Thankful Tuesday = Out With The Old, In With The New

I have been trying to think of what to write or say about 2013. I saw a statistic on the TV this week that indicated that 2/3 of Americans think that 2013 was a bad year.  Wow! It's all about perspective isn't it? I wouldn't say 2013 was a bad year, in fact for me it was a year of a lot of gained independence, a lot of trying new things, new friendships, soul searching and expansion of my horizons, giving and gratitude. I am happy with how 2013 turned out. In fact, I am grateful for (relatively) good health and for the new opportunity that each day has provided me. Over the past year I have felt more at peace with myself and my surroundings and I hope that 2014 brings me the continued peace, growth, friendships and family! I have a lot to look forward to and a lot going on in the coming months! With much happiness and love, here's to 2014!

12 months of happiness,

52 weeks of fun,

365 days of success,

8760 hours of good health,

52600 minutes of good luck,

3,153,600 seconds of  joy

December Photo Dump

                    

1. Clark got himself a blow up toupee for Christmas.  The picture doesn't quite do this justice!

2. Christmas baking goodies at its finest!

3. O'Precious One got to meet Santa Claus.

4. The stockings were hung

5. The new skinny tree in OP.

6. And More stockings were hung.

7. Indulging in some Torino's Pizza in FF. Haven't had it since maybe 7th grade and oh so yummy!

8. A happy Freddy after being Iowa!  11-0 best start in school history!

9. Almond Sugar Cookies- see recipe below.

10. My best buddy & first nephdog, Kaspar.

11. Suzie homemaker.

Baked Ravioli

So this recipe seriously takes less than 5 minutes to throw together. I split mine in half so I have half for later in the freezer and half for now.

Baked Ravioli
1 package of ravioli
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 package of Italian cheese
(I added pepperonis)

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered with foil. Take foil off and bake for 15 more minutes. I was so starving when I ate that I do not have a good finished product picture.

                                       

Red Velvet Poke Cake

In our family, red velvet cake is a tradition at Christmas.  Maybe one of the most memorable Christmas' was when Grandma made red velvet cake with rancid crisco.  Just ask my dad about that, but that is a whole other blog post! Anyhow, I found a recipe for a twist on red velvet cake that I tried this year; Red Velvet Poke Cake. It was delish and then some!  I actually pinned this recipe and it can be found here along with many other poke cake recipes and ideas.

                                           

                                           

Chile Braised Beef Brisket

My BIL has the best recipe for Chile Braised Beef Brisket and we've had it the past two Christmas Eve's! It is delish! A must try. You can click here to get the recipe!

Feel Good Friday

                         

Wordless Wednesday

                        

Thankful Tuesday

  Home sweet home with the family = thankful.

Almond Sugar Cookies

Christmas isn't complete without sugar cookies, right? I pinned this recipe on Pinterest awhile back and finally tried it over the weekend. Delish!

Almond Sugar Cookies

2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk (or water)
2 teaspoons almond extract
directions:

Icing:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and almond extract, mixing until combined. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until completely combined.

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into small circles and then press with hands (or with the bottom of a cup) into a disk shape. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will not look browned or cooked, but they are! Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Ice:

In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk and almond extract - until smooth.

Using a spoon, smooth icing onto the top of each cookie and let set for 10 minutes, or until hardened. Store in the fridge, let come to room temperature when ready to serve.

                                  

MGA Triple Crown Update

Which horse will you be?  We are finally on our way and making progress with the planning of the 4th Annual Greater KC MGA Triple Crown Run.  We have hit a couple of bumps this year which has made progress a bit slower than normal but sponsorship forms are going out, registrations can now begin and donations can be made! We are super excited.

The MGA Triple Crown Run will take place on Saturday May 17, 2014 at Town Center in Leawood!  Sponsorship Levels begin at $250 and go all the way up to $5000.  If you or a business you know are interested in becoming a sponsor (which horse will you be?) please contact myself or Jill Stringer and we will get you set up!

We are also super excited that we will have a Tot Trot for the kids and if you'd rather stay in bed that morning we will have a stay in your stall option! This year we have partnered with Bodies Racing Company and you can register for the MGA Triple Crown Run here.  We also have a website which is going live very soon!  We hope you'll join us this year as we have high hopes in making this the best year yet!

Rules Rules Rules

After my series of frustration earlier in the week I saw this and knew it was something I needed to be reminded of. Go forth with with joy as we enter this holiday week! Bring on the vacation, family time, good wine and great food!

                   

Feel Good Friday

                           

Wordless Wednesday

Plaza Lights! One of the things KC is known for this time of the year!

Thankful Tuesday

After the last few days I was thinking last night I am just not sure what the heck to be thankful for. When it rains it pours.  Not only have I lost my primary email communication over the last week but work has been a bear for my coworkers and I as we prepare to transition to Kansas' privatization of Medicaid, which is about as brilliant as Jessica Simpson and her Chicken of the Sea rendition from a few years back.  Anyhow, I got home last night with about an hour to spare before going to girls night when I went to take out my palatal lift (which I often do if I am home alone as gives my mouth a break) and as I pulled it out of my mouth it snapped and broke onto the counter.  If you know me well you know that I do not speak without my palatal lift. My palate if far too weak to close when I speak without the help of my palatal lift leading to hypernasal and hard to understand speech.

It was the icing on the cake. Tears began to fall, big tears. I don't cry often. What in the world is God doing to me taking away every way that I communicate with people, first my email, now my speaking device?  I had to take a rain check on girls night and put on my pjs and ordered pizza.

I guess sometimes it takes being pushed to your lowest to look to your highest. The really positive outcome in this is I already had an 11am appointment today for my final fitting for my new palatal lift so I guess it broke at the right time if it was gonna break.

We easily take for granted how what a breeze life can be for us because we can get on the computer and shoot out an email and plan a girls night or work appointment without really lifting a finger. I'm lucky I've got about 3 devices that I use to connect to the internet, wifi in my home and most places I go. At least I'm not walking 5 miles to deliver a message in some poverty ridden village in Africa or something.  I'm lucky that when I was in college a referral to Mayo Clinic lead to the device being build to restore my speech as I had spoken for years without said device and had a very hard time being heard and understood.  I rely on my voice for my job and for my relationships. Without my palatal lift I am not sure I could hold the job I hold now.  I am often talking ALL.DAY.LONG either in person or via phone which is why I DETEST talking on the phone at night, my voice is tired.  I have lost my voice until 11am today and that's ok, that's doable.  At least I know when I'm getting it back!

I'm thankful today. The last few days have not been fun due to some major bumps in the road but a few from today I'll be reunited with my lovely family, cozy at home with my voice. There's always something to be thankful for.

                                 

2nd Bah Humbug- Email Update

The holiday season was going so well and I was feeling so great about everything until the Yahoo disaster of 2013 came into my life last Wednesday. Now I sit here overwhelmed by all the things I need to change and people I need to contact. It makes me want to cry. I started the process yesterday of switching over to a new email account but when you have no access to contacts or files it is a little daunting... a little bit of Bah Humbug!

My new email is allisonkfoss@gmail.com- please use that from now on.  Yahoo indicates that they have corrected 99.9% of user accounts. Unfortunately that is NOT me.  There are many many cuss words for Yahoo. They don't answer their phone, I call everyday and you get disconnected after being on hold for an uncomfortable amount of time. I have sent "Help" requests everyday via their contact form with no response. I have read multiple message boards and user forums and there are still many other people with the same issues. What gives? I just need my life back. I need my tax info, 4 years of MGA Run info, my online bill info and best of all now I am locked out of my bank account because I don't have an active email address. You see when emails are going to my yahoo they bounce back.

What did we do before email? Any volunteers to be my personal assistance and set this all back up?  Best of all, I hate gmail and the set up! AHHHH. Bah Humbug for sure! Here's to hoping this week gets better.......

US Open Salad

My mom makes this delicious salad that we have termed US Open Salad because we first tasted it when we were in Minneapolis and my parents attended the US Open with family friends over 2 decades ago! I was craving it the today and it tasted so good- even in the cold spell of December!

US Open Salad (Asian Salad)
1 bag of cole slaw mix- actually I found a bag of Oriental Chop Salad Mix that I used
diced green onions
2 packages of roman noodles (broken up)
3/4 cup of sliced almonds
1/2 cup of sunflower kernels

Pre-heat oven to 200 and toast the roman noodles, almonds and sunflower kernels.  This takes about 5-6 minutes. Don't start a fire. We have had that problem in our family!

For the dressing you mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 oil, 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 1/2 TB soy sauce, Mix together and bring to a boil on the stove, once boiling remove and chill in order to pour on your salad.

Mix everything together and there you go! On and PS, you can add chicken and make it your main dish! So tasty!

                                   

Day 3 of Being Naked

My Yahoo email has been down going on 3 days.  This is the third day I have felt naked. How did we survive without email? My life is in that email account.  I have spent countless hours on hold trying to speak to somebody at Yahoo only to find out I am 1 person in 9 million that do not have access to their accounts. I have debated and debated about using my gmail account as my primary because I don't want to switch everything over and because I don't like the gmail format. It may be time to do the actual switch!  Here's to hoping this can be fixed today!
                               

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday I got a pin for 5 years of service at my job. This is the longest I have had a job since college which seems funny to say. My other jobs were 2 years, 6 months and 4 1/2 years.  Cheers to another 5 years and working toward the 30 year pin, er I mean iPod that can be earned.... :)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

I was gathering my purse and putting on my gloves to get out of my car to walk into a funeral this afternoon when I realized the song playing on the radio was, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."  Is it?  

I immediately was filled with a little bit of sadness; for the family who was getting ready to bury their loved one and for my cousins and uncle who will spend their first year without my Aunt Leslie.  

We are often so filled to the brim with bright lights, holiday parties, tree trimming, gift buying and cookie baking that we forget about families or individuals that suffer through the holidays because its their first year without so and so or its the first holiday that they are separated due to a divorce or away from family due to where they live.  What are the holidays like for them?  Their version of Christmas will never be the same, buying a gift for their mom or Grandpa may never happen again.  

This time of year I also think of the clients I work with and what the holidays are like for them.  We often see their behaviors increase in November and December as  many of them are without families, holiday plans and gifts or unable to enjoy holiday cookies or goodies. While the majority of us relish in the previous mentioned thoughts, they are unable to partake for a variety of reasons.  One of my favorite parts of my job is when I get to deliver donated gifts to those on my caseload as it is a reminder of how blessed I am.

So this year, when you are trimming your tree or baking your cookies, I encourage you to reach out and take a second to make somebody's holidays a little brighter because the holidays can often bring a time of depression or anxiety due to a loss or worry due to debt. In a world that moves a million miles a second, where the "busy" phenomenon plagues many of us we needed to be reminded that it only takes a hug or a kind gesture or word to turn a day around for somebody less fortunate or for somebody grieving. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or adopt a family,  take cookies to your elderly neighbors (PS. I'm sure missing Thelma this year!),  or just make yourself available to chat to somebody that has suffered a loss this year.

  
My Grandma Foss died shortly before Christmas in 2005 and my KC Mama (hi MA) gave me this little poem in a Christmas card.  For any who have lost somebody this year just remember this:

My First Christmas in Heaven

I see the countless Christmas Trees around the

world below, with tiny lights, like heaven`s stars 

reflecting on the snow, The sight is so spectacular

please wipe away that tear, For I am spending

Christmas with Jesus Christ this year, I hear the

many Christmas songs that people hold so dear

but the sounds of music can't compare with the

Christmas choir up here, I have no words to tell 

you, the joy their voices bring, For it is beyond

description, to hear the angels sing, I know how

much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart, 

But I am not so far away, We really aren't apart

so be happy for me dear ones, you know I hold

you dear and be glad I'm spending Christmas with

Jesus this year.

I send you each a memory, of my undying love, 

After all 'LOVE' is the gift, more precious than pure

gold, it was always most important in the stories 

Jesus told, please love and keep each other, as my 

father said to do, For I can't count the blessings

or Love he has for each of you, SO have a Merry 

Christmas and wipe away that tear, remember

I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

Thankful Tuesday

101.  MGA Triple Crown Supporters- thank you for coming out Friday night for our shopping event! Much love & appreciation!
102. My mama- treatment day last week and once again she was by my side.
103. Saturdays with no plans- how great did last Saturday feel. I stayed in my pjs and was SO lazy.
104. Corner Bakery! It's finally in KC! I've been waiting 10 years.
105. Generosity.  Tis the season
106. Compliments. What is that say, a compliment can go a thousand miles? I need to give more of them.
107. Secret Santas. Also tis the season. Love this little game!
108. OT- thanks to Sammy B and his "smartness" in the state of KS, we are all getting a little OT.  Dare I say I'd be thankful if somebody punched him in the face? J/K- oh no not really!
109. Cheesy movies. I guess I have to say it again, tis the season....
110. Sugar cookies. Ok, one last time, tis the season! :)

Monday Monday

You know it's gonna be a good Monday when you get to work extra early, mostly because you got up early to go work out but you knew it was so freaking cold out that if you went to work out you wouldn't be able to bring yourself to change into normal work clothes when you are done. Since when did I live in Alaska. Anyway, you get to work and you find this on your desk from your Secret Santa.  SO.MUCH.BETTER. than the year that I got a rusty angel pin and a box of cordial cherries for my total reward for playing.......

My One & Only Bah Humbug

I don't lose things.  I don't want to say I never lose things but it's pretty close to being true. Somehow I have lost ALL of my Christmas CDs.  I love Christmas music. Funny as it sounds and I know my brother and sister are cackling at this but I love a little holiday music. I had a good collection of Christmas CDs and they are nowhere to be found. I cleaned out my entire guest bedroom when Cory moved in and I wondered if I had placed them in a box in the attic. I've been up there several times to check and they are nowhere. I am afraid I may have mistaken a box they were in and taken to Goodwill. So wherever they may be I hope they are getting used this season.  My sweet mama bought me a new Christmas CD when she was here this past week because I think she felt sorry for my little organization disaster.  My one and only bah humbug of Christmas 2013.
                                           
And just for J & C, "like a sleigh ride......."  I hope you all are enjoying your Christmas tunes this time of year.

MGA Triple Crown Showdown

After much drama and chaos we have a logo for the upcoming 4th Annual MGA Triple Crown Showdown! We hope you'll put this on your calendars and join us!  More details to come!  Special thanks to my friend Kristine for her initiation in getting this done!

Wordless Wednesday

I love all the festivities of Christmas and the decorations.  I may or may not have put the tree up 2 weeks ago but why not enjoy it longer.  And somebody else in our house is a tad too curious about the tree. We shall see how long it lasts. It may be a long December......

                                   

MGA Holiday Shopping Showcase

Please join us on Friday to shop for a great cause! We'll have cocktails & snacks! You'll be able to register for the 4th Annual MGA Triple Crown Showdown at the party Friday for $25 in addition to getting free raffle tickets to many awesome prizes from Team Cocktail, Scentsy, Thirty One, Tastefully Simple, etc. Hope to see you there!

Thankful Tuesday

91. Thanksgiving! Did I say that last week? Anyway, I had a great Thanksgiving and am so grateful for the time spent with my family.
92. Vacation- um, who isn't Thankful for a few days off work?
93. Headphones. Holy moly. I would seriously pay more money to fly on a plane sans kids. I ALWAYS get stuck by the kids who cry, scream and kick your seat. Enough!
94. Ok one more. Showers. I also got stuck next to a man who was quite stinky on my flight to Chicago.  Take a shower. Heck, embrace the opportunity to shower and smell good!
95. Brunch. I often forget about the option of going to brunch but loved having brunch with a bunch of friends on Saturday. BTW- Louie's Wine Dive has a great brunch!
96. Surprises! My brother surprised us all this weekend. Not because he wasn't ready but because he finally proposed and we've all been hoping he'd do it for the past year! If you're reading, congrats again!
97. Early morning peace. I set my alarm and go up very early on Sunday and went to early church with everybody else who was probably an AARP card holder. But that's ok. It felt good and productive to get going early on a Sunday.
98. Christmas cards. I love that this is the time of year these start coming in. So fun to see everybody's cards.
99. Paul Rhoads- did you see his postgame speech from Saturday night? Love that guy!
100. Giving Tuesday. Who cares about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's Giving Tuesday. Go out and give a little!

The Good Life

Wow! What a memorable Thanksgiving. Auntie gave Kaspar his first beer which he promptly chewed the top off, Dad's grocery store fail, cheering the Cyclones on to an overtime victory and best yet, surprise, I'm gonna be gaining a SIL!! Thanksgiving weekend 2013 goes down in the books! I hope yours was just as good! Cheers!

                      

Feel Good Friday

                                                   

Wordless Wednesday

Recall a few Thankful Tuesdays ago I mentioned that my friend Ashley sent me a picture that had me cracking up! Well, as I mentioned my job sometimes takes serious work to a whole new level and at times we need some stupidity and things to giggle about.

So you may also remember that last fall a group of friends and I rode the Pedal Hopper around Waldo on a bar crawl.

A few people may have been overserved.  And a few people may have thought it was really funny to stick signs from the CVS bathroom in sweet Ashley's purse.  And lucky for us Ashley saves those items so we can all laugh about it a year later and remember how to behave in public restrooms.  Perhaps we will mature sometime in the near future and not find such shenanigans so funny.

                                     

And that my friends is your wordless Wednesday and a giggle for the day!

Chicago Bound

Here I am again, online on a flight to Chicago! So thankful for in flight internet, makes flights with gum choppers and screaming kids so much more doable! In all seriousness, as I boarded my flight to Chicago today I thought about my last flight into Chicago for Jill's wedding and the girl I encountered in the taxi on the way to the city. You may recall I blogged about it here.

I wonder how she's doing this Thanksgiving, her first without her parents and her kiddo? How is she managing her grief? Kristen Green, I've thought about her off and on this fall and thought of her recovery from such tragedy. I'll say a prayer for her again this Thanksgiving.

May you be blessed with many great memories, great food and special time with your loved ones this Thanksgiving and everyday! Thank you for being a special part of my life! Happy Thanksgiving!

                                        

Thankful Tuesday

As I sit here and write this, Black Friday after Black Friday commercial streams on TV.  I don't know about you but I have had just about enough of the Black Friday banter.  Whatever happened to Thanksgiving?  I read an article yesterday that talked about the "shoppers" are to blame for stores opening on Thanksgiving and all the Black Friday talk. Probably not too far from the truth. At any rate, so much to be thankful for on this day and on every Thanksgiving.  

81. New friends
82. Happy Hour
83. The warmth of my house. Seriously, winter go back to North Dakota or something.
84. Days when I can work from home.
85. Curiosity of a young mind! I babysat for an old friend's kids last week and hadn't seen them in forever. So sweet and innocent.
86. Hair color- thank you Sweet Jesus- we are no longer gray!
87. Productivity- is there any greater feeling for a work day?
88. Honesty
89. Snooze. I accidentally slept through the snooze button on Sunday for 3 hours! Yep, Missed church and everything. I am thankful for mornings when I can afford to snooze for 3 more hours. Must have needed it.
90. Leaf machines- Cory brought home a big leaf machine and the front yard is once again free of the chaos of leaves. It wouldn't fit through the gate for the back yard but we all know how I feel about collecting the neighborhood of leaves in my yard!
                                   

Thinking about JFK

I meant to post this on Friday but the day got away from me.  As we recognized 50 years since the time of JFK's assassination on Friday November 22, I was thinking about all the times I visited the 6th Floor Library when I lived in Dallas. It was kind of a staple for when visitors came to town of things to do.

I started sifting through pictures of the Dallas days to find pictures of trips to the 6th Floor Library and Dealey Plaza in Dallas. I quickly recalled how emotional my Grandparents became on our trip to the 6th Floor Library.  To them the assassination of JFK is probably much like 9/11 is to my generation.  A day you will never forget.  My Grandpa and Grandma Foss have both been gone 5 and nearly 8 years now but I will never forget the day we went to the 6th Floor Library. It was also the day my Grandma changed her clothes so we could be dressed alike, yes she liked to do that!

"My fellow Americans ask what not your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." JFK

                                 

Feel Good Friday

                             

Wordless Wednesday

Sometimes my day job is a tad stressful and brings real life situations smack in your face that make you want to hide under your pillow. Dealing with life and death and the well being of others is HARD.  So that my friends is why we need something a little stupid for Wordless Wednesday.

Below is what happens when you go to the Chiefs game, you get overserved, you lose your bag of stuff including your shoes (don't worry you had on another pair for the actual game), your phone charger, your wine sippy cup and your nice bowl that you brought chip dip in.  A friend finds this bag a month later at their house and a plastic bag has been nicely placed around the dip bowl for the time being.  A new dip has started creating itself and its a two man job to get the bowl clean because you will each need to hold your noses while you un cut the plastic bag from the bowl, run HOT HOT water and get soap into the bowl to let it sit for days to clean out.  WHO DOES THAT?  I certainly don't know who.

                                   

And the real lesson learned here is never take a nice bowl to a Chiefs game!

Thankful Tuesday

71. Cough Drops. My co-workers are thankful too.
72. Sleep.  I know there is that saying that you can sleep when you die but after a 3 hour nap on Sunday I am thankful for sleep.
73. Cyclone Victories. I forgot how they felt. Still smiling after ISU knocked off #7 Michigan!
74. Windows. I am thankful for chilly fall nights with the windows open.
75. Pinterest. I am thankful for all the fun ideas and recipes on Pinterest. Made one of my favorites over the weekend!
76. Pictures. My friend Ashley sent me a picture from the Pedal Hopper Shenanigans last fall and I about fell out of my chair and peed my pants. So fun to have the ability to get a picture over your phone of a great memory! Thanks Ashley!
77. Corks & Crafts Girls! A new group I am thankful for. Fun fun times for our first event and can't wait for the next one.
78. My Health. This week has been a b*tch. I have not felt this crummy in a long time. Coughing, stuffed up, runny nose. But just when I think how terrible I have it I need to think how great I have it. It could be SO.MUCH.WORSE.
79. Dr. V- He's working on my new palatal lift! It should be in place by the end of the year with my insurance paying for it!
80. Holiday Parties. It's fun that holiday party invites have started surfacing! Such a great time of the year to embrace all old and new!
                           

Corks & Crafts Recap

Our first meeting of Corks & Crafts was last week. A group of random girls (we'd love more if you'd like to join us) bring their favorite cocktail and a craft project and make a night of it! It was really fun. There was painting, modge podging, hot glue gunning (and some boo boo's- sorry Liz), wine drinking, beer drinking, wreath making, Christmas list making. It was a GREAT time. I am super excited for the next one and again if you have a craft up your sleeve message me so you can join us!

                                  

Candy Mints

Late last week I was talking to somebody who was going to be making candy mints for an event this weekend. You know those yummy cream cheese mints that seem sort of old fashion and you see at baby showers or weddings next to the peanuts?  Well I got to thinking and recalled that my late aunt Leslie, also my Godmother, had once given me a recipe and a mold to make mints. I am not even sure why she gave this to me or when it was.

Low and behold I came home and started digging through my recipe box and there it was. A little gold pamphlet with a gray candy mold.  Honestly I've never tried to make them and not really sure when I would. As I was not particularly close to my aunt it was pretty cool to go back and find something she had given me years earlier.

                                   

Wordless Wednesday

Somebody is a tad excited for the first episode of Cork and Craft night with friends! Horrendous cough and all, I've got my wine chilling and my first project will help me reuse a bunch of these....

Thankful Tuesday

61. Family visits- my family came to visit me this weekend so we could attend a family wedding.  I loved hosting them all in KC.
62. Sudafed. Nothing ends a good weekend visit with your family than coming down with the crummiest, crud, coughing and such. Bring on the Sudafed.
63. Veterans Day. Thankful for those who protect us and serve our country in times of need. Also this year thankful for a day off so I could try to sleep off this crud.
64. My car warranty. We have 300 miles left and the warranty expires. Ugh.  Thankful that I got the car in last Friday and they found some issues and they can be fixed before I'd have to pay out of pocket.
65. Rental Cars. See above.
66. My Dyson. We've had a full house the last few days. Besides my family, we've been watching 2 of the sweetest doggies. Unfortunately they shed area rugs of fur....nothing that my Dyson can't handle!
67. Pizza Hut. On a night where I can barely take a break for a minute of coughing. I'm thankful for pizza hut for the delivery of my dinner last night.
68. Coupons. I scored a $5 Banana Republic cardigan last week with the use of 2 coupons. Can't beat that!
69. Christmas cards. As I was working on mine last night it made me smile to think of receiving mail during the holiday season. I love Christmas cards!
70. Early bedtimes. And this week, crummy cold and all, I am thankful for being able to go to bed early.

                                  

Mirror Mirror

I found this lovely mirror at the Salvation Army in Mission last weekend for a mere $14.95. It needed another coat of gold spray paint which was super easy! Add in a BIL in town over the weekend who tackles home projects faster than anybody I know and viola! 

Holiday Shopping Opportunity

We are once again teaming up with several businesses for the MGA Holiday Shop to benefit the MGA Triple Crown Run.  We hope you'll join us on Friday December 6, 2013 from 4-8pm at the Team Cocktail Headquarters for a little shopping, some snacks and some cocktails! All for a great cause!

Football Obsession

I have a football dish obsession. I love all dishes football. I love having people over to watch football and serving out of my football dishes. I have found TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning and Goodwill some of the best places to find football dishes!

                                                          

However recently I saw an idea on Pinterest that I recreated to hold silverware for a football occasion. Spray paint aluminium cans brown and then use white paint or white tape to make them into footballs. This was so easy and I love how it turned out.