New Year

Wishing everyone a happy New Year!

Get Thee To The Store, Post Haste!

Good morning everyone! I hope you guys and girls enjoyed your holidays with your family and friends. Yesterday, we had Christmas breakfast, cooking courtesy of Aunt Snowbird, and then exchanged gifts with her family before heading back to our house to exchange gifts amongst ourselves.

The gift that stole the show was the Keurig coffee brewer that my mother had bought for my aunt and her husband as a combined gift. I ended up trying the hot chocolate (yum!), my uncle tried the apple cider, and my mother had one of the coffee varieties included with the brewer.

It is a great gift for anyone who just wants to enjoy a cup of coffee, one at a time, instead of constantly brewing a pot of coffee only to throw out the majority of it after only two cups. I'm quite glad I don't have one....I would be drinking hot chocolate all the time ;)

This morning I got up early to head to Target to buy some wrapping paper, bags, bows, and gift card holders for next year's Christmas. Between both households, we recycle gift bags constantly back and forth throughout the year for holidays and birthdays, but we actually ran low on gift bags this year so a trip to Target was in order. *I also had my eye on a set of Wilton baking tins.* >__<

I arrived at the store and wasn't really surprised to see a mass of people waiting outside the doors despite the dismal weather. I waited until the store opened before getting out of my car. Alas, no baking tins for me. Target had them all holiday season, a lovely set of mini loaf baking tins, and I was hoping to get them on sale after the holiday, but no luck there. I did, however, buy a cute set of star shaped Wilton baking tins.

Now I can understand buying armload of bags, bows, etc. for Christmas, especially if you are low on supplies for next year, but I really think that holiday sales make people into hoarders to a certain extent.

While in the front of the store in the candy/food gifts, I watched a lady grab armfuls of Reynolds aluminum foil off the shelf and put it in her cart. I think by the time she was done she had about 20 or 30 boxes of foil. You can't tell me she's going to use all that in a year unless she has a restaurant business of some sort. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say maybe she'll give some of it away to other family members or a church pantry.

I can understand people stocking up on the plastic cups, napkins, and paper towel rolls as you can use those year around and most likely deplete your stock in a couple of months depending on how often you use those items, but aluminum foil?!?!?!

Has 'after holiday' sales made hoarders out of consumers? What do you think?

Until next time.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a happy holiday! Be safe!

Panda package!

I came home tonight to find a package from my friend Amanda in CA. It was full of fun surprises!



I love how she packaged her gifts! I love the moose jar; it's so festive!

Did I mention the card?!?! O_o" ..... SUPER CUTE!!!!



She got me a book called Happily Ever After. I was actually looking at this book at the library a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't pick it up because I hadn't finished reading the Jim C. Hines series. I've got one book left in that series on my shelf. Once I'm done with that I'll be able to dive into this book of retellings of classic fairy tales!

I received a beautiful silver and turquoise wrap bracelet, a handmade ribbon brooch (*squeal*), and a felt cuff ;) Also included was a set of sewing-themed buttons for my crafting, an angel cross stitch kit, two small Sanrio notebooks, a bunny t-shirt, and a bunny couple bag!

I LOVE EVERYTHING!!!! >___<

I love how the moose contained all the small gifts! Also inside the moose was a set of mini liquor bottles (not pictured). My sister stole those away ;P

The bunny t-shirt has a bunny surrounded by a number of yummy sweets!

I can't wait to use the bunny bag! I have a number of totes that I use to carry things around or on my trips to the library. This is perfect and ever so cute! I plan on using the Sanrio notebooks. I keep a small notebook in my purse to take notes while at the bookstore or library. They are great for keeping track of titles I want to read/buy or topics to look up online :)

Thank you my dear friend for such great gifts! Love you! I wish you a great holiday with your family and friends!

Friendly Gathering

Hi! My friends and I got together this evening for our annual Christmas party. We exchanged gifts and had some fun conversations for several hours.

I took a few pictures of the gifts I received from my friends for Christmas.



From Candace: two artbooks, one on Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke and another on CLAMP's series X.

From Bonnie: a gorgeous teacup and saucer set for the month of June from the Victorian Trading Company. It has a beautiful rose design on it and the box is lined with satin fabric! She also bought me a chocolate brownie with peppermint icing that she had baked! Yummy :)

From Nicole: a cute Hello Kitty clip and some candy. It was boxed in a large pink Chinese takeout box! Cute ^___^

From Kristina: Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation book, a cross stitched bookmark with my name stitched in Japanese characters, and a tiny hot air balloon pin!



Steampunk, anyone? I love it. I'm definitely going to wear it to work tomorrow and show it off >___<

This year I got the following items for my friends:

For Candace: two books, Starting Point: 1979-1996 by Hayao Miyazaki and a cookbook of recipes for wok cooking

For Kristina: a Japanese language software CD, a cross stitch pattern of a Chinese girl, and a small water globe of a Japanese girl in a kimono.

For Bonnie: several manga books and an artbook. Unfortunately, she already had the artbook, but at least I bought it used in new condition so she'll be able to re-gift it to one of her friends :)

For Nicole: a gift card to Starbucks and some candy.

I had a lovely time with my friends. It is always fun to just sit down and chat about anything and everything.

Thanks for all the wonderful gifts and a great time!

Until next time ^____^

Rainy AL Package!

Morning everyone! On Saturday I had mailed off a package to my friend in CA for Christmas. I call it the rainy AL package as we are having the strangest weather lately. It's cold, it's warm, it's rainy......I think someone needs to tell weatherman that it is December!

This year I bought several books and a whole lot of little things for her package. I usually buy small gifts throughout the year that I think she'll like and I'll squirrel them away for her birthday or Christmas :P



Books:
1. Big Book of Crystal Beads
2. Vampire Empire: The Rift Walker by Susan and Clay Griffith
3. Heartless by Gail Carriger

In my Halloween package, I accidentally got her the third book in the Carriger series when she had read that already. I blame my overtaxed brain when in a bookstore. I grabbed the wrong volume off the shelf! LOL I made sure to get the right volume for her package this time >___<

I gave her the first volume of the Vampire Empire series in October and she liked it so I got her the second volume for Christmas. Who doesn't love a vampire who loves cats?!

I found the beading book at the bookstore while I was browsing through their craft section. My friend loves to make jewelry with crystals so I thought it would be perfect for her. I even saw a pattern that I thought would make a wicked brooch in there!



Small gifts:
1. Owl notepad
2. 'Crush' soap
3. Postcard tin
4. Hand painted porcelain Christmas ornament
5. Flower stationery set
6. Card making kit
7. Pocket word games book
8. Panda beanie hat
9. Strands of red crystal beads
10. Panda charm

Who doesn't need stationery and notepads? I always seem to get some sort of stationery item for her packages. I think we've outgrown our Sanrio phase, even though I will admit that I smile when I get one of her letters in the mail written on Sanrio stationery :P

My friend is a panda lover so the panda beanie hat was a must for her package. I found it at Target and thought it was perfect. Downside, it doesn't get cold where she lives in CA. LOL She'll have to take some skiing vacations!

I found the panda charm at Hobby Lobby. I know she doesn't bead with charms like that, but I thought maybe she could use it as a keychain decoration or something of that sort. In November, I went to the MR&GS and bought some strands of red crystal beads from a vendor there. Perfect for bracelets and jewelry for her family and friends for the Chinese New Year.

I bought the porcelain ornament at the Port City Craftsmen Christmas show this fall. It is hand painted and glazed by a lovely 87 year old lady who is in charge of the Bay Area Porcelain Artists group in Mobile. It is a beautiful art form and I'm glad that there are people continuing that type of artwork.

I thought my friend would love the 'Crush' soap. It has a great smell! I bought the word game book as something she could keep in her lab coat pocket at work. She could take it out and get a few games in while on break :)

I hope you loved your gifts! Have a great holiday with family and friends! Much love from rainy AL.

Oriental Christmas

Tomorrow night my friends and I are getting together for our annual Christmas party. Over the weekend, I wrapped all their presents and bought some candy for their tins.

I found these Oriental bags at World Market across the bay in the Eastern Shore Centre. I usually buy British candy and foodstuffs while at the World Market, but I ended up putting a good majority of it back on the shelves and decided to buy these bags to use for my friends' Christmas gifts instead :)

I ran by a local Asian market on Saturday and bought a bunch of different candies to go along with their gifts. There are some panda-shaped chocolate biscuits, Hi-chew candies, lychee cups, fruit jellies, and coconut flavored candies in their tins.

My friend Kristina is having her friend over for the party so I got her a gift card to Starbucks and filled a small bag from Hobby Lobby with chocolate candy. I didn't want her to feel left out of all the fun. I decided to go with normal candy for her bag as I'm not sure if she's into trying Asian sweets, which can be quite an experience >___<

Until next time ^_____^

Surprises!

This afternoon while having lunch, one of my coworkers came by and gave me a large Christmas bag! I wasn't expecting anything so it was quite a surprise.



He got me a hot cocoa set, a bar of dark chocolate, and a beautiful poinsettia pin to add to my collection!



Isn't it lovely? I don't have any Christmas flower pins in my collection so it is perfect!

Later in the day, I had a small package in my mail box from another coworker containing this little cutie:



How fun is that? I love it! It reminds me of Victorian Christmases.

I'm thankful for my coworkers, not for the gifts (though they were much appreciated), but because I work with a great group of individuals.

Until next time ^____^

Chocolate candy cane cupcakes

Good morning! We are having our annual Christmas lunch tomorrow at work. I decided that I would bake something for people to enjoy in the morning as they come into work. I scoured the Internet last night looking for a good recipe for chocolate cupcakes.

I came across one called chocolate candy cane cupcakes that adds crushed candy canes in the batter. Once the cupcakes cool, you frost them with Cool Whip and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. The recipe yields about 30 cupcakes depending on how you fill the cupcake pan.

I wasn't planning on making cupcakes. I was actually thinking of making some sort of brownie or cookie batch. But my mother and I went by the Eastern Shore Centre across the bay yesterday afternoon and I saw a cupcake kit that changed my mind about making them immediately!



Isn't it lovely? The Nutcracker is by far my favorite ballet and I couldn't resist picking up two of these kits at Williams-Sonoma while I was browsing. I could easily spend alot of money that I don't need to when I walk in a Williams-Sonoma store and look at their baking section! I came away with two cupcake kits and two large lucky 'penny' chocolate bars :)

I have to wait until the cupcakes completely cool before topping them with Cool Whip and crushed peppermint. I won't put in the Nutcracker toppers until tomorrow morning after I get them to work :)

I'll have to remember to bring my camera to take pictures of the finished cupcakes!

Until next time ^_____^

Christmas Tree

Pictures of our Christmas tree at work. Just close-ups of the tree with origami amongst painted light bulbs and traditional ball ornaments.

The jackalope is guarding the presents! We've got pumpkins, tiger lilies, seahorses, and flying pigs on the tree! My coworker decorated the tree. I didn't realize that he was planning on using our origami creations as ornaments! >___< It's a good use of them, I suppose, considering the fact that we would have just recycled them eventually.

Until next time ^____^