Friday Confessional

First of all,  who gave Barack Obama my e-mail address?  Do one of you have something you'd like to tell me?  He emails me every day. I confess...I didn't even vote for him.  Is that too personal? 

Impulsive (along with an assist from Hotpants...yeah, I confess, I'm a name dropper, so what?) decided that we're going to end every tweet (twit/twat) with "BOO-YAH".  Just because.  An acceptable alternative would be "Ooooo, burn".  If you need any Twitter advice, just let us know, because it's obvs that we've got that shiz in the bag.

I confess I smell like hazelnut coffee because I spilled half of my cup on myself as I was trying to get in my office door.  Superb.  Osmosis does not work with caffeine.

I confess it's January 28th and my Christmas tree is still up in my living room.  I've been thinking of putting some red hearts on it and calling it "Valentine's Day Tree".

I confess that I'm a creature of habit.  Remember the store I mentioned in my Friday Confessional last week, Kum and Go? 

Well, it's a real store in my hood.  I frequent it often. 

I stop there at least 3-5 times a week for a cup of coffee.  A large 24oz coffee flavored with hazelnut creamer.  It lasts me the whole way to work and for my first hour or so at my desk.  It ain't the Bux, but it's coffee.  Small towners can't be choosey yo.

I confess that I am only answering Impulsive Addicts texts with emoticons. 

She was always taunting me with these little smiley faces and piles of poo...so, I had to be like her and get my own.  I'm hooked.

I confess that I went a little overboard at Amazon this week.  Between the e-books for my Kindle and my Twilight related purchases, I spent a small fortune.  DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.  It's a long freakin' time until 11.18.11.  I have to have something to fill my Twi-void.

I confess that I can NOT sew.  Brandy @ You Don't Know has some serious sewing skillz.  She said that it's not that hard...blah blah blah.  Whatevs, Brandy.  I've tried sewing before and I failed miserably.  I sewed this pair of "pants" and I say "pants" because they weren't really pants...well, I guess if your waist to crotch measured 3 feet and your legs were 1 foot long...then, yeah, they would have worked for you.  Here, I drew a little illustration for you:

That is all.

What do you confess?  Click on over to Mamarazzi's and link up.  Tell us all about it.  Make it good (and by good I mean bad) and juicy.  It'll make us feel better about ourselves.

JennyKate's Thoughts on Blogging - Part Uno

Hi.  My name is JennyKate and I have some thoughts on blogging.

Wrote a song about it.  Wanna hear it?  Here it goes.

OK, not really, but I have been thinking of some things and I decided to get them down on the blog for posterity sake.

The first thing I'd like to talk about is originality.  It has come to my attention this week that Bloggers become very offended when they know/think/suspect that someone has stolen an original idea and I totes understand that.  I do.  Really. 

The world of blogging is a funny place.  There are so many flippin' bloggers out there in the blogosphere.  It's ridiculous really. 

I found this quote on The Blog Herald, "I don’t think the blogosphere is quite mature yet. Technorati currently states it is tracking over 112.8 million blogs, a number which obviously does not include all the 72.82 million Chinese blogs as counted by The China Internet Network Information Center. Blog statistics often concern the English language blogosphere but we should not forget about the millions of other blogs that are not always included in estimations." That was dated February 2008.  So, you can imagine how many blogs there are today. 


Do you know how hard it is to be legitimately "original" when there are that many people doing the exact same thing you're doing.  I would say it's nearly impossible.  There is someone somewhere who has probably wrote about this exact thing.  I'm sure of it. 

I like to compare the world of blogging to Planet Earth.  We humans, who occupy Planet Earth, often start thinking that we're the only living breathing creatures out there.  We tend to think that there can not be anybody like us...no where, no how.  Srsly?  This is a big freakin' place.  There are millions of planets, solar systems, galaxies, and universes.  To think that we're the only living breathing creatures is being close-minded...and pretty egocentric.

Same goes for blogging.  I think a lot of us get this mentality that we're a BIG fish in a little sea, when really it's just the opposite.  We're all (even you...you Celebrity Blogger) just little fish in a BIG FREAKIN OCEAN yo.

There are probably thousands of people who have had the same idea as you. 

I always remind myself that there is someone who has said it better, wrote it more eloquently, been funnier, had more wit, and said it with more style than me.

We just have to be the best us we can be...and try not to step on anyone's toes while we're doing it.

But let me tell you, it's getting crowded up in here.

My Happy List - 01.23

Mamarazzi hosts a fun link party on the weekends called Mamarazzi's Happy List.

I love happy.
I love link parties.
I love Mamarazzi.


It's a no-brainer.

A few things that made me happy this past week are...

The snow.

I love it.  It makes me giddy like a school girl.  I love Isaiah having snow days.  I even took a snow day on Thursday.  Good times.

The Valentine's cupcakes are back at Starbucks.  *squeeee*  If you haven't had these, you must.  To die for.

I got to dress up in 50's attire today for Happy Days at church.

Uber fun.  I think I was born in the wrong era.  My saddle oxfords are so comfortable.

I'm totally going to rock them with some jeans or something...definitely going to figure out how to work them into my regular wardrobe.

This little guy makes me happy on a daily basis.

Our house is completely painted!

That makes me so so happy.

Tomorrow I'll be doing housework over at The RHOK.

Stop by, visit me, and join in our McLinky Monday!  

Friday Confessional

Oh, where do I start??

I have not even started on buying my Pinktastic Swap stuff.  I have thought about it, and I have a plan in my head.  No worries, Aubrey...I'll pull through for you.  Don't panic.

I took a Snow Day yesterday.  I was supposed to be helping Michael paint, but I didn't do much.  I kept telling people "WE" painted, but by "WE" I really meant "Michael"...it's code.  I did paint most of the living room walls.  Just call me "Van Gogh".

I went on a GNO w/ Impulsive last Friday night and we made her new Pocket Momma (that I got her for her birthday) and my one-footed Pocket Edward do bad things.  Our waiter was trying to get us drunk.  He forced us both to order doubles...against our will. 

I left my debit card in the ATM machine last Friday morning.  I didn't even know about it until Sunday afternoon, when a mom of one of the kids in Isaiah's class called me and asked me if I had left it.  She had turned it into the bank and it had already been shredded, but at least some dishonest person didn't get their hands on it.  They could have ran up a large tab at Kum & Go.  I would just like to note this as a perk of living in a small town.

I have not been on my best blogging behavior lately.  There is a whole folder full of unreturned emails...comments awaiting replies and replies awaiting comment.  I am going to try to do better.  Swearsies.

I ate 1 1/2 donuts this morning.  My FA thanks the guys in drafting for their Friday donuts.  It would not be quite as substantial, if it weren't for those damn donuts.

Hope you all have a FABULOUS Friday! *muah*

For more Friday Confessionals, go visit Mamarazzi.

A Winter Wonderland Baby Shower

A few months ago, when my cousin Lindsay announced that she was having another baby girl, I went into hyper-speed-baby-shower-planning-mode.  I know that they only make it home a few times a year and I couldn't let her NOT have a baby shower...so, we (me, my mom, and my cousin Kristen) hurried up and planned her a Winter Wonderland themed baby shower for the day after Christmas. 

Now, I do not recommend this.  It was tiring, exhausting, and stressful, but we had no choice.  They were home for Christmas and not expected to visit again until AFTER the baby is here...so, the day after Christmas it was!

Here's what it looked like...

The Food.

The Cake.

I bought a bunch of onesies in different sizes and paint pens and I had everyone make the baby a onesie.

Everyone was so creative and we had a great time doing them.  They turned out so cute!  She'll have her very own unique onesies for at least her whole first year.

Here's the one I made.

A few more scenes from the shower...

 Shower favors.

I didn't get to do everything on my HWTM (hostess with the mostess) list, but it turned out great and Lindsay got lots of great gifts.

What do you think?

McLinky Monday – 5 Things I Can No Longer Do

Well, I like to think that I can do anything I put my mind to, but truth is I’m not as young as I once was.
I’m not sure if there is anything that I just absolutely CAN NOT do, but I probably don’t do them as well as I used to...and shouldn't.

(That’s the understatement of the century.)

I definitely can NOT cheer, jump, kick, tumble, or do stunts like I used to.

I did, however, recently pull off of a stunt while volunteering at the school for PTA.

(excuse the bad photography...we were only equipped with an iPhone)

That’s what us PTAers do in our down time. We relive our old cheerleading days.

I can’t jump on the trampoline for very long. I’ll pee my pants.

Speaking of peeing my pants, I can NOT hold my bladder. I WILL pee my pants. It’s happened.

I can NOT depend on coffee to keep me awake. I think I’ve built up an immunity to it’s effects.

I can NOT just dye my hair just for the sake of a color change…it’s a necessity. I have grey hairs, y'all.

All this talk makes me think of that Toby Keith song…I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.

What are 5 things you can no longer do?

Stop by The RHOK and join in our linky! 

Friday Confessional

I confess that I'm doing Mamarazzi's Friday Confessional instead of my normal Friday Confessions, because I'm a follower and because it's more fun playing with friends.  I'm a people person.

I confess that I'm going out with Impulsive and our girl Mona tonight.  Patron or Captain might show up.  We'll probably start throwing around nicknames like Skillz, Slush, and XRated and there WILL be a discussion about Swingers.  That's all I can say.  The rest in confidential.

I confess that I've made up for my lack of Starbucks last week.  I feel totally accomplished.  I would also like to go on record and say that I like the new Starbucks logo.  They, of course, consulted me first.  I am a Gold Card holder and a member in good standing of the Starbucks Passion Panel.

I take my obsessions, addictions, and distractions VERY seriously.

I confess that after my last post on The RHOK the other day about The Great Kid Debate, I felt like I had jinxed myself.  So, I would also like to confess that I was praising Jesus this morning when Aunt Flo came to visit.

I confess that I listen to Justin Bieber's (and Ludacris) Baby at least once a day on my iPod or iTunes.  In the words of a wise (often drunk) friend of mine, DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.

*opening iTunes, going to playlist titled "That's My Jam", hitting play on Baby by Justin Bieber (and Ludacris)*

I confess that the winner of the $10 iTunes card and $10 Starbucks card is....

*drum roll, please*

Robin from The Robin's Nest!  Congrats, Robin!  Send me your info and I'll get your gift cards in the mail to you!!

Thanks to everyone who commented! 

Hope you guys have had a great week and a fabulous Friday!♥
What do you confess?

Pinktastic Swaptastic

Mamarazzi is having a pinktastic swap and I’m participating!



WHUT?! WHUT?!

It’s gonna be fun y’all.
(Paula Deen just took over my blog)

~jennykate♥

A Phineas and Ferb Birthday Party

Saturday morning I woke up and said...

Ferb, I know what we're doing today!

I planned a Phineas and Ferb party for Isaiah's birthday.  He's nuts about that show and I had the most fun planning around the theme.  It was a win-win!

I couldn't find any invitations and I had thought about ordering some off of Etsy (there are several people who sell custom Phineas and Ferb invitations on Etsy and Ebay).  I just couldn't find any that were exactly what I was wanting and I was on a short time frame.  As usual, I had waited until the week I needed invites sent out to find invites.  So, I went to Office Depot and found some fun paper, snagged a cute/wintery Phineas and Ferb pic from the Internet...wrote up a little invite and inserted the pic and voila...

Invites on the cheap.

I was able to find TONS of decorating stuff on Party City's website (click HERE).  They had a great selection and great prices.

I was up in the air about the cake until the last minute.  I just couldn't decide what to do with it.  There were so many possibilities.  I could have went with something from the theme song.  For instance, I had thought about having an Eiffel Tower cake made and putting Phineas and Ferb scaling up the side...or I had thought about having a Yeti cake made and putting Phineas and Ferb around the sides giving him a shower.  The wheels in my head were turning, but I really didn't have the time to wait much longer, so I just had a simple Phinea and Ferb-ish cake made at my favorite local bakery (Merritt's for all you local peeps...they never disappoint). 

It wasn't elaborate or anything, but I thought it was cute and went well with the rest of the decor.

Isaiah made it known that he wanted to build "contraptions" like Phineas and Ferb, so I set up a table with all sorts of craft/building materials.  The kids had a blast using their imaginations and putting together their very own contraptions.

We also had a couple of games.

Pin The Tail On Perry was fun! One of the perks of my job is working with a bunch of drafters.  We have a huge plotter at our office and one of the guys printed Perry out for me, but you might be able to have it printed some where.  I found a pattern for a platypus tail on line and saved it, colored it orange, printed them, and cut them out.

Find the Lawn Gnomes was a hit! 

I told them that the EVIL Dr. Doofenshmirtz had STOLEN all of our lawn gnomes and we need them back!  I sent them on a hunt for all the lawn gnomes they could find.  Prior to the party starting, I had went around and hid 40 lawn gnomes all over...under tables, on walls, under chairs...anywhere inconspicuous.  They had fun finding them and they were rewarded with mini chocolate bars. 

For the lawn gnomes, I just found a picture of one that I liked online, saved it to my pictures, a printed them out on card stock.

I also set up a Dr. Doofenshmirtz Laboratory and performed a couple of experiments. 

We inflated a balloon with vinegar and baking soda and made green slime!  It was SO cool. 


I'm not sure who had more fun them or me!  LOL.

We served cheese pizza and carrots w/ ranch dressing, at the request of the birthday boy.  I was going to serve grilled cheese because P and H's sister, Candace, loves grilled cheese.  I was going to cut them all into fourths and put them on a skewer.  Grilled Cheese on a stick!  Sounds cute, right?!  Isaiah INSISTED on cheese pizza.  Oh well. 

We also had a yummy Sundae Bar and a Candy Bar.  The kids loved making their own sundaes. 

Their favor bags consisted of Phineas and Ferb stickers and tattoos, pencils, sticky hands, a compass, Phineas and Ferb fruit snacks (found at Wal-Mart and Target), and a Phineas and Ferb Mix CD.  For the CD, I just downloaded about 10 of Isaiah's favorite Phineas and Ferb songs onto iTunes, made a playlist, and burned it to CDs.  I found some really cheap CDs at Office Depot (10 for $1). 

Every kid also got some cool shades just like Phineas and Ferb wear (found them at amazon.com).

(the two adorable children above are courtesy of my one of my best friends, blogger at my3ellas.

I think it was a success. 

I know the birthday boy had fun...he said, and I quote, "it was the BEST day ever". 

That was what I was going for.

I'm sorry if you tried to click on the link to my last giveaway from yesterday's blog post.  I forgot to link it up.  So, you can click HERE to make sure you entered.  Promise.  It'll really take you somewhere.  Not over the rainbow, but it will take you to my giveaway, which is just a $10 Starbucks card and a $10 iTunes card and another little surprise...no bluebirds flying and it wasn't sang about once in a lullaby.

I don't know what the heck I'm talking about.  Just go enter my giveaway.  I'll announce the winner in Thursday's blog post.  Hope you're all having a great week so far.

Paying It Forward

Paying It Forward.

I've thought a lot about this topic lately. 

When I say that I would rather give than receive, I really honest-to-goodness mean it.  It makes me feel good.  Maybe that's why I enjoy doing giveaways on my blog so much.  It just feels so darn good to give.

I'm really sad to say that I recently missed out on an opportunity to pay it forward. 

I was standing in line at Wal-Mart.  It was on Monday, after a long day back at work.  I really just wanted to be at home, with dinner already on the table, but I was stuck in line waiting to pay for my groceries.  The lady in front of me was paying with an Access Card (our state welfare/DHS food program) and it always seems to take longer.  She had already scanned it twice and then the cashier had to scan it in for her.  When it was all said and done, she still owed thirty three dollars and some change.  I could tell that she had a little bit of money in her hand, but when the total came up, she was short.  She laid down some dollars and started counting out the change in her wallet.  I felt the urge to give her some money then, but I didn't want to embarrass her or make things awkward.  So, I didn't do anything.  Then, she handed the cashier a bag back and said to just take them off...it was enough, so she handed the cashier what money she had counted out, got her receipt, and left.

I wish I had just handed her some money.  I'm not sure if what she handed back to the cashier was necessities or not.  It's more about the principal.  She was in a bind and I had some extra.  I should have paid it forward.

I'm saying all of this to say that I won't let that happen again.  If I get the opportunity to pay it forward, I'm going to do it. 

I'm making it a New Years Resolution.  One that I plan to keep.

We had the opportunity to pay it forward on The RHOK blog last month.  You can read about it HERE.  It felt good. 

Have you ever paid it forward OR been the recipient of someone's generosity?

P.S.  I'm giving everyone a little extra time (due to my bloggy break) to enter in my giveaway.  Go HERE to comment and enter!  You'll have until Wednesday, January 12th, to enter.  I'll announce the winner on Thursday, January 13th!

Friday Confessions

• I'm playing Fantasy Bachelor.  I told Michael and he rolled his eyes.  What?  If he can get all wrapped up in his Fantasy Football League, I can play a little Fantasy Bachelor.  Are you watching Bachelor??  Any early picks?
• I'm terribly scared to step onto the scales in my bathroom.  They are probably going to give me some error message...or they may start talking to me and their first words would probable be "get off, fat a**".  I've GOT to get back on track.  STAT!
• Funny story.  My cousin and I use the initials "FA" for "fat a**".  Around Thanksgiving, she was in visiting and we were standing in my mom and dad's kitchen talking about what we SHOULDn't eat, gaining weight, holiday dieting plans (that we didn't keep), and mentioned our term "FA" in the midst of it all.  My uncle, who was eavesdropping on our convo, piped up and said "what's "FA"?  Is that Spanish for something?"  Bwahahahahaha.  I guess it does have a Spanish flair.  Try it..."FA".
• I've already regifted two Christmas gifts.  I think they were totally appreciated by the recipients.  Do you do that?  I think it's just wasteful for me to keep things I'm never going to use.  I feel like I'm doing a good deed by regifting.
• Ready for my first Starbucks confession of 2011??...Here it is:  I haven't had Starbucks in almost a week.  I hope they don't break up with me.

Hope you guys have a FABULOUS Friday and a wonderful weekend!

*muah*

Bloggy Break

Bloggy Breaks...isn't everybody doing them?

I'm not trying to fit in or anything.

I just seriously need a few days to catch my breath from all of the holiday hoopla, birthday bonanza, and end of the year INSANITY.  Isaiah's 7th birthday was yesterday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my inquisative, empathetic, rowdy, sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, always inventive SEVEN year old.  I can't believe I've been his mommy for 7 years.  I'm blessed.

His party is this Saturday and I'm in full-blown party mode.  Putting the last minute touches on a fab Phineas and Ferb party.  I'll be sure to share some pics and details next week.

Plus, we're ALMOST to the painting phase on the house!  Hopefully I'll have some house updates for you next week.

It's going to be a busy weekend.

I've got a couple of blog posts saved up, so it'll seem like I'm here, but I'm really not.  Well, I'm sure I'll log on from time to time and I'll still lay in bed reading all of your blogs while I fall asleep, but you might not hear back from me until next week. 

Hope you're all having a super first week of 2011!

Loves♥

McLinky Monday - New Years Traditions

Today on The RHOK, Mrs. Priss wants to know how we spend our New Years Eve...

how we ring in the New Year...

She asked,

Do you stay up until midnight?

Do you get together with friends?

Do you have any New Year's Eve or New Year's Day traditions?

Did you make a list of resolutions?

Did you eat black-eyed peas?

Well, Mrs. Priss, let me tell you, we are Party Animals...witha capital "P" and "A".

If you consider staying at home playing a mean game of Guess Who being a Party Animal,

or watching Ryan Seacrest and NKOTB on television being a Party Animal,

OR seeing the ball drop in Time Square from the comfort of your couch being a Party Animal,

OR toasting with Sparkling White Grape Juice (OK, and maybe a little champagne for those of us who are over 6) in fancy glasses being a Party Animal...

OR popping poppers out your front door and blowing horns and wearing shiny hats and yelling HAPPY NEW YEAR over and over and over being a Party Animal...

then, yeah we're Party A-N-I-M-A-L-S.

We also eat LOTS of black eyed peas.  I just ate some that were left over for lunch today.  We also make resolutions and talk about new goals for the new year.

I think it's a consensus around our house this year...#1 resolution...FINISH THE HOUSE!

I also have the revolving resolutions, you know the ones that are there EVERY year...lose weight, be healthier, save money...blah, blah, blah.

Here's to more happiness, opportunities, open windows, good cups of coffee, great books, ingenious ideas, witty inventions, health and prosperity.

Hope 2011 is your best year yet!

So, how do you ring in the New Year?

Stop by and let us know at The RHOK!