HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To say 2011 flew by is the understatement of the year.  It seems like only yesterday we were huddled around our tv's at some godforsaken hour to watch Prince William marry Kate, we heard about the death of Osama Bin Laden, and Kim Kardashian fell in love, got married, and divorced.  I got a new boss (and made it through the year without going completely BONKERS), moved into my first place without a roommate, reconnected with old friends, and made some great memories with new ones.  All in all it was a pretty good year.

I'm not usually a resolutions making type of girl, but I've officially declared 2012 "THE YEAR OF THE COUPON"!!!  My goal is to attempt to be more frugal when it comes to my spending habits.  That means outside of the essentials (food, toiletries, booze) I will not buy anything unless it's on sale, from an outlet, or I can use a coupon or gift card.  Wish me luck!  Additionally, I'd like to start posting at the very least once a week...ideally 3 times a week.  Hopefully things at work will ease up and allow me to keep this resolution.

I'll be spending my New Year's with Miss Liss, Ange, and her husband Seaman Nick down in D.C.  Hilarity is guaranteed to ensue.  So I'd like to wish you all a very happy new year and all the best in 2012!  See you next year...

The Morning After

I hope you all had a delightful Christmas with your families.  I spent Christmas Eve with my family out on the "farm."  We call my cousin's house the farm because she lives, literally, in the middle of nowhere in northwest NJ.  You know you're heading into farmville when you see tractor crossing signs and there are so many stars in the sky it looks like you're standing in a planetarium. 

Because our family is so large (my mom has 3 sisters and a brother, and everyone is your cousin or aunt or uncle when you're Filipino) we decided to do a secret Santa for everyone over 21.  Of course my aunts and uncle felt the need to break the rules and give all the neices & nephews gifts as well...trust me, I'm not complaining.  My secret Santa was a family friend of ours and she made me the cutest gift basket of goodies.

Christmas morning I met my family for brunch at our favorite deli in my hometown, and we exchanged Hanukkah presents.  My loving brother gave me nothing, as per usual.  I got him this ice tray...it's Han Solo frozen in carbonite from Empire Strikes Back, for those not familiar with Star Wars.

via

My dad and stepmother got me a generous gift card to Lord & Taylor and this AMAZEBALLS decorative plate from C Wonder.

via

My father is the most impossible man to shop for, so I got him & my stepmom a gift certifcate to their favorite restaurant.

I stopped at Lindz's grandparents house for Christmas cocktails & hors d'oeuvres after brunch, and finally back home for some rest and reading (I HAVE to finish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before Tuesday when I'm supposed to go see the movie).  All in all it was a great Chrismukkah 2011.

How did your holidays go?

MERRY CHRISMUKKAH

Wishing you and your families a happy and healthy holiday season

All I Want for Chrismukkah

Tis the season to be greedy...I mean giving, yeah, giving!  C'mon, I can't be the only one that's been working on a wish list and not so secretly dropping hints to my loved ones.  Since the economy has been in the pooper, my family is doing "Secret Santa" this year for everyone over the age of 21.  BUT I would still love to find one (or more) of these under the X-mas Tree/Hanukkah bush:

1. Chanel eyelash curler- completely extravagent, but totally necessary

2. Pottery Barn bulldog cocktail shaker- how cute is this little guy?  Cute enough to be SOLD OUT everywhere, even online.

3. White duvet cover and matching shams- I'm still on the quest for the "perfect" white duvet and shams for my bedroom

4. David Yurman turquoise cuff- does this really need an explanation???

 

 5. Monogrammed lounge chair towel-can't wait for summers by the pool with this handy-dandy accessory

 6. Gucci:The Making Of book- because after all these years I'm still obsessed with this Italian brand icon

7. Assouline Chanel 3-book Set (Special Edition)- why not a $750 coffee table book!

 

Turkey Lurkey

Unless you're the turkey on the table...oops!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!

Such a Tease

Here a teeny tiny sneak peek of my Halloween costume...

So much teal tulle!!!

M for T

I can finally do a post on my Missoni for Target purchases because 90% of my order has finally arrived.  The remaining 10% was either missing from the shipment it was supposed to be in or is still on backorder with the threat of cancellation looming overhead like a dark cloud.

I was up at 5:45am on Sept. 13th prepping my trigger finger to make sure everything I wanted made it into my shopping cart as soon as the Target.com site was open.

 Throw blanket & framed tiles

 Framed tiles close up...they screwed up my order and sent me 2 of the same so I had to make it work.

Again they screwed up my order and forgot to send 2 towels, but they sent me someone else's rainboots (unfortunately NOT in my size).  I gave the boots to my friend, but kept the bottom of the box to hold things on top of my bookcase.

 I thought this serving tray would be plastic but its a beautiful heavy ceramic.

 2 of the 4 frames I ordered...I'm keeping my fingers crossed the others arrive before the end of the year.

 Infinity scarf.

 My birthday cardi from Miss Liss :)

I also got 2 bath towels, a make-up train case in the B&W zig-zag print, and the "Colore" ruana which I wound up giving to my step-mom for her birthday.  She was THRILLED, and her Mahjong group was very jealous. 

The WORST

Yes, I know I've been terrible at posting.  I'm going to blame work, but it's partially due to my extremely unappealing habit of procrastination.  There's tons to catch up on, but let's start with some birthday fun...

I like to drag my birthday out as long as possible.  In fact I just had my extended family birthday dinner last night!  But on my actual birthday day, Miss Liss and I took a road trip up to Tuxedo Park, NY to the Renaissance Faire.  My dad used to take me and my bro here every year when we were younger, but I haven't been back since high school.

1st order of business...FACE PAINTING!

Miss Liss found the armory booth...fear rang out amongst the shopowner and his patrons.

Last week I had the opportunity to go to my first MLS game at Red Bulls stadium.  There are few things in this world that will make me even consider going to Newark/Harrison at night.  The Red Bulls were playing the LA Galaxy which happens to be the home team of one Mr. DAVID BECKHAM!!!  I was in the same building as Becks.  A very happy birthday indeed.

Let's Celebrate...

...the day I was expelled from my mother's uterus.  There's a mental picture for ya!  I had a great weekend, and even better day today.  I'll be putting up pics this week, but I just wanted to thank all my friends for their love today!

H and G

"Hi and goodbye."  I love Sleepless in Seattle and Gabby Hoffman was just the perfect mix of cute and obnoxious.

Anywhoo...this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions (thanks PMS!) and while I got to say "Hi!" to some fun new treats, I had to say "Goodbye :(" to someone I love (even though I'd never say tell him that).

Yesterday my little brother left for a semester abroad for grad school.  He'll be there until the end of the year, and I won't be seeing him until he comes home which makes me supa sad.  I'm not going to sit here and tell you that my brother is my best friend because, honestly, he's a stubborn pain in the ass who I didn't really get along with until after he graduated from college.  And even more recently he discovered that my taste in movies, for which he constantly ridiculed me for, doesn't actually suck.  Yeah, "Sixteen Candles" is a pretty fan-effing-tastic movie.  We're not extremely close- we don't talk every day, or even every week- but he's my brother and we do laugh a lot when we're together (usually at the expense of our poor father).  I'm going to miss him.

On the bright side, my father has chosen to compensate for the lack of one child in the states by giving gifts!  Nothing crazy or extravagant, but very thoughtful.  Let's say "Hi!"  First he surprised me with a subscription to my 2nd favorite magazine (behind InStyle of course), New York. 

Then this past weekend he popped this little treat out while I was at work with him

Hello Nano! I told him how the screen on my iPod touch went kaput after some water damage, that I may have caused myself while sweating on it while I was out walking (I know, gross), so he got me this to replace it.  He also threw in this fun little contraption that knocked my socks off

It's the LunaTik wrist strap for the iPod Nano.  I set the "wake" screen to the clock face and now I have a snazzy new watch!  He's been using my birthday as his reason for the gifts, but he could've said they're early Hanukkah gifts for all I care and I'd still love them, and him :)  Thanks Pops!

Birthday Wishes

It's finally September, and that means it's FINALLY my birthday month!!!  What I'm wishing for this year:

iPhone 5

 

Jetta...who's getting me this one??? A girl can dream, right :)

 

 

LED TV and blu ray player...again, this would be in a perfect world.

And of course I need movies to watch in HD, more specifically...

What Did I Wear???

I realized yesterday I didn't post any pics of ME from the wedding.  Who am I!?!  Here's what I wore:

* dress: Theory, shoes: Halston for Bakers gold platform espadrilles, earrings: Francesca's

Wind Swept

This is a bit of a long post because there is just so much to catch up on. First off, I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to know that I survived Hurricane Irene...or what was left of it by the time it got to NJ.  Even better is that my office is located in a "flood zone" so I received 2 voicemails from my managers telling me to just stay home from work on Monday, like I really needed convincing!

Now a recap of the fun and exciting times that was the wedding of Hot Pants Pally (I guess I need to come up with a new nickname for her).  Of course prior to the wedding there has to be the BACHELORETTE PARTY!!!  All the girls saddled up and headed to Harrah's in Atlantic City for the festivities.  What would the night bring: Booze? Definitely. Dancing? Of course.  Guac? Well, it's just not a party with the guacamole!

*dress: BCBG, earrings: Apricot Lane boutique (Fairfield, CT), shoes: Halston for Bakers

The SUPA HOT bride to be

Before our delish dinner @ Dos Caminos

What do you use when you can't find the ice bucket...garbage can.

Private jacuzzi at The Pool!  Always an interesting time.

Poor HPP was having anxiety attacks all week leading up to her wedding because the forecast called for thunderstorms Thursday and Friday.  Of course she's dreamt of getting married on the beach for forever, and come rain or shine she was doing it.  Someone up there was clearly looking out for the girl because Friday turned out to be beautiful out.

This was really freaky...HUNDREDS of birds bobbing in the ocean outside the reception venue.  I've never seen anything like it.  A little to Hitchcockian for comfort.

In case you can't tell, that's the groom's feet at the top right of the pic.  It was *THAT* kind of wedding.

And just for fun...that's the bride's dad on the right.  HEYYYOOOOOOO!