Countdown To Christmas-Day 21

Today is the 4th annual HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR sponsored by Jen On The Edge. It's fun to see everyone's decorations and make some new blog friends!
My intro on Jen's blog said you should see my decorations...well, I hardly decorated this year, but you can check out LAST YEAR'S EXPLOSION OF WHIMSICAL

Along with the clue in my blog name, here are a few more hints as to where I live and celebrate Christmas...

Merry Christmas from Florida!
We have a screened in porch that we can use year-round and Mr Sunshine lights it up for the holidays.

Here's the tree...

Every year from their birth to age 18, my Mom has bought each of the kids a Christmas ornament that is appropriate for something they experienced that year. There are ballet slippers, a car, a graduation cap, a Martial Arts Santa and a Brownie scout. The rest of the tree has ornaments I collect on vacations.

We'll spend Christmas Day on the phone with family in Massachusetts and Georgia. Last year we spent Christmas afternoon at Downtown Disney listening to music and looking at all the pretty decorations.

Wherever you celebrate the holidays, I wish you peace and happiness.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 20

The Sunshine Family Grandmothers send us checks to do our Holiday shopping. They are both at the age where shopping is too much for them. Sorority Girl and I headed to the big Outlet Mall to find some bargains and BOY!! were we successful!
She organized our shopping with this...

A color coded map! No wasted wandering time for these shoppers!

SG got a pretty (refurbished) Fossil watch for $52 that was originally $130. I would post a picture but she ran out to Trivia Night before I could snap a photo.
I got a pair of $34 Fossil earrings for $9.74 that I love...2 birds kissing

Then we hit up the Vera Bradley Outlet. I've never been a VB fan until recently and today I found a messenger bag that I liked. It retails at $56 and I paid $35...

SG's bag is a $72 bowler bag that she paid $23 for!

On the way home, we were listening to Christmas songs on the radio and she asked this question...
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus? Is the premise that Daddy is Santa or that Mommy is a whore?"

And I snorted...for about 3 minutes. I'm snorting again thinking about it.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 19

The packages are all wrapped to travel!

Will you hate me if I tell you that it was 78 degrees here today? Sorority Girl and I decided to sit by the pool but we got swarmed by bees. Sorority Girl is ALLERGIC to bees. I told her she was forbidden to have another allergy attack this week.

I just posted this on my facebook page, because it cracked me up...

CHEERS!!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 18

Last night was "order from Harry and David Night" to send goodie gifts to our sisters.

And today was Read The Sunday Paper/Watch Football On The New Bedroom TV/Take A Nap/Eat Leftover Italian Sausage And Peppers Day.
Basically your Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Christmas Day.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 17

Today was the day I almost lost my Christmas Shizzzz.

I planned to package up all the gifts going to MA and GA and MN. I figured if I started at 10am, I could get it done and get in the post office line by 11:00am. I discovered at 10am that I had  no....

 PACKING TAPE!!!!

Deep breath....I could skip the shower and the second cup of coffee, run to CVS, run home, pack up the gifties and get to the post office by 11:30am.
At 11:15 I realized I couldn't get all the packages wrapped and get to the post office by noon.

Deep breath...I decided to pack up the two gifts that had the farthest to travel.

Mission accomplished. The remaining gifts that have to travel to GA can get into the mail on Monday and make it there before Friday.

Today, Mr Sunshine had his Double 5 birthday. Like many close-to-Christmas babies, he usually gets lame birthday gifts, but this year was different. He left work early due to a power failure that wasn't going to get fixed until 6pm. He ran into a Birthday/Christmas Elf in the aisles of W-Mart. The elf whispered in the Birthday Man's ear and this is what is now in our bedroom...

It's a 40 inch Sony flat screen with Media Streaming Capabilities!!!!!! He's happier than a Sports Nut with a big TV in the bedroom!!! Now I can watch Netflix movies in bed!!!

I'll let you know if we start eating our meals in bed.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 16

We interrupt your Christmas Prep Countdown for 1 Sorority Girl-sponsored Attack Of The Hives.

I took a couple of naps with her during the night in between listening to her breathe and counting hives the size of tennis balls. I started frantic googling at 3am when her eyes started to swell. She took some Benadryl, slept a little and we were off to the campus health service this morning. 

It's 99% likely that she had an allergic reaction caused by a 3 day Perfect Storm of Shrimp, Lobster Bisque, Strawberries, exercise, adrenaline rush and immune system overdrive. ZYRTEC to the rescue! She's much better tonight.

I squeezed that in between getting our car registrations renewed, getting her home to nap, fighting a HEINOUS traffic situation to get a Dunkin Donuts gift card, standing in line to buy stamps and mailing the Christmas cards, picking up ordered books at the BIG BOOKSTORE (and finding out one arrived damaged) and grocery shopping.

Needless to say, my afternoon plans of The Wrapping Of The Gifts didn't happen.

I hereby order that NO CRISIS is to occur for the next 8 days!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 15

Do you ever make food gifts for Christmas?

I try to do food treats every year to grab when I'm seeing friends around the holidays. In past years I've made homemade tootsie rolls, big chocolate snowman lollipops, peppermint bark, cookies. Last year I did a spice mix with directions to make a Mexican dip.

I heard of something called Reindeer Chow. I googled it (are you surprised?). It sounded like Chex Mix with melted white chocolate all over it. I decided to make my own mix...

There are M&M's, red, white and green Jelly Belly jelly beans, peanuts and white chocolate coated pretzels.
I had enough mix to fill 7 bags with 3 scoops each of mix.

I found a website with a poem about Reindeer Chow.
http://christmas.organizedhome.com/recipes/snack-mix/reindeer-chow
She has the original recipe with the cereal and melted chocolate. I'm going to copy her poem and tie it to the bags.



When reindeer fly on Christmas night,
They work up quite an appetite!
But Mrs. Claus knows what to do,
To feed them when the flight is through.
She mixes up some Reindeer Chow.
A secret only she knows how.

With something salty, something sweet,
It’s Rudolph’s favorite reindeer treat.
Back in her kitchen at the Pole,
She heaps it high in every bowl
To welcome her returning crew.
So here’s a batch that’s just for you!

Reindeer Chow Poem Copyright © 2009 by Cynthia Ewer.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 14

I like to help Santa put together his Naughty and Nice list. I did it back in 2008 and again in 2010.

This year the naughty list has PEOPLE BEHAVING BADLY AND THEN DENYING IT...I'm looking at you, Herman Cain and Jerry Sandusky and Casey Anthony.

Last week I turned a corner in the grocery store and saw the biggest female butt crack EVER. She was bent over her child's stroller and there was NO evidence of underwear on her ample backside. I hope Santa puts some "Just My Size" in her stocking.

The nice list this year is ALL ABOUT KINDERGARTEN!!
Sorority Girl made the nice list for working a LOT of hours at her part-time job, making time for her friends and family, taking 5 classes and doing 60 mandatory hours in a classroom setting. She pulled 4 A's and 1 B and fell in love with a classroom full of 5 year olds.

The teacher she was paired with in the classroom was a gem! She was so supportive and appreciated SG's efforts with her students. They had good discussions about their concerns for 2 Special Need students and they shared their joy at all the little accomplishments those 2 students made. MRS K is definately on the nice list!

There was an especially nice little girl in that class. She was the one who would hold another student's hand walking out to the parking lot and telling other kids that their artwork was good. She would tell other little girls that their outfits were "Fabulous!!" I hope Santa is good to this little sweetheart.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 13

On the 13th day of December, nothing Chrismassy happened at my house.  I did spend some time on Pinterest....my new obsession.
Here are a few things from my boards...

www.mrsprindables.com

CARAMEL APPLES!

I could do this! (probably not)

CORKS AND CRANBERRIES (or red beads?)

I could do this! (probably)

PAPER TREE!

I could do this!

(probably won't)

Countdown To Christmas-Day 12

It was a dreary grey day in the Sunshine State. I had to resort to bringing on the sparkly.

I turned on the tree lights at 10am.

What's better than a snowglobe? A snowglobe that's also a tealight holder. Santa is just waiting for his head to get filled with Reese's PB cups and Hershey Kisses in sparkly wrappers.

I started writing Christmas cards. Now there is glitter from one end of the living room to the other. It looked like a cute family pic, but I didn't realize that I was squinting in the sun. Oh well, the other 3/4 of the family was cute that day!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 11

Today was all about the SHINY.

Our tree doesn't have any garland or tinsel this year. It was a design decision by Sorority Girl. There are a few shiny ornaments and today I added about 30 of the little round ornaments, like the red one under the "e".

 The sparkly sand dollar came from a shop near my Mom's winter place.

I also added a little bling to my nails...It's a sparkly bronze called Pros And Bronze.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 10

A Christmas Shopping Miracle happened today.

I ran into JoAnn's and got the Wilton white melting candy to make these...

Then I ran into W-Mart and grabbed this...

Then I ran into the Fresh Market and grabbed a freshly baked Pumpernickel bread and a gift card.
I made it home an hour and 5 minutes after I left! On a Saturday afternoon! Two weeks before Christmas!

I was wearing these little beauties ...

I won them in a Holiday Giveaway from Jen On The Edge. They were made by Lori Anderson.
I think I'll wear them every day until Christmas!!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 9

NEWS FLASH! LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE STATE WENT CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!

This is the earliest I have ever Christmas shopped. Ever. In the history of ever. I LOVE being a Stay-At-Home Mom-With-No-Kids-At-Home!

While I was out I needed to get an inflatable bed for Cape Cod Kid to sleep on when he is here. Last year, when he slept on the sofa, I realized that my 6'3" son is longer than my sofa. The inflata-bed shopping turned into a math problem.

Inflatable Bed A comes with a pump and costs $84. I have a coupon for a $10 instant rebate credit.

Inflatable Bed B comes without a pump and costs $54, but the pump is $29.99. I have a coupon for a $10 instant rebate.

I bought Inflatable Bed B, but I'm still not sure I did I did the math right!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 8

I gave the Origami wreaths one more try and I can't get them to look right. I'm not going to stress over it...but I'm over it!

Onto my next crafty idea. I saw this in a magazine...

I bought a small square vase at the Dollar store and a box of peppermint sticks at the Fresh market. I already have that exact ribbon in my stash. I'll hit the florist shop when it gets closer to Christmas.

Sorority Girl just got home from taking her last final of the semester. Let the Christmas Vacation begin!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 7

I started making origami Christmas wreaths...well, I started folding triangles but can't remember how to put them together. I found paper at JoAnn's...8 pages for $1

Once upon a time I had a good friend named Little Debbie. We haven't spoken in well over a year. And now she has appeared in my life again. Sorority Girl saw her in the grocery store and invited her home.

I'm still not speaking to her. That bitch has 20g of sugar per cake. She's hiding out in SG's bedroom.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 6

I LOVE Peppermint Mochas. I didn't think I would ever have one again...until I found THIS in the grocery store.

The list of ingredients reads like a chemistry experiment, but it tastes so good and makes me so happy!

When I go on vacation I look for Christmas ornaments that have a snowman on them. It's even better if the snowmen are in some of type of beach scene.

Speaking of snowmen, last year one of my bloggy/facebook friends sent me a surprise box of snowmen. This beaded nightlight was in the box and it makes me :-)

I asked Santa for the Adele21 CD for Christmas. I heard he passed the memo to Sorority Girl.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 5

I started Christmas shopping today.

There are 2 little nephew dudes who are big fans of the place where their parents went to college. I heard they asked Santa for these sweatshirts.

I've got a Chrismassy background on my Yahoo page. Tonight while I'm cooking dinner I'm listening to last year's Glee Christmas CD and Andy Williams Personal Christmas Collection.

I'm working on my annual Naughty and Nice list.

Countdown To Christmas-Day 4

The stockings were hung on the kitchen counter with care...

Extra points if you knew they were from the Martha Stewart collection.
Yesterday I came home from shopping, turned the corner onto the sidewalk, and saw this...

The condo landscape guys don't work weekends, so that means one of the neighbors within our courtyard of 3 buildings decided to share their Christmas Spirit with us.
What is cool is that Poinsettia will survive outdoors here in the winter and also that I was in shorts and barefoot when I snapped the pic!

I'm  making a list and checking it twice...

...in my Hello Kitty Christmas notebook that came from the $1 section of Target!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 3

Christmas Tree Lights~ Mr Sunshine came home, touched one wire and we have 100% compliance by every last bulb. He also strung the outdoor lights. I love seeing our little snowflakes out there when it's 75 degrees!

My little Dumpster Rescue Tree is on the porch again.

I have a large Pottery Barn lantern that I decorate for the seasons. This year it has a cranberry candle with 2 bags of Sparkling Gem Vase Filler, also from PB.

I came up with some good ideas for gifts. I'm 2 weeks ahead of the game this year. Probably because I'm not working retail. This is my first truly stress-free Christmas in over 6 years!

Countdown To Christmas-Day 2

The house is all Chrismassy Clean, except my bedroom. 

I was re-thinking the Origami Christmas cards. They would be a pain to mail. I might do teabag folding instead.  It looks like this...

Last night my friend and I went to Central Park in Winter Park. The Morse Museum has the largest collection of  Louis Comfort Tiffany in the world.  Every Dec 1st they take some of the stained glass windows out into the park, backlight them and there is a concert by the Bach Festival Society. These are 3 of my favorites...

 

The tree is vertical...

What's wrong with this picture? Mr Sunshine has a project tonight.

The Saturday...Day 3 agenda....Making a list and checking it twice.