"If you really love Christmas..."

So I finally took Friday night to take down my Christmas tree while I watched movies and trashy TV in the background...like I said my newest obsession Washington Heights...and oh my goodness the last episode had friends for years hooking up...and maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe it made me think of New Years Eve lol.

Moving on lol.
So time to take down the Christmas tree.
Not sure if you remember last years post.

I shared some Christmas ornaments.
So I thought I would share some more.

This fun red beaver...to honour Taylor's 2nd Trip to Toronto!

We wrote all our adventures on the back!
You can read about that trip here.

This is the fun angel Laurel gave me this year!

Two of my favourite things...Keys and Fleur de Lis
I changed the ribbon on my tree to a fun preppy plaid and I LOVED it!

This little one was for my dog (gosh I miss him dearly).

A gifted paddle as I used to help out with a Dragon Boat team when I lived in Singapore.

This ornament...well MrRealtor bullied me into getting an ornament with him once I told him of my tradition of picking ornaments for special times/memories/travel...and he insisted on getting one when we went wine tasting once.  He didn't take the hint when I didn't hang it on my tree.  So he did one day without me realizing...super annoying.  But don't have to worry about that anymore.

Last year's Christmas post.

And I'm not sure if you remember my yearly goals I had in for 2011.
And I didn't reveal my 2012 goals...
Until now.
As you recall I keep it in a special ornament (see last years post above!).

So here they were...

So how did I do?

Definite Fail at the first and second one.
I think I passed the third one.
The fourth goal was a sort of pass.  I had more romance but love...well not so much.
I super passed goal five with Eight Trips (all the USA but that still counts as out of the country right???
Trip #1 NYC, Trip#2 Buffalo, Trip #3 Florida, Trip #5 Chicago, Trip#6 Dallas, Trip #7 Ann Arbor, Trip #8 Florida
And the sixth and final goal...fail...oh how I dream of the Burberry Trench...one day.

So 2013...what will it be?

I'm setting my goals right now and am definitely open to suggestions :)

So with that..."if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow"  Billy Hack ~ Love Actually

It's not me it's you

These last 48 hours have particularly dragged.
BUT I'm trying to put a positive spin on things.
While secretly hoping thinking MrKent will regret his decision.


After all I made him hot toddy's this past Saturday when he was sick.
I am sweet.
I am nice.
I laughed hard at all his silly jokes.
I found his messy bachelor pad endearing not annoying.
I was gracious even with the "it's not you it's me speech" I sat through basically just listening to what he had to say...
and I didn't even cry once (in front of him).


I am just dusting myself off and trying to round up a few dates.
I think there are two things that have resonated greatly with me in these last 48 hours.


One is something I've been trying to live by...

I also need to be more proud of myself/confidant.
Funny enough it was something MrKent mentioned as he gave me "the talk".
He said, "you don't give yourself enough credit".
And when I looked at him puzzled, he mentioned three specific comments that I didn't even realize I said outloud.
One of thes was "I know I'm not everyone's "type""...I know I'm not I'm curvy...I'm not skinny tall model like.
It's like some people (like me) find Kim Kardashian GORGEOUS...and others just don't see it....it made me realize I'm pretty critical of myself (specifically my body).


So maybe I should at least believe in myself as much as a boy who just dumped me does.
After all the issue was his issue.
And for once I really believe it wasn't me that was the problem.
And that is a pretty huge revelation.

Scattered

Y'all I'm feeling totally scattered.
In that weird mixed up way of feeling relief over a big stressful week at work last week and the influx of emotions/stress of the fact of the constant work stress that is all part of it.
The stress that makes me seriously consider going back to school.
But that is mainly because I'm feeling so darn scattered.

Which means it's time for the most random blog post of all time.

I feel like I need to go back to completing MyExboyfriendProject.
But how to do it.
The same way you would eat an elephant...one fork at a time.
So I'm thinking trying to add one "chapter" per week so that I can at least get it done.
And below is some hilarious good advice...just saying...

Pic from here

I get to decorate "my room" in our families new Florida vacation home.
Here is the room currently...


So so so excited!
I'm thinking something SUPER preppy.
Perhaps Lilly Pulitzer inspired (after all I am on a budget y'all).
Perhaps things involving bows and stripes???
Any suggestions out there???
Here's the bedroom set I've picked out already because it was very "Floridian" to me.
I hope it's more white than in the picture.
And clearly it is super duper reasonable.
I also am hoping to trade out the dresser for a tall 5 drawer dresser because I'm not a huge fan of the attached mirror to the long dresser.


I love to match my shoes to my outfit.
Like here.

And recently I'm super obsessed with wearing cardigans with my dress shirts.
I feel like the way it blocks a line in the middle makes me look skinnier
I know I know I'm probably being silly but this is the way my weirdo mind works.

And I totally have a KimKardashian butt.
Seriously even in work dress clothes.
Seriously I totally have a shelf...see how my cardigan folds in in the back?!
Ridiculous!

I just looked over at my empty frames Taylor gave me (see here).
I so need to order pictures to put in them.
Maybe this weekend.
I totally suck at having pictures printed.
It also makes me want to organize a photoshoot.
Heck I know tons of people who do engagement photos etc.
So you know what I want to do.
Get hair and makeup done and do a bestie photoshoot.
Get pictures taken by someone who agrees to photoshopping my butt down a size or two haha.
Something I would love to use as a facebook profile pic and someone who is able to capture a bestie friendship very well on film.
How to make this happen???...

From this previous post

I had the WEIRDEST thought today.
Because I'm such an overthinking nerd.
I missed TheBachelor Canada castings/applications.
(Not that I seriously would go in...imagine US weekly breaking the scandle of Spencer etc).
Anywho my crazy thought of the day on why MrDentist perhaps disappeared....
I was thinking maybe he is the new Bachelor!!!!
Just saying and if that is the case ....holy moly and I have a time stamp on my prediction haha.

Pic from here

I mailed out Taylor's surprise today (that I talked about here).
I wanted to add some extras but I thought I could just send them at a later time instead.
Because I was too darn excited.
And I can only hope I didn't over-hype it (huge potential for this!)
We shall see.

I need to get of my butt and sign on to my EH account and get dating.
I'm just obviously for some reason procrastinating.

Will may come to visit this month!
So super excited to see him.
I wrote about him (here) if you don't know who he is.

I need to get a little more strict with my workouts.
Especially with a Florida trip coming up (yipes bathing suit!)
Need to have some renewed focus/energy there.

Could I be any more of a jumbled up rambly bunch of thoughts...
I think not.

Please do me a favour?

Tomorrow between the hours of 2pm-7pm
Pray for me
Meditate for me
Think of me
Set your intention at yoga for me

It is the first time I'm going to try and go out there
Because I did nothing wrong before
I only want to visit
All I want is to share this bro sis trip to NYC
Cross something off my bucket list (See a concert at Carnegie Hall!)

And because this will show what the next few years are like.
This may mean me being able to...

Finally head back to Dallas (to return the favour of a girls weekend to Tay).
Being back in Dallas to enjoy the things I haven't seen since a November Thanksgiving weekend in 2008.
In Dallas seeing some sisters that I've missed dearly who have still sent me cards and lifted me out of a deep dreary hole I've been in sometimes.

It will mean a trip to Austin to see my dear sweet beautiful inspirational friend PSD.
Who sends me the most incredible messages and gives me hope.

It will mean restarting the tradition of a UofM football game with Will.
The tailgating, the goosebumps I get from announcements and the band and the everything surrounding that stadium, the sangria filled post party, dancing like a fool, shopping for a new maize t-shirt, and trying to convince the cab driver to go through a McDonalds drive through.

It will mean planning a weekend to go to KC to see a beautiful dear friend that I have missed terribly too.
A friend that shared a bed with me on a particularly frightful trip to NewOrleans.
I need to catch up on her life and explore this fabulous city she has made all her own from what I hear from Tay.

It will mean going to Florida to see my family's new homes that I haven't had a chance to yet.

I will mean a Vegas trip with Tay that we've had in the back of our minds since our December 2008 Vegas trip.

It will mean hopefully meeting some new friends too.  Particulary in Michigan!

It will mean all of this or it won't.

Depending on how the hours of 2pm-7pm go.

So if you could.
Please do me that favour.

Christmas Decor

I know it is about that time when all the Christmas decor comes down.
Due to shear laziness mine will not come down until next weekend.
But I thought while my apartment was semi presentable I would share with you how I decorate my little place for the holidays.

To me when I hear bells I think Christmas.

So I put a few of these around the house.

Made even better with a bow!



In my entrance a lighted reindeer welcomes you.

I got this little guy from Target years ago.

On the other side of the mirror is my large nutcracker.

I think he is also a Target find. 

I like to hide little touches of Christmas throughout my apartment.

Like this little nutcracker.

Who I think was a gift from Jim's mom actually (one of the ExBoyfriends).

I like how this golden sparkly tree fits right in with my jewelry on my dresser.

It was a gift from Quinn years ago.

Christmas Tea Towels.

I would not get this kind again because when you wash them the little applique and waffling don't mix and these seem very wrinkly but I'm obviously not OCD enough to iron them.

This chubby little Santa is from Homesense.

I love having a holiday scent.

So this Red Apple Wreath Candle is just perfect!

This cute little guy sits on my windowsill.

He is another Homesense find.

In Toronto we obviously did NOT have a white Christmas and I'm certainly not complaining.

My mum got this for me this year.

I guess I would describe it as a crystal lighted gift with a perfect bow. 

The fleur de lis is obviously my favourite part.

My Christmas tree.

This guy is a Walmart special from Dallas.

And you can see my shakeyourbooty dancing Santa on my entertainment stand thingy.

Another view of the tree.

As you can see I take the mutlicoloured mix and match approach.

In the future I have two types of other trees I want to get.

But those are a surprize in the works for future years.

So now I can let you in on a little thing that I do.

If you've been reading a long time I've talked about it before.

I collect Christmas ornaments.

But not the usual.

I like to gather them when I travel.

Sometimes it is something that isn't a Christmas ornament but I make it into one.

That way when I put up my tree I revisit fun memories of travel and friends.

I thought it would be fun to highlight just a few of my favs and what they mean to me.

The wooden bird.

This was a party favour from my friend Laurel's holiday party I attended.

It makes me smile and know that it is worth it to put yourself out there to make great new friends.

This gecko I got on my first solo trip to Bali, Indonesia.

My grandma brought me back this from Florida years ago.

It pays homage to my cheerleading past (though I've never used poms), my love for Disney, and my high school colours of blue and gold.

This is the key and heart keychain that Val brought me back from thier honeymoon to Rome.

Perfect because it is a key.

It gives me inspiration to one day travel there hopefully with the person I love.

I got this amazing ornament when I attended the 500th University of Michigan game with my best friend Will.  The weekend was incredible and we just had the best time.

Plus the Wolverines came back from being down like a 19-0 to win the game.

I wore by blue and gold proudly that day.

I'm dying to go back for another game...maybe next year with Will?

This ornament I got during my trip to see Sophie (you can read about it hear if you missed it).

I got this ornament when I crossed something off my bucket list....which was to see The Nutcracker at Christmas time.  I did this in California during the Christmas season of 2005.

Now this ornament is special to me becuase it's meaning has changed.

I originally got it during an interesting weekend in July of 2008.

But when I look at it now all I think of was a simply incredible life changing trip of December 2008.

A trip filled with the best memories of my best friend.

From a limo at the airport waiting for us, to the awe of our room, to sitting in an empty jacuzzi tub in robes eating chocolate covered strawberries and drinking a cocktail in the dark, a trip to in&out burger with some funny conversations, the self-imposed camera ban,  48 hours with maybe 5 hours of sleep and both of us needing that weekend so badly.  I can't even describe the feeling of that weekend and how perfect it was.

When I hang this ornament that is what I think of and I smile.

In fact I almost don't want to return to Vegas because I feel like nothing can top that memory of that city.

This furry little guy is from the Night Safari you can take in Singapore.

Part of it makes me think of Spencer because we did that together.

But part of it is simply something Singapore is know for so I'm okay with it.

Just like I'm growing to be okay with what happened with Spencer.

This dancing from is from a trip to New Orleans in May of 2007.

What a drama DRAMA filled weekend.

My goodness.

I'm not sure I would have kept sane without two of my besties Taylor and Erin.

Seriously thank goodness for those two.

My first time snowboarding in Breckenridge with 9 of my classmates from graduate school in December of 2006.

What a great few days.

Snowboarding and hanging out in a small ski town.

I actually really fell in love with the place.

I suppose the house we rented with the hot tub on the deck didn't hurt.

See this sort of no big deal golden egg one that looks a little old.

No one usually notices it but it's special.

Because it's open and since last year I started hiding something in it.

Can you see?

And if you think this idea is original.

It's totally not.

I stole it completely from OneTreeHill (big shocker).

You see besties Lucas and Hailey would write their wishes and bury them behind a loose brick of Karen's Cafe.

I can't find an actual screenshot to show you so you will have to trust me on this one.

So without further ado here I go with my wishes!

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

I write my wishes....

You see they aren't goals.

When I wote them last year they seemed to silly and too frivolous and almost too lofty or unachievable at the time to be actual goals.

And I really couldn't remember what I wrote last year...

So here they are...

I wrote in my results for you.

There is something I relish about checking things off a list...

I'm going to continue this tradition...

Here's a sneak peak at next year.

But you will have to wait for my reveal in 2013.

After all if you tell someone your wish it may not come true!