Tail Wagging Tuesday -- Holiday Edition!

Today, I am linking up with C Mae @ Happiness is for Tail Wagging Tuesday. Today is all about ELI FLUFFY. I got Eli in 2008, a few days before Christmas and haven't stopped loving and spoiling him since.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cheer

Friday was perfect but I blogged too soon. That evening, we decided to go see Christmas lights. Our plan was to grab Starbucks and walk through this neighborhood that apparently has AMAZING lights. I've heard of this before but had never gone. Off to Starbucks and unfortunately it was too warm for a hot drink. So I grabbed a frappe and off to the lights we went.

Wow, we have been missing out. It is so popular, there are even tour buses bringing people in. The amazing thing about this neighborhood is that all the neighbors do such a spectacular job. Each house has a different theme-airplanes, motorcycles, etc. There’s even a house at the end with a backyard Nativity scene that you can wander through. Amazing! And the garages when you walk by. Talk about garage envy-this place will astound you. You can see garages of your dreams. You will see spotless, junk free, floor painted, wooden floors, tiki-bar equipped, beer neon light adorned, and just plain cool garages. Amazing! We had a great time! I'd do it again!

So once again, It was a good Friday! Enjoyed every minute of it. Hope you had a great friday as well!

Happy Friday

Hope everyone is as happy as I am that friday is here! I was lucky enough that on fridays, we only have one doc in the office and he is off to France with the SKI TEAM which means a day off for me, WOOOOOHOOOOO! So, I was sure to make the most of my day, annual girly doc appt, not so fun but its outta the way. Breakfast at "The Farm" house with my love. They have the MOST amazing cinnamon rolls......

When we got home, there was a little visitor that ran into our garage as we were pulling in. BeeeeBeeep, Roadrunner.....

He was so cute, I chased him around the yard and took pictures. He wasn't too afraid so I was able to get a few pics! I've seen him in our neighborhood before but never at a good time to get pics. After I was done feeding him crackers, I came in to lounge with little Eli, followed by some playtime and late lunch on the patio ....

I would say today was "Perfect" in every way!

Current Beauty Loves

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you are having a thankful and blessed day! Today I am thankful that I can spend the day with Aaron and Eli in the beautiful 70 degree Az weather. I am also thankful for my beautiful home, wonderful significant other and loving and caring parents. I am thankful for health and happiness of my loved ones.

Something Borrowed

Yes, I FINALLY watched Something Borrowed in sunday and I loved it! I cant wait to see the next one. Have you read the book? Because now I think I may read the books. It was such a sad yet happy at the same time sorta movie. And well I cant wait to see what happens next so I may be making my 1st ipad book purchase. Ive been wanting to get a book to read in the ipad. Have you read a book in the ipad? Yay or Nay? Ive heard mixed reviews on ipad books. Let me know what you think.

I love Cassandra Erin's Jewelry Line

I'm sure most of you must love jewelry as much as the next girl. And if you do, I have great Jewelry Designer I've been dying to share with you. A couple years ago for Christmas, my parents got me a very nice and cherishable bracelet by a great jeweler in the St Louis area, Cassandra Erin. She designs the jewelry and she does an amazing job. Each piece is very unique, personalized and one of a kind. She recently opened her own shop in Historical St Charles, MO. I know most of you have not a clue what Im talking about but, if you are from the area, I wanted to make sure you knew she has her own cute little shop.

The following was quoted directly from her website:

Cassandra Porlier, owner, designer, and primary metalsmith for Cassandra Erin line, grew up in Florissant, MO. Her mother and business partner, Teri Sallee, also works with her at their St Charles, MO studio. Her work has been featured in the "Best of Missouri" art show at the Missouri Botanical Garden in 2009 and 2010. Cassandra Erin has been featured 2 times on "Show Me St Louis" and the company;s unique "From the Heart" line was featured in a story in the Style section of the St Louis Post Dispatch in April 2011. Current clients' word of mouth advertising has brought attention to Cassandra Erins work, and its inherent uniqueness. A variety of local St Louis celebrities, including news anchors, television and radio personalities, and profession athelets are proud owners of these open of a kind pieces.

Here is a picture of my bracelet from my parents, quote was from my mother and the writing is my fathers. It is a piece I will cherish for a lifetime ♥.

Here is a few more pics taken from her store, during a recent visit there by my mom. The picture in the bottom left corner is a bracelet similiar to mine with a bangle that I have next on my CE jewelry wish list.



One last photo. The top is my bracelet again! Love it so much. And the bottom left is a pendant my mother wears, with her fathers name in his handwriting on her necklace. To me, these pieces are truly amazing and Cassandra Erin does a fantastic job. I said it before and Ill say it once more, I will cherish my bracelet from my parents for eternity! ❤



I hope you have a chance to visit her website and add a few things to your wishlist. Mine continues to grow. Thank you Cassandra for letting me blog about your Unique Jewelry. Hopefully I will get to St Charles soon and visit your new little shop!

Happy Turkey Week

What will be on your menu for Tom Turkey Day? Im still preparing my menu. It will be a relaxing but thankful day. This year I am thankful that my Lovey will be home to spend the day with me. We have not spent thanksgiving together in 4 years. I usually treat it like a day away from work. But this year, I will make a small turkey breast, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. Dessert will be pumpkin squares from a WIlliams Sonoma Recipe! Ill be sure let you know how that turns out. They had samples in the store a few weeks ago and they were delish!

Here is the recipe:

Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter DESSERT SQUARES

1 package yellow cake mix; set aside one cup
½ cup butter, melted
3 eggs, large
1 jar of Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F. Divide yellow cake mix, placing all but one cup in a mixing bowl. Stir the melted butter and one egg into the cake mix. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9" × 13" pan. Mix the jar of Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter with two eggs and milk. Pour this result over the cake mix. Stir the reserved cup of cake mix with the flour, sugar, softened butter, and cinnamon. Mix together until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of the pumpkin layer. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into "2 squares. Serves 24.

Wishing you and your family a Happy Turkey Day!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Today I made soup in the crockpot! I love my crockpot bc it makes cooking so simple!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 lb chicken breast

1 can chicken broth

1 can enchilada sauce

1 can crushed tomato

1 can chopped green chiles

1 cup of water

1 bag of frozen corn (i used a can)

cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste, approx 1/2 tsp ??

I also added a dash of cayenne, and hot sauce :) I like the KICK!

I put it all in the crockpot and let it cook away. After a few hours, I took the chicken out if the crock and shredded it up. It pretty much falls apart and put back into the pot!

I garnished it with a dallop of sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla strips! Do NOT leave out the tortilla strips, this is a must.

Let me know if you try this soup and what you think!! I loved it! And this little guy,

Well he really wanted to be mommys little tester but, It was way too spicey for him :) Sorry Eli!

Hope you are having a Happy Sunday!

NOTD -- Or Weekend!

Since the weather has FINALLY changed here in sunny Arizona, I have been ready to start wearing fall colors on my nails. So after work on friday, I headed over to Ulta and picked up a few new colors. Friday evening I put on "Power Clutch". I am really LOVING this color!! Its a dark gray green! Very pretty. I have since been seeing this color all over the blogs and Pinterest. LOve LOve LOve

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I did lots of stuff! Decorated a pumpkin for a contest at work, and "She" turned out so Diva Like. I will definitely be blogging about her soon! Today, I made some homemade meatballs and sauce! Busy fun weekend for me!! Hope everyone has a great upcoming week!!

Happy Fall

Its a Beautiful day today in Sunny Phoenix. Weather wise, It couldnt have been a better week! Its finally stopped hitting the triple digits! And cool in the early a.m. and late evening! I love it. The leaves may not be falling and changing colors, nor are the mountains but I am a happy girl! I am ready to have a break from the heat!! Hope you are having a great weekend. I have been busy, working on a pumpkin. We are having a decorating contest at work! I will post my "little pretty" for you very soon! I am just loving her. I need to still but some finishing touches on her though!

Happy Birthday Weekend

Last Saturday was my birthday! I had a GREAT birthday weekend spent with my mom! She flew in from St Louis and spent an entire week with my here in the SUNNY HOT AZ! We had a great time, relaxing, shopping, lunch, grilled out, we were busy busy busy! O yeah, and drank a little wine! Here is what I ended up with for my birthday!

Love the Clarasonic Mia ............

Up next a few pandora charms and a new bracelet from Aaron! My mom got me the double clip. Ive been trying to decide if I really like the double wrap leather. Ive tried lots of different charms and am not loving it. Maybe this double clip might do it!



Aaron bought me a new pandora bracelet. It holds clips only, no charms! Its pretty cute. The blue one I already had. I am really loving my Pandora bracelets. Im finally getting lots of charms and am able to do a theme! One Blue, One Black with 2 toned charms and then the clip one!



I also got some new Toms! Love em, now if it could only get a bit cooler, I could start wearing them!!

It was a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Im sure there are a few Bday gifts I left out!!!

Zoya

Have you tried Zoya polish??? Well I got some awhile back. Probably in the winter, but I hadnt used any of them yet. So last week I was tired of all my regular rotational products and decided to dig out some of my other colors. I found all my Zoya colors I had. I chose "Raven" to try. It lasted less than 24 hours and totally peeled off. So my review on Zoya is, Its NOT for me :( Sucks bc I have about 6 colors but I dont think I will be using it again. Bummer. The next day I used Essie, Licorice and its been over 48hours and no chips. So It has to be the Zoya formula and my nails dont mesh. Here is a before and after picture of my nails.

Curly Hair Day

Did you see my curls last week? Well I was going for this look. But ended up with this look....... and here is the actual pictures of me!

It was fun to have a different style for the day! And I got lots of compliments! Thanks to everyone again for the nice compliments. So now I need to go out and purchase a much smaller curling iron to get the look I was really looking for. And if you try it, Happy Curling to you!

Happy Sunday, Frappe, and Nail Polish of the Week!

Happy Sunday to all my blog friends, all 39 of you! Hopefully I will make it to 50 soon but Im just really not feeling it. Today, Eli and I was up and at em early bc it has been sooo hot here in the sunny sunny phoenix, Az. I wanted to beat the heat for a nice long walk, and that is what we did. I listened to some tunes on siriusxm on the iphone app. If you have a subscription, and didnt know it, its a free app and you should definitely take advantage of it! Works on iphone and ipad and I believe other smart phones as well. After our walk, it is routine on sunday, Eli and I go for a starbucks run. But today there is a place on the corner that had a coupon in the paper for a free beverage so we went to the corner to B.L.D. and got a free 20 oz. beverage. The barista recommended a frappe vanilla caramel, and so yummy! I will definitely go back and try their smoothies and maybe the vanilla iced coffee. Its an actual restaurant, B.L.D. With a drive thru for drinks only, kinda a cool concept. However I wish they sold pasteries or bagels, or even a breakfast sandwich thru the drive thru!

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O and did I mention, that I am loving this pretty blue nail polish. I have re-done my nails in the color a few times now :) It is Essie Mesmerize...........


Well the pictures are not that great, its pics with my iphone so this is the best I got. It is definitely not as dull as it apears in the pic. Its not super dark but not really bright either. Its a perfect blue :)

One more thing, before I run. I had a hair appt yesterday and on my way, I wanted an ice cold refreshing beverage so I pulled into starbucks and tried one of the new Very Berry Hibiscus drinks, D~E~L~I~S~H, recommend you try it for sure. Apparently it is made from coffee beans, it is not tea but is a fruity drink with caffeine.

Hope you are having a fantastic Sunday!

End of Week Pics

I thought I'd share a few iphone pics with you guys! I didn't do too much this weekend. But to me, thats ok. I love hanging out at home with my "Lovey" and Mr Eli FLuffy! It was a chill weekend in the A/C avoiding the HOT HOT HOT AZ weather.

First up, A few cute pics of my little doggie, a.k.a Mr Eli Fluffy ...............

Next, A few pics of my weekend fashion. I watched a YT video on a very fun curly hair style. I wanted my hair to do the same but, #fail. Bc I did not have the right size curling iron so I used what I had and this is what I got. Along with some pretty Essie blue nails. And lastly, my wrist bling, Dillon Rogers leather wrap, Michael Kors watch, and a silver heart "L" bracelet from my parents..............



This week we had a unique storm called a Haboob.
The following was copied from WIkipedia:
A haboob is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world.In the USA, they are frequently observed in the deserts of Arizona, including Yuma and Phoenix,[2][3] as well as New Mexico and Texas.[4] During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm's travel.
Pictures from my patio.........


Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Nail Polish Of The Day, Week!

I decided since I am CONSTANTLY changing my nail color, I'd add the colors to my blog for all to see. Hope you will enjoy it. My color this week was "turquoise and caicos". I actually purchased this color last year and didn't use it until now. I didn't LOVE it but I did get many compliments on it. I will use the color again. Maybe in the fall or spring.