Manicure Monday

Just popping in for a quick hello on this final day of 2012. Instead of going the traditional sparkly/shiny/glam look that usually accompanies New Year's Eve, I went with a more stand-out geometric pattern. I used plain old scotch tape to create the shape and then waited for he polish to dry and peeled it away leaving this look. Now I'm off to get sushi with some friends and ring in 2013. Fresh start in a new state in a new job: I am feeling like its going to be a great year! Cheers!

What a Lazy Week Looks Like

I will be heading to a winter wedding tomorrow for a good family friend and I am excited to see her exchange vows. I am also excited to get all dressed up after being in my sweatpants for most of the week (ok fine, ALL week). My family is also going bowling tonight and I don't know why but I am pretty excited about that as well. Maybe because I haven't bowled in approximately 6 years but more likely it's because we will all be hanging out together wearing old multi-colored shoes and throwing balls down an alley. That has good times written all over it! I already had breakfast with my grandpa today and then my sister and I have lunch plans with some local gals so all in all, this will be by far my busiest day of the week. Happy weekend gang!

[Playing Sequence with the fam on Christmas Eve]

[Determined to finish this puzzle]

[Hot Chocolate + Whip Cream + Candy Cane]

[A dainty Christmas present from my sister]

[SNOW!!! It's like the universe knew I was moving to California and
was dying to see the white stuff before I left. Thanks universe.]

A Lumber Jack Look

Shirt: Gap, Vest: American Eagle, Jeans: Banana Republic

I am pretty sure that I have watched more movies in the past five days then is healthy for any human but I am ok with it. Eighties movies, action flicks, and a bunch of Christmas movies too. We have also been working on a thousand piece puzzle depicting a summer picnic so as you can tell, I am just swamped over here. This is what it means to take a few days off and I am going to continue to soak it all in.

In a great feat of strength, I actually got my butt off the couch, got dressed and walked around town for a bit with my sister. Pre-snow storm. Now back to my sweatshirt, puzzle, and hot chocolate.

Homemade Taffy

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share one of our most unique traditions, making and pulling homemade taffy. My dad's side of the family has been making these candies since he was a little boy and each year, we all join in and make a couple batches. There are some who pull the taffy and some that cut and wrap the pieces. I usually fall into the pulling category with my brothers and some cousins while my sister and mom help cut and wrap the yummy vanilla taffies. Making taffy is a very particular process and I stay far away from the kitchen while it is being cooked. I leave that for my dad and his siblings because even a single degree above or below the specified temp, the taffy will end up being more of a hard candy instead of soft and chewy.

Pulling taffy is tough business too let me tell ya! It requires some serious arm muscles and we usually pair up and pass the taffy back and forth. It has to continuously be stretched and since it is sticky, you coat your hands in butter so that's kind of fun too. My brothers and I are pictured here and we ended up having one soft batch and one hard batch and I have been sneaking a piece here or there all week. And now that we are snowed in, I think the rest of our taffy stash will be gone in a flash. So until next year, I'll savor what's left.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share one of our most unique traditions, making and pulling homemade taffy. My dad's side of the family has been making these candies since he was a little boy and each year, we all join in and make a couple batches. There are some who pull the taffy and some that cut and wrap the pieces. I usually fall into the pulling category with my brothers and some cousins while my sister and mom help cut and wrap the yummy vanilla taffies. Making taffy is a very particular process so I stay far away from the kitchen while it is being cooked, leaving that for my dad and his siblings to deal. Even a single degree above or below the specified temp and the taffy will end up being more of a hard candy instead of soft and chewy.

Pulling taffy is tough business too, let me tell ya! It requires some serious arm muscles and we usually pair up and pass the taffy back and forth. It has to be continuously stretched and since it is sticky, you coat your hands in butter so that's kind of fun too. My brothers and I are pictured here and we ended up having one soft batch and one hard batch and I have been sneaking a piece here or there all week. And now that we are snowed in, I think the rest of our taffy stash will be gone in a flash. So until next year, I'll savor what's left of this holiday treat.

Manicure Monday

It's Christmas Eve and one of the very best days of the year. The family is all together and we have a big meal cooking all day and it's torture not to sneak a few bites before 7pm with those yummy holiday smells all through the house. And don't even get me started on the dessert options because it just seems never ending. This year will be a little different as we are planning a game night this evening and truly there are few things I love more than some friendly competition over board games. Before all this happens though, we get all dressed up and go to mass, taking up a whole pew in the process. I decided to dress my nails up too using Sally Hansen "Wet Cement" as a base coat and then some silver sparkles on the lower half of each nail. The gray color scheme is subtle but gives a nice shine in the light and will look great with my hunter green holiday dress!

High Five for Friday

It's the last work day for me in 2012 and guess what? It's snowing!!! Finally! Too bad I had to drive home for the holidays in this but the potential for a white Christmas? I'll take it! Also, I am posting this from the comfort of my family's living room, laughing and watching Home Alone. What more can a girl ask for? Here are some other things that made the week bright.


[A couple Christmas cards that came in the mail]

 

[Enjoying a Holiday Dream ice cream treat with my youngest brother]

[A Dove mint ice cream bar...We had a lot of ice cream at work this week]

[A peak at a DIY project I'll share next week]

[View of the Cincinnati skyline from The Rookwood in Mt. Adams]

Top 5 Holiday Movies

 I am a big believer in traditions and one of my favorites is gathering around with the family to watch all of these movies around Christmas. Laughing out loud and all quoting our favorite parts in sync with the actors just never gets old. Here are my picks for the best holiday movies!

[As a pair, Home Alone 1 and 2. One of my favorite movies period, holiday or not.]

 

[Will Ferrell at his finest. Always gets me laughing and my family will quote this year round.]

[We've still got this baby on VHS. Tim Allen is a riot and watching it now that I am older, there are jokes that escaped me as a kid.]

[Another must-watch. So many comical scenes that to try and pick a favorite is nearly impossible.]

[It just isn't Christmas if I haven't watched these three animated flicks. I used to watch them on the couch with my dad but now he texts me when they are on TV as he knows my love of Dr. Seuss, the Peanuts Gang, and claymation reindeer.]

Literally Laughing Out Loud

Dress: H&M, Boots: Target, Belt: Thrifted

This is what happens when my brother has the camera: all pictures are of my responses to him cracking jokes...Not that I'm complaining. I'd always rather be caught laughing or smiling than pretty much any other expression. I think it makes people wonder what you are up to and frankly, I like to keep them guessing.

California Dreamin'

I'M MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!!!

That's right, this small town gal is heading for the west coast! A month ago I would never have imagined or even dreamt that this would even be a possibility and then BAM! I am booking a one-way ticket to the Orange County Airport.

I was offered two new positions within my company, one in Cincinnati and another opportunity at our headquarters in Southern California. Both were amazing positions and it took me a lot of time to decide which would be the better route for my future. It's hard to try and imagine where my life will be in a few years but with the chance to move to a warm, sunshiny place like CA, working among the executives and leaders of our company, I could not say no. I start on January14th so now it's on to finding a place to live, organizing a million things before the move and packing, packing, packing. My life seems to be taking me on a brand new adventure and I cannot wait to see how this unfolds!



Manicure Monday

This is me in the car because lately I feel like that's the main place I have been. Driving to do Christmas shopping. Driving downtown for work meetings. Driving home to see the family, driving back and then driving home again in 5 days. So, while at a red light on one of these many occasions, I snapped a pic of what I have been rocking on my nails, a subtle lavender color that I think has been in my nail polish collection for a few years now. I'm talking like potentially 3+ years. But as long as it still rocks, I going to rock it, it's as simple as that. And I will keep rocking down the highway on my way to my holiday vacation.

History Buff

Shirt: Gap, Skinnies: Banana Republic

I can't get over how much fun my sister and I had when we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center! We learned all about the history of Cincinnati in the form of a teeny tiny miniature model of how the city looked in the 1900's, all the way down to old billboards. Awesome! We were able to get on an old streetcar and even a model steamboat, the reason why Cincinnati was so important in trade and the reason Cincinnati is known as the Queen City.

There was also this cute litte "town" with storefronts like the one with that neat padlock on it and a man in a printing press shop dressed up in old-timey costume giving us cool prints to take with us. They still really use the printing presses as a business making wedding invitations, save the dates, party invites and more so double awesome. We also went to am IMAX show where we saw The Last Reef on a screen that wrapped almost around the enitre room in a dome shape so it felt like we were really underwater looking at the coral reefs. We also wanted to immediately donate to a foundation to save those beautiful things after we learned how much danger they are in from us humans.

Oh and how could I forget the killer cavern tour we went on? It really felt like we were in some part of a mountain and the path even included some water dripping in like it was coming from the outside and we had to stand sideways at parts because it became really narrow. I was totally loving it and feeling like a kid on a field trip since I was playing hookie from work that day. There were tons of other super cool, super fun, super educational things but since its close to the holidays, they had this major toy train display which was so festive and cool so we also enjoyed that. 

Bottom line: if you are in the Cincinnati area, you have a day to spare and want a cool place to check out, I would highly recommend a stop here.