Another must-read blog for the end of 2011

I hope that the picture that accompanies this week's must-read blog post makes you hungry.  And thirsty.  Brad and I went Christmas shopping last week (minus Willa, thank god.  She is going through a phase of being a HORRIBLE shopping buddy) but we got distracted midway through by a new sushi place in downtown Lincoln.  Brad ordered a volcano something-or-other, and mine was a southwestern what-not that was COVERED in cilantro.  Wow, yum.  With a side of edamame and a tasty cabernet/Japanese beer. Perfect shopping meal.  And conveniently, Dozo is located right smack across the street from the offices of Purely Maid.  And they have happy hour.  Twice a day on weekends.  Tosha, how have we not been there together yet???  Sushi with my cleaning buddy is going on the 2012 goal list.  So is reforming my child's poor shopping behaviors.  I'm not even kidding, she sprinted out of a store holding multiple pairs of low-rise men's boxer briefs.  Laughing the whole time.  Not ok.  I should have let the store press charges, just to teach her an early lesson.

Onto the blog...http://www.peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.blogspot.com/ is hilarious.  Aaaand, has a web address that is even longer and more complicated than mine.  I was turned onto this blog at the time she was writing about her experiences with the Elf on the Shelf fiasco.  Then I spent an absurd amount of time reading her older posts. Love it!  Add it to the blog roll.

Recommended Shopping

Don't these puppies look good with a few of my other Christmas decorations??

I was finally able to shop a bit with my mom a few days back and we went to a store that she has been telling me about for a few weeks.  Its called Cool and Collected and it is located near 13th and Hwy 2.  If you have any interest in anything vintage, antique, retro, used, just plain awesome...you should really check it out.  I only took pictures of a few of the things that I loved.  I took the ornaments home with me, as well as the letter V.  Its not very often that a lady can find a bright yellow letter V!  I was really thinking that the yellow dresser would look absolutely perfect in a nursery, maybe painted a different color, its kind of a rough shade of yellow for such a big piece of furniture.  Painting/refinishing furniture makes me nervous as heck but its something I'd like to master someday.  And those chairs???  Recovered?  Ugh.  I think the owner of this store is gonna have to get used to my face.  Poor guy.

Ugly Sweater Love

A few weekends ago, we were invited to an Ugly Sweater party at the home of the Ellis's.  Enough time has passed that I feel I can safely talk about the party without my hangover returning, however my memory of the evening is poor.  Mostly due to the amount of alcohol consumed, but also the passing of time and the age of my brain.  I know that the night involved jello shots and Apples to Apples.  Picture taking with Tosha and Jared.  Learning killer taekwando moves from Xander.  Dominoes and math.  I think this is where I get fuzzy.  Math has always confused me, but about the time the math started, Reggie brought out a diaper bag filled with bottles of tasty liquor and Tosha and I started playing the 7 Second game again that we invented a few years back at a tailgate.  Do we ever learn???  Apparently not.  Such a fun night.  Looking forward to more nights with these friends, maybe with a few less jello shots and less diaper bag fun:)

Merry Christmas, friends!!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season!!  We have lots of plans for the next few days.  Christmas Eve with my family at my parents' house, Christmas day at home, Christmas evening with Brad's family in Grand Island and then a few holiday parties over the next few days.  Thank goodness for a few days off!  And then...2012!!  Lots of big plans for the coming year.  Maybe my next round of night shifts will include a 2012 goal setting post.  And/or a holiday letter of sorts.

I'm so excited for Christmas Eve church service, gift-giving, cookie baking, and lounging in pjs.  Then maybe some wine or whiskey drinking?  Don't want this thing to get toooo PG.

Because people want to buy me stuff

for inspiration



because I don't have a matching set of coffee mugs. 
and these will look so cheerful on my future open shelving.

time to face the facts.  i drink a lot of whiskey.



practical boots.



for living in nebraska.



its on sale




because its pretty cute.

All the really cool bloggers are making wish lists this time of year so I thought I'd make one too!  These are just a few things that popped into my head.  I am also in need of new kitchen spatulas, big rubbermaid bins, a new laptop, a print by Thomas Campbell,

A Highly Inappropriate Must Read Blog

You just never know what your little tyke will find while shopping for fake, white Christmas trees at WalMart.  And yes, Willa does know how to find my phone, unlock the screen, open Angry Birds, and then shoot all the birds backwards so that the pigs will laugh.  Then sometimes she accidentally calls people.  Sorry about that, friends whose last names start with A and my Accountant.

I've got a new blog to follow, courtesy of my night shift coworker, Kelli.  I'm warning you right now, the language is foul and pretty much every single thing about it is completely sick and wrong.  I have a very juvenile sense of humor.  Please don't be angry at me if you are offended.  But please do let me know if you read it and laugh.  And don't worry, its all text (there are no inappropriate photos or anything.) 

Margaritas with my senoritas

Mom, Willa and I had the best time the other night at El Toro.  Willa is such a ham!  She *may* have had a small, teeny, tiny taste of mom's strawberry margarita while chewing on her straw and I think it was just enough to make her loco.  We laughed till there were tears in our eyes!  Then on the drive home, she found a cookie that she had put in her cup holder a few days before and she said "OMG.  Where'd this cookie come from?"  Where does she get this stuff???  And speaking of Willa saying stuff, today on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's, she asked me "Where do babies come from?"  I wasn't sure I heard that correctly so I asked her to repeat herself.  "Where do babies come from?  And tiny, tiny puppies?"  She's 2, people!  2!  I thought that was a question more for like, 5 year olds!  Or kids whose mom's are pregnant.  Not 2 year olds!  She wasn't quite satisfied with my lame-o answer about how they grow in mom's tummy because its just a good place to grow.  When I asked her why she was asking about babies, she said something about Beethoven.  I might have to watch that movie...

Sledding in the yard

It finally snowed!  I feel like the weather has been so strange this fall and winter and the first snow seemed really late.  It also provided yet another reason for us to love our new home.  So much room for sledding!  Last winter, Willa didn't even want snow to touch her boots but this year, she didn't want to go back inside.  Like, REALLY didn't want to. 
What happens to us in the years between being a child and being an adult that makes us lose the joy that we used to find in cold weather and snow?  When I was young, one of my favorite things was digging and tunneling in the snow.  Now, I just think that cold and snow are obnoxious.  Unless Willa is in the snow, and giggling:)

I was warned that this would happen

Over the past week or so, we have slooooowly been putting up some Christmas decorations.  We bought a new artificial (duh) tree at (gasp) WalMart because of a show I saw on HGTV.  It is, of course, a much (much, much, much) cheaper version of the HGTV tree, but it works for us.  I wish I could find a clip from that show to share, because what they did with that house, and that tree, was awesome.  Anyway, we had just started to put a few things on the tree, including some turquoise bulbs that were brand new from Hobby Lobby, when Stickers suddenly decided to take an interest in the tree.  First, he just batted one of the lower bulbs from the branch and was playing with it on the floor.  Which was cute, until it shattered.  Bad Stickers.  Next thing we know, he is UP IN THE TREE.  Like, all the way.  Well, you can see.  And he was just sort of punching the bulbs from the tree with his tiny paws.  And they were shattering.  But for some reason, we didn't put a stop to it.  It was way too funny.  Willa was hysterical.  Brad was making a video.  I was taking pictures.  Very bad Stickers.  He will never learn, if all we do is laugh at him. 

Counter Envy



Image from YoungHouseLove


People are always wondering, and asking me, what my ideal coutertop looks like.  Oh wait, no...no one cares.  Its just that I think about my ideal countertops a lot.  There they are!  Big 'ole, thick, heavy Corian.  White.  Fabulous.  I do wonder why they didn't go all out and get the seamless Corian sink?  Those are a cleaning ladies' dream.

Someday, Allison.  Someday.

The Chocolate Bar

Willa, Panton at Silo.  We were diggin' the way her coat matched the chair.

Best. Latte. Ever.

Aunt Joy and Willa. Self portrait.

We went to Grand Island for Thanksgiving with the Van Boening's last weekend.  Always enjoyable.  This post, however, is going to be a straight up RAVE about the Chocolate Bar.  We stopped by after a visit to Silo (so Brad could get new shoes.  I swear that guy gets new shoes more often than I do. In the words of Willa "That not fair.")  We were there during non-operational hours, and they have only been open for about a week, so we got to see some things in-progress.  But MAN, that place is going to be cool!  I am so excited for those who live in Grand Island to get to go there, and for myself, as I'm going to find more excuses to go there:)  My brother-in-law, Brant, did their website and logo/print work and sister-in-law Joy will manage the coffee bar portion of the Bar.  Joy made us a soy gingerbread latte while we were taking a tour and it was heaven in my mouth.  No kiddin, she is good.  We also got to sample one of the new martinis that the owner was experimenting with.  Ohmygosh. 
If you live in Grand Island, go!  If you live in Lincoln, call me and lets make a date for a road trip!

A Must-Read Blog (yeah, another one)

These pictures don't have a single thing to do with my latest Must-Read-Blog, but I liked them.  So here they are.  We had just gotten home with some groceries and we remembered (via Pinterest) that chocolate chips fit really well right into the opening of raspberries.  Yes, we ate the entire container of raspberries, but we did use SOME self control and didn't eat that whole bowl of chocolate chips.  I swear we didn't. 

Anywho...I don't think I've shared this blog yet, but its latest post has generated A LOT of conversation/controversy/support so I thought now would be a great time to introduce you to FitMamaTraining and her blog.  Erin was a coworker of mine at the hospital several years ago and she is an amazing person.  She has built a business around the fact that she has altered her lifestyle and made some huge changes in her health and fitness levels since becoming a mother.  Very inspirational and very honest.  I really look forward to her blog posts.  So...go read about her thoughts on the Victoria's Secret fashion show..then go back and read all the rest of them.  You won't be sorry you did!