Do Resolutions You Make On NYE Last?

    My NYE resolutions never last more than two weeks. That's probably average for most resolutions. It's a terrible number like I seriously couldn't work out 4 times a week for more than 2 weeks? Shame. Although I love the theory and idea of New Year resolutions I also believe that you don't have to wait till next year to change. It happens whenever you make the move not when the calendar says January 1st. This year I am going to stick with my goals and dreams for the year. How I'm going to do them is another story.

    My mother was recently browsing Barnes and Noble and found a great book on how to make a change and actually stick with it. The book is called Small Move, Big Change: Using Microresolutions to Transform Your Life Permanently by Caroline I. Arnold. I have only read a couple pages and am interested to see if it will help make changes I want stick. Hopefully longer than 2 weeks, am I right?!

    Here are a couple of things I'm thinking to change this year...

• Beat myself up less- By this I mean not to demean myself. You always know the right and wrong buttons to press when it comes to making yourself feel good or bad. I for the most part am not so hard on myself but recently I have found myself demeaning myself to others as well as me. It's not a good thing to do and hurts yours, or in this case my, self-esteem.
• Work out more- It does the body good to get moving and not only for weight loss reasons. It gives you more energy, helps keep you looking younger, and clothes fit better. It's a win win.
• Travel- Part of me want to travel the world right not but honestly that's not possible. I don't have a boyfriend and most of my friends are either married or close to it and I don't want to go alone. To travel you can go any where. I just want to go somewhere this year that is not somewhere I have been before.
• Write more- I love to write. It gives you the freedom to do what you like. I love this blog because I am able to say what's going on in life and be able to connect with others. I want to write more on here as well as other parts of my life. What the last part means I am not sure but will find out I guess.
• Better skincare routine- I am terrible at washing my face, moisturizing, and all that other crap twice a day. I'm lucky if I do it once a day. I wont be young forever so I need to start keeping my shit together now!
• Read more- Reading is something else I love to do. It's an amazing feeling when a book becomes part of you and you are rooting for that character. I read a lot of fiction books but I want to read more about other parts of the world. Books on other countries, different religions, behaviors in other cultures, etc.

        This list is just a draft of my New Year resolution, just some things I have been thinking of. Tomorrow is NYE and I will have my perfect list ready for you then. Have you thought about some things you want to change in the new year?

Christmas Cookies, Internet, and Thanks

    I recently lived with no internet for a week which reminded me of the good ole days however it made it very hard to blog. Not to mention I left a huge cliff hanger with my Christmas cookie drama. I have no idea what happened to my computer or the internet but the both failed me. Currently they are working perfectly again so I can bring you up to date. Let's talk cookies...

    Every year I make Christmas cookies for family and friends. It started as a tradition with my sister in high school when we were poor and unable to buy gifts for everyone. Now that we are older and have more money we still love to keep the tradition alive. I decided to make four different kinds of cookies this year and I set a certain amount of time to make them. I only had a couple hours one day but I had a plan and knew I could get it all done! But reality hit and that was not the case.

    It all went down hill when I had to go to three different stores to get all my ingredients then I made the first dough because it had to chill for an hour. The plan was that during that time I would make the other cookies. Well turns out the next cookies in line needed to chill for two hours. So already I was far behind. Long story short during my allotted time I only made one cookie recipe, ONE! I needed to make FOUR!

    I had to work that day as well which is why I only had a certain amount of time. I went to work and got off around 10pm. I came home and made the rest of the cookies. I had to finish them because I was bringing some to a girl at work who bought me a little gift a couple weeks ago for a welcome back to work thing. She loves cookies so it was a great way to repay her. I didn't go to bed till after 2am and had to be at work the next day at 9am. There was not enough coffee to help me that day.

     The cookies though did all end delicious, maybe not so pretty but throw some icing and no one will know! I got a lot of compliments on the baking which made all the stress and back-ache worth it. Here are some pictures and I know there aren't many but I really just wanted to finish not do a photo shoot. Below the pictures are the link to the recipes! If you try any let me know I would love to know how the baking goes for you!

 

My kitchen or better known as my mess. This was just making the first batch and the second dough.

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints

I make these every year and they are the first to go. SO YUMMY!!

Cinnamon roll sugar cookies were a big hit! They didn't turn out pretty but everyone loved these the best!

Mess from the cinnamon roll sugar cookies.

What they looked like after baking. I drizzled cream cheese icing and they were perfect!

These were suppose to be oreos drizzled in vanilla chocolate melts but I could only find marshmallow melt left in store. It worked great they were good...

... and turned out really cute! Hey little snowmen!

Grinch cookies! I thought it was too much sugar and they would turn out awful but...

...they turned out great but not green. Only problem is they are suppose to be green hence Grinch cookies. I followed the recipe but one drop of food coloring is not enough!

My dog Moo Moo helping bake at 1am.

 

 

 

RECIPES

 

 

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

 

^ The trickiest part I found was getting a really tight roll so they didn't fall open during baking.

 

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

 

Oreo Snowmen

 

^The cake pop sticks did not stay in the double stuff oreo. Marshmallow melt did not drizzle at all maybe the vanilla one would have worked out better. Also don't break teeth on the orange tic tac nose.

 

Grinch Cookies

 

^Need more than one drop of green food coloring. I couldn't find the heart candy so was going to draw one with icing but bought the wrong kind of icing. I told you it was all a mess!

 

 

Good luck making any of these! Hope my notes help! If you make them let me know also I want to hear about your Christmas cookie baking! Thanks for being so patient with me and my lack of posting recently!

 

 

 



2 Days Till Christmas

    Please check back tomorrow on a post about my Christmas cookies. It's 1:00 am and i am still backing... I really don't want to talk about it.

3 Days Till Christmas

    Just a couple more shopping days till the big guy comes down the chimney! There are still a lot of last minute shoppers out there scurrying around. If you are one of them well good luck! Stores have been crazy! If you need a little inspiration for gift ideas for a friend, mom, sister, aunt, or who ever here are a couple ideas for you...

 

Modern Muse is a really popular perfume this year. It has been selling out of stores around here. I know because I was in search of it and so was my mom! Check Macy's, Ulta, or Sephora.

 

If you aren't sure what perfume to get try the sampler at Sephora. It's a great idea because your recipient can try several to find her favorite!


Purchasing make-up for someone else can be difficult but getting a palette with neutral colors is a safe way to go. Try Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. I have this one and even bought one last year for my mom. I use every single color in the palette. Perfect gift for someone. Make a set and add some mascara and you're all ready!

 

Another idea is a purse. You can get an inexpensive one or go a little pricier. There are so many options. If you are looking for a good pricey bag but not looking to pay the full price try an outlet store! For Christmas this year we bought my sister a Kate Spade work bag for 70% off. Great deal, right?

 

 

 

 

Good luck with your shopping and check back tomorrow to see how my cookie baking went! I'm still trying to figure out which ones to bake! Merry Christmas! #ilovetheholidays



4 Days Left To Christmas

    I celebrate Christmas but my stepmom celebrates Hanukkah so today was her annual Hanukkah party. It was so much fun! I ate way too many latkes which are my favorite thing! I skipped over the bagels with lox gladly, seafood is NOT my favorite no matter how hard I try. Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate! Hope you have 8 wonderful nights!
  

 

   No matter what you celebrate make sure you take time to be thankful for all you have. The holiday season can be extremely crazy and all about the wrong thing. Take some time to enjoy your decorations, lights on your neighbors' houses, family, friends, etc. Grab some hot chocolate, a blanket and throw in a holiday movie and enjoy the night. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!

5 Days Till Christmas

    DIY is really popular in general but during the holidays it's the best thing to do for gifts. Personally I am not really all that great at DIY but I have seen a bunch of stuff I want to make. Below are some great girls who really know how to DIY. Hope you are inspired and they help make your holidays a little better :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite DIY?



6 Days Till Christmas

    It is tradition to spend the weeks before Christmas watching Christmas movies. It's probably one of my favorite ones. There are even certain times we watch certain movies such as when we open gifts we always have A Christmas Story playing. I absolutely love sitting in the decorated living room with the lit tree watching a great movie. Here are the movies I love to watch during this season

 

MUST WATCH CHRISTMAS MOVIES

 

 A Christmas Story

Elf*

Home Alone*

Home Alone 2*

Love Actually

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Polar Express

A Year Without Santa Claus

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

The Santa Claus

Christmas With The Kranks*

It's A Wonderful Life*

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

The Holiday*

Miracle on 34th Street

White Christmas*

Frosty The Snowman

The Family Stone (Can't watch every year because I cry too much during)*

 

 

*Movies I have already seen this year. As you can tell I still have a lot more to watch before Christmas. Of course there are a lot more Christmas movies and maybe even some I love to watch that I am forgetting but this is pretty much the list of the usual ones I watch every year with my family. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!