sick. sick. sicky.

This lady and I have been lounging around for the past several days. Being sick on Christmas vacation is not fun in the least, but hopefully i will be better in time for the weekend and next week. Not going to enjoy going back to school with no voice. Here's to hopefully being back in the swing of things come next post.

Christmas day,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I spent mine hanging out with family, drinking mimosas from cute Christmas mugs and playing Sims on my iPad.

Christmas spirit

I really love Christmas time. Baking with my Mom is one of the bests. We spend pretty much the whole week baking for the family. I've been really wanting to try and make peppermint bark, so we went to the store and came home with tons of stuff. And in between the baking I had to squeeze in some studying. Trying my hardest to not fall behind in my progress this month, but it's so hard when all I want to do is read and bake.

Christmasy Things

Today,

Spent the morning baking some Christmas wreaths.

Took Cleo and Spork out for a walk.

Finished all our shopping!

And stopped to get a gingerbread latte at Starbucks.

Yums!

 

The weekend

In about two months my man and I will be together for six years! It sounds so crazy.. Two twenty-two year olds together that long?! Woahs. But here we are. He completes me and always seems to spoil the shit outta me without even trying. I love him loads. And! It's also his Birthday tomorrow. We celebrated with cake, Christmas movies and finally getting some time together. I completely forgot to take pictures so these two are pretty much the only ones I got.

Let there be snow

 It finally snowed today!

Cleo absolutely loved it. She rolled around

and my stepdad and I let her try and catch snowballs.

It was a good day. 

Lately,

It's been pretty cold here which means scarf weather has officially arrived.

and I'm certainly not complaining.

 Peppermint mocha. Because no day starts right without one.

Nights like these keep me smiling. Always. 

Dear snow,

Where are you?!?!? I love Christmas but it's so much more magical with you here. Please come soon!

Especially with Christmas almost two weeks away.... Miss Cleo hasn't gotten to fully enjoy the experience either.

A Christmas questionnaire

I saw this over at Matt and Kara Adopt and thought I'd so it myself. 

 

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate! I love me some peppermint cocoa.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was younger, but my mom thought it was cute to write from santa till we were in junior high.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? The past two years living with my mom have been white lights, but when I'm living with my love again I'm sure they'll be colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sadly, no.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Growing up we used to put them up Thanksgiving night, but this year we put them up the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was nice not having to clean up right away after eating a huge meal to put it up, and we all got to sit and enjoy each others company.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? My mom makes an amazing strawberry dish, and her potatoes are so yummmmy! mmmm...
 7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I loved when my sister and I got to spent Christmas at my mom's. It always felt like home.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Around second grade. I pretty much already knew, but my dad thought he'd let us know anyways.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Only one year when my we weren't going to be with my mom on Christmas. I was a good night.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? It always changes. This year we have white light with silver ornaments and a flocked tree.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? I love it! It's not Christmas without it.
12. Can you ice skate? ummmm no.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I love them all, but one that stands out was the necklace my love made me two years ago. We were having money problems and the fact that he put so much effort into it made me the happiest girl.
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being with my family.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? I love peppermint during Christmas. Especially my mom's peppermint cookies.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?  for the past several years on Christmas eve the whole family gets together and has fondu and we all watch Christmas movies. 
17. What tops your tree? Usually a star or a bow, but this year we put picks around the top. It's actually pretty cute.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I love Christmas shopping for everyone. and I have the hardest time stopping. It's such a blast watching everyone open their presents.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? Yum-my!
20. Favorite Christmas movie? The Santa Clause, The Holiday and Santa Clause is comin to Town.
21. Saddest Christmas song? I can't remember the name, but it talks about a little boy and a pair of shoes for his mom. I always cry.. especially when my mom is in the car/room with me.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? I really love all the classics. They're so much fun to sing to. And Josh Groban's Silent Night. 

Tonight

 was day two of eating right and actually cooking instead of warming up something. It was pretty good, a little low on the flavor side but I'm pretty obsessed with asparagus, so I enjoyed it.

Tonight's dinner:

 Creamy Asparagus Pasta

ngredients

• 8 ounces whole-wheat penne pasta
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions. Add asparagus and continue cooking until the pasta and asparagus are just tender, 3 minutes more. Drain and return to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, whisk milk, mustard, flour, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant and lightly browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in the milk mixture. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tarragon, lemon zest and juice.
3. Stir the sauce into the pasta-asparagus mixture. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sauce is thick, creamy and coats the pasta, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls and top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.

Finally

This past week has been hard. My gym closed its doors a little over a week ago and let me tell you, I have been a mess without my nightly work outs. On top of that my eating habits have been getting worse since the middle of last month. I have no ambition to eat healthy with the holidays here, but tonight I'm determined to make something yummy and healthy. Yesterday my mom and I finally joined more of a corporate gym, so there's no chance they'll be closing anytime soon. So tonight starts a new plan.. to try and have at least one healthy meal a day and work up from that.

Tonight's dinner:

Skillet Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta

  ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 3 ounces frozen, peeled and deveined, medium shrimp, thawed
• 1 tablespoon sliced green onions
• 1 tablespoon crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese

Directions

1. In small nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray cook garlic over medium-high heat about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
2. Add shrimp and onions. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turn opaque. Sprinkle with cheese.

A peek..

Last night was pretty magical... Maybe is was the fact that The Santa Clause was on or that there were Christmas cookies and milk in the fridge, but I definitely had Christmas spirit. So I decided to put up our stockings and wrap some presents.

My little Spork slept pretty cute like the entire time.

Wish list

 I have an obsession with anything cute, white and with studs!

 Mac foundation is my weakness. Although, I rarely ever get it.

Moccasin slippers! Simply because they're amazingly comfy.

Happy December!

Oh, Hey! December! How I love when you arrive.

The wind today is super crazy and has cause my college to cancel, so this is what I've been doing.

I really do love this time of year.. Even the crazy weather it brings. It all reminds me of the holidays and I'm a big lover of them. Especially when Starbucks brings out their Christmas cups. I can't wait to start popping in my Christmas movies and going shopping for gifts with my love this weekend. 

This season really is wonderful...