Last month of the year.

How is it already December? Like, when the heck did that happen??? Funny, I feel as if it were just yesterday I was saying the same thing about the onset of November. Time is flying fast. Here I am in December, Vespers has already come and gone (and sadly, I had to miss it), and I go home in 20 days for Christmas. I still have my fall decorations up!! Maybe it would feel more like December if it weren't, oh, I dunno, 60 degrees out?!?! Yeah, that's what's happening here. We had a light dusting of snow last week and the winter cold teased us for a bit, but it's gone away yet again. The good thing is that it makes me feel like I'm in Oregon :) Gotta love those mild winters! But I am missing the snow... that's what I love about living in the Midwest! Snow is just so pretty and peaceful. And unlike in Oregon, where the snow is wetter, the snow here is dry and powdery. A little easier to deal with! Unless of course there's 5 feet of it and there's a blizzard... that makes things a little more difficult....

I guess the imminent change is once again upon us. A new month. A new start. And soon, a new year. I'm excited to get my little apartment (and myself) into the Christmas spirit. For some reason, even though I'm working at a retail store and it's technically been "Holiday season" there since October, I'm not really into it yet. Of course I love it, but I feel like I haven't gotten the chance to even think about it. All I've been doing is working, and said work didn't allow me to go to Vespers at Millikin this past weekend, literally the best way to get yourself ready for the season. My mission on today, my one day off, is to change that. I plan on cleaning up a bit, decking my halls, listening to Christmas music, and prepping some meals for the week. Honestly, a perfect day in my mind! :)

Ta-ta for now! Hopefully one of my posts this week will be pictures of my decorated apartment!

Chrismas in a Cupcake

I had to make something for our Black Friday potluck, and since the day after Thanksgiving means the Christmas season is officially upon us, I decided to make chocolate peppermint cupcakes! I used this recipe for the cupcakes and made my typical cream cheese buttercream frosting, but instead of vanilla extract, I used peppermint (the recipe is 1 stick butter, 8 oz cream cheese, 4 cups powdered sugar, and half and half). I had made a variation of these a couple years ago and put crushed candy canes and extra white chocolate chips I had lying around in the batter, but I when I was grocery shopping I found Andes peppermint baking chips! They combined the fresh, crunchy peppermint and creamy white chocolate all into one! I added about a cup of those into the chocolate batter. Delish. These were a hit at the potluck, especially since I made them in a mini, bite-sized version!

Black Friday: What I Wore

[The Limited jacket (now on sale!), tuxedo blouse, sequin pants, and necklace // Target heels // Revlon "Wine With Everything" lip color // Huge bun brought to you by a hair donut aka the best invention ever for people with fine hair]

Whoa. Sorry, guys. I didn't really mean to take such a blogging hiatus, but it happened, even when I had quite a few things to post! I went to post this entry yesterday, but Google told me I needed to upgrade my account so I could post more photos (I can't go without photos!) and I didn't have enough time before work SO here I am :)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and, if you went Black Friday shopping, hopefully you didn't get injured or have to fight over that tv or great pair of shoes you wanted. My Black Friday was actually quite uneventful, seeing as how I opened at midnight and most people are shopping for electronics at that hour or *gasp* sleeping. We had a small rush around 1 am and then were dead from around 3-7 am, with a few people coming to shop before work or to just start their day of shopping. My boss brought in coffee when she came in at 6, so by the time I got off work, I was wired from the caffeine (and probably a little delirious) and felt like I needed to be up since everyone else was. I was crazy and decided it would be a great idea to drive to Springfield and go shopping. Besides the fact that I kinda felt like falling asleep while driving, it actually was. In fact, Black Friday helped me get pretty much all of my Christmas shopping done! Before I left The Limited I bought my sister a few things for her birthday and Christmas presents. I made it to Springfield around 11, so I had an hour to hit up Express for their half-off sale. I successfully found Nick the pants he wanted and got some things for my bro-in-law, and I really couldn't have asked for a better deal. I checked out the new H&M that just opened (I'm in trouble that it's only an hour away from me now) and wandered through LOFT which was half off as well. I should get a medal for resisting buying myself anything. EVERYTHING WAS SO CUTE. Proooobably why I gave in on Monday when I went to Champaign to exchange one of Nick's pairs of pants (in my sleep-deprivation I didn't even check one of the sizes) and help Michelle find an interview outfit.... I couldn't resist checking out their Loft and, lo and behold, they were running their 50% off sale yet again for Cyber Monday. I was done for. I left with 2 of the tops I wanted to get on Friday and added a beautiful, sleeveless, black blouse with scalloped lace detail and pleats. Perfection, really. Don't worry, I'll come up with some outfits to showcase them :)

Well, that's all I have for now - stay tuned for my chocolate peppermint cupcake recipe. I made them for our Black Friday buffet and they were a hit - the fiancé also couldn't get enough of them, either!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, the bird says it all... Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

I'm sorry about the lack of posts this week. I've been working a ton but also got some not-so-good family news. My grandma was diagnosed with leukemia this past week, and it's kind of a shock to the whole family. She is in her 80s, but she is very very strong. We have a lot of hope of course, but it's still scary. She started her treatment this week and will continue the treatment once a month, for five days, for the next 6 months. It's just a bummer because earlier this year she fell and shattered her jaw and wasn't able to talk for about 3 months. My Grandma is very very social (I swear her schedule is more packed than mine ever was!) so you can imagine that this was very hard for her. When she was finally able to talk, she had a couple of infections and started to feel really weak. When she went in to get her nose infection checked out she felt that something was up and decided to get some blood work done. Thankfully she decided to get the blood work because that is how she found out that she had cancer. This was only in the past couple of months that she started feeling tired and weak, so hopefully that means she caught it early. Either way, I am hopeful that she will pull through. She's been through a lot and she's ready to tackle this cancer - hopefully in May she will be in remission and she won't have to have any more treatment!

Sorry for the dump of sad news, but that's just what's going on right now. This Thanksgiving, which counts my 5th year in a row that I'm not home, I'm thinking even more about how blessed I am to have the family that I do. Of course I am always thankful, but today it hits home, and I'm glad we have a holiday that focuses solely on that: being thankful. I was lucky to have my Grandma Gies til I was 21, and hopefully Grandma Betz will be around for many years to come. Either way, I am glad that I have been so loved and cared for by my grandmas - I have so many great memories tied to both of them and around the holidays. One being that we would have a cousin sleepover at my Grandma Betz's house the night of Thanksgiving and we would get to stay up playing Nintendo and watch movies and wake up to homemade pancakes and waffles. It seriously was the best thing ever. The thing I'm most thankful for today is that everything worked out with missing work and I get to go home for Christmas. I get to spend time with my family and most importantly, my Grandma. I am sad that Nick won't be coming with me, but I know there won't be a lot of Christmases where it's guaranteed that we'll be going to Oregon. I guess that's what happens when you get married!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day of giving thanks and eating yummy turkey! Nick works til 6:30 and I have to go into work Black friday at 11:30 pm, so we decided to keep things simple and have a non-traditional dinner at a restaurant. That way I won't have to worry about cooking by myself all day and then cleaning everything up later when we could just be spending time together. I get off at 9 am tomorrow, and he will go back to work at 9:30, so I may not see him til he gets off tomorrow night! Yeah, definitely not your traditional Thanksgiving, but I'm OK with it. I am happy I can at least enjoy it with Nick, and hopefully next year we'll actually get a turkey dinner!

Have a great day, and if you're going Black Friday shopping, best of luck to you! Hopefully the cans of mace will be on lock-down, haha ;)

The simplistic sweater dress.

[Hinge at Nordstrom leather jacket // The Limited sweater dress (now on sale!), tights, and earrings // F21 infinity scarf // Target boots] 

There's nothing I love more than being warm, cute, and comfortable all at the same time, and this sweater dress (and pretty much every other sweater dress out there) helps make that happen. I only had to be at work for about 5 hours this day, and I didn't really want to have to think about my outfit. Thus, the dress. I simply added cute patterned tights to pull in the gray and black on the dress, black flat boots so my feet wouldn't hurt , and finished the look off with my chunky knit scarf. I chose the leather jacket over a wool coat because it's sleek and form-fitting rather than adding more bulk, plus the leather still keeps me warm! In addition to being simple and warm, sweater dresses are great because they're so versatile. Wear one like I am here for a casual daytime look or switch out the boots for a pair of sexy black heels, add a sparkly necklace for when you take off that scarf, add some lip color, and you've got a great date-night outfit! 

"Black Tie" Holiday collection debuts today!!!!

Today is the day, folks.... sequin pants are going to be on my body while I am at work today! WOOHOO! Not only that, but the lovely Sophie Theallet collection also debuts today! Whether you are looking for great gift ideas, a cozy sweater, or the perfect party outfit, The Limited has something for you right now! Go check out new arrivals online or in a store near you! Here are some of my favorites from the new collection: 

[Geometric and caviar stone statement necklace]

[Large crystal dome stud earrings]

[Tuxedo jacket]

[Ribbon-belted lace dress]

[Sophie Theallet bow-detail dress]

[Jeweled-collar tuxedo blouse]

[Bow graphic cardigan]

[ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Forenza peplum skirt]

[Inverted pleat skirt]

[Sequin legging jeans]

I ordered the pink Sophie dress since we didn't get that color in our store, as well as the inverted pleat skirt! I love those colors, and it's such a classic shape! Ok, I swear I'm done buying stuff...... wishful thinking. Have fun shopping!

Exciting things happening here!

Yes... this weekend, Nick and I finally got.... wait for it...

A table.

Baha! I know, probably not what you were expecting, but for us, it's a big deal, seeing as how we have lived without any sort of dining table for, oh, about 5 months now. Woops.

I found a super cheap folding one at Walmart that came with chairs, so I decided that on our morning off together on Friday that we should just go get it! I also needed him with me because I couldn't quite carry the box by myself....

Anywho, we got ourselves a little table, and since it was around lunchtime, and I had a coupon, we picked up Culver's and had that as our first meal on our table! Super exciting, I know, but now I feel like we're real people and I'm excited for the next time I cook or bake to have actual prep space! We don't have much counterspace in our kitchen. It's the little things, people.