Three: holiday things

If you follow me on instagram then you've already seen these pictures, sorry in advance. This week and last I got everything ready for the holidays. We have a tiny 4 foot tree this year and that is just fine by me. It came pre-lit and took me no joke 5 minutes to set up. Another bonus, we only had to get a few ordiments because of it's small size. It's the perfect little tree.

As you know I put a new picture in the frame on the counter every week and this week it's all about Christmas Vacation, only the best holiday movie!

Lastly, it got cool enough for us to light the fireplace. Although it didn't warm up the house it was cool to roast marshmallows and hear the crackling of the fire.

Christmas time in the city

You may ask why I'm posting about the famous tree in NYC? Tonight is the lighting and I thought I'd share my experience with going last year.

My sister and I did the most random thing ever, we planned a spur of the moment trip to NYC to see the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. She flew into PA in the morning and after I got off work we drove to NJ checked into our hotel then took a train into the city. The night of the lighting was the worst! 

The streets were crowded with so many people that the police blocked them off and at some points we couldn't even move, we were at a standstill in the middle of the sidewalk with a couple of thousand people. We were able to hear Justin Bieber and Usher singing so that was cool. Other than that I wouldn't recommend trying to see the tree on the actual night of the lighting. 

We ended up going first thing the next morning which was perfect, there wasn't that many people there. The only difference was we didn't get to see it all lit up but I had seen it at night the year before so that was just fine by me. 

2011 tree at Rockefeller Center.

The tree!

The streets were filled with huge Christmas related things, these lights were so tall.

2010 tree at Rockefeller Center.

November Birchbox review

I got a good November box! I've been shopping around for another company who does the same exact thing as Birchbox and think I found them! I'm still on the fence of switching over but this other company has way better things and it's the same price. Maybe for Christmas I'll make the switch. 

Last month I was really disappointed so when I got 2 good things this time I was happy. I know it sounds a little selfish but when you have to throw away everything in your box it's like throwing away money. Anyways, lets start off with the good. I love the mascara, it says it's volumizing but I didn't think so. I do love how I don't have raccoon eyes after I come out of the shower at night, so that's a plus. The moisturizing cream is great. I never put cream on my face before makeup but with the weather changing my face is drying out quicker so this helps my makeup stay on longer.

I did not like the hair powder that is for oily hair. It smelt awful and turned my black shirt white. I also didn't like the perfume, the bottle was really small so when I opened it it spilled everywhere then made my hands stink for the next hour. 

The box.

Volumizing mascara.

Moisturizing cream. 

Perfume that stinks, it did come with a cute postcard though.

Hair powder and a "extra gift" chocolate which was good. They had these items in a box that says give on it so you can put something of your own in the box then give it to someone just because.

Three: Thankful for

Since Thanksgiving was yesterday I thought I'd reflect on a couple things that I'm thankful for. I'll do one big thing at the end of the year, but to keep it short I'll stick to my usual "Three" things post that I do every Friday. First off, I'm thankful for Ryan, my great husband who I can count on for anything that life throws at us (believe me this has been a challenging year for us.)

Second, I'm veryyyyy happy that my grandma is doing so well through her chemo. I haven't gone into detail about her but long story short, she got diagnosted with stage 4 ovarian cancer last year and has gone through surgery and multiple rounds of chemo and this treatment she is on now is the last option for her and she will have to be on it for the rest of her life. She has such a great spirit about life and everything that she is going through. She is such a strong woman. Also, my great grandma is still alive and well at 103!

Finally, I am grateful that we moved back to Florida over the summer. It was a culture shock for both of us in PA and we just weren't that happy up there. I don't regret moving up there, so I like to think of it as a learning experience.

Date night with my hubby (haha, I never say that.)

Me, my grandma, cousin and sister on Thanksgiving.

Home sweet home.

Bathroom printouts

Recently I've been finding a lot of printables for around the house, especially for the picture frame that sits on the kitchen counter near the sink. I try to put something new it it weekly pertaining to a holiday or just something funny. I found these for the bathroom and instantly knew the perfect spot for them. They are nothing special but I think their cute and fun to look at.

I bought 3 frames for the dollar store and just printed them out. Total cost $3, that's my kind of project. 

Brush your teeth. 

Flush the toilet.

Wash your hands. 

All lined up near the mirror.

Weekend pics

This past weekend wasn't anything too exciting except we got some Christmas decorations and hung up some lights inside and on the porch. I had off on Monday so we took a mini road trip to Sarasota and walked around St. Armands Circle and then checked out the new Trader Joe's. I had never been in one before but it was really cheap! It's owned by the same people as Aldi, but a little higher end of products.

Thanksgiving is this week.

Crafted a little for the Christmas mantle. 

Lunch near the beach.

Salted caramel macaroon. 

Tree at St. Armands Circle.

This was funny.

Can't wait for the location in Tampa....the company is looking for the right location.

Three

You all are probably over my pumpkin obsession but not to worry the season is almost over and I'll be onto peppermint next (that only lasts though December.) Anyways, Ryan came home with this pumpkin caramel sauce that is great on top of ice cream! Saturday UCF played USF at their season opener in Tampa so we pulled up the card table and got some wings and beer and watched our Knights win the war on I4! There was also a UCF football game that night but we didn't get that channel :/

Lastly, I've been doing my research for my black Friday shopping. Since I have to work at 7:30 the Friday after Thanksgiving I've realized I'm not going to be able to shop at midnight like usual but that's OK because more stores are open on Thanksgiving this year. That's not good for the employees, but good for people like me who may not be able to get the deals when the stores are open all night. The best deals on appliances I've found are at Walmart on Thanksgiving day starting at 8pm, some items are right under $4!

Best ice cream topper yet.

Brought the card table in the living room and all. 

I know what stores I'll be at on Thanksgiving night.

BONUS *Until Sunday Starbucks has buy one get one on their holiday drinks 2-5PM. My cousin Faith and I took part in this yesterday :)

Caramel brulee latte is my favorite.

Fall in love

Since mid October I knew I wanted the fireplace area to have a different look for the month of November. I went to Pinterest to get some ideas and I think I came up with something really good. Last week Ryan and I walked around our entire complex and then some to get some pine cones, we didn't find many big ones so I worked with what we got. Then one day I came home from work and he had a bag full of them from when he was at the park! I then reused the fake pumpkins my mom gave me and the real ones from October that were still good. I printed out the words "fall" from a great site. 

I had all the materials (except the pine cones) so I was thrilled when I didn't have to spend anything and it  came out pretty good. 

My inspiration. 

Pumpkins coming out of the fireplace. 

I added some small pine cones in the lanterns that were already there from Halloween. 

The final product.

Printable for the kitchen.

Three

This week I didn't mean to focus on one topic but it kept coming up, being more "grown up." Earlier in the week Ryan and I spent a good half an hour in Walmart trying to pick some new scents for our place. I think we smelled every single one there was on display. Our apartment only has 1 window in the back, then the front door and sliding glass door in the front so sometimes it can get a little stuffy. We eventually decided on some wax that you melt over a candle that smells like mint chocolate along with some other things. 

Also during the week Obama was re-elected as president. I'm not really into the political thing but whichever person got elected I was planning on posting their picture because it's a big deal. 

Wednesday night went to a UCF alumni networking event with our friend Jen and met the new dean of the business college. He is a very nice person to talk with, and between the 3 of us we had a great conversation with him. I made my own business cards but didn't give any away except to enter a drawing. There was only about 20 people and we were the youngest graduates but we still had a good time.

Some new holiday scents. 

President Obama. 

My business cards. 

*The weather this week has been beautiful!

Once a Knight, always a Knight

Saturday Ryan and I headed over to Orlando to tailgate with my sister and some friends for UCF's homecoming game against SMU. It was our first time tailgating since graduating and I forgot how much fun it is to be surrounded by a couple thousand people drinking, playing games and hanging out. We didn't go to the actual game, but UCF did win! I love my Knights and I had a great afternoon with friends. 

Knightro in the union.

Me and my sis.

Ryan and I.

Tailgating on memory mall.

Random dance party, DJ and all.

Let's go Knights!!!!

I miss working at Amway :/

Sweet cupcakes survived the heat.

Three

Monday hurricane Sandy hit most of the states from Virginia up to Connecticut. From all off the pictures I've seen it looks like NJ got hit the worst (I could be wrong though.) I can't believe that for the 2nd year in a row the northeastern part of the country got hit with a bad storm. Florida wasn't on the radar for once. 

Earlier in the week Bill Clinton spoke on campus at UCF, president Obama was supposed to speak as well but he had to cancel because of the storm. I have seen Clinton there 2 other times but it's always cool to see someone so famous at your school!

We didn't get 1 trick or treater. I kind of figured that was going to happen because our complex had a Halloween party so I think the kids got their candy then. I had a little hope that someone would knock on the door so I made sure we had something to give out. We were smart though, we just bough gum and tootsie rolls for this exact reason. We didn't want to be left with a bunch of good candy because lets face it, it would have only lasted through the weekend. Well, we ate the tootsie rolls and now have a bowl full of gum.

Image via abc news. There's a lot more pictures of the damage on this site.

I watched live feed of his speech from Knight News.

I dressed up as a pirate for my works pot luck lunch.

I can't wait for Saturday, Ryan and I are going to our first UCF football game as alumni!!