THE CHRISTMAS SNUGGIE

(Go ahead sing it - to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree”)

Oh Christmas Snuggie
Oh Christmas Snuggie
How warm and cozy you are
Oh Christmas Snuggie
Oh Christmas Snuggie
What a wonderful gift you make

Ha Ha


Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the Snuggie. Am I right or am I right? Wow the Snuggie is so popular this Christmas. So, I couldn’t resist...I bought one for my friend, Rebecca, her son and their dog. Now, am I a great friend or what? Who knows...maybe if you are really good all year you might have a special Snuggie under your Christmas tree.

THANKSGIVING

I am so excited to for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. You get to dress up, drink lots of champagne and wine, eat lots of yummy food and the desserts - pumpkin cheesecake here I come. Oh yeah, and spending time with my family. :) I have lots to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my daughter - Zena. She is the sweetest thing & I don’t know what I’d do without her. I am also thankful that my sister Sherry and her newborn, Connor are both healthy and back at home. The little guy decided it was time to make an appearance 6 weeks early, giving us all something to pray about.

Now that Thanksgiving is here - Christmas will be right around the corner. The parties, the sales, the parties, the parties - I can’t wait!

THE OC FAIR

Oh How I love the fair.

The couture...

The fabulous cuisine...



And let’s not forget the drama...


So, the fair was in town. I just love the fair - the rides, the food, the games, the animals. So, me, Z, my sister Sherry with her kids, Mason (aka Mister), Dahlia (aka DD) and my sister Jen with her son, Bodhi (aka Bo Bo) all went to the fair. Got to let you in on the nicknames although I have been warned about giving other people’s kids nicknames.

Anyways it was a lot of fun. The kids had lots of fun going on rides, playing in a huge sand box, petting the farm animals and eating fro yo. Zena enjoyed playing the games and won a huge monkey. Zena was tempted by and wanted to try a deep fried Twinkie but I have to draw the line somewhere, so I let her have a deep fried Ding Dong instead. Just kidding - that was a joke I swear. :)

We had a great time and wish we had a chance to go a second time before the fair blew out of town. Dang it - okay next year we gotta go at least twice and try some deep fried cheese on a stick.

THROUGH A CHILD'S EYE

Fashion Island is the best mall ever. I just love outdoor malls. Its so much fun to be outside on a nice warm day and get to window shop - oh and a little shopping also. I couldn't resist popping in to Anthropologie. While I was making a pile of clothes to try on Zena walked around with my sister and niece and took these picks. Love them.

ZENA IS 8 - GOING ON 18

So, my lil ZZ turned 8 on the 21st. Can you believe it? I have an 8-year-old. Man am I getting old or what? So, this was the 1st year since she was born that we did not throw her a humongous party. I felt bad about it - but we really are trying to save money. We also made an agreement - no big party & I would buy her an iPod Nano. So, I held up my part of the deal & she has had those darn things in her ears ever since. We did, however, go to Disneyland on her b-day. How could we pass up that great deal - free on your b-day. I worked that day but as soon as I got home we headed to the park. We were able to go on about 6 rides and then by 11:30 p.m. when we were almost falling asleep on Pirates of the Caribbean - we decided to call it a night. I had a great time with Z. We are always so busy going to parties & visiting friends that we hardly spend time alone together so that was real nice.

SANTA BARBARA TRIP

Me and my girlfriends went to Santa Barbara for the weekend. OMG - I had a fabulous time. There was a group of about 10 of us gals that went to celebrate our friend, Barb’s birthday. We went on this awesome wine tour in a big van. We went to 3 different wineries, a lavender farm, did an olive oil tasting and went to Neverland Ranch to see the freak show. I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun. It was awesome. We stayed in this cottage. It was so cute & had a Jacuzzi outside. The neighborhood looked a little suspect - but we’re tough kids. ;) And there was a liquor store about 2 blocks from the house. Perfect for walking to - when you seriously can’t drive. Know what I’m saying? We spent a good deal of one night in the Jacuzzi - singing and laughing and drinking lots of wine (of course). Hope the birthday girl had as much fun as I did!

OKAY I LIED - I DON’T HATE WEDDINGS

Okay, so I’ve said it a few times, “I hate weddings.” But I think I will have to take it back, in fact, I think I actually love weddings. However, I still am all about Vegas & reciting vows in front of Elvis! My friend April’s wedding was on July 12th and it was beautiful. My friend, April is an amazing person. Me and her were these crazy party girls who were regulars at bars & clubs. (Before my Z of course.) Now she has totally turned her life around. She goes to church three times a week. Seriously, three times a week. Yes, churches are not just open on Sundays, people.

April has become an awesome Christian that is truly inspiring. She stopped drinking also. So, it was a dry wedding - which I thought “torture” but it wasn’t bad. I was one of her bridesmaids in the wedding and she was a wonderful gracious bride. No bridezilla here. She also did the most amazing thing - she sang this beautiful song (On this Day! By Ashley Reynolds) to her husband in the middle of the ceremony. Unconventional and a surprise to him but she sounded amazing. I totally lost my bet with her - she said I would cry & I said no way. Dang it - at least it was only a 50 cent bet.

WASHINGTON

Me, Z & my friend, Maggie went to visit our friend, Ellen, in Washington for the 4th of July weekend. I had a wonderful, relaxing and completely laid back trip. We loved it. Ellen and her husband, Fred, moved there about 3 years ago and this was our first trip to see them. They have 5 acres of property that they landscaped & it was like being in a beautiful park or something. They even have a stream running through their property. Their neighbors have cows that would walk up to the backyard fence. They were so cute. I love cows with their big brown eyes and long lashes. Too cute to eat, that’s for sure. Her house was also amazing. She has 2 guestrooms with their own bathroom. So me and Z stayed in one and Maggie stayed in the other room. It was like staying at a B&B. Ellen also cooks the most amazing food. I gained at least 5 lbs. there. Who am I kidding? I could gain 5 lbs just looking at food - so let’s make it 8 lbs. We went o Pikes Market in Seattle one day. What an awesome place - I loved looking at all the fresh produce. Yum! And the fish markets - amazing. We also went to the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville, WA. That was a lot of fun for Z seeing all those animals. She said the bison were her favorite.

As a side note, as I was only a couple hours away from Forks - I did try looking for vampires, but darn it I wasn’t able to find any.

SHECKY'S GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Me and my sisters recently went to Shecky’s Girls Night Out. Have you ever been to this fabulous shopping event? It is the best. All my favorite things happen at this event. Hanging out with my girlfriends, shopping, having a couple drinkie drink drinks & goodie bags. The price per ticket is $25 - but they usually have promos going on - buy 1 get 1 free. There are a bunch of cool vendors (clothes, jewelry, beauty products & more) and the goodie bags are packed with tons of stuff. In my bag I got a book, 3 Venus Razors, 2 deodorants, Rembrandt toothpaste. Listerine Whitening mouth wash, several body washes, hand soaps, lip balm, - all kinds of stuff. I love Shecky’s!

BRACE FACE

So, I guess it was inevitable - my little ZZ had to get braces. OMG. Too be honest I was scared for her. I never had braces so I didn’t know if they would hurt or not. Zena was excited. Excited about all the different colored bands she could put on her braces. She was a real trooper at the Ortho - no tears. So brave. She hasn’t complained about pain too much & I think the worst part is flossing every night. Also - giving up all her favorite snacks, candy, chocolate, chips. I told her she is going to be a skinny minnie by the time she gets her braces off. I think she looks so cute in braces.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Me: “Zena do you think it’s weird that I am in love with fro yo [frozen yogurt]?”
Z: “Mom you can’t be in love with fro yo. If you got married it would just melt.”

ZENAISMS

So, me and Zena were talking about taking Roxy to puppy school the other day and Zena asked me, "is it like a pilates class?" What do you do with a 7-year-old who thinks puppy school would be like a pilates class? What do you do with a 7-year-old who knows what pilates is? OMG - I just love my Mini Me. She is so funny. Then I thought about it and, yes, I guess puppy school is a little like pilates class. After all, there is an instructor and there is a bunch of tricks going on, right? I mean those moves have to be considered a trick, no one bends that way naturally.

MORE ZENAISMS

“Roxy brings my heart together.”
“There’s no stopping the Zena show.”
“Mom, you don't need to go on a diet, you just need a trainer.”

DIETS

So, I started the Master Cleanse. It's sounds terrible, doesn't it? Ugh. Okay lets call it the Lemonade Diet - that sounds much more pleasant, dontcha think? It's where you drink 6 to 10 glasses of the lemonade (water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper). That's it - no food. You can have green and peppermint tea though - as well as water but that's it. So, today is Friday and day 5 of this diet & I might be completely bonkers but I kind of love not eating food. Don't get me wrong my bro was eating a burger in front of me the other day and I was practically salivating & I don't even eat beef. The lemonade is filling and I don't feel hungry but I do miss food.

Since I started the diet, or "cleanse" I have also noticed how bad my eating habits are, like when I get home from work the first thing I do is go in the kitchen, open the fridge and look for a snack. I am always constantly on a diet and weigh myself everyday and have incredible guilt whenever I indulge. It feels nice not thinking about any of that, oh yeah losing 2 lbs a day is also nice. :) So, I am actually kind of afraid of stopping the diet for fear of gaining all the weight back. I know this Lemonade Diet is to be used as a cleanse and not a source to lose weight but now that I've lost the weight - I just can't gain it back again. My sister thinks I'm "obsessed." Big surprise, right? I am always obsessed about something.

Tomorrow will be a real test Twilight Party at Rebecca's. Lot's of yummy food, desserts and wine. I want to stick to my lemonade but I also want to enjoy some food too. I guess I'll see what happens when it happens.

MARCH 29 UPDATE: I totally pigged out at Rebecca's. I am now back to eating food again.
APRIL 20 UPDATE: I lost a total of 9 lbs and gained 4 lbs back.

ADDICTIONS

Okay I think I have become an addict. I am not sure what to do. Perhaps I should look into some kind of rehab or support group. Oh sorry - you are wondering what could I possibly be addicted to. Okay alcohol was an obvious one, but my current addiction is even worse. Okay, yeah that is true I am a shopaholic. However, I am dealing with the hardest addiction I have ever felt in my life. I am addicted to . . . Twilight. Yeah, the book. I don’t know how it happened. One day a friend was telling me about it, then another friend and then my sister. I didn’t get it. Why is everyone so obsessed with Twilight. "Yeah, yeah," I thought, "I will read it when I get a chance." My sister even confessed to me that she wouldn’t drink any wine on the nights that she was going to read the book, for fear of being too sleepy to read. Giving up wine for a book - she is crazy I thought. Then I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. I started reading it Monday night and finished last night. I have been staying up until 1 in the morning and then getting up at 6 in the morning for work, tired throughout the day but still managing to stay up late again so that I can read more. Sneaking off to bed around 9 proclaiming, "oh, I am so tired," just so I could get in bed and snuggle up with my book.

The characters and their emotions have been running through my mind since I started reading it. I don’t know what is so fascinating about it. Oh, yeah I do. It’s the way the author describes all the emotions and sensations you feel with your first love. Your first love, do you remember how you felt? I honestly had forgotten. How sad, huh? I had forgotten about the butterflies and the tingling you feel just holding his hand. They way you can’t get him out of your head - can’t concentrate. The way you wonder what he’s thinking, doing, seeing, feeling. I had forgotten all about those emotions until I read this book. Am I a complete dork or what? I know it’s a teen book aimed at kids in high school, but I couldn’t help falling for this book. I already started reading the second book, New Moon. I am so obsessed. However, apparently I am not the only one. Everyone I have talked to that has read this book feels the same way. Crazy, huh? Well, I can’t wait to keep on reading all the books in the series to find out what will happen next with Edward and Bella. The worst part about the book - now I want to fall in love with a vampire and where the heck am I going to find one of those?

GOING FOR A RUN

Well, here I am sitting at the computer. Sitting - because I can no longer walk. Well, to be honest I’m not sure which is more painful walking or sitting. You see, my so-called friend, Rebecca a.k.a. the boot camp instructor and I went jogging yesterday. I thought it was going to be a nice short jog with our Puggles - Chewy (hers) and Roxy (mine). It’s just her “usual” route which she does about 4 times a week. Little did I know she was some kind of maniac runner and thought I could keep up for 5 miles. HELLLLOOOOO. She has apparently gotten me confused with someone who works out. I mean don’t get me wrong I do get some exercise, like almost every day I have to get up from my desk and walk over to the printer. And let me tell you that can totally be a workout. So halfway into the run I start getting a headache and then I start feeling nauseous and I thought I might possibly be having a heart attack - because my chest hurt as well. I obviously couldn’t keep up and she had to leave me in the dust. She caught up with me on her way back of course (still running - what a maniac!). She had lots of encouraging words for me like how proud she is that I made it as far as I did and I look like a runner – good form or something. What a load of crap. Me and Roxy had to take a 2 hour nap afterwards to try and recover. So as I sit here my legs, hips, back and pretty much every other body part is in a lot of pain. Runners. What the hell is the matter with them? Don’t worry about sending me cards & flowers I will recover soon. And if you see Rebecca with her running shoes on - you better run. . . in the other direction. :)

THE CURSE

No not that curse. Gross, like I would ever write about that. No, I am talking about my curse & magazines. You see, whenever I fall in love with a magazine - they die. Okay, well not die but they stop getting printed. Just a few examples (yes this is a few): Martha Stewart Baby; Martha Stewart Kids; Martha Stewart Blue Print; Shop, Etc.; Child; and now, my favorite Domino. I am so sad. I LOVE Domino magazine. It has so many great ideas for decorating. I see you raising your eyebrows. Yes, I love a decorating magazine - even though I don’t own my own house. I look through each beautiful, shiny page and imagine how I will decorate my own house one day. I tag each page filled with a clever idea and keep stacking the magazines in a neat pile, with colored post-its peeking out - because one day I will copy all these great ideas and my house will look marvelous. (Did you say “marvelous” like Billy Crystal? No? Go back and read that last sentence again with a Billy Crystal accent. Thank you.)

So, I think what I need to do for the good of mankind or for the good of the magazines, and their loyal readers, is stop subscribing. Okay that’s it - I will stop renewing all my subscriptions and I can save the rest of the magazines I read. Whoa - I guess that won’t work, will it? Well, just wanted to say a tearful (okay no tears but I am pouting) farewell to my favorite and soon-to-be-gone Domino. Hope none of you catch the curse. No not that curse. Geez.

- C

New Year - New Me (Yeah, Right!)

So, its a new year ladies & gents (like that?) - so of course I have to make a list of resolutions that I am bound to break, like:

(1) Start writing in my blog more. (Yup, that ones already broken, as its almost the end of January and its my first post of the year). Too bad -so sad.

(2) Lose weight. (It's good to be consistent. I make this resolution every year. So, those 3 pieces of cake I ate at the baby shower last Saturday aren't helping this one either). Dang it.

(3) Save money. (Okay so that would require all malls closing and someone hiding all my credit cards.) How could shopping be bad when it feels so good?

(4) Oh well - why even bother. There's always next year.

Zena also made some resolutions or "revolutions" as she keeps saying. Hmm... She might have it right, actually.

(1) "Eating healthy." (All I got to say is she helped me with those pieces of cake.)

(2) "Take care of Roxy and feed her healthy food so she won't be a fatty." (We are actually pretty good at this one - however my parents not so much. My dad was busted the other day for making Roxy pancakes and my mom thinks feeding waffles to dogs is just fine.)

(3) "Take Roxy to puppy school so she can be a nice good puppy and no barking at dogs." (Maybe we'll sign her up next week......)

Well - hope you have better luck with your revolutions.

XOXO, C