Retail Therapy

I've had a bad string of luck with shoes lately. First, the heel of my boot broke at work the other day and I was forced to hobble around the rest of the day with this:

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Now, my go-to pair of comfy black kitten heels has been worn down to the metal heel. All the slipping and sliding they cause me to do down the hallways is nothing short of a safety hazard!

So I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon shopping for shoes online and found a few pairs I'm excited to arrive on my doorstep!

First, I bought two pairs of kitten heels for work. I like the Madden Girl heels because they're comfortable and give enough height in a heel without being too over-the-top for work. Considering I'm not even suppose to be wearing heels at work, I feel like this is all I can get away with.

Madden Girl Upscale Pump from DSW

Madden Girl Jazminee Vintage Pump from DSW

... and I treated myself to a cute new pair of boots for fall/winter. I haven't tackled the skinny leg jean craze yet (they look so weird on me!) but I can easily wear these with dresses or under my boot cut jeans and work pants.

Sam & Libby Profess Boot from DSW

DSW had some great deals on shoes. I got $10 off just for leaving a comment on the pair of broken heel boots and they always offer free shipping on purchases over $35. That qualifies for practically every pair! I feel a little ornery for buying three pairs of shoes this week (eeek!) but every girl deserves a treat once in a while, right?

Wave your flag

The next wedding gift I give will be a homemade flag you fly when you're not to be bothered by your partner. At my house, yesterday would have been one of those banner days. I woke up feeling all PMSish and knew every encounter crossing my path would lead to tears, me being pissed or a heightened sense of glee. Do you ever have those days? No one understands what it feels like to be a woman except women, you know?

Andi went fishing/hunting with a buddy on Sunday and I felt all bent about him being gone. Normally, I don't care when he takes his little man-cations. Actually, half the time I like it because it means I get to eat whatever I want for dinner, my house stays clean and I can work or blog or shop or whatever. But yesterday was different and I felt it all day. I have this neorotic way of working myself up inside my head. The more I dwell on something, the more upset I become and worse it seems until I literally feel like the idea is clawing its way outside of me.

After my husband came home last night I noticed he, too, was moping around. I'm not sure if it's possible for men to have PMS (or some other abbreviation that sums up their feelings) but I think he had a case of it. I asked him why he was down and he shrugged his shoulders. He asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner and seemed annoyed I didn't want to eat the fish he caught earlier in the day. We made different meals and ate in silence. Needless to say, it was one of those evenings where each of us should have thrown up our respective flags and bid adieu until tomorrow. Every word we said came out wrong. I made some snarky comment about never seeing him lately and he went to bed.

Of course today, those crazy thoughts are gone and I just feel stupid - stupid for making such an issue out of nothing. My PMS flare up has cooled and I'm left with this uneasy feeling. Last night was one of these times we should have gone into our respective corners. Today, I feel like my insides mirror the rainy fall weather and I'm jarred at the fact we wasted such a perfectly good night on being moody bump-on-a-logs. A night where we were actually home together for once and it's a missed opportunity. Shame on me for being so pathetic.

Halloween Memories

I'm a Halloween hater.

There, I said it.

While many of you are pulling together the final touches to your Halloween costumes this week, I'm patiently waiting for this holiday to pass. I enjoy the fall season and decorating my house with pumpkins and wreaths but make no mistake, you'll find no giant blow-up spiders and fake cobwebs in my yard - oh no!

Halloween and I have never agreed, even when I was a little girl. Listen to these traumatic memories - oh the scorn of my youth!

• Once when I was in elementary school, we painted our pumpkins instead of carving. We decorated their faces and made pigtails out of yarn. Mine looked just like my Cabbage Patch Doll; I was so proud of my work. A few days later, we came home to find our pumpkin splattered in the street in front of our house. I cried until there were no more tears left. How mean can neighbor boys really be?
• Every Halloween, my family went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, then met all my cousins at my grandparents house. We'd go downstairs and dump all of our candy into this giant coffee table bowl. Despite my mom's warnings as she yelled down the stairs, I'd always eat way too much candy. And every year I'd throw up on the car ride home. My poor mother...
• One time we came home from my grandparents and our dog had vomited all over the living room. Apparently my parents left a bowl of candy on the steps and he helped himself to the lot. That was an extra fun year for my mom.
• One year in Middle School, I fractured my foot a few days before Halloween and was forced to wear a "boot" with my Gypsy outfit. Not cool at all. I still laugh at those photos - I looked ridiculous.
• My sister loves Halloween and every year my mom would help her pick out a cute little costume. Once she was a bubble bee; another time, a cheerleader. And every year as we were putting on our costumes she'd proclaim: "I want to be a DEAD cheerleader!" "I want to be a DEAD bubble bee!" So my dad would break out his old face-painting stuff and give her just what she asked for ... blood and death all over the face of his five year old.

Maybe it'll be different some day when I have a little munchkin of my own to dress up in cute little costumes. My friend Ellie believes every kid is cuter in costume. She vows to dress up her future kiddos every chance she gets and I can't argue that fact. The little Superman I saw out shopping yesterday made me smile.

This little trip down memory lane has made me realize Halloween's not all that bad. Looking forward to having my own little gremlin someday and starting our family traditions.

Reader Help: Fall Clean Up

I'm way behind in my fall yard clean-up this year, and I have no excuse. Mother Nature has dealt Minnesota a beautiful September and October and yet, I still haven't taken the time to prepare my yard for winter.

Two years ago, I left my yard practically as is, and it was a mess to clean-up in the spring. The leaves were matted and wet from months of snow piled high and my perennials needed serious work as I had to dig out all the dead foliage to make room for the new. Last fall, I did the complete opposite and spent hours cutting everything back so they'd be all set for spring growth.

How about you? What do you do to get your yard and flowers ready for wintertime?

I also have questions about fertilizing the grass in the fall and planting spring tulips and daffodils. Do you do this now? And if so, what fertilizer do you use?

Let's hope the weather holds up for me this weekend to complete these last outdoor projects before winter officially sets in!

Moving Up

Andi and I starting shopping for houses this week. We're not exactly in the market for a new house, but we're batting our eyes at the idea. As soon as we have our first child, we're going to out-grow our current space in a major way so it's time to start planning our next big step. Well, that and my husband always needs a project. New car? Check. New house ... let the search begin. Who I am to complain? I'm lucky to have a man with a plan!

We toured a few homes in a western Twin Cities suburb a few weeks ago and weren't all that pleased with what we saw. Most people would have marveled over the giant kitchens and spacious master suites, but all we saw was the lack of old-home charm and historic neighborhoods. I fully realize our current house isn't everyone's dream, but to us it shows character. Wood trim nearly 100 years old, antique built-in buffets and trees that dump massive piles of leaves in my yard makes me feel at home. (If you want to see our current digs, check out this old post here). Granted, opting for an old house also means we're stuck with small bedrooms, tiny closets and a lack of storage so we'll have to be creative when we're shopping for our next place.

After our trip to the 'burbs a few weeks ago, we stopped by an open house in our neighborhood to look around. While the house wasn't what we were looking for per say, we did meet a great relator who's lives in our neighborhood as well. We asked her to start scoping out great deals in our immediate area, specifically those with opportunity to fix up. Our "plan" thus far is buy a cheap house with character, but needs work and fix it up ourselves. We toured this one on Wednesday night and I feel in love. This is exactly what I'm dreaming of ...

This house is a little out of our price range, but only because someone's already done the work for us. A year ago, this house was on the market for 1/3 of the price and someone bought it, made some cosmetic updates and voilà. We could easily transform our own purchase into something just as beautiful.

Seeing the designs in this house has inspired me to re-decorate my own space. It's been three years since I've painted any rooms or drastically changed the layout at our current place. May be a nice wintertime project for me ... exciting!

How to Host a Holiday Baking Extravaganza

I woke up last week with a startling thought: OMG! I need to plan my annual holiday baking extravaganza before it's too late. My mind raced for a date check and I realized it's only mid-October. I quickly whipped out my date book and went to planning.

My holiday baking extravangza was such a success last year, I can't imagine not hosting it again. I selected December 5 for my party this year: the perfect date as it follows Thanksgiving, gets everyone in the spirit for the holidays and give us plenty of time to share our holiday cookies and treats at gatherings and events. Oh what? You can't come to the party? You can host your own. Here's how:

ESTABLISH KTICHEN BASE
My husband's office has a large industrial kitchen and luckily he lets me use it for my party. Truthfully though, you could host the party anywhere - just adjust the number of guests based on the size of your space. You'll want plenty of counter space, tables or work stations for your guests while keeping in mind not everyone will be baking all at once. Some people might be assembling ingredients, munching on snacks or have a no-bake recipes which require minimal time in the kitchen.

CALLING ALL COOKS
I chose to send an e-vite invitation with a cookie-themed invite pattern. After selecting my guest list and event details, I added a cute holiday baking saying to get everyone in the spirit:

'Tis the season for some holiday fun

Think of all the shopping we've yet to get done

Before we get together for some cheer and good eats,

Let's start baking all our homemade holiday treats!

You could easily make hand-made invitations or simply print stationary from a computer printer if you prefer snail mail. In my invitation, I asked everyone to bring an appetizer to share and Tupperware or cookie tins to carry their treats home. I always provide wine and non-alcoholic beverages but you could host yours any way you like.

Encourage your guests to choose 1-3 holiday recipes they're interesting in making at the party. Old family traditions are great as well as fun finds from the internet. One of my friends said she has a holiday recipe that's a mess to make in her own kitchen and asked if she could make it there instead. For sure, I say! Why not make it in someone else's kitchen when you have a bunch of your friends to share the clean-up.

DIVIDE AND CONQUORLast year when I hosted this party for the first time, I had my guests email me their recipes and I tallied up all the ingredients needed for the party. Then I sent back shopping lists for everyone and it worked out fabulously. That way, only one person buys the flour, another buys the sugar, etc. Buying in bulk at Costco or Sam's Club makes it more cost effective for everyone and trims down the number of ingredients you'd have to buy. If someone's recipe calls for a unique ingredient like cardamon for example, I assign that ingredient to the recipe holder to make sure they get exactly what's needed for their recipe. Email out your ingredient list at least a week in advance to allow everyone to pull ingredients together.

SET THE STAGE
Load up some holiday tunes on your iPod and get to baking! As I said before, I ask guests to bring Tupperware or cookie tins to carry their treats home and purchase myself a few rolls of wax paper, Ziploc bags and foil to separate treats for transport. Last year, some gals also brought cooking utensils they wished to share such as their mixers or cookie sheets. If you don't have enough of these items on your own, go ahead and ask your girlfriends to bring extras. When guest's arrive hand them a glass, show them a lay of the kitchen and start cooking!

The greatest parts about a holiday baking party is the variety of recipes you'll have at your holiday functions. Last year, my cookie trays were beautifully decorated and they made perfect gifts for neighbors or friends. Not to mention all the fun girl time you'll have that day as well.

Look for pictures in a few weeks following our bash! Is it the holidays yet? I'm getting excited ...

A surprise for me!

Completely blown away this week when I opened a package from one of my company's national directors and discovered an Amazon Kindle just for me! The gift was a thank you for my work in developing the 2010 Earth Day campaign and my work in sustainability this year. WAHOO!

First off, I'm excited to own an electronic gadget my husband doesn't. A full song of "I have something you don't have!" ensued upon opening. He is not amused, by the way.

Secondly, I have no idea how to use one of these nifty things. Do any of you own one? Like it? Tips? Tricks?

I'm jazzed to load up a few books and start reading. Hey readers, any suggestions of good books I should get? I'm into anything non-fiction, local foods movement and anything pregnancy, of course. I thank 'ya in advance!