Cup 'a Hot Chocolate

A Pre-Birthday/Ruby Red Window Shopping Spree...

2012-02-23T19:01:00.000-05:00

Hey...Hey... HEY!!!

Guess what?!?

Tomorrow's my birthday!!

I've been dreading turning 25 for at least the past few months and for some reason, this week I've been so excited!!
I've had a phenomenal first part of my staycation- loads of yummy food and some wonderful friends!
(spoken like a true fat kid!) There's still a whole lot more to come in the next week so I'm thrilled. It's going to be busy and chances are I'll be exhausted by the end... but I'm ok with that!

Tomorrow is the also the Princess Half Marathon Expo so I'll be starting my day by going to pick up my race packet... AHHH!!!
What a way to start my next year of life- by proving to myself once again that I can run 13.1 miles all at one time!
GO ME!!

Since it is indeed my birthday, I like to treat myself. I'm indulging in outings and food and planning on a little bitty shopping spree at some point.
Since I've been trying to decide what to focus my mini shopping spree on, I thought it would be a good day to bring back...

Window Shopping Spree Thursday!!

Oh, I seriously missed doing these!
This week I'm sharing a little shopping list I've been putting together lately. For some reason, I'm growing increasingly more and more fond of red accents in my wardrobe. I've been rocking my red wayfarers for over a year now and I will seriously wear them with anything!
I've been wanting to add red pieces to my wardrobe so here's what I'm thinking...

1. Red Shorts- I'm not sure when I decided I was brave enough to venture into colored bottoms... goodness knows my curvy bum may not be the best silhouette for colored pants, but I seriously want these!
2. Red Headband- I found this one on etsy and I LOVE it. Confession- my desire for a red headband stems directly from my current obsession with Gossip Girl. And in this case, obsession is an understatement... whoops!
3. Red Cardigan- I recently cleaned out my closet and I kid you not, the majority of my closet is sweaters and cardigans. And still, all I can think of when I look at that chunk is "How do I not have a red one?!"
4. Red Toms- I actually started wanting these when I saw them on an 8 year old who came to my show... Is it wrong to take fashion inspiration from an 8 year old?
5. Red Big Bag- Fossil?! I'm shocked! This may not be the first time this bag shows up on my blog, but it's the first time I've had it here in red!!!
6. Red belt- I've come to find lately, that any shirt or dress can be made a million times more fabulous with a color pop belt! So I want one in red.

...Have I gone over board with this whole "red" thing?!...

...

Maybe.

I'm ok with that though!

We all go through color spouts.

I'm loving bright colors in general right now. Bring on more blues, greens, and yellows! But for some reason, my wardrobe is just screaming for these accent pieces...

I do still have another week of staycation...

I'll let you know if I go through on any of these purchases!

Hope everyone has a wonderful "My Birthday!" tomorrow! Have a cupcake in my honor! :)

Where the hell have I been?!?

2012-02-20T11:44:00.000-05:00

Ummmm... What?!

Hi, my name is Krystina. You probably don't remember me seeing as I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN FOREVER!

I'm such a slacker.

There's really no one explanation for it.

I've just had an extreme amount of blogger's block for about a month...

I have no interest in airing any dirty laundry on my blog but I feel like there's certain things that need to be said in order for me to continue on my journey to be healthy and happy me!

Plus- My birthday is on Friday!

There's no better time to take a giant blog sigh and keep moving forward.

So, here's what's going on.

I'm going to attempt to do this as vague but understandable as possible... Forgive me if you don't follow.

My previous chapter in life recently had some big news that I got wind of courtesy of Facebook.

And honestly, I couldn't be happier for them!

That being said- it put me in a very pensive position.

On top of that, and I realize I have done nothing but complain about this recently (and I'm hoping this post will help me stop doing that!), the person's schedule has really been a trying experience for our relationship. This may sound ridiculous, but in the almost year and a half that we've been together, things have come so easily for us that quite frankly, we suck at dealing with fighting.

I've come to find that any couple can be great when things are going smoothly. I think it's how you grow and learn in the tough times that really shows a couple's strength.

After a whole lot of thinking, here is my rebuttal to the universe-

My life may not go picture perfect in the eyes of some people, but I could not be happier with it. I am living out my own fairy tale in my own way, making the decisions that are right for me. If I get caught up in comparing how my life runs to others, I'm missing out on the amazingness right in front of me.

Having to take life's steps when I see fit is part of the beauty of this journey being my very own.

This is my life and I fully intend to live it out precisely as I was meant to.

May have taken the better part of 25 years to get to this point but I'm beyond excited to see what's next...

Source: habitualbliss.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: peasinourpod.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Happy to be back in the blogging seat! Hoping this is the start of a lot more inspiration and that you'll be sticking around to follow this journey with me. Thanks for being so patient with me while I was gone!
Hope this post finds everyone healthy and happy!

Wish! {Out loud}

2012-02-05T15:23:00.001-05:00

Another Wish!{out loud} Sunday!

Which is also Super Bowl Sunday...

Confession:

Not only will both my person and I be working straight through the entirety of the Superbowl-

I could not care less!

Oops.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE college football and have just never managed to get behind a pro team. They just don't play with the same heart. However, if we were talking basketball, I love college and the NBA!!

But since it's the biggest night in the NFL... I don't so much mind working at both my jobs!

Now- Wish time!!

As always, check out the intro post if you're new to the concept!

Here's the rundown...

1. Grab the button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

This week, my wish is-
I wish I could turn my brain off more often to read as much as I'd like to...
I LOVE books. Always have. But I feel like the older I get, the more challenging it is for me to focus on putting everything else on hold and just reading.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I set a goal for myself to finish a book a month this year... Seems like an easy enough goal!
I'm still on my January book.
So here's wishing I can actually get back to my love of reading!!
Tips welcome!

Off to check out more wishes! I hope everyone enjoys their Super Bowl Sundays and keeps it tame enough to be able to start your week off right.

Here's hoping each week is better than the last... Especially as I creep closer to my birthday...

Wait... It's February?!?

2012-02-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

Happy February, everyone!

How in the world is this possible? Every year goes by a little faster than the last and this is no exception.

It's my birthday month! I'm trying to make some plans, seeing as I'll be on a 10 day "staycation."

Any recommendations?

What would you do if you had 10 days off from work, and it can include anything from alone time to dates to girly stuff to day trips!

And- go!

Now, since it's the first of the month- it's time for my month in pics!

I actually thought this month would be nothing but 31 pictures of Bentley dog. The month is not lacking in that by any means but there is a surprising amount of other things in here!

Perhaps January wasn't as lame-o, boring as I thought...

Some of this month's highlights, in order of their appearance...

*Being surprised at work by my person...

*A visit from one of my besties!

*Kicking the half marathon training into high gear and new running shoes!

*My first green smoothies

*Using my stand mixer for the very first time

*Getting my organizer

*Having a fun day in Orlando with my parents

*Using my sewing machine again!

*Dying my hair back...

*Dusting off my chops to sing at an open mic night.

So there it is in a nut shell... The month of January. My last full month being 24. Not a bad start to the year but not exactly a great one. I fully intend to keep making an effort to make life more kick booty as the year continues.

There's also a month in pics going around the blog world. I haven't seen the list of picture prompts but I'm on the look out for it! If any of you have that info, can you send me a link? As fun as I'm having doing this on my own, it would be interesting to play along and see how others do this!

Happy hump day! I hope everyone's Februarys are getting off on the right foot.

Wish! {Out loud}

2012-01-28T23:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope your weekends weren't too crazy and you're all relaxing and ready to head into another full week!

Sundays are almost always my very busiest days. That's when I normally work both at Disney and at the dinner theatre. By the end of the night, I am one tired lady. But tomorrow is my Friday!!

On top of the whole lot of nothing I have planned, my training will have me up to 8 miles this week...

Wish me luck people! Race day is 4 weeks from today and I'm pumped but so excited to be running another half marathon.

We're back with Robin and Ashley Marie to make some more magic as we all make and grant each others wishes! Yup- it's Wish! {out loud} Sunday!!

It's been so exciting to see more and more people join in each week! You all seriously rock!! With each person joining in, it's another opportunity for your wish to get granted. So it's been amazing to see the support and help everyone is offering each other.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the words of encouragement with my trying to stick with my workouts in last weeks wish!! I'm happy to report I've been snacking smartly (aside from the very occasional "date night" meal) but most importantly, I'm really sticking to my training! So- yay me!!
Now let's get going on another great week!
As always, check out what it's all about HERE if you're just reading about this!

Here's the drill...

1. Grab the button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

This week, my wish is inspired by some of reality tv's finest- The cooking show genre!!

I wish I had REAL cooking skills- like how to properly chop veggies and cut meats...

I feel like that sounds so silly. But honestly, I LOVE being in the kitchen. But my kitchen skills are all from the little my Grandma has taught me and what I've made up along the way. Not exactly pretty looking handling of foods or utensils! I watch shows like Top Chef all dreamy, wishing I was that hard core awesome.

So- tips or sources for being a semi pro chef in my own kitchen would be greatly appreciated!!

Now to see what I can do for any of your wishes! If you haven't joined in on the Wish! fun- what are you waiting for?

My new Life Planner + my crafty sleeve-y thing...

2012-01-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody!

So... January is almost over...

Which means it's almost February...

Which means I'm almost 25...

Commence quarter-life crisis.

You think I'm kidding. I'm not. February 24th is my birthday and I have no idea what I want to do because I partly don't want to have this birthday. I realize every time I say that, I offend every person older than I am. Allow me to specify- this is not about you. This is about me. Turning 25 and no longer getting to say I'm in my early twenties. My life is happening as we speak. Am I really enjoying it and experiencing it to its fullest?!? I think I am... in most ways... I suppose there's always more we could be doing.

Stay tuned as I continue to find fun and interesting ways to live out my quarter-life crisis.

This should be exciting!

Anyhoot!

About a week ago, I got something in the mail that will no doubt change my life forever. I'm sure you've all seen or heard of Erin Condren's Life Planners. They've seriously been featured on every blog. Ever. If you're anything like me, you were transported back to Elementary school with some sort of "But all the cool bloggers have one!" moment.

I'm here today to report to you-

It is SO worth the hype!!

I was incredibly excited after I placed the order, I seriously checked the FedEx tracking every couple of hours. I actually had a little "AHHHHH" moment when it wasn't updated for like 4 days. When you're waiting for Christmas Day so badly, the thought that Santa got lost on the way- it's frightening!

Luckily, it came!

It's here, it's all mine, and I am more organized than ever!

Aint she a beauty? I went with the "Favorite Things" design so all that writing is random stuff that makes me smile. So now I get organized AND smile!

I have to admit though- I add things to the goals and to do lists just so I can cross them out.

Whoops!

No doubt I am NOT the only that does this though!!

Well... now that I had this gorgeous planner, you would have to be crazy to think I was going to just throw it into my bags to fend for itself amongst make-up and hairspray and goodness knows what else is at the bottom of my bags.

TO THE CRAFT ROOM!

I picked out a project for an organizer sleeve from one of my favorite crafty books, One Yard Wonders (Honestly! If this isn't in your sewing arsenal, GET IT NOW!), and just adjusted it to the dimensions of my planner. I also couldn't decide on just one fabric... so I took some liberties with my design on it.

All the cut pieces- Just took quilting cotton and some batting!

Proof that my decision making skills aren't so great...

So thanks to a day off at my sewing machine, my beautiful little planner can safely be thrown into any bag without me worrying about the pages getting bent or gross!

... Is my OCD showing?

I'm still trying to figure out the most efficient way for me to use it to help me get my posts up on time...

Lesson from this week-

Write that a post needs to go up THE DAY BEFORE so you don't get to that day and go- "Oh crap."

Still, I am thrilled to keep filling it up with all the awesomeness 2012 is sure to have in store.

Aside from the whole 25th birthday thing.

Full circle.

Hope this post finds you all well! Don't forget to come back and join in on the Wish! {out loud} goodness on Sunday!

Wish! {out loud}

2012-01-22T15:53:00.001-05:00

Sunday?!?

What?!?

Yeah... this post is going up MUCH later than usual because I had no clue it was Sunday. Which is all the more confusing because I still managed to be to work at the right time...

I wish I could explain/understand how my brain works.

Since it is in fact Sunday- it's time to link up w/ Robin and Ashley Marie for another rip roaring edition of...

Wish! {out loud}

Of course, If you're late to the game, check out the original post and then follow the rules!

1. Grab the button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

I'd like to report that Im doing phenomenally well so far on last weeks wish to put more effort into how I dress day to day. I even had a manager of mine say "Ummmm... where are your sweat pants?" There's also been a slew of compliments and more than likely people realizing I have the potential to be cute form time to time!

Who knew?!

This week...
I wish for the will power and patience to stick with my work outs and eating healthy (note: not calling it a "diet" anymore!) for as long as it takes to get back down to my healthy and happy goal weight.

Wish me luck!! And please send any tips on how you keep yourself motivated when progress is slow.

Hope everyone is refreshed and ready for another work week... tomorrow is my Friday... :)

Friday's Fancies- Outfit Inspiration!

2012-01-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

Another Friday!

Is it possible we're already more than halfway through the first month of 2012?

I know I say this a lot- but time is going in fast forward!! That's a fact now.

I mentioned in one of my last posts that the person's schedule has been crazy. Yup, that hasn't gotten any better what with the President stopping by our parts yesterday! That actually caused us to lose our one day off together for a while but I'm still hopeful that February will hold some quality time in there somewhere- what with it being Valentine's Day AND my birthday. :)

Fingers crossed! I miss that guy!

But! I am very grateful for our late night Netflix dates and morning coffee breaks. And until we have time for a real date again, I'll keep loving those things!

And since it's Friday, that means I'm linking up with {av} from {long distance loving} again for Friday's Fancies! This link up always inspires me to look fierce as often as possible so I loved the theme for this week. Anyone participating this week was urged to build an outfit based on some inspiration from pinterest or the blogosphere. I've really been meaning to implement all the awesomeness I find on pinterest into my every day life. This gave me a chance to work out that "outfit building" muscle... does that make any sense? I just mean this was really good practice!

So let's start with my inspiring pin!

Source: reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Now, when I first started putting my version together, I was literally just copying it piece for piece. Same colors and everything. I stopped and thought "Ummmmm! You are SO missing the point of this!" I took a step back, and decided to switch it up with some of my favorite things-

Chiefly, the color coral and poofy sleeves.

Perhaps my version is a little plain jane but I'm having a love affair with clean lines and color pops.

I need to keep collecting outfits I want to recreate and keep those in mind when I go shopping...

Now- go join in this link up so I can be inspired by your fashion savviness! Hoping everyone survived the week! If your weekend plans include Disney, wave to me!

An outfit post...

2012-01-19T12:59:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday already?!?

Holy cow! My weekend flew by. But I relaxed, and trained, and got a crafty project done!!

Can't wait to share that later this week!

This is just going to be a short post to keep me accountable on my New Year's Resolution.

I mentioned I hardly ever take the time to put an outfit together and actually look cute so I really want to change that. I spend so much time perusing other blogs and pinterest and I'm constantly inspired by all of it! So now it's time for me to step up and actually use that inspiration!

Lucky for me, my person was home this morning so he ran outside with me a second ago to snap a couple quick pictures.

Here's hoping this is just the start of me looking awesome much, much more often!

**Keep in mind: I never feel like I look cute if I don't have my hair straightened. In these pictures, I left my hair as is when I get out of the shower. EEeek! But in all actuality, I wear my hair like this most often. So it makes this whole "Outfit Post" thing more legitimate. So, try not to mock my lion-like mane!**

Top- J. Crew

Bottom- Gap

Shoes- Tory Burch

Watch- La Mer Collections

Headband- Claire's (Keepin it classy!)

All other jewelry- Brighton

There it is! My casual but (hopefully) cute first outfit post! It was much easier than all my hemming and hawing would make it seem. Not sure why I get so lazy about it! We all do sometimes though, right? Please tell me I'm not alone in this!

Alright everyone! Power through the ends of your weeks as I get ready to start mine. Here's hoping everyone is doing well and putting in a little effort to get out of sweats and into actual outfits! Just me? Alright then, I got this!!

WTF did I just make for dinner...

2012-01-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, everybody!!

Which of course is my Friday... although I will be working tomorrow night so technically it's not quite my Friday...

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and is all energized and ready for your work week.

Weekends go way too quickly... Good thing I haven't even started mine!

So things have been a little crazy around here. And by a little I mean-

"Holy shit! Isn't this the time of year where things are supposed to slow down?"

I'm still working my 2 jobs with Disney and the dinner theatre and lucky for me, there's been a lovely amount of extra hours to pick up. Which means I can afford to indulge in turkey from the deli counter instead of from the meat section! That's how you can tell I'm feeling rich.

The person, however, has been working NONSTOP! You think I'm kidding? This past week he hasn't worked a single day that was less than 12 hours and even worked a 34 hour day... Yes, you read that correctly. 34 hours. "Surely he had long breaks and slept for an hour in there somewhere." No, no. He pushed it through to get the work done.

I applaud his work ethic.

And will cut anyone that expects me to work for as long and as hard as he does.

So! When he works these ridiculous hours, I like to make sure he has something yummy to come home to. Mainly because I'm well aware of what he eats while he's working that hard- a whole lot of junk with a side of nothing.

On this particular night, I was home from work and, since his schedule is pretty much open ended, I had no idea when he would get home. So I didn't want to make anything that wouldn't be tasty reheated.

We have quite the smorgasbord of ingredients lying around...

Hence the whole "WTF" part of this recipe.

Because I made it up.

I'm sure many of you have made things similar to it BUT- I used no recipe and just sort of said "How bout some of this?" as I went along.

So here's what I came up with!

The ingredients-

1 Pillsbury French loaf

Olive oil/balsamic vinegar mix (I have it pre-mixed)

Ranch Dressing

Deli style turkey

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Garlic Salt

Parmesan cheese

Italian blend spices

...AND a Wild Blueberry Sea Dog to help get my "WTF" cooking mojo underway

So, first I rolled out the dough, drizzled it with a little of the olive oil/balsamic mix, and then spread some ranch over that

Then, in the center, I layered in a whole bunch of sandwich turkey

Over that, I got a little cheddar cheese happy. You could sprinkle as much or as little as you want, we happen to be avid cheese lovers!

Then, I folded in the short sides before overlapping the long ends to give it the loaf shape again.

I drizzled it with more of the olive oil/balsamic mix and sprinkled a little Italian herbs on it

I let it bake at 350 for 15 minutes before sprinkling parmesan cheese and a little more cheddar over the top. Then popped it back in the oven to for 15 more minutes to finish it off!

And voila! My "WTF did I just make for dinner" Turkey sandwich/French bread loaf...

The name is still a work in progress

This was seriously one of the greatest turkey sandwiches I have ever had. I'm going to have to keep a lot more of that Pillsbury French bread around because the possibilities are endless!!

Oh, the amazing dinners you can put together with just a beer and the wonders in your pantry and fridge!

**SIDE NOTE: The night I made this was the night he ended up not coming home because he worked 34 hours. Luckily, a few minutes in the toaster oven and this puppy is good as new!

But the real side note is I just wanted to take a second and give a shout out to my person for all the hard work he does.

He's an entertainment tech at Disney and he specializes in lighting. Right now, he's been working his butt off to make sure the lighting was up and running for all the cheer/dance competitions that happen at Disney this time of year. Most of us, I included, go to shows or events and spend little time appreciating that there's a whole crew working their butts off to make sure every aspect is just right. A whole crew thats busting their butt, putting in extra hours, forfeiting breaks, missing out on dinners with family, because its their job to make sure we as audiences and spectators get the fullest and best looking experience we can.

Yeah, that's him. Working his magic in China at Epcot for New Year's.

So next time you're at an event like this, take a second to look up and appreciate their artistry.

They work so ridiculously hard and are so under appreciated. So thank you!

I for one, would be singing and dancing in the dark if it weren't for people like my person.

Where would be the fun in that?**

That's enough of my soap box for today. And try this sandwichy/french bread type thingy!! You'll probably eat the whole loaf in one sitting. Delicious!!

Wish! {out loud}

2012-01-15T00:06:00.001-05:00

Happy Sunday, everybody!!

A post on Sunday?!?

That can only mean one thing...

The return of the Wish! {out loud} link up with the ever so lovely Ashley Marie from Chickadette and Robin from fly far. fly free. They were super on the ball and got posts up last week and I totally flaked out! :/ Sorry ladies!! But I'm very happy to report, I'm back in the game!!

SO!

Let's resume the wish making/granting, shall we?!

(If you're totally lost, check out the original intro post then head back over here to play along!)

Just like the last weeks, here's what you gotta do!

1. Grab the button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

This week, I'm going to sort of go off of the post I did last time I played along with Wish! {out loud}:

I wish I would make it a point to actually get put together with legitimate outfits more often...

You see, having jobs where I always put on costumes means I tend to wear sweats and work out clothes fairly often. My goal is to wear things easy to get in and out of to make changing before and after shows as easy as possible!

So, blog land, someone out there, make me accountable!! Remind me to play along with "What I Wore Wednesdays" and ask me every now and then to post a picture of what I wore today! Maybe that will force me to put a little more effort in!

My poor person, he more often than not sees me in pajamas or outfits that could easily pass for pajamas... Lucky for me, he tells me regularly how lucky he feels that I'm so gorgeous first thing in the morning.

What a sweet, sweet lie.

But I'll take it!

And keep him of course!

Now that thats out of the way- time to link up everyone! Can't wait to go snoop around and see what I can help you all out with!! Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

Friday's Fancies- Color Crush!

2012-01-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, loves!!

My weekend went by far too quickly...

Although... I did get some shopping in. SQUEE! Mainly things I needed- make-up for work, some new running shoes** (they are so kick booty!! I'll talk about them in an upcoming post about my training for the princess half), the blender for my soon to be regular morning smoothies, and some fabric for some projects I have planned.

This "weekend" also marked a big event in the life of Bentley bones. In the words of my person and I-

Shim got spootered!!!

Thats right... baby boy got snip snipped.

He's doing very well though and only seemed to be in a little pain on Day 2. Other than that, he's eating and drinking normally and it is a challenge and a half to keep his activity to a minimum.

Now, since it is Friday, and I somehow managed to get my act together- I'm linking up to {av} over at {long distance loving} for another Friday's Fancies!!

This week's fun is themed "Color Crush!"

...I think I went a little over board.

For one thing, I couldn't pick just one color.

So I did a little coral and a little green.

It's like a melon!

Friday's Fancies Color Crush by kryssialma featuring leather handbags

Someday- hopefully sooner than later, my closet will actually reflect the sort of things I post in these Friday's Fancies boards...

Every time I put together these boards, I get so sad I can't wake up the next morning and find these things in my closet... Life should seriously work that way.

"If you blog it, it will come."

...

No?

Ok then!

I hope everyone is looking forward to their weekend and has plans to relax and enjoy it with the ones you love! I'll be back at work- making sure everyone else's r and r time is filled with magic!

Till next time, loves!

Oh How Pinteresting...

2012-01-11T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hello loves!!!

Wait... it's Wednesday again?! How did that happen?

I clearly stepped into some type of time portal device because, somehow, my last post was on a Wednesday and yet here we are... one week later...

Whoops!

I'm so sorry folks! I'm determined to get better about it and REALLY will start pre planning my posts.

...

As soon as my life planner comes in the mail!!! I did indeed finally hunker down and order an Erin Condren Life Planner and I'm SO excited to get it, I feel like a 5 year old waiting for Christmas... or just me waiting for Christmas. Of course I could get organized without it. I just don't want to.

I'm sure you'll all be excited for me to show that off in a post very soon!

And now, since it is of course Wednesday and one of my favorite linkup days- I'm back with Michelle for "Oh How Pinteresting..."

If any of you STILL haven't joined in on the pinteresting bandwagon- do yourself a favor and jump in!! You'll be so glad you did! And of course- join in on the link up fun too.
Most weeks, I do a smorgasbord that just has some of my favorites from all over the place. This week, I was inspired to share what my real focus was-eating well!
I'm officially training up to do my 2nd Disney Princess Half Marathon and I'm trying to feed my body right to give it the fuel it needs to get across the finish line. Here's some of what I've found so far...

Source: runningandbeautifulabs.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

I love this! Just a quick little go to. Especially when I'm running a lot I get hungry SO much more often and I'm always wondering what I should snack on.

Source: tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

I've really been wanting to get on this smoothie thing thats going around. I LOVE smoothies. I also love juice. Why not make this healthy snack/meal part of my daily routine?

Source: chiquitabananas.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Banana, almonds, and oatmeal in a healthy smoothie? Ummm- yes, please, and thank you!

And since I am human... and cooking at home is much healthier than take out- Some real food. Because I would die without it!

Source: tasteandtellblog.com via Krystina on Pinterest

4 words- Buffalo. Chicken. Pizza. Rolls. Try telling me this didn't just make you hungry.

Source: closetcooking.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Spinach and pesto grilled cheese. It has spinach in it... That counts for something, right?

Source: bakingdom.com via Krystina on Pinterest

And Cinnamon roll cupcakes. No redeeming quality except I'm sure they're delicious!

So there it is! My food-filled "Oh How Pinteresting!" I'm determined to actually make this stuff this year. It's only the 11th- I have time right?

Now, of course, I get to go fill my boards with all of your loveliness! I hope hump day finds you all well!
Till next time...

Oh How Pinteresting...

2012-01-04T10:53:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday!!!

And Im extra excited because its my Saturday!!! My first legitimate day off in far too long. I have some things to do around our place but for now, its pjs and couch time!

Holy poot does that feel good.

I should add, it's in the 30s today in Florida... I understand some of you have MUCH colder weather right now, but for Florida- this is frigid!!! I am rocking my college hoodie right now and cuddling with the puppy while the cats nap on the other couch. Only one thing is missing and he'll actually be home at a normal time tonight!! Thinking I should make dinner. Maybe I'll go check out my pinboards for some inspiration...

Speaking of Pinterest...

It's "Oh How Pinteresting" Wednesday!!! I haven't linked up with Michelle over at The Vintage Apple in quite a few weeks so I'm so excited to be back in it!!

This week, being the first link up of the new year, I thought I'd focus on that. Some good thoughts for the new year and some food/craft ideas- because I fully intend to try some of this stuff in 2012! Enough pinning and saying oh that looks good! Time to get my butt in the kitchen and MAKE it! :)

Enjoy!

Source: laurawinslowphotography.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: fakeginger.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: iheart2stamp.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: vandco.bigcartel.com via Jaime on Pinterest

Here's hoping I ACUALLY follow through with cooking and making things on my boards this year! No doubt, when I do, it will be up here for all of you to enjoy.

Have any of you had some great successes from your pins? I've only tried a couple and it always comes out fabulous!!

Alrighty, now for my favorite part- time to go steal some of your pins!! :) Happy Wednesday everyone!

2012... Looking ahead...

2012-01-03T23:48:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

3 days in isn't too late to be talking resolutions is it?

Perhaps I shouldn't call them resolutions... That never works out too well for me. Lets go with "Goals" this year. Maybe that will mean I have a better shot at accomplishing some of them!

Last year I had this great idea to only go for one resolution at a time.

#1 was to make it through my first half marathon. And I did it!!

Yay me!

Yup, that was the end of my 2011 resolutions.

I will say though-

2011 was a year of great personal growth! I felt more me and spoke my mind more than any other year. I'm hoping to keep that up as we head into 2012. That and much, much more.

So, let's take a look at some of the things I want to keep in mind for this year, both personally and here in the blogosphere!

Personally-

*Go to more auditions

*Make it a point to keep in contact with my long distance friends

*Try more of the adventurous recipes I come across on Pinterest

*Get through a book a month

*Finish at least one of my seasonal quilts

*Don't dwell on silly little problems but don't beat myself up for harping on them!

*Iron my clothes...whoops.

*Be a present and available friend, girlfriend, and sister.

Blog-

*Get organized!

*Plan posts on a weekly basis to avoid lulls when I get busy

*Make time to blog hop more and share more blog love

*Make more blog friendships

*Launch my community for Central Florida Bloggers (more on that soon!!)

*Sponsor and get sponsored

I think that pretty much covers it... No doubt as time goes on I'll think of more and talk about them in thrilling epiphany style posts. Im sure you'll be looking forward to that.

And, of course, since it is the first post of the month, it's time for December's month in pictures! I'm just loving having this as a photo diary to look back on. I'm trying to think of some cool things I can do with all the months as I start successfully completing more or even at the end of the year if I manage to keep it up for 12 months! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I hope everyone's year is off to a great start! Did you all do the whole "resolution" thing this year? Anything more interesting than the run of the mill "lose weight/eat better"? Caribou Coffee tweeted recently "Instead of making New Year's resolutions allow yourself to be YOU and enjoy this year as the happy new you!" I loved that! I think its a perfect thing to keep in mind as we keep moving through this exciting new year.

Here's to all the "happy new you"s out there!

My Christmas wrap-up...

2011-12-31T09:56:00.000-05:00

Hello loves!!

I realize posts have been a little scarce these couple of weeks. I don't know how some of you kept up through the holidays! I'm ridiculously impressed. My schedule was so upside down, I could barely think straight. I can't imagine getting my thoughts organized enough to have continued posting regularly. Hopefully- as we head into 2012 (feel free to insert a record scratch there), things will be calming down and regulating a bit so I'll be back to my usual silliness.

How, in all that is good, is 2011 over?!

I can't.

This year seriously flew by on fast forward. No doubt I'm not alone on that. It seems to be the general consensus every time the subject comes up.

Since this is the last day of 2011, I figured this was my last chance to catch you all up on all of my left over Christmas goodness without looking like somewhat of a lame-o. I suppose I technically have through 3 Kings Day to grasp on to my Christmas spirit, but I'm choosing to accept that this year's Holiday season has come and gone. This way, I can welcome the new year with fresh, open, and loving arms!

Lets start with my Christmas present to myself...

I find it SO difficult to spend money on myself (Cue New Year's Resolution... Thats a post for another day though!), however, Black Friday super sweet deals make the blow a little easier. So when Silhouette and Crap I've Made had an amazing promotion going, I couldn't wait any longer to finally get a Silhouette Cameo of my own.

That's right- I am officially the proud owner of my very own Cameo!!

The machine my person so eloquently refers to as "The cricut on crack." I honestly couldn't explain this any better myself! If you're lost, just follow along. You'll want one in a few pictures...

So I was able to justify this purchase because I figured, It isn't just for me! I'll be using it to make things for other people!! Starting with- wrapping my Christmas presents! I made the decision I was going to wrap gifts in craft paper this year and just embellish using cool things I made with my machine. I had no clue how time consuming this would be but I am so proud of how they all came out.

Everyone LOVED their wrapping so much they didn't even want to open them! And that's saying a lot.

I'm already thinking up so many more projects for my pretty little Cameo, so stay tuned! Much more crafty goodness to come!

So wrapping wasn't my only crafty project this season-

I made Christmas ornaments for each of the couples in our families!

*I used a Martha Stewart paint to make a snowy looking scene as a base around the bottom of the ornament and to add the year

*I filled the ornaments with just a little fake snow and a couple tiny ornaments from Michaels- each ornament got 2 mini snowflakes and a mini Christmas tree

*I printed out pictures of each couple, added scrapbooking corners and tied bakers twine to them and rolled them up to get them in. I had to use tweezers to get them all straightened out (Which was surprisingly easy once I got the hang of it!)

*Finally, I embossed the names on to a Martha Stewart Christmas tag to add a personalized final touch to each ornament.

Check out how the turned out!

Those still make me smile!

And finally- I just thought I'd show you all what a good girl I was this year!

The boy too!

We were both seriously spoiled by our families and each other. Here's a little taste of the hardcore ridiculousness that showed up under our tree this year...

Yup- I got a KitchenAid stand mixer!! I know you're all excited about what this will mean for future food posts... Gahhh!! I can't wait!! And the person has already finished his Lego Architecture replica of Fallingwater and we already have a beer brewing. Such a great Christmas.

I think I speak for both of us when I say the greatest thing was to get to see his family so close to Christmas AND see my family on Christmas. We are so blessed to come from two incredible families and spending time with all those incredible people is what really made my heart feel the holidays.

So thats it for my holiday posts! Did you like it?! I hope you're all prepared to move into a New Year and have some big plans for what the next 365 days will hold for you. I LOVE New Years because I love the idea of giving yourself a fresh start and a chance to be everything you hadn't gotten a chance to take on yet. Here's to everyone being a little better, healthier, more successful, and more loving in the new year! 2011 me took some serious strides, so I can only imagine how much more proud I'll be of myself at this time next year. Do you all make it a point to have extra faith in yourselves at the start of the year? Now's the time to do it!

Alright everyone- lets get this started off right! Time to tackle another year. I'll see you all there! :)

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T08:07:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I've got to say... Its pretty difficult to believe its Christmas when its 80+ degrees outside...

Boo to that!

When I was little, it felt like it somehow always managed to get cold for Christmas day!

Yeah, not so much anymore!

But sweater weather or not, I could not be happier that its Christmas! Like I've said quite a few times this year- this is my absolute favorite holiday. There's so much feel good-ness in the air. I LOVE finding great presents for my loved ones and spoiling them rotten. Budgeting during my holiday season is always worth it when I see their faces opening their gifts!

And it's finally here!!

I hope no one is offended by me posting one more Christmas post after the fact. I did some very creative wrapping this year but everyone I know and love reads my blog- so I didn't want to give it away! I also didn't want you all to miss out on the fruits of my labor. Because I worked my booty off on it!

For Christmas, I wanted to share a special post with you all.

I owe my child-like spirit at the holidays to my parents- so this post is for them. You all get to come along for the ride to. Here are some pictures to show you how cool I've always been at Christmas time and...

A new vlog!

With a special holiday story and message... So enjoy!

My very first Christmas!

I believe this is the year I was REALLY sick for Christmas morning... and I got my first kitchen!

My loot! Nothing says "future domestic goddess wannabe" quite like a toy washing machine! I LOVED that thing!!!

My big sister and I (more often than not referred to as "Broder")

Rockin' the matching sweaters!

So Merry Christmas all you lovelies! I hope Santa was good to all of you. No doubt there will be some fun posts about everyones Christmas adventures... Can't wait to read them all!

Here's hoping your holidays were not TOO much like a scene out of "Christmas Vacation"...

2 more sleeps till Christmas!!

2011-12-23T11:04:00.000-05:00

Im baaaaack!!!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve everybody!

... yes, I did just go there.

Wisconsin was absolutely perfect and I have so many fantastic pictures from the wedding that I'll be sharing soon- I promise!!

We're going to ignore the whole "got home, got sick" thing and just move right into Christmas awesomeness!!

First things first... I have to call someone out...

Dear Mommy-

My readers are very sad you never sent me old Christmas pictures so I couldn't do the post I was planning.

Since it's Christmas, I'll look past that. Maybe you can redeem yourself by sending me the pictures tonight so I can do the post tomorrow... I'll be watching my inbox when you get home tonight.

I love you!!!

Any hoot-

I wanted to share what Christmas looks like here at our place!! We kind of got a late start, but it's definitely Christmas in here... So enjoy!!

We actually decided to go minimalistic this year. Its a tech tree. You hang lights on it.

Yeah ok... what kind of Christmas freak would I be if I actually did that?! I still thought it was hilarious because we did have that sitting in our tree spot until we put up our real tree.

The joys of dating an entertainment lighting tech- you have things like this handy!

Can't start decorating without some eggnog in our moose mugs! So awkward to hold but Im so happy we have these!! If you don't get it, you don't know Christmas.

So... the spider santa. (Sorry Roxanne!!) This is actually a great story.

As I mentioned before, the person LOVES halloween! This guy was part of our balcony decor for his holiday. After all that stuff came down, we realized this guy some how got forgotten.

We joked around about just adding hats to make him fit the current holiday...

So the person came home to find a santa hat on him.

Merry Christmas.

I. am. awesome.

Christmas garland!! Ignore the kitchen. The person is in charge of all things holiday lighting, and this is part of his kick booty-ness.

More kick booty garland and lights over our stockings I made for us last year. Might I add- last year before I had a sewing machine, I had to do those babies by hand! Means they're made with more love!

And yes- we're watching best of SNL- Christmas Special! We are full of Christmas class.

Finally tree time!

My handsome person bringing in our 9' tree. Aint he cute!! :)

Blurry dog wants to help. I thought this was too funny not to add to the mix!

After all the manual labor and doing his part (lighting the tree- he is a lighting guy after all!), the boy and the pup needed a nap...

This is my life.

I love it.

Me doing my part, setting up the ornaments! I was so worried a real tree wouldn't be able to handle my ornaments. My family has always done the Hallmark ornaments. For years, we've all had our specific collections that we add on to every year. My sister has the eskimos and I have the fisher price toys just to name a couple. Now that my sister and I work for the mouse and can't come home for Christmas, my mom divvied up the ornaments so we could keep growing our collections. Of course theres also the ornaments that have sentimental value and the sprinkled in random balls and jingle bells to fill it all in. Thats how you make up the magic that is your own Christmas tree!!

Can you tell I love it?

The finished product!

The skirt and the bows are hand me downs from my mom...

Next year I have big plans to quilt a skirt and make my own bows!

You should probably stick around to see how all that comes out.

Decided this year I wanted to start a Christmas village. These are my very first pieces! My mom has always had a kick booty one- snow, a ski lift, mountains, a backdrop, brick roads, and a whole slew of houses. But you have to start somewhere! For me, I started with the hardware shop, the gingerbread bakery, and a Christmas tree farm.

Santa delivered the presents early!! I'm not sure if these pictures truly capture the epic-ness that is the amount of presents going on under that tree right now! It's out of control! Obviously, someone was very good this year. I cannot wait for Christmas! I hope everyone loves their presents as much as I loved getting them!

I hope everyone is geared up and ready for the holidays! I'm seeing everyones statuses going up about family coming in and getting ready to go see family- I can't help but smile. This is what the holidays are about. Wonderful times making memories with the ones you love. My family comes in tomorrow. I work all through the holiday but I like to think of it as just another way to celebrate.

Good luck getting your last minute things ready! What do you have left to do? I for one will be baking up a storm tonight... I wonder if theres time to make cupcake flags...

On Vacation...

2011-12-16T01:29:00.000-05:00

Hello Loves!!

Sorry its been so quiet around here- Im trying desperately to get ready for the holidays. Am I the only one they intensely snook up on this year?
I have big plans for some great posts next week but sadly this week I've really dropped the ball with all of my link-ups.

To top it all off- We leave today for Wisconsin!! I didn't schedule any posts for while we were gone but I didn't want to leave you all high and dry-
So I'm re-sharing some pictures I used in a guest post over at Kassi's blog Truly Lovely...

This was one of my favorite posts I've ever done and I didn't want any of you to miss out if you didn't get a chance to see it over on her blog!
So enjoy!

Before we get started... if you haven't been paying attention- this, in a nutshell, is my life.

Oh, hey Disney Junior Live on Stage at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I actually make a living as a performer for the Walt Disney company. I sing and dance for the greatest audiences EVER- Mickey loving preschoolers and babies!!

Any hoo! I often get a bit of a backlash from non Floridians when I tell them Christmas is my favorite. I get a whole lot of "You don't even know Christmas if you haven't had a white Christmas!" To that, I say bite me! :) As much as I would LOVE a white Christmas, there are things I get where I live that certainly make up for my lack of snow...

I'm smiling just telling you all about this. Hi, my name is Nerd.

One of these amazing things I'm referring to-

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights!

This display that so many technicians work tirelessly to put up at Disney Hollywood Studios every year is one of my favorite Christmas things ever. Once it opens up, I make it a point to walk through after work as often as time allows. On one of those trips, I brought my camera a long so I could share the experience with all of you! So here you go... If you can't make it to Disney this Holiday season, I wanted to bring a little piece of the magic to all of you! I hope it warms your heart like it always does mine.

This is one of my favorite nativity scenes. It's life size but I never think it's over the top. Tasteful and beautiful!

How cool is this? There's fake snow blowing, Christmas music blaring, hot chocolate being served, and periodically, the lights "dance" to the music in a perfectly programmed display of awesome!

My favorite thing about it- walking through and seeing families experiencing it together. From the very young to the very old, everyone walks around amazed and happy! I absolutely adore it.

I hope you all loved these as much as I do! Have a lovely weekend and I'll be seeing you all on your blogs when I get back into town! Oh right... that will be the week leading into Christmas...

Hey, 2012! You ready for us?

Wish! {out loud}

2011-12-11T00:00:00.001-05:00

Sunday, already?!

Hello loves! I hope your weekends were relaxing, however short lived they may have been.

I may have jumped the gun when I claimed I had 10 days off...

I picked up an extra day of shows.

Woot!

Considering what I do... I honestly don't mind! Not even a little.

Being Sunday, it's time for Wish! {out loud} !!

Once again, Robin, Ashley, and I are hosting this fun link-up that encourages people to make a wish and to hop around seeing if there's anything you might be able to do to help grant them!

Want to know more?

Check out the intro post from a few weeks back...

Just like the last weeks, here's what you gotta do!

1. Grab a button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

The last couple of weeks, I've expressed my wish to start a Central Florida Blogger meet-up. I've been so excited to get some amazing leads and I'm starting to meet some really incredible new bloggers! I've been finding that just putting this wish out into the universe, I started to come across so many bloggers talking about meet-ups and I'm already getting big ideas. Planning some big things and can't wait unveil some of it- but all in due time!

**This week-**
I wish I had a personal stylist!
Too much?

Alright, so obviously none of you are going to drop everything and come dress me on a daily basis! lol But! I'm sure there are ways some of you could help me out!
SOOOO many of you out there are so fashion savvy that I have no doubt I'm asking the right group of people-
Help me learn to dress myself!!

I'm not quite 5' tall and I have an hourglass shape- top business and curvy hips but a tiny waist.
I LOVE j. crew and anthropologie.

So who wants to play stylist?
I'm looking for anything from tips, to a list of staples I should have in my closet, or if you're totally bored- head to polyvore.com and REALLY pretend you're my personal stylist!
I welcome as much fun and creativity as you want to have with this.
AND- GO! I am officially your Barbie doll!

I feel like that was such a silly wish for this week... Just thought it would be fun!! But for now, its time to go see who out there I can help out! Happy Sunday, everyone! Keep those wishes alive and pass along the happy thoughts!

Friday's Fancies- Holiday Party!

2011-12-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello loves!

Friday already?

Is it just me or is this holiday season going even faster than this year has gone?!?

I'm ALMOST done with all my Christmas shopping but I feel like something else always comes up... So truth be told, I never finish my holiday shopping. It's sort of like that old Toys 'R Us/ Nickelodeon thing where if you won you got to run through the store and keep throwing things in the cart till your time runs out. (Am I totally alone in this reference?) Point is, I'll keep shopping till I run out of time!

I should add- I'm randomly off from work today...

After my random day off- I work 3 days then I have 10 days off in a row.

What did she just say?!

10 days off in a row. What the hell am I going to do with myself?! For half of it- I'll be in Wisconsin for a wedding (woot woot shout out to Angie and Robin!!) and other than that I'll be baking, wrapping, blogging, and probably just hanging out with my zoo and enjoying christmasy candles.
Half vacation, half stay-cation- literally the week leading into the craziness that is Christmas and New Years at Disney?! I think I need this. I could not be more excited about this if I tried!

Now- since it's Friday, I am linking up with {av} from over at {long distance loving} again for Friday's Fancies. I cannot express enough how much this link up is helping me find my creativity in fashion for the first time in a long time. At least for me, it has become so easy to just fall into a comfy routine. I put on whats easy, usually a tshirt and jeans, and Im done with it. Putting together these outfits on fridays are sort of a workout for that side of my creativity. Looking at how to accessorize and put things together? These are exercises I don't usually do. And I find it pays off in my day to day! Call me nuts but you feel better when you look better.

Do I sound crazy putting so much weight on something so seemingly simple as putting together an outfit?

Meh!

Whatever it may be- Im loving participating in these link-ups!

This weeks theme was "Holiday Party!" I always think of holiday parties as a sort of old school tradition. I wish I could go to a holiday party back circa "MadMen" time. That, to me, is the epitome of what a holiday party should be about... (minus the "everyone cheating on their spouses"businesses that always goes on in that show!)

Maybe next year I'll start an annual/themed holiday party...

I let that image influence how I picked my outfit... That and my current obsession with bows... So- it's a Vintage/Bow inspired Holiday Party outfit!!

So... someone throw a party worthy of this sort of outfit! Thank you!

Happy Friday, everyone! I can't wait to go see all of your outfits and keep getting inspired...

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-12-07T07:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Hump Day, everyone!!

I hope all your weeks are chugging along swimmingly. I'm enjoying a lovely "weekend." Had a relaxing day off with the person yesterday and actually finished a big Christmas project that's been cluttering our dining table for WAY too long.

AND- after much cleaning and organizing, I let myself open a package that will no doubt require a post all to itself. Just know, it took a lot of saving and some self-coaxing for me to actually order this thing! It's my Christmas gift to myself and I'm super excited to start using it!

As I'm sure most of you know, it's that glorious day I get to link up to Michelle over at The Vintage Apple for "Oh How Pinteresting."

What could be better? (You may be asking yourself...)

I'll tell you!

I'm finally posting Christmas pins!!

Gaahhhhh!! Squeeeee!! All sorts of other nonsensical sounds!!

So much more Christmas fun coming up, but lets ease into the season with some fabulous pins...

Enjoy!

First and foremost, I came across a little Disney magic... If you've never seen this in person, you're missing out! Not just because I work for the Mouse and not just because my sister is part of the kick booty team that teaches some of the entertainment offerings you come across on this lovely stage- the Magic Kingdom at Christmas is one of my favorite things.

Source: blog.placesaroundflorida.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Here's a couple more pretty Christmas decor lovelies...

Source: Uploaded by user via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Krystina on Pinterest

And finally, I decided you all needed to partake in a Pinterest tribute to one of my all time favorite Christmas movies. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Source: google.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: kaispace.wordpress.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Happy official start to the real Christmas season!! I hope you liked the start of my celebratory shenanigans. Now I'm off to once again steal a whole lot of everyone else's boards. Oh Wednesdays! I love you!

Wish! {out loud}

2011-12-04T00:42:00.001-05:00

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Although Sunday is the middle of my work week, I still always feel very relaxed on Sundays. I think it has something to do with the world around me. People tend to be a little more laid back, not in such a rush, and all around a little nicer. Im a big fan!

I'm so excited to be back with Ashley and Robin for another exciting week of "Wish! {out loud}." We're thrilled that people are starting to get interested in getting involved and we sincerely hope that continues to grow. The more we have participating, the more help you have to make wishes come true!

If you're completely lost, check out the introduction to this whole link up to get caught up!

So let's get to it!!
In short, here's how-

1. Grab a button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog! If you've already played along, either introduce a new wish or let us know how this one is going.

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up

(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!

For anyone who missed out last week...
**My wish is to start and carry out a Central Florida blogger meet-up!**
Trouble has been, I have no idea where to start. That's where you all come in!
If you've ever helped organize or even attended a blogger meet-up, I would LOVE to hear from you.

Last week, Robin gave me some great advice to look for local bloggers through profiles and Deidre gave some great pointers on how to approach potential sponsors. Thanks so much for your tips ladies!!

This week, I'm hoping to start some communication lines with local bloggers. Are you blogging away from somewhere in the Central Florida area? Do you know any kick booty bloggers who are?
I'm so pumped to see where this can go...

Enough about me- time to go check out and help with all of your wishes!!
Thank you all for participating. I love that we're potentially using our power and awesomeness to help each other make our dreams come true. We pretty much rock.

So what are you waiting for? Post, link-up, and get to granting!! See you all on your pages...

Friday's Fancies- Fashionably Inspi(Red)

2011-12-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

Happy your Friday/ my Monday everyone!!

Ah! The lovely feeling of everyone else starting their weekends as I head back to work...

Like I've said before, if my job wasn't so rockstar, I might be upset right now. Seeing as Mickey-loving 3 yr olds are (for the most part) super awesome, work is never too bad!

Since it is in fact Friday again, I get to link up to one of my favorite link-ups again! Any weekly occurrence that forces me to spend a little time ogling on polyvore or pinterest, sign me up! And so, I'm back with {av} from {long distance loving} for this week's Friday's Fancies.

This week- the theme was Fashionably Inspi(Red) in honor of it being World AIDS Day yesterday. I hope this doesn't sound terrible, but I am a sucker for a good cause ESPECIALLY this time of year. If I shop somewhere that includes one of those "Would you like to donate $1?" prompts- You can be sure whatever charity it may be will have my dollar. I don't have much but I'm blessed to have more than what I need so that's the least I can do. I did a post a while back about gifts that give back, so if you're still hunting for gifts why not choose something that will help someone else?

For this week's outfit, I pretended I'm some fancy pants person that may be invited to an event that benefits the cause. Not super formal, just a cocktail party.

I wouldn't normally wear quite so much of one color in an outfit... but I'm doing it for the cause... and I really love these pieces!! Mickey Mouse doesn't let me wear fancy sparkly nail polish and seeing this makes me really sad about that. And if Santa is reading my blog- No doubt you've noticed how good I've been this year. I'm a size 6.5 and those shoes would look phenomenal under my Christmas tree! :) Thanks.

Are you linking up this week? I'm loving how inspired I get surfing around, looking at all the outfits that get posted. I really think it's helping me make it a point to put effort into what I look like on a daily basis.

That being said, I will never be "put together girl at the grocery store." Ever. But I'm ok with that.

There's a time and a place for everything. Grocery store happens to be the time and place for my ever fashionable grunge look.

Here's to sweat pant wearers everywhere!!

Happy Friday, you guys! Enjoy the sweat pants...

My Thanksgiving/November Recap...

2011-12-01T13:52:00.000-05:00

Happy December, loves!!

May I be the first to say- what the hell happened to this year?! Seriously people, it has flown by and its making me feel all philosophical. (Go with me on this...)

You know how when we're young, a year seems to last an eternity? But then the older we get, time just starts moving faster and faster until it's this unstoppable snowball? Does our mind legitimately register time differently as we get older and our thoughts are filled with an endless amount of concrete information, and worries, and memories? Are years so long when we're young because there seems to be an endless amount of possibilities and imagination?

No? Just me?

...Very well then.

What with it being a week since Thanksgiving and officially the start of December, I figured today was my last chance to post my Thanksgiving recap!

For the new followers- Hi, welcome, I'm Cuban and my holiday meal included black beans and rice.

Feel free to be jealous because when Abuelita (Grandma in Spanish) hits the kitchen for holiday meals, the result is nothing short of DELICIOUSNESS. This year being no different.

I thought you all might appreciate my family/ Thanksgiving warm fuzzies in a lovely little photo drop!

Enjoy!

My Pumpkin Pie cupcakes- literally just my vanilla cupcake recipe with the entirety of a pumpkin pie filling mixed in!
Came out so delicious and served with whipped cream on top!

Step 1 of my first homemade Pecan Pie! Used my Williams-Sonoma pie crust leaf shapes to jazz it up...

The ridiculously yummy finished product... In hindsight, I should've made two pecan pies.

My full addition to the meal- the desserts! A whole lot of pumpkin and pecan goodness.

Me, showing off my goodness once I set them out at my sister's house

The lovely ladies of my family- Me, My Mommy, and my gorgeous sister

And of course, all our generations so far, we added in my Abuelita on my Mom's side

So, I swear my dad was there too!! I didn't realize I hadn't gotten a picture of him on my camera... :( But he does exist and he is an awesomely handsome rockstar of a Daddy.

Sadly, my sister's husband and my person were missing from the festivities. Mickey Mouse had other plans for them and required they both make other families have awesome Thanksgivings. I promise we saved them leftovers!

So, you may remember my picture a month I did for October? Well I repeated it again this month! Check out how November looked in my life-

And finally- My giveaway winner!! I can't thank you all enough for your awesome participation in this giveaway! I wish I could send you all some delicious hot chocolate. Hopefully, as I keep coming across appropriately themed goodies, I'll do more fun things like this. But this time, the winner was-

Which was.....

Alyssa from Ten Feet Off Beale

Congrats lady!! Make sure you send me your info so I can hopefully get your goodies sent off to you ASAP! :)

So... November wasn't too shabby in my world. But- I'm really looking forward to it being the Christmas season.

I love the first day of every month. It's such a refreshing new beginning... Whatever may have made you stumble the month before- screw it! This month has no idea what you did or didn't do last month! It's another shot to show the world you can be better than you've been. Like a mini New Year.

Happy New Month, everyone.

Let's take December by storm and finish up 2011 on a high note.

The very first "Wish! {out loud}" Link-up!!

2011-11-26T23:32:00.001-05:00

Hello loves!!

The day is finally here...

The very first Wish! {out loud} link-up!!
If you missed all the excitement, check out the intro post to get all caught up.

Ashley from Chickadette, Robin from fly far. fly free., and I could not be more excited to check out everyones wishes and see what everyone starts doing to help!
So show all your humble hostesses some love as you start hopping around to check out the wishes!

It's my hope that in the coming weeks, more bloggers join in on all this wish business and you'll all want to come back! Either to talk about another wish or to let people know the progress of your current wish and how others can help in the next step if there is one! Give some blog love to those that helped you get it going too! No doubt this has the capacity to bring some amazing people into your blogging life!

So in short, here's what you gotta do to play along-

1. Grab a button and attach it to your post

2. Get your wish post up on your own blog!

3. Go to any of the 3 hostesses blogs to link-up
(They're connected so you only have to add it on one!)

4. Start hopping around to the others participating and see how you can help!

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy!

**So here's my wish...**
(I hope no one thinks its a cop out that I'm starting with a blog related wish..)

**I want to be the starting force behind a Central Florida (or anyone in the general area willing to drive) Blogger Meet-up!
Organize it, bring together bloggers like me, find sponsors, and see it all come together...**

SO- how can you help me make my wish come true?
There's a few things I've thought of and and any other things you come up with that could help would be awesome!!
*If you've attended a blogger meet-up, I want to know about it!
*If you've helped organize one, how did you start?
*If you know bloggers in my are, send them my way!!
*If you have advice on how to find sponsors and ask them to participate, I'd love to hear it!

So that's my starting off point... I'm so excited to just see where this goes...
Thank you, ahead of time, for any and all of you that help make my wish come true!

Now, let's link up!! So I can go check out all of your wishes and see where I can make some magic!!

Friday's Fancies- Black Friday!

2011-11-25T06:07:00.000-05:00

Hello my turkey filled loves!

Unless you're vegetarian... in which case- Hello my tofurkey filled loves! Or whatever your vegetarian alternative of choice may be...

Once again, while you're all cheering over it being Friday, it's my Monday. Back to work I go! Let's be honest though- I have no room to complain. Check out the guest post I did over on Truly Lovely yesterday if you want to get really jealous of my view out of work...

I hope you all had lovely and delicious Thanksgiving celebrations of some sort! Mine was especially filled with laughter and tasty goodness. Call it mean, but my Grandma always provides hours of entertainment! I LOVE old people and I really do respect them, but making fun of her with my sister just always makes me pee in my pants laugh. And that, my friends is what the holidays are about! Le sigh.

Once we had had our fill of triple our daily calorie allotment, my sister and my mom decided to get engrossed in online black friday details. The iPads and laptops came out and they started to search for good deals they could sink their teeth into... I, on the other hand, perused Facebook. :)

I will say online is the way to go. Unless you're going to be amused by other shoppers or are just a casual hopeful! If you're one of the crazies- get a grip!! If you need a deal on a huge HD television so bad that you're willing to punch a baby... perhaps you need to reevaluate some things... and highly reconsider spending this money at all. Just saying!

For this week's Friday's Fancies with {long distance loving}, the theme is Black Friday- any which way we want or may be inspired by that.

I chose to put together my ideal outfit if I made the fatal mistake of venturing into the mall tomorrow. I chose to stick with black because, well, it's Black Friday. Plus- it's slimming and after all that food, I could use it! I also kept in mind that for such an adventure, comfort would be of utmost importance! Fancy flats and a comfy sweater were a must. Despite the comfort, I tried to keep it classy looking with some fancy pants/expensive accessories to let people know that I mean business! As much as it always pisses me off, I always notice that I get treated with more respect in stores when I look put together and when I'm wearing clearly pricier pieces. Disgusting, is it not? It always irks me and I almost always walk out not purchasing anything because I get so ticked. But if I'm going in to shop, I better own it! "You better cater to me biznatch! I could buy this whole store!" ... (Let it be known, I could NEVER have this attitude! But it's fun to pretend!)

...Yup, if I was venturing out amongst the crazies, this would be the best outfit to do it in...

Happy Black Friday, everyone!! If you've gone looking for deals, I hope you got them!

Don't forget, you only have a couple more days to think of a wish that your fellow bloggers can help you with for the first Wish! {out loud} link-up!

...

...So who's ready to decorate for Christmas?

Guest blogger- Meet Kassi...

2011-11-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Hot Chocolate enthusiasts!!

SO many exciting things today...

For one thing- my parents and lovely Abuelita (Grandma on my mom's side) are heading up to Central Florida to have a kick booty family filled Thanksgiving dinner over at my sister's house! You know your typical spread- turkey, sweet potatoes, black beans and rice...

Ok, so maybe Cubans do it up a little differently. But you should all consider adding black beans and rice to your holiday menus! It rocks any occasion!!

Any hoot- I'm in charge of the sweets, which I'm sure will be a post in the coming week so I wont give too much away... Just know there's 3 different delicious desserts to be gobbled down (see what I did there? I'm so good at terrible jokes! Email me if you need pointers, I'm also very helpful!)

I also want to take a hot second to do this whole cliche "what I'm thankful for" shtuff. Count your blessings, people!! It's important!

*I'm thankful for a loving, supportive, and patient family unit that includes not just my relatives but also my amazing person and his family as well as my amazing friends. Life is too hard on your own and I am blessed beyond words to have so many people I can turn to when I'm in need of it. I'm thankful for my job and the fact that I do what I love. I'm thankful for an amazing bunch of followers that actively participate and make me feel like I've made a boat load of new friends and will potentially continue to do so. I'm thankful for such an amazing life. I'm always astonished by all of my blessings. I don't know what I've done to deserve this life but I'm unendingly thankful for every second of it!*

Aside from Thanksgiving festivities, while I would normally do a Window Shopping Spree today, I have a special treat for you! My first ever guest blogger- Kassi from over at Truly Lovely. She more than lives up to the blog name, she is such a sweetheart!! You will LOVE all the loveliness over on her blog so go snoop around! Plus, I have an awesome post up over there today on holidays in my neck of the woods!

So here she is!! Enjoy... :)

**********************

Well hello there lovely Cup 'a Hot Chocolate readers!!

First off, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My name is Kassi and I blog over at Truly Lovely!

I am THRILLED to be here blog swapping with the amazing Miss Krystina today!!

She's the Bloggie Bestie over on Truly Lovely this week, so when you're finished here you can find her guest posting over at our place!!!

Truly Lovely is an 'all things lovely' blog written by myself and my younger sister, Kayli!

We enjoy sharing all the lovelies in our lives including (but not limited to) crafts, recipes, stories, photos and more with our fun readers!!! :)

You can click that picture to learn more about us but in the meantime I have a SUPER easy, SUPER quick crafty project to share with you all! It is Thanksgiving centered, but since that's today... You could also adjust it for Christmas, or just everyday with a silhouette of your choosing!

Thanksgiving Turkey Candles!

I started with my trusty Silhouette SD, two candles purchased from Wal-Mart, a can of Saddle Leather brown Krylon spray paint and some vinyl for my silhouette stencil. I used the FREE turkey shape that came with my Silhouette software and cut out two in the size I wanted using my Silhouette SD.

I've said this before on Truly Lovely, but if you don't have a Silhouette you could just as easily print out a turkey picture (or if your artistic talents include drawing, draw one) and cut the stencil with scissors or an Exacto knife.

Once the stencil was cut, I trimmed the excess vinyl.

Carefully smooth the stencil down on your candle.

You can see I used just plain white paper to cover the top and bottom a little more...

You'll see why here in a second.

Once the vinyl was on I grabbed the candles and my can of spray paint, then headed outside.

I sprayed a few light coats over the turkey being careful not to get paint on the uncovered part of the candle until my stencil was completely filled in.

Let your newly painted candles dry for about an hour.

See why we needed the extra paper! :)

Once your paint has dried for a good while, peel off the stencil and let it dry awhile longer to make sure it sets.

Then, because I had some blank space at the bottom of my candles I tied a brown ribbon around the bottom of each one.

Now you can display your new Turkey Silhouette Candles for Thanksgiving! :)

Thanks SO much to Krystina for having me over today and for being the Bloggie Bestie at Truly Lovely this week!!! :) She rocks, right?!? Can I just say I love her blog name!

Got me craving a big ol' cup of hot chocolate right now!!!

Hope you'll pop over to Truly Lovely and say hello sometime! :)

OH, and we have and AWESOME Shabby Apple dress giveaway happening right now if you're interested! ;)

Have a lovely rest of the week dolls!!!

**********************

Adorable, is she not?! I know!! And there's much more where that came from so make sure you check her out! Thank you, thank you, thank you Kassi for the chance to do my first guest post and for coming over here and gracing us with your loveliness!! It was such a pleasure and I had a blast! You rock, lady!

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving with more smiles than family fights! :)

And if you're a newer follower, don't forget to check out the Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate Giveaway before it's too late,

and be sure not to miss out on the Wish! {out loud} link up that will be starting on Sunday!!

Oh how Pinteresting...

2011-11-23T07:46:00.000-05:00

Oh hello!

You know, I almost didn't play along with Oh how Pineresting today... I know, crazy! But the draw was too strong and here I am, sitting at my computer getting this post up any way! I couldn't help it. I LOVE showing off my pins and I feel like by sharing my own favorites I sort of get permission to run around stealing all of yours... That makes sense, right?

Let's just pretend it does and move on...

And since tomorrow is Thanksgiving...

Next week I'll be posting my Christmas pins!!!!

Oh. thank. goodness.

Seriously, I've waited all year for this. But this week, here's another conglomeration of random awesomeness from the magic that is my pinboards.

Thanks Michelle from The Vintage Apple for hosting this link up that helps feed my addiction!

Source: bluntcard.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: mylifeasamrs.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: jlmcouture.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: makeupalley.com via Krystina on Pinterest

...What an interesting assortment... lol I'm glad I got my fix. Now to feed my boards with all of your goodies!!

***Oh! And if you haven't don't forget to check out my Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate goodies Giveaway and take a look at the exciting new link-up, Wish! {out loud}, that will be starting on Sunday!!***

Introducing... Wish! {out loud}

2011-11-20T08:26:00.003-05:00

Hello my lovely loves!!

I hope everyone is doing well and feeling good!

*I have some really exciting news!!**

I recently got in contact with 2 INCREDIBLE ladies- Ashley over at Chickadette and Robin over at Fly Far. Fly Free. We dreamt up an idea of a really exciting way we can all connect and help each other as a community of kick booty bloggers! I can't tell you all how flipping excited I am about this collaboration so I hope you'll all get psyched and join in on the fun too. After all, this project gets its power from all of you.
We wanted to introduce it to you all this week in hopes of starting it up on Sunday, November 27th.

So, without further ado...

Wish! {out loud}

When I looked up the definition of the word wish, I was surprised to find: "Feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; want something that cannot or probably will not happen."

Cannot or probably will not happen?
But everybody out there has hopes, desires, and dreams [including you]. Sometimes you wish for these hopes to come true at 11:11, on a birthday candle, or on a shooting star. Why is it that they probably won't come true?

Wish! {out loud} is a way for us to disprove that definition. It is a way for us to let the world hear our wish and make it come true.

We're such a powerful network of bloggers- we have the capacity within us to help each other make our dreams come true. Think, "playing fairy godmother." The idea is to reach out to your fellow bloggers and offer assistance as well as support.

How it Works:

Start with a simple post introducing your wish. Whether you want to give a back story explaining it or simply put it out into the universe, it's completely up to you! Getting up your post that features your wish is only the beginning of this link-up though! The real magic comes from visiting the other bloggers participating... We're taking this a step beyond leaving a comment to let someone know you stopped by.

Let's say you come across a post where the writer says they've always wished they could open an Etsy shop. If this is a venture you've already conquered- reach out! Let them know how you got it started and offer to be a mentor of sorts as they make their wish come true! The possibilities are endless. Our hope is that we all step up and use our talents as well as our networking connections to grant these wishes. Whether it's posting a series of "learn to play guitar" videos for the blogger that's always wanted to learn or sending someone a board game because they want to spend more quality time with their family- no wish or answer is too big or too small. We encourage you all to get creative and to think outside the box! After all, wishes have always seemed a little magical. Let's help each other redefine "wish.”

Join us, Chickadette, Cup 'a Hot Chocolate, & Fly Far. Fly Free. every Sunday, as we share our Wish! {out loud}.

So grab the button, feel free to pass along the info, and join us next Sunday, November 27th to be part of the very first week of Wish! {out loud}.

A Mix and Match Friday's Fancies...

2011-11-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

Hello my loves!!!

Once again, it's Friday for all of you and Monday for me. My week was a little crazy so I only had a one day weekend. I'm a little tired but after putting together the 1st draft of my Christmas shopping list (I sure am one of those people! Cool people make lists. Lots of times over. Don't be jealous.), it's a damn good thing I'm working a little extra. I pride myself on picking thoughtful gifts for my family so I usually start thinking early. Hopefully I can follow through with all my plans! Just bought the first round of crafty awesomeness for part of this years festivities but more on that later. If I blog about it- they'll know!

Since the calendar does in fact say it's Friday- it's time to link up with {long distance loving} again for Friday's Fancies. I had such a blast linking up last week with the golden outfit and I met so many new bloggers through it that I knew I had to keep playing along!

Before I get into that- if you're new around here and haven't checked out my Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate goodies Giveaway, do yourself a favor and go take a look! This time of year, I crave hot chocolate nonstop!! So I thought I'd share the love with the best stuff I could get my hands on.

So before I show you guys my outfit, I want to say that I was a little scared of this week! The theme was "Mix & Match" and for some reason that intimidated the crap out of me. That's a little out of my comfort zone so how am I supposed to put together a share-worthy outfit that follows that theme? So I took it as a challenge! Surprisingly enough, I had so much fun and once again, I wish I owned this outfit!! I hope I get gutsy enough to actually put together fun outfits like this in real life. But until then- At least I have my Friday's Fancies!

Friday's Fancies- Mix & Match by kryssialma featuring floral shorts

A lovely, however subtle, venture into mixing and matching. I dig it.

I also have a confession to make. I've been wanting so badly to put more effort into looking more like this on a daily basis that I've sort of gotten a little bitter toward girls that are put together. If I go to the grocery store and see a girl in a well accessorized and put together outfit, I immediately hate her. Well, I'm exaggerating just a little. But seriously, I don't like those people. I'm a terrible, terrible person.

Dear self,
Just because you chose to go to the grocery store in what could pass as a pajama doesn't mean people that actually got dressed this morning are evil. Stop being obnoxious and get it together.
Tough love always,
Your realist half

Can't wait to go see all of your outfits!! I promise I won't judge you... unless I see you in the cereal aisle. :)

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-11-16T00:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Hump Day, all you lovelies out there!!

Can you believe we're half way through November already? I don't understand how this year has flown by so quickly! So many wonderful things have come with it and I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store...

Not gonna lie, mentioning we're almost in 2012 sort of made me nauseas- Eeek!

**Before I jump into my pinterest picks for this week, thought I'd take a second to see if you've checked out the super sweet (pun intended) giveaway I've got going on!!**

And now, the beauty that is my favorite pins from that gem of a site- Pinterest. As always, linking up with the lovely Michelle from The Vintage Apple!

If you're new here- you'll learn fairly quickly there's little rhyme or reason to my conglomeration of pins! I try to give my boards all some representation in the weekly roundup buuuuuut it just doesn't always end up that way. So here's some of what made me think, made me laugh, made me hungry, and really made me want to go shopping this week!
I want these boots- even if I have to pay as much as they're worth to get them into this country!

Source: yesstyle.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Whoops- my life in a nutshell.

Source: a-bruised-reed.blogspot.com via Krystina on Pinterest

But seriously, I pride myself on being able to do this. Frequently.

Source: Uploaded by user via Krystina on Pinterest

I desperately want adorable boot socks. Just probably not these. These are hella expensive! But so cute.

Source: ilovelowie.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Chicken, cheese, cream cheese, crescent rolls- these things look like heaven!!

Source: plainchicken.com via Krystina on Pinterest

The Pioneer Woman is INCREDIBLE and these Photoshop actions do ALL the work for you...

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Oh, how I love pinning!! Did you link up this week?! I'd love to go steal some of your pins! :)

Only 1 more "Oh How Pinteresting" before I can pin all my Christmas pins with a clean conscious!!! You can't imagine how happy this makes me people... SO SOON!

Happy pinning! And I hope this finds you all well and happy.

My very first Giveaway... Williams-Sonoma deliciousness!

2011-11-16T00:58:00.001-05:00

Hello my loves!!!

Tis the season to give thanks and give-away!!!

So I've decided to sponsor my very own first giveaway here at Cup 'a Hot Chocolate.

Because I have such an affinity for my namesake, I thought- "What better than to do a Hot Chocolate giveaway!" And this is not your ordinary hot chocolate mix folks. After perusing my local Williams-Sonoma, I fell in love with this stuff! It isn't made from cocoa powder, instead it's just chocolate shavings that melt perfectly to give you the most amazing hot chocolate...

I wanted so badly to buy some for myself but I decided to get it as a treat for a special follower!

The giveaway includes Williams-Sonoma's Classic Hot Chocolate in the fun tin that can definitely be reused and set on display, a box of their Old Fashioned Vanilla Marshmallows, and one of their all new chocolate bars in, what else, the Hot Chocolate flavor.

I seriously just made myself so hungry with that description and these pictures... You're lucky I love you all so much and I'm not just dipping into the goodies myself right now!

Now the fun part!

Entering to win this kick booty stash...

To enter... Become a follower of this here little blog by either using that link or going up to the right side bar and clicking "join this site." You DO NOT have to have a blog in order to follow!

Once you've become a follower or if you already are one, leave a comment here letting me know!

More chances to win!!

If just the one entry is far too risky for you and your hot chocolate craving, here's how to get up to 3 more entries-

1. "Like" the Cup 'a Hot Chocolate Facebook page and leave a comment here letting me know you did!

2. Follow me on twitter and leave a comment here letting me know!

3. Tweet about the giveaway!! I dunno, maybe you could say something like- "'Tis the season for Hot Chocolate! Satisfy your craving- enter for your chance to win @_kryssi_ 's gourmet cocoa giveaway! http://cupahotchocolate.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-very-first-giveaway-williams-sonoma.html"

...and of course, leave a comment here to let me know you did!

**Remember!! You have to leave separate comments for each way you enter in order for them all to count when a winner is randomly selected from the comments!**

The giveaway will be open until Midnight EST on Thursday, December 1st.

So, what're you waiting for? Free fancy hot chocolate?! Yes, please, and thank you! :)

Hope you all are having a lovely day wherever this finds you! Sending love and happy thoughts to all.

Motivate me Monday!!

2011-11-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Oh, hi!!

I sure have fallin' off the "Motivate Me Monday" bandwagon... Sorry Ashley!! I am a terrible horrible person and am still at my plateau because of it. :(

So- it's time to get back on!!

For this week, MMM was supposed to focus on trying something outside of your comfort zone...
I would have to be in a work out regiment already in order to do this... I really feel guilty about this actually. Do you all have trouble jumping back into things when you've spent a while away from it? I have so many grand plans to be kick booty and yet I haven't kicked my booty into gear! At all.

I have every intention of getting back into Insanity. Have any of you tried it? It is hard core, make you wanna vomit, good luck just jumping into it. No joke! So in order to get to a point where I can even stand a chance in those videos, I have to build back up to it- enter p90x. You know the videos are hard core when p90x is a stepping stone to it... So this week I really need to make it a point to atleast do 3 days of p90x. Holidays are here people- I won't be sacrificing my favorite holiday goodies so time to step up the work out!

Last time I did one of these posts, I said I'd be setting goals for myself and adding on to them each week. My first goal was to always pack healthy snacks so I wouldn't buy things like pop tarts at work... Up until a few days ago I was perfect at this!! Then I had a pop tart. Thank goodness I have a friend that wouldn't let me make that mistake a second time. (Thanks ShawnOl!!)
This weeks addition to the goals list is-
2. Drink 3 bottles of water a day.
I am TERRIBLE at drinking water. I do not ever stay hydrated.
I'm serious.
Apparently, often when you think you're hungry you're really just dehydrated. Maybe this will help me out! So to review, the goals are now-
1. Pack healthy snacks for work.
2. Drink 3 bottles of water a day.

I promise next week I'll join in on the actual prompts set up for MMM!
Have you been needing some motivation?
Join in on this awesome link up so we can all help each other!
Getting healthy is tough... But! I WILL get there.

Here's a few pins I've come across lately to help me get going!

Source: get-thinspiration.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: fittingintohappiness.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Source: motivationintohabit.tumblr.com via Krystina on Pinterest

Here's hoping each week I'm better and more motivated than the last! :) And for any and all of you out there working toward being healthier- you can do it!! And know you aren't alone in this journey!

Don't forget to follow here and on twitter! That giveaway I mentioned will be kicking off in just a couple days and I'd hate for any of you lovelies to miss out... :)

My very first Friday's Fancies!

2011-11-11T07:21:00.000-05:00

Hello Gorgeous!

...what's the plural form of gorgeous? Gorgeouses... Gorgi...

No idea.

Happy Friday to all! And of course, happy Monday to me! Off to make the little ones happy at one of the happiest places on earth...

But first- a while back, I got a sweet comment on my blog that led me to a new follower's blog. Little did I know, this new follower had a kick booty blog with some seriously phenomenal posts and an awesome following. I saw that she had a weekly link up called Friday's Fancies and really wanted to play along... I am a giant slacker and it's taken me FOREVER to actually join in! But this week, I'm in! {av} from {long distance loving} prompts her readers with a theme for the weeks link up and then always has a drool worthy outfit to kick it off. Fingers crossed, my addition to this weeks link up fits in with the cool kids!

This week is the 50th Friday's Fancies post with a gold theme. I have to admit, I've always HATED gold. And then I went shopping yesterday and I found myself picking up gold things over and over again... I can't explain it but I'll keep you informed as this situation develops! Point is- I had a blast putting this outfit together. This is also my first time playing around on Polyvore (Thanks to Sarah over at First Comes Love- you're so right! This is ridiculously addictive!) so I'm not exactly sure how it all works! I normally use Photoshop for this sort of thing but I loved snooping around all the goodness on Polyvore and it's fun to use new sites like this one. I highly recommend you check it out.

So without further ado, here's my first ever Friday's Fancies...

So, how did I do on my first one? The longer I look at it, the more I wish I had a bottomless bank account to actually make that happen. Le sigh! Some day...

Well, what are you waiting for? Go link up too!

*Oooo- did you see the teaser in yesterday's post? Make sure you follow here and on twitter so you don't miss out when that fun gets started!*

Till next time...

A Holiday Goodness Window Shopping Spree...

2011-11-10T09:01:00.001-05:00

Gobble gobble and a Ho ho ho, my lovelies!

I don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me want to bake non-stop. I'm not even kidding. I get home every day with the urge to try some random recipe or to make something that looks festive. As you may have heard by now, I grew up in a house where culturally, the Holidays were very Latin heavy. Food in general was always Latin heavy. The extent of our holiday goodies was flan, natilla, tres leches, and turron. If you don't know what those are, look it up! They're almost all some conglomeration of sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and sugar... what else could you need?!? Absolutely delicious and I PROMISE, if you're good, I'll share my ever so coveted flan recipe for New Years...

Any hoot- As tasty as those treats are and as much as I love making them, I'm actually referring to making more main stream Holiday goodies! Cakes, pies, cookies, you know- things with names my lovely readers can actually pronounce!

A little back story as we try to understand why I love Holiday baking so much!

**This is the part where you all go "Yay! A story!**

I have a teeny tiny immediate family. I have one sister, my mom is an only child, and my dad has one brother. From my one uncle I have my one aunt and my only 2 first cousins. Extended family goes on for days and days but when you're talking Christmas morning, that's what I've got. I have always loved this and I've never felt even remotely like I was missing out. I got the huge family for things like Noche Buena (Cuban Christmas Eve) and then the actual holiday was always just the little group of us with now just the Grandmas from either side.

And I think that is perfect!

Because of this, I've always felt very close to my immediate family and I adore them.

(My memories of childhood activities could fill a blog all on it's own...

but let's focus on this blog one post at a time shall we?)

Enter my Tia Rachel.

My favorite, though only, aunt is easily my inspiration for all of my baking endeavors. She, though she has always tried her best, is not Cuban nor is she a fluent Spanish speaker. And I love her all the more for it! I've always loved the fun and diversity she adds to family gatherings...

Let's all take a moment to acknowledge that I just referred to my non-Spanish speaking Aunt as adding diversity to our holidays... Sure did grow up in Miami... ohhhhh boy.

She's also where I learned to use all my nonsense words. Scooby-dop, neener neeners, and my favorite, my nickname from her, Pachina. I think we all have one, but this is the aunt that would always have some fun crafty project up her sleeve and every sprinkle known to mankind for holiday cookie decorating! She also had a chocolate/candy business for a while and I always looked forward to getting the peppermint bark. I would hoard it from the rest of the family! I later found out my sister doesn't even like chocolate and peppermint, but that's entirely beside the point!

Now I, in turn, find it almost impossible to pass up another container of fun sprinkles or the opportunity to try and make some random pie or cake. Especially at the Holidays, I think of her a whole lot.

I love you, Tia!!

In honor of the holidays and my unwavering love for all things sweet and delicious this time of year, I decided to dedicate an entire Window Shopping Spree to Holiday baking!!

...I should also point out that this Window Shopping Spree is comprised ENTIRELY of Williams-Sonoma goodness... What can I say? Williams-Sonoma is quite possibly my favorite place to window shop. So jump on the band wagon people!! I walked in yesterday and my heart about melted from the warmth I got looking at the wonderful goodies. Le sigh... Someday I will walk in there every season and go to town. And I will throw amazing holiday parties with the lovely things I buy there! And everyone will be ~~jealous~~ so happy to be there...

1. Pie crust fancy pants cutters- Plain crusts are boring! But when you jazz them up with these festive shapes, people get so impressed! And they're so easy to use. Pretty much, I just like playing with them a whole lot.

2. Holiday sprinkles- Not only are these adorable embellishments for any sweet treat, they stack with all your other Williams-Sonoma sprinkles! So you can keep them organized and even display them neatly. My heart!

3. Star cookie cutters that make a tree- I'm always so proud of my names for things... This is such a simple concept but how cute would that look in a table scape and then, oh hey! We can eat the tree!

4. Cookies that become a holiday scene- Basically, you use the cookie cutters to make the puzzle pieces that come together to make that adorable Holiday scene. How stinking cute is that? Another great way to dress up the table with edible goodies!

5. Pumpkin Quick bread- You should all know, I get so sad when the season for this mix ends. I try to nab as much as possible so it lasts me a little longer... It's my favorite and I use it as one of the things I bring to any get together during this time of year. Go buy some- so easy and so delicious!

6. Fancy-Festive Hot chocolate mix- UMMMMMMMMMMM- I know, total shocker that I would be obsessed with these, right? Not like I have a blog named after the product or anything... Oh wait. These need to be in my kitchen immediately if not sooner.

In fact... I think the holiday spirit and these gorgeous mixes have inspired me to host my first giveaway here at Cup 'a Hot Chocolate... I think it's safe to say everyone should keep their eyes and ears open in case something pops up in the next week or so... :)

So do you guys catch the baking bug this time of year at all? What are your favorites or go to recipes? I LOVE trying new things, so let me know!

I would also like to apologize for any amount of time you may waste today on the Williams-Sonoma website because of this post... It's only fair if I went down, you all go down with me!

**Don't forget to follow on here and head over to my twitter page so I can keep you updated when I get new fun posts up...Especially if, oh I don't know, a give-away were to come up some time soon...**

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-11-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

Wednesday!!

Sorry it's been so quiet around here lately, but a huge thank you to those of you who keep coming back for more! I like to think that when I get my posts up, they're worth reading! If I were to post uninspired things for you all to read, I'd just be disappointed in myself. I'm proud of my little corner of the blogosphere and I plan to keep it that way!

I felt like I had a bit of a lull there in inspiration but I've suddenly gotten this rush of ideas and things I want to try and work on. All goes well and I don't fudge any of it up, (and as long as my Joann's and Michael's coupons keep being a-plenty!) there will be lots of goodness popping up here through the holidays! Stay tuned lovelies, it will either be awesome or a hilarious disaster! Either way, you'll love it!

Wednesdays mean I get to link up with Michelle for "Oh How Pinteresting!" I just wanted to show you guys some of the pins that inspired me to get off my bum and take steps toward being better, decorating better, cooking better, and dressing better. :) A work in progress, as always!

Source: farewellstranger.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

Source: missindiedesigns.blogspot.com via Kim on Pinterest

Source: exclusivelyfood.com.au via Sarrah on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Jordan on Pinterest

And here's just a couple little Holiday bonus pins, to get you in the spirit...

Source: piccsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: bing.com via Erin on Pinterest

Just another week before I can really go to town with all of my Christmas pins!! I'm not exactly sure why I decided I had to wait until mid-November... but let's just go with it!

Now, Excuse me while I go steal all of your pins... :)

Window Shopping Spree- Giving thanks that we can give back...

2011-11-03T11:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Thursday everyone!!

Now before we can move on to spreading Christmas cheer, we all have to have our fair share of turkey and pumpkin pie eating! That's right people- Thanksgiving needs its time. I LOVE Christmas, it's my very favorite time of the year. But still, I think it's important that we have this time of year to reflect on our blessings and all of the things we're thankful for. I really like that for the whole month people make it a point to stop and give thanks when we don't always make it a point to think about and verbalize our blessings! Even on the crappiest day, there is something or someone to be thankful for!

For this week's window shopping spree, I decided to highlight products that give back! Around this time, we all start doing our Christmas shopping. There are so many incredible items out there that give back to some amazing foundations. So not only do you get your Christmas shopping done but you're also making a donation to a wonderful cause, no added expense on your part.

Take a look at some of the fun things I found when I looked for gifts that give back...

1. Those Really cute Toms shoes- In case you've been living under a rock, Toms are the shoes that donate one pair of shoes to needy children for every pair purchased. They started out simple but are coming out with new designs constantly! They even have some adorable flats being released for Spring of 2012!

2. Rachael Ray Baking goodies- The products with Rachael Ray's "yum-o" branding gives back entirely to her special foundation. She developed it to empower kids and their families to have a healthy relationship with food and cooking which continues to be an important issue as we keep battling obesity in our youth.

3. Gorgeous whistle necklace- These necklaces are sold in different finishes by the "Falling Whistles" campaign that fights for peace in the Congo. This symbol encourages its wearers to be a whistleblower for peace.

4. Rustic "Feed" bags- These bags, made from environmentally friendly materials, help to feed children all over the world. This bag in particular feeds 2 children in school for an entire year through the United Nations World Food Program.

5. "This Season on Broadway" snow globe- Every year, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids sells a special snow globe that features all the shows that appeared on the great white way that year. They sell a ton of products but this is a foundation near and dear to my heart since I'm a proud member of Actor's Equity. The foundation works tirelessly using their resources and talents to raise money for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses.

6. OneHope Wine- This is extremely impressive and one gift I'm sure alot of people could give to someone. This charity brand donates 50% of their products back to the cause. Each wine has a specific charity attached to it but as the purchaser, you also decide on a charity to donate some more of the money too. Brilliant!

How cool is all of that? And there's so much more out there if you just go looking through causes that mean something to you! Also- Amazon has a ton of partnerships with some great foundations where they will donate a percentage of whatever you buy back to them. I'm sure a ton of you order from amazon, why not do it in a way that will give back?

So here's to a season of being thankful and giving back as much as we can! Let me know of any other fun ways to give back you all know about too!

Until next time...

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-11-02T07:43:00.000-04:00

Oh Wednesday! So much Pinterest love all over the blogosphere- My pinboards LOVE Wednesdays!

It's once again time to link up with Michelle over at The Vintage Apple for one of my mostest favoritest (yup, you read that right) link ups EVER! Oh How Pinteresting...

Like I always say on Wednesdays, I have a serious Pinterest addiction. It gives me such an incredible source of decor, fashion, and crafting inspiration and of course- some seriously funny crap! When I get bored of spending far too much time on Facebook, I can peruse Pinterest endlessly! Because all of you are out there in cyberspace pinning more little lovelies!! Keep it comin' folks!!

Here's another random conglomeration of pins from my boards. No real theme again this week- I sort of like the smorgasboard sampling! It gives you more of a taste of the eclectic-ness of my kick ass boards!

Check out some of this week's favorites-

from thisisnthappiness.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

from janethopkins.typepad.com via Jacki on Pinterest

from en.paperblog.com via Haley on Pinterest

from img.inkfrog.com via Kristy on Pinterest

from someecards.com via Brady on Pinterest

from youstirme.com via Jamie on Pinterest

So- Have you linked up yet? Head over to her blog and check it out!! And all the other lovely participators too :)

I hope no one minds the couple of Halloween left overs on here... I hit up the after Halloween sales and got some awesome stuff that I can't wait to play with for next year! We're a little ways off but it's always fun to keep collecting ideas. And I'm not quite ready to bust out Christmas yet either. Don't get me wrong- any one that knows me KNOWS Christmas is my absolute favorite!! But when did Christmas eat Thanksgiving? I feel like I need to give Mr. Turkey a couple weeks to embrace his holiday! How bout you guys? Are you trying to show some Thanksgiving love or are you jumping head first into Christmas?

All the same- there is definitely some Christmas loveliness already going up on the pinboards...

Glad you all stopped by, friends, new and old! If you're new around here, feel free to follow and stop by my twitter to get my latest updates!

Till next time...

October is over?!...

2011-11-01T14:13:00.000-04:00

So first of all- Once again I failed to link up with Ashley over at Me and My Boys for Motivate Me Monday... :( Whoops! Mondays have just been very hectic days these last couple of weeks. Next week (fingers crossed) will be better! But- I have managed to keep up my "bring snacks to work" goal and so far I've managed to get back to pre-cruise weight! So more on that to come next monday!

Second of all- I did it!! I took one picture every day for a month and so here it is.

My October :)

(... Looks like the last week and a half has been very "Bentley on the couch" heavy. Truth is, I'm very consistent at taking pictures of him awkwardly sleeping and not so good at capturing the random outings and events of what really goes on in my day!)

October was an interesting month that without a doubt flew by in a single blink.

Looking back at this conglomeration of "1 photo a day" for 31 days, I think I'll remember this month for-

*The start of gorgeous weather down here in Central Florida

*A Tiffany blue box marking 1 year of happiness with my person

*Food and Wine 2011 deliciousness at Epcot

*Howl o Scream and Halloween Horror Nights, both of not so epic proportions

*Hitting 100 followers

*Carving my very first pumpkin

*The person's big "CarnEvil" Halloween event

* Losing my voice for what felt like the entire month (I'm still coughing!)

*And Bentley starting to get WAY too huge! ... At a whopping 11 pounds so far lol ok, maybe not huge. Just bigger.

No doubt in my mind I'll be doing this again for November. It's such a blast! There's so many little fun things that happen in our day to day lives that we tend to glaze over in the excitement of going from one "main event" to the next. These little pictures help me acknowledge, appreciate, and remember!

Can't wait to see what I'll have to post on November 1st... Feel free to join me on this! Just let me know if you do. The pictures don't need to be fancy! We at least have our phones with us most of the time and that's enough to snap a quick shot of a quick lunch with a friend or an impromptu Target visit! So have fun!! Excited to see what your months consist of! :)

**Also!!**

If you stop by, head over to my twitter and follow me there so I can let you know when I get a new post up! Seeing my instagrams as they go up might also remind you to keep up with the "Picture a Day" challenge. I'd love to have you all following here and over there to help keep you in the loop!

And don't forget to contact me if you want to do a little blog button swap action! I love seeing the buttons of blogs I love following on my side bar!

Here's to another month down and a hopefully even better November!

My very first pumpkin carving...

2011-10-28T00:27:00.000-04:00

I've been saving this post ever since I saw the "October Followers Fest" on Much Love, Illy. It's a fabulous fall themed blog hop of sorts that links up through some of my favorite blogs and you should go join in on the fun!! It's going on all weekend so you have plenty of time to put together a post and play along...

For this special occasion- I've saved my special post of my very first pumpkin carving!!!

You see what I did there?

I just managed to get a bunch of people who have never been by my blog before (and probably all my followers) asking "what kind of girl is this?! Never carved a pumpkin?! Blasphemous!!"

Or some variation of that sentiment...

I know!! I somehow missed out on this tradition and most other "gets you messy" activities... Whoops!

For the record- I do not feel deprived in any way at all. In fact, carving my first pumpkin at 24 was a blast!! I had so much fun learning how to do it all from my person and got some cute pictures to remember this momentous occasion. And so, lucky for you all, here's an awesome little photo drop!!

So the scooping out part took me FOREVER!!! I honestly think he was done with the whole thing before I finished this part...

I couldn't find a pattern I liked... Sooooo I made my own in an old notebook, scanned it in, and blew it up to use instead... Should've gone with the old school jack-o-lantern for my first attempt!

The person likes to use the brilliant "thumbnail to make the outline" technique. SO smart but thanks to my awesome design, I could not feel my fingers by the end!

Am I seriously still poking holes?!

Finally starting to cut!! Those tiny saws are far too fragile. I may or may not have broken one... whoops!

Then the person had to swoop in and save me!! My intricate design was a little ambitious. The pup lost an ear and there were almost many more casualties. But- he got me through the tough parts so I could get it done. What a guy :)

The finished product! It's a window scene featuring all my fur babies!! And a spooooooooky old tree

The artist with her work of art. I am seriously proud of that thing!

Both our masterpieces up on display and his favorite Halloween decoration. I like to think they look good together.

There you have it!! Not so bad, huh? Did you get around to pumpkin carving yet this year? Do you go with templates or make your own?

If it's your first time here, welcome! I hope you'll keep looking around some more and stay a while. There's lots of goodness here in my corner of the blogosphere and I can't wait to hop around and find some new fun-ness on all of your blogs too!!

Hope this post finds you all well!! Lots of love and energy all around...

Window Shopping Spree- "Extreme Craft Room/Blog HQ Makeover" Edition!

2011-10-27T11:53:00.000-04:00

Thursday! :) Mmmmm... It's silly how much I love looking forward to the "sunday" of my weekend. You'd think, it means I have to go back to work tomorrow, why would I like it so much? I don't know how it works for all of you- but "sunday" is the most relaxing day of the week! It's almost always the stay in your pj's all day kind of day. Today in particular, I am going in to work at the '30s style dinner theatre I perform at. But until then- you couldn't pry these pj's off me if you paid me! Plus- a certain someone made French toast this morning... :) I am a lucky, lucky lady.

As if that weren't exciting enough- it's Window Shopping Spree Thursday!! When I went to start perusing the internet for this post, I felt a little stuck. I have so many great ideas for post Halloween shopping sprees that I cannot wait to get to!!! Sadly... we are still in October...

That's a little unfair of me to say to October-

October, you're a lovely month! I thoroughly enjoy celebrating you in all your spookiness. Please understand, I'm just a little anxious to get to my favorite time of year. Nothing personal!

Then- inspiration struck! October is a very topsy turvy month around here. Things get insane and well, a mess. It was probably about the end of September that I realized I would have to dedicate a weekend to a cleaning frenzy. Once the person's event was over, spend some serious time deep cleaning and organizing. So thats what this past "weekend" was for. Everything turned out great!! Everything except his "man cave" and my "craft room." Those rooms still need some serious work...

I haven't been able to work on any craft projects in a while because I find it hard to be inspired in an unorganized space. Said craft room has yet to be fully set up... So "Cup 'a Hot Chocolate Headquarters" has been the couch... **wahh wahh** (Which is actually the Debbie Downer sound, not a cry... I wish there was a better way to explain that...)

So this weeks shopping spree- A Craft Room/ Blog HQ makeover!!! UGhhhh if only!!! Even when everything in there finds it's home, the room will not look anything like this... A girl can dream though, right? Oh- and this makeover is brought to you almost entirely by the Pottery Barn website... What can I say, I'm a sucker for pretty and slightly over priced home decor.

1. Drool worthy craft room furniture- Little odds and ends with a bunch of random drawers and shelves? Yes please! If you go to the page of that collection- just scroll down and include EVERYTHING on the page. And my room's furniture is complete! Seriously though- how perfect is that set for a craft room?

2. Wheeley "Craft in progress" chair- I find that as much as I always want to have a big comfy chair in there, I constantly have to roll around to grab random thingss while I try to finish a project! So a matching chair with wheels is a must have.

3. Blogging/"visitor in my hq" chair- But I obviously need a big comfy accent chair too! Sometimes people stop by while I'm crafting. And, I do all my best blog writing from a comfortable position.

4. Color pop organizational boxes- I dont know what it is about greens, gray blues, and yellows that I love so much right now. Still, seeing these all nestled into the cubby holes with all my random crap neatly organized in them- be still me heart! Such a sucker for neatly organized stuff.

5. 13" MacBook Pro- A new MacBook? How the hell did that get on there... I mean if it's there I shouldn't delete it... And I mean, the computer is getting a little slow. I can't very well blog in a new hq with a laptop I can't depend on! :) That's a reasonable excuse, right?

6. Multipiece wall organizer- I LOVE these things!!! A way to set out and organize all my thoughts and plans right up on the wall in front of me. I pin this sort of stuff every time I come across them. I'm sure If I worked at it, I could piece something like this together slowly but surely thanks to HomeGoods. But that's the logical and sensible, cost efficient way to do it. Thursdays are not about that!

Le sigh! My dream room... Do you all dream of having a perfect room like this too? What are your must-haves when you sit back and imagine that perfect room to inspire you? And where do you guys normally find those pieces that fit perfect in those rooms?

Excuse me while I continue to imagine I'm writing this from that room I just made in my mind... :)

Lots of love and energy to all you lovelies!

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-10-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Miss me?

I should hope so! It's been almost a week since my last post and I've gotta say, I've missed you all! But, like I've said before- every now and then life just has to take precedence. I love pouring so much time and energy into my blog! But in order to keep giving you all the best side of me, I have to keep me healthy and happy! And as we all know, life lessons are a constant work in progress. They never come when we have time for them and all you can do is try to learn from them and keep on moving forward.

This by no means is an emo/ "woe is me" post- that goes against everything this blog stands for! I blog to acknowledge life is tough and gets shitty sometimes, but if we take a deep breath and trust in the things we fundamentally know to be true, we'll always get to the other side of it! Just keep filling up your "feel good" tank :) This little corner of the blogosphere celebrates those things, always!

So, all is well my lovelies! Especially since it's that lovely day known as "Oh how pinteresting" with Michelle over at Vintage Apple...

What a good day to rejoin the blogging world! I find it so relaxing to just surf around Pinterest so I do it fairly often. Here's a random collection of some of my recent favorites. I tried to pick stuff from different boards so you'd get a taste of how hardcore awesome my pinboards actually are...

from zales.com via Krystina on Pinterest

from pauladeen.com via Alyssa on Pinterest

from someecards.com via Lauren on Pinterest

from flickr.com via Melanie on Pinterest

from hgtv.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

And I love them all!! :)

Have you linked up yet? What're you waiting for?

Oooh, almost forgot! If anyone else is interested in swapping buttons- let me know!! I love having more kick booty blogs displayed on my side bar!

I hope you all have had a good week. And if you had any road bumps or made any mistakes, I hope you're all allowing yourselves the opportunity to learn, grow and move on!

Here's to continuing to find the happy...

Falltacular Window Shopping Spree...

2011-10-20T12:23:00.000-04:00

Hello lovelies!!

So I took the puppy out this morning and, surprise surprise, IT WAS FALL! I know! Crazy how it happens just like that... Too bad it will be back into the 80s down here after this weekend. But for now, I shall wear my boots and maybe even a sweater for the lovely breezey weather. Now- I should note that my "sweater weather" is mid 60s... Have I offended anyone my saying that? Hey! I take what I can get!

I know by this time of year where a lot of you are, it's starting to get down right cold. When you've lived in Florida your entire life, 50 degrees is peacoat and scarf weather! That's winter though.

Today, we celebrate Fall!

Even though leaves don't change colors down here, there is still a certain something that changes in the air. I'm sure there are scientific reasons and cold fronts and all that, but it goes beyond those things. I'm talking about that feeling you get just being outside around this time of year. As we head into the warm/fuzzies time that is the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's trifecta, (I suppose we could lump Halloween in there but what the hell would we call that? A quadfecta? I made that up... don't google it.) the world in general gets a little cozier. We start spending more time in coffee shops and appreciating nature without complaining about it being too hot. There's something about wearing sweaters and the drop in temperature that makes everyone want to hug. Is that ridiculous? I honestly believe there's a drastic rise in hugging at this time of year. I love it.

Am I alone in noticing these things? Do you think a certain something changes when we hit this point of the year?

Any hoot- for today's window shopping spree, I've put together a comfy cozy fall outfit.

Nothing too extravagant, just the kind of thing you'd want to be wearing to walk around outside and take in all the loveliness! Possibly with (but not limited to) a pumpkin spice latte in hand. I'll be honest, I could have a pumpkin spice latte in hand doing anything at this time of year.

1. New dark blue jeans- Call me crazy but I always have and always will love Gap jeans. It's so frustrating for me to shop for jeans because of my curvacious Cuban hips, but I find their jeans tend to fit me rather nicely! And I LOVE dark denim in the fall!

2. J. Crew silky emerald top- Most importantly, it looks delicious!! And I love adding pops of jewel tones with my neutrals this time of year. And how adorable are the little buttons at the cuffs? Silly that I'd fall for a little detail like that but I love it.

3. Grandpa looking sweater- From Anthropologie... I am too short to pull off these long sweaters- but I wear them any way. It's like walking around all day with a blanket. I approve!

4. Blowfish kicking booty boots- Really just to show people "even though I'm feeling cuddly in this Fall weather, I can still throw down if need be!" And I really just love the boot situation going on in fashion world.

5. Yet ANOTHER fossil handbag- Are you sick of my fossil bag obsession yet? I realize I include them slightly too often, but I want one. Santa better be reading my blog... He'll have more a heads up when he gets my Christmas list that includes 3 different sized Fossil bags and a matching wallet. Such overkill. I don't care.

6. One of those La Mer watches that I want in every color- This is just one of MANY of these watches I want. They come in every color and you can even custom design one! Wrap watches have my heart right now.

So... can I wear this right now? Today would be a good day for this outfit! Despite the whole hangin out on my couch still looking for my voice thing... Whoops!

Have you added any new fall type goodness to your wardrobe? New boots/sweaters/ bags? I'm always looking for new stores and websites to look for stuff on- where do you guys like to shop for this sort of thing?

Happy Thursday everybody! Don't worry- Your week is almost over. I, however, am back to work tomorrow! Oh the joys of my backwards weeks!

Oh How Pinteresting...

2011-10-19T11:10:00.000-04:00

Oh, how I love linking up to Michelle for "Oh How Pinteresting" on Wednesdays!

As if I didn't spend enough time on there already, I really need the weekly opportunity to look back and acknowledge one more time how awesome some of these things are.

Seriously. The funny ones? Make me laugh every time!! If you aren't linking up yet, get on it!! It's so much fun and I always find the BEST pins to ~~steal~~ repin on Wednesdays!!

Without further ado...

from jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com via Brittney on Pinterest

from bystephanielynn.com via Amanda on Pinterest

from 2gypsygirls.com via Dorthe on Pinterest

from jongenandmeisje.tumblr.com via Kalli on Pinterest

from tumblr.com via Celeste on Pinterest

What an eclectic little grab bag I had this week!There's lots of Christmas goodness popping up on my boards too but I just feel bad featuring them before the person's favorite holiday has passed...
***One more exciting thing- I've finally made a CAHC button for anyone to grab that wants it! Took me long enough to jump on that bandwagon.***I also want to start doing some button swapping...So if you're interested and think our readers may enjoy each other's posts, leave me a comment or shoot me an email at krystina.almaguer@me.com and let's get to swapping!
Happy Hump day!

Motivate Me Monday- Baby steps and Some Special Blog Love!

2011-10-17T17:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!!

I realize this is the start of the week for pretty much all of you, so I hope you're rested and ready for the week that lies ahead!

It's my friday and that could not come at a better time! That cold I had this past week has decide to leave behind a WHOLE LOT of chest congestion and trying to sing at work has been quite the challenge! Luckily, as I write this, I have 1 more show to get through before I have a day off, followed by a day with just 1 night show, and another day off. Fingers crossed that means I'll get a chance to rest up my vocalizers and let myself get drugged up on mucinex! Such a pleasant image, isn't it? I thought you all might enjoy that!

Alright!! Time for some motivation!!

Awesome news- Ashley has decided to turn Motivate Me Monday into a linkup starting next week. Go check out her blog for some fun prompts and things to think about/include in your post for Monday!

This week, I've decided I need to just start with baby steps! I'm going to, aside from following whatever prompt Ashley sets for readers, set a single goal for myself each week. They'll slowly start to pile onto each other until I just have this awesome conglomeration of things I've incorporated into my lifestyle to make me healthier! Good idea, right? I thought so.

So this week's goal:

ALWAYS pack good treats to take to work so I don't end up making a trip to the cast cafeteria for "awful for you" snacky treats.

I went grocery shopping recently so I feel prepared for this. I got fruits, yogurts, granola bars, reduced fat cheese snacks, hardboiled eggs (I'm gonna need you to not judge me for buying pre-hard boiled eggs! This is a happy post!), and deli meats. Healthy treats galore! If on a daily basis I'm cutting out the extra calories of a pack of potato chips or poptarts- it's bound to add up sooner or later! There it is folks, baby step number 1!

Now here's a couple pins I've found to help me get and eat healthy-

Now to the blog love!!

First up, Julie from Run. Dream. Cook tagged me for 5 Fall goals! So here they are-

Finish setting up my craft room!! I feel like I can't start any new projects with it like that!
Start my Christmas shopping... I'm not supposed to talk about Christmas till after Halloween... whoops! :P
Start cooking more exciting recipes!! I pin all of these phenomenal looking things on pinterest and I'm always too scared to try any of them. Must get better about that!
Build up my stamina! In my training I stick to doing intervals but I feel the further I go- the walking gets longer and the running get's shorter. Time to work on that!
Start my next quilt! I've had these grand plans to make seasonal quilts for our place... Yeah, that's gone no where fast!

(Now I'm supposed to tag 5 bloggers to challenge them to do the same, but I'm sort of going to cheat and just tag everyone at the end...)

I also got the Versatile Blogger Award from Kate at Stripes and Polka Dots and from MinDog and Metch over at Shitty Fabulous Lives.

For this one I have to give you 7 facts about me-

I only have 1 sister and 2 first cousins. Makes for a teeny tiny immediate family but my extended family is never ending.
When I was little, I pulled the sword out of the stone at Magic Kingdom. I guess I've always had a little Disney magic!
I love singing but I am absolutely horrible at karaoke. For real though- horrible.
I fall asleep on the couch almost every night before I go fall asleep in bed.
My first aol screenname EVER was Catinhat24.
I probably eat cheese and wheat thins on a daily basis.
I LOVE college football and have never been able to get interested in the NFL. The only pro sport I like is basketball. But that's because the Heat rock my socks so I really have no choice!

And now, to tag 15 new blogs I've found and love-

Seriously, check out all of these! These ladies are fabulous with some wonderful stories! Don't you just love spreading blog love with blog awards? :)

I realize this was a long post, I just had some housekeeping to get done! Just the same, hope you enjoyed it. Who's going to get motivated with MMM next week? Go check it out and get on it!

Till then-

100+ Followers?!? Ay que rico!!!

2011-10-14T17:17:00.000-04:00

About 2 years, ago I started Cup 'a Hot Chocolate.

A year ago this November, I was inspired to wipe the blog clean and start fresh! I didn't keep any of my old posts. I wanted a brand new blog under the same name.

6 months ago, I actually started learning about blogs. Design, communities, and I actually started looking around and following blogs I loved and liked to visit regularly.

Just 3 months ago, I felt like I finally started making my blog my own! I started writing how I wanted to and about whatever I wanted to and for the first time was proud to be able to say this is fully a reflection of me! Here's the post where that really took off...
For one thing, this makes it so difficult to decide on a blogiversary... but that's a subject for another day!

Today, I'm celebrating reaching 100+ followers!
I cannot express to you all enough what rockstars you guys are!! I LOVE getting comments from you guys and the constant support in everything I do. It's funny but so true how you can "meet" such amazing people through blogging. Such incredible and inspirational people have come into my life through this adventure in blogging I've started and I love it! I'm so excited to see what comes next...

I wanted to do something special to celebrate, so I decided to share something with you all! Most of the time, when I share something I've cooked, the recipe comes from some random source that I link back to.

Today, I'm actually going to be sharing a family recipe!
That's right my lovely followers-

time for some Cuban deliciousness in your lives!!!

Some sabor!!
***My Abuelita's Fricase de Pollo***
y arroz con frijoles
aka My Grandma's Chicken Fricassee
and rice and beans

A couple notes before I start though- Cuban cooking is all very much a gusto, or to taste. Just as my grandma taught me, there are next to no specific measurements in this recipe! But I promise, it's so easy!! You just have to try it as you go and decide what you want more or less of. If you trust yourself, it'll turn out delicious!

Also- this is the easy way to cook it all! I like to call it "The poor girl's Fricase de Pollo" because I use onion powder alone instead of real onions and canned black beans instead of dry ones. I almost always have all the ingredients I need for this at home, so I don't need to depend on those extra items! Plus, if we decide we want Cuban food last minute, it's actually doable!

Aaaaand cooking time!

Ingredients, for the whole shbang-

1 pkg chicken tenderloins

White or brown rice, your choice

Corn oil, I use Mazola

Spanish Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

1 can Hunt's tomato sauce

Onion powder

Garlic salt

Ground Cumin

White Vinegar

1 can black beans (no seasoning added)

Cooking the arroz-

Add your desired amount of rice to the rice cooker and add just enough water so there is a thin layer sitting over the rice (about half a centimeter above for white rice and a full centimeter above for brown rice).
Add 1 cucharada, or tablespoon, of your corn oil and add as much salt as you'd like. I go a little salt heavy... But it's how I was taught!

Making the sofrito-

(This is the sauce that acts as a base for alot of Cuban and island cuisine. In this case, it'll be used to cook the chicken!)

Empty the contents of the tomato sauce into any deep pan you have a cover for! Fill the can 1/3 full with water and add that to the pan too.
Now, all the goodies- add a cucharada of corn oil (tablespoon), 2 capfuls of vinegar, and then a ridiculous amount of garlic salt and onion powder. Those are the tricky amounts to describe both here and in the beans. What I normally do is legitimately add enough onion powder to just coat the mix in the pan and then add a little less than that of the garlic salt.
Bring this to a boil and then reduce it to just above medium heat.

Now, cut down the tenderloins into little chunks. You can use chicken breasts or even cutlets here- I've just always done it this way because it seems to cook so well and it gives me the look I want to come out just like Grandma's... I also get crazy anal about cutting out all the nasty parts of the tenderloins.

Add the chicken to the sofrito and make sure you mix it so the sauce is really getting all over the chicken. Cover the pan and let it cook! I like to check back and mix it up a few times periodically while it's cooking. That way it all soaks up the delicious sauce!

On to the frijoles!!

With the stove on medium heat, empty the can of beans into a sauce pan. Then fill the can 1/3 of the way with water and add that in too. I've started adding even a little less water than that because I like for the beans to get as much of the seasoning as possible. If you're cooking for anyone that just likes the soup without the actual beans, more water makes it a little easier to do that.
Add just a splash of the spanish olive oil and corn oil and then it's on to all the seasonings. Just like with the sofrito, make a coat almost of the onion powder, this time about the same amount of garlic salt, and just a dash of cumin and pepper.
Bring this to a boil, and then add 2 capfuls of vinegar.
Lower the heat and just let it simmer for 10 minutes. During all that I like to mix it up and sort of smush the beans as I go. It makes it a little thicker and that's how I like it!

By this point, your rice cooker should've popped, your chicken should look like the above picture, your beans should be harmoniously cooked and seasoned, and your kitchen should smell like you died and went to heaven!!

Aaaaaaaand dinner is served!! I like to make sure I get a good amount of sofrito on my chicken and even toss some over onto my rice too.

Yes, it is that good.

Some people are a little scared to try Cuban food but I'm telling you now, this will become a staple in your regular menu! It really isn't too out there as far as flavors go. I often hear "How come it's not spicy?" ... I hate to break this to you all, but, Cuban food is NOT SPICY. It is in deed full of spices and we're known for our flavor! We don't really do the "hot" stuff.

I really hope you guys try this out! My grandma is the greatest cook I know and having her recipes now could not make me happier!!

So thanks again, my 100+ followers! I'm so happy to be sharing in this journey with all of you and I hope you keep coming by!

Lots more laughs, craftiness, deliciousness, and all around awesomeness to come!!

Till then...

Window Shopping Spree- "Stuck on the couch with a cold" Edition!

2011-10-13T14:48:00.000-04:00

Today I was planning on doing another fancy pants outfit with a price tag that makes me want to hurl.

But my throat hurts and my body aches and I don't really feel like looking up that sort of stuff-

I just want to look up some comfy cozy "stay on the couch all day" goodness. When I was little and I'd have to go home early from school, my mom liked to put together care packages to make me feel better.
**Thanks Mommy! lol**

Toys, treats, random odds and ends to keep me entertained! This is no different.

Forgive me if this is boring to any of you, but this is a collection of what I wish was with me to waste a day doing nothing when I feel like poop! Fancy shmancy and cool/exciting will resume next week!

For now- I'm dreaming of these lovely purchases...

1. U Shaped Body Pillow- I have wanted this forever!!! It's so fantastically unnecessary and my pets would totally get jealous because nothing else would fit on the couch with me- but I would SO cuddle up to this. Delicious.

2. The Nook Color- Another product I REALLY don't need. I have an iPad... It has a Nook app... Oh well!! I also happen to be of the "I like having real books to then put on the bookshelf" mindset. But! When I'm sick on the couch, my area tends to get over run with medicine, and tissues, and books, and magazines, and any other obnoxious thing you can think of. This would at least eliminate the number of books!

3. A Kate Spade Case for said Nook Color- If I'm going to get an unnecessary tech item, I obviously need an unnecessary case for it. That's just common sense people.

4. Rosetta Stone in Italian- I want to learn Italian SO bad! If I have no choice but to remain on the couch, why not take advantage of having nothing else to devote my attention to? Can you imagine- "I had a cold so I started learning Italian! I got the stomach virus and thats when I really mastered it!" I think it's brilliant.

5. Nancy Drew Computer Games- Whoops, is my geek showing?! I'm really not a gamer by any means, but at some point in college I started buying these games to do "non-course work related, mindless fun" and I never turned back. There are 25 games in the series so far and I'm only missing 6... They're such a blast though!! You solve the mystery-adventure game, as Nancy Drew, and go through all these really hard puzzles in the process. Oh dear... I just gave up some serious cool points revealing that... I'm sure the image of me on a couch, surrounded by snot rags in no way affected my cool points though. Neither did referring to them as "cool points."

6. A snacky treat gift basket- I'm ever so slightly starving with zero motivation to get off this couch to prepare anything for myself... This would come so in handy!! Just reach over and grab something with enough preservatives in it to make it from whatever random store it came from to my coffee table! Yum!

Although I didn't put up a picture of it, mainly because I don't need to purchase it, another big comfort for me is white rice with a fried egg mixed into it. This will more than likely be today's meal of choice (insert brown rice though) as it has been with every cold since the beginning of time. Or just my life. I've always called it "Wehweetoh con fwehfweetoh", which is my phonetic interpretation of how I would always try to say "Arroz con huevo frito" (rice with fried egg in Spanish). But good luck navigating through that phonetic interpretation. lol Maybe I'll say it out loud in a vlog some time soon if you're lucky.

So what do you all do when you're stuck at home, sick? Comforts, wishes, anything you'd be embarrassed to admit happens under such circumstances? Come on, I admitted to my Nancy Drew games!

Till next time...

A not so typical day in my life...

2011-10-11T16:02:00.001-04:00

Hello lovelies!

I was perusing some of my usual suspects and I came across The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart's post about a day in her life as a link up with Mrs. T, Naturally's Blog Outside the Box series. I was responding to her post, saying how I can't imagine how the poop I'd actually get my "typical" day down when I thought- ok, now I really want to try!

You should know, none of my days are "typical." Our schedules are crazy, but I am REALLY going to try to give you as good an idea of my day as possible!

Here goes nothin'...

Somewhere between 6:30-7am- Bentley pup wakes up! No real barking just a lot of moving and jingling his doggie tag and maybe a couple whines to let us know he's up and ready to go outside.

7 am- Puppy gets breakfast while I get another half hour or so of sleep!

7:30 am- Actual wake-up time... give or take a few snoozes of the alarm. I stand by the fact that setting my alarm slightly earlier to allow for snoozing makes me appreciate that little bit of extra sleep. I can't possibly be alone on this.

7:45 am- Some sort of trade off involving taking the Bent Bug out for his post-breakfast potty trip or getting the coffee pot started. This is also about the time where the kitty cats start following me around letting me know it's time to fill their bowls too... Im not joking when I refer to "our zoo." It's chaos and I love it!

8 am- Get Disney show ready! On a day off, I will almost never wear make-up... If I do, it consists of a little Bare Minerals, mascara, and lip gloss. Show make-up for work at Disney is a little more than that so it takes me more time than a day out and about.

8:30- Head to work! The person's schedule has him out the door anywhere between 7:30am and 12:45 pm... so for the purposes of this "day in the life"... we're going to partially ignore him... lol Love you!

9 am- Backstage, always a little earlier than I need to be but I always feel late if I get there RIGHT when I'm supposed to be there... is that strange? Anyway, at this point, I start getting into costume, mic-ed up, and ready for the 9:40 show!

9:40, 10:30, 11:20, and 12:10- The first 4 shows! Pretty much just go out on stage and be awesome... lol Yeah not quite. But there's a whole lot of talking to kids, turning giant book pages, almost slipping on bubble juice, and tripping up and down stairs involved. I like to take snacks to munch on between my shows because I get SO hungry. You can hear me announcing as we go to each show "I get my granola bar after this one!" or "It's almost time for my banana!" I'm a real gem and I never annoy anyone backstage... ever.

12:30-1:30- "Fake lunch!" It's only fake because it's a break in show times but not the actual allotted lunch time for the puppeteers that actually work 8+ hours... Oh, had I not mentioned my Disney work day is no where near 8 hours long? Whoops... I still work my booty off though! Normally lunch consists of a turkey and cheese sandwich or a weight loss shake.

1:30- My last show of the day, normally. Unless I'm working the pm shift which is only occasionally and means my first show isn't until 2:20.

2:15- Head out from work and fairly often (more often than any regular person should) run by Target or Publix for some random item- laundry detergent, kitty litter, or resse's peanut butter cups. The essentials, clearly!

By 2:45ish- Home to take the pup out! Then play/relaxation time... Is that strange that I get this sort of time in the middle of the day? Yeah, I know it is. I realize a lot of people think I have it so easy but performing takes a lot out of me! I work hard doing what I do- and the day isn't over yet!

3-5pm- 2 hours of training the pup, loving on the cats, blog love, and a whole lot of this...

Plus dinner... Which could mean pasta with a little light "I can't believe it's not butter", garlic salt, and parmesan cheese with some grilled chicken, or just a bowl of cereal. If it's a night the person comes home by 9- I cook for real! Lots of yummy stuff! I swear I do. But if it's just me- dinner is never too creative!

5pm- On a busy day, this is puppy dinner time! This gives me time to feed him and get him taken out with extra time for playing and getting some of his puppy energy out.

By 5:40- Get Capone's show ready and head out the door! This is much heavier make-up than my other job. Like, the big fake eyelashes kind. Plus, since I have to wear a wig, I get my hair wrapped up into pin curls... I have a whole lot of really thick hair so that takes a little time.

Up to 10pm or just after that- Make a whole lot of slightly or not so slightly intoxicated tourists laugh. In theory.

That would be me... as Bunny June. lol Ohhhh my.

Then I get home somewhere around or just after 10:30. At this point usually I'm starving, because I'm always starving after show, and so I take out the pup and then let him run around while I indulge in cheese and crackers or veggie chips and light ranch. Yummy.

I then proceed to pass out, puppy and kitty in tow, on the couch...

At some point, hopefully before 12:30 but not always, the pup gets taken out one more time before he cuddles up in his crate for the night and I hit the sack!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Definitely not your average persons daily routine but it's more or less how "work" days go around here. Insert the person in any number of those parts as we are pros at doing nothing on the couch any chance we get!

There is it is! A typical, not so typical day in my life!

Head over to Mrs. T's page and link-up too. :) I think it's so interesting to sort of get a feel for what the bloggers I follow are doing in their real life- when they aren't sitting in front of a computer screen. Let me know if you do it so I can head to your blogs and check out what you've been up to!

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Motivate me Monday...

2011-10-10T18:07:00.000-04:00

***Side note- the onslaught of new followers has been absolutely amazing! Expect a special celebratory post very soon!!***

I'm not sure if I have ever fully explained to you all- Mondays are my Fridays. Working for Disney my work week is completely backwards from the rest of the world so my "weekend" is the middle of the average work week. May seem strange for some people but it actually lets me get most anything done since the rest of the world works on every business day.

I've found lately that during my work days I'm fully capable of eating well! I pack all the right snacks, stick to them, and I'm running around doing shows! Healthy Krystina- check! My weekends are entirely another story...

Enter Ashley from Me and My Boys and her seriously kick booty "Motivate Me Monday" posts. Check her out!!

Her idea is to post every Monday about getting healthy and sticking to it! She includes info on her progress, recipes, workout tips, and just a whole lot of "you can do it"-ness. I fell in love with it and I am officially jumping on this bandwagon!

:) Thanks Ashley!

Now, Im not yet ready to post pictures of the scale or my food diary, but I'll get to that point soon enough! Today is all about getting myself motivated to get back to running...

Since this is my first post of this nature- let me explain to you my need to get and stay healthy.

I'm not even 5 feet tall and my weight fluctuates a full 25 pounds on a regular basis. 25 pounds, people!! That is no joke! It takes a serious toll on my knees and back.

These are the 2 extremes of that 25 pound spectrum. Don't see it? Well, it all comes out in my face shape and the fullness of my lovely Cuban hips! Right now, I'm somewhere between the 2 and hoping this will help me get back to that second picture.

First things first though- getting back to running! Here's hoping I'll be ready to do the Miami Half in January and the Disney Princess Half in February... I have to admit, I get nervous about signing up because I'm afraid I can't do it again.

A friend of mine that's been running to get healthy (and has inspired everyone around her in doing it!) recently ran the Disneyland half and came across someone wearing a tshirt with a quote that so honestly says how I feel. So I turned it into an image that I could use to motivate myself...

I need to remind myself of this regularly.

What do you guys do when you need to motivate yourselves? I need to just commit and sign up for these races when I get paid on thursday! Feel free to call me out on that when I get my Thursday Window Shopping Spree up!

Till next time...