it's a chocolatey kind of day.

it's easter.
a day for celebrating.

today i'm celebrating because i get to eat chocolate again after living chocolate free for over two months. haha, two months.  it may not sound like much, but it really is. i would give almost anything for a taste of the sweet, rich, yummy flavor. i'm hoping to get kisses, reese's eggs, and snickers in my basket this year.   i was eating chocolate in excess and needed some control, so since about january i've been trying to be good.

i do this little willpower thing a few times a year and i really am proud of myself for it.  so today i finally get to eat some.

but,
it's also going to be a pretty day spent with family, sunshine, hopefully warmer temps, and probably a prayer or two.

there's much to be thankful for and much to be prayed for, as well.

i hope you find some things to be thankful for on this easter day.

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hola again. i'm back from the holidays.

As much as I love this time of year with the holidays and ongoing festivities, I'm ready for a new year.  It's kind of like when you're on vacation and it ends, you just want to get home.  That's how I feel.  I loved it, it was a blast, but let's see what 2013 brings.

This holiday season was a great one for me.  Although I had to work a lot and miss out on some fun, I managed to squeeze my own fun in: hotel stays, chocolate bars, sparkling lights, sponge candy, glitter, and family.

Eric even surprised me with every single thing on my Christmas wishlist to Santa! He snuck onto my blog to see what had been obsessing over.  I even got a few more things I asked for, too, so all-in-all, I was pretty spoiled by him, my parents & sisters.

It's cold out, I miss having a fireplace, so I'm ready to see what this new year brings. 

I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve.  I have to get up for work at 5, so I'll miss seeing the ball drop.  I believe it's actually the first time since I can remember that I won't witness a new year roll in.  Eh, that's life I guess.

such a busy, busy time.

via

I will be back in a few days.

The holidays have totally consumed all of my time and now I'm hitting it hard with work over the weekend and new years, so it will be sucking up all of my time.

No weekend fun or new years parties for me.....BUMMER.

Christmas seemed like it came so fast and now it's just gone.  It's just such a beautiful time of year with the feelings, celebrations, snow {if you're lucky}, sparkling lights, yummy food, trees, music, and everything else that comes along with it. 

It's also a bit depressing because there's such a huge build up for it and it leaves us even quicker.  I am going to enjoy the last bits of the music on the radio, lights on the houses, tree and decor in my house. 

I had a blast with everything and everyone.  It was definitely a great holiday!

Hope yours was as well.

See you in a few days, friends!

warming up on this frosty morning...

I leave for work when it's dark and get home when it's dark.  I haven't seen sunlight in days, so this morning I finally saw frost.  Not a big fan of cold weather or frost, but I am happy to see it.  Winter is finally here.

Makes it feel more like Christmastime.  Killing viruses.  Spring will be here before we know it.  The possibility of snow.  Seeing your breath.  A few reasons I'm liking the cold this fine morning.

It's cold out.  I normally drink hot tea in the mornings, but lately I've been drinking hot Ovaltine.  Tastes just like hot chocolate.  I recently picked up this mug.  I am in love.  It's great for my hot drinks, it's handmade, and it has a peace sign.  Perfect. 

Today I've got a lot on my plate - work Christmas potluck, visit my Gramps in the hospital, buy Eric a new shirt & tie, mail my Cmas cards and a gift, and clean.  I'll definitely be enjoying this day off sipping my hot drink in my new mug, enjoying the cold + sunshine, and embracing what I've been blessed with.

Have a great Wednesday (:

{diy} Sparkle & Light Christmas Present

When I was out shopping a couple weeks ago at Hobby Lobby, an idea popped into my head when I ran across the endcap of glass boxes.  I had always seen the white lights inside of wine bottles and figured I could come up with some sort of Christmas decoration, and I did! 

I love these!

So simple and easy to create this elegant, festive box.

I have gotten so many compliments on them and have even made some for others.  They put off quite a bit of light, so I don't really need too many of them scattered throughout my house, although with the variety of lights and ribbon, the possibilities are endless.  I have made some with white lights and others with colored, but the color and pattern of ribbon really makes them pop.

You can whip one of these bad boys out in less than 10 minutes and it costs less than $20! 

1.  The supplies are minimal.  All you need is a box, lights, and some ribbon.

2.  Stuff a 20-50 strand of lights into the box.  Fluff them a bit so they don't all sink to the bottom or lay too neatly.

3.  Wrap a ribbon around the box as you would a gift you were wrapping.

4.  Viola!  The box is done so plug it in and look at the pretty, sparkling lights.

Honestly, I think the boxes are beautiful.  The ones with white lights look more clean and neat, where the colored lights give off a fun, festive look. 

Which is your favorite?

hey there santa, i've been nice...

I think I've been pretty good this year, so here are a few beauty products that I'm hoping to find in my stocking or under the tree!  There are such good sales with these products right now that I have considered going ahead and buying them just in case I don't get them.  So wrong I know, but impulsive is my middle name. 

beauty christmas wishlist. by supervixen9

1.  Peachykeen blush by MAC.  Gorgeous color.  here 

2.  Foaminly clean facewash from Benefit. Amazing scent and cleans well.  here

3.  Hot Tools titanium tapered curler. I just need something besides my regular curler.  here

4.  Makeup forever foundation.  I need a good, liquid foundation for winter.  here

5.  Rising star palette from Tarte.  Love all the colors and different products.  here 

6.  Ralph Lauren Romance.  One of my favorite smells in the world.  here 

my black friday was better than yours!

...if you went shopping.

Even if you didn't, mine was pretty much a blast.  I don't do crowds, rude people, or late nites, however I do love a good sale, especially when I know I can find a ton of stuff for my selfish self.  However, I just can't justify shopping on that day, not only for the reasons mentioned above, but it seems like it bring out the worst in people - anger, greed, hate, you name it.  Small-Business-Saturday is something that I enjoy a lot better and it supports all the hometown people, not huge corporations.

Our group of girls don't really care too much for the shopping either, so we decided to have a different kind of girl's day.  We went to a couple of our favorite bars in St. Louis while some of the guys did their annual hunting trip.

It started about noon and ended roughly around 10p.  There were lots of giggles, irish carbombs, dance music, too much money spent on the jukebox, cajun shrimp, toasted ravioli, beer, and honestly I can't remember what else.  I can tell you for the first time in my life, I actually used my debit card to play music on the jukebox.  What was I thinking?!  Since only a couple people in my group actually like trance it was my choice and I was in heaven (:  My mom even played a little Tiesto.

Great day for us all, however the next day was spent loving my headache pills, Vitamin Water, pepto, and eye mask.  It was worth it because I haven't had that much fun in a long time. 

i'm really trying to get in the mood...

I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty hard to get in the Christmas spirit when the weather is not the typical holiday weather.  It's been fairly warm here and still feels like early fall.  My mind can't grasp that Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is in about a month.

It's way too early for me to start listening to Christmas music which always helps the situation, however tonite we are venturing off to see one of my favorites - The Nutcracker. 

Years have gone by since I have last seen it or really even listened to all of the music, but there's something about the sounds that are dreamy, magical, peaceful, and enthralling.  Just the thoughts of snow, the Sugar Plum Fairy, angels, and the Waltz of the Flowers envelop me like I'm actually in the play with them.  Strange, I know, but it's just so wonderful.

Tonite is going to be different for a change, so I can't wait to go.

Cheers to starting off the Christmas season just a bit early!

{diy} alcohol inked glitter pumpkin

Before I show you the most amazing fall diy, I just wanted to pass along that I'm also over at Janna's blog where I am defining my own perception, and I'm also at Allana's blog where I show you my fall wishlist from Penney's, of all places!  Go check out what I have to say there along with their blogs.  Pretty good blogs if I do say so myself.

So before all of that, I was talking about the amazing diy I created.  I know I'm a bit near the end of fall decor, but still...when I saw this I knew I had to make it and I'm so happy I created it because it was easy & fun.

Alcohol ink is my new favorite diy tool.  I had not ever used it until this project and I cannot wait to try it on something else.  It's super thin paint made from alcohol that has a super fast drying time, but it only works on certain surfaces.  I don't know a ton about it yet, but it worked great with these pumpkins.

This was such a cool fall project to make.  Hopefully I can do this again for a winter project.

celebrate the day!

I'm not too sure what all we have planned for the day.  We are both off work, so that's super nice.

I would love to watch fireworks somewhere, but most of the towns around here have canceled their fireworks because of the drought.  We have been having 100+ degree days for the last week and haven't had rain in a couple months.  It's pretty sad!

Whatever you guys do, be safe and enjoy!