Golden Globes : Nudes on Parade

The flesh-toned dress was back again this year at the Globes. I have to say, this is a trend I am tired of. Some of these women worked it, while others flopped. All in all though, I think most of these dresses would have been more successful in a richer hue:

Heidi Klum. eh. Like the necklace, but bored with the dress

Amy Poehler - easily one of my favorite actresses/characters of all time. Dress. eh.

Elle MacPhersen. Looks fab for her age... dress. Pretty.

Oh dear me. Not a good look.

Julie Bowen. LOVE her. Not loving that dress.

Kate Beckinsale. One of the few nude dresses I actually liked.

Katherine McPhee. Blech.

Mary J. Blige. Now, I love that she always stays true to herself. Still hate that dress.

Piper Parabo. Now, this is probably the worst pic of all time... bit the dress still sucks.

Vintage Valentino. One of the best in the bunch of nudies.

Don't know who she is, but I do not like this dress

Julia "Gigi" Ransick. Love her. Totally get the need for the embellishments and high collar (she's currently undergoing treatments for breast cancer) but I still wish her dress had a color. Just think how fab she could have looked in a hot pink or cobalt blue or even that crazy yellow that was all over the red carpet. *sigh*

Golden Globes! Best Dressed

It's awards season!! Are you as excited as I am??? I LOVE watching the red carpets and over the past few years this has basically become a tradition for my mother-in-law and I and I love. love. love it! Last night at the globes there were so many fantastic dresses and fantastic flops that I cannot pack it all into one post. So, be prepared, for all out Golden Globes red carpet bonanza! I figured I would start off with the top of the class. Today is focused solely on the Best Dressed:

Sofia Vergara. She can do no wrong people. No wrong.

I didn't even recognize Ariel Winter from Modern Family. What a great look for a 14 year old! Love it.

Claire Danes in always classic black and white. Not loving her hair and lips, but the dress = flawless.

Stacy Kiebler had arguably the best accessory of the night - Mr. Swooney himself.

Diane Lane looking elegant in gold. She is ageless.

Evan Rachel Wood taking a risk in feathers. Totally paid off for me.

Kate Winslet - not her best look of all time, but still va va voom in some black and white.

Laura Dern. Whoa mama.

Octavia Spencer. Lovely in lavender. She really chose a flattering dress. Love her. Loved The Help! 

Paula Patton.  Dress was fantastic and I think she was one of the few women to actually pull off this vibrant yellow.

Tina Fey. She's come a long way ladies. How hot was she last night?!

Michelle Williams. Adorable in purple. Just wish she had chosen a different hair accessory.

Reese Witherspoon. She was smoking hot in this little red number. Marriage agrees with her!

The charming Uggie from The Artist. So freaking cute!!

Anxiety

So far, in the last 24 hours:
- I discovered water damage and mold under my couch
- I shrunk a brand-new shirt
- I lost $5

This week has certainly not started out on a positive note. Since it is the New Year, I had decided to try to be more positive overall in my life,since I often find myself dwelling on the negative. Well, God is certainly challenging me this week. The hubs takes another CPA section on Friday, which adds to the overall stress hanging over our house right now. Basically, we are stressed, we are worried, and now we have moldy carpet. It's a lot.
I found these verses today and I think I need to hold tight to these words this week and really reflect on them.

1 Peter 5:7 - Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Romans 8:8 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Matthew 6:27 - And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 

Philippians 4: 6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

New Year's Resolutions!

Now, I know that New Year’s Resolutions are not for everyone and that some people (like my loving husband) seem to think that they are pointless. I, however, do not think they are pointless and am going to make some! I am sharing them here to be accountable to them. I am not going to be a January gym addict that gives up at Valentine’s day (but gosh will I be thankful when the rest of them do!) 

I am looking at this time of year as a time to re-evaluate myself, my character, and my goals and as a time to start fresh with a clean slate. 2012 is going to be a promising, positive, and successful year.  So, as a part of my clean slate of 2012, here are my resolutions: 

First, lose that last 10lbs and get to my goal weight and be overall healthier! (I know, I know, it is everyone’s NYR to lose weight, it is still a good one!) 

Try one new recipe a month OR make one pinterest project per month AND blog about it

.

Read 52 books this year. (I came close with 39 last year! I think with my new Kindle I can make it!) 

Keep a journal 

Get out of debt and stick to a budget

Be more involved in church

Read my Bible daily 

Have a more adventurous spirit – anyone who knows me, knows that I am more of a homebody and I need to get out there more and just be more up for new stuff! 

How about ya’ll? Any goals for your new year? Or like my hubs, are NYRs pointless to you?

Top 11 of 2011

I really enjoy the reflective, end of the year posts and decided to continue my “Top 10” tradition from last year. However, I wanted to make it an 11, just for fun!

This year has definitely held it’s fair share of heartache and challenges and those are worth reflecting on too, but for now, I want to highlight the best moments of my year (in no particular order)!

         

Relay for Life      

It was such a joy to have my family participate in an event that meant so much to me and to commit so wholeheartedly to it. 

My job

It has been constant source of challenges and personal growth and I am so blessed that I have survived my first year as a Director! 

Our anniversary weekend in Galena

A much needed getaway to celebrate our 2^nd anniversary 

A weekend in Cincinnati with friends

Oh the memories. I need to make a point to see these people so much more  often!

Discovering the Kane County Flea Market

So much stuff!!! Plus a couple of cherished days with friends and family exploring through the trash and treasures.

Renewing a commitment to fitness… through some really fun classes

Pole dancing. Yep. Not ashamed. It is a fun, liberating, confidence-building kick-butt work out, and I am so glad I took the plunge this year!

An online book-club with my college roomies (maybe we should name our club?)

We had an unofficial book-club in college just via living with one another and giving our book recommendations to each other. Then, inevitably, discussing them at length as we read one another’s suggestions. I really missed that and am glad that we decided to do a book club via email. It feels good to be re-connected with these ladies!

Being a part of a small group:

It felt wonderful to get connected in church with the Young Adult's Small Group. We had a lot of fun! I was able to open up my home for a craft night and they even came caroling where I work!  I am looking forward to spending even more time with the “group of awesomeness” in 2012!

The Barn Dance!

This was my first big project I have been involved in through church and I was in charge of the décor. I had so. Much. Fun!

Our Hawaiian Vacation (that HAD to make the list!)

It was a beautiful week spent with the hubs and a much-needed escape from reality for a short time

Friendships.

2011 seemed to be a year for me to grow in my friendships and I am so grateful for that. Things have not worked out the way I would have imagined, but that just goes to show that The Big Guy knows what he is doing and has a plan for my life. 

Looking forward to 2012! 

A Discovery Of Witches - A book review

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

*Ahem*  I beg to differ with that last paragraph there...

The book was good, BUT it left a lot to be desired for me. I enjoyed the historical aspects mixed in with the fantasy genre and I did enjoy the characters - even if Diana was a little irritating (I mean COME ON who wouldn't want to use magic!!) My problems with this book do no lie in the story per se, but more in the telling of it. The friendship/courtship of Matthew and Diana was drug out painfully, chapter after chapter.... the details of the scents in the wine they drank, the fragrance of the food, blah flipping blah!! Then, once the book really started picking up, the action felt very rushed in the last 1/4th of the book. This is nearly a 600 page book - it's a whopper folks - and I felt cheated by the rushing of the action. Now, nothing that I can find right now indicates that this woman is going to write another book (I am not sure I would even read it if she did), but she left herself WIDE OPEN at the end to be able to continue with the plot in another novel or 2, 3 or 10 (or however long she'd like to drag it out).

I always hate being caught off-guard by a cliffhanger. There is this book that I read in high school, which is now infamous with me in a very small circle of friends, because the last line is "And maybe they did." REALLY? I read 800 pages for AND MAYBE THEY DID???? I prefer my fiction to be wrapped up and tied with a neat little bow at the end, so I am sure you can imagine my un-bloggable reaction when I finished this book, as it ends, basically the same way, with this elusive, perhaps they made it... type of ending. *sigh* What's a girl to do?

And just a point of annoyance in the summary up there - I really don't think one should compare books to the Twilight novels. I concede that yes, they are addicting fantastic stories, and I am a self-confessed Twi-hard. However, the writing in those books is elementary and I would never want my novel compared to them in a literary sense. The writing in this book is at a much, much, much higher level, so it does have that going for it.... 

Christmas 2011

Oh my dear neglected blog. December has been the whirlwind month I expected it to be, and even more, since I have gotten sick, sleep-deprived, and jet-lagged all in the past 3 weeks. Unfortunately, my blog is the area that has suffered most. Well, no more! I am finally going to post some unfortunate iphone pics of our Christmas decor (which has been up since before Thanksgiving, but I am pretty sure some people would have sent out a lynch mob after me had I posted these sooner!)

 Brandon often balks at my 'no colored lights' rule and my 'matchy-matchy' decorating approach, but I don't have a lot of sentimental Christmas stuff from my past. (I have promised him a 2nd tree with colored lights and handmade ornaments when we have kids, I am not a total Christmas snob!) But for now, my trees look like this:

Our Tree

I knew I really wanted to do a contrast of silver and the natural burlap fibers, then Alli and I went to the Kane County Flea Market. Oh man, there was an entire display that was like my dream Christmas decor. I swear these women had been inside my head!! It was fantastic! I snagged my stockings and the window frames for my mantle at the flea market.

 

The wreath was made by me, inspired by Pinterest (of course) and you can read about that here. I also made some of the larger ornaments. Hopefully I can post some better photos of the ornaments later. There are some covered in tulle, feathers, and twine. I love the way this turned out. I actually got the idea for the window frames on the mantle from a Home Depot commercial of all things.

I also have (but not pictured) a couple greenery wreathes hanging on either side of my couch with a feathered ornament hanging in the center and another plain green wreath replacing my fall wreath with a white feather stuck on it. :) 

And here is me as Sugarplum Mary the elf, Mrs. Claus's personal assistant. Oh the things I do for my job... I love it. Please don't mind the TV tray in the foreground... I was rushing the photographer.

Now here is Izzie, getting into the holiday spirit. I ordered these Christmas tutus from an etsy shop, Tutus N Shirts for Dogs and I love them! The dogs were more excited about the bones that came in the package, but this is just all kinds of Christmas cuteness! Happy holidays everyone!!