Sunday, December 2, 2012

Friday FIVE

Le't s just get a few things out of the way:

1.  YES, I know today is not Friday

2.  THANK YOU for an amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  My bed and I haven't spent much time together and my delivery man has informed that 106 packages shipped in one day is cruel and unusual punishment, but I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!

3.  We are officially on house countdown at the Grove....our builder says that we can have the cleaning crew come on December 14th and move in on the 15th...ASSUMING nothing goes wrong, and, well, I know what ASSUME means so I am not assuming anything.  (But I did book the cleaners!)  Please say a prayer that we can go buy a tree on the 15th as I love the way I am wrapping presents this year!

4.  I ordered my friend K's birthday present A MONTH ago, and it is STILL not here.

5.  Mini K is on the mend, but let's just say that Bactrum can knock a kid out for hours, complete with night terrors, in a mere 10-15 minutes.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

I LOVE the holidays, any holiday except Thanksgiving.  I just could never get into a holiday that focused on eating foods I don't really like.  I personally would substitute Thanksgiving with Cocktail Party Day.  I could rock a holiday that evolved around apps, champagne cocktails and a good pup mix!

My 5 items for this week are ALL over the place.

1.  Stickers!
We have a client that placed what I think is one of the BEST gifting orders I have seen.  She ordered stickers for her friends and their kids and emailed us that she is going to package them all in one of those clear zippered pencil pouches, tie it with a big bow and a gift tag.  She ordered stickers that say Happy Happy Love, The Smiths for the family to use all year, Merry Merry Love, The Smiths for them to use at Christmas, Made with Love By Sandy Bake at ___degrees for ___minutes for Sandy to put on  meals she takes to others, and sports themed stickers that say Enjoy! Your Friends, The Smith Team, Jason, Stephen & Nicholas for her boys to use all year.  I LOVE this idea!  She says she loved that the stickers were on SALE!  Well guess what?  ALL stickers, enclosure cards, holiday cards, gift tags on string and return address labels are on sale through December 4th with code: TRMG12 This sale includes ALL designs, not just holiday and you can see all of them HERE.

2.  Ebates!
We are putting a new staircase in during construction which means I can FINALLY have a gallery wall going up the stairs above the moulding.  I literally designed the moulding around how I wanted to do the gallery wall.  Needless to say, I have ordered a TON of 8x10 black and white photos and LOVE that I get 20% cash back on my order through Snapfish through my Ebates account.  Ebates also had an Ebates only coupon for 55% off my total purchase so my photo enlargements only cost me 25% of what they normally would!  If you haven't joined, you are literally losing money so STOP that habit before the year ends and join HERE.

3.  Fudge, Nutella Sea Salt Fudge To Be Exact!
I am almost afraid to post this as my secret will be out!  This fudge is not the result of me standing over a hot stove for hours on end, but super easy!

1 Tablespoon of butter (to grease 8x8 pan only!)
1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk (I used Fat Free)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
8 ounces of Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Nutella
3 Tablespoons Butter, Room Temp
1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Directions:
Grease an 8x8 pan & then line with parchment paper
I used my double broiler.   Stir together butter, milk, vanilla, Nutella, butter and chocolate chips until smooth (5-7 minutes)
Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with sea salt.
Let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  I let mine chill overnight.
Cut it into squares and GET IT OUT OF YOUR HOUSE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE SO YOU WON'T EAT IT ALL!!!

4.  Aerin Make-Up
I purchased her lipgloss and fall palette as soon as it came out.  I just ordered her holiday palette this weekend.  I think she designed this for a working mom!  EVERYTHING but the mascara is in one beautiful compact and takes up zero space!  You can purchase it HERE.

5.  Skinny Clothes!
I know this sounds too good to be true, but who doesn't love an outfit that has everyone asking you if you lost weight, especially if you haven't?  Well, I ordered this tunic from Open Sky because I loved the color blocking,  it would give me a reason to wear my fleece lined leggings and Frye black boots and it looked super comfy for days when I seem to go from errand to errand.  It arrived, I wore it and let's just say I would wear it every day if I could!  I saw it last week at Saks for over $160 so $107 is a STEAL!  I ordered mine from Open Sky and if you haven't shopped from them or joined (it's FREE) you can here, and can thank me when everything tells you how skinny you look!

If you posted a Friday FIVE,  please let me know as I need lots of ideas this time of year!