Christmas 2013

 So we put up our Christmas Tree (Red and Gold this year) and its a fake, but I still love it. Jack and Charlie are really working out together. Jack is becoming more and more social and personable and loving every day. They adore each other. We had our first major snow storm and we got about 4-5 inches of soft snow. I also added to my chalk wall a "O Holy Night" Christmas tree. I think it turned out pretty good for being free hand.

8 days till Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charlie in the Snow-Apocalypse

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCsIVdtEW_0&w=560&h=315]

Snow Day!!!!!

Yesterday was my first official Snow Day! In my twenty some years of living I have never experienced this much snow. Yes it was only like 5 inches but still that is more than I have ever seen. It was everywhere!!! They let us go home early from work because the office was worried about the road conditions. Some people have 1 hour commutes to work so I couldn't imagine driving in snow and ice for an hour!! Scary!

I took advantage of my early day off and zoomed (not really) to the mall so I can get my hands on more BBW candles. I had a coupon, snow or no snow I was going to use this coupon! I made it there and back home just in time for the snow to really pick up.  What is a girl to do on a snow day? Of course me being the odd one that I am, I cleaned, I made my bathroom (minus the shower area) sparkle like a diamond! Two loads of laundry and a homemade meatloaf dinner! I was on top of the world and then I got SIS (snowed in syndrome) I got antsy and needed to go out!

We ventured out to Target and I couldn't  believe the amount of snow. It was everywhere on the road, in the parking, lot, highways and on top of cars. Is this really where I live??? We managed and when we got home we couldn't get up the driveway. We were stuck.........we had to dig the car out and the driveway to make it up and forward to the garage. That was interesting HA!!

This morning our phones were down so they opened the office at 10 am. The phones are still down and I have loads of  work BUT I had to post my first experience of Snow Day!!



This was a little after I got home.



This is Charles eyes my lunch. He kept getting closer and closer and closer until I caught him mid lick! Luckily no pizza was harmed.



This was in the evening. Not much of a change except that my neighbor shoveled a bit!

One Year Older One Year Wiser

Another year older, another year wiser. I can't believe another birthday has gone by. I can't believe this is my second birthday here in Saint Louis!!!!!  I still pinch myself.

My birthday weekend was absolutely lovely. Started off with me time on Saturday, family time and Superbowl fun on Sunday and of course I took the day off from work Monday because who wants to work on their actual birthday??? Not me that's for sure!



I had the pleasure of enjoying a nice breakfast and coffee at the Mud House. I told Chris I wanted coffee in a mug with a fancy design on top! My one and only request for my birthday (I am so easy-going) haha. My coffee was delicious and I also had the Veggie Sandwich and that was delicious too!. This place is a true gem shining away on the corner on Cherokee Street! I am so happy we came here.  They have amazing reviews on Yelp, so add them to your "Places to drink fancy coffee" list.



BUTT WAIT THERE IS MORE!!!.....My big present for my birthday was ..........drum roll please..........A BIKE!!!!!!!!!! I wanted a bike for so long. I wanted a bike in CA, I wanted a bike when we moved here. I complained about not having a bike here and in CA.  I became pretty annoying about the bike thing. Why didn't I get onE? because I did not want to spend the money on one and I didn't know much about bikes either.

Welp my annoying-ness paid off and Chris got me a bike, better yet he got me the bike days before my birthday and put it together in the garage and gave it to me a day early and not several days. This was truly amazing because he can't keep a gift a secret and he always shops the day of or the day before NEVER several days before! Double score!

I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous white and teal Scott trail bike!!! I love her!



 

My seat still needs to be lowered a bit because my pudgy short legs still  tip toe  the floor. I am so excited to ride it around the neighborhood and to Forest Park! I am even more excited to get cute bike accessories!

Also a birthday weekend would not be complete if there wasn't magical snow flurries falling to the ground!



Just breathtaking. It gets me every time! I still think its unreal that I live in an area where it snows and it looks like this afterwards!

2013

I cannot believe it is already 2013. As everyone likes to say, this year flew by so quickly!!!! I also can't believe I have lived in Saint Louis for 1 full year, 1 full year people!!! It still has not sunk in that this is my home. Many things still feel foreign to me but hey maybe this year that will improve.

One thing I have a hate and love relationship with out here is the snow. It is absolutely gorgeous when it snows and you see the snow flakes falling, masking everything in sight with white. I love when it snows. I hate being cold though. This is partly because I have not purchased proper snow attire to wear . I do not like having my car door frozen shut and I can hear the ice breaking as I open it. I do not like being cold in the snow. That is my only complaint other than that I wish It would snow all the time There is something truly magical about it when it happens.

I have not set any New Year resolutions yet. Lets be real, how many people actually reach their resolution goals? I sure as heck do not so I will be practical and set mini goals. First one being to get the house together so I can have people over for breakfast and tea and have mini parties. I want to have a Dance Central smack down with Chris's niece and nephew. That is another thing, we just purchased Dance Central for X-box and I LOVE IT!! Also everyone should start watching New Girl staring Zooey Deschanel. The show is absolutely hysterical and Jess is my new role model now!

Here as some of the things we have accomplished so far on the house.



My lovely 8ft Fraser Fir Christmas Tree. I made the tree skirt, it was one of my projects!



We finally painted the front door black. It looks so much better than the green.



This coffee table was my second DIY project after the tree skirt. I bought it off Craigslist along with a sofa table that matches it for only $25. It sat in the basement for a few weeks until I finally got around to purchasing Chalk Paint. I bought CeCe Caldwell's Chalk paint and painted over this sucker. I didn't need to sand or strip or prep anything. This is the before.....



And this is the after! I think it turned our pretty good considering I never refurnished a piece of furniture in my whole life. The color is Vintage White and I am very happy with it. The whole thing cost me about $75 to do which I think is justifiable considering a coffee table of this size and weight runs about $300. Yay go me!!



Lastly I leave you with this image. This is a shot of our street on the left side. This was during the first real snow fall this year. The snow makes the neighborhood looks so magical.

First Snow

Good morning!! I peeked outside the window to watch Chris drive away to work and to my surprise it had snowed all night. It was my first snow this year! Here is what I saw from outside the apartment.