Saturday, July 24, 2010

Lake Michigan


I'd never been to any of the Great Lakes before. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Michigan, Muskegon specifically, for the wedding of one of my best friends. She'd raved about the Lake Michigan and how nice it was, but I had no idea until I'd actually visited just how fabulous it actually is!

I love the beach for the sand and the view, but I don't like salt water. I love the fresh water and crystal clarity that so many lakes have, but they don't have the waves, tide, and never-ending view that oceans offer. The Great Lakes are ideal! They have the fresh water and crystal clarity of the lakes I love (such as Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire), plus the never-ending water view, waves, and tide that come with oceans. The sand actually felt softer than the sand at the beach as well. I only had a couple of hours in the lake, but I can't wait to head back again!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mad City Soap/Mad City Sue

I love to make bath and body products, but sometimes I don't feel like making them, or sometimes I want a product in a fragrance I don't have and don't want to order a bottle of fragrance oil. When that happens, I turn to stores and e-tailers. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to trying some of these e-tailers. I once ordered from an e-tailer, who had a lot of good recommendations, and I was turned pink from the bath fizz! She immediately refunded me my money when I e-mailed her and sent her pictures, but admitted she hadn't tested the new dye.

One e-tailer from whom I've ordered several times and not had any problems is Mad City Sue on Etsy. Her products are scented strongly enough that I can smell it on myself all day, but I haven't had anyone tell me the scent is too strong. Her sugar scrubs are so moisturizing that even my super dry skin doesn't need moisturizer after using it. The scrubs are the perfect consistency to exfoliate well, be scoopable, and not make a mess everywhere. I also love her iCream (a little goes a LONG way) and her shower parfaits.

Note: She doesn't sell meltable products over the summer because they melt, so some products will be leaving her site for a few months soon.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Netflix Wii Watch Instantly Disc

I love my Netflix account, but if I'm honest I am more likely to use the "Watch Instantly" feature than I am to watch the actual discs. The problem with this has been that I had to use my computer to watch things instantly unless I bought a Blu-Ray that was Netflix-ready, bought a Tivo that was Netflix-ready, or a converter box. All of those options required more money than I wanted to spend when I had DVR through my cable company and a perfectly good DVD player and other things I'd rather spend my money on than a converter box.

Netflix came out with this great idea to have discs that you put into your video game system and you can use your video game system to stream the movies instantly. They are free and so easy to register! My Wii disc came in a couple of weeks ago and I'm using my Netflix more now than ever.

The video quality isn't bad. It's not as good as HD, but it's better than watching it on the computer. I'd stay it's about the same quality as a non-digital TV station. I also haven't had the buffering problems that I tend to get when I watch the Netflix instant movies on the computer, so that's a huge plus! I don't think it's a problem at all to have to use the disc in the Wii to watch the movies, but I only have one TV so nobody would be able to use the Wii while watching a Netflix movie anyway. The sound is a little quieter than when I watch TV, but it's not bad. I keep my TV at volume 13 for regular TV watching and have to bump it up to 19 to watch the Netflix movies.

Here's how it works.

1. You put in the disc and bring up the Netflix disc just as you would any disc.



2. You get a little menu while it's loading to show you how to work the remote to select titles.



3. You'll get the Instant Queue menu so you can browse the titles you've already selected. This is connected to your online account (and I have the iPhone app, and it'll load anything you've added from either of those places).



4. If you click on the picture, it'll pop up with this menu which has the rating, a summary, and buttons to click on to play the movie or remove it from your queue.



5. I just found out that you can also select new movies while using the disc! If you look at the picture in Step 3, you can see the box with the words "Instant Queue" in it. If you click on that box, you get a couple of menus, which are the same menus that you get while in the online system.



It can show you movies that Netflix things are similar to one you've recently watched (although I'm not really sure how some of them relate...)



Here's page 2 of the menu:



Page 3



6. Here's how you can add new movies or shows from the Wii: You click on the search criteria from one of the menus in Step 5 and browse through the options. I clicked on the "Television" menu and got a screen that looks like the picture in Step 3 and the second picture in Step 5. I clicked on a British show I like called "Coupling" and got this:



It looks pretty much the same as the screen from Step 4. You are told how long it is, get a review and summary, and have the option to start watching immediately or add to the queue for later. This also shows up in your online Netflix account so you could watch from your computer later.

7. Once you want to start watching a movie or TV show, you just click on the "Play" button and the movie will start.



Don't worry, that hand and those bars disappear.

8. If you want to do a scene selection, that's really easy. You just hit one of the arrow buttons on the Wii remote and you'll get a scene selector mode.



The image is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. You can just click on the scene and it'll fast forward or rewind to that point.

I'm so glad Netflix came out with this disc! I finally feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of my Netflix account!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Nail Polish

I've become a bit obsessed with nail polish lately. I can tend to get obsessed with things, I've been obsessed with cookbooks, makeup, making bath and body products, and lately it's been eyeshadows and nail polish in particular.

I think I have started to love nail polish so much because it's a little thing I can do to make me feel feminine. I'm always running late for work, so I might not have enough time to do my makeup how I like it, but I do my nails at night, so they're done.

Nail polish can also help reflect or perk up my mood. I love duochromes. They are really pretty and they provide a bit of entertainment when I think I might have a boring meeting. I can keep changing the angle of my fingers and see the different colors. If I'm feeling gloomy, I have started liking to put on bright nail colors. Today I'm wearing China Glaze Heli-Yum on my fingers and China Glaze Something Sweet on my toes. I even ordered some neon colors, which I didn't think I'd want, since they are so bright. Oddly, the brightness is the reason I didn't think I'd want them in the first place!

I'm so glad I teach in an elementary school and can get away with more outrageous colors than most other careers. The kids love the fun colors. I can't wait to see their reactions when my neons come in and I wear those!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Stephanie Plum

I can appreciate the classics and quality literature; I don't think I'd be much of a reading specialist if I didn't, but I love to read brain candy. I'd say 90% of the books I read are considered beach reads or chick lit. I like to read as a way to relax and have fun and most of the time that means doing something mindless. I need to get away from the stress of work and chores and it's hard to do that when you're thinking a lot about the story.

One author I love for that is Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum novels. If you've never read any of the Stephanie Plum novels, they're the series by Janet that all have a number in the title. There are a couple of novellas, but those aren't very good in my opinion. I've read two of them and the only reason I'm reading them is so I make sure I don't miss anything. I struggle through them.

The main books in this series are enjoyable to read! Stephanie used to be a lingerie buyer, but she lost her job and blackmailed her cousin Vinnie to let her be a bounty hunter for his bonds firm. Stephanie ends up in some hilarious situations, including the time a FTA (Failure to Appear) was naked and covered himself in Vaseline in order to keep her from catching him. If you like mysteries with humor, I highly recommend this series!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Jodi Picoult

I love to read. I love, love, love, love, LOVE to read! I was one of those kids who always had her nose in a book. I read on the bus (and missed my stop once, that was pretty scary to look up and realize my siblings had gotten off and there was nobody else left on the bus!), at night when I was supposed to be sleeping, and really anywhere else a book can go. I love to get lost in a book. On days off, I can easily go through a book in a day. This is one reason why I love having a Kindle. I've had to buy books while on vacation before since I've run out. I've also been overweight on airline luggage because of books. Now that I'm so busy with work, I don't get to read as much as I used to, but I still love to read.

I love a variety of books. Chick Lit is my favorite for when I want to laugh and not think too much while reading. It's kind of like eating a bowl of ice cream when you've had a bad day. Sometimes I want something more substantial than Chick Lit.

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors for when I want a book to really make me think about the world. The first book I ever read of hers was My Sister's Keeper. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can handle reading about cancer and wants to try Jodi Picoult. This is probably my all time favorite book of hers, even though I don't think I could handle reading it now. My Sister's Keeper is about a 13-year-old girl who is suing her parents for emancipation. She was born to save her sister, who was dying of leukemia, when no other family members were a bone marrow match and no longer wants to be subjected to painful surgeries and procedures. The ending is typical Jodi Picoult. She gives an ending that is true to how life often works, even if it's not what you'd expect. She isn't afraid to shy away from "Hollywood endings" and I admire her for that.

Some other books of Jodi's that are my favorite are: Nineteen Minutes, The Pact, Handle With Care, and Plain Truth.

There are, however, two things I don't like about Jodi Picoult's books. One thing is that she often uses supernatural events in her stories and I sometimes find it to be distracting from the main point of the story (an example being Second Chance). The other thing is that she's with a publisher that wants to delay the release of the Kindle version until about 4 months after the hardcover (although I did see a Tweet from her that maybe it'll come in April?). She's usually an author I buy in hardcover, but I have made the decision to wait until the books is available in Kindle. She has stated repeatedly that it's not her choice and she is 100% opposed to her publisher's decision. She said she feels it punishes some of her most dedicated fans, but the decision was applied retroactively and the book was already under contract. Boo, Simon and Schuster!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

St. Patrick's Day!

I'm a proud Irish American and I love St. Patrick's Day. I like to take the time to remember my heritage and usually make it a point to learn more about Ireland as well. I know I should do this all year round, but I like the reminder of this day.

I don't like corned beef and cabbage, and that's more of an Irish American tradition anyway, so I usually make an Irish stew and buy some Irish soda bread to eat for dinner. Yum!

I also don't like to wear green clothes. I don't think it's the best color on me, so I don't tend to wear it, so I never really wear anything green on St. Patrick's Day. If anyone tries to pinch me, I tell them I'm almost 100% Irish and the green is in my blood. I also have a claddagh tattoo, wear a claddagh ring ever day, and make a point to wear some of my emerald jewelry, so I do have a bit of green on.

This year I decided to do my nails and eye shadow for St. Patrick's Day. The nails are Emerald Sparkle by China Glaze. I love this color! This is from the Wizard of Ooohaaahs Returns collection, which was out around Christmas time. I actually wore this with Ruby Pumps for my Christmas manicure. This is the perfect emerald green color and the glitter is perfection.



Excuse the dulled eye shadow and creasing. I took this picture at about 6pm when I did my makeup at about 7am. This should still give you an idea of the look I did. I wore MAC's Lucky Green on my lid, MAC's Sumptuous Olive in my crease, then a nude color from my Smashbox palette along the brow bone. I lined my eyes with a gold eye liner from my Smashbox palette as well. I had fun with it and it was wearable for work!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Legal Seafoods Clam Chowder

In my world, there is no such thing as red clam chowder. Nope, no way, no how. I'm a New Englander and my chowdah has to be white.

The best clam chowder has to be from Legal Seafoods. There are places that have delicious clam chowder (the Mattapoisett Chowder House in Mattapoisett, MA has great clam chowder), but nothing compares to the perfection that is the clam chowder from Legal Seafoods. Usually, I get shrimp cocktail as an appetizer when I eat seafood. Not at Legal Seafoods.

What makes this chowder so special? Well, I have the Legal Seafoods cookbook, but haven't had a chance to try the chowder recipe, although I'm sure they left something out as those places do, so it doesn't taste quite the same. This is a rich, thick chowder that is the perfect thickness. They have just the right amount of potatoes and clams in it so each bite has clammy goodness. If you love seafood and haven't tried Legal Seafoods clam chowder, I highly recommend you do! This has been served at every Presidential inauguration since1981 . You can even order it online at their website. http://shop.legalseafoods.com/New-England-Clam-Chowder

Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Olympics!!

Of course one Thing I Love is the Olympics!! Who doesn't enjoy the world coming together to watch men on skates spin while wearing ruffles and sequins, then two minutes later watch Shaun White fly to the moon?!

Some people say that figure skating and snowboarding are examples of non-sports that are in the Olympics. Granted, snowboarding is one of the rare sports where the athletes get to listen to their iPods while competing, but other sports use music to help them out, so who am I to begrudge them that right? I happen to think that these are sports. They happen to have some artistry involved and are subjective, but they require athleticism in order to be successful. How does this make figure skating different from ballet? Well, ballet isn't really judged, now is it? They have auditions, but their performances aren't judged. Start judging ballet and I'll be happy to call it a sport as well.

I love the Olympics for moments like Lindsey Vonn winning the gold medal last night. She had me in tears with her excitement and the sheer joy that winning the gold medal brought her. To put on a run like that with her bruised shin and the amount of pain she must have been in was incredible to say the least. It may not be the smartest move, but most people push through things they shouldn't in order to work towards something that has been their life goal.

And Shaun White. There are no words. I have never watched snowboarding before in my life and I just cannot believe how incredible he is! He must store some jet packs in his bindings somewhere to go that high! His conservative run was miles ahead of all the others. It's just amazing!! I'm also jealous of his gorgeous hair.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Pancake Day!

I had an English boyfriend for about three years. In those three years, we had a few of our traditions that we had blended together, and kind of made out own. One tradition that I still want to carry on with myself that came completely from his culture is Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day. When the Americans are partying it up for Mardi Gras, and other countries are also partying it up with Carnival, the Brits are partying it up with pancakes! Yes, very tame in comparison but delicious nonetheless.

My first Pancake Day was when my ex and I were in a long distance relationship. I had gone to visit him during one of my school vacations and his family was talking about being excited for Pancake Day. I knew not of this holiday, but I'm all for holidays especially when they involve yummy food, so I was excited for pancakes. Well, the day came and Lee and I were going to travel into London to do some sight seeing and everyone was about to head out the door to work and school. I asked Lee when we were going to have the pancakes. He laughed and felt badly because apparently in England they don't eat pancakes for breakfast. Shortly after I overheard his little brother (8 at the time) ask his mom for pancakes and Lee's mom responded "You know we don't have pancakes for breakfast!" I felt his pain. I really did. Lee then explained to me that English pancakes are different from the American type. In England theirs are more like crepes and they roll them up and sprinkle them with lemon and sugar. I'll admit, I didn't like them at first and found them to be bland. I now love them.

Lee and I started a tradition of having American style pancakes for breakfast (he's half-American and was born in the States) and English style for dinner. It just works out that in America we usually eat ours for breakfast and in England they usually eat theirs for dinner. We got the best of both worlds.

I carried on that tradition myself today since we are no longer together. I had American style chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (although now I feel like I should have made my apple streusel ones!) and English ones for dinner.

Party hearty my friends.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Kindle

You know something I don't understand? In so many countries (like in Europe) they have those long license plates that don't state which country the plate is from. Here in the US the plates say which state it's from so the police could look up the driver by state then plate number so Joe Schmo from Wisconsin doesn't get stuck with a speeding ticket that Jane Doe from California got. What do they do in Europe if something like that happens? Are the plates not tied to the driver? How do you not accidentally get stuck with something that's not your fault, especially when you consider that driving to another country over there is akin to driving to another state here? I was just watching a Samantha Brown episode that takes place in Europe and it reminded me of this problem I ofren thought about when I was with Lee.

Aaaaaanyway, that is not what this post is meant to be about. This post is meant to be about my Kindle! I got one for Christmas after drooling over one for over a year and I love it! I didn't originally think I'd want one since I love real books so much, but after my mom got one for her birthday last year and I saw it in person I fell in love with it. It won't replace real books for me, especially since there are some books that won't be available in the Kindle format, but it's great for travel. I also have the iPhone app, so I can sync it through the wireless connection and pick up the book right where I left off on my phone when I don't have my Kindle with me, and vice versa. There are also loads of free books, and books are very inexpensive.

The only downfalls for the Kindle? With my mom's I had trouble reading it at the beach because of the bright sunlight, although Amazon says you're supposed to be able to read it in bright sunlight. The other downfalls are you can't share books (or at least you have to use loopholes to share), several books have strange formatting and/or typos, and it doesn't come with a case.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Zoya Harlow

Zoya is quickly becoming my favorite nail polish brand. They have gorgeous color that has staying power. I even tried a color I didn't think I'd like from looking at it in the bottle and ended up loving it (more on that another day since it's on my toes and I'll wait until I wear it on my fingers to do a post about it).

I had heard about matte nail polish and wasn't too thrilled with the idea since I love the sparkle and shine from wearing nail polish. However, since I was placing an order from Zoya for the Remove+, I decided to order some nail polish and try some from the Matte Velvet collection. One of the polishes I ordered from that collection was the Harlow polish. This polish has some matte shimmer in it and is a gorgeous color that Zoya describes as a Gunmetal Rose.

Even though you can't wear top coat with it, the matte formula is fast-drying and I didn't feel like it really dried much slower than when I use the Poshé.

Chloë


One of the Things I Love most is my cat Chloë. She is my little buddy and loves to follow me around. She's also my little protector; if I'm upset or frustrated she doesn't want to let anyone near me (this can be a nuisance, but kind of cute!).

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Zoya Remove+

I am falling in love with Zoya. I have tried about five of their nail polishes so far and have loved every one. The colors are gorgeous, they go on easily, and they don't need many coats to become opaque. I'm not a big fan of sheer nail polishes, so I love when colors don't need many coats to become opaque.

One Thing I Love from Zoya? Their nail polish remover called Remove+. (Click on the link for picture and pricing.) It smells wonderful, and unlike the fragranced acetone remover I bought at Sally Beauty Supply, it works. I was wearing the Absolutely Alice nail polish by OPI, which is a glitter and very difficult to remove. I tried using the acetone remover from Sally's and it was taking forever (and forget about trying non-acetone, that's a joke!). I tried using the Remove+ and it still took a while, but it worked so much better. Remove+ not only removes polish, but it cleans and preps the nail without drying it out. My nails were starting to peel from the other polish remover, so I'm glad to have a polish that doesn't dry them out.

You know what else I love about this polish remover? I love the flapper cap on the 8 oz. bottle. It's spill-proof!! I turned the bottle upside down and shook it. No polish came out. I didn't want to actually throw it or anything, but shaking it upside down helped me believe it wouldn't spill. Then I had to figure out how to get the remover out. Well, all you have to do is press the cotton ball on the handy-dandy lid and there it is! I'm always so worried about spilling polish and the remover that I'm happy to have this security!

I went with the 8oz. bottle. $4 more for 4 times the product in the smaller size. It's a no-brainer to me. I also spent just over $50 and got a free 2oz. bottle of Remove+ for free.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Poshé

I never really used to paint my fingernails. I always have my toes painted, and by always I mean I cannot remember the last time I did not have my toes painted. I just do not like unpainted toes on women. Sorry to the ladies who don't paint their toes, but I just don't like it. I think feet don't tend to look pretty so the nail polish helps to make them a bit spiffy looking. For myself, I don't even mind if the nail polish is bumpy because I don't have the time to remove the polish and need to touch it up, but they must be polished.

I digress. One Thing I Love that I discovered in December is Poshé Super-Fast Drying Topcoat. Don't be scared by the price if you follow the link. I did not pay this much for the Poshé. I bought my first bottle at Sally Beauty Supply, and you can get it even cheaper at a nail polish site such as Trans Design or Head to Toe Beauty.

I have not tended to be one to paint my fingers because of the dry time. When I would paint my nails, I would usually paint them when I was doing a drive that took over 1/2 hour. I would get in the car, buckle up, turn on the car, and then paint my nails before driving and figure the polish would be dry by the time I got to my destination. If I didn't do that I would usually mess up the polish before it would dry. With Poshé I don't have that problem. The Poshé dries the polish very quickly. Those "fast-drying" polishes from Maybelline? Even those weren't fast enough for me. Poshé blows it out of the water and I can use the nice brands such as Zoya, China Glaze, and OPI. Poshé makes it dry to the touch in about 5 minutes, and the polish is completely try in 10-15 minutes, depending on how many coats of polish you have on.

The Thing I Don't Love about Poshé? I am now painting my fingers a couple of times per week, which looks nice, but means I am starting to develop a larger nail polish collection. Thank goodness I found those websites listed earlier that sell the nail polish at a discount!

OPI Thanks So Muchness!

Last weekend I went to Ulta and bought some of the Alice in Wonderland nail polishes from OPI. (For those of you who don't know, I learned recently it's called oh pee eye, not Opie like from the Andy Griffith Show. I should have known from the all caps and the bullets between the letters, but such is life.)

I didn't get "Off With Her Red" because I just didn't really like that shade of red. It was more orangey, and while I love red nail polish, I prefer it to be either a true red, or a red with either a purple or blue hue to it. I did buy "Absolutely Alice," "Mad As a Hatter," and "Thanks So Muchness!"

I love "Thanks So Muchness!" It is a beautiful true red that shimmers a bit. It went on easily and removed easily as well. I think this will be my go-to red when I'm not feeling like having the glitter of China Glaze's Ruby Pumps. The picture was taken at night, so it does not do it justice.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Dexter

I've just been talking with some friends about Dexter. My brother showed me an episode of this show on Christmas Eve. I was disturbed even by the introduction and theme song. Can you say "creepiest breakfast ever?!!?" I wasn't sure I wanted to get sucked into this show, but on New Year's Day I decided to check Netflix to see if any of it was online and saw the first two seasons. I started watching and was hooked. A week later I had finished watching all four seasons!

This is what I love about Dexter:

1. Michael C. Hall is hot.


2. They have done an extremely good job of helping you empathize with a serial killer. We get to see a human side to him, although he doesn't see it himself. We get to see the events that caused Dexter to turn out to be the way he is, from the trauma he experienced as a toddler, to his adoptive father teaching him "The Code of Harry," by which Dexter lives his life. Rule #1: Don't get caught.

3. The storyline. Each season focuses around one central serial killer. Somehow, although even Dexter's girlfriend (and later, wife) and sister can't see him for who he really is, there is one person each season who figures out his secret "Dark Passenger." I find myself cheering for the sociopathic serial killer to not get caught by the police because: 1. He's hot, 2. At least he's only killing people who have also murdered, right? 3. It would probably mean the end of the show, 4. There's a part of me who really wants to believe Dexter is a good person in there, although I know that's probably not really true.

4. It just keeps getting better. Season 3 was not the best, but Season 4 was incredible with John Lithgow deserving his Golden Globe for his performance as The Trinity Killer. This is the stuff nightmares are made of, yet I hate scary movies and love this show. This season was filled with some of the best acting ever.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Faerie Made

Today one of my friends took a huge digger down her stairs at home. She was complaining about her muscles, so I told her about one of my Things I Love: Faerie Made Arnica Muscle Rub!! Which, of course, meant I just had to tell her about another one of my Things I Love: Faerie Made Lip Balm!! So, guess who placed an order for Faerie Made Arnica Muscle Rub and Faerie Made Hemp Lip Balm today? If you guessed me you'd be right!

I didn't take these pictures, and I want to be fair to the woman who makes Faerie Made products because she is a small woman-owned and operated business, so I am just posting a link to her website. She also sells on Etsy.

So, why do I love these things so much? Well, the Arnica Muscle Rub is something I had read about on a forum that I belong to, which just so happens to be the forum where I found out about Faerie Made products. People were posting about the wonderful healing powers of Arnica and were raving about this muscle rub. They said it also helps bruises. Last May, my ex was running and ran right onto my foot, bruising it and I couldn't walk. I decided to try the rub and ordered some. It just so happened that I ended up taking a huge digger and getting a gigantic bruise on my side, and big, but not so dark one on my leg right when the muscle rub came in. I tried the muscle rub on the darker bruise. It was gone in a couple of days, when the bruise that was larger but barely visible hung around for about a week and a half. Also, any time my muscles are sore, I just put on some of this rub and it takes the pain away. The only problem is it smells a bit mentholy, but it's a miracle worker, so I just deal.

The lip balm? What's so special about that? Well, I'm a lip balm addict. I had tried a bunch of different kinds and ended up going with just Chap Stick® brand for a while. When I placed an order for the muscle rub, I figured I might as well try her lip balm and threw in a peppermint lip balm as well. I have not used another lip balm since then! This lip balm gets a little too soft in my pocket on warm days, but not too bad. It glides on easy, leaves a bit of a shine on my lips but doesn't feel like gloss (I don't love gloss), and I don't have to use nearly as much of it as I do the commercial brands. I can go a few hours between applications of this stuff, not so much with the other brands I've tried.

I've tried her soaps, and they're nice but I'm not a bar soap person. I'd definitely use these for hand soap, though! They are quite moisturizing for bar soap, too.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Christmas Decorations

I love Christmas and Christmas decorations. It's my favorite time of the year and the only thing that could make it better would be if it wasn't so darn cold! It is the end of January and my Christmas decorations are still up. Now, that's late even for a Christmas decoration lover like me, but it makes me so sad to take them down. They are coming down today, though. :-(

So, what is my favorite Christmas decoration? Well, I love my Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. I buy one each year when I first put up my tree to make sure I get the one I love the most, then I wait until after Christmas and stock up on them when they're on sale for 50% off. This is my third year doing this and I have enough to mostly fill up the tree now, the sparse area I just put in the corner so you can't see it!

One of my favorite decorations besides my ornaments is my splish splash Santa. He's just so silly and wrong, but cute!