Another one bites the dust...

Well, it appears that it's time to wrap up another year and move ahead into a new one. Here's a re-cap of my year:

1) Went on some REALLY fun trips from Utah to Toronto to Florida and lots of places in between.
2) Spent time with old friends and made new friends
3) Amazingly enough became a better cook. (I did not proclaim to be GOOD, but better)
4) Watched my daughters turn 4 and 16.
5) Read lots of good books, saw some great concerts (I love you Barry Manilow, I will always be a Fanilow) and saw Chelsea Handler twice. (Love her too)
6) Was the passenger in a car driven by my 16 year old for the first time. Got my hair colored.
7) Attended my husbands 20th class reunion

Coming up in 2009:

1) Go on more trips to Toronto and the Kentucky Derby (Rooms are booked, ready to go!)
2) Scout out colleges for one daughter, get the other daughter started in kindergarten (Do not consult me on family planning)
3) Say goodbye to my dear friends Jeremy and Jordan and Jeremy finishes med school and they move for his residency (Expect lots of tears)
4) Attend MY 20th class reunion. Get my hair colored. Attend the wedding of Brian's classmates who re-connected at the 20th class reunion!
5) Read more, cook more, enjoy life.

Happy New Year!

What every Jewish girl needs...

I had a little girl in my office today who was born in a refugee camp in Somalia. I've gotten to know her quite well and have become good friends with their family. She is one of the smartest kids I've ever met and remembers everything you tell her. She remembered that I have a Jewish mother and came in today because she forgot to tell me Happy Hanukkah. And for some reason I mentioned to her that I want a new menorah. Then she got me started watching Japanese music videos on You Tube (Yes, this was my day at work) because she is learning Japanese and wanted to show me how she can sing along now. So, cut to later hours at home as I am wandering around OPB (other people's blogs) and I find this little gem. No way! So this half Jewish girl got this awesome and fun find at almost half off. Would this be considered an After-Hanukkah sale?

Karma Chameleon

As part of my ongoing mid-life crisis I've been second-guessing my decision to go blond. And while it is rumored that blonde's have more fun I've realized that

1) I am usually having fun no matter my hair color

2) I wasn't fooling anyone

3) Blond does not suit me as well as my natural color, so back I go

So here is a fun video AND a pic of my back-to-basics color. (I'm not sure what it means when I am relating my life to a Boy George song, but who cares? I admit, I LOVED THE 80's.)

Word to your mother

Tonight we were enjoying Caroline's #1 favorite Christmas gift, the cupcake maker. And while I was trying to help with the icing, Caroline told me "Mom, I know how to do it, but I just want to do it my way." Don't we all Caroline? Don't we all.

Want some fries with that shake?

The shake is free! Go to Arby's website and register and you will get a coupon for a free shake. I have a long history with Arby's- In high school I worked at an ice cream shop in the mall and we used to trade ice cream for Arby's sandwiches from the cute boys who worked at Arby's! And sad as it is to admit, that was back in 1987. Hopefully if there is a statute of limitations on such things it has expired now that I have publicly fessed up to it!

Benjamin Button and a night with Brad Pitt

So over the long holiday weekend I saw both Marley and Me (loved it) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And I have to say that they are completely different movies but I absolutely loved Benjamin Button. It is now on my list of my favorite movies. If you are planning on headed for the movies I say SEE IT! And I have to say that there are scenes in the movie where Tilda Swinton is completely glamorous looking. Her role in the movie is so unlike parts I have seen her play in other movies. She was very likable in this movie. Oh I loved this movie! GO SEE IT!

Favorite Reads of 2008

One of my favorite things (Now I sound like Oprah) is reading. And I love to share my books with others. Karen mentioned that she was needing a few book suggestions so I thought I would share some of my best reads from this year:

Write It When I'm Gone- Conversations with Gerald Ford
Journey of a Thousand Miles by Lang Lang
Home- A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews
Pirates Daughter
Cost

A few more great and funny reads are Marley and Me and both of Chelsea Handlers books.

Enjoy,bookworms!

Santa loves me... the day after

Thank you Santa Thank you Thank you. (Santa being Brian in this case) I DO NOT like going to stores unless it is Target or I am on girl trip. In those situations I adore stores. My weapon of choice is online shopping. So yesterday I took to the Internet and I found this. And Brian told me to go ahead and order it! Let me tell you I am going to be FIERCE in this skirt!

The aftermath of the holidays

After Christmas I usually wind up in a frenzy of "get this crap out of here and let's get back to normal." As if "normal" doesn't involve lots of "stuff" either. Anyway. I can not stand to have a lot of "stuff" around. Our tree usually comes down Christmas day or the day after. No joke, I don't even have yearbooks or other mementos (at this Brian would say "Mentos?") most people have because I just don't like to deal with it. It just seems like a lot of hassle for me. So my way of dealing with it is to donate it, recycle it or throw it away. And of course today I am surrounded by mounds of plastic pieces of stuff and other various assorted holiday goodies. And I am going out of my head. I have already shopped all I can on the online sales and now I must tackle this stuff. Last night we hauled a bunch of stuff and pitched it in a dumpster. Whew. That makes me feel somewhat better. Poor Brian. I already told him I am cleaning everything with ammonia today just because it makes me feel a little better about things. If it smells clean, it must be clean and freakishly, I love the smell of ammonia. So now I will soldier onward and resist the siren call of the J Crew sale. (Only because I already shopped it. Twice. Sorry Brian.)

A Christmas prediction...

Do you ever do something that you know in advance is going to be a bad decision but you do it anyway? Caroline knows that Marley and Me comes out today and wants to go see it. She has seen the previews so many times where Marley is hanging out of the car door walking along the road as Owen Wilson is driving and she thinks it is HI-larious. And like a ding dong I agreed to it. Even as I sit here with a 13 year old Golden Retriever on her second bout with cancer. I just know, I mean really really know it is a bad idea to take my four year old to see a movie on Christmas Day about a dog who dies. Crap. Merry Freaking Christmas. I'll have to remember to bring Kleenex. For both of us. Note to self: Go light on the eye make-up today. Tears are forthcoming.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Twas the night before Christmas

UPS is at the door

Bringing me boxes

Please Santa

More More More!!!

From Banana Republic, J Crew and more

I love it when retailers have an online store!

The sales are amazing

Great deals galore

Again Santa please

More More More

You think I'd have enough

Of great stuff for me

But all of this stuff just fills me with glee

Brian shakes his head

And often wonders why

I know he is pissed when he gives a big sigh

I've cut back this year

I really have

Even unsubscribed from mailing lists

Which makes me feel sad

But I can do it

Soldier on I will

The economy sucks

Retailers are trying to maintain goodwill

So enjoy the holidays

Shop if you will

I hope you get free shipping

And a heck of a deal!

-KT

Feeling festive

That may not really be the case, but at least I look it. It is so FREAKING COLD that my car doors are frozen shut. We had a bunch of rain, and as the Volvo holds water that water is now frozen. I have my own mini ice-skating rink inside of my car. Yippee! It is 4 degrees here and with the windchill it is -14. Unfortunately, my scarf covers the cute buttons on my sweater but I got my sweater at the awesome Ann Taylor Loft BOGO sale. (Which ends today)

A-ha! It is mine! A JCrew success story...

I have spent the last few months ogling a couple of skirts from J Crew but was not willing to pay the price. And I have been doing a good job avoiding all of the tempting "Free shipping" offers but I opened one from J Crew and there was my skirt. For $39.99 AND free shipping. Too much for me to pass up, especially as how it was $165.00 to begin with. Happy Holidays to me! Now all I need is for them to reduce the price on this skirt and I will be golden!

Buh-Bye World Series of Bunco...

So, now I guess it is time to face up to the fact that the economy is bad and that companies are cutting back. Sigh. Yesterday in my mailbox was a card from Proctor and Gamble letting me know that they are no longer able to sponsor the World Series of Bunco in Las Vegas (I'm not even joking) and have not been able to find other corporate sponsors. Seriously, I am sure there may be a few eye rolls over this but if you haven't played Bunco it really is fun. Get a group of girls together and play! It is my favorite thing I do each month and I really look forward to it. There are loads of websites that will explain the game for you, and it really is easy. To soften the blow P&G did send out free t-shirts to people!

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

It's not really a secret that I like to shop. LOTS. But believe it or not I have gotten better. And today has been a very good testament to how much better I have gotten. The nice people at Chanel were kind enough to email me today letting me know that through the end of today I can have FREE shipping (one of my weaknesses, I get roped into more crap by getting excited over free shipping) AND free gift wrapping. And yes, there is a nail polish that I really, really would love to order but I'm not going to. Do you know how excited I would be to have gift wrapped nail polish from Chanel? Somehow that is even better than just getting the normal box. And I have to admit that yes, I did put the polish in my cart just to see if I would see my little "free sample" message (another major weakness of mine) but I didn't do it. I was just curious about just how much amazingness I was missing. So don't worry about me, I won't be getting a gift wrapped box from Chanel. Sigh..... but I am excited with myself for not hitting the "send" button. It's the small things I guess. Now I just have to avoid the 20% off from Bliss. And the BOGO from Ann Taylor Loft.

When the Saints Go Marching In...

So I came downstairs today in my (cutest ever) skirt from Club Monaco and Brian told me I looked like I was going to play for the Saints. Mmmm.... maybe not but the funny thing is that When the Saints Go Marching In was on my mind as I was getting dressed. Gee, maybe I should have also been thinking about cleaning my table off from the prior nights cookie making...

Greetings from sunny Florida!

So, Kass over at Always Dreaming was kind enough to pass along a blog award for me, which I will pass along to others. Yay! Thanks Kass! It is kind of funny to me, because I look at her blog, and while she is blogging about life in Florida I am sitting here in Ohio FREEZING! And I'm sorry it took me a bit to acknowledge this fun award, but here is a breakdown of the great week I've had:

Monday- Duran Duran

Tuesday- Bunco (I won a $20 Old Navy card!)

Wednesday- The Rockettes

Thursday- Recipe Club

Which leads me to today and a catch up day! Whew!

Here are a few blogs I enjoy reading each day:

La Belette Rouge- Very witty, sometimes painful but always honest

The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy- This girl CRACKS ME UP

Karen from Of A Certain Age- She got her photo taken on the new 90210 set. Lucky, right?

There are way more blogs I read each day but I wanted to pick some I've never mentioned, and all of the others are linked on my blog roll so make sure to enjoy them! And thanks again Kass! Happy Friday!

She bangs continued...

So, it isn't a great picture but my friend Trinette played photographer for us at Duran Duran. Unfortunately my bangin' bangs appear to be unevenly cut in this pic but I promise they aren't!

Duran Duran

Was AWESOME! I would rank the show right up there with my beloved Barry Manilow and Barenaked Ladies. I'm not sure how but after all these years they still have it! And just for the record:

THIS is Notorious

THIS is not

Just so we're all clear. Also, the crowd was a lot more normal than I was expecting. I was expecting a little bit more in the way of big hair and 80's-ness. The best we saw was a guy in front of us in a silver shirt. Good thing I didn't show up in leg warmers as I had hoped to...

She bangs!

I had a haircut appointment this weekend and had decided to go back to bangs. I just prefer them on myself. I guess I made a good choice because my stylist mentioned that bangs were the best choice for me as they covered up the sun damage on my forehead that I have accumulated over the years. I know I know I know. I'm not getting any younger. I baby my skin now but am bummed out that I didn't in earlier years. So bangs it is!

Talbots BOGO

Now this is a deal I like! I woke up to an email from Talbots that they are having a Buy One Get One Free sweater deal. In stores only, through Monday. Yes, the price of one sweater is $79 but the quality is nice and when you factor in the free one it is like you just got the sweaters for $40 each. One for you, one for a gift! Yay!

Add this to my Christmas Wish List

A few years ago I happened upon an artist named Chris Plummer at our local arts festival. And I fell in love with his work. So occasionally I check his site to see what new pieces he has done. (I'm up to 3 now) and after seeing this now I would love to have 4 of his pieces. I hate to be redundant but please Santa baby?

A very happy birthday

To my good friend TC. Let me tell you about TC. That guy has been my friend for years. We met when I (in a stunning blaze of ignorance) had an eye infection that became so bad my eye swelled shut. I had no eye doctor (I am terrified of all things medical unless anesthesia is involved) and wound up at a mall eye doctor. Which happened to be a young up and coming (later to be named Ohio's Young Optometrist of the Year this year and now a successfully self employed optometrist) who took great pity on me as I was having a rough time and did a great job of following up with me. When he finally got a hold of me to do said follow up I was at the Pottery Barn outlet shopping for furniture with two good eyes versus the one he had seen me with. From there we developed a great friendship which has lasted over 10 years now! He has taken me through KFC in a slightly drunken stupor, made me Kool Aid in a different drunken stupor and indulged me in a "Come on and bring all of your cd's into my house so I can dance" drunken stupor. And no, these were not all at the same time! He also patiently weathered Tessa's crush on him during elementary school when she pretended to not be able to see so she could have an appointment with him. He has since married so there is no future for TC and Tessa, and it turns out she can see just fine after all. He has seen me through multiple hair colors, several cell phone numbers, changes of address and who knows what else. He even let me pretend to be the eye doctor once at his practice... Don't worry, I didn't actually DO the eye exam but it was fun for a few minutes until I had to fess up that I was not indeed the eye doctor. So while I could mention good things about him all day long I will just settle for HAPPY BIRTHDAY TC! May you have many happy birthdays and may I have no more crazy eye infections! And hey, I hope you don't mind the photo-op. I figured it was better than the picture I have of us where I had hot-rollered blond hair and my sassy snakeskin pants from Guess?

Mid life crisis???

I've been wondering lately if I am in the middle of my mid-life crisis. And I don't say this to be funny, or to encourage anyone to tell me that I am still young. I just feel different. And I can't stop daydreaming about Botox and Microdermabrasion, dream vacations, etc... And when I hold a new baby I really only enjoy it versus the old pangs of "Oh, I want one of these again." And I've been pondering exactly when mid-life hits? And while I know statistically I am not quite in the throes of my mid-life crisis, who is to say that I'm not? Maybe I am only meant to be 74 in the end? So, to make my mid-week ramblings short, here is what led me to really, really feel old today, and also provide me with a good laugh. We're sitting in my office today on a conference call about our company's 401K program. Which is pretty important to everyone except for the 19 year old in my office. So the phone is on mute as we listen in and one of the guys who works for me mentioned how growing up his family had a party line and the only way to "mute" a conversation was to unscrew the mouthpiece and take the speaker out. To which said 19 year old said in all seriousness: "I saw a phone like that at COSI once in middle school on a field trip." Awesome. Just awesome.

More love for Origins!

$10 off of a $35 purchase and free shipping and sample! But the promo ends today, sorry for the short notice! Use code tenoff at checkout. Happy Shopping!

I can't Elf Myself enough!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

To Kindle or not to Kindle?

For over a year now I have been curious about the Kindle. For anyone not familiar with the Kindle it is a device from Amazon that you can download books (and much more) on. Not exaggerating I read on average 3 books per week so I have been VERY curious about the Kindle. Brian offered to buy me one last year but I really, really enjoy holding my books in my hand and can't imagine how I would feel about reading via the Kindle instead. And apparently, it doesn't matter because they are back-ordered and they were last year also. I've said I wish I knew someone with one so I could try it out but I don't know anyone who has one. But SOMEONE has to have one, otherwise they would not be backordered for the second holiday season. Do YOU Kindle? Do you know someone who does? And if so, what is the general impression?

Four Christmases

We went and saw this on vacation and I have to say it was so funny! I always think Vince Vaughan is funny and I love Reese Witherspoon. If you get a chance to see this you should go! We laughed so hard!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, after getting home and downloading all of the pictures it appears that I took over 500 pictures over the course of vacation. However, I am sure no one cares to see 500 photos of our trip so I will just dole out a few. For today's viewing pleasure here is Caroline's reaction to Disney. Again, let me remind you that she really, really disliked Disney. If we were driving and passed a sign for Disney she would get nervous that we were taking her back there. Not to worry Caroline, we learned our lesson. You don't have to go back to Disney again.