Christmas Prep

As you may or may not know...

My family takes their cookie baking very seriously!  It is a yearly tradition at Thanksgiving now.  We go to my sisters house and then day after (sometimes Thanksgiving Day night) we begin our baking extravaganza!!!  I swear we make more and more each year!

We used to keep the little ones busy doing other things so they did not get in the way but now they love to help! We let them unwrap the kisses and peanut butter cups, crush the candy canes, ice the sugar cookies, etc.  So, all in all, we have about 17 people mixing, unwrapping baking, etc....it is awesome chaos!!!  Thank goodness my sister has a big house and two ovens!!

Below is a picture of the cookie table near the end of the baking...I think we still had two kinds added to this collection after the picture.  This picture also does not include the buckeyes, coconut dippers and chocolate dipped Oreo's as the dipped cookies were at another table in the kitchen!  Lots of baking but lots of awesome cookie trays for friends!!!  We split them all up at the end and share!! :-)

This is an advent calendar that my niece and I saw at AC Moore and decided to make as a little project together.  It was like $10 dollars for the unpainted wooden tree (half off coupon for black Friday) and then we just painted them and decorated with stickers! They turned out soooooooo cute!!  Each drawer has Rolos in it for a daily treat (I haven't eaten any yet - ha) and there is a holly rancher hidden in two drawers...my nieces loaded the drawers for me! HEE

 

This is my new favorite motto!!! LOVE THIS!!!! I stole it from another blogger friend and I cannot remember who - so if it was you, THANKS!

 

Tonight I get to hobnob with the rich and famous!!! My friend at work does a lot of volunteer work for Cystic Fibrosis and they are having a fundraiser tonight and she has invited me to go along.  It is at a restaurant in Pittsburgh (I will not say where as I am not sure if this is a publicized thing and would not want to tempt anyone to sneak in - HEE).  I will get to take a football around to be signed by at least 15 of the Pittsburgh Steelers!!! Yes, you heard me right!!! The football and admission were $200 and since my friend will be doing volunteer work I get to take her football around to the players - SCORE ME!!!  I may not be allowed to get photos but I will at least get pics of the football with the names before I have to hand it back over to her.  Pics to follow tomorrow.

Have a happy rest of your week bloggy friends!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy turkey day bloggy peeps! I wish you all a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day!

This is my Facebook selfie of my healthy ROADTRIP food. I drove from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg yesterday to get here to my sisters house. Drove like a maniac as I was so excited to see my family!!

This was my First and Real ROADTRIP treat...I are the WHOLE thing!! Scary...gotta make it to the gym as I know I am no testing very healthy already hee hee!

This is the traffic...ick! For about twenty minutes I sat completely still on the turnpike...lots and lots of people traveling on Wednesday! I still made good time though and got to Harrisburg in 3 hours!

Last night my two adorable nieces, Jordan and Jessica, and I went to see Catching Fire finally!! YO-SHOUT OUT JOJO!! (She actually reads my blog-awwww).

It was amazing!!

I cannot say enough how awesome it was and now I am going to re-read all three books in anticipation of the third movie! Yippee!

This morning my niece Jordan (hey, look! Another shoutout JoJo!!) and I went to Body Combat at her gym called Momentum! It rocked-I loved it! Also, we now know if anyone gets out go hand at Thanksgiving dinner today, my and Jordan are ready for them!!! Ha!

This is a lovely turkey butt picture I posted on Facebook today for the fun if it...looks gross now but this is my favorite part of thanksgiving meal!!!! Well, not the butt but you know! Hee!

Seriously, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! May you spend your day with those you love! Thanks for all the inspiration and motivation each and every one of you gives me throughout the year! Happy and blessed day to you and yours! XO

 

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Eventful Weekend

I am ready for Monday!

This weekend was crazy hectic trying to get a bunch of things done and the only thing that got left out was changing the water in the fish tanks so I guess that will happen after work today.

It was a SERIOUSLY productive weekend!

I got the whole condo decorated for Christmas so when I come home from my sisters after Thanksgiving I can just plug in the lights and enjoy for four weeks!!!

Saturday morning I went to Cardio HipHop and then went and picked out my Christmas Tree at Lowe's.  Here is me with it in my Civic for the drive home....

 

Then I went home, drug it up the steps to the Condo, secured it into the stand (by far the hardest part)  and decorated it.  Below is the completed version...lit and all!!! My favorite part of holiday decorating is getting out each ornament and remembering who or where it is from...LOVE this!!!

Next I went to a meeting at 7:30 and was going to the movies after that with myself to see Catching Fire - since I cant wait to see this movie!!!!!!!! Well, after the meeting was over I came out of the building to two inches of snow and very slippery roads.  I was stuck on the highway for about an hour until the roads were salted and clear enough to drive on so needless to say I went straight home after that...not a fun Saturday night!

Sunday morning I went to Cardio HipHop and then home to enjoy my decor some more.  Here is the rest of the condo decorated...

Sunday night I went to BodyPump at 5:30 and then Zumba 6:30 at StudioFit.

After that I went to my brother's friends house to pick up some clothes for his kids that are hand me downs from his friends kids...catch that?? I will deliver these Thanksgiving weekend to my brother.

Then I went to my home group meeting at 8:00PM and finally to bed......soooooooooooo sleepy!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!!! Anyone else decorate this weekend???

FMM - The Holidays and More

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

The Holidays and More: Part 2

 

1. What state/country do you live in?  Pittsburgh, PA

2. Where were you born? Were you raised there? I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and never left.  Although, my whole family did! My Mom and Dad moved here after they were married and raised their family. They then decided that they wanted to retire on a lake so they moved to Ohio.  Then my oldest sister went to Harrisburg and other two siblings went to Ohio too. So i am now alone in Pittsburgh...but still loving it here and NOT leaving until I retire and move to the Caribbean!!

3. How do you feel about stores like Wal-mart opening on Thanksgiving Day for pre-Black Friday sales? Will you participate? My family has a tradition of shopping on Black Friday so I love it!!! We go at Midnight as a family (well the girls that is...) and all the littler kids look forward to the day when they are old enough to come too!

4. Have you ever participated in a Turkey Trot? Will you do one this year?  No, I am too busy helping cook the morning of Thanksgiving and then far too busy eating on Thanksgiving.  We walk around the neighborhood after dinner as a family though...does that count??

5. What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved this robot that I had! I cant even remember what it was called but you put a 8track into it and it would ask you questions...like a quiz.  Does anyone remember what it was called??? I LOVED IT!!

6. Will you count points/calories on Thanksgiving Day? No, I will try to track what I eat and limit myself to ONE dessert! Even if that means a half slice of pumpkin pie and and half slice of apple!!! HA

7. Will you watch football Thursday?  I am quite sure it will be on the FAMILY TV all day for the man folk in the house....whether I watch it or not remains to be seen...We are normally soo busy catching up and chatting that we don't even notice the noise it makes and it keeps the boys quite.

8. Do you decorate inside/outside of your home for the holidays?  I decorate both and lots of decor!!!!!!!!! Love the holidays and glitter and lights and sparkle!!! I did all my Chrstmas decor this past weekend...including buying and decorating my REAL tree!! LOVE a real tree - my Condo smells amazing!

9. Do you have allergies that prevent you from eating traditional holiday meals? None whatsoever!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness...

10. Is it snowing where you live? Yep! Scary as it seems kinda early but I need to force myself to enjoy it for the next 20 years as I will probably miss the season changes when I retire to the Caribbean! HEE

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions. Don’t forget to go back to Kenlie's and link up in the comments.  Happy Monday!

5 on Friday

Hi all!!! I am sooooooooooo happy it's Friday - literally doing the happy dance here in PA!!!

It has been a looooooong week and I am ready for a fun and eventful weekend!!!

Link up and play along at April or Christina's because it is time for Five on Friday!!


ONE:  I LOVE my company!!!  I got a little appreciation $$$ at my job...so happy!!!  Got a little unexpected raise of a sorts!! It is so nice to be acknowledged and appreciated without having to beg for it!! So, I treated myself to my first pedicure in a long time. This is my actual photo from Facebook!

TWO:  Because of the unexpected monies I am also treating myself to a 90 minute deep tissue massage tomorrow morning! I scheduled the first available appointment (so his hands are fresh and rested) with Adam at Spa in the Hollow!!!  I have not gone in a looooooooong time and with all this working out I am long over due!!!

THREE:  I am soooo excited to get my Christmas Tree this weekend!!!! I know many people think this is too early but I love the smell and sight sooo much in my home that I cannot wait.  I also know that, now days, everyone is into a plastic reusable tree but I just cannot handle that...I HAVE to have a real tree (spiders, sap and all). So I will be heading off to Home Depot to check out their selection!!! Yippee!!! PS - My favorite thing about Christmas decorating is getting out all my ornaments and remembering who gave them to me or made them for me...LOVE LOVE LOVE my ornaments!!!

FOUR:  I am using this weekend home to also catch up on all my TV viewing that I missed all week.  I need to watch Two Broke Girls, Mom, The Millers, Mike and Molly, Survivor, Biggest Loser. Grimm and Dracula....wow - that is a lot of television catching up when you see it all typed out! I have been doing so good sticking to my gym routine at night so by the time I get home its already 9 or 10 and I hit the shower and then bed.

FIVE:  I ate my very favorite thing last night - FRIED PICKLES!! Yes, you heard me right! I know, number two was sticking to my gym routine and number three is fried food! HA! Yesterday was my day off from the gym this week (I take one a week) and I went to dinner with two of my very best girlfriends at Pennsbury Pub and Grille. They have the ultimate in awesome bar food so I could not resist!!! If you are in the area of the Pittsburgh Airport you should check it out!  I ate a blue cheese burger and fried pickles!!!!!!!!! YUM YUM YUM!

Happy Friday!!!!!!!! Hope yinz all have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!

Workout Week

I have to report in and say that this has been a great week for workouts...

Maybe the MAN stress has had something to do with it...hee!!

My workouts have rocked all week and I am looking forward to a night off tonight (dinner with girlfriends) and my massage with Adam on Saturday morning.  I got his first appointment of the day hoping his hands will be extra massagey (I know its not a word, it should be!)  Adam works at Spa in the Hollow near my house and he is the best Masseuse on the planet!!! It is 90 minutes of heaven on earth!!!

Here's the rundown so far this week...

Sunday HipHop         636 calories burned
SundayBodyPump     311 calories burned

Monday BodyPump    279 calories burned
Monday HipHop        598 calories burned

Tuesday HipHop         614 calories burned
Tuesday Zumba          469 calories burned

Wednesday BodyPump  284 calories burned
Wednesday Zumba         525 calories burned

Thursday - OFF!!!!!!

These numbers are from my BodyMedia wristband...I think the BodyPump numbers are low but even if they are correct; it is a serious hour of repetitive lifting and toning so I'll take it!

My calories per day have also been great all week (staying between 1200 and 1400) and I am on track to end this week strong!!! How many calories to each of you allow per day total....I have had a few people tell me that I am not eating enough for the amount I exercise and I am losing very slowly - but at least I am losing!

Happy Thursday yinz!

White Flags Galore

Since my last text to or from M was yesterday morning agreeing that maybe we should try to date again and letting him know that I would be around this weekend if he wanted to plan something....


And I have not heard a WORD AT ALL SINCE (day and a half passed)...

I just sent him the following text....

"Chalk it up to another conversation we should have not have had...you are off the hook for the date...it's all good"

And, yes, you guessed right!!! He has not responded to that either!!!!!! 

Better to bail out now than be hurt again and I don't see a second chance ending any better than the first...especially since we are already back to no communication! :-)

I OFFICIALLY give up on finding a nice, sweet, normal guy!

Whatever...........

Happy hump day yinz!!!!!!!!!