Mac and Cheese!

Ahh, Friday is in sight!  Except tomorrow morning will be an early start because the only time my workgroup could meet between today and tomorrow is tomorrow at 8 AM.  Ugh, I hope my brain is functional by then.  Fortunately, all I have to do is roll out of bed and turn on my computer.  No commuting tomorrow.  I hope we finish within an hour so that I can go to spin class afterwards.

I got meeting leftovers today.  I should have thought of this idea a lot sooner.  Usually, I get a plastic plate to put my food on and then bring it across the street to my office.  However, today, I was smart and brought my own container.  Then I don't have to worry about using a plate and whatever I couldn't eat could go home with me.  Today's lunch of mac and cheese, pulled pork, and salad was eagerly consumed so there was nothing to bring home with me.  The mac and cheese was amazing!

Fall-To Layout #218

Shopping: I recently bought some nail care items at Ulta and in order to be able to use the coupon, I had to find something that was $1 to get me up to the necessary amount of $10.  I picked out some toe separators, but in retrospect, I knew I wasn't going to use them.  I went back yesterday to exchange them for something that I would use: lip balm.  I had been thinking about trying out some EOS lip balm and Robyn recommended the lemon one because it was SPF15.  I really liked it...very refreshing.

Card: I haven't had any recent motivation to do anything crafty lately, but I found some inspiration tonight when I saw Fall-To Layout #218.  I've been using this Studio G birthday stamp like crazy.  It's gone a long way for only being $1.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Yellow Ochre
Stamp: Studio G (sentiment),  Stampin' Up- Party Hearty (candles, cupcake)
Paper: American Crafts- Abode
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Fancy Floss in Lemonade, Ranger Stickles- Gold

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone out there that's celebrating Thanksgiving is having a wonderful holiday with loved ones!  My day started out with sleeping in and then going for a run.  The weather was too nice to pass up.  Plus, I wanted an excuse to eat an extra slice of cheesecake.  This was the first time I ran since June (eek).  I jogged about 2.5 miles and walked the last 0.25, so not too bad considering my hiatus.

When I got home, I took a shower and then went straight to making green bean casserole, stuffed mushrooms, and baking crescent rolls for the dinner tonight at my parents' house.  Here are highlights from the big feast!  The cheesecake was a big hit.  If I could get a handle on how to make a red velvet cheesecake, I wouldn't need to go to The Cheesecake Factory anymore.  Julie brought pecan and apple pies from a local bakery, too. Yum yum yum!

Mmm, turkey!

And other goodies.

My plate...1st round.

Me and Julie.

My pumpkin cheesecake, 1st round.

Family :)

Sisters, again.

Cousin line up by age.

Cousin line up by height.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The office released us at 2 PM this afternoon so that we could get a head start on our holiday.  Yay!  Really, it just helped me get a head start on all the holiday eating since I went straight to my parents' house, heh.

Julie (my sister) came over tonight to help me with the pumpkin cheesecake (Recipe #14 of 2012) that I wanted to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner.  She worked on the crust, while I worked on the cheesecake part.  I didn't beat the cream cheese as smoothly as I should have, so in the final product, there were little cream cheese bits in the cheesecake.  Also, the recipe says that it should be in the oven for an hour, but it took close to 1.5 hours to get it not so jiggly.  We'll see what how it tastes tomorrow :)

While waiting for the cheesecake to bake, we watched an NCIS marathon on tv and played Just Dance 2.  RJ thought that the best seat in the house is right on top of me.  He loves that blanket, and it doesn't matter if someone is already using it.

New Candy

I went to Target today to get some groceries for Thanksgiving, and of course, I went down the candy aisle and found these white chocolate peppermint M&Ms on sale.  M&Ms and "on sale"= best combo ever.  They are quite tasty and I think I like them even more than the mint chocolate chip ones.  I'll have to make sure I stock up so that they last throughout the year...or at least through Valentine's Day.  Yeah, right.

The rest of the day was spent making black bean quesadillas (I was surprised how much one batch made...I loosely followed the Budget Bytes recipe), napping on the couch, watching TV, vacuuming my house and giving the bathroom a good scrub down.  What a nice ending to a productive weekend. :)

2012 Craft Show #2

To me, craft show success is defined as a) making my table fee and b) making extra money.  Today's craft show was successful, yay!  I didn't take a picture of my set up because it's pretty much the same look every craft show.  I sat next to this lady that was selling suncatchers.  She got a really good position in the room because it was next to a window and the sunbeams were going through the crystals and projecting lots of rainbows on the wall.  It was definitely an eye-catching sight when you walked into the room, so I'm sure she made a lot of money today...

After the craft fair, I went to a couple of places in that neighborhood- Ross, Blockbuster, TJMaxx, Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, and Michaels.  I got some Moose Munch from Ross, even though I was eying their selection of EK Success punches.  I had to pry myself away from the display and tell myself that I didn't NEED more punches.  Then at Hobby Lobby, I got 2 sets of embossing folders (a total of 4 folders) and a package of Stickles because my Studio G glitter glue dried up and I threw them away.  I liked the Christmas stamps that were on display at Michaels, but I didn't NEED those either.  I might reconsider when they go on clearance after the New Year.

I am EXHAUSTED!!!

At least it was a good day.

Now to try to keep my eyes open so I can watch Jeremy Renner on Saturday Night Live...

Funny Stuff and an Unexpected Event

Confession: I caved and started listening to Christmas music on the radio.  I just can't resist Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You."

Funny story from yesterday: My co-worker Ben and I went to Starbucks yesterday to cash in on their Buy 1, Get 1 Free deal.  He got the gingerbread latte and I got the peppermint mocha.  My drink got called, but I wondered why his took so long since we ordered at the same time.  About 10 minutes later, another "Tina, peppermint mocha" and "Ben, gingerbread decaf latte" got called.  I was so confused.  I already got my drink.  Another woman picks up the peppermint mocha.  Oh, crap.  I took another Tina's drink!  What are the chances that another Asian Tina orders the same size peppermint mocha.  I made eye contact with her with an apologetic look.  Ben and I laughed about it all the way back to the office.

An Unexpected Event: I had fallen asleep on the couch (RJ got stuck on his back between my thigh and the back of the couch...see photo) and when I woke up, I checked my phone for email and I noticed that I got something in regards to a craft fair.  OMG, someone cancelled and since I was first on the waiting list, I get the vacated spot!  Hooray!  Time to sell some cards tomorrow!