The continuom of organization depends upon my husband.

So here’s how things in the townhouse have been since we moved her last April. When we moved in, everything under the sinks, in the closets, & even my tupperware & groceries were organized. Then D fudged it all up, being the man that he is. I reorganized it, he fudged it up again – rinse, lather, repeat.

Being all down about some issues going on in my life right now, I decided to go get my nails done. THEN I found out that my favorite nail salon has closed. Thanks, US Economy. So instead, I went to my favorite store: BIG LOTS. I was really looking for wall decorations, maybe an entertainment center, & a cute Easter wreath.

What I DID find was some new hot pink tupperware (just the lid, not the whole thing – you don’t really think I’d do that to D do you?), some stackable baskets, & some other portioned out tupperware (I have been looking for this ALL OVER, because D loves these old portioned tupperware my Maw Maw had just like them – at). So this morning, my job was simple: organize underneath the bathroom sinks & organize my tupperware cabinet – as well as seperating MY tupperware from MY PARENTS tupperware that D just used to throw under there (lets face it, D is a man & couldn’t tell the difference between Ziplock & Glad if he tried).

Here’s how it all worked out:

Downstairs bathroom sink: All tall able-to-stand items on the top basket, random mini things (such as hand sanitizers, hotel shampoos, razors cartridges, etc) in the bottom basket, hair tools & large/boxed items on the side.

Same as above: tall able-to-stand items on top, smaller items on bottom, boxed/larger on the side. All that's missing is my makeup bag, which will fit easily into the extra space).

The first half of my tupperware cabinet. A lot of the original tupperware we bought when we first moved out isn't really stackable - not a good idea when you have a limited amount of space. Luckily, we have the space. It's just a pain in the ass when D throws it down there & becomes jumbled. All container tops are on the top shelf in larger containers, so he'll just have to sift a bit!

Thise side doesn't actually hold much tupperware at all, except for Donald's new portioned containers. What it now holds are my nice serving platters, glass vases, & decanters. Much easier to see where all of that is, now that tupperware is not overflowing onto that side.

This is all of the tupperware that belongs to my mother & Maw Maw that D just threw under there for whatever reason. So, I supposed I'll be returning it today while in search of a new nail salon!

While at Big Lots, I also managed to find this cubby hole shelving unit-thingy (for only $99!) that could probably actually hold our television. It has nine (or maybe it was twelve?) cubby holes & a flat surface. Inside the cubby holes, I’m sure our cable box, DVD player, etc. would fit as well as some movies & decorative items.

I’m thinking about buying it, but I need to check with D first & make sure he likes it. Last time I chose something he didn’t like, I heard about it for weeks – even though he knows ZIP about decorating & I hadn’t even bought it yet. He is also the reason that we now have four media-holding piece in our living room – he buys without asking. I also need to make sure the cable box (which is length-wise the biggest piece of electronic equipment we have) will fit into one of the cubby holes.

I am also waiting on my new end tables & coffee tables, which we are getting from my grandmother. They are over 30 years old & don’t have a scratch on them. I believe they were hand carved, & they are just GORGEOUS. They also have deep drawers, which I could use to store some of Donald’s game-station things. I’ll also have another spot to put photos, which I am desperately in need of! Previously to my grandparents moving in with my godmother, I had searched high & low for similar tables with no results. But when she decided to move, she offered me the tables & I was ecstatic. Not only is it something of my grandmother’s that I will treasure forever (seriously – they have survived thirty years of baby spit up & chewing, as well as children knocking into them.), but it was exactly what I was looking for in terms of living room furniture!

I think this is the most I’ve written here in a long time. Now it’s time for me to go return that tupperware & get some pretty nails! (:

xoxox,
britty!

Easy Beef Stew

Ingredients
-2 large potatoes, peeled & diced
-1 small bag baby carrots
-1 cup chopped onion
-2 lb stew meat
-Dried parsley
-Italian seasoning
-Garlic powder
-Beef stew mix
-3 cups water

Directions
01. Heat large pot over medium-high heat.

02. Add diced potatoes & cook three minutes:

03. Add baby carrots & cook three minutes:

04. While potatoes & carrots are cooking, chop onion.

05. Add onion:

06. Cook vegetables two minutes longer, add stew meat & seasonings (parsley, Italian blend, & garlic powder):

07. Cook ingredients until stew meat is browned.

08. Add beef stew mix & water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer 45 minutes or until meat is tender:

09. Serve over rice, salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy!

This recipe is so super easy & quick to make. Literally I prep my ingredients as other things cook & cleanup is simple & done in less than half the cook time. Thumbs up to my mother-in-law for this one.

Dreams

If you want your dreams to come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.

I truly believe this. It’s why I signed up to take online Paralegal courses. I will never get out of my crappy job in the medical field without some type of certification or degree. I want to be able to help my kids through college, even if it’s not the whole way through. I want them to have what I never did. I want to be able to take fun vacations with my husband, our future kids, every single year. I want better than what I have now. And starting those classes? That was the first step. I just need to remind myself that I can do this.

Project 365, After Christmas Woes.

Among other things, I decided to participate in Project 365 this year. I think it will be interesting, & I’ll have a lot of photos to look back on later this year. I made a separate blog, so that it didn’t take up all of my posts. You can find it here.

Now we discuss my after Christmas woes:
Woe #1. Weight gain. I have probably gained about ten more pounds since Thanksgiving. I blame this on all of the yummy goodness my Maw Maw so lovingly bestows upon us every year.
Woe #2. The removal of Christmas decorations. First of all, I LOVE Christmas decorations. Especially the lights. They are my favorite part of the holiday season. But what is worse than everyone else taking theirs down is that this means I must take mine down. This is no small feat. It means wrapping each and every piece of my Christmas village in tissue paper to protect it, putting all the Hallmark ornaments in bubblewrap and into their correct boxes, & hoping the others don’t just shatter. It also means taking down my Christmas tree. Which is just a pain in ass in and of itself. But the biggest pain of all is FINDING A SPOT TO STORE IT ALL IN.
Woe #3. All of the good sales are pretty much over by this point. We’re now into the first week of January, & the retail stores have taken down all of those beautiful red signs advertising sometimes-awesome, sometimes-just-ok pricing. BOO.

So there you have it: my three major after Christmas Woes. And my new pet project.

2011 Is Almost Here!

This year has been full of ups/downs for me. Let’s review:
-Anthony Scott Rizzuto & Brynn Carrington Dunn were born.
-My cousin announced her second pregnancy, right after the first baby (Reese cup) turned one.
-Serious argument with my cousin regarding care of my grandparents, that ended with her trying to hit me & my mother & her fist fighting.
-Celebrated my fourth anniversary with Donald & our first wedding anniversary.
-Jasper turned 1! My little chihuahua is getting so big!
-Have been actively trying to conceive since January.
-Joined Reader Service, which is probably the best thing I could have done in regards to books. 6 books a month/$22? AWESOME. It also stops me from buying more expensive books from Barnes & Nobles as much.
-Began planning my trip to see my best friend. So excited it’s almost here! 13 DAYS!
-Had it out with both of my in-laws during & after their divorce. We’re ok for now, but my MIL still makes me itch sometimes.
-Got my first Coach purse EVER, from my awesome parents & little brother! And it’s PERFECT, it’s huge with lots of pockets!
-Went to Jacksonville with Donald for our wedding anniversary, & fell in love with lighthouses. I think every vacation we go on from now on, we need to have a lighthouse nearby!
-Made a year at my job, even through all the craziness & drama that goes on there. I bitch about it a lot, but I really do love it.
-Started online classes for Paralegal Studies through Penn Foster.
-Moved into a bigger apartment, with the hopes of a little one coming along eventually.

And now, my 2011 resolutions:
-Lose 25 pounds.
-Do yoga every morning before work, and Jillian Michael’s at least 3 days a week.
-Read at least 50 books, and keep up with the SG Book Club.
-Keep a handwritten journal.
-Save at least $50 a month towards purchasing our own home.

Christmas Eve With The In-Laws

So, my in-laws came over for Christmas Eve, since Christmas Day will be spent with my family. And since my in-laws are now divorced, it was much easier than making trips to 3 houses in one day.. not to mention my mother-in-law was going to her sisters also.

My mother-in-law made jambalaya for dinner, while I provided a veggie tray, salsa, homemade Rotel cheese dip, chips, & some yummy cupcakes I made. My father-in-law brought two bottles of very awesome wine. It’s called Blufeld and is a medium sweet Riesling. I think it may be my favorite, & from what I hear this specific wine is only about $8/bottle. Drinking it with the jambalaya wasn’t great, but it was fine on it’s own & with the cupcakes! Here is a link to Snooth’s profile on it.

Now.. on to the goodies! Here’s what I/we got:

Don got me Mulan & Tinkerbell: Lost Fairy Treasure. My mother-in-law got me Tinkerbell: Great Fairy Rescue

My mother-in-law also got me a 3 pack of long fuzzy socks – just what I need for my trip to North Carolina! My brother-in-law gave Don & I are $25 AMC gift card, which we are planning to see Black Swan with, & my father-in-law gave us a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. I think the Wal-Mart gift card will likely go to this set for our bedroom. We really need dressers, our bedroom is SO BARE & I’m running out of closet room at an alarming rate. Haha.

Now, I’m off to watch Tinkerbell: The Great Fairy Rescue. I’ll be sure to update with our other wonderful gifts when we get home from Maw Maw & Paw Paw’s!

Christmas Party Office Fun!

So today was our last day of work before our three day Christmas weekend. Yay for Christmas falling on a Saturday! This being the last time we would see each other before Christmas, we had our annual office Christmas party in our waiting area.

At 2:00 we were finished seeing patients for the day & we shut our phones off for an hour. Everyone brought out the yummy goodness they had made, & Dr. Water’s hubby brought us some Zea’s chicken & ribs. It took about 45 minutes or so for everyone to eat. After we ate, we all exchanged gifts with our Kris Kringles.

Let me just tell you. All week LuLu & I have been talking shit about our KK’s. How horrible they were because we were the only two people in the office who had only gotten a gift the first week. It was then revealed to me that she had known who her KK was the whole time. It was Vee, our co-worker who had resigned mid-KK activities. But, she would be coming to our party so she was forgiven because LuLu would get her specials there. Still no word on my KK. But then gift time came. AND OMG.. LULU WAS MY PERSON. She explained she just kept forgetting to bring it, between her second late night job & being a single mommy. I forgave her, & she forgave me for talking shit about her. I LOVE HER.

After we exchanged gifts, we played Dr. vA’s French Shoe Game. Best game ever, for realz. You don’t have to be five years old, or fifty years old. You’re going to enjoy it no matter what. He sings this little song & it’s basically musical chairs.. with shoes. Bahahaha. We get SO SO SO competitive. Seriously, last year I had bruises from Dr. P’s little girl Amelia hitting me with the shoes. They didn’t go away for over a week. Luckily, little Amelia was not there this year so I am without bruises.

On to the pictures.. and my loot! Warning: Our doctors spoil us. We heart them. Lots. They paid for my groceries this go round. You’ll see how below.

These were my two small gifts from LuLu from week’s 2 & 3 of our KK Exchange. I got a reindeer-with-a-snowman body ornament that lights up purple & red, as well as a cute polar bear jar filled with Butterfingers & Starbursts. She knows of my love for Butterfingers.

This was my “Big Gift” from LuLu. A $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble! I’m very lucky to have awesome friends, & this will be put to use for my trip in January to North Carolina to see my bestie. I will definitely need reading material for the duration of my flight/lay overs. My card is sparkley too. I love sparkles & glitter!

This was from the doctors. We all got one. I’m so excited that they’re adding to my Christmas decoration collection! I needed more SO BAD. My mommy will probably be jealous when she sees this. Santy is enjoying his new home on my bar-counter-window-lookie-loo thingy.

Pack of 3 Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizers. LOVE. I LOVE THESE. I see a lot of patients, and even though most of them aren’t sick I have become a serious germ-a-phobe. Also, a $100 Vanilla Visa Gift Card. Hence, the doctors paid for my groceries. Oh, how I love them!

This is Gema (Santa Hat) & me. I had Gema for KK. She liked her makeup. Gema looooves makeup.

These are our four full-time doctors. We also have two others, one who works on Fridays & one who works Mon-Wed who was on vacation this week. L-R: Dr. W, Dr. vA, Dr. P, & PD. PD is my fave. He’s awesome.

Dr. P & PD playing the famous Shoe Game.

Dr. P trying to hit PD after she so obviously is the next person OUT. She tried to blame him, and not her inferior skills.

Dr. P still trying to explain herself.

So today was an AWESOME day. No work drama. Fun & games. YAY!

Also, here’s a photo of our Hallmark ornaments for this year:

L-R: Jasper’s “Forever Friend” Ornament 2010, my Bluebell Fairy Ornament 2010, & Donald’s Jack Skellington Ornament 2010. We just need to get a photo of Jasper to put in his ornament. (:

Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes

So, tomorrow is my office Christmas party. We see patients until 11:45, then as soon as the docs are done we all file out in the waiting room & eat, play games, & do our final Kris Kringle exchange. The docs buy the main dish (which this year is Zea’s grilled chicken & BBQ ribs.. YUM) & we pot luck the rest. I decided to bring brownies, but since I knew I was going to be baking them after work I didn’t really want to do them from scratch. So I decided on a box of Pillsbury Cheesecake Brownies. Two of my favorites mixed together, totally has to be awesome.

Then I got home tonight, & realized “OH NO!” because I had brownies still in my brownie pan. There’s no way I was shoving them down my throat all at once, & I didn’t feel like dirtying another plate anyway. My decision? Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes, & I could just cut them in half to make more servings. I doubt most of the office would eat them anyway, we seem to have some very picky eaters & very few cheesecake lovers. Here was my process.

I started with all of the usual ingredients. I figured I would do a smidge of decorating with Pillsbury Easy Frost Frosting & some chocolate sprinkles.

First step was to preheat my oven. The box says 350 degrees, but my oven is wacky & electric so I always do 25 degrees lower. I also had to use some baking spray on my cupcake pan. Since I was cutting in half, the brownie mix had to go directly into the individual cups with no liners.

Next step was to mix my brownie mix & cheesecake mix (for some reason I had a brain fart & only took a photo of the brownie mix – not that you’re missing much. haha.):

Then I had to pour my brownie mix into the pan, & spoon cheesecake batter on top of the brownie mix:

The box then tells you to run a knife through to create swirls. I was unsure of how this would work, since I was doing individual brownies as opposed to a full pan. So, I started in the middle and moved my knife in a swirl pattern such as the following:

This was the outcome (you will notice I ran out of batter before I could fill the final cup):

Pop them into the oven:

Cooking time was somewhere between 15-20 minutes, I’m not sure of the specifics. I just kind of checked them every now & then. After I took them out, I used a knife around the edges of the pan for easy removal & used the same knife to cut the brownies in half. I put them on my pretty glass platter, and use my Pillsbury Easy Frost Frosting & chocolate sprinkles to decorate some of them. Here’s my finished products:

I am having a really, really hard time not eating a whole brownie right now. I love brownies. I love cheesecake. They are my two major weaknesses. I could literally eat a whole pan or cake all by myself, in one sitting. Luckily, my husband helps with that little problem. My brownies up there are far from professional, but I bet they taste AWESOME.

Celebrity Boyfriend – Allen Haff

Name: Allen Haff
DOB: 10/15/1969
Age: 41
Short bio: Born & raised in Michigan. Owned his first antique company by the age of 24, after buying & selling his way through college. Volunteers for several animal support groups. Best known for television series “Clean House” & “Auction Hunters”.

My Unrealistic Christmas Wishlist.

JSYK, it’s highly unlikely that any of these things will be under my tree. Everyone is giving me money to spend on my trip to North Carolina to see my best friend, her husband, & their child.

This is my dream house. It is two stories, four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, with a large backyard and lovely kitchen area. It is literally 5 seconds away from my parents & I could ideally raise our future family here. Oh, & I’m sure Jasper would appreciate the real back yard.

Mazda X9. I have been in love with Mazda’s for the longest, especially their SUV’s. Simply put, my little 2004 Oldsmobile Alero is going to be a pain in my ass when it comes to babies & car seats.

An hot pink iPod. I couldn’t even tell you if I want mini, nano, whatever. As long as it is hot pink and holds music it would work for me.

Michael Kor’s Faux Tortoise Watch. I have been lusting over this watch for a ridiculous two years & am no closer to having it in my grasp. DAMN.

It’s a purse & it’s by Coach.

It’s by Coach, matches the purse I want by Coach, & can hold a checkbook. Important, because I am one of the very few people in their early 20-something’s that even use checks.

For those occasional nights out with my friends where I really cannot be bothered with that beautiful masterpiece shown above.

Before I go any further with this wish list, let me make one thing clear. I am OBSESSED with Swarovski. I ooohhh & aaahh every single time I venture into my old workplace. I miss it so much, sometimes it hurts. I have a figurine they gave me when they hired me & I plan on collecting them eventually. I’ll be the old lady with fifty million knick knacks around every nook & cranny of her house. This one is, cutely, called “Blowing Kisses”.

Did I mention that Swarovski also does jewelry?

Or that I have a charm bracelet by them that needs adding to?

These are gorgeous. And would go PERFECTLY with my long growing hair.

I just like stackable rings. Yay Swarovski for making them!

I also like pink and hearts. I could easily wear this ALL THE TIME. I adore it.

And so, that concludes my unrealistic Christmas wishlist. I hope you enjoyed drooling over the pretties!