Holiday Card Swap!

Isn't snail mail the greatest?? Well, as long as it's not bills or "Guess what, it's time to pay registration on your car tags again, yay!"

FUN snail mail seems to be a dying art. I guess that's why getting Christmas cards in the mail each year still makes me giddy, and why even though it can be a lot to get done, I try to send cards out from us each year. Plus you get to make your guy dress up (ish) and take the cute couple picture, and he can't complain (much...)

When The Sequin Notebook announced their Holiday Card Swap I was so excited to send and receive a card from a new blogging friend! Kind of like a "pen pal"! I was paired up with Karen of Run Wright and I was so excited to read her blog and get to know her better! She sent me the CUTEST card, just look at it: 

Look at the widdle people, and their scarves, and their presents, and the widdle santa hat! Squee! Ahem, ok, sorry. Seriously though, isn't it great? I love it!

And what I love the most is that I met a new friend and I am so excited to continue to read her blog in the coming year and get to know her! 

Then I opened the card from the lovely ladies at The Sequin Notebook, and OMG at the pretty and the sparkles and the fun! 

Head over to their blog for the link-up and to get a much better look at the card and the photo shoot! So girly and fun, now I want to do a photo shoot with my BFF! 

So I think I really want to bring snail mail back (Kind of like bringing sexy back, only not). I'd really like to make one of my New Year's Resolutions to send more snail mail. Even if it's only one card a month, each to a different friend. Wouldn't it be fun to get a cute little note in the mail, just because? Or even a box of goodies or girly things, like nail polish, cute headbands, or some pretty pens? I think that would certainly brighten my day, so I'd like to be more intentional about that and make sure I am letting people know that I'm thinking about them, and that I care. 

Thanks so much to the gals at The Sequin Notebook for hosting the card swap, I had so much fun participating and I can't wait for the next swap! 

Weekend Recap: The one with all the Christmas and the baking

Happy Monday all! I am SO excited to get one and a half days off this week! Counting down to Wednesday at noon! 

Before I get into my weekend I must say Happiest of Birthdays to my sweet guy, Adam! He means the world to me, and he really is the best guy a girl could ask for! Love you sweetie!!

This weekend was fun and relaxing, and probably felt the most "Christmasy" to me so far this season.  We went to the Nutcracker, I finished up my shopping for Adam and some friends, drank waaay to much peppermint coffee, did some baking for the neighbors and my coworkers, went to the Christmas service at church, and made up for all the Christmas movies I hadn't watched yet.

Friday night was the Nutcracker with my best friend and her family. It was downtown, which is always loads of fun to navigate with all of those awesome one way streets and all. The ballet was beautiful and it was so neat to watch it because I used to dance as a kid, it brought back so many memories! It made me want to take a class again. But me in those tights and leotards now is a scary thought...

Me and Adam with my BFF's parents, we've known each other forever so they're like family! 

My BFF, her husband, and daughter (don't mind his wide open eyes, the flash was really bright!)

Saturday I spent most of the day finishing up the shopping for Adam. (I am so excited to give him his presents!) Then I went home and started some baking:

Soft and Chewy Molasses Crinkles

It was also an awesome mail day in which I received Christmas cards from the card swap I participated in, (more on that tomorrow) and my Influenster Frosty VoxBox (more on that later)!

Sunday I slept in for the first time in weeks, it was fabulous! We had a relaxing day at home and I finished up my baking (Ok, more like mixing, heating and microwaving, although you do bake the pretzels):

Buckeyes :: Cayenne Pretzels (AKA "Crack" Pretzels) :: Walnut Fudge

P.S. For the Buckeyes the only thing I do different than that recipe is that I add paraffin wax to the chocolate so it hardens to a shell and you don't have to keep them refrigerated. 

Sunday evening was church, such an awesome message and service! We normally go to church on Thursday nights, (our church has multiple services but they are the same message so you can go to the one that works best for you) but weren't able to go Thursday. I really enjoyed this service, it's much smaller than Thursday night's which I really enjoyed.

The only downside to this weekend is that I have done something to my back and it hates me, so it's been so painful all weekend and every time I climb out of bed or get up from the couch I groan like a 90 year old woman, which let me tell you, is SUPER attractive. I think I'm going to have to find time somewhere to get to the chiropractor, because it is NOT getting better. I'm getting old people!

Well, that was wordy! Thanks for reading all of that babbling! How was your weekend?

Friday Favorites: Christmas Movie Edition

Are you sick of my Christmas posts yet? I feel like I have a limited time to get them all in so I'm throwing it all out there! Today I thought I would share my all time favorite Christmas movies! I have SO many favorites and it was hard to narrow them down, but if I had to choose 5 favorites, it would be these:

1. A Christmas Carol (1951) and Muppet Christmas Carol

I know I'm already cheating, including two in one, but these are tied for first! They are my all time favorite versions of the Christmas Carol because they were my dad's favorite and we loved watching them together! 

2. Elf

I mean who doesn't love this movie?? It's an instant classic, it's hilarious, and there's a character named Mr. Narwhal. I rest my case. 

3. Christmas in Connecticut

This movie. So much awesome. I feel like this one may not be as well known as some of the other old  Christmas movies, but it's so funny and well written! If you haven't seen it, you must! 

4. The Santa Clause

They're all cute, but the first one is my favorite! We have this on VHS. Yes, those black rectangular things you used to have to rewind. Some day maybe we will buy a copy on DVD. Or even Blu ray! Baby steps, baby steps. 

5. Rankin Bass Christmas Classics

Ok, I'm kind of cheating again on this one, but I love them all! It's just not Christmas until we've watched these! 

Honorable mentions are White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Jingle All The Way, Miracle on 34th Street, and I KNOW I'm forgetting some. I just pretty much love all Christmas movies. 

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Linking up with Meet at the Barre, Momfessionals, and September Farm! 

Confessions: Christmas Edition

>> I just ordered Adam's Christmas presents on Amazon last night (Don't worry, we have Prime- free 2 day shipping has saved us more than once). However in my defense we really hadn't decided for sure to do gifts for each other until a few days ago. Ok, maybe that's not much of a defense. We can be pretty indecisive.

It's just that we were going to try be all adult and put the money towards buying a grill because ours is literally falling apart and then I was like, "But that's SO boring and presents on Christmas morning tho!!!" Hi, I'm five. 

>> Eating of Christmas treats and junk food is out of control you guys. And the worst part is I don't see it improving for another couple of weeks. I mean, it's like I see food and I'm all "Food! Let's eat it!" I have zero willpower right now, and I don't really care. Isn't this what leggings and baggy sweaters and tunics are for?

>> In related news I've already had the Peppermint Chocolate Chip shake from Chick-Fil-A twice, and Dairy Queen has a similar one and I really feel like I need to have one to compare the two. For research and science. 

(Non Christmas related- does anyone else spend way too much time looking for memes to go with your posts?? I swear I could write a post in one third the time if I wasn't looking for memes or gifs)

>> I volunteered to help with the raffle and trivia game at the Holiday Luncheon at work and then found out the raffle prizes were AmEx gift cards and I was ineligible to win since I had seen the trivia questions. I mean, I really was happy to help, but AmEx gift cards!!

>> I am extremely paranoid about leaving our Christmas tree lights on at night or when we leave the house, even if it's only for half an hour. And even though we have an artificial tree which makes the risk of it catching on fire pretty low. But I saw this video on Facebook where a (real) tree went up in flames and spread to the entire room in under a minute, and that just made this nervous nellie even more neurotic. It's almost as bad as that moment I realize I don't remember if I unplugged my straight iron or not. 

>> Some of my favorite Christmas albums are Christian contemporary ones from the late 80's and all of the 90's. Don't get me wrong, I love the newer albums too. And some of these old ones are pretty cheesy. but there's just something about the ones you grew up listening to. Warm fuzzies galore. 

Do you have any Christmas confessions? 

Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake

Several of you requested the recipe for the cheesecake I made for the party, so here it is! 

Cheesecake can be kind of challenging if you've never made it before or you don't have much baking experience, but just follow the recipe and you should be fine! If you have any questions about it, let me know! I didn't write this recipe, but I've made it several times so I can help with questions! Enjoy!

 1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (I use chocolate graham crackers or teddy grahams)

1/4 cup butter, melted 

2 tablespoons sugar 

4 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened 

1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk 

1/3 cup whipping cream 

1/4 cup sugar 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

3 large eggs 

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks 

1/2 cup coarsely crushed hard peppermint candies (about 18 candies) 

3/4 cup whipping cream 

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels 

Garnishes: 65 soft peppermint sticks (5 small bags), broken, and peppermint bark 

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients; stir well. Press mixture firmly on bottom of a lightly greased 9" springform pan. Bake at 325° for 14 minutes; let cool.

(My tip: Grease the springform pan really well, even if it's non-stick, and if you're still concerned about it sticking you can even line it with parchment paper, it will peel right off of the cheesecake after you remove the pan)

Beat cream cheese (room temp is best!) at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, beating just until blended. Add 1/3 cup whipping cream and next 3 ingredients, beating just until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Stir in chocolate chunks and crushed candies.

(My tip: Be careful not to overbeat, cheesecakes don't like being overbeaten! Just until it's mixed and not too high speed on the mixer)

Pour batter into baked crust. Bake at 325° for 52 to 55 minutes or until edges are set and center is almost set. Turn off oven. 

Immediately run a knife around edge of pan, releasing sides. With oven door slightly open, let cheesecake stand in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours. Remove sides and bottom of pan; place cheesecake on a serving plate.

Pour 3/4 cup whipping cream into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until hot. Add 1 1/2 cups semisweet morsels; stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Pour ganache over chilled cheesecake, allowing ganache to spill over edges of cheesecake; smooth ganache with an offset spatula. Let stand 10 minutes before garnishing. Store in refrigerator.

Note:

 

For easy cleanup, place wax paper strips under edges of cheesecake on serving plate. When you pour the ganache, it will drip onto the wax paper. Gently remove wax paper strips after the 10-minute standing time.

Christmas with Southern Living 2008

Weekend Recap

As usual this weekend went waaay too fast, but I got everything done that I wanted to, so at least I feel accomplished! 

Friday night I decided it would be a grand idea to go by the mall on the way home from work to take advantage of the Charming Charlie BOGO sale plus a $10 off coupon I had. Yes, I am a crazy person. The traffic on the way there was horrific, but the mall itself actually wasn't too bad. 

I got a necklace, earrings, and 3 bracelets for $4! 

We grabbed pizza for dinner and spent a lovely night at home watching Christmas movies and HIMYM. I finally put my Amazon wish list together for Adam so he can easily "shop" for me. We love Prime! 

Saturday Adam went out to the RC club and I stayed home did things around the house and got ready for the party that night. I made some pretty awesome spinach and artichoke dip and painted my nails. 

The party was fun and we met an adorable doggy! 

We had to take pictures while we were all dressed up: 

Sunday I cleaned the house and did the laundry- thrilling! But I actually really enjoy getting the house all reset for the week! I also did some reading for the Blogger Book Club and snuggled with the pups. 

We went to dinner with a friend and then we came home and I got my Christmas cards addressed! So glad to finally get that done! 

This week should be pretty chill at work, we have a holiday luncheon on Tuesday and then we're going to see the Nutcracker on Friday night! So excited! 

How was your weekend? 

 

Friday Favorites

I am so looking forward to this weekend! As fun as the party was last weekend I am looking forward to a little more relaxing and low key couple of days! We will probably just chill at home tonight and tomorrow night we have a Christmas party at a friend's house! I also want to get my Christmas cards mailed out and get the house back in order. We had errands to run and places to be every night this week so as clean as we got it for the party, this week's craziness led to it looking like a tornado went through. I'm ready to get it all straight and organized again!

Favorite song: 

I love this version of Joy to the World! It's so much fun to sing along to!

Favorite recipe: 
Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake! NOM NOM NOM. So many calories, so much goodness. Will be sharing this recipe on Tuesday!

Favorite workout: 
PiYo Sweat

This move is just as fun as it looks. 

When they say sweat they ain't kidding. It's basically a bunch of down-dogs, planks and push ups. 

Favorite video: 
Daniel Radcliffe rapping "Alphabet Aerobics." Epic-ness.

Favorite funnies: 

Don't lie, you know you've done it.

Not quite like it is in the movies...

This is so accurate right now. Hence why I need a break from FB

But I'm sure these fish have a great personality! 

Have a fabulous weekend lovelies! 

Momfessionals