Sunday Social {Week 80}

Happy Sunday y'all!! I'm so excited about this week (and the next few Sunday's questions) because they are all Holiday themed! So let's link up with Neely & Ashley for some Sunday Social fun!

1. What's your favorite holiday movie/TV special? I love any holiday movie that Lifetime or Hallmark channel plays. The CMA Christmas Special is also fun to watch!

2. Do you do any volunteering during the holidays, if so what? If not, what would you do? I seriously wish I did more volunteering. I do donate to the charities, but I wish I went to the soup kitchen or something to help out a bit more.
3. What's your favorite toy received as a child for the holidays? The most vivid toy I remember my sister and I wanting was these fairy dancer toys. We had 4-5 of them and were obsessed for probably a month.

4. What was your must have item in high school for the holidays? In high school, all I really think I asked for was clothes and shoes. Another must-have was a phone for my room, but I got that for my birthday.

5. What do you do on Christmas Eve? If you are Jewish what does your family do for Hanukkah? Usually nothing for Christmas Eve, but on Christmas my family comes over and we hang out and eat dinner.
So how would you guys answer these fun questions? Link up with the lovely hosts!

Secret Santas & Backing that Azz Up

Happy Friday the 13th y'all!! Today is the day to reveal our goodies from the Secret Santa Swap (and who we gifted) hosted by the lovely ladies Ricci, Allie, Rebekah, Allison, and Jenn!! Thank you ladies for hosting this awesome swap.

I'll start off by revealing who I shopped for, Lin @ Linny's Vault. She was so fun and made it very easy to shop for! I hope you enjoy your goodies.

I still don't know who had me, but whoever she (or he) was definitely made my day!! I absolutely LOVED every single thing in the beautiful box I got.

Here's a closer look inside the box:

I seriously got spoiled, bloggers make the best gift givers. 

Hope you all got some extra cool goodies, link up with the ladies above and if my secret santa is around, I'd love to say hi and thank you!!! 

I'm also linking up with Whit @ IWYP for #backthatazzup Friday. In honor of Queen Bey being amazeballs and magical, I gotta have my first week of this link up be an amazing song.

Have a great weekend lovelies!

You're Always a Kid on Christmas

Hello pretties! When I saw all the buzz around this linkup with Helene and Taylor I knew I just couldn't pass it up. With all the snow Chicago got hit with a few days ago (and pretty much every where else, it seems like) it sure is starting to feel like a Christmas wonderland around here. Don't get me wrong, I hate the snow and cold weather, but something about the holidays just make it all ok (for now). Anywho...let's get to the real point of this post. I'm not sure if I'm going to do this correctly, but according to Tay it's just a fun holiday linkup to share memories, pictures, and what still makes you a kid at heart.

I didn't have much time to dig out a bunch of pictures, but I did have a few which were surprisingly around Christmastime. They definitely prove that I can still be a kid at heart.

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year and it's not just because of the presents. My parents actually stopped getting us presents after we went to high school, we would get things throughout the year and that would "qualify" as our Christmas gifts. I actually didn't even care, I mean I won't lie and say I don't like getting presents because opening up a new thing is just awesome, but I actually love getting the presents. 

This year I did pretty much all of my Christmas shopping before black Friday and was quite proud of myself. I did have a few last minute things to get, but most of my shopping (and even shipping) was done way in advance. I also really took advantage of online shopping this year which saved sooooo much hassle going to the mall, finding parking, going out in the cold, and waiting in crazy lines. I'm actually shipping out my last gift of the season tomorrow, now the gifts to myself are not quite done yet, I'm looking at you Naked3 palette!!

I've always been and will continue to be a girly girl, if the picture above doesn't show you that. I loved that darn mermaid barbie doll so much. Also, don't you just love my insane sense of style in that picture, thank god that has improved a little bit.

Well, I guess I wasn't entirely thrilled with this dress as my gift, I mean the floral print, really?! I don't know what my parents were thinking, but I do know they wanted a boy with that rad haircut I'm sporting there. Dresses were definitely my "thing" when I was younger and even now, I love to wear a pretty dress and feel great in it, I guess some things never change.

Here's a better picture of my gorgeous flowing locks....oh wait! At least I have that entire pink ensemble to prove I'm a girl. Oh and I also love talking; on the phone, in person, doesn't matter I love it lol. This proves it. 

So finally, a thing that keeps me feeling like a kid is definitely children, especially around this time of year. My nephews are definitely letting me live through them vicariously because they just love Christmas!

Seriously, how could these boys not have my heart. I cannot wait to spend an entire week with them in January and you should expect a complete photo overload!!

I'll be acting like a kid tonight at the Chicago Bulls game, it's my first game since April and I cannot wait, especially because I am still riding the winning high from yesterday's Chicago Bears win!

So how are you all still kids at heart around Christmas?! Link up with those two lovely ladies and leave some love below!!

Just Another Manic Monday

Another Monday is upon us, yet again. Today I took a sick day because I had a few leftover and it snowed a lot last night so naturally that meant I didn't want to move from my bed and comfiness. This weekend started for me on Thursday and was jam packed for the most part. I had mentioned that I was going to a girls night at a local bar for a male revue show performed by the Chippendales and let's just say it was interesting. The first guy we saw was probably a Chippendale from years ago who was reliving the good ole' days because to say he is a Chippendale is just a flat out lie. There was some interesting things that happened that night, but I'll just share a few pictures with you...

Probably one of the hotter performances, love a man in uniform.

This cutie was by far my favorite and he looked good as a fireman.

And here he is again as a cowboy, yummm.

My crazy girlfriends sent me up there and I was terrified.

Had to get a pic with the guys, they were all really nice and pretty to look at.

Some of us ladies before the show started.

Let's just say, it was definitely interesting to go to and people watch because some of the women were insane! But we all had a blast and made the best of the night.

Friday was spent watching too many presentations in my class, thank god I'll be done with all of this by the end of this week, I seriously cannot wait. 

Saturday was an old coworker's baby shower that I attended with my fave girls from work. We were too busy playing the games and eating the food to take a pic though, but I did get a few snaps of the cute set up.

Pretty candy bar set up.

More of the candy bar plus the beautiful cake and cupcakes.

Prettiest cupcake and it tasted delicious too, I won't lie I had about 3 of these bad boys.

On my drive home I saw the prettiest sunset ever, so what else did I do but take a picture of it.

On Sunday I did a LOT of shopping, both for myself and the rest of my Christmas presents. Throughout the weekend I got a lot of my online orders in the mail and let's just say it was a very happy mail weekend. Unfortunately I was so busy I couldn't open it until Sunday, but here's some of my loot.

Julep nail polishes, you can get some for yourself here.

I got this incredible 22 piece makeup brush set for a fraction of the regular price on black Friday.

Also got this 120 piece eyeshadow palette, you can get the brushes & palette from Coastal Scents.

Did a bit of shopping online at Sephora since I had some coupons, got this Tarte makeup set, unfortunately they don't have this on the site anymore.

This palette is Sephora brand and was only $10 on sale, unfortunately they ran out online.

While I was at the mall shopping, I picked up these Marc Jacobs sunnies and I'm in love with them. Now I'm ready for the sun to come back to Chicago again instead of the snow.

Well that was my weekend in a nutshell. Did you guys get any Christmas/Holiday shopping done this weekend?

P.s. I ordered my very first Holiday cards and can't wait for them to get here, if you would like one just email me with your address and I'll send one your way!

I'm linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.

Sunday Social {Week 79}

Another Sunday is upon us all and that means it's time for Sunday Social with Ashley & Neely!

1. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone?

2. What do you keep beside your bed?

3. What is your least favorite chore?

As much as I love the smell of fresh laundry, I HATE doing laundry. I will literally wait until I absolutely need to do my laundry to do it. Luckily I have a bunch of crap to wear which holds me over for a while, but then the dreaded day comes where the piles are just too high to manage, then my OCD kicks in, it's a vicious cycle.

4. If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be?

Definitely doing my hair. I have long and thick hair (I know I know, I'm not always complaining about it) and it takes forever to do my hair sometimes. If I need to wash it, I absolutely have to do it the night before to let it properly dry or else it would take me 1.5 hours in the morning just on my hair. Of course there are the days where I wash it the night before, sleep on it, and just go with it to work. You may be asking, well why not just wash it and go with it, well you know what Hagrid looks like in the HP movies?! Yes that's what my hair looks like if I just let it run wild. If the hair gods could just make it look socially acceptable everyday that would be great, thanks!

{link}

5. What do you do to vent anger?

Most of the time I just get some alone time in my room with my music blasting into my ears. This is the time where the angst-y music comes into play because I can be such a teenager sometimes. Music seems to be my outlet for a lot, so I just like to be alone with just me and my music.

6. What is your favorite holiday of the year and why?

I think a lot of people will say this, but I love Christmas. I think it's my favorite because my parents did such a great job during my childhood where I look forward to it every year. Now that I'm older my parents don't do the whole gift thing, but I love buying gifts and giving people what they want. Also the decor is just right up my alley, I love to make the house look cheerful and Christmas-y! I can't wait to start a family one day and have traditions around Christmas!

Roses Are Red

You guys, every woman's wishes (well I think every woman's) are coming true on Sunday Jan 5th, 2014. The beautiful specimen that is Juan Pablo will be the new bachelor embarking on a journey to find Mrs. Juan Pablo. Even though I wish I was in the running for that position, the selection this year is hmm....interesting to say the least. I think there are a few contenders in the mix who may make it through, but only time will tell.

Let's just take a minute to bask in the glory that is Juan Pablo...

{link}

{link}

{link}

Why I love you too Juan Pablo :).

So after sifting through the list of eligible bachelorettes for Juan Pablo to pick through, I came across some interesting information about these girls. Let's take a peek...

So wait, you're telling me being a "free spirit" is a legit occupation?!? I don't see this girl making it past the first night, I really hope she has a real job. Also for her best attributes, she uses very an awful lot. She seems like a wafty choice for Juan Pablo, he needs some stability in his life especially because of his daughter, not some chick who claims to be a free spirit.

Oooooooook, now we have a "dog lover". I mean don't get me wrong, I like dogs as much as the next person, but that is not an occupation. This girl is actually pretty, but her occupation alone just was a no in my mind.

The only thing that really bugs me about this girl is the fact that she's a "former NBA dancer". Ummm, unless her age is incorrect, how can you be a former dancer and what is it that she is doing currently or is she another one of those who "hasn't figured it out". Again with the stability issue with Juan Pablo's daughter, I don't think he wants a 21 year old taking care of his daughter.

Now onto the girls who I actually think will make it pretty far. There are 10 and I won't write anything just post their info. The other girls just don't stand out to me and will likely go home on the first few nights.

Have you guys gone through the contestants and picked out your faves? Anything you're looking forward to seeing this season?

That's all I got for ya today, oh yea I'm headed to a girl's night out with some of my girlfriends to watch the Chippendale's men perform magic mike, this should definitely be an interesting night to say the least. If I'm allowed to take any pictures, I will recap the show. After seeing Thunder from Down Under in Las Vegas, I'm curious to see how the Chippendale's show stacks up!

Toodles!