Holiday things

 So, like, I mean, I should be all done holiday shopping. We aren't even buying any Hanukkah gifts this year in favor of a trip-- which! We finally wised up and realized that we will likely never be able to travel anywhere over the summer that is not also where the dance or dive teams are traveling, and we never have overlapping spring breaks (SO FREAKING FRUSTRATING that my college and the kids' schools rarely sync up), so! Winter break IS OUR MOMENT.

Anyway. I went out the other day to actual stores (terrible. do not recommend-- I was actually at an Ulta and realized the thing I really wanted was only at Sephora, and I bought it online to be delivered to my house instead of trekking across the mall because even though I love to shop, THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE and I was SO HOT in my boots and coat and BAH HUMBUG.) and ended up mainly buying things for DOROTHY, who is the ONE PERSON who is MORE THAN covered. Like, Ben and I were planning to haul out all our hidden gifts and figure out ow much MORE we had to buy OTHERS to make sure they had "enough" stuff or what we could stash away for her birthday. AND NOW SHE HAS MORE.

BUT! Who is easier to buy for than a tween? THEY LIKE ALL OF THE THINGS.

I have also been shopping for my own stocking (I bought it from a Kroger starbs and didn't get a drink and used an old gift card I stumbled upon on my app **hangs head in shame** **am a scab for a trendy collab**)

All of this is to say that I MUST FINISH SOON both because I am SO SICK of SHOPPING and also because I don't want to spend any more dollars (and you guys know I love spending the dollars).

Dorothy broke my heart/crushed my dreams when she told me that she hates the wrapping paper motif I usually choose (brown with red and white designs and green yarn ties) and thinks it looks sad, so I definitely need to rething this year's theme and maybe take her with me to buy stuff.

I have been mostly terrible at the Elf this year, often forgetting it and needing to hide it really fast when Minnie is eating breakfast. I am compensating by having it buy her things and copying funny things I see on IG (that is a grinch head from a tube of Hershey Kisses)

Minnie had her holiday performance in jazz (she claimed a tummy ache and skipped her acro performance due to nerves-- poor kid)-- she danced to Jingle Bells by Gwen Stefani

And! She is very into reading me holiday themed books

Annabel got festive bows at her last groom-- white with crystals and gold stars

I am drinking every gingerbread latte in town

I got an absolutely delightful Secret SANta gift in the mail

I think I am ready to start baking!! We need tons of gingerbread for our annual house comp, and I am ready for lots of gingerpeople and Santa sugar cookies, too. What about you? What magic is on your calendar this week?

5 on a Friday: My super fast makeup routine

 I have to get ready FAST this semester because I have to go to work and am the only adult at home the majority of weekday mornings getting 4 other people out the door. So! I have become SUPER FREAKING FAST at makeup!

When Elisabeth wrote a post like this, I just had to write my own-- the detailed of people's grooming routines are FASCINATING, so please share your product MVP in the comments!!

1. Put on my silly puffy tween headband

2. Wash my fave with Aveeno calm face wash (the only thing that stops my redness), apply Cerave vitamin C serum then apply Neutrogena Hydro Boost moisturizer/sunscreen mixed with a tiny dollop of Tarte tinted moisturizer on my face and The Ordinary caffeine serum and Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream on my eyes (will swap this out for The Eye Cream when it runs out, but I have been using this same pump bottle for 6 months).

(My doc thinks my facial redness is perioral dermatitis, and I am super sensitive to any smells in my face products and have had to choose VERY GENTLE things-- sort of hate it, honestly, but it's saving me money **shrug**)

3. While the potions set, I brush my teeth for 2 minutes and floss

4. I do not use blush or foundation make up, but I do use this  sheer glittery Nars stick on my cheeks (swipe and blend with a brush). Next, I use Tarte creaseless concealer on my lids and under my brows. I use Tarte shimmery face tape right under my eyes. I brush my eye brows with an old toothbrush and then swipe them with clear mascara. Right now, I am really into THIS pink matte Ulta eye shadow from lash line to brow, and I use a slightly darker pink in my creases. Mascara primer is a MUST you guys! I prefer Lancome, but I am out and hoping it appears in my stocking, so I am using Tarte right now, and it is fine. I really like THIS particular rust/brown Sephora eye liner, which I use in a super thin line right on my lash line and blend. Then I finish with Lancome mascara (THE FREAKING BEST and worth every single penny).

5. Lips: I sleep in my Laneige lip mask and use a ton of Blistex when I jog, so sometimes, I forget my lips, and that's fine. I have a cherry chapstick (and a Tula under eye stick just in case things are looking rough) in my car for emergencies. Lately, though. I LOVE my Glossier holiday lip balm and also Cover Girl lip stain (WHO KNEW? Jazzberry is the best color).

Yesterday, I took pics and timed the process to show you HOW FAST IT IS!

The players:

8:22 AM

(lips)

I ned to use mostly plain old cheap and gentle moisturizer, but I like to add a teeny bit of tint.

 

8:30 am-- this includes two minutes of tooth brushing!

I think my MVP is my NARS stick-- it makes my broken blood vessels in my cheeks look like blush! Love it forever. What about you? What's the BEST PRODUCT in your grooming routine?

Current work out routine + Celebrating 100 days (IN A ROW) of running!

 This post is officially dubious because I REALLY HURT MY KNEE the other day and have been relegated to the elliptical since then (sob). I was worried that I had been sitting too much at work (I had been sitting too much because the end of the semester is a BEAST), so I did the Daily Move on my Calm app and this really cool squat thing KILLED MY KNEE. It hurt when I walked down stairs that day (in my platform Uggs which are BAD SHOES FOR SQUATS), but then I felt fine. Until! I turned abruptly while jogging outside to avoid these 2 huge dogs this lady had running around her front yard with no leashes while she shoveled snow, and I did something awful to my knee and had to limp home and finish my work on the elliptical. I also told Ben I won't be able to forgive him if he runs without me because I am an asshole.

ANYWAY. Before that, I had an excellent work out routine, going strong for over a month now, and I thought I would share it.

Also! Starting on September 1, I have run for 30 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY. That's 100 days today! YOU GUYS!

ANYWAY.

Daily: run for 30 minutes; walk for 60 minutes. Ideally, these will both happen outside, but I have an elliptical trainer in my basement, so I can run on it (so boring!) or walk (usually while reading) if the outside is not working out for me. Typically, the walking is four 15-ish minute increments with Annabel, but it the weather is terrible or if she and I are rushed, I augment with the elliptical.

4 times a week: 20 minutes of strength. I am using (and loving) the Apple Fitness Plus app. So many great choices!

3 times a week: 10 minutes of yoga. Also on the Apple Fitness app-- mainly for stretching in the morning or winding down before bed, but there are longer and more difficult flow videos that I might try as well.

In terms of weekly totals, I have 210 minutes of running, 420 minutes of walking, 80 minutes of strength, and 30 minutes of yoga. I would like to increase the strength, but I am not sure where it will fit. I also need to buy some heavier weights (go me!).

I have the most success if I can get yoga, strength, and running in before 6:45 am, and I aim to have 30 minutes of dog walks done by lunch. On days I work from campus, this is obviously impossible, so I have to walk the dog when I get home and then again right after dinner. (I always walk her at 8 am and 8:30 pm).

I keep track of my walks in my daily planner, but I track the rest weekly, and this is... pretty much working for me.

In other news, my holiday cards are ON THE WAAAAAAAAY! This was a huge weight off my shoulders.

And! It is officially all over except the grading! (and a couple meetings). BRING ON THE COZY.

(also you gotta read this book)

Official!! College!!! Decision!!!!

 YOU GUYS! Is this a dream? Am I actually dreaming right now? Jack is going to join his dad, me, and his Uncle Jon  as a BRADLEY BRAVE!!

We went to an admitted student visit day over the weekend (over 700 people!), and Jack had such a good time that we made his housing deposit, and he is OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL.

He is going to be a history and secondary ed major and poli sci (or maybe sports comm) minor with the plan to teach for a year or so for sure while he studies for the LSAT. But between you and me? I think Jack will love teaching high school history, coaching a dive team and a speech team, helping in the theater department (he is excited to take theater tech and stage managing classes at Bradley) and maybe managing a pool in the summer...

Things that sold him:

• All the student orgs and clubs had booths, and the students working the booths were just lovely. He is excited to join the student senate, the speech team (!!!!!!), the activities council, and the student investment club (they get to manage 100K from the endowment every year), among others. I was in a sorority at Bradley, and his uncle Jon was president of a fraternity (and student body prez-- something Jack would love to be, too), so he is not uninterested in the Greek system.
• The campus tour was so fun. Not only did he sort of want to be a tour guide by the end of the day, but he loved how small and beautiful the campus is. It was really cold and snowy, but we could walk all the way across campus in under 10 minutes, and Jack adored the cozy vibes. We got to see the classrooms, and he really liked that there are only a few lecture halls on campus, since most classes are really small. He had a great talk with a librarian about the various library apps available in town and how to game them all for the best access to books.
• He loved the cafeteria. We had lunch in the new student dining hall, and it was genuinely delicious. We also liked that all of the meal plans cost the same amount of money, so the only decision you have to make is how you want to allocate your dollars (like, do you want lots of swipes and fewer dining dollars? Or do you think you will only swipe once or twice a day and spend the rest of your money at the other dining options? Other dining options include Chik Fil A in the student union, multiple Starbucks around campus, a bagel and smoothie place at the gym, and a few dirty soda counters, with more options coming by the fall. Apparently one of the other dorm cafeterias is being remodeled to include more restaurant options.) (At Eau Claire, for example, the plans are different costs as well, so your choices feel more high stakes).
• He got to spend time with the actual professors who will be his advisors, and they were wonderful. He will have an education advisor and a history advisor, and he met two other dudes his age with the exact same plans. It was great to put a face on who his actual teachers and classmate will be. Also! Bradley gets kids in his program into the classroom their very first semester which is so cool. They also take education classes right away, and he got a really nice color-coded schedule that lays out all 8 semesters. He thinks he will do a BA and keep taking French which will come in handy because...
• He loved that he can study abroad and still get all of his teaching requirements in. History really wants to get students to travel in May and January terms, which will be awesome.
• He got a half tuition merit scholarship, plus a legacy scholarship, which is hard to refuse.

You guys know I love Bradley's founder Lydia Moss Bradley-- think I'd look good in this dress (that is not actually hers, I hear, but it is displayed to make me assume it was hers...

The alumni center has models of dorm rooms from decades past. This is the 1990s, and it is SPOT ON

Lunch was great-- made to order sandwiches every day!

RINGING THE BELL because he made his housing deposit and is BRADLEY BOUND!!!

Ha! I LOVE this dorky photo opp SO MUCH

I was all in for this cheesy video:

(Jack has been on the fence between UW Eau Claire, UW Whitewater, and Bradley. He stayed at Eau Claire for a weekend with Harry and really liked it. We went to a visit day at UWW, but the education department told Jack graduating in 4 years is really tough because of state licensing requirements, and that gave him serious pause. I was team UWW, though, because it is close to home and seemed to be very student success focused. But then! The Bradley visit day was incredible, and we just knew it was the right pace for Jack-- and he knew it, too!)

5 on a Friday: We are SO rusty!

Oh wow, you guys. Re-entry was TOUGH this week after being home with no kid activities for a solid glorious seven days, and here are 5 every specific areas of utter suckitude.

 1. SNOW IS THE WORST.  I hate driving in snow, and I think about just how much I hate it every time I wish for my minivan's automatic sliding doors (which is a lot). I had to ditch my Honda minivan for an AWD SUV (the Toyota Sienna comes AWD, but not the Odyssey), and even though I miss the room and the convenience of a minivan, the ability to drive confidently in the snow and ice is worth it (I guess). It took me an HOUR longer than usual to do the Monday activity driving (Ben had to alter his schedule slightly, so I had to do Monday, which is not usually a me problem), and i was VERY stabby. Plus! Everyone needed all their gear to go to school with them if they wanted to go sledding (Dorothy and Cooper) or visit the playground (Minnie) during lunch. Minnie has extras of everything to leave in her locker, but Dorothy and Cooper? Did not have a single pair of boots that fit them and only 1 pair of snow pants between them. Amazon to the rescue, but not until WEDNESDAY. It was a mess early in the week. (Cute though)

2. Leaving the house is more complicated than I remember. And I remember it being VERY COMPLICATED. (This did not help)

3. Somehow, in just one week, I completely lost my sense of time allocation. BT (before Thanksgiving) I knew exactly what I needed to be doing at every second of the morning between my eyes flying open and Dorothy and Cooper's bus coming down the street, but this week? VERY off my game. On Tuesday, for example, I was happily walking Dorothy and Cooper to the bus in the same braids I slept and ran in with no makeup on, still in my sweats. And then I remembered that Tuesday is the day I need to leave for work as soon as I walk them to the bus. WUT.

4. Minnie got the stomach flu. When Ben was out of town. OF COURSE. By the time you read this, I probably also have the stomach flu. A sick kid did not make the week any easier, you know?

5. I have one hundred billion million things to do between this exact second and December 11, and I might need a robot version of me to pitch in and knock out this list. Thanksgiving was so late this year that fall break spat me right out in the middle of the end-of-term hurricane, and I am SHOOK.

Some bright spots though:

1. I made 200 of these and just... didn't eat them-- amazing. I didn't even want to eat them. I am adjusting to life without a sugar rush, and it's pretty great.

2. We had some non puking cozy moments at home and saw Zootopia 2, which is GREAT.

3. I added another Christmas bedroom to the list (the spare bed in there did not get a Christmas comforter because I only had 3).

4. This book is on sale for $5 on Audible and Elaine Stritch reads it. I LOVE the movie and can't wait to watch it with Minnie. It's making our nightly drives fly by.

5. On Monday I went straight from a meeting to doing the dance/dive drive, so I texted Dorothy to ask if she was getting dressed, and I got this darling video in return

 

So much has happened!

 So much has happened since the las time we talked.

First of all TREES HAPPENED.

Also, we got a TON of snow

I am still slooooowly decorating bedrooms.

My little Hanukkah dog is ready for the season.

We had a blast at our favorite tree farm, and I made evryone walk all over hell looking for the perfect trees and then made everyone tromp back to the gift shop and buy 2 pre-cuts because I did not see the perfect tree. And! We bought the big tree already bundled, so we had no idea how enormous it is. AND I LOVE IT. (Ben's dad had to trim some branches to make it fit in the stand, which is how come my Hanukkah dog has a bed of branches and my table is overflowing.)

Decorating was a cozy delight with snow falling and plenty of treats to enjoy (we got the trees on Friday afternoon but saved the decorating or Saturday during the storm). (Minnie also decorated her doll house).

Lots of snow frolicking at all stages of the storm (although I did have to run inside on Sunday boooooo)

Thanksgiving was delicious

The shirts were a hit!

Ben and I ran a turkey trot! And yes, we got smoked by the 8 year-old next door, but we finished in under 38 minutes, which was my goal (twelve minute mile club).

It was so cold I wore 2 sets of long underwear under my sweats

AND A TREE FELL ON OUR HOUSE. Ben and the boys and his dad cut it up with a chainsaw, and nothing was damaged (???!!!!).