$16,000 Diamonds and a Pushy Sales Dude

Well, Christmas is over.  Back to work.

Mike and I had a great weekend.  See?  (In my hand is the last glass of the entire bottle of wine that I consumed…and did not get a hangover because of my drinking practice.)

It was so good to be home and to see my family and some of my friends.  I’l post pictures of my loot once I take pictures of it all on my new camera!!!!

I love it so much!  Mike got it for me, and he also got me the bunny that I wanted.  MY BUNNY!  Because I call Mike “My Bunny” sometimes.  (Sorry, Bunny, outed our secret!)

My mom even surprised me with a few things, including a Kenneth Cole Reaction watch, a Michael Kors keychain, and Parenthood seasons 1 & 2!

Where are the $16,000 diamonds, you ask?  Right here.  Mike and I made the mistake of stopping at the mall to get links taken out of my watch on the way home Sunday.  It was PACKED.  We finally found a place to take the links out of my watch and while the guy was doing that, Mike let me play with diamonds.  I had a 1.51 carat $16,000 solitaire diamond ring on my hand!

Sure, it’d be nice to have that, but who the hell can afford it?  I would never expect Mike to get me that.  But I think that theory is for tomorrow’s post.

But the guy was so pushy and so obnoxious that we had to leave.  I think I’ll cover that tomorrow, too.

Cheers, everyone!  Now GET BACK TO WORK!

 

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Don’t shoot your eye out, and make sure you tune into TBS and watch a lil Ralphie.

 

Far Too Old for Four-Day Benders

It’s true.

Good Lord have I drank a lot of alcohol in the past few days.

Wednesday night at the bar, Thursday night at the cookie party, Friday night at the company Christmas, Saturday night at Mike’s Christmas.

Friday night, I went to bed at 3:00 AM and woke up at 6:30 AM to get in my car and drive 2.5 hours to Pennsylvania for Mike’s family Christmas.

In short, I’ve come to a conclusion.  I’M TOO OLD FOR THIS.

 

Shinto Tonight!

So I had a great time last night at my cookie party.  I got a helluva tray of cookies to share with Mike’s family for Christmas, I drank some wine, and I actually got to pal around with the female folk.  I rarely get to do that.  I’m surrounded by men here!

Every time we go to the bar for the Wednesday Afternoon Research Team meetings, it’s usually just me and a bunch of dudes.  Thankfully one of my favorite ladies was there this past time, but mostly, it’s just me.

You can imagine how welcome a ladies’ night was.  :)  It truly does bring a whole new aspect to conversations and fun.

Tonight, at around 5:30, three of the departments from work will all walk solidly into the door of Shinto’s Japanese Steakhouse.  God knows what time tonight, we will pour ourselves out of it, climb in to sober-folk driven vehicles, and go to bed.

I.  Am.  Excited.

Minus that whole waking up at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, but driving to PA for Mike’s family Christmas party will be SO worth it.

Let the holidays begin!

 

Preparing the Liver

I’ll be the first to say that I didn’t train for this.  No.  In fact, I’ve been kind of sluggish about my training this year.  I haven’t drank as much as I normally do, particularly in my promise to not get drunk unless Mike is around for the entirety of my 26th year.  I admit it–my tolerance has suffered.

But this time of year is no time to be unprepared…in any aspect really.  From Drunksgiving on, your liver must be prepared.  Holidays = Excessive Drinking.

• First o f all, you drink because of the stress of preparing for said holiday.
• I mean, 8 hours at the mall on Black Friday and you’re damn well ready for a glass (read: bottle) of wine.
• And there’s always a casual drink turned into a binge when you stop by old friends’ houses to visit.
• Not to mention the appearance of Christmas Ale that we are all obligated to guzzle for its short existence each year.
• Then there are the Christmas parties:  the company Christmas, the significant other’s family Christmas, your own Christmas.
• Plus you feel like drinking when they’re all over!
• And then New Year’s Eve?

My liver ought to be in tip-top shape by the time 2012 rolls around.  Maybe that’s why we do it.  So we are all prepared to survive New Year’s Eve.

I have to say that I love these parties.  Last night, my co-workers and I went to the Winking Lizard for drinks after work.  Tonight, I’m going to a cookie exchange where there will be WINE!  Friday night is the company Christmas party (hibachi and sake…YES).  Saturday is Mike’s family’s Christmas.  Pretty much going to be drunk for 4 days straight.

Bring.  It.  On.

In a slightly unrelated (and wholly related) note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER JASON!  :-)  Getting old there, boy.  24.

 

No More Christmas Surprises

It blows Mike’s mind that I don’t care about knowing what all of my Christmas presents are.  And it drives my mother nuts that she never has anything to surprise me on Christmas morning anymore.  But the truth is that I just don’t care about surprises anymore.

I’d much rather know that I’m getting things I like, and that I won’t have to run around in the days after Christmas returning and exchanging things.  It really doesn’t bother me to know everything that is under the tree.  Plus it helps my momma out because I can run around and go shopping with her and not have to have her worry about sneaking presents.  It’s really a service that I do, ya know?  I’m just doing daughterly duties.  ;)

On another Christmasy note, and to conveniently help me be more womanly, I have been invited to a Christmas

Cookie Party.  Every person will bring a different type of Christmas cookie, a dozen for each of the attendees, and everyone will walk away with tons of cookies!  It’s a really cool idea and I’m pretty excited about it.  So this weekend, I’ll be seeing about some cookies, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to make these cookies to the right.

Oh the Christmas season is in full swing!

 

 

Shopping Success

We did it!  Mom and I have almost every single present bought for Christmas.  And wrapped!  The tree looks awesome.  I’ll get a picture of it when I go home next weekend.  I had so much fun with her, and with my poppa.  They’re the best.  Plus an unbeatable sale at the Gap.

I have a lot on my mind today.

I’m thankful that something worked out in my favor, and that an honest mistake was understood.

I’m excited to see Mike tonight.

I’m nervous for tomorrow.

I’m exhausted and ready for Christmas.

I’m high on carpet glue from the remodel ha ha.

And I’m hungry, so I’m going for sushi.

Later people.

 

Christmas Shopping with Mom Tomorrow

I’m going Christmas shopping with my mom tomorrow.  Mike’s hunting again, so I’m going to spend the weekend at home.  We like to get all the shopping done in one day and then wrap everything on Sunday so that all of December, our tree has gifts under it.

So if you need gift ideas for me, go to my Pinterest page (at the top of my blog!) and click on 2011 Christmas List.  I marked what I’ve bought for myself already.  ;)

LOVE!

 

Why the Hell Am I Crying…When I See Santa?

The other day, I was walking through the Sandusky Mall with my mom, dad, and Mike, and Santa Claus waved at me.  Immediately, I got all misty-eyed and I can’t figure out why.

It’s not because I am afraid of him.  I’ve never been afraid of him.  I love Santa.  The more I thought about it, the more I believe it is because he ignites in me a Christmas spirit that only children can feel, and excitement that has been sucked out of us adults.  I cried because I’m sad that I am no longer allowed to lose myself in Christmas magic.

Santa waved at me, and my heart started racing and my eyes got misty and I wanted more than anything to go back to the times when I believed in Santa.  Christmas IS exciting.  Christmas SHOULD make it hard for you to sleep on Christmas Eve.  There really is still a magic about Christmas.  I hope that this year, we all let ourselves realize that.

 

Oh Christmas Tree!

So she’s up! Not quite finished. We have a few more things to get and I’ll post more Monday.

For those of you who noticed, that is a cardinal.