Christmas Sock of the Day!

Hey Y'all!

While organizing my sock drawer a few days ago I realized that I own eleventy hundred eighty two pairs of Christmas socks! Here's today's pair... Along with a pic of my new Orthaheel mules! I am on my way out the door to support my favorite small businesses today! I hope you will do the same! :)

Tootles!
:) JKP
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Happy, Happy Thanksgving/Black Friday!

Hey Y'all!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I did! Do you know what? I technically cooked my first turkey on Wednesday! Granted it was in the crockpot and it was just a turkey breast, BUT I DID IT! And, it was yummy!

I have a recipe for the turkey and corn pudding that I made on Wednesday, but I will post about that later on. As you know, my family eats out on Thanksgiving, so I wanted to make sure I had leftovers to munch on over this busy weekend. And munch we have!

Here's a quick recap of our Turkey Day Meal....

Family Pics..

Me and Mom!

The Fam!

 



We always eat at The Boundary House in Calabash. The meal was yummy and we had leftovers from this meal too!

After our yummy meal, we went and checked out the movie Lincoln. Y'all, this movie is so good,  you must go see it. It is so interesting and the cast of characters is very enjoyable. Go, you won't be disappointed especially if you are a history buff!

Now, I am not like most folks. I likey a good shopping deal, BUT  I do not like to get out in the wee hours of Black Friday. But, I don't mind going out during the day. However, if I walk in a store and it is mass chaos I will walk back out! Mom and I hit a few stores today. Our main goal was to hit Belk. I had heard a wee bit of a rumor that the Belk up in North Myrtle Beach carried Orthaheels. And. Y'all know the sad shape my left foot is in. It has really been bothering me lately because the weather has turned cold and most of my Orthaheels are for warmer weather. Mom and Pitty Pat gave me a new pair for my birthday, but I can't wear them everyday because they are black.So off we went. 5 minutes in the store and I thought I was going to lose my mind! But WE FOUND the shoes AND WE GOT TO USE A COUPON! So, I have two new pairs of shoes to wear! Both of these are brown and they are so cute. So, now my feet can be happy again.. EVERYDAY!  I still may have to make a trip back to the podiatrist sometime soon. I am hoping these few days of rest will help it though! :)

Tomorrow we are planning to take it easy and maybe hit a few consignment stores. I don't really need anything, but the weather is really turning cold... well, beach cold here, and it wouldn't hurt to have a few more sweaters. I'll do a post soon on the latest finds I have found in consignment stores.

Before I go... I do want to tell you guys about a few favorite things I have discovered this week....

Bookbub! If you have a Kindle or a Nook you need to visit this site daily or sign up for emails. Everyday they send you an email with 3 or 4 books that are free to download to your Nook or Kindle. To see the daily deals and not have them emailed to you visit www.bookbub.com/deals/
I have put 6 new free books on my Kindle Fire as of today. And. Yes you read that right! I now have a Kindle Fire! We originally ordered it for my Granny's Christmas present, but once we got it, we realized it would be very hard for Granny to manage. I do have an ipad, but it is not mine and it is only mine as long as I am employed by my school district in a primary grade. I didn't feel very comfortable downloading books on something that really didn't belong to me. This way I can download away and continue reading the e books that I have come to love reading! :)

As if I am not enough of a medical mess these days, I have had the worst eczema breakout I have ever had over these past two weeks. I have fought with this since I was a baby and winter is really the worst for me. On top of that, my Crohn's can cause terrible skin rashes, so the past few weeks have been very uncomfortable to shower and put on clothes. After dealing with Aveeno and failed results, I picked up some Cetaphil and finally started to use it this week. I have now added the Cetaphil lotion to the mix... and y'all... it is a Christmas miracle! My skin has calmed down so much and I can actually take a shower and not be in pain! Every day the rash gets smaller and less irritated. Thank goodness! So. Cetaphil is awesome if you are having eczema issues or just crazy dry skin. I swear, I will never be without this stuff again! It is terrible to go to bed one night and wake up the next morning covered in an eczema rash. I am sure stress is playing a part in it too! So run, don't walk if you need this product!

Well, that is what I have been up to. I want to leave you with one more pic... I think "someone" is very happy I am home for a few days!

Tootles!
:) JKP

It's Almost That Time of Year....

Hey Y'all!

I have had a very busy weekend! I did some shopping, errands and a bunch of cleaning yesterday. I hit some consignment shops and found some cute things too! I will share those tomorrow! But mostly,  I have spent the weekend getting my house ready for the great Christmas Decorating of 2012 and fighting a nasty cold. The next week is going to be busy... AND just in case they Mayans are right... I wanted to get my decorations up so I could really enjoy them!

So at last count I put up three 4ft trees today and 4 mini trees in various rooms. I am not getting a "real" tree this year, so I decided to go ahead and decorate. I have to go to a wedding at the end of December and I didn't want to have to worry about leaving a live tree up in the house. This way I can enjoy my decorations for a LONG time! I am going to get a tiny live tree for my dining room table and a live wreath for the front door. That way I can still have the Christmas smell!

Check out our decorations this year....

I am really happy to have this tree up this year. The last time I put it up was two years ago. I thought that the tree was dead. It is a fiber optic tree and the fiber optic part stopped working. I finally had an epiphany that the Halogen lightbulb was probably the problem. One trip to Lowes later... and my favorite tree is BACK! I also got a new tree skirt this year... I have a thing for snowmen. Thanks Dollar General!

Our fireplace....

Our entertainment center.....

And, last, but not least... THE CUPCAKE TREE. I made this last year!

The other thing we have been battling this weekend is static cling. Poor Pitty Pat's tail is HUGE!!!!

Alrighty.. my battery is running low on juice and I am too lazy to go and get my charger! I will be back tomorrow with  my consignment finds!

Tootles!
:) JKP

It's Baking Time! Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies

Hey Y'all!

I bet you didn't think that I would be back soooo soon! I have a yummy recipe for some delightful cookies that I wanted to share.

This past weekend my best girlfriends helped me celebrate my 40th birthday. They kindly rented a beach house for the night so we could have a slumber party! You can see a few pics of our celebration in yesterday's post. We decided that instead of going out, we would all bring a dish to share. I spied these cookies in a Red Plum coupon circular a few weeks ago and I had been dying to try them out. This presented the perfect opportunity! The Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies were a hit!

I love this time of year because you can find the best baking and cooking recipes in the most unusual places. I am a magazine hog and usually by a ton this time of year. Some of my favorite holiday and everyday dishes come from things I have found around this time of year. My big purchase last year was The Fix It and Forget It Best Recipes of 2011. Boy. That has provided plenty of yummy dishes for this year!

To make these budget friendly and yummy cookies you will need:

1 package of Pillsbury Chocolate Cookie Mix with Crushed Peppermint Candy. (I found mine at the evil empire.)
1/2 cup of butter softened
1 large egg
1 16oz container of Pillsbury Peppermint Frosting (Again, the evil empire)
*This made a batch of 32 cookies for me. I always like to know what to expect!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Open the box of cookie mix and remove the peppermint candy pouch to use later. Combine the cookie mix, butter and egg in a bowl. Mix with a spoon until the dough is soft. Drop by rounded teaspoons on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are set. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 2 minutes. Then place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Once the cookies have cooled completely, microwave the container of frosting for 20 seconds and stir. Make sure the lid is off. DUH. Then microwave for 10 more seconds. Dip the cooled cookies about halfway into the frosting. You can scrape the excess off if needed. Place the cookie back on the wire rack.
*(See NOTE!) Then immediately add the peppermint pieces from the candy pouch ASAP so they will stick as the frosting cools. Continue to dip until all the cookies are coated and sprinkled. I let the cookies sit out for a few hours until I knew the frosting was set.

 

*I placed some plastic wrap underneath the wire racks as I was adding the frosting and and peppermint pieces. It helps with clean up!

That's it! Very easy with pretty AND yummy results. :) So bake up a batch, turn on the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas Movie Marathon and enjoy!

This weekend I am thinking about putting up my Christmas Tree(s). My girls and I are also going to see Breaking Dawn Part 2. Thank goodness next week is only a two day school week, I am so tired!

I hope you have baking in your plans this weekend too! I do! Look what landed in my grocery cart yesterday....

SQUEE!! More baking for me too!

Also, stay tuned. I have big cooking plans for Turkey Day.. and it involves my Crockpot!

Tootles!
:) JKP

So I Once Took a Sabbatical From Blogging....

Hey Y'all!

I am alive and I am somewhat kicking. But I know I have been gone for TWO LONG MONTHS! Right after my last post on Sept. 2... I got really, really, really sick.

This kind of sick.

Then, the next weekend, I got this kind of sick.

Morphine people. The pain and exhaustion that I had been having really did a number on me. And for me to end up in an ER TWICE. Ugh. It was not fun. I was put on a week of bed rest, which finally helped. I am still having some pain, but if I can sit during the day I feel better. My pain is abdominal and there are 1,000 causes for it, but the sneaking cause of mine is my Crohn's. So. I hope you will forgive the absence. I just didn't want to moan and groan about how sucky I have been feeling. Besides, you go to a blog to get away from your life, not be bored with mine! :)

While I took my blogging sabbatical lots of things happened. There has been some knitting!

I finally finished my Crescent Moon Shawlette! So pretty! Pitty Pat thinks so too!!

I made a ladybug hat for my University of South Carolina roommate Jill. She has a new daughter named Caroline. This hat was so fun to make!

This is a sweet pea hat for my friend Marie. She had a daughter too.... Miss Ellie!

The weather has turned chilly here at the beach, so I needed a new pair of Orthaheels to keep my toes warm! Mom and Pitty Pat gave these to me for my BIG Birthday!

This past weekend I TURNED 40!!! My best friends rented a house at the beach for me for the night. We had a big slumber party and had lots of fun!



Of course, before the fun, I had to get my fingers and toes done! This is OPI Kennebunk-Port!

One of the highlights of the past few weeks has been FINDING MY FAVORITE COFFEE IN THE WORLD!! It is in different packaging this year, but still so YUMMY! I also found a cute mug too!

And, there has been a wee bit of cooking. Not a lot. But I did do some baking this past weekend. I plan on posting this recipe tomorrow. It was a big hit at my slumber party and they are so easy to make!

Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies

Anyhoo, that is what has been going on with me! I am so sorry if you have been faithfully checking the blog for an update and there wasn't one. I hope you will come back soon! I have some big Turkey Day plans for my crockpot that I can't wait to share!

Tootles!

:) JKP 

Julia, Julia, Where For Art Thou?

HEY Y'ALL!!!
Glory Be. It has been a month since my last post. OMG. And it has flown people. I know it doesn't seem like it out there in blog land, when you want to read a new post, but. It's September 2nd people!

Let me catch you up!

During our last update I was just about to start school and Pitty Pat had just been to the vet. What I did not know was that not only was I having adjustment issues to starting back to school, but so was my furry baby. So on August 13th.. the DAY before I had to go back to work, I found myself in the Vet's office discussing the pro's and con's of Prozac for doggies. FOR REALS. Pitty Pat was so distraught that I was coming and going more and staying gone for longer periods of time... he licked his front left leg RAW. So. We had to wear a cone of shame for a few days. BOOOO!!

After a few days of me coming home for lunch and antibiotics and creams, Pitty Pat seemed to be turning the corner. I was able to remove the cone and he started to get used to our "new" daily schedule. Thankfully, without the Prozac.

One of the coolest things that has happened in my absence from the blog has been that I received an ipad from my school district. I love my ipad. It is so convenient. And. My time that I usually spend blogging, may have been replaced by playing my Mom and Aunt Gwen in online games. Oh yes. And. I usually don't win! Pitty Pat also likes the ipad. He loves to read Paddington stories!

Also. My new hobby of thrifting has kept me VERY busy too! I will update the thrifting blog, but I do want to share a few goodies here too. Here are a few outfits that I have found in consignment stores that have been getting a lot of wear during these Back to School Must Look Professional Days.

 

 

This is a cute brown dress that I found and I also bought it in black too. These dresses are so comfy and look great on too. I paid $5 A DRESS. They also manage to hide the 5 pounds I gained this summer from my cortisone shots. Oh well. At least I look cute!

 

 



This outfit is not entirely thrifted, just the shirt. It is a cute Ann Taylor Loft shirt that looks great with white or black. It also hides the "summer five." If you notice my shoes.. those are my wonderful Orthaheels. My feet feel great even after standing all day in my classroom. And. I know these are YUCKY bathroom shots. I just bought a new mirror today to use to show off some thrifty finds. Now. No more bathroom shots. Living room shots instead! :)

Anyway. I am really enjoying thrifting. This past week alone I have picked up a 4 piece place setting of Correlle, 2 vintage Pyrex mixing bowls, a Susan B. Anderson knitting book that I have been coveting, 5 shirts and two NEW pairs of pants. For $30. Um. YES!

Last weekend my Mom came for a visit and brought me a wonderful "new to me" gift. Over the summer whenever I would visit Mom, I just couldn't wait to use her Keurig to make my coffee every morning. I really wanted a Keurig, but just couldn't afford to spend that kind of money when both Pitty Pat and I are having nervous breakdowns about summer ending. And many Vet visits have been happening. Anyhoo. My mom has been through two Keurigs. Once she got her first one, she went ahead and upgraded to the Mack Daddy Model. She gave her first one to my Grandmother, who was terrified to use it. SO GUESS WHO HAS IT NOW???

Just looking at this picture makes me happy. What you don't know is that to get the Keurig to this exact location in my kitchen, we had to perform a FULL ON KITCHEN reorganization. It was painful people, but had to be done. :) Notice my caddy? It's my old spice rack. YEP. If you feel you need a caddy for your Keurig Coffee... hold the phone. Try your spice rack. SQUEEEEE!!!!!

While Mom was visiting we got to meet Uncle Richard and Aunt Brenda for lunch. It was great to see them and I really enjoyed visiting and catching up with both of them. Here's a snap of me and Uncle Richard. Do you like his sweater???

I found it for him. Still with the tags on it. For $3. I think he really likes it. He put it on right after I gave it to him! :) If you look closely.. you can see Mitzi Mazda in the picture too!

I haven't really done much cooking this summer, or knitting for that matter. I have just really enjoyed being home and traveling some too. Today I decided that my house needed to feel Fallish. So I put away my summer decorations and brought out my fall table decorations and my Department 56 Halloween Village. It doesn't help that it is still 95 degrees outside, but it feels nice in here. I think the Decaf Iced Pumpkin Latte that I had this morning had a little something to do with my urge to change seasons around here!

 

So in a nutshell (eventhough I am allergic to them) that has what has been going on. The beginning of school has been tough and every year I think that it is going to do me in. This year I have been fighting exhaustion like I have never faced. That has been hard and has contributed to the lack of blogging too. I know that y'all don't want to hear how tired I am when you are just as tired too! When Mom came last weekend, she took me to the grocery store because I haven't been in a few weeks. Now that is some kind of tired when you can't make it to the grocery store. I have a dr's appoitment in Charleston on the 13th to deal with some things, so maybe that will give me an answer too. And. Do you know how many consignment stores I can hit while I am in Charleston?????

 

I hope y'all are doing well too and thanks for coming back to read!

Tootles!

:) JKP

 

 

Back to School Tears, Currently, and a NEW BLOG!

Hey Y'all!

Can you BELIEVE that it is August 3rd? I am in complete denial. That and I have been battling a horrible case of food poisoning. Last weekend I didn't leave my sofa for FOUR days! I couldn't eat solid food until yesterday. Y'all. It was not pretty around here!

While technically I don't go back to work until Tuesday, August 14th, I have to go back even sooner. Monday I am going in for a little while to get my furniture moved in my classroom. I will probably go back in on Tuesday to do some more unpacking. I am also getting my hair cut and colored on Monday. It is so long and needs to be colored. I haven't had my hair done since Memorial Day! Then next Friday the 10th, I have to go to ipad training! That's the silver lining on the clouds! The following Monday, the 13th, I have another training session to go to as well. At least I am going with one of my good work friends. That should make it a little bit more fun!

Don't get me wrong, I love working with my students. But it is A LOT of work to get up and running. And it feels like you are getting the life sucked out of you at times. So, that is why there are tears at the beginning of school. That and we are getting about 3 emails a day with stuff that we are going to have to do when we go back. I AM SO NOT READY!

I have also really enjoyed being home this summer and hanging with Pitty Pat. I miss him so much when I am at school!

Like me, Farley is still out for now! She posted this month's Currently today, so here's mine!

Also. I may have developed a new hobby. :) A few weeks ago, I blogged about visiting consignment stores while I was visiting Mom. It really all started with a clothing sale her church had while I was in town. I got several new pieces of clothes for school for under $40. Since I have gotten home, I have continued "thrifting." I have gotten some great things for my wardrobe at FANTASTIC prices. I end up calling Mom every night to share my "thrift deals" of the day. And she always wants pictures. So I decided to start a blog, called JustJulia's Thrifty Finds! If you have visited my blog in the past few days, you might have noticed that I have already added a link to the blog. This is not going to replace this blog, I just didn't want my thrifting deals to have to compete with the cooking, crafting and knitting! And, once school starts, my thrifting may only be limited to weekends. So it won't be updated ALL the time, but I do have some posts that I can't wait to share! The new blog, in addition to this one will also give me another outlet to be creative. And if I am going to survive this next year, I am going to need fun things to look forward to!

So that is what is going on here! I have a few books I want to finish this weekend, some knitting to work on, a celebration of a dear friend's birthday, and of course some beach time to keep me busy this weekend. I am trying to keep the "School is Starting Anxiety/Depression" away.

One more thing...........I took Pitty Pat to the vet today for his 3 year old check up! He is doing great and is very healthy. He does have to go on a diet though. :) So a few less treats for the baby.

That's what is going on here! I am off to snap some photos of today's thrifting deal!
Tootles!
:) JKP