My Christmas Wish List

Have you started your Christmas Wish List?

Amidst Thanksgiving, holiday decorating, Christmas shopping, and every day life, I managed to find a little time to write my wish list for any little elf who is inclinded to surprise me. Since I'm on Santa's "Good List," I have big dreams this holiday season!

Here is a taste of what I hope to find under the tree on Christmas morning.

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Gift Cards- Target, Gas, Groceries, Ann Taylor Loft, Lowes Hardware (DIY supplies, duh!), Starbucks

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Hoover Stick Vac because I'm tired of sweeping and this baby has some powerful suction!

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Springform pan is really one of those things that I occasionally need but not reguarly enough to buy it for myself. Do you have one? How often do you use it?

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Infinity Scarf- I. LOVE. SCARVES. Seriously, who doesn't love the pop of color, pattern, or texture that a scarf offers?! This infinity scarf is from my friends over at Poppies336 on Etsy. 

(PS- Shop Poppies336 on etsy. Do it. All the cool kids are.)

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Cloche Hat. I wish we could return to the days when ladies wore hats.

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Classes. So if I were super rich, this would be my only gym membership. I'm starting to enjoy pure barre eventhough every muscle in my body hurts right now from last night! Classes are kinda pricey so it is a treat to workout there. Maybe Santa will bring me a package of classes!

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Burberry perfume. Simple, Classic, Me.

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Only in my dreams will I own a Nikon d5100 AND know how to use every aspect of this gorgeous piece of photography heaven. I hope I'll find this beauty, a few lenses, and a private tutor under the tree with my name on it!

I have a few items on my list that I can't google to share with you. Particularly, a photo of my great grandmother and her 4 sisters. The photo is fondly referred to as "the 5 sisters." I am named after my great grandmother and even though I never met her, I have always felt this strong connection with her. When my grandma passed away, my aunt got the original photo and frame. What I would give for the original (and my grandma's wedding band, but that's a whole other story). I hope this year Santa will bring me an elegantly framed reproduction for my own living room.

Also, I need a little help from magic elves to make this wish happen. In the tiny town my Grandma lived in, there is a deli that has a photo of the town's movie theater in its heyday that I would kill for. I tried and tried to reach the owner of the deli last winter to secure my own copy but it was a fruitless battle. Wish me luck as I tried to reach him again this holiday season. I sure do hope that holiday cheer will be in his heart when I call.

What's on your Christmas list???

Okay dear friends, it is beyond my bedtime!

Until Next Time,

Southern Girl

It's a Pure Barre Kinda Night

I'm going back to Pure Barre tonight! Ekk! I'm scared and excited at the same time. Last time, was a complete workout and I'm hoping for the same tonight. I'm positive that Pure Barre will not disappoint.

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Cheers to being able to walk tomorrow!

In holiday news- I'm hoping that tomorrow evening will be a good night to get started on a holiday project. I really need all this rain to pass through and go drizzle on someone else for awhile. I've got some painting to do along with shopping for a few more odds and ends to update my Christmas decor. I can't wait to share pictures! Gah, Christmas is my favorite time of year. I wish we could have Christmas lights year round. The soft glow of white lights is so peaceful.

Make it a great day!

S.O.S.

A Little of This, A Little of That

I bet you're wondering if I was able to walk on Thursday following my Pure Barre work out. Well Thursday I woke up feeling pretty good. I was much better than I expected until I was going to bed on Thursday night. Finally, I felt some major ab soreness creep in. I had a hard time sitting back up to turn the light off after reading. At least its the good kinda soreness! I still need to research an adult ballet classes. I promise I will do that this weekend!

Alright, so I have a couple things to add to my DIY wish list!

• Glitter lanterns- I'm gonna use blue glitter instead and have them as part of the decor for a baby shower that I'm co-hosting in a few months. I cannot wait to try this project!! It will be a few months before I can do it, don't want the glitter to dull before the shower, but nonetheless I'm really excited about it!

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• Make more time to bake/cook. I have tons of recipes that I want to try. I get Southern Living magazine and Our State magazine and both give me such inspiration each month to cook or bake but guess what?! I never make the time to try all these recipes. Also, I have a co-worker who brings the most delicious leftovers everyday and she is sweet enough to share all her recipes and tips with me. In 3 1/2 years I have never made one of her recipes. But have no fear!! I'm making her mac and cheese on Thanksgiving this year! My SIL and I already planned out Turkey Day menu and mac and cheese is on my list.

Who wants to be my taste testers?!

From Southern Living- cake, grits

• Figure out blogspot. I do not like that fact that I don't know how to put photos side-by-side. Sometimes a blog calls for that instead of this vertical layout. How do I change it? I like visual interest and I like knowing how to make things happen. Right now I am not pleased on either front.
• And finally, I can't decided if I want to tie-dye onesies or if I want varying shades of onesies to hang on the clothesline decoration. Below is my inspiration. I like how its simple, clean, sophisicated. But I'm not sure how to replicate it. On the other hand, blue and white tie-dyed onesies would be fun, energy, and 100% rough and tumble boy. If you haven't put 2 and 2 together, the babyshower is for a baby boy. What are your thoughts on these onesies?

Stay tuned...

Lift....Tone...Burn

I tried a ballet class tonight!! And, wow Pure Barre kicked my tail. We started immediately with push-ups, leg lifts, and planking. Balls, hand weights and bands were all involved, along with tucking hips and working muscles against each other. It was a major core workout and I was sweating like a pig on a stick within minutes of the class starting. The whole ordeal was 55 minutes long. Oddly, the 55 minutes flew by, thank you baby jesus; but the 30 second intervals were slooooow AND painful. Cheers to being able to walk tomorrow!!

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I do want to go again but it wasn't ballet enough for me. It was lots of muscle toning which I do need; however, I was hoping for a few more battements, jetes, or piques. Secretly I was hoping we would do some barre exercises, then maybe a combination across the floor, add in a few arabesques, a port de bras here and there then call it a day. (Sorry, I don't know how to do the accent mark.)

I ended up choosing this class thanks to trusty old, facebook. But it was like I was meant to take this class tonight since I had just blogged about it. While I was Elkin for the wedding, I saw on fb that a friend wanted to try the class and was looking for some friends to join her. I jumped on the opportunity to have some moral support while returning to the ballet barre after 10 years! I think we're going back next week. Thanks ERob!

Look at me! Blogging AND ballet in one night. I wonder what else the week has in store. Maybe a date?!?! Probably not, but this forever-bridesmaid still has hope.

I'll be back later to blog about the state fair and other DIY projects that I've decided to add to my list.