Baker Barbie

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening finishing baking for Christmas.  I made Christmas sugar cookies, rugelach, a wreath shaped carrot cake, gingerbread and cornbread for the dressing I am going to make today.  Ken even took pictures of me baking.  It's not something he sees me doing very often.  Actually, I think it's the first time he's seen me bake anything or even spend very much time in the kitchen at all.  He doesn't believe I always bake this time of the year and was a little concerned about the mess I was making in the kitchen.  Well, I think I'm finished until next year and I cleaned the mess!

Actually, I don't know if anybody will eat any of it.  They do taste better than they look if you can get past the look part.  I'm not really good at frosting and decorating.   It looks like a group of preschoolers got ahold of the wreath cake and slapped some finger paint on it.  I don 't really know how that one tastes.  The gingerbread came from a box so it tastes pretty good.  Not much damage I could do there.  The Boy says the sugar cookies aren't sweet enough.  I think they could use a little more sugar, but overall they aren't bad.  Too much sugar is bad for you anyway.  I don't want the Boy to get cavities.

Today I tackle the cornbread dressing and the casseroles.  This is kind of strange that I am cooking all of this for Christmas when I never cook during the rest of the year.  Lucky for me I can get recipes from the internet.  My mom told me not to put sage in the dressing even though the recipe calls for it.  I just bought a new bottle of sage that I have absolutely no use for except for this dressing.  I told her I'm going to have to use some of it now.  What else will I do with the sage??

Ken is doing the turkey and I bought a honey baked ham from the honey baked ham store.  Those hams are delicious and I can't do any damage there.  No sage on the turkey.  We had rolls leftover from our party that we froze, so we are defrosting those and some leftover tea cakes.  Those came from a local bakery.  No sage on those either.  Mom should be happy.

Love These MK Rain Boots

Today was a rain boot kind of day.  It has been raining here all day long.  Yuck!  I have had these Michael Kors rain boots for almost three years now and love them.   I first saw them on a Sales Associate at Saks Fifth Avenue.  The Saks where I live didn't carry them so I started looking online.  It was right before Christmas and most places were sold out.  I found only one pair and it wasn't my size.  I thought I had waited too late and would never find a pair in my size.  I looked at other rain boots, but these were the ones I found that I really, really wanted.

I didn't give up.  Right after Christmas, I finally found a pair online (I think on Zappos.com) and ordered them.  I have been wearing them whenever it rains ever since.  I get lots of comments on them, some not so complimentary from Ken.  He laughs at me when I'm clomping around in them, but hey, my feet stay stylishly dry!

The other day I went into a local grocery store and was checking out.  I was wearing my black Ugg boots at the time, not the Michael Kors rain boots.  The cashier tells me she found a pair of boots just like mine.

 Confused, I say, "The Uggs???"

"No," she says, "the Michael Kors rainboots.  I saw you wearing them the other day and looked all over for a pair and finally found some and ordered them."

I really never knew she paid that much attention to me or my shoes, but I knew exactly how she felt.  I felt the same way when I saw them on the woman at Saks.  I had to have a pair!

      See Ken, these clunkers are way cool!

Find similar here

The Boy Made It Through First Semester!

I am so proud of the boy.  He actually passed all of his classes this semester with a 2.62 GPA.  The only class he didn't do well in, which brought the GPA down under a 3.0 was the Intro to Music elective he took.  He actually made a B in English Comp!  A B in Calculus!  It's a miracle!  Thank god for Ritalin!  He got through high school drug free, but with lower grades than he probably would have gotten if he had taken the meds.  He was diagnosed with ADD in 4th grade and put on Adderall.  His grades went up immediately.  He went from never reading anything to spending hours in his room reading Tom Clancy novels.  I couldn't believe the difference.  However, he started complaining about stomach problems so we had to change the meds several times before we ended up with Concerta and now Ritalin.

The Boy - thinner and more educated ...

When he started college he decided to start taking a very low dose of Ritalin whenever he needed it for classes or studying for tests.  So far, he hasn't had any stomach problems or headaches except for the last days of finals when he didn't sleep for 48 hours, staying up to study and write final papers.  For now he is off the Ritalin until school starts back in the spring.  He's also lost several pounds instead of gaining the freshman 20.  He points this out to me constantly.  Ken (aka the Murph) and I should have never told him about our 20 pound freshman weight gain.

Personally, I don't think he's getting his money worth on that all you can eat meal ticket at the cafeteria.

Merry Christmas Cat Song

I found this video while searching for Christmas songs on Youtube.  These kitties are so cute I just wanna give them a big squeeze.

I wonder if I can get the Jazz cats to sing Christmas songs like these kittens.  Cadence and Boo probably, but not Phantom and Ed.

Missing My LV

Pictures are all I have left of my Louis Vuitton handbag that was stolen from my car last week.  I would love for the thugs to be caught.  I am now back to the pink Coach handbag I purchased two summers ago in Key West, Florida.  I love the handbag, but it just doesn't seem right carrying it around during the winter.  I gave my other Coach handbag to my sister-in-law when I got the LV bag.   It was the small, beige tote bag.

I went to Saks Fifth Avenue to look at replacing the LV handbag.  Actually, I thought maybe I would get an entirely different style.  Maybe something black or at least the darker brown ones.  I have seen some I like on the LV website, but I didn't really see any at Saks that I liked better than the one I had.  It was the Galliera shoulder bag.  It was huge and I loved it!  I had the wallet to match which was in the handbag when it was stolen.  While I loved the bigger size, I am thinking that smaller might be better.  I won't be able to stuff as much in it which is safer apparently!  I should probably just head to TJ Maxx and get one of those handbags.  That's where I use to buy all my handbags.  They were good for about 6 months before they fell apart and then it was easy to replace them.  And cheaper...

Aqua - Barbie Girl (My Theme Song)

I have this song on my Ipod workout songs playlist. The Boy rolls his eyes.

Love These Guiseppe Zanotti Shoes!

Last March I saw these Guiseppe Zanotti shoes at Saks Fifth Avenue in Atlanta and just had to have them.  The Murph was in a really good mood that day so even though we were looking for shoes to wear for the wedding, he bought me the Zanotti shoes too.  It was actually a very good day for me because I ended up with a really cute pair of Christian Louboutin heels, a pair of champagne Jimmy Choo heels and this pair of Guiseppe Zanotti heels.


I decided I wanted to wear them to a Christmas party Friday, but they are such a different color that I didn't really have anything to wear with them.  They are sort of a rose gold color with stones that look sort of silvery grey and a hint of lavender and pink.  I took one of the shoes with me and met the Running Nazi to do some shopping.  I found this sparkly pink dress at BeBe's that look awesome with the shoes.  Pink and sparkly!  So me!  Gold or champagne would probably have matched the shoes better, but I don't like gold that much and champagne can be a little washed out looking.  I love the pink and it complimented the shoes really well.   I also bought another pink non-sparkly dress that looks good with the shoes and a scarf print halter top from Cache that I can wear with skinny jeans and the shoes for a more casual look.  I LOVE these shoes!  My all time favorites.

Jazz Cat's Relaxing On Their Favorite Christmas Comforter

You can always find Cadence in the dark.

I bought this comforter last year at Pottery Barn.  I think it is perfect for Christmas.  I love it!  Obviously, the cats love it too!

Home From College

Almost a semester's worth of laundry.

The Boy arrived home from college last night with a load of laundry.  I think he's washed his clothes maybe twice since he started school last August.  I was actually pleasantly surprised that he actually loaded it all in his car and brought it home.  I could just visualize the piles of clothes thrown all over his dorm getting moldy over the holidays, roaches making cozy little homes among it.

Phantom was really glad to see his boy, but he went territorial on poor Ed and Boo again.  They were sniffing the Boy's laundry and Phantom chased them away.  He's been keeping an eye on them all morning.  I already had to squirt him with water once to leave them alone.  He's been so good lately too! Now poor Ed is back to hiding under the upstairs couch and I think Cadence has been going psycho and chasing Ed and Boo around at night after we have gone to bed.  He got locked downstairs with Phantom last night.  We need a cat shrink in this house.  We need some cat interventions!

The Boy had three finals on Wednesday and called me while I was at the gym after the first two finals.  He was wound up and said he hadn't slept in 48 hours because he had two papers to write and studying to do for these last finals.  He had one more left and then he was done.  I talked to him for an hour while I tried to do cardio.  Then he hung up to have lunch before the last final in a 1 hr Reading class he was taking.  He told me he was heading home after a club meeting he had the next morning.  I was expecting him home around 1p.m. yesterday.  When I didn't hear from him and I could see his computer was still online, I knew he hadn't left.  About 3 p.m. when I hadn't heard from him and he hadn't answered my calls or texts or skype I became worried and left a message for one of his friends who is at the same college.  I was just about to call the police when the Boy calls me.  He had fallen asleep around 8 p.m. the night before and slept until after 3 p.m. the next day!  19 hours!  I never did that when I was in college.  He better have made good grades on his finals.  I don't see how anybody could take finals with no sleep though.  Crazy kid!

Cat with thumbs tops TBS review of the funniest commercials of 2011

I guess it could be worse if the jazz cats were like these cats....


Cat with thumbs tops TBS review of the funniest commercials of 2011

New Gym

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Well, the Murph and I joined a new gym yesterday.  It is smaller, but cleaner than the old one and has surveillance cameras in the parking lot.  I am so glad I don't have to go the the old gym.  I personally never liked it and only went there so I could work out with the Murph.  It was his gym.  Now we have a gym of our own at least temporarily until we move.

I had to cancel everything and get new cards, license, etc but it hasn't been too bad I guess.  I just hope they catch the thugs who are doing this and put their loser butts in jail.  Businesses need to always have cameras both inside and especially outside.  It might not stop the idiots from stealing, but it will certainly help to catch and identify them.

I don't like getting my purse stolen, but a least now the Murph is convinced we need to change gyms.  That's very good!   Goodbye sucky, old, stinky gym!

Treasures Or Just Plain Hoarding..

I was going through several boxes today trying to clean out things and consolidate and realized that maybe The Murph is right.... I'm a hoarder.  A border-line hoarder, not a full blown hoarder, but a hoarder just the same.  My hearts in the right place though.  I found everything from just about every postcard/card/letter ever sent to me while I was in college from my friends and family, including my grandmother who sent me a card every week with money inside to my old college id card.  I had the Playbill to the first Broadway play I ever attended, O Calcutta.  I have every report card I ever got from elementary school through college and an assortment of diaries from the 1970's and 80's with stupid stuff written inside them.  The Murph says I am officially a "nerd".  He also looked at some of my college pictures and noticed some "Madonna" similarities.  Very funny that he should notice.  I was all about Madonna when I was in college in the mid-eighties.  Yes, I was THAT person!

Now I have added all the cards I ever got from the Murph along with all my other "treasures".  I am sure he feels very honored now that his letters and cards are squeezed in a box next to my old diaries....

Not A Good Day

Today has not been a very good day.  While at the gym this morning, somebody busted out my car window and grabbed my purse which I had hidden in the back seat.  I had put it under a jacket and my gym bag so whoever broke in must have seen me get out of the car.  Either that or he just saw the gym bag and decided something must be under it.  The gym bag and my jacket were left in the backseat and our cell phones were in the front undisturbed.  Only thing missing was my purse, wallet and everything else that was in the purse.  This happened in broad daylight, right in the front of the gym in the parking lot.  Crazy!  Hopefully, my insurance will cover most of the items that were taken and a new window for the car.  I will probably not get anything back.  I don't think police take that as top priority.  That's probably why thugs keeping breaking into cars around that area.  They know they will get away with it.  Why the gym doesn't have better security to protect their customers I'll never know.  I 'm not going to be a customer of theirs anymore that's for sure!

First "Annual" Christmas House Party

Last night the Murph and I had our first "annual" Christmas house party.   I think everybody had a good time.  I know that the Murph and I had a great time with our friends that we haven't seen in a while.  What a busy, busy week it was with the final moving, repairing and closing on my house and then preparing the Murph's house for the party.  I am glad we had all the decorations finished Thanksgiving weekend.  The Murph started cleaning Thursday afternoon while I was at closing and then Friday we had our designated food items to pick up.  I think it turned out pretty good.  We had about 20 people with lots of beer and wine and way too much food.  We've been eating leftovers all day today.

The last of our friends left after 2 a.m. so we didn't get to bed till late, then we slept in and stayed home all day.  We didn't even go to the gym to workout.  I'm still in my pj's.  There was an amazing amount of empty wine bottles scattered throughout the kitchen this morning.   We forgot to put any non-alcoholic drinks in the cooler, but nobody asked for anything so I guess everybody was ok with the beer and wine.  Finally got a picture of my best buddies, the Running Nazi and the Babysitter and me all together in one place with make up on and no running clothes or pony tails.  I didn't get any pictures of the food or any in the kitchen or dining room where the majority of our friends were hanging out.  We were too busy having fun and I totally forgot to take pictures until the end of the party.  Oh well, here's all the ones I got, not very many.  I will try to do better at the Murph's annual Super Bowl party.

The Babysitter, The Running Nazi,  Barbie

The Babysitter, Barbie, The Murph

Throwing the empty wine bottles away...

Good bye House!

Busy day today!  Finally sold my house and had the closing today.  Now I am totally focusing on the holidays and then we wlll get the Murph's house ready to put on the market next year.  I am hoping to be somewhere tropical by the summer.  Yea!

We had to get the Boy's 1996 jaguar towed because it has been sitting in the yard for a year and the battery was totally dead.  Couldn't even open the trunk to get to the battery to charge it.  Now they are saying it needs a new alternator and the total cost of towing plus recharging battery and replacing alternator it $445.  A lot for an automobile the Boy was planning on selling for under $2,000.  It's one thing after another!   At closing, the buyers said they were kind of hoping I would leave the Jag there for them.  Funny!  I don't think the Boy would have liked that too much!  Of course, now we have this alternator issue.

So good not to have to worry about my house anymore.  It needs a family with small children.  It was a great home for me and the Boy.  The new family is young and is just starting their family.  They have a new 3 month old son.  The house is perfect for them,  Yesterday the Murph and I were at the house late waiting on the painters to finish the ceiling that the Murph almost fell through while cleaning the attic the other day and we saw the mother deer is back.  This time last year I had a mother deer and two babies that would come into my backyard at dusk.  I left deer food and water out for them and a salt lick.  Apparently, she or one of her offspring is back this year.  I told the new buyers and they were excited.  Hope they feed them!

I will miss the house for sure, but I am ready to move on to the next adventure.

Goodbye House!

Goodbye guest bathroom!

Goodbye guest room with the same curtains that were in the house when we moved in 20 years ago....I'm thinking the new owners might want to go with plantation shutters....

Goodbye office!  Sorry about the patched holes in the wall where we had to go in to save the baby squirrel....

Goodbye Master bedroom!  I really enjoyed this teak floor.

Goodbye Gala Pink Master Bath!

Goodbye Boy's room minus the red, white and blue confetti wallpaper and the airplane ceiling fan...  he grew up!

Goodbye Living room!  Hope the green furniture and rug enjoy their new owners.....

Goodbye Family room!   This leather furniture is one of the few things I kept despite friends and family that wanted it when they found out I was getting rid of things.  Even the new buyers asked if I was leaving it.  Sorry!

Goodbye Kitchen!

Goodbye Breakfast area!

Goodbye Dining Room!

Goodbye Foyer!

Goodbye Half Bath!

Goodbye Room!

Goodbye House!



(sorry I got a little carried away here!)