do not camp out in front of stores like I've seen other people do though. A lady and her mother and little boy have been camping out in front of Be$t Buy since Monday here in Dallas. That is just crazy to me! I don't think there is any deal worth that but maybe there is! Well good luck to all of you who are fighting the crowds, I hope you end up with some great finds!

Christmas Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

We set out after Thanksgiving lunch for my step dad to take a few pictures for our Christmas cards. We toured my parents neighborhood and I think we ended up with some great shots given the short amount of time we had and the fact that we all were freezing! Here are a few shots from today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I love the no pressure to have the right gift or send the perfect card. I love that we just can enjoy each other's company and eat some awesome food. I have hosted Thanksgiving once. I decided it was way too much for me. I will now stick with making some yummy sides and going to my parents and in laws for lunch and dinner. Thanks to blogs and Pinterest, I've found some great recipes that I have tried out over the year and I'm actually taking some for lunch/dinner today. However, I'm also sticking to some family favorites and traditional dishes that we have always had. I'm including a recipe for one of my favorite family traditional dishes that we usually have at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is my Aunt Jan's famous, well almost, baked mac and cheese. It's very different from your traditional creamy mac and cheese but it's equally as good.

Aunt Jan's Macaroni and Cheese
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
1 egg, beaten
1 large can evaporated milk
12 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil macaroni until al dente but do not drain (this is important). Meanwhile, grate cheese. Combine milk and beaten egg and add cooked macaroni. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add cheese and mix well. The mixture should be incredibly soupy, if it is not, add water from pasta. Bake for 30 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Enjoy!

Well, Well, Well

After a few of my twitter friends and a few emails and even some real life friends begged and pleaded for some new posts, I have finally made room on my crazy busy schedule to blog a bit. So, here you have it, words from the wise!!! Ha!!!

What I have been up to in the past month...apparently taking tons of iPhone pictures. I had 637 pictures to download before I could blog. I will not post them all or maybe I won't post any of them. Many of them are school stuff that I'm sure no one cares to see but it's things that I wanted to remember. Also, there are several Pinterest projects and ideas that I took screen shots of because that app dislikes me...alot! If I take a screen shot, I can easily go back to it without having to fight that app to work. Anyone else have this problem?

Other than that, I've just been working. Working at school, working at home and working on all kinds of junk. I've been told I have a hobby in every room of the house! Which unfortunately is a little bit true.

I plan to do a little more blogging. I haven't blogged much because I don't bring my laptop home from work very much anymore because it's on it's last leg. It makes a horrible noise and I've been told to back it up because it may go out at any time. Awesome!

So, I'm hoping to blog as much as I can from my iPad and we shall see how well that works! Thanks for sticking around through my many weeks of no words!