happy... and ready... for this weekend.

firstly, i am praying tim and i will be able to make it home tomorrow. the impending snow suggests there may be problems.... but the weather guy on tv right now (who sounds exactly like an affleck brother, i might add) is leading us to believe that safe travel is possible. i don't want to pack everything up and end up not going. i also don't want to miss the opportunity to see mi familia! miss them all so.

secondly, it's not fair that it's 76 degrees in phoenix. lucky steve nash.

thirdly, wind chills next week in the negative 20/30's????

what the.

fourthly, i look forward to a movie date with my sister. we are going to see Black Swan. just in case you missed the preview i previously posted , go here. i'm worried a bit about the inappropriate-ness of the movie. it appears that the same sort of scene that caused Blue Valentine to receive an NC-17 rating is the kind that will be in Black Swan. i hear the MPAA reduced that rating to an R and all... but i'll close my eyes, i promise.

fifthly, i have a three day weekend. how awesome is that?!

sixthly, i am thankful for phone dates with friends. i had two really good phone dates this week and they really lifted my spirit.

sixthly, look at what i found

cute little nash update

poor nash is not fond of this snow.

and dad left the shovel at his dad's house

so unless nash is on a sidewalk, he is in the frigid snow

and when nash gets let out to go potty,

he walks just a few feet, piddles, then tries to keep going

until one of his little hind legs can't take the snow anymore

and he hikes it up and limps on three little useless legs

mom then picks him up and carries him back into the house,

while rubbing his maimed snow paw.

when he gets back inside the house,

he doesn't even wait to get his harness taken off

(he hates his harness)

he just makes a break for it and runs into the bedroom,

finds a way to get under as many covers as possible

and goes back to bed.

let me just share with you a succession of the blankets he buries himself beneath on a regular basis:

he's just about the most lovable dog ever.

this morning...

i woke up and two things made me a very happy girl.

number one:

(posting both pictures beacause the one above is a bad angle and the one below is blurry...)

number two:

i don't want to drive in it....

at all...

but it certainly is beautiful

♥

great day.

yesterday was just a really good day.

i cleaned up my house a little bit, and then amber & nora came by for a visit.

amber surprised me with a bag of presents,

which absolutely blew me away.

she is one of the most thoughtful people i think i've ever known

:)

first she got me this sweater

this plastic bag holder

(i've always wanted one)

(her grandma made this for me.... how special is that?!)

some incredibly cute cookie cutter ornaments

my pictures don't do them justice... hers do

there is also some tea on the way! remember that strawberry popcorn tea i posted about awhile back? she ordered some for me! it hasn't yet been delivered, but i can't wait to try it with her!

we enjoyed breakfast casserole, white apricot tea, and my favorite aldi vanilla flavored cream wafer rolls that she picked up for us

(our babies)

we really had an incredible time together!

after tim got home, we picked a pizza up from lou malnati's, which is my new favorite place to get deep dish pizza around here. We also grabbed some breadsticks and Coke, then came home to watch DVRd episodes of 30 Rock & The Office. (The Office was really good this past week...) When we were done with our food we decorated our Christmas tree and put some of my favorite decor out while we watched Wife Swap. (his idea, i swear.)

my mom gave this to me last christmas eve.

sooo special to me.

tim's grandma who is no longer with us, mildred, gave these to us a couple of years ago

this used to be my grandma's!

after that, I put on my cute new shirt

and tim and i made our way to an AMC theatre to see a movie of my choosing. since lacey and I will be going to see Black Swan together next week, this week I chose Morning Glory.

bravo! it was one of the first great "chick flicks" i've seen in awhile. tim and i laughed a lot and even though he doesn't want to admit it, i think he really enjoyed it :)

i would also like to note that i found a RED MANGO in the mall.

AND A TEAVANA.

woo hoo!!!!

look at these cakes!

let me introduce you to the latest thing i always want to eat

it first started with a vanilla tin I picked up from Aldi's

then a $1 tin I picked up at Walmart in Brownsburg last weekend

(they were gross, don't get them unless you just want the pretty Christmas tin)

then this particular brand I grabbed yesterday at Walmart when I was feeling a bit faint

they are just about the best

and I get really mad when husband takes them if I'm not looking

he may only be offered one of my Pirouette cookies

so while looking through google images for a picture of the cookies to share with you,

i happened upon about a trillion neat ideas for cool things to do with them

this is the only one that's not a cake:

there are, however, tons of things you can do with ice cream and desserts

but let me tell you about the CAKES!

and they only get more amazing...

a couple of these cakes make me wish i'd used them as inspiration for my wedding cake!

i will say, though, these cakes could be pretty hard to eat!

i apologize if i made you hungry....

but if you've yet to try the pirouette cookies,

give 'em a go, they're amazing!

mason family tradition

while we may not have many, the lighting of the "christmas tree"

(aka: lighting of the monument on the circle in downtown indy)

is our favorite mason family tradition

on black friday we headed to indy right after i left work

the drive was breezy and we made it in three hours!

we essentially stuff our faces at steak n shake

lacey frantically tries to steal everyone's milkshake cherries

the boys make fun of our egg nog shakes

dad does cute stuff and makes cute faces

grandma gives us candy

derrick is sort of just there

then we go to the mall

lacey buys tons of stuff

misty, tim, & andy go without

when dad & mom are tired of shopping we leave for the circle

where we bombard starbucks with our christmas orders

mom always asks me what's a good "skinny" drink she can get

(i always remind her there's no such thing as a good "skinny" drink)

grandma asks me what drink she gets

(varies between a white hot chocolate & a chai)

misty has to wait outside by herself because she's too dang hot in her arctic parka

(best investment i ever made)

misty gets asked by 6 different people how she got her drink so fast

(she just ordered a tea)

we walk around the circle 'till andy & lacey can't handle the cold

(they don't wear winter coats... ever)

then we go home and do it all again next year!!

lacey trying a shake whilst finishing off a bite of whipped cherry and cheeseburger

gross, lacey.

my foods!

our family!

pom art.

Pharmacy Mix Blog

Alive +Well

Art is Joy

Dewberry Fine Art

Natural Home

POM Wonderful

the season will be ending soon.

what ever shall i do?

:(

any Modern Family lovers out there?

the pom on the wall in the Dunphy home,

i would like for it to one day to be on mine.