Meaningful Mondays: Embarrassment

What was your most embarrassing moment?

"It's only embarrassing if you care what other people think."
~Anonymous

If you think about that for a second you quickly realize just how true that is. 'Embarrass' is defined as: to cause shame to; make uncomfortably self-conscious. I guess no one can make you feel self-conscious if you don't care about their opinion, right?

So I'm going to add to my question... What was your most embarrassing moment, and describe a time when you would have normally been embarrassed but you weren't? (And why weren't you??)

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes

I love making cakes, especially doing creative frostings from scratch. This one I did about a month ago (which is why it's on the ugly travel cake plate and not my pretty glass cake stand). It's cherry chip cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum! Okay, so cream cheese frosting isn't exactly unusual, but of course, I had to decorate the top with cherries to make it a little more festive.

(Very tasty). :)

And this one I did last night for my sister's birthday. I can't wait to dig into it tonight! I call it Peanut Butter Cup Cake. It's chocolate fudge cake that I baked peanut butter chips into, then make peanut butter frosting. Yes, that is right, I made peanut butter frosting!! I'm sure there are some bakeries out there that do this but I honestly have never even heard of it, let alone had it before. I just came up with the idea one morning when eating peanut butter toast and, viola! It's absolutely delicious!

Oh, and those are Reeses Pieces on top. ;)

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups are my sister's absolute favorite candy so I just know she's going to love this. Ever since I came up with the idea I've been dying to tell her but I've managed to keep it a secret so I can surprise her when she comes over tonight. What fun!

Who Ever Thought I'd Like Antiquing??

Last weekend after my run my friend and I decided to stop in a couple of cute little antique shops on our way back to our car. Back in the day I always thought that kind of thing was totally boring and I just wasn't into it. But now I LOVE it! It's amazing the kind of interesting and unique treasures you can find in an antique shop.

And it's so fun to think of the story that must be related to whatever it is you're looking at. Who it once belonged to, how much they must have treasured it. Or maybe it was a wedding gift they couldn't stand and were glad to finally be rid of. :) Whatever the case, there are much more interesting and unusual things you can find compared to a regular store that has all brand new stuff.

Don't get me wrong, brand new has it's place. But I also don't like having a bunch of things that everyone else has. It makes me think of that Friends episode where Phoebe declares how much she hates Pottery Barn because so many people shop there and all of their houses look the same. Not to knock Pottery Barn or their stuff (I actually like a lot of it), but I think I like Phoebe's way of thinking.

So needless to say, when I went antiquing last weekend I had a lot of fun looking through the stores. Once of them had a lot of beautiful china pieces. Since I am now collecting tea cups I just fell in love with this one and had to have it.

I was so excited with my purchase I came right home, washed it, and used it. :) You should try it sometime... you never know what you might find!

Party a Success!

I have to say that my Couture party was such a success! I had so much fun! My entire front room was converted into a store with racks and racks of beautiful clothes everywhere so as soon as people walked in they saw all the clothes and were greeted with a gentleman holding a tray of champagne. Talk about VIP!!

Before everyone arrived I tried on a bunch of stuff and just fell in love with two pairs of jeans. I was only planning on buying one pair but when the hubby said to go for it I ended up buying both. ;)

The first is a classy, more dressy trouser style by Paige Premium Denim that I wasn't too sure about when I pulled them off the rack, but when I put them on they not only fit perfectly, the denim was so soft I could do all of my workout stretches in them as if I was in althetic pants. And they look great! Especially with a cute cap-sleeved blouse tucked in.

Yes, I was hesitant on the high-rise, too, which honestly doesn't look right on everyone, but I just love them. Oh, and the legs on mine are a bit wider and more trouser-like (I couldn't find the exact photo on their website).

And the second pair are WHITE! Um, me in white jeans?? Never! Well... I guess now I do! I didn't think I'd like them at all but when I put on the Miss Me jeans below they fit so perfect and the pockets are just darling.

Can you see that the crosses are sparkly crystals?? Love them! Oh, and I actually wore them with black stilettos, too (although I didn't see this pic until now!). :)

It was SO great to see the girls and have some fun shopping in my own home. What a great night!!!

Meaningful Mondays: Special Days

“Never save something for a special occasion. Every day of your life is a special occasion.”
~Anonymous

Wear your “good” perfume any day you feel like it. Burn your pretty candles because you want to, you can always buy more. Get dressed up any time you please, even if no one else is. Use your good plates and crystal stemware. Wear your sexy lingerie. Open that $100 bottle of wine. Use the sparkly new eye-shadow you’ve been saving for a party. Have the girls over just because it’s Friday. Drink champagne!

I've decided to follow this advice. I have a beautiful china cabinet full of all of my china and crystal that I never use. So I've decided that I'm going to have some small, intimate dinner parties with a couple of friends where we will actually sit at our formal dining table that looks so pretty but, in the 3 1/2 years we've owned it, has never really been used. We will use my china and crystal and burn those pretty candles. For Easter I even pulled out my pretty cake stand that has been in it's box in the garage for who-knows-how-long.

I can't believe I never used it before! That travel cake thing I always used is functional but pretty much an eyesore on the kitchen counter. From now on, it's my fancy glass cake stand!

Time is precious; don’t waste it waiting for “someday”.

Any day is special if you make it so!

Couture Party Tonight!

I am so excited, my party is finally here! And there will be about 15 awesome girls coming so it will be good. Just the right number of people - not too many to where I can't spend quality time with each of them.

The house is cleaned and ready to go, now all I have to do is chill the champagne! Oh, and figure out what I'm going to wear, of course. Actually, I just need to figure out my top half. Once my friend arrives with all of the clothes for her business I'm going to try on a bunch of jeans and the ones I decide to buy I'll wear tonight as a sort of walking advertisement. I'm super excited!

And I'm such a bone-head that when I planned this I didn't even realize I scheduled it for Good Friday. Guess that means I won't be going to Good Friday service this year. Oh well, I much prefer Easter morning service, anyway. :)

We did our "formal family dinner" last Sunday so for Easter Sunday we're having a casual BBQ at our house for friends that don't have any family in the area. It will be small and fun. The weather is supposed to be sunny at 72 so it will be perfect! I'm really looking forward to that, too! I think we'll even have to throw in an Easter egg hunt for us "kids". ;) Great, great weekend coming up here. :)

Think about the wonderful thing that God did for us that we are celebrating this weekend and have a HAPPY EASTER!!

To Dawdle or Not to Dawdle....

After my workout this morning I sat at my computer before making my way into the bedroom to jump into the shower. Not knowing how much time had gone by I did a little work... a little more work... glanced at the clock and realized with horror that I was supposed to be leaving the house in only THIRTY MINUTES! Gasp! As I sat staring at the clock hardly daring to believe that what it was telling me was true, it suddenly hit me - I am a dawdler!

Not always, mind you, but it seems that when I'm getting ready in the morning it really takes me a while. As in, an hour and half to two hours to walk out the door from the time I get in the shower. Yes, you read that right. It's not that I'm particularly slow moving it's just that I have so many things to do.

I like a nice shower to do all the necessary scrubbing, shaving, cleansing, etc. Then out to the fireplace in the bedroom to warm my cold, wet, self up while I towel dry my hair. Then, when I'm comfortably warmed, I can make my way back into the bathroom to start applying moisturizer to my face, running my comb through my hair, adding hair products to damp hair, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and on and on and on until all is finished.

Mind you, I'm often going back and forth between my computer and the bathroom so I can send off e-mails to clients as I remember to, so my weekend "get ready routine" is much quicker. And trying to decide what to wear can also eat up a large chunk of time. Especially if I have to try different things on and experiment with different combinations. If I'm able to choose my outfit the night before then things the next morning are a lot smoother.

And, yes, I can go much faster if I really need to. Like this morning. It only took me 60 minutes instead of 90-120. Still, I think in general I could probably get ready a little faster than I do. Oh, and fortunately traffic was light so I wasn't even late. :)

P.S. I don't really know what's up with that picture - they just kind of looked like dawdlers to me. :)

President's Club

So, I'm on the sales team at my company and they have this thing called "President's Club" that takes place every May. Basically, if you meet or exceed your annual goals then the following May you are cordially invited by the President of the company to attend President's Club - a posh getaway full of relaxation, great food, spa treatments, you name it. All the fantastic things you could wish for.

So I exceeded my goals for 2008 so next month I'm going to President's Club!!!! Yippee!!!!!!! And the best part is all of my friends that I work also are going so we get to hang out together! Every year it's someplace different (last year they took us to Cabo - WAY fun!) and this year it's in sunny San Diego at an uber-fancy resort right on the beach! (I'm not saying which so none of you follow me). ;)

I already have my spa treatments booked and I am sooo excited that it's in a beautiful location, so of course I'll be bringing my big camera with me. Now I have to go shopping for at least one new bikini (maybe two), and figure out what cute sundresses I want to bring with me. Oh yeah, and party clothes, since we'll be going out probably every night!