Drink Pink and Be Happy

Happy New Year!Tonight I'll be drinking my pink champagne (my FAVE and at $5 a bottle...quite economical) to bring in 2009. I will also be playing my new years eve question game. I thought I'd share. It's fun especially when you are with some friends. I may answer them in written form, after the bubbly (tomorrow).

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

What was your biggest failure?

What was the best thing you bought?

Where did most of your money go?

What did you get really excited about?

What song will always remind you of 2008?

What do you wish you’d done more of?

What do you wish you’d done less of?

What was your favorite TV program?

What was the best book you read?

What was your greatest musical discovery?

What did you want and get?

What did you want and not get?

What was your favorite film of this year?

What did you do on your birthday? How old?

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

What political issue stirred you the most?

Who was the best new person you met?

What is a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

MVP

After all the thinking about the new year, I did the opposite today. I walked down memory lane. Well, not really, but I did go through some old boxes that I have stored here at the GFE. I happened upon the box with my collection of caps & gowns and other things that I can't part with (mostly because it's personalized in some way). I started laughing when I pulled out my beloved letter jacket. It was my Most Valuable Possession in HS. I remember how excited I was when I earned my varsity letter during my freshman year. I spent my summer money on the jacket so I could come back as a letter-jacket-sporting sophomore. I thought I had arrived! I wore it for the next 3 years with great pride. It retired to the box in the closet when I went away to college and it's sat there ever since. (Please note that it was fashionable to get the patches sewn on the sleeves And yes, those were my school colors.) It may never find its way out of the box in the closet, but sometimes it's fun to take it out put it on and remember what it feels like to think bubbled bangs and pegged jeans were the height of fashion...

Oh to be young again....hee hee.

Hope you are all having a great day!

Dear Me

Last Year I started a new tradition in my life. I actually wrote myself a letter for the New Year and sealed it away. I didn't want to just make resolutions and forget about them, so I thought this was a better idea for me. Basically, the purpose of writing the letter is to really reflect on what you want for your life in the coming year. It sounds really cheesy but once I started it, it came really easy. And I don't remember exactly what I wrote last year but I know I really thought about where I was in life and where I wanted to be. And this year has been a transformative year for me. I'm not sure if the two are connected but I liked that I really reflected on things that mattered to me and it felt so healthy. I do remember taking a long time to really think about what I wanted for the year. I highly recommend it for anyone.

After the letter was written, I sealed it and put it away. I was pleased to get it out this week so I could read it on New Years Day this year. I'm excited to read it. I'm planning to write my 2009 version before I open this one so I've got to work on that.

I do make resolutions but VERY manageable and measurable ones (i.e. one year I said I'd write a note a week to someone in my life--and I did it) This year one of my manageable resolutions is to actually put money in my savings account from each paycheck. I know, I should have been doing it all along, but whatevs. (I did the paperwork today so I can check it off my list) The complete resolution list is still in the works and that will not be sealed away with the letter. Maybe I'll share...

Do you have any new year traditions that you do for yourself?

From the Desk of...

So now that Christmas is over, I'm starting to look ahead to the New Year. Which means I like to change stuff up. Usually, it's by organizing something or rearranging furniture. Since I'm at the GFE enjoying some down time, I've been eyeing this desk that sits in the room that I sleep in while I'm here.

It's the desk that I've had since I was in elementary school and until yesterday it was missing the knobs. I used to spend hours sitting at this desk writing letters, doing homework, painting my nails, etc. I believe it came from my grandparents and I loved it so much when I got it and still think it's really cute.

So I'm thinking of taking it with me to my apartment. I've measured and it will go nicely where I would put it. But I'm not sure yet. I'm envisioning a cute lamp on it and using it in my living room as a place to put my laptop and do other little projects (you know, catch up on my correspondence and solve the problems with the economy,etc.) I have a computer desk in my bedroom but there isn't a lot of space to spread out to do anything besides put the computer.

So my point of posting this is to ask your opinions. What do you think? Should I bring it back to my apt or leave it here?

A Dog's Day

Yes, I know Christmas was a few days ago. I've just been lazy about updating. It was very quiet around here, but nice. It always makes me a little sad to realize that we spend so much time preparing for it and it's over so fast.

I wanted to share the cutest pictures from one of the stars of the family...Tobey. He got a GIANT bone from Santa and was walking all over the house with it, hitting whatever came into his path. He's got a lot of energy (read as he's the devil).By the time all the presents were opened, he had the bone chewed in half. He promptly buried both halves outside.
These are the stockings I made for the dogs (Gabby and Tobey) filled with homemade dog biscuits. I've done this for the past few Christmas'. Since my friend Barb gave me the recipe. (Thanks Barb!) They LOVE these biscuits. Here is the recipe if you are interested:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup non fat dry milk
3T (1 pkg.) dry chicken or turkey gravy mix
3T brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water
Mix all together (the dough is VERY sticky so I let it sit before I roll it out)
Roll
Cut with Cookie Cutter (I use a Bone shape)
Bake until golden brown and firm 350 degree oven

Today, I stopped by some stores to check out the sales on Christmas stuff. I found this cute little tree for $4. I got it home and spray painted the pot (it was gold before) and I had a matching bow already. I love finding deals after Christmas because I put it away and forget about it until next year.

I hope you are all having a good weekend!

Christmas Eve and Cupcakes

The tree at the GFE I love Christmas Eve. I think I love it almost more than Christmas itself. I love the magical feeling that I still get. It's never been about gifts and it never will be. I just love the feeling of anticipation of family time and laughter. I love to see little kids so excited for Santa. I love sitting at church with a candle singing Silent Night. I just love it and I'm sure many of you can relate to that. There is something so nice about sitting around watching A Christmas Story on TBS and looking at the lights twinkle on the tree. After tomorrow night those lights look a little different, don't they?

In the spirit of fun, tonight I did the drawing for the cupcake calendar for my 100th post and I want to congratulate my good friend, Beth from McPhee Family Adventures.

I even included my parents in the fun. My Mom drew the name and good ol' Fuzzy held up the winner for the camera. Isn't he cute?

Congratulations Beth! I'll mail it out to you on Friday.

I hope you are all sitting somewhere enjoying the twinkle of your Christmas trees and spending time with family and friends.

Merry Christmas from the Lipgloss Lounge (on location at the GFE!)

A Retraction and a Reminder

I'd like to retract my warm sentiments about snow. I hate it again. The roads were awful tonight and I had moments of thinking my little Honda wouldn't make it over a hill and I'd perish with my two cats howling in the back. ugh.

It's been a busy day packing, going to see some friends and running last minute errands. I finally got here (The GFE) about 9 pm. I'm so ready for Christmas cheer with my family.

Don't forget to sign up for my 100th post give-a-way here. I'm drawing tomorrow night.

For now I'm going to cuddle up and read this book that Cristina gave me for Christmas. Thanks girl!

Snowed In

I'm not a big fan of snow. Yes, it's semi-pretty before Christmas while I'm sitting on my couch under a blanket, drinking hot chocolate, watching a movie, BUT it's every other area of my life that it ruins throughout the winter. It just ruins things. I hate that I have to check the weather before going grocery shopping. (Again, I know I live in upstate NY and for the record I absolutely despise it when people tell me to move south. I obviously don't live up here for the weather. There are other reasons I live here, so that's that.)

So it's me vs. snow for the time being. And the snow seems to win. A lot.

However, this weekend was fun. Snow and all. My car has been snowed in since Friday morning. I left work early on Friday and cleaned and wrapped some presents and drank a lot of champagne (the drink of champions) with my friends next door. Saturday, the weather "cleared" so I finished my Christmas shopping and had a great day with some of my favorite ladies. Then Sunday we got another round of snow so Jill, Vinny, Alisha, Dan and Melissa and I went sledding. There are some good hills where we live so it was fun. I forgot how terrifying it can be to go sledding down a hill with nothing but a piece of plastic beneath you. But it was fun, nonetheless.The Snow BunniesOnce I warmed up from the playing in the snow, I finished wrapping presents and enjoyed a cozy afternoon inside.

Gracie was fascinated by what was going on outside.

And finally, the wrapping is done.Tonight there is still MORE snow so I have spent the evening watching a movie underneath the electric blanket on the couch while self-cleaning my oven. It's been so nice and quiet.

I may complain about snow, but sometimes I am thankful that it gives me a chance to slow down and just enjoy being at home. So this time in the battle of me vs. the snow.
I may have won.

Sweetness Give-a-way

Today was a good day. I received my 10% goal key chain at my WW meeting this morning. Sweet right?
In honor of this AND for my 100th post, I'm going to host a give-a-way. I may not eat a lot of cupcakes these days but I sure do love how cute they are and I love to learn how to make new varieties. So I'm going to give away a cute little calendar with a cupcake a day. You know you want it! This daily calendar has hundreds of recipes to keep you in cupcakes and muffins all year long. Please leave a comment and I'll do a random drawing on Wednesday. Have a great weekend!

On The Sixth Day...

At work, we had a campus wide holiday door decorating contest for faculty/staff. Our whole division worked together to represent the 12 Doors of Christmas. Each door represented a department within the division. Since I'm the Greek Life person, my door was "Six Greek Chapters" I made little books for the "chapters" and then did the Greek alphabet on ornaments with ribbon. It worked out well. Our entire hallway looked amazing!

We also had our holiday luncheon and then some of us dropped off food that was collected on campus to the area food bank. It was a really nice first day of our "break" from the students. I am taking two weeks off beginning next Tuesday so I'm looking forward to that. It's nice to have an open schedule at work this week though. I am going to clean out filing cabinets and get organized for next semester. You know how I feel about that. I'm not feeling great tonight so I've spent the entire night laying on the couch. I happened to turn on Jon & Kate Plus Eight and they were spending time at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for the holidays. I loved it and I'm so happy that they used their "celebrity" to visit the St. Jude kids. It makes me so happy when I see St. Jude on TV. I just love it so much there and always want to spread the word.
I hope you are all having a great Monday!

Ho Ho Ho

After the snow/ice storm last week, it was wonderful to wake up to this scene on Saturday morning. It may be horribly cold, but it IS pretty (she says with a roll of her eyes).

The best part of Saturday was that the students left campus for break. That's right. They are officially gone for a few weeks. To celebrate this, we (Jill, Mel & Co.) decided to have a night on the town (The Twelve Bars of Christmas--remember that Beth? I brought it back) So we gathered at my place where we started out very grown up. Sipping champagne and talking. Then someone flipped the switch and it became Dance Party USA around here. So we ended up only making it to 3 bars. Let's just say my pictures are not really blogable (to protect the innocent) but believe me, we had A LOT of fun.

In fact, somehow this little sign was taken off my Christmas tree and accompanied us to the bars. It made an appearance in just about EVERY picture. Hilarious! Today was a very lazy day. I'm not as practiced for a fun night out as I used to be. I'm sore from the dancing. I'm convinced my toe is broken because I fell on some ice at one point and I'm tired. How did I used to do this every weekend in college?

On an unrelated topic, I want to give a shout out to Angie and Cristina for the lovely gifts they gave me for my B-day. They are good gift givers and always get me stuff that I love.

Cristina gave me this cute colander. It's so sly with leaves on it. And Angie gave me these plates. Cute right?

Thanks girls!

And now I'm going to bed. I can't take all the excitement.

Well, until next weekend.

Oh Snap

I was just looking at things I'd really like to buy myself (you know after the holidays) and I wandered on to the Vineyard Vines page and noticed that they have college themed stuff. So I stumbled upon the Syracuse bags. Apparently I have to contact the bookstore there to talk about these. I think one of these might be in my future. I wish I could get a better look at the print. But I have no doubt it's cute.

On a side note: I could kick myself because a few years ago Tri Sigma sent out an email that advertised a cute sailboat version of this bag and I didn't get it. I really liked it but for some reason didn't order it. I've been trying to find it again since to no avail. Boo. Hiss.

That's my story on this cold and rainy night.

I really have to finish reading Twilight...

My Buddies

My office buddy, Gerri, was very good to me today.

Let me give a little back story. Gerri is a really nice and very pulled together person. When I first started working here, I walked into her office and called her G-Dawg, because she's about as opposite from that as you can imagine. So she loved that nickname and it's stuck. To counter that, she calls me A-Cat. Cute huh?

Okay, so G-Dawg was my birthday buddy. She made me a cat cake (it was weight watchers friendly) Here I am with it. And my good friend Jill gave me a bunch of cute stuff during our little celebration. Here she is with her gift to me. She's good to me. She got the microfiber Vera Bradley cosmetic case and some cute Yankee Candle wax burner. Thanks Jill!

33 Reasons I'm Cool

In honor of turning another year older, I thought I'd share 33 random facts about me. Why? Because it's my blog and my birthday, so I'll blog if I want to.

33. I make "music videos" in my bathroom while doing my hair and makeup. Yes, I'm a dork.
32. I hate when people take their mittens off with their teeth. Ewww. Gross.
31. I love laying on the couch with music playing looking at the Christmas lights on the tree.
30. I hate cottage cheese with a passion. I can't even stand to sit next to you if you are eating it.
29. I love to paint my nails and despise chipped nail polish.
28. Thursday is my favorite day. I'm not sure why.
27. I love the number 8 because it's perfectly symmetrical.
26. I could buy a new bag every day.
25. I don't have any pictures that aren't in frames or in photo albums.
24. I could probably eat pizza everyday and be happy with that.
23. I love coffee. It's like liquid personality. I don't feel like my day is right without it.
22. I'm incredibly sarcastic but I am also really sensitive.
21. I love animals. I want to have as many as possible. I adore my cats like children.
20. I'm really scared of windows at night. I worry that someone is looking in at me. Yikes.
19. I think my father is one of the best men in the world. (shh, don't tell him I said so)
18. I've only been in love two times in my life (lust all the other times)
17. I've quit smoking for almost 4 months now.
16. Carrie Underwood is my sorority sister.(Although I don't actually know her--I did meet her once at my sorority convention last summer)
15. My mother is one of the strongest women I know. We are complete opposites but I admire her.
14. I love the smell of books and magazines.
13. I hate Facebook applications and ignore them ALL the time. Sorry, I just think it's dumb.
12. I never had braces and always wish I did because I want perfect teeth.
11. I clean my desk off completely at the end of every day. I hate having papers on it when I leave.
10. I am terrified of getting married and having kids and yet that's one of things I want the most.
9. I love to host events but don't do it nearly as often as I should.
8. I'm completely free of any credit card debt. Finally.
7. I don't have just one best friend. I have lots of them. I could never rank them. I love my girls and I could never say one is the "best" They all make me better for knowing them.
6. I cry often at commercials, TV, kids singing, St. Jude, etc. I'm very sentimental, even though I pretend not to be.
5. I want to get my PhD in the next 10 years, but it makes me so nervous to think about it.
4. I used to think I'd be a pop star and still secretly think it. (See # 33)
3. I love a man that wears a shirt and tie. That gets me every time.
2. I love laughing. Deep down, laughing so hard that I cry, laughter. It's one of my favorite feelings. I try to laugh daily and I don't care if I get laugh lines. That's why there's Botox.
1. I feel lucky that I've had the life I've had so far and can't wait to see what the next year holds.

Weekend Randomness

It's been a busy day today (but a lovely one) After my awful night last night (the cell charger was only a small portion of my troubles) I fell asleep at 10 pm. I needed to sleep off the funk. I woke up this morning feeling a bit better.

So on to the highlights of the weekend in pictures...

Yesterday I watched my friend Meg's little girl, Meredith, for a few hours. We went to McDonald's Playplace before hitting up the mall. The Happy Meal toy was a My Little Pony. How fun! I almost wanted to get one for myself, but I refrained. How cute is Meredith? She was all about taking pictures with the pony.Today was a good day for getting caught up on random stuff. I cleaned, baked and organized all day. It was lovely. I need that time to just zone out and think. It was incredibly helpful.
Anyway, tonight I had some of the students I supervise over for the Secret Santa gift exchange. Tomorrow is the last day of classes (YAY!)

The tree with the gifts under it.
The cute little gifts that one of them made for the others.

The delicious food that everyone brought. I made my infamous pizza dip (Beth taught me awhile ago and it has become a party favorite) I may not have a cell charger right now but I'll be happy to walk out to my car in the cold weather wearing my new Coach gloves.

My secret Santa works there and gave me these tonight. I saw the box under the tree and secretly hoped that it was for me. I absolutely love these gloves and can't wait to wear them.

I'm off to go to bed and read some Twilight (I'm actually enjoying it). I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Funky Cold Medina

You know what's annoying when you are on day five of a funk?

Going outside to my car to charge my phone because my indoor charger is broken. (Literally, a piece broke inside of the phone.) I had to get it taken out by my friends at the Verizon store and was too cheap to spend 30 bucks on a new charger. I'm not really sure why a charger costs $30 in the first place. But I didn't get it and now I'm paying the consequences.

It's also snowing out right now so I had to brave the elements to do this task.

I may or may not burst into tears for no good reason.

Tomorrow I will talk about the nice things that have happened this weekend, but for now I just want to be funky.

I Make It Hot.

I'm in a funk. I'm not sure why. That's why I haven't posted in a few days. I'm sure you've missed my incredibly important posts about absolutely nothing, right? Clearly.

To help boost my mood, I purchased the new Britney CD this morning (go ahead and judge but I still enjoy her). I have to admit it's helping a bit. Especially lyrics like this:

I'm like the ringleader

I call the shots

I'm like a firecracker

I make it hot.

Because, like Britney, I make it hot.

Ha ha!

Christmas Crib

One of the shows that I always get sucked into but don't mean to--MTV Cribs. I've always wanted to shoot my own version. Maybe I'll do the full version one day but for now I'll just make you endure the Christmas episode.

Here is the tree. I'm not crazy about the location but my apt. is small and I only have so many options. Hopefully this is the last year in this apartment. Close up of some cookie cutters and the cute snowman that Angie got me last year.
The card table (all my cards are done and waiting to be sent out. The basket is really for ones I receive--I'm very popular so I might need a bigger basket. Ha. Ha.)
Cookie Cutter--Up close, Yo!
My favorite new ornament--from St. Jude. And my new prim plaid tree skirt that I got this past summer. Gracie thought she needed to lay under the tree while I was decorating it.

The small tree in my bedroom.

Thanks for stopping by the Christmas Crib! Next time, I'll show you the fridge.

They Call It Puppy Love....

Tobey is freakin' cute.

It's been a good weekend at the GFE. I relaxed and spent time with my family. I also got some projects done too.

Today was a milestone because I have officially lost 20 lbs with WW. I love that it happened right after Thanksgiving, too.

Tomorrow it's back to O-town to spend the day decorating for Christmas and laying on the couch reading Twilight (I'm going to try to read it--even though I have my doubts).

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful for a lot every day of the year, but today I wanted to let you all know what I'm giving thanks for this year.

• I'm thankful that my family is healthy and lives close enough that I can see them whenever I want.
• I'm thankful that for my crazy and great friends that all make me laugh and make me a better person for knowing them and allow me to be me. (And this is for the friends that live close and the ones that are too far away to see everyday.)
• I'm thankful that I have a career that I love and that I work with great people.
• I'm thankful for all the kiddies in my life and for my friends for allowing me to be "Aunt Allison"
• I'm thankful that Obama was elected President. :)
• I'm thankful that Andi was so generous to let me keep Sadie because I freakin' love that cat.
• I'm thankful that my life is full and happy and I can find humor in just about everything.

I could really go on and on but those are the ones I want to share right now because I'm hungry and can't wait to eat some turkey. I hope you are all having a lovely day with friends and family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

...And Through The Woods

I got up early this morning and packed some clothes, my computer, other assorted projects, and two very irritated cats into my car to come over to the GFE for a few days.

It was snowing, a light snow. I'm not a big fan of snow in any form. I don't think it's pretty. I don't find it charming. Snow and I would get along great if it wouldn't get on me, my clothes, my car, or the roads/sidewalks. And because snow doesn't want to play my game, we are are sworn enemies. I was less than enthused about driving in snow to get here this morning.

Now, I've lived in NY long enough to be able to handle myself on snow covered roads but the roads from my apartment to the GFE are awful sometimes. It's just about 10 minutes of the trip (out of 40 minutes all together) that are just awful in snowy weather. It's all because of the drifts across the road (this is literally the place that the sun does not shine--I suspect that trolls live in the trees and constantly throw snow out on the road to irritate drivers. In the summer, they send out the deer.)

So let me paint the picture of what my nice morning drive consisted of. Two cats in the back. Sadie is whining LOUDLY and consistently for the entirety of the trip. Gracie gets carsick. BIG TIME. She is puking throughout the 40 minutes. And she's not quiet about it either. So between the two of them and the snowdrift-tastic roads, it was the longest 40 minutes in the car ever.

But I'm here at the GFE and thrilled to be away for a few days. I know I could just come over and back tomorrow but I just love coming to spend a few days with my family. There is something so comforting about being able to completely retreat from my normal life and routine.

Snow and puking cats and all...

Monday Night

I came home from work to find Sadie having a love affair with my LL Bean tote on my bed. It made me laugh. It's a tough life for a kitty.

I love this week because the students are going home for break so I can get out of my office at 5 pm on the dot. I was very productive tonight. I made dinner, made some muffins, treadmilled it up and packed up my fall decorations in preparation for Christmas.
My friend Tara gave me some cookie cutters that I'm going to put on my tree with some cute ribbon. I saw this in a magazine a few years ago and have been collecting rustic looking cookie cutters ever since. I think I have enough now to make it cute. I can't wait to put my tree up now...