vintage D2BD

MERRY HOLIDAYS 

& A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A little Vintage Kelly for Holiday Cheer Circa 1978, I was two.

I hope all your holidays 

are Merry and Bright!!!!

random musings friday

I've always done Fixation Fridays here but thought I might try to take a different route going into the new year. Every week Shana over at Fumbling Towards Normalcy does this feature and every week I'm truly entertained by her musings. I think it's a great way to reflect on your week, the good, the bad and the ugly. As well as a great way to let your reader in on what's happening in your neck of the woods. Please take time to check out Shana's musings. She works in NYC and always has some colorful story about people on her daily commute or in the city itself not to mention the girl is funny!

So here are mine... and next time I'm going to take the advice of Allyson and Shana about taking notes if I plan to make this truly worth anyone's while to read.

Check out the original at Fumbling Towards Normalcy

• It's one day away from Christmas Eve and I'm thankful my Christmas shopping has been completed. Thank goodness! I am still going shopping tonight but it's probably just to ensure I have a comfortable shirt to wear for the Christmas feast.
• I keep getting asked if it feels different to be married. It does but I can't describe how. The only thing I can come up with is that I feel more confident in myself and our relationship. I never truly had doubts in Mike or us as a whole and when I say I feel more confident that sounds snide and rude - I just simply mean that in my heart I feel confident and full of love because someone chose me over all people to spend the rest of his life with.
• I felt like a jerk yesterday as all my co-worker started exchanging gifts for Christmas. This year even with a pay raise [yes I got a raise, whoot!] I still feel like I'm floundering with money for gifts. [My rule was to spend CASH ONLY, no credit cards as I'm trying to pay off debt]. I made everyone a delicious cheesecake at work but I still feel like maybe around New Years I might snag them all a little something more personal. They all seemed fine but it's just my personal hang up. I LOVE gift giving.
• My father says I always over gift... oddly enough I always feel like what I give him is never enough. This year I will see him late, after the New Year so I haven't even shopped for him yet.
• My Jeep is having issues which really sucks since it was just serviced when I was home for Thanksgiving. My father's best friend is our mechanic and I was given a tune up, oil change and new tires... but when I got home, after my 12 make that 16 hour ride in traffic the trouble started. Currently the door locks only work on the driver side,  for the driver door ONLY, and the drivers window will go down, but none of the other locks or windows work, at all. It's clearly an electrical issue but with Christmas this close I didn't want to go in and get it fixed for $160 or whatever they would quote me. Instead I've been dealing with it and locking the Jeep old school, by hand. This really isn't good for a woman shopping alone this time of year in a dark parking lot w/ her hands full of bags. You never realize how much you rely on technology until it's taken away from you. #firstworldproblems
• Last minute rush print jobs on the Friday before Christmas are one thing but last minute Christmas cards, give me a break! You're late, deal with it! [I work at a printing company]. My suggestion to all that have failed to get out Christmas cards is to send out Happy New Year cards. I've done a few of these for people and I love the idea!
• I'm finally in the Christmas spirit, but it still doesn't quite feel like Christmas here. We got a ton of rain yesterday, I really wish it could have been snow.
• Sometimes I cry at the oddest things, but I was watching the decorating of the White House for Christmas on HGTV the other night and I kept welling up at the oddest parts. Christmas is beautiful and moving but I highly doubt that hanging natural crystals from trees in one of the main foyers of the White House constitutes getting all welled up. The tree in honor of the troops in the Blue Room of the White House however, was totally worth it. It was amazing!
• This time of year all the tv shows go into reruns and I hate that. However I am thankful that this has happened because I wouldn't have caught a great documentary on the Foo Fighters. I've always enjoyed their music but after watching the documentary about the band I'm completely obsessed with them and even more so with Dave. This also happened after watching Pearl Jam's new documentary PJ 20 - amazing! If you think you liked the band, watch this... you'll 100% love the band!
• I have been craving nothing but vegetables lately. This is a clear indication of what I'm not getting enough of them in my diet currently. I'm sorry belly but it's tough to eat green beans with cheesecake, cheese balls, wine and beer. Well I'm sure if I deep fried you, you might fit in but that really wouldn't do my gut any justice!
• Due to the above my stomach is a mess! I can't wait for January - this food is all too good to resist right now but I am making a clean sweep as soon as Christmas is over.
• I've gained 5 lbs since my wedding. Not a lot but it's hindering my forward progress. To be fair I haven't worked out since 3 weeks before my wedding. When it got down to the final weeks I was too busy to worry about Turbo Fire. I will start strong right after the holidays and try my best to document it again.
• I blame my honeymoon for my lapse in eating well and normal portion  sizes... I pigged my little heart out in Mexico! [Yes I will write about my honeymoon, promise!]
• Lastly - I'm so over hearing about Kim Kardashian and her fake ass marriage and divorce. Just wanted to get that out there.

So there you have it. As of right now - I think that's all that is on my mind. Minus the steak tacos I plan to have for dinner tonight at happy hour... see it never ends! I just shoved sausage breakfast casserole in my pie hole a minute ago, my stomach is turning from it and I'm still thinking about my next meal... again! Hot mess.

seasons greetings one and all.

I figured I'd share the two cards Mike and I are sending out this year. I say sending because they are sitting in my purse waiting for my lazy butt to get to the post office or even the grocery store to snag some stamps. So if you are on my mailing list rest assured you'll get yours, it's just going to be late. Story of my life!

We did two options this year, mostly because some family members and friends didn't make it to the wedding and because well, I wanted to get the most out of our engagement and wedding photos.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

[p.s. yes, I made these, I took some inspiration from online stores that I couldn't afford or had time to order from and made my own. And no, my new last name isn't "No Stalking", although that would be pretty sweet].

Did you send Holiday cards this year?

where has the year gone?

I swear only yesterday I was getting married, and now it's a week from Christmas. Where did this year go? Yes I still plan on telling you about my wedding and my honeymoon, and all that goes with that. I've just been waiting patiently to get my pictures back from our photographer. She sent them out yesterday and I'm so excited. I've seen proofs, they're amazing and I am really pleased with how they turned out. So all in do time my lovelies.

Does anyone else feel like this year has been a blur? It still doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet, no matter how many movies I watch [read: Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Bad Santa, Die Hard, and on and on], or how many times I put Christmas music on the radio.

Maybe it's because this year didn't have the standard flow of events. Our wedding was right before Halloween, my favorite holiday. We missed Halloween festivities since we were on our honeymoon, which is a great filler trust me but sometimes I just need Halloween. After that we switched up plans to spend Thanksgiving in Maryland with my father. We usually spend it here with Mike's family. Point being not a single fall-winter holiday has been as it usually is and I think I'm going to blame that for my lack of Christmas cheer... although I'm rather cheerful just not feeling like it's Christmas yet.

Shopping will be completed this weekend, thank goodness. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. This year Mike and I did most of our shopping online. We used Pinterest [so addicting] to create WISH LISTS for each other. This in theory helped out a ton because we were able to give each other links to all our desires and purchase them for each other in one click. It all went smoothly until Mike gave his mom the link to his wish list, to show her an idea he had for his dad, that he also thought he might like to receive for Christmas... and then I panicked fearing she'd buy everything on there, and leave me with nothing. Crisis averted, thank goodness! We worked it all out. But it was touch and go there for a moment. Could you imagine... first Christmas as a married couple and all that was left for me to get him would be socks and underwear? Sooo romantic.

Last year we did a lot of local shopping for everyone on our list and it felt amazing to help our community AND to get out locally and not hit up the mall for gifts. I think I am going to do this again next year. The gifts were more meaningful, the shopping was less stressful and I actually felt good and like it was Christmas for the entire season.

I hope you have all your shopping and baking finished. I myself haven't touched the baking yet... and not sure if I will. However I do have to bake a cheesecake for Christmas dinner. I hope I don't get frazzled before then.

So, are you ready for Christmas?

P.S. I promise to update more often, now that things are slowing down. Tis the Season!