fill in the blank friday!

I can't believe it's already New Years.... I never really felt like it was Christmas because I was stuck in bed for a couple weeks because of my wisdom teeth surgery, so I'm definitely not feeling the New Years vibe.

1.   New Years is    refreshing- it allows you to get rid of the old and bring in the new   .

2.   One of my New Year's resolutions will be   to advance my career somehow - get a new job, learn new skills, try harder to be more confident in my abilities      .

3.  A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to   lose weight - that's a given for any year, and last year between march and may i actually did lose around 10 pounds, and I managed to keep most of it off until november and december when the holiday eating started and I gained back about 5 pounds, so now I'll be back at it in the next few weeks.

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was   write a young adult novel and I wanted to write every night- that didn't last very long    .

5.  This year I will be spending New Year's Eve    most likely doing nothing. I'm still recovering from my wisdom teeth surgery, and I don't feel like going out .

6.  If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be    to be more confident in my abilities  .

7.  2012 is going to be    a year of career changes (I hope!)  .

what i got for christmas

i've gotta tell ya, having a wishlist really made this christmas great, because i got so many things i had been wanting for a long time.  a lot of them were even featured in my "what i want wednesday" posts.

Too bad I haven't really been able to enjoy any of my gifts, because I had my wisdom teeth out last Tuesday and I'm still in a lot of pain, and I learned the hard way that painkillers make me really sick.  I couldn't go to holiday festivities, I couldn't even get out of bed on Christmas morning, I opened my presents in bed.  I'm back at work today (begrudgingly - I was supposed to come back yesterday but couldn't) and still in a lot of pain, but my friend Aleve is helping me get through the day.  I do have one pretty funny picture of my super swollen cheeks, but I think we'll keep that one to ourselves.

from wireddesign on etsy

I got the ring I had been wanting for a while from my hubby, I love it!

found at uncommongoods.com

I got the Daily Fact Calendar that I shared in my last post!  It's pretty cool - it does take a lot of rubbing to get the fact to show up, but maybe i just have cold fingers?  from my mom-in-law

found on amazon

Got the Orla Kiely book from my mom-in-law, it's full of pretty pictures and how orla got started, so i'm excited to read it.

found here, but no longer in stock

I got the yellow Old Navy Peacoat I wanted from my grandma!

from zgallerie

 I got the Silver Nest Table Runner from Z Gallerie from my mom, love it!

I also got 6 (yes SIX) scarves between my bday and Christmas, so I think I'm all set on the scarf front.

I got boots from JCPenney that I wanted, but they ended up being too small and they didn't have them in stock anymore, so I got the money and got these Cathy Jean boots for $35 the day after Christmas:

from cathy jean

I also got this fabric design book, this toast-shaped egg mold thing, this sweater (it's not as long as it looks like on the girl, which is disappointing but it's still cute), this coffee maker (I ruined the surprise on this one and actually opened it a couple weeks early) and lots of other fun stuff!

what i want wednesday!

With the holidays fast approaching, my wish list has been getting pretty full lately.  I can always find a million things I want as long as I keep up with my wishlist and pinterest - as opposed to having no idea what I want and then getting presents that you'll just take back to the store anyway.

Really, if you don't have a wishlist, start one asap! It's so easy! I use amazon, but there are a ton of sites out there that let you make a wishlist - you just install a button on your browser toolbar, and whenever you see anything you like, you just click "add to wishlist" and it's done!  Here's my wishlist.

I know a lot of people just use pinterest, too, and just have a specific board for their wishlist.  Also super easy because there's a toolbar button that just says "pin it"!

So anyway, here are things that I've been loving lately!

This perpetual calendar from uncommongoods.com.  You use your finger to rub the black part on each date, and the heat makes a fact about that day visible, then it switches back to black after a minute.  And it's laminated so you can write with a dry erase marker on the dates, then erase them and start over the next year!  Fun, huh?

This cookie jar from anthropologie.  It's out of stock but I'm sure there are other pear-shaped cookie jar/ceramic things out there somewhere.

2012 Mountain Calendar by pamlostracco - love this.  i think i might have to buy it for myself.

This beautiful photo from CarolynCochrane on etsy

Pretzels, chocolate, caramel, and pecans - these are so good, yall.  My mother-in-law made them a couple years ago, and I loved them, and I've made them a couple times since then because they are so good.  Just put rolos (yes, the candy) on top of a pretzel, then put in the oven for 5-10 minutes, then just press the pecans down on top and they're soft from the oven so they just smoosh (smush?) down.  So easy.  Unrolling all the rolos is a little time consuming, get a little elf to help with that part.

fill in the blank friday!

It's my bday tomorrow!!! Don't forget to use the code BIRTHDAY to get 27% off in the shop through Sunday.  (I'll be 27, in case that isn't obvious!)

Make sure to link up at the little things we do!

1.   The holiday season is     a time to feel the "warm & fuzzies"  .

2.   Snow makes me   excited but since I live in Atlanta absolutely everything shuts down when there is a snowflake - and since we have no snowplows I can't get in and out of my neighborhood and it turns into major cabin fever     .

3.  The best comfort food to eat when it's cold out is    hot chocolate by the fire, so fun!

4. Winter is the best time for    sitting inside and looking at the prettiness outside, but not actually going out in it! haha

5.  I can hardly wait for   all the christmas lights to be up - get on that honey! 

6.  When it comes to holiday gifts I prefer to   get them if it's things i like... that's why i make a wish list.

7.  If I were to rate my excitement about the holiday season on a scale from 1-10, I would say I am at about a    6ish, I'm excited about the season but not so excited about getting my wisdom teeth out right before christmas  .