This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

Sorry for all the excessive postings, but hey! When I'm in a slump I'm in a slump; when I'm on a roll...well, I'm on a roll! Lately, I've been seeing other bloggers' list their favorite Christmas movies, and that got me thinking about my own list. While I've seen all the typical ones you normally hear people citing (A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, etc.), here are some that make me feel warm and fuzzy during the holidays, but don't necessarily come to immediate mind when thinking of classic holiday flicks: 1.  The Family Man To me, this is kind of like a more modern "It's a Wonderful Life" and being the sappy romantic girly girl that I am, I always tear up at the end.   2.  Bad Santa   Okay.  If you are a prude and hate rated R movies, this is not for you.  But if you have a sense of humor and you don't bat an eye at crassness, then you'll appreciate this movie.  Admittedly, I wasn't into it the firs

A year ago, these were my Thanksgiving contributions (post here ): Breakfast : 1.  French-press coffee 2.  2-ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins (recipe found here:  2 ingredient pumpkin spice muffins ) Sides : 1.  Maple-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Toasted Hazelnuts ( recipe ) 2.  Crockpot Corn Pudding ( recipe ) 3.  Buttered Turnip Puree ( recipe ) Meat : 1.  Honey-Baked Ham Dessert : 1.  Apple Spice Bundt Cake ( recipe) 2.  Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake ( recipe ) If I recall, I ended up not making the muffins, and the Brussels sprouts and turnip puree were a flop with everyone (although I'll reiterate that I personally LOVE and ADORE the turnip puree!). The winners were the crockpot corn pudding and apple spice bundt cake, so those will be making an appearance again. Here is what I hope to make this year (a few are special requests made by Ryan who always misses his grandma's cooking since we now go my parents for Thanksgiving): SIDES:

Wow. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I need to get on the ball with all the dishes I'd like to prepare for the big day.  Before I get to that, though, just want to share some Christmas gifts ideas that I've gotten from other blogs and such. (Yes, I started super early this year, just as I resolved to do last December since I abhor crowds.  I hope to be done with all my shopping before Thanksgiving, or at least by December 1st.) I used to ignore Nordstrom as I thought it was way out of my budget, but sometimes I can actually find some affordable items there.  One gift that I hadn't considered in the past but am super excited about giving this year are these slippers : I got a pair for my mother-in-law and my mom, and I'll probably go ahead and get a pair for myself soon.  They are soooo soft on the inside and I can't wait for both moms to try them on! When I told my husband of my idea to get slippers as gifts for the women in our families, he thought

I meant to write a post a few weeks ago, tried on my phone, but failed and then lost the motivation to do it again. So back to being a sporadic blogger I am. A few weeks ago, we celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. Someone told me that was our "Wool" anniversary, lol. I had never heard of that before. But yeah--getting that much closer to a decade...and it is just FLYING by. Halloween also came and went; I was so pumped for trick-or-treaters and got a bunch of candy...only to have no one come to the door on Halloween night. Then a few days later, on Nov 2nd, as we were driving out of our neighborhood to go out for dinner, I saw families and their kids all dressed up walking around. Argh! I was so mad that I didn't get the memo (apparently) that they had rescheduled Halloween. How stupid is that, to do it in November? Yeah, it was raining a bit and windy on the 31st, but I know some places still did it. Besides, that's perfect weather for it, right? Wh