I Am...

A meme inspired by my Pal Amber at  a Little Pink...


1. I am good at…fashion and decorating, spelling and word games, socializing, entertaining, making people laugh, shopping and driving a stick shift--haha!  



2. I am happy when… I am driving my car (although not in rush hour traffic), listening to music, exercising, eating well, spending time with friends, snuggling with my pets, when I am shopping and when I have on a cute new outfit and my hair has been professional styled!  Also, when I am on a plane to somewhere fun!

3. I am working on… making boards on Pinterest and organizing my walk-in closet so I can donate some things as well as consign some others.  My closet = disaster.  

4. I am interested in… so many things, traveling, reading, meeting new people, wanting to learn a new language, and taking classes in basically anything.  

5. I am always… worried about something ridiculous.  

6. I am enjoying… the holiday season.  I love this time of year - the hustle and bustle, the decorations, the music, the lights, the anticipation.  

7. I am in… in my house at my Yellow Pottery Barn Desk.  

8. I am reading… "I Don't Know How She Does It" (like the Sarah Jessica Parker movie)

9. I am concerned about… animal welfare and homeless animals - I am a big advocate of animals.  

10. I am looking forward to… 12 days off for Christmas vacation!


If you do this meme, let me know--I love to read them.  

Read more here and here.

New Blog

It's so funny how I don't blog anymore (please sing to tune of "It's So Funny How We Don't Talk Anymore", Cliff Richard, circa 1979).  Yes, I am old!!

My New Year's Resolution (and I don't really make those) is to blog more in 2012.  I was up at 4:30 a.m. to drive Eric to the airport, as he is flying to New Hampshire, via Detroit, to visit his parents this weekend and so I was up super early.  I have a whole list of things I want to do this weekend - update my blogs, write in my journal, make boards on Pinterest, organize my closet, bake Christmas cookies, meet two groups of friends for brunch, buy some more Secret Santa gifts, finish putting up the last few Christmas decorations in my house.  It will be interesting to see how many of my goals I accomplish!

Anyhow just checking in.  I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season!

Read more here and here.

What Holiday Is This?

I actually agree with this cartoon--Thanksgiving does get over-shadowed by Christmas and Christmas trees & decorations do start appearing in the mall as early as September which is definitely ridiculous.


But having said that, I have already been listenting to Christmas music in my car and I have the urge to put up all of my Christmas trees this weekend. So I am split...


What camp do you fall into? Christmas now? Or let's wait and have Thanksgiving first AND then get into the holiday spirit?



Read more here and here.

An October Recap

 October is my favorite month.  It has my birthday and Halloween and apples and pumpkins and witches and chilly nights and bonfires and pretty leaves and fun-sized candy bars.

This October started with a bang--literally.  I was driving this car

and almost hit this creature.


So I braked and I got rear-ended on my way to work.  I was pretty shaken up because a) I almost ran over an animal and b) I caused damage to such a delightful yellow car!

The other driver was a mom with her small child who just happened to live in the same townhouse development as me.  We were about a mile from our houses.  We called the police and no tickets or citations were issued.  I think he felt we were both equally at fault--she for following too closely and me for braking for an animal.  He told me, quite frankly, that I should have and I quote "taken the squirrel out".

I stood my ground and said I would always brake for animals.   And I always will--that is not going to change.  I am still sad about the time I ran over an oppossum.  Or the time a bird flew into my windshield.  These are things I don't forget!

Later that day I declined a visit to the doctor for whiplash and went to work at our Annual Warehouse Sale at a certain upscale fragrance company I work for.  Somehow my name tag got lost in the chaos and so I was Lucy, your friendly cashier!

This was honestly not the best day of my life!  Look at the look on my face!

The next day was better.  My dear pal, Amber, came up for a visit.  We went to the warehouse sale - much more fun as a customer!  Then we went to Crave with a bunch of my girlfriends and had a little early birthday lunch and drinks, and we did some shopping/browsing at Anthropologie and then we went to see "What's Your Number" which is based on the novel 20 Times A Lady by the wonderful Karyn Bosnak!  I loved the movie and will definitely be buying the DVD when it comes out.

After the movie we went to Flame for a yummy dinner.   We were pretty tired after that so I made sure Amber got checked into her hotel and then we went to get her car and then I headed home for some sleep!

**(Then we realized Amber had forgotten her designer shades in my car so we made plans to drop them off the next day when Eric and I were out and about and Amber was checking out of her hotel.)

**Not sure why I included this in my post--haha!  Definite a sidebar.  :-)


Things continued to get better when we left for my birthday weekend extravaganza to Southern California.  We stayed in Newport Beach and rented a lovely white Eclipse convertible (like I used to have!) and I did a lot of shopping and ate a lot of cupcakes and drank a lot of wine and did some more shopping and celebrated my birthday over dinner at Melting Pot.  We met my friend Angie for lunch one day and my other friend, Katie, for brunch at her fancy hotel (St. Regis in Dana Point!)--she and her husband just happened to be visiting at the same time.

Then it was back to Minnesota and time to celebrate my good friend, Jason's 40th birthday.  We have been friends since he was 21, can you believe it?  There was wine and cake and a cute doggie. 

The month finished up with Halloween, of course.   We went to the Screamtown Haunted Houses with our neighbors and it was so much fun.  Of course, I was the girl who got picked on the most by the actors.  Go figure! 

Noodles dressed up like a banana split for the Halloween party at his vet's office.  But he has lost so much weight on his diet that his costume no longer fit properly.  I bought it on clearance at Target last year but this year he is too skinny!  He spent Halloween night answering the door for the Trick Or Treaters in an orange Halloween t-shirt with fur trim & glitter. 

That was October in a rather long nutshell!!   I will put up some pictures at my other blog so stay tuned if you are into that kind of thing! 









Read more here and here.

I Promise I Will Be Back!

I know, I know. I am such a bad blogger. October was my hiatus and November is quickly becoming mid-November so...I promise to be back! Don't give up on me.

This is kind of depressing!!  I want to do a recap of October with all of its ups and downs and always my favorite month (birthday month!) and tell you what is going on with me now.    But right now, I am off to the doctor--wish me luck!  My blood pressure has been going wacky!



Read more here and here.

A - Z

This idea comes from my pal, Amber at A Little Pink in the Cornfields who is coming to hang out with me in a few weeks for my early birthday weekend!




A. Age: I haven’t decided what age I am going to be this year, but my birthday is coming up – October 13th!

B. Bed Size: Queen

C. Chore that you hate Housework in general – that is what cleaning people are for—and husbands.

D. Dogs: My Pug, Noodles who is my best friend. I wish I could have a second dog as well, but so far my husband has vetoed that idea. So far. I never give up!

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee and Kare 11 Sunrise on the couch—and if I am really motivated, I will watch it while doing the elliptical.

F. Favorite Color: I go back and forth between purple and yellow. But right now, probably yellow.

G. Gold or Silver: Platinum

H. Height: 5’3” on a good day but in reality just a tad under

I. Instruments you play: Sadly, none

J. Job Title: Receptionist extraordinaire

K. Kids: No, thanks – all my “kids” have 4 legs

L. Live: Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area

M. Mother’s Name: Glenda Jean

N. Nicknames: Les, Lester, Pookie, Ladybug, Junebug

O. Overnight hospital stays: I had major surgery in 2003 and was in the hospital for 3 days.

P. Pet peeve: Negative, complaining people, people who don’t use their turn signals or know how to zipper merge and people who are rude in general and also in traffic. People who put an “e” on the end of my name even if they have known me for DECADES.

Q. Quote from a movie: It’s A Desperately Important Scarf – from “Confessions of a Shopaholic”

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: One brother who lives in New Zealand and a sister who died as a baby

T. Time you wake up: 5:30 a.m.

U. Underwear: I like boy shorts

V. Vegetable you hate: Green beans, broccoli, lettuce on sandwiches, brussel sprouts – for a vegetarian, there are a lot of veggies I don’t like!

W. What makes you run late: Pets, traffic, weather, not allowing myself enough time

X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, broken leg, mammogram

Y. Yummy food that you make: I make a really delicious dip known as crack dip. You can get the recipe here.

Z. Zoo Animal: Baby elephants, big cats, zebras.

P.S.  I also did this in March - let's see how well my answers match up!!






Read more here and here.

Hello September

Hello, blog, it has been awhile.  Yes, I am still here.  I am not even sure where August went and now we are almost halfway into September.  To be honest, I have been journaling more than blogging so I guess that means I am being uncharacteristically introverted.  I am trying to get back into the habit of keeping a daily journal but I don't want to do that at the expense of my blog--so I am hoping I can keep up on both.  Anyhoo--August was a busy month.

I took a watercolor painting class.  I dabbled!  It is harder than it looks!

And am trying to get back into yoga at Yoga Fresh in Woodbury.

And horseback riding.

I went to a psychic party where the psychic told me that I am psychic--which I have known for a long time.  Of course, I think everyone has psychic abilities, we just don't all tap into them and some of us are more developed.

At my psychic reading, my horse Cocoa came forward and said she was glad I have taken a renewed interest in horses.   Cocoa was a horse I had when I was growing up and honestly my renewed interest in horses came about when I was was on Mackinac Island and I went riding.  It all kind of came back to me.  I have been looking into some local riding stables.  I always wanted to learn how to jump.  The day that I signed up for riding lessons was the day of my psychic reading and there is no way on earth the psychic could have known that.  I really do think Cocoa was sending me a message.

I was really looking forward to my Minnesota Blogging Get Together with Cathy and Lisa and Marcy and Michael and Margaret, but it kind of fell through at the last minute.  These are the bloggers I have had a few dinners with plus a Christmas cookie exchange.  But we are hopeful we can get together in October instead.  Do you know how hard it is to get a group of people together with everyone's varying schedules?  I adore these 5 fellow Minnesota bloggers!

But happily I got to go to brunch with some other bloggers Amber, Amber and Lisa.   Amber at A Little Pink I feel like I have known forever at this point in time but Amber and Lisa were new to me and it was so fun to meet them.  Lisa lives right here in Minneapolis!  And Amber I have been reading for awhile--she lives in Canada!  These girls are all wonderful and I feel lucky to know them!

I went to both the Iowa and the Minnesota State Fairs.  I am truly just a Midwestern girl who loves her state fairs.  I don't think you can ever take the Midwest out of me!  But you can definitely take me out of the Midwest; I am ready to move to California....um, yesterday!

Last weekend was Labor Day and the unofficial end to summer.  It ended on a very bitter note as I had gone to Iowa on Saturday to visit my mom and got home Saturday evening.  We have a two-car garage and 3 cars so someone always ends up parking in the driveway.  This time it was my VW Beetle, Daisy. I didn't think much of it.  I left my car in the driveway and on Sunday Eric and I went to brunch and did errands in his SUV and then he went to play golf and I lazily hung out at home not going anywhere.   It wasn't until Monday afternoon that Eric noticed someone had keyed my car!

Some vicious vandal(s)  maliciously gouged their keys all the way across my driver's side.  I am assuming it was a random case and not someone who really knew me, but it made me very sad and angry and I felt violated that someone would do that to my car in my own driveway in a nice, safe neighborhood.  I don't exactly live in the "hood".

At an rate, I called the police and filed a report and got two damage estimates, both around $1100.  We have a $1,000 deductible so therefore this will be an out-of-pocket matter.  One of life's unexpected unpleasantries for sure.

So that is how my summer and ended and fall began - I am hopeful that this will be a great fall and hopefully this was not an indicator of things to come!










Read more here and here.

Cake Pops!

My friend, Stephanie, made cake pops last week and they were de-lish.  She was kind enough to share the process with me so I thought I would share it too--it could be a fun weekend baking project! 

Bake a regular cake. 


Let it cool.

Add frosting. ¾ of a regular sized tub.

Mix.

Roll into balls.

Freeze balls for about 15-30 minutes, depending on how cool your freezer is. Or you can put in the fridge overnight.



Buy chocolate candy chips from Michaels or Joann’s…they come in all sorts of fun colors. They have coupons

Melt chocolate – directions are on the bag.

You really want the chocolate to be the right consistency, or else you’ll have a hard time dipping the cake pops. If you need a thinner consistency, add a little bit of vegetable oil. The candy chips cool fast, so you may have to reheat.



Dip cake pop stick into chocolate, then put on cake ball.

Dip cake pop in chocolate. You may have to spoon some of the chocolate onto the cake pop.

Once chocolate has covered the cake pop, tap the pop on the side of the bowl to get off excess chocolate.

Add sprinkles or whatever you want (crumbled cookies would be good too….)



To cool, place in a colander or buy a piece of Styrofoam. You may have to put them in the fridge to cool, but they cool pretty fast.

SOUNDS FUN & RELATIVELY EASY - HAVE YOU EVER MADE CAKE POPS?



Read more here and here.

CONTEST

Stop by my other blog to find out how you can win a lovely Thymes candle in Verbena Bamboo!

Read more here and here.

An Easy Post

I haven't blogged in AGES!  This is an easy one to get me back on track.  I got it from my friend, Emily at Lacey Maybelle--she is fantastic - check out her blog.   I promise to do a more structured update, but for now....here ya' go!

1. What is your occupation? Receptionist at the corporate office of a well-known bath & body co.


2. What are you wearing right now? Jeans, flip flops and a white top from Nordstrom over a pink tank top—I went very casual today.

3. What are you listening to right now? KDWB

4. What was the last thing you ate? A candy bar—bad me!

5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes, and it is my preference!

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? One of the purple shades

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? A customer

8. How old are you today? Legal

9. Favorite drink? Coffee and white wine

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Highlights

12. Favorite reality TV show? Real Housewives but only Bev Hills, Orange County and New York—the others are annoying!

13. What was the last movie you watched? Planet of the Apes

14. Favorite day of the year? My birthday!

15. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies and stuffed animals and model horses

16. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Fall (my birthday)

17. Hugs or kisses? Depends from who!

18. Cherries or blueberries? Cherries

19. Favorite dessert? Can’t go wrong with carrot cake or cherry pie

20. Living arrangement? Married with pets

21. What is on the floor of your closet? More like what isn’t on my floor! Shoes, clothes, handbags—yikes!

22. What did you do last night? Went for a walk, did the elliptical, played Words With Friends & read a book before falling asleep.

23. What are you afraid of? Mice! Eek!

24. Plain, cheese, or spicy burgers? None! I am a vegetarian. I don’t even like veggie burgers because of the texture.

25. Favorite breed of dog? Pugs, Shih Tzus, Cairn terriers

26. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

27. How many states have you lived in? 3 – Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin

28. Celebrity crush? Johnny Depp forever

29. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Shockingly yes

30. Who is your favorite NFL team? I like the Seattle Seahawks

31. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? No, this isn’t 1990! :-)

32. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? I die in hot weather. 10 inches of snow is nothing!

33. What sports did/do you play? Tennis

34. Married? Yes!

35. If not, dating anyone? Not this week!

36. If so, what is your favorite thing about him? He puts up with my nuttiness.

Read more here and here.

Things That Make Me Happy

I have a running list of things that make me happy.  One of them is this!  A real life Barbie car. 

I very rarely ever see a pink VW Bug in Minnesota-Wisconsin, really only ever in Southern California but I saw one last night on the way home.

Cute!

Adorbs!

Happy Friday!


Read more here and here.

Randomosity

Not sure that is really a word, but if it isn't, I don't care--then I just made it up!  Today is Wednesday, July 13th, which means my birthday is exactly three months away and also the number 13 is lucky for me so I mailed in my raffle entry today to win a 2012 Porsche.  Even if I don't win (but, I AM GOING TO WIN) the $100 goes to the lung cancer foundation.  Also, I have always thought Wednesdays were my lucky day and they are doing the drawing on October 16 and October is my lucky month.

I wrote about this on Facebook and one of my friends insisted that there is no such thing as luck.  To which I replied adamantly that I am a big believer in luck.  How about you?   Do you believe in luck?

In other news, I just finished Candace Bushnell's latest book in the Carrie Diaries series (a prequel to Sex and the City), Summer And The City.   It was wonderful; I loved it.  I just love how Candace Bushnell writes--she inspires me. 

You can follow her on Facebook and she is having a promotional contest called What Would Candace Do where you can ask her a question regarding fashion, relationships, lifestyle, etc., and each week she chooses the 2 or 3 most interesting to answer.  At the end of the summer she is going to choose her favorite question out of all of them and the person who asked that question receives autographed copies of the Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City, and an autographed I Love New York t-shirt.  How cool would that be?  I am still trying to think of a really good question.

Tell me in the comments if you believe in luck and/or if you have read either the Carrie Diaries or Summer and the City.  Or if you have ever won a raffle for that matter!

Happy July 13th!!!

Read more here and here.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

Wishing everyone a very Happy & Safe 4th of July weekend!  

Be sure to stop by other blogs (links below!) for some pictures of Mackinac Island and some shopping on Mackinac.  

Read more here and here.

Ten on Tuesday On A Wednesday Because I Am Late Like That

Today's 10 on Tuesday are inspired by Amber at A Little Pink in The Cornfields, of course! 

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alcoholic, coffee, whatever.)


I can’t think of any drink recipes right off the top of my head unless it would be a mimosa (orange juice & champagne, easy peasy) otherwise I take my coffee black, my water with lemon, and my iced tea with lemonade (good old Arnie Palmer!). In a related matter, I really want to try the strawberry frozen lemonade at McDonalds, but I am sure it has a gazillion calories.

2. What kind of razor do you use?

A few Christmases ago I received an electric razor as a gift and I really wanted it, but guess what—like many gadgets that you think you have to have (think Roomba!) I never use it. I like my cheap old disposable razors in the popsicle colors.

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

I don’t have a favorite Sesame Street character, honestly. Maybe cookie monster??!! I like cookies!



4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)

I am a vegetarian who doesn’t really like lettuce all that much - the best salads have pasta! And chick peas. And blue cheese.

5. What was your favorite subject in school?

English, art and history – I hated anything to do with math and science and was not a fan of gym class.

6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?

Going to Mackinac Island, S’mores, patio dining at my favorite restaurants, fireworks, brunch cruises on Lake Minnetonka – summer when the living is easy!

7. Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? How do you combat them?

I never had allergies until I hit my 30s and now I think I am allergic to cats, lilies, my dog, wine and dust! So I wouldn’t say they are seasonal but rather situational! The only thing that really helps is Benadryl and I hate how it makes me feel—all tired and dopey.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone?

Constantly. I think Words with Friends is really a drain on my iPhone. I charge it in my car(s) when I am driving and a few times a week I try to remember to hook it up to my Mac and get a really good charge. And I try to remember to turn it off at bedtime.  BTW, if you play Words With Friends, find me at Leslialison.

9. Do you have a bucket list?

Not officially, just a vague notion of things in my head. I should make a list. Lists are good!

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?


Yes and no. I always say I want to finish getting my degree in interior design, but no because I don’t want any more student loans. It was such a relief to pay them off.

THE END




Read more here and here.