Friday in 5 - Black Friday Edition

This week for me has been recovering from Operation Van Gogh. I'm to the point where I may just cut my own ear off. I know, such a drama queen, but it is what it is.

On with the Friday in 5. I thought it would be fun to share goodies from Black Friday, yes? Okay, let's go!

#1. Hurray for Black Friday! Over the last 2 days, I have gotten almost all of my goodies that I ordered. I didn't go wild and crazy, but Loft and Ann Taylor has 50% off AND free shipping. Can't pass up a good deal like that!  I picked up this cute going out top. Someone needs a date night stat!

via 

#2 Can't forget my Lilly! Now, I'll confess, I was a little sneaky, since I had already done my resort purchasing. BUT they were running a free mirror and then an extra goodie with free shipping. So, I ordered a Koozie. Can't get enough koozie's right? But, I had it gift wrapped and I ended up with a super cute key chain! The promo is still going on now through the holidays, so take advantage of it!

via

#3 Ann Taylor Loft. I picked up this new shirt. Apparently it's sold out online, but I love it. Wearing it as we speak. It's kinda tunicy, and I wore it with brown dress pants to work. Love Love Love.

#4 Saturday, was Shop Small Saturday. I was so excited because American Express and Klout sent me a $25 American Express Gift Card to go out and support local business. How cool is that?? Well, my dear BFFie, Melissa mentioned a local place called The White Hare and they have all kinds of home and crafty goodies. I was in heaven. Jeff, not so much.  So, I picked up this cute little cake dome. It's perfect for like 3 cupcakes. So Cute! It was fun to be able to support local business AND get a cute kitchen addition.  Did anyone else get to participate in the Shop Small event? 

#5 And let us not forget the most important part of Christmas....Holiday M&M's. Okay, I kid, not the most important part, but I've got a bowl designated for seasonal M&M's. I picked up our first bag on Tuesday when I was getting my new drugs at Target. I love Target. I get in serious trouble there.

Okay, so how did everyone else do on Black Friday? I didn't go wild and crazy since this year, we are getting slightly bigger items for Christmas. I'll blog about that soon! Yay!

Whew...

Today is a mishmash of goodness from the week...

#1 - We have a Winner for the Cheerios Prize Pack! The winner has 48 hours to get in touch with me. For the record, Rafflecopter ROCKS! No more counting randomly. One button, click, boom, done. I may do more giveaways

#2 - Went back to the doctor. That ear infection, well it got worse. So I'm round 2 of antibiotics. Lovely, right?  I have 5 days of a Z-Pack, and if that doesn't work, well the ENT is going to put me on the 'roids. Excellent.

#3 - My Christmas Tree is up! I was complaining on Thanksgiving that I had zero interest in putting it up. But Saturday and Sunday, I got it done. I need to busy out the SLR and take some pretty photos.  Here is just a pic from twitter.

#4 Speaking of Ornaments. I'm OBSESSED with the clip on ones. Have you seen these? Well, I picked up 8 of these guys and 2 of these guys.  Jeff thinks I'm starting a twitter tree with all my birds.

#5 Turkey. Did anyone else not get enough turkey last week? I sure didn't, and I decided I needed a little more turkey in my life. Sunday, I went to the store, but a turkey breast and used a brine.  Everything is better with brine. I used this recipe and it turned out well. I put a little more rosemary and added 3 garlic cloves to the brine and it took a little less than 2 hours to cook.  The little popper guy popped WAY too early. Never trust those.   Here was the final result:

I think it turned out pretty good. Plenty of leftovers. I know some people that roast a turkey breast off every week in lieu of buying turkey. Not a bad idea and it takes all the concern of nitrates out of the equation. 

That's all I've got for today! Back on top tomorrow with Friday in 5!

Holiday Card Photo Shoot

At Thanksgiving, I asked my mom if she wouldn't mind taking a few photos for our holiday card that we'll be getting from Shutterfly. I knew that if I didn't get these ordered ASAP, I have no idea when I would be getting them out. Jeff HATES having his photo taken, so I begged for him to appease me for 15 minutes. I had to laugh with the outtakes, so I thought I'd share a few. 

Apparently, he's been watching a little too much football. He was trying to look like the Heisman Trophy.  

  

Was he close? 

via

This just cried Screech Powers to me. I look horrid. 

And the last one. For real. These are absolutely awful.

If you are still looking for holiday card ideas, I have 3 sets of 25 cards to give out. The first 3 people who leave me a comment can have them! You just pay shipping which was like $8. I'm a big fan of Shutterfly because they cards are nice thick card stock, and they look really nice. 

The good news is...we found a winner!! The toughest part was finding a card style that I loved. They had Erin Condren ones, but sadly, our image didn't work with the layouts. Boo and a Half. 

So, stay tuned, we'll share that photo soon. 

Anyone else have a problem child who doesn't cooperate for photos? Do you send out Christmas Cards? 

Maybe we should do a card swap!?? 

I'd love to see everyone's fun and creative cards!