Presents are fun to get but more fun to give!

This is my present to you...a gift guide!  Now you can pick something below to give to me because really it's much more fun to give than to receive.  And I had a lot of fun putting this list together...I promise.

For the Woman in Your Life Who Prefers One of Her Boobs Over the Other

(hopefully it's her left one)

 

This shirt from J.Crew is perfect to show off your favorite boob as long as your favorite is your left boob.  The "broach" sits perfectly at nipple height and acts almost like pasties that Playboy models wear to parties, except this is for the Amish Playboy model.  J.Crew really went out of there way to help bedazzle an area that otherwise never gets any notice and I think we should all applaud them for this.

For the Bruce Jenner Wannabe or Just the Regular RC Nerd in Your Life

About 5 years ago I made Tom watch a "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" episode with me.  BIG Mistake.  Bruce Jenner (the Dad for those of you who don't keep up with the Kardashians) is big into RC Helicopters.  Tom decided they looked awesome.  Jokingly for Christmas that year I bought him a cheap RC Helicopter.  BIGGER Mistake.  He now has an entire fleet and is looking into renting space at a private hanger.  His brothers also are / have gotten into RC crap as have his friends.  The wives are all really happy with Tom and glad their husbands are his friend.  Anyway, if you want to get your husband / boyfriend / brother something they will love get them some sort of RC Helicopter, Plane, Car, or Boat.  Here is a website that sells a lot of it: http://www.hobbyzone.com/

For Anyone In Your Life Except a Baby...I Don't Think Babies Should Get This Gift

A massage.  And no I do not mean a crappy coupon that you make that says, "I will give you a massage".  I mean get them a massage from a professional.  Pretty much any spa or massage place will do gift cards.  Trust me, people like massages.

For A New Mom or Anyone Who Looks Tired

Marc Jacobs Remedy Concealer Pen is amazeballs.  Dark Puffy Circles will disappear with this miracle pen.  You will never know someone has been up all night with a screaming baby or a snoring husband if they use this.

For the Cat Lady or Just Anyone Really Who Likes To Be Warm and Cozy

Whenever TV shows depict cat ladies I feel like they are always dressed in robes covered in cat hair.  Well, I've found the perfect robe to get covered in cat hair for your Cat Lady friend.  OR I've found the perfect warm and cozy robe for anyone.  Whatever your gift giving need might be...I'm here to help :)  Seriously though, I got a Target gift card for my birthday and spent it on this robe.  It's the perfect length, has pockets, and is warm and fuzzy.  It's perfect to throw over my pj's to let the dogs out or just put on over my clothes when I'm cold.  It's like a Snuggie that opens in front rather than in back.  But better cuz it's not stupid.

For Your Favorite Blogger (HINT HINT) or Techy

The new Kindle Fire HDX.  This tablet is pretty awesome and definitely topping my list of stuff I want but won't get.  Yes it's an e-reader, but it's so much more too.  Check it out if you're in the market for a tablet.  I've only played around with it at Best Buy, but it seems pretty sweet.

For Your Favorite Yogi (person who does yoga not the bear) Or Gym Rat

Tom is the hardest person ever to buy shoes for.  He wears size 14 and his feet are pretty flat and wide.  So when he finds a pair of shoes that work and are comfortable we buy multiple pairs in multiple colors.  Most recently he was in the market for a new pair of tennis shoes.  We did a bunch of online research and decided on these.  When they arrived he put them on and was amazed at how comfortable they were.  They did not need to be broken in, and fit great.  He got the grey / blue ones and they look really nice in person.  He keeps talking about how comfortable they are, so you should probably get them for someone.

Emily, my brother's girlfriend, is a Sales Manager / Rep. for Phat Buddha.  It's a yoga clothing company based out of New York City.  The clothing is awesome and I highly recommend it.  She gave me a few samples to try and I have been living in the leggings.  The ones pictured above are my favorite.  Check out their website https://phatbuddhawear.com/ or email Emily directly at Emily@phatbuddhawear.com and she will help you get the right product.  Seriously YOU NEED THESE LEGGINGS!

For the Caffiene Addict Sweet Tooth Alcoholic

Rum Chata found at your local liquor store is the best thing since Lucky Charms started selling the marshmallows separately.  It's like Bailey's but 100 times better.  You can drink it on ice, add it to a milk shake, or put it in a hot cup of cocoa or coffee.  The cocoa pictured above was given to me for my birthday last year and is far and away the best hot cocoa I've ever had.  The coffee pictured is also some of the best home brewed coffee I've ever had.  Even my parents thought the coffee was amazing when they visited and they are coffee snobs so you know it's good.

For the Person Who Has 1 Million TV Channels and Still Thinks There is Nothing on TV

Get them a Netflix Subscription and an Internet TV box.  If they can't find something on one of their million channels or on Netflix they are annoying.  This should solve all their problems.  I don't know much about the Internet TV boxes other than they exist.  I know a lot about Netflix...probably too much if we're being honest.

For the Rich Gamer

The Xbox One is the item topping Tom's list of wants that he won't get.  A.) because it's impossible to get your hands on, and B.) because we're not rich.  This video game console it like $500!  But if you're rich and have sneaky ways of getting your hands on things that are impossible to find this is the gift for you to give.  Whoever you give it to will love it, I promise.

For the Poor Gamer

Battlefield 4 is apparently supposed to be an awesome game.  I obviously don't know anything about it, but I've heard from a trustworthy source.  It looks like you can get it for any of the video game consoles too.  Don't get it for your children though.  Just to download this picture I had to enter my birthday.  I was a little concerned as to what I might find after I clicked enter.

So that's it!  My 2013 gift guide.  Now go spend money $$$$$$$  You're welcome :)

XO XO,

Molly

P.S. I am not working for or gaining anything by telling you to buy these products.  However, if you work for any of these companies and want to pay me for promoting your products I am happy to oblige.

Elastic

Wikipedia defines elastic as, a colloquial noun for certain kinds of elastomers and stretchable fabrics.
Yep, that's what I'm thankful for...stretchable fabrics.  Leggings, Jeggings, Spanx, Spandex, and lets not forget our ole favorite sweat pants.  On a day like today, we ALL need to be thankful for this colloquial noun.
Seriously though, I LOVE Thanksgiving.  The food is my favorite.  There are no presents.  Family is just together enjoying each other.  It's the best.  We usually watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then Football.  We lounge around, cook, eat, laugh, and tell stories all day.  We don't go shopping (unless we forgot an ingredient for the Pumpkin Pie).
This year we will be celebrating in North Carolina.  Away from some family and all our friends.  My parents will be traveling from Iowa to visit which I am very thankful for.  And Tom has a little time off which I am extremely thankful for.  It will still be weird though, not seeing Tyler dance around with napkins in his hands saying, "I'm a birdie, I'm a birdie!" and not seeing Matty gobble down as much food as his Uncle Tom, well that can't be replicated.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember wear your stretchable fabrics!

XO XO,
Molly

Happy Fall Y'All

Because I HATE Halloween we are not celebrating.  However, I do love Fall and it is just starting to look like Fall here in North Carolina so that is what we will be celebrating.  That and my love for candy corn and caramels!
Halloween was awesome when I was little.  My first "real" costume was Cookie Monster.  My Mom made my costume (she had to call in sick to work just to finish it) and it was amazing!  I'm pretty sure I was Cookie Monster until I grew out of the costume!

After the Cookie Monster years I was, in no particular order, a "Hippie", a "50's Girl" with the BEST hot pink poodle skirt, a pumpkin, and Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Now normally I don't think I would have remembered the year I was Alice, but that year ended up being epic solely based on my Dad's costume.  See, the year I was Alice was also the year the original Batman movie came out.  Now if you've ever seen my Dad you know he has a serious resemblance to Jack Nicholson who played the joker in Batman...put the two together and you have my Dad dressed up as the Joker.  It also just so happened this was the year we were going to a big Halloween party that had a costume contest (the one and only time I think we were ever invited).  Let's just say my Dad won hands down and also scared many of the little kids in attendance (probably the reason we were never invited back!).

Seriously creepy resemblance right????

Also, how cute are Ben the cowboy and I as Alice????

After the fun elementary years of Halloween came the scary years of middle school when it was cool to go to haunted houses and right there is when I was D-O-N-E with Halloween.  I don't do well with things that jump out at me and I HATE being scared.

So tonight Tom and I will be enjoying Fall and all the pictures of cute kids in costumes on facebook.

Happy Fall Y'All!

XO XO,

Molly

 

Ah...Ah...Ah...CHOOOOOOO

Sorry for being MIA the last week.  An idiot I work with decided to come to work sick and has now proceeded to get EVERYONE sick.  And by everyone I mean everyone...literally the entire staff is sick and we just keep passing it around.  It's a petri dish full of germs up in here.  One girl has already used all her sick days for the year and it's only January (and she's still sick now for the second time).  I had to use two sick days, but don't worry Tom said it was just a cold and I needed to suck it up (he has the best bedside manner).

The nightstand with Lysol, sudafed, and kleenex.  The pups who are good snugglers and have a good bedside manner (clearly they got that from their mom).

I knew I was officially sick when nothing sounded good to eat (not even cookie dough).  I think I ate 2 pieces of toast in a three day period.  And you better believe the first thing I did once I was feeling better was to step on the scale to see how much weight I'd lost (4lbs).

I guess the only good thing about being sick was that I happened to be sick on the two coldest days in the last 1,466 days.  I think the high Monday was like -10 and the windshield was -40 (those numbers are probably wildly inaccurate double check with Belinda Jensen if you want accuracy) but I do know they were in the negatives.  When I finally graced everyone the dogs with my presence Monday morning afternoon night and let them out they looked at me like I was crazy.  Addie ran out the door obviously not expecting the cold got half way down the hill and then the cold hit her.  She looked back at me peed and ran back inside narrowly escaping Rocky who was smarter and practically peed right on the step.

Top Left = the door in the mudroom.  No we do not have fancy frosted glass, that is actual frost on the glass INSIDE!  Bottom Right = the door handle covered in frost.  The other two pictures you can't tell very well but there is frost there I promise, and these are INSIDE with storm windows / storm door!  That is how cold it is!

Finally by Tuesday late afternoon I was feeling better and decided January 22 was a good day to finally take down the Christmas tree.  Tom and I have been busy playing "guess the tune", "finger or twig", and "which dog is licking me?" lately and didn't make taking the tree down a priority.  Now I'm sure you're all wondering about the games we've been playing, and no they aren't inappropriate if that's what you're thinking.

These boxes may or may not still be sitting in the living room (they are).

Tom is crazy good at knowing a song after just the first chord.  Seriously, next time you're around him play a song...any song and he will know what it is.  AND if it was in a movie he will be able to tell you what movie and describe the scene for you.  It's mind blowing.  So "guess the tune" is a game that I inevitably always lose.  Basically we open iTunes or pandora put the songs on shuffle and see who can name the artist and title first.  Pretty much the only songs I ever win are Christmas Songs, Mozart, Beyonce, James Taylor and Chris Isaac.

Finger or twig (can be played with any other object not just a twig) is a game Tom invented in Jamaica a few years ago.  One person closes their eyes and the other touches them with either their finger or the twig.  Wow, the more I describe it the worse it sounds...I'm just gonna quit while I'm ahead.  But I will say this, we played it with my Mom on the beach and she thought it was fun too.  Yeah Molly, still sounding bad and now getting weird.

Ok well moving on, the final game "which dog is licking me" is self explanatory.  You have to guess without looking which dog is licking you.  Seriously, what is up with these games sounding so weird?!?  They don't seem weird in the moment...

Tom cheated...he knew it was Addie all along :)

Well this post has gone from sick to I don't even know, so I'm going to stop here.  Hopefully things will get back to normal soon.  Until then...

XO XO,
I've Shared Too Much Molly

Holidays in the Traditional Happiness House

Holidays in the Traditional Happiness house are quite well...traditional.

We I set up a Christmas Tree

We have fires in the fireplace and listen to Christmas Music

 

We go to church on Christmas Eve

We open presents and wear what we've opened immediately

Even the dogs get presents mailed to them

This year the dogs got extra special presents from their Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandma and Grandpa Mullin gave them special treats, and Grandma and Grandpa Langwith sent them new Holiday collars.

They especially loved sniffing each others collars.

Now Addie girl got a sweet green and white fuzzy collar, but poor Rocky boy got a collar with jingle bells on it.  The bells were not quiet to say the least, and poor Rocky kept trying to get away from all the noise.  Little did he know he couldn't!  Every slight movement he made they jingled.  He even got Addie to try and bite the collar off, but with no success.  Needless to say we didn't make him wear it very often, except when people were coming over or to terrorize the poor guy :)

A close up of the jingle jangle collar.

Luckily Tom went to a staff Christmas party where they exchange white elephant gifts and got this bad boy:

Yes that is a blow up moose/deer head.

Which has nice antlers for the loud collar to hang on.  The dogs have a love / hate relationship with the deer/moose.

Addie is a bit braver than Rocky, who wouldn't go near the thing, but did do a lot of growling from far away :)

Overall we had a lovely, very relaxing holiday and hope you did too.

XO XO,

Sad that the Holidays are over Molly

The Smells of the Holidays

Many of you have been asking what I baked this holiday season, and many of you who got to eat what I baked have been asking for the recipes.  So this post is for you!  None of these recipes are gluten free or healthy, but all of these recipes are delicious!  To get to each recipe click on the name of the recipe or item.

The first thing I made were cookie/brownie things which you saw here as a baking failure.  Although they didn't look pretty they did taste pretty.

Cookie Brownie Bites

At a recent staff meeting I got off topic (surprise surprise) and started asking if anyone knew how to make those cream cheese mints you get at weddings or bridal showers.  I tried to bribe my friend Rick to get his wife to make some, but he didn't come through for me, so I learned how to make my own.

Cream Cheese Mints

While shopping at my local co-op I found shelled pistachios and dried cranberries on sale in bulk, and was reminded of a cookie recipe I pinned on pinterest that I wanted to try. 

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

These have been given wonderful reviews from everyone who's tried them...not trying to toot my own horn, just sayin' :)

Tom's extended family usually gets together sometime around Christmas and this year we did it potluck style.  Of course I signed up to bring dessert 1.) because I love to bake and 2.) because I wanted to make sure there would be dessert.  The way I see it, when you do potluck style you better bring something you know you want to be there just in case no one else does.

Ginger Bars

This is not my own picture...I forgot to take a picture of these, so this comes from the link.  Although mine did look this beautiful :)  AND, these were probably my favorite thing of the entire holiday season.

I also brought spiced nuts to the family party.  The link is to the recipe I went off of, but I didn't follow it exactly.  There were Vegan's there that I wanted to be able to enjoy the nuts.  I also used pistachios (left over from the cookies above).  The picture is a few cups of them in a holiday baggie I took to some neighbors.

Sugared Pecans

My mom and I loooove caramels.  Especially the squishy, sticky, homemade kind.  I'd seen a bunch of recipes on pinterest for caramels and decided to give it a try.

7 minute microwave caramels

I should have cut them smaller because they were very rich, but very delicious.

Have you been to Starbucks lately?  Have you seen or tried the Cranberry Bliss Bars?  Well let me just tell you they are amazing, so when I saw a copycat recipe for them I just had to make them.  They are a bit time consuming, but worth it.  Again I used the extra dried cranberries from the cookies above, and should have cut them smaller because they are dense.  Also if I make them again I will use a larger pan to make the crust thinner.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

In the fall I bought a bunch of Libby Pumpkin when it was on sale because I thought I would have to make a pie or two.  When I didn't I ended up with a bunch of extra cans of Libby Pumpkin and wasn't sure what to do with them.  I clicked through a few boards on pinterest and found some pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting that looked divine.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting

I also packaged some of these up for our neighbors.

And there you have it!  I would definitely make all of these recipes again.  Although I would try and give more away rather than eat them!

XO XO,

Fat & Happy Molly