I literally cannot believe that Saturday is Christmas Eve. Wasn’t it December 1st last week?

Anyhow, the big holiday weekend is almost here and I am getting ready to head home, to bake, stuff myself with deliciousness and spend time with people I’m related to (including my beloved fur nephew). I also need a break from Chicago so I can keep working toward feeling like the old me.

Oh and I will try to also watch Love Actually one more time. Seriously, I love that movie. LOVE.

My gifts are packed, laundry done and I am ready to have a puppy smother me in kisses soon.

There is lots of other fun things to look forward to this weekend, including movies and being reunited with my high school best friend, who I haven’t seen in a long time.

Lots happening in the other mitten state.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and safe travels wherever you are off to.

I will be back next week with a full holiday and shenanigans recap :) I leave you for now with a video of puppies under the tree, seriously, it will make you explode from cuteness.

Oh, and I hope Santa is extra good to each of you, wink wink.

Love, JB

For my first post on this blog, I asked a simple question, is this blog on?

FOUR YEARS later, it still is.

Holy sh*t, today is my four-year blogoversery. (Big thanks to Teena in Toronto for the reminder!)

When I started this, I didn’t think I would still be doing it in three months, let alone five years. It is, my longest commitment.

So here is what I would write to my blog in its birthday card:

Yep, I jumped the gun and put a 5th birthday picture up

Dear blog,

Today, you are five years old. I cannot believe it (literally).

In five years together, there have been a lot of ups and downs. You have given me a lot of positive things: introducing me to close friends who I love dearly, taken me to Vegas, New York, Boulder and Seattle, and given me an outlet to express myself. But of course, when things are down, I want nothing more than to shut you down and forget I ever started this.

Despite this bumpy road, we’re still here, five years later and I still enjoy posting here, so it looks like we have another year together ahead of us. It may not always be easy, but with award fashion season coming up, I am excited.

Love, JB

Happy birthday blog, cheers to another year.

Laughter and cheer has been in short supply around me lately. I think you know why (see previous post).

Anyhow, yesterday I was cruising around Facebook (always a source for entertainment) and found this.

No lie, I laughed for two minutes, then went back, watched it again and laughed harder (I missed things the first time).

If you didn’t see this making the rounds, it’s a video (with Juliette Lewis?!) that is all things girl say, apparently on a regular basis.

I am guilty of saying 90-95 percent of these things, especially the following:

• “Why doesn’t my computer work??”
• “Did I lock the door?” INSERT DRAMATIC PAUSE “Yes”

Seriously, get out of my head!

Anyhow, that is what made me laugh yesterday. Baby steps! I also wore a dress and put in my contacts today. Hopefully these are other steps in the right direction.

Also, I wanted to say a big thank you to all of the sweet comments, emails, calls and texts I’ve received in response to the last post. You guys are the best and your sweet words made my day :)

Do you sound like any part of the video?

Lately, I’ve been a bit of a Scrooge. Work has been b-a-n-a-n-a-s and there are a few other things weighing on my mind.

So, I’m behind in getting in the holiday spirit. In fact, I need it delivered to me like a shot of adrenaline to my heart (cue Pulp Fiction.)

And this weekend, where I was finally at home and able to relax, I kicked off the holiday season JB-style.

I decorated my tree and wrote out holiday cards, with holiday music playing in the background (and me singing out loud). No kidding, I was looking forward to this all week.

My favorite part of the holiday season (minus buying gifts) is decorating my tree. My ornaments are very important to me and I love displaying them, even in my small apartment.

Here is a picture of my 2011 tree, with a few new additions, courtesy of a trip to Macy’s.

Sure, I’m biased, but damn this is a nice lookin’ tree.

And after this baby was up, I watched my favorite holiday movie with the tree lighting my apartment.

I love this movie.

Hello holiday spirit, I think you’re finally coming over me.

How are you getting in to the holiday spirit?

Exhausting.

After this weekend, I have a whole new appreciation for preparing Thanksgiving dinner because it is no joke. For me, it was a bundle of nerves, anxiety and doubt, but in the end, it was a big accomplishment and sense of pride.

That’s right, my SIL and I both prepared our first-ever Thanksgiving meal. And I only have one cut and two burns to show for it (each hurt).

So let’s do a little recap with link love of what we made:

• Turkey (no link, was pre-cooked)
• Corn and wild rice
• Cranberry and dried cherry relish
• Butternut squash soup
• Party potatoes
• Sweet potato hash
• Creamy green bean casserole with fried shallots
  

And everything turned out DELICIOUS. Being a perfectionist, I would make adjustments to the green bean casserole and soup recipes next year, but everyone assured me they were delicious as-is, so I can quiet my concerns.

The hardest part was the prep and rotating items in the oven, plus reheating the next day. This, plus exhaustion, lead to my battle wounds too. An oven rack burn on your arm at 325 degrees? OUCH.

The best part? Cooking everything with my SIL, working together with my brother to get the house ready, appetizers out and entertain our guests. The good china came out and everything! I have to say, we were a great team and I don’t think it would have been possible without them.

It looks like we’ll be doing this again next year too and I’m already buzzing with ideas of what to change and make.

Now, I’m ready for a nap and days of leftovers :) So let’s look at some pictures!

GD that is one sexy turkey

View of the table (including our beverage, Miller Lite)

My Thanksgiving feast

How was your holiday weekend?