Snow Day!

It's officially a snow day today! Snow makes me happy! I am going to sit out in my hot tub and enjoy the beautiful scene today! Only in Oregon if it snows less than an inch, the schools close for the day! I guess it's because of the ice under the snow on the roads and the unpredictible driving conditions, however it is humourous that we can get a light dusting and the schools close down. As a kid this was always my favorite day!

Thanksgiving this year

Thanksgiving this year will be spent at my younger sisters house. We will have around 20 family members there to share this holiday of thanks. Our youngest family member is my niece Gretchen, 10 months old and my 89 year old grandma will be the oldest. We will enjoy a traditional meal with turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, salad, rolls, sweet potato casserole, mash potatoes and gravy, cranberries, pies for dessert, and great wine. I am in charge of bringing my sweet potoato casserole. Since it is such a hit each year, my sister requested that I bring two 9x13 dishes of it.

After we eat we play board games and laugh, while the men watch football. I love the holidays! Such a special day.

Black Friday this year won't be the same. The UO ducks have a home game that afternoon. Our tailgater will begin at noon. That means that if I want to get up early and go shopping I will need to go for a few hours and come home and rest. In the last couple of years, I haven't been too impressed with the specials that have been offered the last couple of years. I hope to see some really great deals that I can't pass up!

My aching mouth...

Seven years ago I had a root canal. It has officially "failed"! The root has an infection, and is rapidly spreading. I ignored the pain until I had a conversation with my friend and co-worker Janet on Friday. She encouraged me to go to the dentist thinking that it may be an adsess. Fortunatly, my dentist could get me in Friday at 3pm. I was pleased to learn that I don't have a cavity, but dissapppointed that the pain is being caused by a "failed" root canal. My dentist prescriped antibiotics for me. He showed me exrays and said that the infection has spread, and I need to see an endodontist. The infection is right next to a nerve. Boy let me tell you the nerve has been struck. I am now getting pains shooting through my cheeck up to the side of my head. Awww! I have had lousy sleep the last two nights to boot!

Hoping that the pain subsides for the Thanksgiving Day weeekend. 'Tis the season for eatin'.

Lee Lee

I'm BACK!

Fall is officially here, and I am ready to update my blog.

Today is a beautiful 80 degrees and the sun is shining. My husband and I are looking forward to a relaxing weekend-no work. We had a great date night last night. Furiture shopped. Then off to have a delicious Costco dinner-always gourmet. Did some shopping at Costco then topped off the night with Frozen Yogurt at Vanilla Jill's. I had THE best dessert. Pear frozen yogurt served over brown rice with carmel on top. Mmmmmm....hmmm! Brandon copied me and had the same thing with almonds on top.

Today Brandon wants to watch college football. We are season ticket holders but the game is in Arizona today. Last weekend I sat through an entire football game in the rain. Oh my goodness. Good thing I have really good rain gear. It never stopped raining. I am happy to have a Saturday with no plans. Today I plan on shopping, putting out my fall decorations, clean the house, do laundry, and work out.

Lust & Must for spring

My Lust: Charles David Pompadour Pump

littleone by bianque featuring Charles by Charles David shoes

My Must: Report Signature 'King' Pumps. I had to have them. I bought them. I will rock them at a fundraiser on Saturday, March 20th. I can't wait to dance in them!

Dita Von Teese by kayla 21 New Moon featuring Tarina Tarantino jewelry

Handstamped Jewelry

I am loving handstamped jewelry. I love to give handstamped necklaces as gifts-and I have for years. Since I love it so much I am actually considering purchasing the tools to create my own handstamped jewelry for gifts. Just a thought.

Gala that I am helping plan

I am part of an organization called the Active 20-30 Club. We're a group of 20 and 30 year olds that raise money year-round for local children's charities. This organization is a really important part of my life. Currently, I am chairing the donations committee for our largest fundraiser of the year, our gala - REFLECTIONS. I chaired this committee last year as well. I feel so blessed with the generocity of businesses and people in our community with donations that have been pouring in, despite such a difficult economic time. The event is scheduled for Saturday, March 20th at the Valley River Inn.

The event will have: a cocktail hour, dinner, a silent auction, dessert auction, live music and dancing. What a great way to kick off spring break!

www.eugene2030gala.com

Hunter is our 9 year old Chowmation. I first met him when he was a few months old. My dad's buddy had a litter of puppies, and my dad called my younger sister and I to say that I had to come see the cutest puppies. There we seven puppies. They all looked like little bear-cubs. Hunter was the biggest of the litter, and in my eyes, the cutest. I called my husband and asked if I could bring one home. At the time, we were first married, lived out on 12 acres, and my husband worked out of town A LOT. I wanted a guard dog. I pleaded with my new husband to let me bring him home. He said "no I only want a hunting dog". Well, needless to say I did bring the puppy home. On the drive home I stopped at a pet store, picked up a collar with ducks on it and a matching leash. When we got home I introduced my husband to our new puppy "Hunter". He may not be a hunting dog, but he looked and was named the part.

Sweetie Pies

Two things I love the most: my hubby and baking. The perfect marriage is baking for my hubby. Tonight I whipped up these cute and tasty Sweetie Pies for my sweetie!

I had leftover pie crust in the fridge and in an attempt to be less wasteful this year, I found inspiration (a recipe) on the Farm Chicks website. Preheat the oven to 425, using heart cookie cutters I cut out pie crust, then placed a dollop of strawberry jam in the center of each heart. Then ran water along the edge of each heart, placed another heart on top. Squished the edges down with a fork, and punctured the middle of each top with a fork. Baked for 17 minutes, cooled slightly, and sprinkled powdered sugar on top. Voila! Serve warm! Sweetie Pies for my sweetie. He gobbled them up!

Me a recessionista? I'm trying!

One of my new years resoluion is to reduce my unnecessary spending. However I haven't truly defined what "unnecessary" means to me. I LOVE TO SHOP! I love new clothes, new make-up, antiques, and buying gifts for people. I made it 15 days in January without buying ONE thing (other than food)! Seriously! For me, that is amazing! However, on the 15th I stopped by LUXE gift boutique with the intent of buying my sister a card for the birth of her new little girl. I picked out the card, then browsed around and stumbled upon the Christmas clearance. Oh, how I love the Christmas clearance section of a gift store! You never know what you're going to need for next year. I found the cutest roll of double-sided wrapping paper. Red and white polka dots on one side, and snowy owls with santa hats on, on the other. I also found an adorable pair of Christmas socks for my niece next December, and a little snowman that grows in water for my nephew. $9.04 later I was out of there. Whew. It felt so good to spend a little bit of money. Now other than the $3.50 card, the rest of the items I bought would fall into that "unnecessary" category. However the old me would have spent three times that much. Not bad, not bad at all.

That night my husband went grocery shopping with me. Two months ago I decided to take up the art of coupon clipping and using. He is impressed. He loves my little accordian organizer that I store in my purse, and is so pleased at the checkout that I have the coupons ready. I feel really good about it too. What he doesn't know is that I traditionally treat myself to a magazine at the checkout with each shopping trip. However, now that I am trying to reduce my unnecessary spending, that $4 magazine doesn't feel quite as necessary. So out we walked saving over $8 with our coupons and another $4 without the purchase of the magazine.

On my list of necessary expenses is to replace my MAC blush. I am almost out. I have categorized this as a necessary expense because of my job. However do I need to spend $18.50 on blush alone? Hmmmm...I don't think that the 2010 me does. I recently discovered the brand EYES LIPS FACE. E.L.F has many products that start at $1. I searched for a coupon code for free shipping on: I found one: FREE SHIPPING on orders of $15 or more code: NEWSHIP. I can't wait to receive my package from E.L.F! For $18 I ordered: 1 Hypershine Lip Gloss in Honey (cotton candy scent), 1 Eyeliner Brush,
Nail Polish in Champagne & Medium Red, Eyeliner in Ash, Blush in Tickled Pink, 2Minty Lip Gloss in Nashville & Los Angeles, and 2 Eye Shadow Brushes. To top it off, at checkout since I referred three friends, they gave me a free gift: Candy Shop Gloss Gift Tin (value $2). All that and free shipping! Yeah me!



So, with that being said I feel like I am off to a good start. Coupon clipping, clearance shopping, thinking of less expensive-alternative products, and passing on lattes and magazines. So far so good.

My favorite part of being in the business world are the people that I meet and the stories we share. I truly admire the groundwork that my mother's generation has laid out before me in order for my generation to be able to have a choice of working in the home, out of home, or BOTH! At this stage in my life I am having so much fun being a career woman. I love going to networking events, being involved in the community, and seeing my office friends five days a week. I especially love meeting new people every day and hearing their stories.

The other day I had a meeting with one of my very favorite clients. 2 1/2 hours later our meeting was over. This particular client is a mentor to me. We discussed everything from our husbands, to philanthropy, a little gossip, being a woman in the business world, and we actually signed business with one another. I love her. I feel as though she understands where I am coming from.

January Must Haves

15" Frye Harness Boots http://www.fryeboots.com/

Stella & Dot Jasmine Filigree Earrings in 14K Gold Vermeil as seen on me (far right) and 'The Batchelorette' Jillian Harris. http://www.stelladot.com/sites/fabulous/productcatalog?page=productdetail&sku=E800G

FAVORITE 2009 MOMENTS

-9 year wedding anniversary on 9.9.09
-Visiting my older sister in Arizona-Remembering the life of my 12 year old cat "Buddy", who passed in September -UO Duck football games -Oregon LaVelle Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon http://www.lavellevineyards.com/
-Summer camping at Hyatt Lake with college friends
-Running in an actual road race-Dressing up for Halloween with my husband in coordinating gnome costumes
(him in a belted Snuggie)
-Donating blood four times, for the first time since I was 18-Traveling to Florence, Cannon Beach, and Seaside for many weekends -Cousins weekend in Seaside-Surviving the biggest River Raft accident that I've ever been in
-Getting a hot tub from my husband for our anniversary
-My 15" Frye Harness Boots http://www.fryeboots.com/
-Throwing a baby shower for my younger sister, G, and my friend, M, both expecting GIRLS
-Stella & Dot Jewelry http://www.stelladot.com/fabulous
-The Eugene Active 20-30 Club, becoming 2nd VP, then 1st VP, and being awarded the 'Project of the Year'
-Hood River Summer wine tour with friends -Eugene's Sweet Skins Boutique Hemp Knit Cuolottes-I lived in them all summer http://www.sweetskins.com/items/Pants/Culottes/Culottes.html
-Growing tomatoes and lemon cucumbers
-Waterfront Depot Restaurant in Florence
-Hanging out with my nephew and family