Hilarities: Modeling

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

This is our first modeling picture together. We're advertising new hoodies for our school, and our professional photographer asked us to be the models. After this went out in all our publications, we started getting phone calls from Vogue, Marie Claire and the producers of Project Runway :)

Hope you all have a wonderful and fantastic New Years Celebration! Again with the holidays, I will be enjoying my time and will return next Monday for Monday Mayhem with some exciting photos!!!

Trendy Tuesday: Vessel Sinks

In our new house, the bathroom is the ugliest room. I seriously don't know what they were thinking:

Look at it! Pink and black wall tile, with black and white floor tile and brown paint??? And don't even get me started on that sink...which is also my "vanity"...

So last night, Hubby and I were at Lowe's checking out this awesome new tile paint (I'll have to do a whole seperate post on that) and we decided to investigate the sinks, because CLEARLY this one is going to be replaced soon. As we walked through the sink aisles, the majority of them were the vessel sinks...which are very in style right now.

Here are a few I wouldn't mind putting in our bathroom when we remodel it...

Oh I LOVE all of these!!! I seriously hope this trend sticks around for a long time! And look at all that extra vanity space I'd get :)

Monday Mayhem - Back to the Grind

What a wonderful Christmas Vacation! Hubby and I traveled to see family out in Oklahoma. It was great being back there for many reasons...

1. Family: We have not seen his parents, sister and other relatives in almost a year. So we cherished the few days we had to spend with them. Our niece and nephews have gotten SO big!!!

2. QuikTrip: Ahhh...the best gas station ever. And the BEST hot dogs EVER! I always get a hot dog and then an Orange Slushy every time I go. I'm thinking about opening up a branch here. Our city desperately needs one :)

3. Belk: One of my new favorite stores! It is nicer than a Kohl's but not quite like a department store...and I got FABULOUS after-christmas sales! Including the adorable skirt I have on today :)

4. Gingerbread Wars: We had a gingerbread competition with everyone in the family and this was mine and Zack's. I think we won the war!

It might be hard to see on there, but there is a Santa on the roof, and "smoke" coming out of the chimney! Also, the snowman in the front yard is holding a candy cane :)

5. Bedazzling with no Bedazzler: We all got a bag and these awesome beads. The fellowship with all the ladies was the best part! Have you ever done a bag like this with your bare fingers? Metal pointy things are not good for your nails...ps...I didn't use any sort of tracing or outline, so I hope you can tell what it is!

Those were just a few of my favorite things about the trip! I also got TONS of beautiful jewelry for Christmas from Park Lane Jewelry. If you've never heard of them, you should check out their website. I have started a collection over the past few years from gifts from Zack's family and I love every piece!

How was your Christmas Holiday Week?

Trendy Tuesday: Top Picks of '08

I have discovered a lot of great products that I'm now addicted to over the year, so I thought I'd share these gems with you and why I love them so much!

Nivea Hand Creme

I recently discovered this at my local drugstore. I wanted something that could fit in my purse and would not explode if accidentally punctured by my keys :) I'm also not a big fan of highly scented, flowery lotions. This has a subtle fresh smell, feels GREAT on my skin, and easily fits in my side pocket!

SoftLips Lip Protectant/Moisturizer

I think I might have an addiction problem with this one. SoftLips makes many flavors, but so far Vanilla is my most favorite! It tastes great, makes my lips softly tingle the first few seconds I put it on and keeps my lips moisturized. Plus its super small and fits in my lipstick pouch! So how many times are you supposed to apply chapstick daily before being considered an addict? :)


Garnier Fructis Long and Strong Shampoo

I change my shampoo brands everytime I reach the bottom of the bottle. I just started using this one, as I am trying to grow out my hair, and I LOVE it! I can feel a softness and a strength in my hair that I have never felt with some of the other brands I've used. I would probably put Treseme in second place, which I used right before this one. It smells GREAT, makes my hair shiny and soft, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg at a salon!

Flats

Well, sadly the time has come that I thought I at least had another few years on...no more stilettos :( Any sort of high heel with any length of standing or walking hurts my back more than I care to tell. So, I have graduated onto the "my back is too old to handle those heels" phase :(

But, luckily there are some pretty cute flats out there. I am starting a whole new shoe collection of cute flats, as hopefully I will have quite a few by the time Motherhood rolls around (no, not anytime soon!)

I love flats that are funky, bright colors, have some sort of flare and can be dressed up or down. And if any of you ladies out there wear a size 9 and would like to inherit a new shoe wardrobe, let me know :)

Mitten Gloves

Well, I'm not quite sure exactly what the technical name of these are, but I LOVE THEM. And I know they are only seasonal, but they are one of the best inventions ever!!! I love mittens, but its super hard to do a lot of things without your individual fingers. so....voila! best of both worlds!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my list of my most favorite items, and even give some of them a try if you are not already addicted to your own version. Or, give me some suggestions if you use something you love even more!!!

and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!! I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful week during this holiday. Remember, calories don't exist during this week :)

I will return next Monday for some Monday Mayhem as the Husband and I are headed to his family's house. It won't be too big of a loss...you shouldn't be blogging during the holidays anyways!!! Take a break from the blogger world and spend time with those you love ;)

Monday Mayhem - Christmas at the Resort

We're spending Christmas with the Husband's family in Oklahoma this year, so we had Christmas with my family this past weekend. It was wonderful. It was so great, in fact, that to me, Christmas is over. We were eating our Christmas dinner, and I see the mailman through the dining room window and think to myself, "Why is the post office working on a holiday?" :)

Here are a few pictures from our wonderful day. I got TONS of great gifts! And the ladies all got at least 2 scarves...so this was the Year of the Scarves!

Our beautiful family room! Didn't my family do a wonderful job of decorating the tree?

Fez and his HUGE dog bone! He spent the whole day working on it and managed to disconnect one of the knots at the end.

The ladies with the scarves!

Grandpa got Grandma a new sweater...and several beautiful clothing items!

Mom's new umbrella...and seven years of bad luck :)

One of my scarves and some yummy holiday treats from Kelly

Dad got an iPod Touch! We never heard from him the rest of the day... :)

Relaxing after a wonderful day of gifts and foods!

We got up very early Sunday morning and decided to treat ourselves with Starbucks for the ride home. Apparently they offer a Pup Cup...an espresso cup with whipped cream for dogs...Fez was so excited, his eyes almost popped out...

FGF: Poinsettia Plate

Congrats! We have a WINNER!

Comment #24 - Shala!

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Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:24
Timestamp: 2008-12-22 13:25:38 UTC

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Thank you to everyone who entered...you all had GREAT favorite holiday dishes, and now I'm going to have to steal some of these recipes from you folks :)

I'M GOING TO BE ON WHEEL OF FORTUNE TONIGHT!!!

:) Sorry, I'm just a little bit excited...

So what better way to celebrate than have a GIVEAWAY!

Because it is a festive time of year, and I happen to be celebrating Christmas with my family this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate for a holiday gift. Today's giveaway is this beautiful Poinsettia Plate:

Wanna win? Here are the rules:

1) Please leave one comment answering the question at the bottom. For a second entry, mention my giveaway on your blog with a link to The Pink Potpourri

2) I will announce the winner on Monday morning at 9 am by using random.org

3) Tell all your friends! Everyone loves giveaways, right?

Question:

What is your most favorite holiday dish?

Thoughtful Thursdays - 12 Days of Christmas

***JUST A REMINDER....my airing date for Wheel of Fortune is TOMORROW, Friday, Dec. 19th on your local Wheel of Fortune Television Station!!! I hope you can watch!***

Did you know there is a history and meaning behind the 12 Days of Christmas carol? I found this to be quite interesting from an email I received this week:

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality, which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtledoves were the Old and New Testaments

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed.

Isn't that interesting? Its nice to now what we're actaully singing about when we say these words in the carol.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hilarities - Senior Choir

My husband came home from his church staff meeting the other day where the pastor had showed this. At first, I was totally offended...how could the choir director make them do this? How could our church staff watch this???

BUT THEN I read the notes at the end of the video that explain why the choir agreed to participate, and what the meaning of it is. Hope you have a good laugh, and a great Wednesday!

Trendy Tuesday: Bags

I L-O-V-E my Coach purse. I use it ALL year long, except during the winter (when I use my other coach purse!). I love it because it is unique, colorful and Huuuuge!

Oh yes, I can fit everything in this bad boy. Stuff I need, stuff I don't need. My lunch, extra pair of gloves, mini make up kit, and things you'd probably not even think of finding in a purse. I love big bags.

I saw this Hobo online today and fell in love with it too :)

And then this one from BCBG...

And then somehow I stumbled upon this one and started drooling as well...

BUT WAIT...

what about these pretty little clutches? So simple! They don't weigh 50 lbs, they hold your basic necessities and they're very sleek and feminine:

So, which do YOU prefer? Are you a Big Bag Lady? Or a Clutch Girl?

Monday Mayhem - Anniversary Breakfast

Since so many of you inquired on Friday to know how the Sleepin' In Omelette and surprise anniversary Breakfast in Bed went....here you go...

Friday evening, hubby was supposed to be home late. I told him to call me from work and let me know when he was on his way home. I had planned to do the night-before preparations on the omelette while he was still at work. His ETA was 7:30 pm. I get a call at 6:55 that went a little something like this:

Hubby - "Hey babe! I'm on my way home!"

Me - "what?!? oh wonderful, dear!" (while running into the kitchen, frantically pulling dishes out of the cabinet)

Hubby - "I should be home in about 7 minutes"

Me - "what!?! ok great!" (while flinging things out of the fridge and dropping the phone on the floor)

Hubby - "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Me - "OK Great! I'm just working on making dinner!" (pots are banging, things are flaling)

I hang up the phone before he has time to say bye. I'm breaking the onion rolls into chunks, crumbs flying everywhere, and the trusty Fez dog vacuum snarfing up anything that reaches the floor.

Next, cream cheese...now PW says to tear it apart with your fingers...it looks more homemade. I'm thinking, "I don't have time for that, woman!" So, I whipped out the cutting board and sliced that baby up, as well as the two sticks of butter faster than Buddy Elf can cut paper snowflakes.

I hear the garage door open...I throw the dish (half way done) into the oven and with both arms slide everthing off the counter into the trash can. *Big Sigh*

I run to the door just in time to greet Hubby with a kiss and a smile. he think i've been making dinner.

I talk to him for a few minutes while he gets settled and he says he's taking a shower, so i tell him I'll be in the kitchen working on dinner. I hear the bathroom door shut. OFF to the kitchen I run, frantically digging out the mixing bowl, eggs, milk and allllll the spices the recipe calls for.

I drag the trash can over to the coutner for all 10 egg shells....the shower water starts. NOW if you know men, they don't like to lounge around in a hot shower and relax, like us ladies. they're in and out. So I successfully get all 10 eggs in without any shells falling in the dish. OH YEA I'm doing awesome!

Next, milk. no problem. Next, 3 different seasonsings. Problem...I had just bought all of them, so each one had this annoying, childproof foil cap on top. Ohhhh....why did I just cut my nails that day?

I'm tearing, I'm pulling, I'm biting...FINALLY those suckers come off. The water stops in the shower...I'm "dashing" the cayenne, sprinkling the dry mustard and scooping out the chives. Fez won't have anything to do with these. Apparently they dont' fall into the "crumb" category.

I wisk and wisk and wisk, pour the liquid mixture over the baking dish and rip out the foil. I can hear Hubby walking down the hallway. The baking dish is FILLED to the brim with everthing. I slowly walk over to the fridge, carefully balance the masterpiece with one arm, open the door, slide it in and the door closes as Hubby comes into the kitchen.

Hubby - "So, what's for dinner?"

Me - "well, I was thinking we could eat out night. I was going to make this pasta dish, but it takes an hour to cook."

Hubby - "Oh, that sounds great!"

:) *evil laugh inside* Hubby didn't put two and two together....I told him I was making dinner this whole time, but for some reason that didn't connect :)

So, Saturday morning, I set my alarm for an hour before we wanted to get up. I tippy toed into the kitchen and put my work of art into the oven. An hour later, this popped out:

Y-U-M!!!

After we ate every last crumb in bed, I asked Hubby if he'd like a second serving, because he always does, and he said, "No thank you"

*alert, alert!!* something's not right...

Me-"Why not, Hubby?"

Hubby - "Well, I have always loved everything you have made me, but I didn't like this. It didn't taste like an Omelette. It had cream cheese in it. I didn't like it."

oh well, better luck next time...

ps...my wonderful friend is having an awesome giveaway on Glamerous Housewife!

Chocolate Bark Gone Bad

It was a quiet, peaceful evening at our home last night. The house was clean, laundry done, dinner fixed and the Christmas tree lit in all its glory. What would cap off the evening perfectly? Making chocolate dipped pretzels, of course!!! I just received two huge boxes of the perfect dipping chocolate, so hubby and I decided to give it a go...

We got everything set out and ready to go. Our Frosty was watching the whole thing...I got to use my new mixing bowl set...

My make-shift sprinkles...for some reason, I thought I had the festive red & green sprinkles, but this was all I had in the pantry. But I wasn't about to let that get me down!

We are currently without a microwave, as the husband has not had a chance to install it over the stove. So, next best idea....melt it over the flame!!

Well, things seemed to be going ok...it started melting quickly, and we were very excited. Husband kept stealing broken pretzels and dipping them in the pot "just to test the chocolate."

After a few moments, we look down and see this:

CHUNKY...it was gross...so we thought, "maybe its just not hot enough". So as any wise people who fly by the seat of their pants and don't read the directions on the box, we blasted that flame even bigger.

I finally caved in and decided to read the directions on the box:

Aweeee man!!! No wonder it wasn't working like it was supposed to. But we thought we could maybe still salvage a bit of the chocolate and make a few pretzels, until we turned back around and saw this:

At this point, we pretty much gave up. It was disgusting. But I didn't want to feel like I wasted my time and chocolate...I had to get something out of this, so I made this, and the husband ate it :)

And even Fez was able to get in on the action, when the spatula flipped out of the pot and made its way down to his puppy paw level...I'm pretty sure he was in doggy heaven. AND I'm most postively sure he got more than he needed...for the next half hour after this he was BOUNCING off the walls!

PS...I am doing a surprise Breakfast in Bed for my husband tomorrow morning...it will be our 6 year anniversary from our FIRST DATE :) yes, I know its not really necessary to celebrate Date-a-versaries after you're married, but why give up a perfectly good reason to celebrate???

I'm making this awesome dish called Sleepin' in Omlette from The Pioneer Woman! You make it the night before, let it set in the fridge over night, and bake it in the morning. Then you have a heart attack from all the butter than evening :) Go check it out and make it tonight!!!

(photo by Pioneer Woman)

and PPS...since I'm not doing a giveaway this weekend, be sure to go enter to win THIS ONE! It's being hosted by J. Leigh Designs!