Our Holiday Haul

We were both pretty spoiled this year when it came to our holiday presents. It was really nice to get some things that are pretty useful for our home!

Frozen shot glass mold... totally useful! I tried the cotton candy vodka I got as a present in one of these ice shot glasses. Not too shabby.

Definitely desperate for a salad set! And, if you know me, I love anything that is bamboo...

Sexy tupperware. Do you know how hard it was to store leftovers before this gift? Our tupperware must get up in the middle of the night and walk away. At least now we have a good set to hopefully not lose.

My mom got us Paula Deen knives and I'm in love. Sharp knives that cut! It's the little things people...

You never know when you're going to need an ice bucket... but no, really, we have a bar we are trying to get up and running with all the essentials....


Shower curtains please me. I like to change them out pretty often.


This sexy red Keurig made my Christmas let me tell you! I love it.

Major props to my mom for finally upgrading our TV!

The fiance' was pretty amazing and definitely listened to what I wanted. I ended up getting a dainty diamond bracelet that I'll definitely be wearing on special occasions -- like the wedding. We also scored some booze, earrings, randomness (like a tomato planter, an oar to hang on the wall, popcorn tubs, sandals, a tin for my postcards), and tons of smelly things for the home. It was certainly a successful holiday and I am looking forward to using all the new goodies. It's amazing how much a nice coffee maker lifts your spirits, but it brews so fast! And so hot! I just can't stop gushing about it.

I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and if not, there's always next year! And the after Christmas sales. :D

Fill In The Blank Friday -- New Year's Edition!

Fill In The Blank Friday

1. New Year's is (awesome/lame/other) kind of amazing. I like having an excuse to get all pretty, wear fresh skivvies (they say it's good luck to ring in the new year with new underwear! lol), light fireworks, eat too much, and drink way more.

2. Last New Year's Eve I bar hopped up and down the beach. There was a trolley that took us from bar to bar and we rang in the New Year on the sand.

3. My New Year's resolution is to graduate and save money. I have a big post with all the details soon.

4. The best way to spend New Year's Eve is with those you love. Whether it's a big party, a wild night at the club with your girlfriends, or in front of the TV with your parents, it's just more of a symbolic thing more than anything. You can choose what this night means and who to share it with. :)

5. My prediction for an up-and-coming trend in 2011 is more vintage looks. Everything old is new again.

6. This New Year's Eve I will be spending it with my fiance' at our favorite local beer bar. It's an "open house" so there are no bartenders. You get a glass and fill up your own drink behind the bar. I'm kind of excited about this.

7. A fresh start is a nice idea, but beginning a New Year is not the only time to have one!

Also, linked up to the Social Parade today!

Saying Goodbye to 2010 -- What a Year!

January
-Rang in 2010 waterside

-Saw my favorite DJ

-We adopted the most adorable puppy ever!

8 Weeks old
-Gasparilla (It's a big party in Tampa where we pretend to be pirates, drink heavily, and watch a parade)

February
-Spent Valentine's Day at a Flogging Molly show

March
-SPRING TRAINING! :D

-St . Patrick's Day Parade

-Our Two Year Anniversary

April

- I got a new job and a teensy raise. Hooray!

May
-Baseball

-Changed my graduate program from Mass Communications to Instructional Technology (best decision I've made!)
- Silly puppy broke his leg!

June

- Went on a trip to the Florida Keys -- Islamorada specfically.
-And, um, I got engaged! :)



July
- Cruised to the Bahamas with some lovely ladies and my mom



August
-Another semester of school begins
-I think I find my wedding dress (And still to this day, I think it's the one! LOL)
-We went deep sea fishing for the fiance's 30th birthday!

September
-We had our Engagement Party at one of our favorite beach restaurants...


-We took Engagement Photps -- very glad we did!



October
-Oktoberfest

-Guavaween (Tampa's way of having a street party for Halloween)


Four Lokos before they were banned!

November
- I played Jenga

- We saw Sister Hazel (hooray!)


December
- Put up our Christmas tree

- Spent the weekend on the beach for my 26th birthday

I saw this on The Blessed Life and thought it was a good idea. Here's some of my stats for the year! :)

2010 Top Posts:
1. Hello November, We Meet Again
2. Panic Tower Review
3. 30 Day Song Challenge

2010 Top Referring Sites:
1. Walk With Me By Faith {Which is neat, I'm not even following her, but now I am!}
2. Brown Eyed Belle
3. Katie's Journey

2010 Top Visiting Countries:
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Romania
5. Japan

Christmas 2010 in Pictures

Christmas is finally being put away in our house. We are keeping the tree up for a bit longer, but I'm slowly unpacking gifts, putting holiday knick knacks away, and trying to get rid of all the paper, ribbons and GLITTER! Christmas was pretty successful and here's a quick look at our day:

Christmas Morning

Christmas Card Wall! Featuring some of your lovely cards: Kelly's Avenue, Crazy Shenanigans, Starving, Insatiable, All-American Jess...among others!

Our little elf for the day....

Treats!

How to survive holidays with the family...

No, really, beer helps.

The third stop of the day!


Now, it's time to clean up! Kaze is trying to help..

Hope you all had lovely holidays, I can't wait to take a few minutes to post about some of the neat things I was able to get this week! :)

...Catching Up...

1. What are your New Year's Eve plans?
We are heading to a local bar where it's (of course) all you can drink with some catered food. This open bar might be a little dangerous, but I'll be sure to pace myself.

2. How tall are you?
5'4".

3. What is your favorite pudding flavor?
None. I recently discovered Jello's Mousse in Mint Chocolate and it's pretty good. And it's only 60 calories or something like that. Win.

4. What room of the house do you blog the most in?
Ha! The correct answer is I blog most at work, but lately I have been blogging from our home office.

5. What is your best physical feature?
Eyes, curves...

{one} I saw my first blu ray movie last night! Ha! I know, I know... I am so behind on the times. We watched Inception and it was pretty decent. I was entertained throughout, but I think everyone hyped it up so much! I didn't find it that confusing or too much of a thinking movie. It was interesting, sure, but it wasn't groundbreaking. Though, I do have weird taste in movies...

{two} I'm on VACATION this week! Hooray! I'm off until the new year which is pretty amazing...especially since I seem to have a never ending laundry pile, Christmas cleaning to do, and some various wedding related tasks to complete.

{three} I was *very* happy to get some of my registry gifts as Christmas presents this year. I was thoroughly surprised! From an ice glass shot mold (Don't judge, I totally already used it!) to somethings that are more useful (like new shower curtains), I'm ready to get everything unpacked and up around the house.

{four} I might have spent an hour or so re-working my registry now that I got some new Christmas goodies. I'm totally happy with all the items on it now though!

{five} And, you know, not to make anyone panic or anything... but I'm getting married in 54 days. That's less than two months. That's...um... so soon! This week we are applying for our passports...so that's at least one less thing to worry about. I need to go shopping because my bridal shower and bachelorette party are coming up in two weeks!

Top 2 New Years Resolutions
01; Graduate -- Yep, this is still on list of resolutions. Seeing as how I changed my graduate program very late in the game, I'm a bit behind. I only need three more classes to complete this degree, so I'm pretty confident I will accomplish this.

02; Save -- Again, another resolution from last year that I didn't really accomplish. Sure, I have some things to show for myself this year, but not anything really in that bank account! LOL

Christmas Cooking with Bloggers

I wanted to have some very easy recipes for the holidays this year. I'm not hosting Christmas (except for a brief lunch in the early afternoon), so I wanted to make some quick treats to share as we trekked across town for some various holiday get togethers! I must say, everything I made so far was delicious. And easy. I'm mostly posting this so I don't forget what I made this year since everyone loved it all.

*Truffles. AMAZING! See Katie's blog.
*Peppermint Bark. I was told this was hard to make, but this blog showed me otherwise. There was like no cooking involved, and it came out amazing.
*I'm not exactly Betty Crocker, so I didn't know cupcake flavorings existed. An old friend Ashlee showed me the way.
*Shrimp Butter. Love. This makes my chest hurt because it's so bad for you but it's oh so good. Melissa shared this with her readers last week!

• 1 8-oz package cream cheese (room temp)
• 1/2 cup butter (room temp)
• 1 Tablespoons mayo
• 1 small onion, grated
• 2 (4.5 oz) cans shrimp, drained & chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper to taste

In a bowl, combine all ingredients & chill. Remove from fridge & allow to come to room temperature. I served it with Garlic Triscuits. Mm!

I found this article last week and I might put it to good use this year. A great list of instant appetizers. :) Get it here!

Things you should know about me if we're gonna be BFF...

Linking up to Little Miss Momma -- Things you should know if we are going to be besties...

01; I'm reliable. If I tell you I'm coming, I'll be there.

02; I always show up on time (just not to work, that's yucky!). If we are meeting for happy hour, a night at the bar, or whatever... I'm always on time. I am actually probably early.

03; I expect the same courtesy in return when it comes to texts, phone calls, hanging out, or invitations. I always try to text/call back as soon as I can, and I always RSVP in a timely fashion! It bothers me to no end when others don't extend that same courtesy.

04; I like to have a good time. Don't judge me if I'm dancing on the bar for a free shot, and I won't judge you!

05; I like to be the "planner." If you're having a birthday, you better expect some kind of celebration! (Unless I'm broke but birthdays are a big deal to me!)

06; I love holidays -- cards, gifts, candy. It doesn't matter the holiday. St. Patrick's Day expect to see me decked out in green at the bar, Christmas has me spoiling friends and spreading cheer.

07; Happy Hour is my favorite time to get together. I just can't handle late Saturday nights anymore! ;)

08; I like to talk. A lot. I hope you like to listen.

09; I'm pretty low maintenance. I understand that everyone has a crazy schedule. While I try to regularly hang out with my ladies, I totally get that some weeks it is just not possible.

10; I'm definitely more of a social person who enjoys hanging out outside the house. I hope you are too!