Just Because

A couple of nights ago I walked in to find these:


Why? Just Because ...

Because he knew it had been a long day at work
And because he thought I needed a reminder of how much I am loved.

I love him ... why?

Just because.

Tea Time

As part of my mom's Christmas present I scheduled to have a "tea party" with her. Saturday was our official tea time. It was SO much fun! We went to Protea Cottage up at Gardner village. It was adorable... the tea room is tiny and cozy. They have hats and scarfs for everyone to wear - so we picked out hats and sat down! Don't we look so proper?


The food was DELICIOUS! So amazing... When they first dropped it off I didn't think it was very much, but it was SO filling. Their scones were amazing, the sandwiches yummy ... and the desserts a chocolate-y haven!! We didn't have tea (I think it is disgusting ... there is nothing grosser than peppermint-y hot water) which I think the ladies thought was weird. We sat there and talked for 2 hours!! It was so great ... we don't get an opportunity to do that un-interrupted very often ... so it was priceless time.

Then we looked around a bit up there (and picked out all kinds of decorations my mom would love for their next house), and then headed south.

We stopped at DSW Shoe warehouse and ULTA Cosmetics. My mom always seems to bring good luck with finding good deals. I found these shoes ... at a killer deal!


Guess how much I paid for them? They were originally $80. They were 70% off ... then I had a $10 coupon for joining their rewards club ... and a $15 gift card from a return ... so I paid a total of .88!! AMAZING!! (Jeff keeps pointing out that technically we paid for the $15 item I returned ... but that was months ago! So I don't think it counts anymore :)!) And aren't they super sexy? I love shoes ... it's a huge weakness!

Then I found a beautiful lipstick at ULTA... and my mom was so nice - she bought it for me! It's super cute ...

Overall, it was such a fun day with my mom!

Wal Mart

Is there any worse place on the PLANET than Wal Mart? My aunt once told me Wal Mart was taking over the world. I laughed then ... but I am beginning to believe her! Yet I continue to shop there ... my excuse is that it is one-stop-shopping (which appeals to my time-crunched mentality) and close. Target is 25 min away and for some reason that seems much more overwhelming to fit into my schedule.

When I walk in to the Wally I seriously have a physical reaction. Weird, I know. But I get dizzy and an instant headache (ask Jeff, he has witnessed this reaction). I also have a tendency to get irrational ... but I'm not sure what we can pin that on :). Then I wander around trying desperately to check my list a million times so I don't have to backtrack at all. All the while wondering about the phenomenon that is Wal Mart.

Some things to ponder:

*When you provide no quality and you don't care what your customers think how do you survive let alone thrive?
*Why is the lady at the pharmacy (the pharmacist -helper?) staring at a computer and not paying attention to the fact that I am standing in line ... and have been for several minutes? (And only moments later) Doesn't she see I am holding out my credit card for her ... why is she talking to her other pharmacy-helper and completely disregarding my presence (I even got off my cell phone like the sign asks!)
*How are they out of everything on my list ... spinach? cream of chicken soup? worcestershire sauce?
*What possessed them to pay to re-model the store and paint the food section school bus yellow? (And you wonder why I get a headache)

And yet I continue to go back ... at least they are cheap :)

On a much brighter note ... my adorable hubby took me to see Bride Wars this last weekend (such a trooper) and we loved it! It is funny, touching, and totally chick-flick predictable :) My favorite!

Gym Rats

Jeff and I - like millions of other overweight Americans - have joined the gym. This is partially a New Year's resolution ... but it's been coming for a while. December was just too busy to join (but not too busy to spend time eating ... do we see a problem?), but now we are proud owners of Gold's Gym memberships.

We have been a few times since joining. Monday, I went to my first Pilates class. I'm a big believer in Pilates - I love it. It is hard (painful) enough for me to feel accomplished, but I don't have to sweat too much.

I'm not sure if the teacher was trying to encourage us or discourage us ... but here are some things she said on Monday ... and my reaction (in my head of course).

(Before class starts) "Wow, I went to a couple of classes over the break and realized I must just be a hard teacher, because they were so easy" GREAT ... I'm going to die.

5 min. into the class we are "warming up." I whisper to my friend Anne, who is torturing with me, asking how long the class lasts. She responds a full hour. I decide then and there I will probably die.

(About 15 min. in) "This one never gets any easier" Encouraging ... especially since I am trying to keep the ginormous exercise ball under my feet (while laying on the ground) and it keeps rolling away. If I can't do the exercise and it doesn't get any easier what does that mean?

(About 30 min. in) My thighs are starting to quiver. I didn't know muscles could actually spasm so quickly after beginning a particular exercise.

(About 45 min. in) "Wow you should really be feeling this one in your butt." AND in EVERY other inch of my body.

(During every exercise) "Two more times" Maybe my counting skills aren't up to par, but my idea of 2 more times and her idea of 2 more times were DRAMATICALLY different.

(10 min. before we finish) "Little circles with your legs; isn't it amazing how something that seems so simple could be so hard" And I would add HURT so much. At this point I was doing like HALF the amount of exercises she was. And had decided that walking the next day was a moot point.

And the stretching lasted WAY longer than it should have ... but it meant I had survived.

Weirdly enough ... I'm going back for more tonight!

Wish me luck.

Christmas and California!

Isn't Christmas always the most wonderful day of the year?! We had such a wonderful time. We slept late and then opened our presents from each other.

Our favorites from each other:

*Ari - a gorgeous purple pea coat from Jeff ... and a beautiful coordinating scarf

*Jeff - Yellow I-pod ... need I say more?

*Ellie - Peanut Butter treats (I would say her new sweater, but she spends more time trying to get out of it than she does actually wearing it)


Our parents/family members were all very generous and we got so many fun gifts! A big thank you to everyone!!

Then we went to San Diego for a little getaway just the two of us. It was lots of fun!

We loved:

*Coronado Island ... we went 3 times!! Such a beautiful beach! We walked down in eating the most delicious ice cream ... and had to go back to see the Christmas lights ... and again just to walk the ocean. Fun fact: There is an ICE SKATING rink on the beach. It's tiny ... but wow. We were going to ice skate, just to say we did. Then we found out it would have cost $50. Call us cheap, but for some reason that just didn't sound like a good idea.

*Putting our toes in the sand ... it is so relaxing

*Eating at In N Out Burger ... twice!
*The San Diego temple - SO beautiful!! Nice little old lady temple workers are the same everywhere, which is so comforting isn't it?

*Little Italy ... very tasty!
*Old Town ... this is where they claim California began. Side note: There is a cool Mormon Battalion history site (I have been before) so Jeff and I went looking for it. It wasn't where it was a few years ago ... so figuring we were lost we asked. Apparently they leveled it to re-build (we did see the hole). So if you are going in the near future strike that off the must see list :)

Strange things we noticed about CA:

*Orange Cars are popular. We had an orange rental car. I thought, wow, they must have made this a rental because it is such an ugly color no one would by it. I was wrong. There were several types in the SAME and other shades of ORANGE. Wow.
*They also believe that snow boots and pea coats are winter fashion. They just missed the memo that 60 degree weather does NOT call for said clothing. I'll admit it was chilly, but no where close to that chilly.
*In N Out is ALWAYS busy. I figured it was because I always went to them in places where it is the only one. But they are everywhere in California and still insane and all hours of the day.
*They haven't heard that smoking is really, really bad for you ... detrimental even.

Overall we had a wonderful Christmas break ... some much needed R&R. Now it's back to work for us!