Friday Five Favorites: I GET to live and love life.

 

Five reasons this week was great

1.  Getting homework done (again!). I even got reprimanded for turning my homework in too early. Sorry but these one per month classes go by too fast and I get too anxious turning in work too close to the deadline.

2. Mug cakes for breakfast (and at night). Easy and filling.

3. Midday coffee run for my co-workers and getting out of work at 12:30. :)

4. Discovering "Family Tree." Chris O'Dowd, will you marry me? I know, he's not "hot," but watch him! Have you seen "Moone Boy" or "The I.T. Crowd?"

5. Meeting these 4 silly boys. Long story short, they asked if I would take them with me wherever I go. :)

Five crafts

1. DIY nail polish storage made from a shoe box and the gift wrap paper I purchased for the holidays (and beyond).

2. Gingerbread house! Check one off my "December to Remember" list!

I picked the Dancing Deer kit for $13.99. Lots of extra frosting and cookies - you build around the box.

 

My cousin helped decorate it.

 

I did the top two.

3. I could make this myself. I love ya Yancey!

4. Someone invite me to an ugly sweater party!

5. My friend says it's cold out. I suggested this:

Five recipes

1.  Pumpkin pie cheese & crackers were served at the holiday baking party.

2. Holiday stout gingerbread

3. After making pumpkin whoopie pies, I want to make some gingerbread whoopie pies with lemon cream cheese. Whoopie pies are my speciality. :)

4. Sweet potato fritters with yogurt chive dipping sauce

5. Cranberry pinot noir meatballs

BONUS: If you haven't seen this... Joy, you're killing us: Gingerbread Speculoos & Dark Chocolate Cake!

Five workouts

1. Sandbag here and here with my makeshift bag filled with clothes and some weights.

2. Resistance band workouts are all over the place including here.

3. Stability ball, which I haven't done yet but is on the schedule for tomorrow.

4. Walking every night because I don't have to plan and I did all my homework during the day!

5. Dancing - easy Latin and Bollywood.

Five links

1. When did Fullerton become one of the prettiest towns? I may have to revisit during the day...

2. 33 clever Christmas food hacks that are easy and ingenious!

3. How it would look if all humans were bodybuilders

4. 15 reasons why Costco is simply the best

5. I don't have to do anything. I get to workout. I get to go to work. This post seriously changed my life.

Five exciting events

1. Holiday baking party at work. My group make pumpkin whoopie pies and French chocolate truffles.

2. Peter's [surprise] birthday dinner tonight. It'll be a drive for some shabu - I'll explain what that is later... I should get him something though.

3. Indulge L.A. with my friend Julie. I heard there's so much sugar (and drinks) that it's impossible. We'll see about that.

4. Resolution Run, but I'm still not sure if I'm running it or volunteering. Have I told you how much I hate running and I've only ever run one 5K... and I had to train for it?

5. Holiday baking exchange with a Meetup group I joined. It's 20-somethings reading books. I'm thinking about making eggnog thumbprints, but please GIVE ME IDEAS!

Your turn:
What's your go-to cookie recipe?
What's your favorite cookie?

MIMM: Nightlife, Day Tripping, and... Errands

This weekend had a little bit of everything: nightlife, day tripping, and the usual errands. I'm not much into staying out late anymore, but this was fun and more "mature" - we met up with some people from my friend's new office job.

Friday night was my friend's work party. She started this week and hadn't met anyone yet. They held it at the MARVELOUS The Federal Bar, an old bank turned restaurant and bar!

Upstairs was huge - a long bar where the tellers must've been, tall tables with stools, and then booths.

The private party was held downstairs and the food was set up in the old vault. They served MARVELOUS food: salmon, chicken, brocollini, salad, and new potatoes, cheeses, and I got 3 drink tickets - I got champagne.

In the vault is a door to an old speakeasy!

We played Blackjack and I learned to play craps, and received raffles for prizes. I won a... breakfast basket. It wasn't a very good basket, but I still won something.

Of course I made friends. :) We played pool at [almost-empty] The Port and then went dancing to island music at a crowded Hawaiian-themed Mai Tai.

Saturday was Unique LA, a holiday show that features local artisan goods and edibles. I love seeing all the creativity and MARVELOUS creations.

Beautiful venue too! We got 360 views of downtown LA.

On my way home, I stopped by The Pizza Press for a late lunch/early dinner. The location is hard to find, embedded between some motels. The pizza was MARVELOUS though - I built my own with sausage, salami, artichokes, pineapple, onions, and roasted red peppers.

I was tired and decided to stay home, drink wine, and finally watch "Despicable Me." It made me laugh and cry!

I considered going to the Rose Bowl Flea Market on Sunday but didn't want to make the drive. Instead, I ended up doing what I usually do on Sundays: shop.

TJ Maxx was my first stop. I love it during the holidays - they have so many good things!

North Carolina-based Moon Rabbit Foods coconut flour

I don't eat many doughnuts but when I do, I go to Sidecar Doughnuts. It was on the way and they had new flavors.

Butter & salt, which was unassumingly MARVELOUS

Huckleberry apple

Has this ever happened to you? I walked out of Whole Foods with a pint of ice cream & a bar of chocolate!

Ciao Bella Pumpkin Sea Salt Caramel & Theo Nutcracker Brittle

Despite all my extravagant & MARVELOUS food purchases (not pictured), I made a mid-day green smoothie for lunch.

Afterwards, I headed over to visit family... they wanted to go shopping too.

MARVELOUS "Popular on Pinterest" cheetah print flats (and a pair of red suede flats) for $15

Mom bought me some MARVELOUS Clarks' mocassins/slippers from Ross for $12.99!

What was MARVELOUS about your weekend?
What kind of shoes do you wear on a day-to-day basis?

MIMM: Am I 25 or 16?

What's happened to me?

I act like a 16 year old teenager at work.

I giggle a lot.

I wear red Vans because my friend Peter convinced me. We match now.

At least my capris are from Anthropologie by way of Goodwill.

I'm all about guys. When did this happen? Probably because I work at a venue for couples.

I like to see how people couple up. Sometimes I have a skill of guessing your girlfriend. I totally guessed the chocolatier's girlfriend was a hippie.

Sadly, work makes me, the skeptic, wonder when I'll find someone.

Listening to Joy the Baker podcast on flirting. Just be me. Wait, what's that?

We found a photo booth strip on the floor and wrote "Hey, I saw you... I never do this... Give me a call." We wrote a real number, not ours, and have it ready for our my favorite work eye candy. We forgot it and he didn't come back to get it. We're evil and like I said, teenagers. Is this flirting?

I love acting 16 but I feel guilty about it. Let's be real about it: I'm 25.

But, I can still make friendship bracelets and such. I made this one for my cousin.

In other news, someone at work got canned. Totally unexpected. Don't be late or talk behind your boss's back. Yikes.

Work is clearly marvelous. What else is marvelous? Monday. Reflection day. Day off.

I started my morning late. I slept in till 10:30 to make up for only 5 hours of sleep the other night.  My breakfast: chia waffle + 1 egg + 1 egg white.

Then lazed around doing some Tone It Up! videos.

• Sunkissed Abs
• Arms for Summer
• TIU Sunset Workout 
• Fun in the Sun Workout

I killed them all and got a little sweat.

I'm still trying to get the insane following. Maybe if I understood the nutrition plan 'cause I'm not buying it for $150.

Though they are gorgeous. Gah, who's jealous? Me.

TurboKicking it tonight with a new instructor recommended by a friend.

How old do you feel and act?
Anyone a TIU fan with suggestions? I browse and am fascinated by their site, but I don't know where to start!

Chocolate tart & homebrews + bracelet making extravaganza

Only 5 hours of sleep later and...

I made a simple breakfast: a gluten-free waffle with a fried egg.

Then I went shopping for bracelet making extravaganza.

Sadly, our local Michaels' is under construction and has a lackluster selection. They did have Unreal chocolates that I just heard about!

They taste a little different, but I like them more.

After trips to Michaels then JoAnn's and finally Surf City Beads, I got a good selection to start with.

The result of my bracelet making extravaganza was...

One bracelet for me using the Honestly WTF tutorial...

And a wire "bracelet" for my Fair boy-friend. He loved it!

 

I also picked up 50 cent notecards.

 

I didn't have much time till work.

When I got to work, there was a giant tray of Blackmarket Bakery goodies. The baker came to demo and I downed a mini tart before taking some home.

 

The Long Beach Homebrewers were on their way out, but I chatted them into giving me some of their beer. They snuck it to me in 2 liter bottles. :)

Tonight's dinner was a caprese quinoa salad. Balsamic vinegar is somewhat expensive so I just rolled with my first Walden Farms dressing, balsamic vinaigrette, with 0 calories.

 

I wasn't drinking on the job, but I totally forgot to move a table for the morning crew. Oops. We get so preoccupied on Saturday nights with the crowds!

What crafts are you trying out? Friendship bracelets are so in right now. :)