The Chic Life

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

After our shopping trip, I made a quick and easy dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

Directions:

• Bake Trader Joe's turkey meatballs following package directions
• Cook spaghetti per package directions
• Heat marinara sauce in microwave till warm/hot
• Place drained pasta in bowl, top with sauce, top with meatballs
• Serve and enjoy.

So easy! I was trying to conserve time so I could decorate our tree and we almost caved and got pizza, but decided to eat in instead. I was so glad we did!

After dinner, we got started on the tree.

We started with lights and tinsel.

My tree decorating strategy is

• Put up tree
• Put up lights
• Put up tinsel
• Put up our faves and unusual ornaments first, ensuring they get a great spot on the tree where people can really see them.
  
• Fill in the tree with the standard rounds, distributing evenly

Here are some of our faves:

Our new Pottery Barn 2009 silver snowflake ornament, representing our first year in the house.


A 2008 Hallmark ornament with penguins (we love penguins!), representing our first Christmas married.

A glittery starfish ornament we purchased at the Atlantis in the Bahamas on our honeymoon.

A shabby-chic ornament I got from a blog friend.

A glittery heel, representing the shopaholic in me.

A glittery, turquoise-y snow(wo)man. I made these in 2007 - they were a fun project!



Bailey Claus made an appearance.

Ta-daaaaaaah! Christmas tree has been decorated!
Bailey was hanging out with me when I finished our tree. I cuddled up with him and we sat and enjoyed looking at our decorated tree for a bit. I couldn't help but think how awesome it was to have our first Christmas tree in our first house and feel blessed.


More holiday decorations went up. I broke out some of my fave turquoise, holiday, kitchen towels.


A festive holly apron draped on our makeshift pantry.

A day of Christmas tree decorating wouldn't be complete without some hot chocolate and chocolate.


I couldn't resist trying some of these Trader Joe's chocolate truffles. Boy were they good! I managed to only eat two of them and savored every tiny bite (I like to take itty-bitty bites of foods - especially desserts so I can really take my time enjoying them).


Quick + Healthy Hot Cocoa (adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe)
Ingredients:

• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp water
• 1 1/2 tsp agave syrup
• 1 cup skim milk
• whipped cream, optional (I used the Cabot version from TJ's)

Directions:

1. Microwave water in mug for 30 seconds. Add cocoa powder to water and stir to mix (make sure cocoa powder is completely mixed in). Add agave and stir to mix.
2. Meanwhile, (after removing water from microwave) heat milk in microwave till hot to liking, about 1 1/2 minutes.
3. Add milk to chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
4. Top with whipped cream.

Yum!

What are your traditions for Tree Decorating?

Dessert, Dinner, Doggie, Holiday, Life

Christmas Tree Shopping

Hubby and I set out late morning to get our Christmas tree.

I've wanted to establish a traditional weekend for getting our Christmas tree, and since we're always out of town Thanksgiving weekend and I don't like to get into Christmas before Thanksgiving, the weekend after is our first opportunity. That would be this weekend!

I decided we should hit up the tree tent where our local farmers market is held. The farmers, Horse Creek Tree farms, use less pesticides than many other tree farmers, which I appreciate.

Hey Frosty!

We had a fun time tree shopping, but boy was it cold outside!

The funny thing about Christmas tree shopping is that the more you shop, the more all the trees start looking the same!

I wanted to get a 6 foot tree, but hubby suggested we go 5-6' this year and up next year. I accepted his proposal and we found a great tree in no time!

They trimmed the lower branches for us...

...and pushed the tree through some netting, which made it waaay easier for us to fit our tree in our car. We actually got it in the back seat! (with the very tip top sticking out the window just a wee bit.

We got our tree setup in our stand (with some cardboard to protect our hardwoods) but I had to wait all day to decorating! Boo!

Before Christmas tree decorating, I had lots of to-dos:

• 2 loads of laundry
• organizing in my changing room
• putting up/folding clothes
• emptying boxes
• lunch
• house shopping
• dinner

Phew!

Have you gotten your tree yet (if you celebrate Christmas)? Have you put up any decorations yet?

Holiday, Life

Holiday Movie Marathon

Today, hubby and I headed over to hang out at Kate and Nate's house, along with Caitlin, Jason, Amanda, Justin, Kath, Matt, Michelle, and Ben, for a Holiday Movie Marathon.

I don't remember the whole schedule, but starting from when we got there, we had on the agenda:

1. Elf
2. Christmas Vacation
3. Love Actually

I was so busy with the CPR/AED/First Aid certification, grocery shopping, and cookie baking, I forgot to eat lunch. Doh! So I had a bunch of snacks at the party for a late "lunch".

The Eats

Chex Mix, Pita Chips, Mini Quiches

The Sweets

Ooey-Gooey-Butter Cookies (or something like that...what were they called Kate!? lol)

My Quick Chocolate Chip Cookies (thanks Great Harvest!)

Peanut Butter Chocolate cups.

Drinky-drink - red wine

Oh how much did I LOVE the cozy fire?!

I got cozy on the couch with my plate full of food: pita chips + hummus, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, mini quiche, pig in a blanket.

Round #2

Dessert round

I think these desserts deserve some close-ups!

Oh yea!

I enjoyed my eats with Elf! Hubby and I saw Elf for our first date, so the movie holds a special place in our hearts.

After Elf, we turned on Christmas Vacation.

Later on...

Pizza time!

While the pizzas cooked away, I let my friends test out my macro lens...

I think they took some great photos! Perhaps they will get lucky and Santa will bring them a macro lens for Christmas! ;)

Salad

Pizza

Time to eat!

I had plenty of salad and 2 small pieces of pizza - one of each flavor (Margharita and cheese).

I also had another one of those butter cookies. They were so good - like little pillows of deliciousness!

I also enjoyed a little Hot Apple Cider with dinner. Yum! Such a great festive drink!

Love Actually!

Gilbert made a guest appearance!

I totally want some of these cinnamon-scented pine cones for my house! They smell awesome and are pretty, too! Kate said she found them at Target if anyone is interested.

Ahh...so cozy!

A little Prosecco to end the night.

Check out Kath's recap here.

Thank you soooo much Kate and Nate for having us over! We had a great time and are hoping to see another movie marathon next year, if not sooner!

Dessert, Dinner, Holiday, Life, Lunch, Snack

CPR/AED/First Aid Certification (How to Be a Real Life Superhero)

I did it! I passed my CPR/AED/First Aid Certification and once I receive and send in my form, I can be completely AFAA Certified (they require a separate CPR certification in addition to their Primary Group Fitness Certification).

My friend Megan stopped by to pick me up for CPR certification. She's an instructor and needed the certification to complete her AFAA (which we did together) too.

First things first, we needed coffee. I had a cup of coffee at home, but not food. I had good intentions of having breakfast at home, but I was running short on time and decided since we had already planned on an Sbucks trip that I could get food there, too.

I love this sign at Starbucks - "I wish everyone could see how much we all have in common." I do.

I got a spinach feta wrap...

...and a grande soy caramel brulee latte.

I enjoyed breakfast on the car ride over.

I wasn't really sure what to expect of the certification. I didn't know if it would formal or casual, rigid or relaxed. I was worried the class would be stuffy and the tests would be difficult ones where you had to demonstrate CPR in front of the entire class, etc. It turned out to be much better than I thought it would be and definitely an overall positive experience.

I did my training through Caskey CPR led by Grace Caskey. I thought Grace was very personable and did an excellent job of taking (sometimes) boring material and making it interesting. She kept my attention and added some good personal stories to add examples. Grace also seems to be quite the real-life-superhero. She told us stories in between lectures about people she had helped over the years - from car accident victims to acquaintances. She is quite literally a real life saver!

Our training went from 8am to almost 2pm and featured videos, lectures, and hands-on practice all mixed up during the day, which all led up to a 50 question multiple exam.

Here's me and my dummy-friend Ralph.

And Megan with baby and her Ralph.

I enjoyed this Yummy Earth organic lollipop in razzmatazz berry as a pre-exam snack. Picked this up at Jason's last night.

After we were done with our exams, Grace even stayed after to grade our tests so we could find out our results right then and there. How nice!? Turns out...I only missed 1 question! Woot-woot!

I have to say after having taken the exam, it would seem beneficial if more people would get CPR and/or AED/First Aid certified, even if you aren't required to do so for your job or for a certification. The material we learned is truly practical to real life and you never know when the knowledge would come in handy and possibly even save someone's life - including a loved one of yours! What if one of your family members, heaven forbid, had a stroke or heart attack or was choking? With this training, you would know some steps to possibly help save their life. I'm thinking of asking hubby to get certified (though I haven't actually asked him yet).

We actually did our certification at the biggest church in the southeast (ok, I made that up, but it's HUGE and totally could be!)

I loved the little Christmas trees up at the front.

I've always wanted to go inside to see what it looked like. It was so spacious and even had side seating like a (broadway not movie) theater!

Neat!

Reader Question: Are you CPR or AED or First Aid certified? Have any personal stories from when your training came in handy?

Breakfast, Exercise, Life, Life

November Hiking

This afternoon, hubby and I took advantage of the fantabulous weather to do a hiking trail with Kath, Matt, Emily, + Casey. The weather was in the mid-seventies.

The sky was bright blue.

We carpooled with Kath and Matt and were ready to hit the trails before we knew it.

The trail started out nice and smooth with slow rises and falls in elevation, mostly heading upwards.

Kath and I shared a DSLR for the trip - it was nice to be able to take turns carrying the camera and taking different shots in turn. You'll have to thank her for lots of the photos - I can't even remember exactly which ones we took sometimes...lol.

Matt found a vine to climb. Luckily, this one wasn't hairy.

After the trail, we hit a road near the top of the hike. It was surprisingly steep.

After the steep road, we hit an even more steep stair case. I was pretty winded by this time and wishing I had had some pre-workout fuel instead of just breakfast, but I knew we had a good snack waiting for us at the top.

After the tall staircase, we were at the TOP! Check out the QC in the background!

We did some couple's shots at the top.

Matt + Kath

Casey + Emily

Me + Hubby

The best part about being at the top, besides the view, was that it was snack time! I was ready for some serious water intake and needed some fuel for the trip back down.

I packed my homemade granola bars in a Celestial Seasonings tea box so they didn't get squished or broken up in my backpack on the way up.

I didn't get a chance to sample the bars before we left, but they were AWESOME! So tasty! Thank goodness since I had one for everyone and it would have been pretty embarrassing to bring something that wasn't good. lol.

I used an Ina Garten recipe (click here for my adapted version) but made some healthy substitutions to up the nutritional value. I was feeling exhausted by the time we hit the top of the trail, but the bars gave me plenty of nutrition for the trip back down. I felt so full of energy! These granola bars were the perfect snack for our hiking and trail adventure.

The trip back down was pretty steep and rocky, but I thought it was a lot of FUN! I was a bit worried about my still-hurt leg but I felt pretty great the whole trip. I guess I need to remind myself that I'm stronger than I think I am sometimes.

Rocky rocky rocky trip down!

Hey baby!

Love this photo - the lighting - the ambiance - they're so cute together!

Hubby and me

Steep stuff!

Beautiful au natural trail

We saw a ton of dogs on the trails! I don't think our little Bailey would have made it though. Not without being carried! lol

On our way out. Things leveled out as we neared the exit.

Civilization! We made it! Phew what a fun 6 miles!

After a quick stretch, we were back on the road home.

It's been too long since I've been out hiking and walking the trails. My dad used to take our family on little day trips to the mountains all the time but I haven't been much on my own. I'm so glad we met up with Kath, Matt, Emily, and Casey for an outdoors adventure - we had a blast!

Life, Snack

Fall Wedding Finale

Hubby and I wrapped up our marathon wedding season (4 in the last month and a half) with a beautiful November wedding.

Here are some photos from the festivities...

The ceremony was a beautiful church here in town and the bride was absolutely gorgeous!

After the ceremony, we headed to the reception at a local country club.

Appetizers and drinks in the waiting area

Photo Booth! LOVE these things!

Grooms cake

Wedding cake

Dinner: Caesar salad, dinner roll with butter, filet, green beans, scalloped potatoes.

I had the RAREST steak I've ever eaten in my life at this reception. I'm normally a medium to medium-well kind of girl and this one was absolutely RARE. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but couldn't quite finish. Luckily the cut of meat was excellent, and the lighting was low, so I still had a great meal.

Champagne for the toast

Cutting the cake

WEDDING CAKE time! I had half of mine and half of hubby's....

...aaaaaand half of someone else's wedding cake. haha. How can I resist?! ;)

I talked hubby into one dance before we took off for a friend's birthday party.

We saw this on the way out...nice! Talk about making an exit!

The birthday boys were...well...I think this photo pretty much sums things up. Blurry photo selected to protect their identity. haha

Oh and for Flaunt It Week, I totally played up my eyes with some smoky eye makeup. My eyes are not perfect. When I smile, one is slightly more closed than the other. But, you know what, they're mine, and I love them, so for Flaunt It Week, I will work them!

Dessert, Dinner, Life

Saturday (Rug) Shopping Spree

The funny thing about having a nearly empty house is that it's sometimes terribly difficult to figure out where to start. Do you get furniture and then curtains to match that? Or buy curtains first and get furniture to match that? We've decided to start with rugs.

For Flaunt It Week, I wore a top that sometimes falls just off my shoulders to show them off. There are many parts of my body that I am extremely critical about but my shoulders are one thing that seem to always be the same size and shape and I love them!

Hubby and I got some water together - 1 smart water bottle leftover from the previous day and a plastic water bottle filled with Brita-filtered water.

We've looked at rugs at furniture stores and random rug shops, but today's first stop had a lot of options we liked.

We even found this carpet remnant on sale that we may have converted into rugs. I like how the color is neutral but there's some personality in the mix with the pattern.

We decided to check out a couple more stores before making a decision, but needed food first. We hit up Earthfare.

I got a random assortment from the cold salad bar: tabbouleh, chicken spinach salad, and a stuffed grapeleaf, plus lentil soup and a whole wheat chocolate chip cookie.

I couldn't resist an iced lemon yerba mate tea.

Hubby got another Earthfare burger - this time the Sante Fe with guacamole, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle BBQ sauce.

We ate outside to enjoy the beautiful weather - I found a nice spot in direct sunlight. I normally don't like direct sunlight, but it felt GREAT on Saturday!

Hubby and I checked out another rug store. I thought the gigantic racks would swallow me! Luckily they didn't and I escaped safely.

After rug shopping, hubby and I swung by Great Harvest to get bread for the week. We picked up the LAST Oat Bran (yes!) and a Cinnamon Swirl (made with whole wheat, I think).

After completing our shopping for the day, we went home to measure a couple rooms. We think we've made some decisions to at least get enough rugs for 2 rooms...yippee! It will be so nice to finally start putting things together in our house! Can't wait!

Next up, wedding fun...

Dessert, Life, Lunch, Shopping

Oh What a Beautiful Moooorning!

Greetings from the Chic house. Not sure about where you live, but the weather today is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Quelle belle ciel?! Pas un nuage. Pas un cumulus. Il fait vraiment beau, n'est-ce pas? (A line from some French videos I watched in college when I minored in French. For some reason, whenever the sky is really pretty I think of it)

Whatever that strange plant in the back is, it's really blooming!

I think one reader guessed Golden Datura? Not sure...could be. I guess I could take a photo of the flowers to a plant store and try to find out.

I took Bailey out this morning for his morning stroll. The backyard was just starting to become sunlit by the rising sun.

Sometimes my backyard seems a bit like a secret garden. There is an area in the back that looks completely overrun by weeds and unpruned plants. Check out the fallen metal arch in the tangle of weeds. I think this area used to be quite lovely and maintained, but has succumbed to weeds and other plants. I'd like to dig it back out.

A single pink flower in a pot of white flowers.

I checked on my bay laurel plant and she seems to be doing ok still. I hope she makes it through the winter!

Back in the house, I'm slowly trying to make better choices with the things I bring into my home.

Exhibit A: Unbleached Beyond Gourmet coffee filters (found at Earthfare). I've chosen unbleached coffee filters over the conventional white ones.

Saturday breakfast: fried Earthfare brown egg and Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast with real organic butter.

Boy is organic butter tasty! Does anyone else think organic butter tastes better than conventional?

A wee bit of OJ. I learned a long time ago in skate camp that you should only drink a little orange juice. Once you've had enough to get your 100% vitamin C, you're really just drinking a bunch of sugar. Since then, I've tried to have just a little OJ. I don't need a huge glass to enjoy it anyways.

Of course, breakfast wouldn't be complete without a delicious mug of coffee - made with fresh-ground Larry's beans and an unbleached coffee filter. ;)

Dan and I have a big day of shopping ahead. We're looking for rugs, curtains, and anything else we can use in our house. We need a lot of stuff! lol Off we go!

What are you doing this weekend?

Breakfast, Life

Rainy Day Organic Chicken + White Wheat Dumplings

Well, this week has been pretty crazy at work with every day full of 6 hours of conference calls and a big deliverable due tomorrow. Oh and I have to present said deliverable in front of 25 of our project's stakeholders. Yippee!

Anywho, I'm currently sipping a nice glass of Orvieto white wine, which I picked up on my way home from work at Trader Joe's. *sip, sip sip* time to blog!

Due to my blogastrophe last night with my publisher deleting my hours worth of posting last night, I woke up running a bit late. Seems to be the norm lately!

I toasted up some Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread in our broiler (still haven't gotten a new toaster!) and topped it with some Barney Butter. My chia seeds are, unfortunately, packed away soooomewhere, so I couldn't add them as per normal. I also enjoyed the last of our Dunkin Donuts coffee. I liked it ok, but MUCH prefer my fave - Fresh Market coffees. That Larry's coffee stuff is pretty good, too!

Early morning snack - Trader Joe's Chocolate Soy Milk...oh so good!

Lunch: toasted turkey sammie and edamame. SOOO GLAD that I made extra edamame yesterday so I had a veggie to take to work.

Moi sans makeup with an afternoon snack - Raw Organic Food Bar in Chocolate Coconut (won free on Twitter).

These bars are addicting!

I FINALLY took a nice re-stocking trip at Trader Joe's. I got all kinds of good stuff:

• frozen edamame, peas, green beans, mixed soybeans/red pepper/corn
• mozzarella cheese
• dark chocolate triangles
• truffle brownie mix
• rolled oats
• yogurt
• Orvieto white wine
• free range organic chicken broth
• organic free range boneless skinless chicken
• maple syrup
• organic celery
• organic baby carrots
• spaghetti squash
• gluten free marinara sauce
• organic butter
• parsley

So glad to have some veggies and food back in the house! I got almost all the ingredients I needed to cook dinner: Rachael Ray's Chicken & Dumplings - perfect for the icky rainy weather we've been having lately.

Trader Joe's didn't have any biscuit mix, so I swung by Harris Teeter but I couldn't find ANY biscuit mix that didn't have TRANS FATS. wth!

I was going to cave and grab one of the trans-fatty boxes when I decided NO! I will not give in! I will make my OWN biscuits FROM SCRATCH. Take THAT trans fats!

I used this recipe (click) to make from scratch biscuits using the white-wheat flour I had from a previous Trader Joe's trip.

Pictures from cooking:

I put my recipe on my phone so I wouldnt have to print it out. Go green!

While my dumplings simmered away, I got started on dessert...

Trader Joe's Truffle Brownies!

I made a bit of a mess when the bag of mix EXPLODED all over the counter!

I placed the brownies in the oven just before sitting down to enjoy dinner.

You likey my new bowls!? I do!

Candle lit dinner

Orvieto - VINO! Yum!

Up close and personal. Just before my first bite. I think this is my favorite photo from the post!

Seconds.

Hubby brought me a brownie while I was catching up on last week's Flash Forward on my computer. What a DOWNER last week's episode was! So sad! He didn't have to do that! (FF watchers, you know what I'm talking about - the Celia episode). This show is really getting good...I think I'm addicted! Oh and that last scene! Wow. I can't wait to see this week's episode!

Randomness

In other randomness, I got an email saying a friend had tagged a photo of me on Facebook. I went to check it out and was pretty shocked by what I saw. It was a photo from when I was in college and I barely recognized myself. This is me back when I still had my Freshman-20...or was it 30? I can't remember, but here it is:

Then (college):

Now (Flaunting it for Flaunt It Week):

Thank goodness for zumba! So weird to see old pictures of yourself sometimes, no?

Flaunt It Week

Speaking of Flaunt It Week, we had some more most-awesome submissions on Twitter (use #flauntitwk):

• @serendipity85 Today for #flauntitwk, I taught my girls at work the importence of self-esteem. In a sense, girl power!
• @FlyinRedMermaid #flauntitwk dark dreary coldwindy day, countered with purple jacket, bitch boots, bright red and blue silk scarf, gold glitter eyeshadow.
• @JJsVinBlanc @FlyinRedMermaid #flauntitwk dreary day countered by stopping to enjoy the sound of my wind chimes & warm pizza for lunch.
• @JJsVinBlanc #flauntitwk scheduled apts for myself - yoga, massage, acupuncture, and hair cut next week!
• @serendipity85 For #flauntitwk, today I wil be working on my criminal justice homework. We need more strong females to kick criminal butt!
  

G'night!

(Please, ecto, I beg you...please don't delete my post tonight!)

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Groceries, Life, Life, Lunch, Snack

More Window Shopping, Less Buying

So, I kind of want to cry right now because I'm EXTREMELY sleepy and just want to go to bed and just poured an HOUR into a fabulous blog post, only to have this stupid publishing tool delete the WHOLE THING! Waah...ok, I'll try to re-create...ugh!

This may be an abbreviated version of what was an awesome post.

Woke up at 1am to nausea and had to yak. Not sure why, but hoping it was just something not sitting right on my tummy. Woke up again at 9a to dog walking all over me trying to wake me up without being loud. Silly guy.

Made fried eggs for me and hubs for bfast.

I had mine candlelit with some GReat Harvest Honey Whole Wheat toast with Earthfare organic pomegranate jelly and coffee.

Post breakfast, I worked on my other bathroom to give it a mini makeover.

I washed out the cabinets and applied more of that pretty decorate paper.

Bailey inspected my work and gave me the A-ok. Not sure what to do about that stain in the back of the cabinet, though. I couldn't scrub it away!

With my cabinets ready to use, I decided to organize my beauty products.

I got all my beauty products out and was SHOCKED at how much I have. Granted some were free samples from when I wrote reviews for a popular online review web site, but still!

I'd really like to work on simplifying my life overall and I see a lot of room for improvement here.

I sorted out products that were expired or almost empty and tossed them.

I grouped what was left, organized them into caddies and placed them in my newly made over cabinets.

AFter the bathroom/beauty product prjoect, I broke for lunch: toasted turkey sammie and edamame with water and OJ.

I met our new neighbors during lunch:

Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel! Aren't they cute?

Not as cute as this guy, though!

Since I had today off, I wanted to spend the ENTIRE day cleaning and organizing but hubby had other plans, so after lunch, hubby and I headed out for some more shopping for the house.

On the way to the stores, we stopped by a local bakery to pick up a snack - I had 6 donut holes and a bite of hubby's cinnamon swirl roll. They were delish, but didn't sit quite well on my stomach.

We hit up the Habitat ReStore, but didn't find anything. :( While we shopped around, I started feeling dizzy and icky, so decided hot tea sounded good. Luckily there was a coffee shop next door.

Check out their mug chandelier.

I got some lovely Moroccan Mint with honey. yum!

Next up, we hit up Bed Bath and Beyond.

We liked these curtains but weren't ready to buy them.

I thought this candle had a great message: "Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle."

Hubby and I found some stuff we liked but decided to get them when we were ready to make a big trip of it (we have a 20% off our entire purchase coupon - not easy to find).

Since it was almost 9 pm by the time we were done shopping, we had to do another dinner out. Man, all this shopping is taking all my organizing and cooking time away! Grr...

It seems we're doing more window shopping and less buying, but I'm starting to get tired of all the window shopping! lol

Ok, guys, ecto is really not playing nice with me tonight, so I'm going to complete this post with a separate post momentarily. Hopefully, my posts don't get deleted this time!

Breakfast, Dessert, Doggie, Doggie, Life, Life, Lunch, Shopping