Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Im thanking my ass off!

Its that ttiiimmmeee!! My favorite holiday!!!

What an amazing year!
I am actually thankful that I have so much to be thankful for!
I have a beautiful, adorable, sweet, wickedly smart, loving, funny daughter.
A handsome, hardworking, funny, honest husband. 
A job that finally makes me feel like I have found my niche. 
Co-workers that are understanding that life sometimes gets in the way of things and are just overall wonderful people. 
Family and friends that are so supportive, helpful, loving, caring, providing and awesome.
A house, albeit a small one, but a house that provide us shelter and a place to call home.
Money to buy food, clothes and provide us with everything we need and more.

I cannot believe how much I have learned and grown this year..it is still hard for me to put it all into words but I will one day. This year has been life changing and the best yet! 
I am so thankful that anthonys family and my family are joining together again for Thanksgiving and we can celebrate as one big family!
We are so freaking blessed! I am so thankful for all of you too! Who provide me with blogs to read, comments of support and a judgement free place to talk about me!
Have a beautiful beautiful thanksgiving! 

 Last Thanksgiving with her uncle :-)
how my girl has grown!!

oh, Friday November 26th is our 8 year anniversary!!! 
Happy Anniversary My Love!!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

And The Winner is...

Blogger.com didn't post my scheduled posts for some reason so I apologize for the delay!
(so when you read tomorrows post on thanksgiving and being thankful it may make sense now that you know it was supposed to post the 24th)

Random.org chose a winner for the Bits 'n Pieces mini list taker and
THE WINNER IS
comment 1:
 Sarah said...
I would use my list maker for my ON-GOING "to-do" list :) 
CONGRATULATIONS SARAH!!
Sarah is the owner of Moske Monkey Business.
CHECK IT OUT! It rocks!
...and after you do that go to Bits 'n Pieces to pick out some awesome holiday gifts for yourself and everyone you love!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

14 of 25

Top 10 things you look for in a romantic partner

1- Honesty
2- spontaneous
3- thoughtful
4- compassionate
5- similar interests
6- similar values
7- good communicator
8- loves me for me--weirdness and all.
9- interesting
10- rockin sense of humor

Monday, November 22, 2010

13 of 25

Top 10 things you look for in a friend

1- honesty (like for real..severe honesty is appreciated)
2- loyalty
3- openminded/hearted
4- doesn't try to take more than they give
5- similar interests
6- supportive
7- the ability to sit in silence 
8- accepting
9- entertaining
10- thinks Im entertaining ;-)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

12 of 25

Five things that you love

1- Haydens laugh
2- Going out to eat
3- Getting into a bed with fresh sheets
4- Getting an unexpected check in the mail or finding money
5- When Anthony and I cook together

5 things that you hate 
 
6- When people don't have a plunger in their bathroom
7- Combos (you know, those pretzel cheese things ::vomit::)
8- That the weekend is only 2 days
9- That my husband has to work 2 jobs
10- The smell of vitamins

Friday, November 12, 2010

When the babys away...

MIL has Hayden until Tuesday..and I miss her like crazypants but I also love the freedom and lack of responsibility. I often feel bad saying or thinking things like that because it makes me feel like a bad mom....but it doesnt and I think it needs to be said because it is completely normal to love and miss the freedom. AND I am so lucky that I have someone (or several someones) that I trust enough to take care of my daughter to the point of being able to completely relax-knowing she is in the best hands next to mine.
I have been able to get so much done (and nothing done all at the same time), run into stores, meander through the grocery store and actually not forget stuff, reconnect with my husband, attend a work event at night and blast music in my car. 
I love motherhood more than I ever thought I could and I love my daughter more than...well that goes without saying but temporarily gaining that pre-baby freedom and responsibility-less feeling back is so awesome and relaxing..I don't think Ive been a bitch all week.
With that said...I cannot wait to wrap my arms aroung Hayden and squeeze her til she pukes....no, not really.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Bits 'n Pieces GIVEAWAY!!

 
THIS is my Mini List Taker from Bits 'n Pieces
I won it as part of another bloggers giveaway and yes, it came with that awesome gel pen! 
I loved mine so much I asked Charmaine if she would be down for a giveaway in CaliLand and obviously she is an awesomeblossom because she is offering one crazy lucky reader a Mini List Taker of their choice!

 If those aren't adorable and handy as all hell check these out...
I can't wait for H to get into coloring because as soon as she is these are heading her way! 
GENIUS!!


Charmaine is so talented and creative it makes me a little envious. 
Her fabric options are adorable and the quality of the items are unbelievable!

I am so excited for one of you to win a list taker so lets get into it!!

Ways to enter:

1- Tell me what you would love to use your list taker for - 1 comment

2- Make this your FB status for a day: "CaliLand is hosting a giveaway from Bits 'n Pieces on Etsy!! Go to WelcomeToCaliLand.blogspot.com to get your easy entry in!" - 1 comment per day

3- Tweet this: "CaliLand is hosting a giveaway from Bits 'n Pieces on Etsy!! Go to WelcomeToCaliLand.blogspot.com to get your easy entry in!" -1 comment per tweet

4- Go to Bits 'n Pieces and tell me which item you would love - 1 comment

5- Vote for CaliLand by clicking HERE - 1 comment per vote

Please make sure your comment is linked to an account with an email or provide your email in your comment so you can be contacted if you win.
Giveaway ends Tuesday November 23, 2010

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

10 of 25

10 random things that you remember from school

1- In first grade I remember going up to a girl whose mom was talking with my mom and asking her if she wanted to be best friends and she said yes lol


2- In 3rd grade I had a pencil box and my "boyfriend" and I would write notes and keep them in there.


3- In 6th grade I had a asshat of a math teacher so my dad went in and made her cry.


4- In 8th grade I thought smoking was cool so a bunch of friends and I went into the woods behind the school and got caught smoking. My dad was so pissed he made me bring him up there while he lectured me.


5- In 11th & 12th grade I would leave for lunch (which wasn't allowed) and one day two of my friends got in the trunk of my suv to sneak them out with me and got caught..oddly enough they let me still leave but made them go back to school.

6- I used to take my dads doctor pads and write notes to get out of school. They called him at the end of the year because I had missed too many days and he covered for me so I could still graduate. 


7-When 9/11 happened I was a senior and had no idea what was going on. Everyone found out well before me but when I did find out I didn't understand the magnitute and decided it was a great reason to leave school..so I did.


8-While one of my friends was waiting in the principals office I went in to talk to her and the principal told me to leave and I said I was just making sure she was ok and he told me to shut up...needless to say my dad swooped in and busted into his office and forced him to apologize to me lol


9- The last day of senior year my friends and I were so excited to leave that we were waiting by the door of our class to run out and when I ran out I fell on my ass


10- I knew my obsession crushes schedule so I would go out of my way to run into him and enjoy lovely walks in the halls that convinced me we were getting married

Monday, November 8, 2010

Grateful beyond words.

Courtesy, kindness, compassion, empathy, generosity, honesty, gratefulness and humble.

All of the qualities I pray Hayden has. 

I so badly want her to grow up always being grateful for all the amazing things and people she has in life. She and I stayed at my grandparents this weekend (they are leaving for Florida next week and we won't see them until May since there was no time between work and school that we could go visit.) 
 My grandmother is the queen of spoiling Hayden (and all of her grandkids) so she semi-demanded that we go to the mall. She convinced herself that H needed a winter coat among other things. 
We went to lunch then went to The Gap because my brother (who came in to visit for the day) needed to get socks. I saw a soft-looking sweater and touched it because I have to touch everything for some reason and then noticed it was made with alpaca..love! I walked away after touching it because I am poor so purchasing it was out of the question...and Hayden was pushing the stroller into displays..and possibly people. Like a hawk my grandma comes up and asks if I like it and tells me I need it (apparently the giant robe-like sweater I was wearing that she bought me a few years ago, also at the gap on a similar trip, was not enough) and makes me get one making sure I look around the rest of the store too. She is the most self-less, generous woman in the world.

She then proceeds to kids gap (there may have been a serious stop at Godiva somewhere in here..but Im not sure) where she buys cute overload while shopping with a baby wearing cute overload then on to several other stores in search of a winter coat. Making sure to stop at Macys for more cute ridiculousness (in light green.)

Yes, this child has a way better wardrobe than me..its kind of sick actually.

Eventually we found a jacket my grandmother felt was "good enough" (I mean, I was fine with the $9 heavy fall jacket I got at a consignment sale but apparently I am crazypants and the child was going to die of frostbite)..and some adorable shoes (like below but with a strap) and some tights. We are so blessed, fortunate, lucky, grateful, thankful..any word that could possible describe an unbelievable feeling of humbled, thankful love.
and just when I thought we were done the next day my grandma takes us to the shoe store we used to get our shoes at and buys Hayden these:


 
I have always been so blessed and I feel very fortunate to have always been thankful for it and very aware that it was rare, could go away at any moment and that it was not necessary or required for people to do nice things for us. I don't know how I always knew this but I am so so grateful I did. I very easily could have come to expect such treatment and special things but I didn't and I will work very hard to make sure Hayden never does either. 
I never want her to feel entitled. I want her to feel blessed, grateful and lucky..because we are!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

9 of 25

A random list (one can be found on listverse.com or toptenz.net)

What You're Really Swallowing
In most restaurants, after 8 p.m. or so, all the coffee is decaf because no one wants to clean two different coffeepots. I’ll bring out a tray with 12 coffees on it and give some to the customers who ordered regular, others to the ones who ordered decaf. But they're all decaf.
—Charity Ohlund
What You Don't Want to Know
We put sugar in our kids' meals so kids will like them more. Seriously. We even put extra sugar in the dough for the kids' pizzas.
—Waitress at a well-known pizza chain
What We Lie About
If you're a vegetarian and you ask if we use vegetable stock, I’m going to say yes, even if we don’t. You’ll never know the difference.
What You Don't Want to Know
At a lot of restaurants, the special is whatever they need to sell before it goes bad. Especially watch out for the soup of the day. If it contains fish or if it’s some kind of "gumbo," it's probably the stuff they're trying to get rid of.
—Kathy Kniss, who waited tables for ten years in Los Angeles
What You Don't Want to Know
Now that I’ve worked in a restaurant, I never ask for lemon in a drink. Everybody touches them. Nobody washes them. We just peel the stickers off, cut them up, and throw them in your iced tea.
—Charity Ohlund, Kansas City waitress
What You Don't Want to Know
If you ask me how many calories are in a particular dish, I'm not allowed to tell you even if I know. I'm supposed to say, "All that information is available online."
—Waitress at a well-known pizza chain
What You Don't Want to Know
I've never seen anybody do anything to your food, but I have seen servers mess with your credit card. If a server doesn’t like you, he might try to embarrass you in front of your business associate or date by bringing your credit card back and saying, "Do you have another card? This one didn’t go through."
—Charity Ohlund
What You're Really Swallowing
Skim milk is almost never skim milk. Very few restaurants outside Starbucks carry whole milk, 2 percent milk, skim milk, and half-and-half; it's just not practical.
—Chris
What You're Really Swallowing
Some places buy salad dressings in one-gallon jars, then add a few ingredients, like a blue cheese crumble or fresh herbs, and call it homemade on the menu.
—Former waiter Jake Blanton, who spent ten years in restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina, and California
What Drives Us Crazy
The single greatest way to get your waiter to hate you? Ask for hot tea. For some reason, an industry that’s managed to streamline everything else hasn’t been able to streamline that. You've got to get a pot, boil the water, get the lemons, get the honey, bring a cup and spoon. It’s a lot of work for little reward.
—Christopher Fehlinger, maĆ®tre d’ at a popular New York City restaurant
What We Want You to Know
In many restaurants, the tips are pooled, so if you have a bad experience with the server, you’re stiffing the bartender who made your drinks, the water boy who poured your water, sometimes the hostess, the food runners, and maybe the other waiters.
—Christopher Fehlinger
What We Want You to Know
Even at the best breakfast buffet in the world, 99 times out of 100, the big pan of scrambled eggs is made from a powder.
—Jake Blanton
What We Want You to Know
People think that just because your food took a long time, it's the server's fault. Nine times out of ten, it's the kitchen. Or it's the fact that you ordered a well-done burger.
—Judi Santana
What We Want You to Know
When you’re with the woman who's not your wife, you’re a lot nicer to us, probably because you know that we know it’s not your wife.
—Caroline Radaj, waitress at a members-only club outside Milwaukee
How to Be a Good Customer
It’s much easier to be recognized as a regular on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. Once you’re recognized as a regular, good things start to happen. You’ll find your wineglass gets filled without being put on your bill, or the chef might bring you a sample.
—Christopher Fehlinger
How to Be a Good Customer
Avoid Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day like the black plague. It’s crazy busy, so they’re not going to be able to pay as much attention to quality. Plus, they bring out a special menu where everything is overpriced.
—Steve Dublanica
How to Be a Good Customer
If the restaurant is busy and your child is shy, please order for him. Kids can sit there forever trying to decide, or they whisper and you can’t hear them. Meanwhile, the people at the next table are yelling at you to come over.
—Derek Dudley, a waiter at a casual pizza restaurant in Phoenix
What You Need to Know About Tipping
The best tippers tend to be middle-class or people who have worked for everything they have, not the really wealthy or the kid who inherited the trust fund. Which is not to say that we mind if you use coupons. But when you do, tip on the amount the bill would have been without them.
—Judi Santana
What You Need to Know About Tipping
First dates, especially blind Internet dates, are great for tips. You know he’ll probably order a bottle of wine and leave a 20 to 25 percent tip because he's showing off.
—Jeremy Burton, waiter at a grill in southwest Michigan
What Else We’d Like You to Know
Don’t order fish on Sunday or Monday. The fish deliveries are usually twice a week, so Tuesday through Friday are great days. Or ask the restaurant when they get theirs.
—Steve Dublanica

Go find 30 More Secrets here

Monday, November 1, 2010

8 of 25

Top 10 favorite movie or TV show characters of all time

  Ross from Friends
  Elliot Stabler from Law & Order SVU


Alan Garner in the hangover
Jim from the office 
Saulthe drug dealer in Pineapple Express
Robert Denero in Meet The Parents
Jerry Stiller in The Heartbreak Kid
Jerry Stiller in King of Queens
Johnny Depp in Blow
Rachel McAdams in Wedding Crashers