NEWS FLASH: Still scared of fireworks

I can't tell if this face is cute or more along the lines of "Omg I'm about to kill the neighbors because they bought everything in the freaking Phantom Fireworks store."

Your call.

Patience, friends!

Christmas music go date is set! Hold the carols, the high pitched children and the sugar cookies until November 25th, please and thank you!

Having a December birthday has taught me to respect the seasons, and also exhibit self control when it comes to things of a holiday nature. I have a natural instinct to avert my eyes from anything Christmasy (think pure thoughts, kids!) I mean, Thanksgiving would be really thankful if you didn't get too wrapped up in your Christmas lights before the big Turkey day!

My name is Thanksgiving, and I approve this message.

When is your Christmas festivities go day? September 1st? I need to find others who defend the pure innocence of Thanksgiving!

TO A SPARKLY FIFTH

I tell you, there is nothing more depressing than a rainy 4th of July! Actually wait! The only thing more depressing than a rainy 4th is a rainy 4th with thunder and lighting . I mean, on the quintessential summer holiday, where picnics and sunscreen are required by unspoken law! Rain can really dampen the mood, if you know what I mean.

So on July 5th, the sparklers were lit. And on July 6th, a blog post was written!

I'm so glad I have my priorities straight.

As for the rest of you, hope your holiday was slightly less rainy and that you got your sparkler sparkle going ON the appropriate day. Or really either way, I hope you ate a hot dog in my honor!

BOOM. CLAP. THE SOUND OF MY HEART. 
(YOU CAN FINISH THE REST....)

A peek into 4th's past! {2011} {2012} {2013}

Christmas is for cookies!

Happy Eve of Eve friends! After being up for 23 hours yesterday, today seemed like the perfect day to share a cozy cookie recipe. You know, for munching on as you curl up on the couch with cocoa and a sappy movie. Staying up for 23 hours is optional and not advised.

CHOCOLATE MINT CRINKLE COOKIES

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon pure mint extract
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Step 1

   Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring.

2. Step 2

   Whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a small bowl.

3. Step 3

   Whisk together granulated sugar, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in melted chocolate and mint extract until smooth. Stir in flour mixture. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.

4. Step 4

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in confectioners' sugar to coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes.

5. Step 5

   Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely.
   
   
   
   
   
   Serve with a cup of cocoa and and a side of Christmas carols! And share with a fluffy puppy and you'll know what Christmas cheer is.
    

ON THE 11TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS....

A few days ago Mom and I were listening to the radio and the announcers said something about last minute shopping and We were just like "Heck, we have not even STARTED Christmas shopping!"

But really, doing anything Christmasy before December 10th would really be a sin in our house. Except of course, dreaming about what you'll get for Christmas, as that is acceptable ALLLLL year. As of yesterday, we have a tree! 11 days before Christmas, that's how its done.

▲▲ This is the point where I apologize for the ugliness of this photo, but I love it so! On my birthday Emily came over and we had a fondant Santa competition which quickly turned into a snowman and gingerbread house competition. Pictured is Emily's penguin snowman/hybrid (it's a new breed, still in the development stages. Will let you know when they're available in the freezer section.)  Not pictured, my snowman with a toothpick in his eye.

▲▲ Puppies like Christmas trees! Yay! I didn't even pose them for these, which I guess by now they just nap in photogenic places. Train them young, I say!

▲▲ Uber Cliche lights photos. But isn't that what Christmas is for? That and eating cookies.

For those of you interested (Hi Mom! Hi Grandma!) I was quite handy and created a Christmas  tag in which you can view more poorly edited Christmas photos. Enjoy friends!

 “Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more....”

In which we pick pumpkins!

An awkward photo! But what else would one expect?

So the other day, yesterday actually, we went pumpkin picking! At first we set out on our bikes ready to ride the "patch" in quotation marks because it was publix. We city folk can't be picky! But low and behold, we apparently have a pumpkin patch, A REAL ONE, less than a mile from our house! Which was helpful in the end because riding with a 10 lb pumpkin in your bike basket is risky business.

 What can I say, I like to live on the wild side! Having a pumpkin in your bike basket is practially the definition of risk.

▲▲ Is there something about wearing plaid whilst pumpkin picking? There must be some unofficial rule that when ever one does anything fallish they wear plaid. On the hunt for a plaid shirt, starting now.

▲▲And here's punkin' transportation, island style!

On a final note, we are doing great with Holidays! We had a Christmas tree last year, WE DECORATED IT (major score!), we went outside for fourth of july and now I have a pumpkin! (named penny!) This is our greatest streak and maybe we'll make homemade stuffing for Thanksgiving! Clearly, we are on a roll.

XOXO and cheers to pumpkins and patches and all things fall!

A very dry Fourth of July!

While telling a friends mom about my 4th of July habits which include a.) covering my ears b.) hiding under blankets c.) cowering in closets or d.)all of the above. And her response? "I've heard of dogs like that."

So yep, me and the dogs.

That's why this 4th of July was monumental! I was outside! All night! On a boat for that matter, so of course I really had nowhere to go. But then again, there was always the option of a swan dive into the river. However, after much internal debate I decided that a dive would mess up my hair, so I opted for the air dry fireworks view. And so what if I was a basket case....at least my hair still looked good.

And huge kudos to Emily for letting me use her camera for a bit since I was too lazy to bring mine. Nothing like an honest friendship right?

And now, some pictures of me looking like an alien/Frankenstein half breed. Sorry not sorry, I was desperate. Then again, maybe I should have revisited my swan dive plan?

and that kid's, is a Fourth of July well done. So happy I have this blogdidty to remember 4th of July's past. Kudos and Kit Kats to you!

(whatever.)

And a flashback to {2012} and {2011}

PS: And see Emily's 4th pics HERE.

The day the tree came down

I don't know why, but I got SUPER sentimental with our tree this year. Maybe because it was our first tree that was like "I'M NO WUSS" or something, or maybe because I got to pick out the ornaments. And they looked like gumdrops. Ooomph.

I'm just trying to say that I hugged our tree so many times that it's actually quite embarrassing.

Anyway, I took a bunch of photos while we took down the tree. I think it was to distract me from crying and getting all sentimental. Who knows - next I'll make a photo album with these pictures and print a bunch and put them in my wallet. "Here's my dog, and, my Christmas tree!!" Another distraction would be that I edited the living daylights out of these suckers. I was an emotional wreck - what else could I have done?

And after we finished we went and watched Toddlers and Tiaras and all was right with the world.

(That is, until Honey Boo-Boo came on.)

Happy Day

From the Sophster and I,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

_______________________________________________________

This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ. - Frank McKibben 

______________________________________________________

Hope you all have an amazing day. See ya in a few!

XOXO, Elfity Elf.

And this was our Thanksgiving

The love of family and the admiration of friends

 is much more important than 

wealth and privilege.  

-Charles Kuralt

It wasn't very normal, but it was ours.

Happy Thursday to you! xoxo

Happily Fragrant

I adore fragrances. Incense is for hippe-ish people, but fragrances are for girls of all ages (and men if they are brave souls. But I'm not encouraging it.)

 I have a long history with fragrances. First of all, I've been addicted to lip gloss since I was a little girl. ( i like smelly lip glosses, thus their appearance on fragrance day.) Second, when I was about 8, my grandpa let my cousin and I loose in Ulta. He can't smell. He knew that we'd used every perfume in the store, but he didn't know how horrible we smelled! Everyone was gagging when we came in, and Kare and I were quickly forced into the shower before everyone else suffocated.

That being said, I've never been in an Ulta since, and I've been a little more conservative as far as perfume goes. But I still love it. I am loyal to bah and body works. They have wonderful smells and the best coupons! I always end up going back because I have a coupon- their marketing is working very well. But not for my wallet.

My fragrance day adventure today was just a trip to Bath and body works for some candles and lotion. It was the darn coupon. How can I let it go to waste? Especially when there's free lotion for the low price of $10? I went at a good time, I got the store manager and she was nice and helpful. I am realizing now I should have wished her happy fragrance day, I know she would have been enthused. I always forget to tell people I'm celebrating, but usually I'd don't want to. Bravery is not my thing. Despite forgetting that, my fragrance day was a great success. I got my candles and Aruba Coconut Lotion ( groovy name huh?) and I celebrated amazingly.

So before I forget again, Happy Fragrance day!

Sincerely,
Filled with fragrance 


PS: Not literally.

PPS: my dream job is to come up with cool names for things like lotion, candles and paint. I read an article about it in Martha Stewart and I know I would be amazing at it.

PPSS: here's all the fragrances I've used today:

A nice random selection.

Bloom

Okay, so I finally celebrated plant a flower day. One week later. But at least I did it. I am the type of girl who once I decide I want to do something, I persist until it gets done. At first, Dad said no(ish) but last night we made it to Lowes and picked up some little flowers ( oh, and yes, I grabbed a bunch of paint chips to add to my collection.)

So I planted my flowers like a flower planting pro. I watered them like a pro. Then my punk came and dug a huge hole and broke a bunch of my pretties...like a pro. I think I need to train her to be a little more unprofessional in her methods, that might save more of the flowers next time around. Anyhow, I salvaged most of them and Sophie went back to chasing lizards. Then Bubbles came, and in the same pro like manner as Sophie, attacked the same plant and dug another hole. It will be a miracle  if these flowers last a week.

I love how they pretty up the yard. I feel all springy now, with the  great weather and Easter being right around the corner and now the flowers are the icing on the cake. Oh, and I have peeps. Peeps are the official food of spring.

Have a super duper Sunday! And I hope I don't sound like an 8 year old, but I mean it.

My so called helper. 

And the other helper."

Leprechauns and Luck

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

There. I said it. Can I be finished being festive please? I obviously love holidays and celebrations, but for some reason, Saint Patrick's Day is not my thing. Maybe it's all the green? I have an extremely low affinity for all things green except for certain shares of chartreuse and lemongrass. It's also the day that lucky people celebrate - but I'm not one bit lucky so I feel left out. But then again, there's a reason there isn't unlucky day, so I guess I could celebrate anyhow because I wish I was the lucky type. I'm not doing anything really Irish themed today. Other than liking potatoes, I really have nothing in common with Irish people. We just don't relate, and I am okay with that. But I did have green s'mores today so I'm counting that as my super celebration.

Let's talk leprechaun. They are the one cool aspect of St. Patrick's Day. If they did dishes, they'd be even cooler. Everyone gets to make up their own idea of what leprechauns are like. In my world, they are short, talk with hilarious accents, do dishes and are always very complimentary. They wear green tights (they are very into fashion obviously as colored tights are in!) and weird outfits. What's your view of a leprechaun? I love how I'm telling you what something non-existent looks like. I'm just preparing you in case non existent becomes existent. I'm just here to help. That way, in case you happen to see a short man with green tights buying potatoes at the grocery store, you'll know who it is.

What are you doing this St. Patrick's Day, anything fun?

Sincerely,
Unicorns are a leprechauns main form of transportation.

Ps: oh, one more thing, I'm not wearing green! Yippee! No one in our family pinches either. But I'm afraid that when we go out later, random strangers will pinch me. I do not care for random strangers touching me. It's so uncool, even if it is St. Patty's Day.

UPDATE: By the way, I wore my most favorite shade of green today in public. I didn't want to face the pinching wrath of strangers. I loved seeing how many people wore green. And all those who didn't are very uncelebratory!

Update #2

Yes, I'm posting about Make your own holiday again. I asked quite a few people and I have gotten some responses. I am hoping for more, so if you have any ideas please leave it in a comment.

Here's what's in the running (PS: If you emailed a suggestion that is not on the list, its probably because that is already a holiday.)

• Iron Chef Day
• Give your dog (or pet) a manicure day
• Minecraft day 
• Tomboy day
• Pamper Yourself day
• Count your freckles day (was this already a holiday?)
• Sports day

Please, please, please come up with some more great ones!

Oh, and while I'm not sitting in a dark hospital room, I still think this needs something fun...

 

The mirror in the bathroom at the campground we stayed at was obviously weird. It was so funny just to stand and try all these really weird poses. It was hilarious. Happy day!

First Orchid

My little resolution to have flowers around has been going well. I'm not sure when I'll get to the completed phase, but at the moment I love having flowers in the house. Since my Valentines Day tulips, we've had 2 more sets flowers - which is really impressive for us. And we got orchids! I love orchids, but I've never actually had one. My dad's boss sent it to us, and the best thing is that we can (hopefully) keep it alive and always have orchids around. Mom and I are going to let Dad handle it,  he's got the green thumb. Ours our are a lovely shade of black.

 

Sorry about the light postings - I promise to get my celebrations into gear. Hope your Wednesday was fantastic! xoxo

Update

Just wanted let ya know, I put up the list for this month. There are some really great days - so get celebrating!

xoxo, kryn

PS: Click the image to get to the Celebrations page.