12 Days Of Christmas Blog Challenge Day 5

Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

This one was easy for me! Imagine that...Elf is great, but it seems like they play it on TV everyyyy other day during the holidays day so sometimes I get burnt out.

All time favorite holiday movie: Home Alone 1 & 2! Love them both, I cant decide a favorite between the two! I liked seeing Kevin lost in New York in the second one but the first one is so classic and the part where hes walking home in the snow and his groceries bust out of the bag gets me every time, lol!


Runner up is The Santa Claus with Tim Allen, such a cute movie! When I was little I used to watch it like every day in December ha. And honorable mention goes to The Polar Express, it was weird at first but I really liked it.

Link up here!

12 Days Of Christmas Blog Challenge Day 4

Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

Keep track of your $:

*Know how much your gonna spend! So important to budget. (unless you've got it like that and don't need to budget with your visa black card ;) If you have $700 to spend on 6 people, know that you can spend just a little over $100 on each person!

*Keep track of everything! On paper, notebook, whatever, document that you have spent 45 out of that 100 and can only spend 65 more until your over budget on that person. Sometimes you spend more on your nephew than your Dad, or more on your significant other than your grandma. Being able to see the "math" of it all has really helped me in the past!

Shop Smart/Careful:

*Take advantage of shopping online! Free shipping is amazing, and look for sites that offer a % off your purchase.

*Also be careful of online shopping, its tempting to spend an extra $25 just so you can qualify for free shipping but is it worth it, will it mess up your budget?

*Shop for more than one person at a time, especially online! If you can get gifts for 3 different people in one store, perfect! Saves you extra shopping trips.

Have a plan, don't just shop:

For me, the holidays is the worst time to just "go shopping". If I don't have a set plan, I'm going to end up wandering around the mall, trying to come up with ideas for gifts for others as I'm walking, but in the end, I'll be shopping for clothes for myself, eventually spending money on a pretzel and sitting down with a drink from Coffee Bean because I was frustrated and didn't know what to buy or who I was shopping for. So before you go to the mall, know what stores you need to hit. At least have an idea of who you can get a gift for and in what department, don't just browse! You'll waste time (&possibly money) thinking of things you could have had figured out before you got there!

Thats all I've got! Link up with Aly & Molly!

I Love Grocery Stores

I love grocery shopping.

No like I really love it.

I like it more than any other kind of shopping, clothes, shoes whatever.

I'm curious to know how much time I could actually spend enjoying a grocery store, taking my time, no time limit.

I love looking at everything.

Things I need, things I don't need.

Different brands of the same thing.

Comparing prices.

"Ooh this looks good!"

"Ooh I wonder how this is."

And I'm a pro at navigating the store, I know where things are.

I've asked BF to run to the store for me, and he ends up calling me cause he cant find the cream cheese.

"Its by the other types of regular cheeses but not by the lunch meat."

Yea, I know my grocery store!

Every type of item, I don't discriminate.

Food, non food.

I like to look at all the different types of Febreezes.

I also like to look at the various types of breads, rolls, tortillas, etc.

Sure I spend more time on certain aisles. (cough cough ice cream and cake mixes cough cough)

But if I could, I'd look at everything.

Its great if BF can push the cart while he reads a boy magazine, then, I feel like I have more time to look at things I'm not buying.

But that's not what he usually ever does.

He usually pushes the cart then stands there watching my every move, therefore making me feel like he has a stopwatch and I need to just grab everything quickly so we can go.

There have been numerous incidents in the store where I get an attitude because I am feeling rushed and hes swearing that its fine to take my time.

Argument on aisle 7! Ha.

Of course I don't believe him.

I know its not his favorite thing to do and if its longer than 45 minutes, then he's really hating life but trying to be nice and not show it.

Ive told him before how I feel bad for him.

Some girls like purse shopping best, I like grocery shopping the most.

Breaking Routine. I Hate Nightshift.

In December, I'll have officially been being ('been being' sounds so weird, grammar police help?) a girlfriend for 3 and a half years.

3 & 1/2.

At times it doesn't sound like its a long amount of time at all.

Sometimes it feels like its been really long, longer than 3 years.

Other times it feels like it sounds like a short amount of time.

So what I'm feeling right now, tonight, I'm not sure how to describe it.

Sad I guess.

For some reason they have my boyfriend working over night tonight, 10-6.

Like, he gets off at 6 in the morning.

Yea, took me a while to actually process that happening.

But it is happening.

Call me a baby.

Go ahead really, I already talked to my Mom tonight and that's what she said, she thinks me feeling this way is somewhat funny. If I weren't me maybe I'd be laughing too.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

I don't know if I'm going to sleep.

I cant imagine being able to stay awake all night.

But I also cant imagine sleeping without BF.

I loveeeeeee sleeping, but going to bed without him just doesn't sound good at all.

At night, I hear lots of noise like cars going by with music, somebodies dog going through bushes, the house shifting/settling.

But it is very hard to convince me that those noises are not burglars, psycho killers yelling, break ins/robberies, wild animals.

But BF does a great job of that convincing and he's always been right, no burglars.

But I'd much rather be alone during the day.

3+ years spent going to bed with the same person.

One night alone during these particular hours feels so weird.

But don't worry I'm toughing it out somehow :)

*(if you are laughing at me going crazy over just this one night, please feel free to stick around and next month you can laugh at me panicking over the thought of spending 6 whole days/nights away from him)

12 Days Of Christmas Blog Challenge: Day 2

Black Friday/General Shopping Tricks & Tips

Black Friday: I've only ventured out for it one time. With my sister to a Saks 5th ave outlet. It is craziness but a fun thing to do. So I don't really have any super amazing tips for Black Friday, I'd just suggest:


*Bundle, dress warm, its so cold that early!
*Have lots of patience for finding parking, managing crazy crowds.
*Make sure you have enough energy/are not too tired. (I was gonna go last year & tried to stay awake all night til Macy's opened at 5 but I "napped" and never woke up to go ha!)
*Don't buy it just because its a good deal because its BF (black friday, not boyfriend :) One of my great purchases from BF, I only wore once.
*Keeping track of how much you spent on each person and what gifts you've bought, makes it easier to decide if you can buy that nice big present for someone, and you'll be able to tell how much you have if you need just one more small gift for someone at the last minute.
*PLAN! If your going to the mall, know which exact stores you need to hit. Target/similar stores, have an idea of who you can get a gift for and in what department.
*And always, dress comfy! So irritating to want to stop shopping because your too hott, too cold, don't have a jacket, or you wore the wrong shoes and your feet are tired!
*Shop online too/instead. If your looking to buy a talking Transformer from the toy store, look online too, you might find that it is cheaper/better/a bigger selection.
*Try to shop for more than one person at a time. For example, I can get NFL slippers for BF, a NBA shirt for my Dad, and a MLB coffee mug for my grandma, all off of the same website! Knocking out 3 gifts in one store, so good!

link up here!

12 Days Of Christmas Blog Challenge: Day 1

Day 1: Christmas/Holiday Traditions

Cookies & Milk tradition- Not anymore of course but when I was little. Am I the only one that did this?! I have a really good memory of one year my Mom helped me make cookies and leave a plate of them and a little note saying hi Santa or something. I was soo very happy when I woke up and saw that the cookies had been touched and "Santa had wrote back" oh my note saying thanks for the cookies! That Christmas I was just in awe that Santa had really, truly ate some of the cookies I made. Yes, there were actual half bitten into cookies left by Santa. I probably had a million questions and I remember wanting to know why he didn't finish them all and my Mom telling me that "he couldn't finish all the cookies cause he'd be too full". My Mom Santa rocked that year.

My family is pretty horrible at sticking to a plan flexible with everything, so we don't always eat Christmas dinner at the same time or always open presents in the morning. One tradition we do always follow though is to open one present (I always try for more than one though ha) on Christmas eve. I love doing this cause it seems to make me even more excited for the next day. Why and how did this become a tradition? Probably because I'm so very impatient and my Mom cant say no to me ;)

Christmas has changed since my nephew came along! It used to be me and my sister having extravagant "lists", we could for sure count on unwrapping something from Sephora and if we were lucky, something Juicy Couture or any other nice name brand. Now days,I'm happy if I just get a new pair of pajamas Christmas is more catered to my nephew, he's the one who can get away with the long list thing and Christmas is still new to him.

We do have somewhat of a routine though, it consists of Christmas eve dinner hosted by my sister. Then on Christmas day we do presents (stockings first!) in the morning/as early in the afternoon as possible. Then we relax and spend time filling up on Ruffles w/ranch dip hanging out with each other till dinner is ready.

Other little traditions include:
*Helping to put up lights on the house
*Helping decorate the tree
*Christmas candy in our stockings
*Fuzzy socks in your stocking-The past 2 years my Mom has been pissed she hasn't been able to find said socks for us though haha.
*Going to see the neighborhoods Christmas lights (some people go all out)

So thats it. Were not super duper all out must follow every tradition, but we do have a few, and I love it :) I also cant wait til I have a family of my own to start traditions with!

link up!

This & That

*I was selling my student ticket to a football game and I had replied to this guy telling him how much I was asking for and what now. His reply: Nah thanks I got a better offer! Umm a nice "no thank you" would have been acceptable! I was really upset haha I thought it just sounded so rude.

*Do you talk in your sleep or do you know somebody that does? It is soooo crazy!!! BF does it occasionally but the other week it was kind of frequent! And it is always sooo random! But only sometimes. I remember when he used to work in construction, it was always when he had worked a really hard day, in his sleep he'd say stuff like "we gotta get this job done/we have to finish the drywall"! It wakes me up for sure and sometimes I'm not even asleep yet when he's talking. But anyways he did it twice a couple weeks ago and both times were hilarious. He said: "I have to stop eating so much junk food!" Hahahaha oh my gosh, him and me both! Is this what he thinks about when he's sleeping!? So glad to see the Halloween candy go! The second weird thing; "whered she get the sausage?" Ummm what!? All I could do was laugh and think what the heck. The only thing I thought he could be thinking of is how he loves breakfast sausage but I never make it. But really, both so random! And I always wanna know what he was talking about so I joke like "oh who is SHE!? she makes you sausage!?" lol but of course he never remembers saying anything.

*It used to just be a show that my boyfriend watched while I sat on my bed and blogged away. I didn't even lift my head to look at the TV because it just sounded so violent, pretty boring and not at all like something I'd be interested in...Now its one of my favorites. Main character is easy on the eyes Sons Of Anarchy on FX has been aaaamazing this season, love it!

*I didn't get to nor do I know when I'll be able to see tonight's episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay (Food Network) and Pioneer Woman! Love her! And that's one of my favorite shows on the network so I really cant wait to watch it!

*Even though it took a couple of crying fits to finally find it, I'm so very glad I have my airfare all set for December! I moved here in August and it feels like forrrrrrrevvvverrr since I've seen them! Thank gosh for skype though.

*Have you ever traveled with a pet on a plane? Like brought them in the actual plane/cabin? I plan on doing this and I am ohhh so nervous! 6 hour flight...he is pretty good at "holding it" though but I am just terrified about the "what if" he goes in his carrier and makes the whole plane smell....Yea...horrible!

*So I haven't been the best at frequent posting these past few months! But I saw this "12 Days of Christmas" linky happening and I got really excited, I love all things Christmas so here's hopping I can crank out daily posts! Starts Monday, can't wait!

Day 1: Christmas/Holiday traditions

Day 2: Black Friday/General Shopping Tips & Tricks

Day 3: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!)

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY (If you don't make anything, what do you WISH you could make?)

Day 8: Least favorite thing about the Holidays

Day 9: Favorite Holiday recipe

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs/Caroles

Day 11: New Year Resolutions

Day 12: Show us your decorations (indoor/outdoor)

Day 13: Favorite Cookie Recipe

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

Giving Up Summer

This girl in one of my classes, I'm semi friends with (re: friends not outside of school, only in class cause we usually sit in the same seat, by each other) is a couple years younger than me and she totally proved it in a conversation we had the other day. I was talking to her about classes, telling her I had just picked out what I would take over summer...I asked her if she would be attending summer school and her reply was "I dunno, I dunno if I want to give up my summer ya know!?"

Oh girl, I totally know.

Her response cracked me up and reminded me of myself, only a couple years ago I would have said the same thing! Back then I wouldn't really care and didn't need to worry if I didn't have a job through summer, I liked the time off because I love sleeping in and I'm so good at not waking up til noon. I didn't really consider the option of attending summer school, because I would be there in the fall and spring anyways, and to me summer=beach and beach+summer classes=doesn't really work.

I just loved her response. "Dunno if I'm ready to give up my summer." I cant blame her though and know how she feels. I think she is like 18, and when I was that age summer was everythinggggggg. Its still nice and everything, but its no longer all "lounging at the pool and not worrying about anything from the middle of June until August" Not for me anyways. Nowadays I "give up" my summer to summer school, in order to stay on track & have less courses to take during the fall semester, I don't mind going and getting a course or two out of the way. And BF doesn't get to stop working just cause its summer! I'm turning 22 this year and I have to say my summers are alot different than the ones I had in high school and as a 18 year old. But those were some of the best ones though, so I'm so glad I have them to look back on. And now I'm actually ok with "giving up my summer", I mean, I kind of have to be ok with it! Bills don't stop coming just cause its summer. Summer doesn't mean the kitchen and bathroom stop needing cleaned. Even if its only a little, I can see that I've definitely grown up! Weird!

*Have you had to give up your summer? Is it still one of your favorite parts of the year? If you have kids would they say summer is everything?

Drama Girl

*warning! post contains talk about "girl stuff", "that time of the month", possibly tmi? if you don't feel like reading that kind of stuff, skip this post =) *

♥I don't know about you but I have crazier than usual emotions when its that time of the month. I am more grumpy and cranky than usual, and its even easier to make me cry. My boyfriend knows this but one day last week he was reminded.

♥I was sitting there looking up cheap airfare, trying to find flights for my "vacation/visiting home" in December right. And I was just overwhelmed, Google was giving me too much; Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire, oh my gosh there has to be like 3 million different result sites for searching "cheap flights". I started crying, saying how frustrating it all was, how hard it was to find the"right" one. BF comforts me and asks if theres anything he can do to help, and theres not, with one computer, its pretty much only one person able to do work.

♥So he is sitting there with me on the bed, and next thing I know, he is snoring. And I am crying. He wakes up startled and asks whats wrong and I respond like a brat saying how "I wish I could just lay there and nap but we need to find a flight asap and I'm the only that's doing all the work and it must be nice to just lay on the bed and not worry about a clean house or anything." So he got up right away and started to straighten the house, I sat there, ready to throw my computer out a window, still sorting through travel sites.

♥I hear a sound in the kitchen followed by a ****! So I go in to check on him. He was cleaning out the fridge and a tupperware of something opened and spilled on the floor, he snapped at me that he "was fine". (I hate being snapped at, easy way to make me cry) I go back into our room, throw myself on the bed and cry some more. Immediately he comes to ask whats wrong. Don't remember exactly how I said it but I was so sad that that had happened, I felt guilty for making him feel like he wasn't helping out, I felt like I was being bitchy ordering him to clean and I wished I had never even asked him anything. AND I was still frustrated with the searching of airfare. What a drama girl.

♥But all ended well, I was comforted, he was happy, I was happy. No more tears. But seriously, I had 3 crying fits in probably a 2 hour span. I am such a cry baby and that time of the month just makes me sooo very cranky/grumpy. Its hard to think that emotions you have when your pregnant could be any worse!?