advice.

because advice shouldn't just be something said & heard, but lived & learned.

"people are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

if you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

if you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

what you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

if you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

the good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

give the world the best you have and it may never be enough; give the world the best you've got anyway.

you see, in the final analysis it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway."

heart? live this. learn this. until you stop beating.

thanksgiving, i apologize.

poor thanksgiving: super great holiday, indulges in delishious food, full of sentiments.

but let's face it, christmas is an attention whore, and well, if the stores can start the kick off early, i say, so can we! and thus, we followed suit.

so, i'm sorry thanksgiving, that you don't get the credit you deserve. however, i would like to point out that we have the harvest decor up in our home and it's all dedicated to you! that's gotta count for something right? some extra-scored points in thanksgiving's eyes? if thanksgiving had eyes... which is just plain strange to give it those characteristics. but alas! our home celebrates you!

knowing that, i hope you can forgive us for starting our christmas season early this year.

• elf on the shelf! why am i just learning about this tradition?! irrelevant i suppose. we have our elf, Theadore Zart Bigsby (it's a mouth full isn't it?), and come thanksgiving evening he shall begin his hiding and reporting. and holy-elf-man! have you seen all the creative ideas parents have come up with over the years (via the world wide web, or rather -> pinterest)? amazing. we simply can't wait! and neither can our little boy, we have read and re-read this book several times already. no good deed goes unseen.

• 2011 hand-painted christmas ornaments. yes! this is by far my favorite activity each year. and it goes hand in hand with unwrapping the ones of years past. as much as i fancy the chic ornaments and decor of department store trees, nothing nothing NOTHING! beats the mismatch of home-made memories dangling on the branches.

and so the pre-celebration begins. thanksgiving + christmas, it truly is the best time of year. when the heart is extra full of spirit and the ambiance under twinkling christmas lights is warmth for the soul. tis' the season to be thankful & giving.

first family pet. well, of the four legged kind.

we wanted a dog. like, SO BAD. but it's just not in our cards at the moment, mainly because our rental agreement CLEARLY and boldly states (in several places) a NO DOG policy. we even called to double check if they would reconsidered; nope, nada. made zilch progress in that area.

CATS ONLY.

i've never had a cat before. but i've met my fair share of evil, biting, pee-where-you-please, furniture ruining, skittish balls of shedding fur. not my idea of the kinda pet i wanted setting up camp in our home.

is there such thing as a sweet, affectionate, playful, sleep-on-your-feet, follow you around like a dog, lap cat?

i can dream right?

i LIKE dreams that come true. doesn't everybody?

we (joe & hens & me) spent our saturday meeting all kinds of kitties and cats that needed adopting. little ones, playful ones, old ones, sleepy ones, down right mad ones, and then... our dream cat, vivian!

talk about a lover!

interview, call, sign! and there we are driving home with our maow-ing kitty-cat with henry in the back seat full of reassurance, "it's okay vibian, we're almost home."

did you know there are like a million rules of how to help your new furry friend adapt to its new home & family? neither did i! but there are! and our dream cat? she didn't go through any of it. the second she stepped outta her kennel, she was simply home.

playful & cuddly & purrrfect! all my evil kitty fears have been laid to rest.

she so instantly is apart of our family. and strangely enough, in ways i thought a dog would be, not a cat. let the record show, i stand corrected.

what a ray of sunshine our newest addition to our family is. so much love!

p.s. fact! she plays fetch. fetch!!! she's a puppy in a kitty-cat body.

i'm sexy and i know it.

i don't know why, but every morning after my not-so-grueling-twenty-minute-shred-sesh i find myself tuning in to some morning hip-hop.

particularly this song:

(*disclaimer* don't watch if speedos make you squeamish)

LMFAO Sexy and I Know It <-- silly blog bugs. click me!

and let's be honest. hip-hop? totally and not really my scene. yet here i am, seat-belt dancing in rush hour traffic and lipping; "ahh, girl look at that body. girl look at that body. girl look at that body. i work out."

and you know what? it's outta my "bean-pushing-double-checking-numbers-are-my-friends" box.

and it feels gooooood.

#wigglewigglewiggle.

that is all.

moto.

it was saturday, the first (no, wait the second!) day in ohhh, i don't know, we'll say four months? that i actually lifted a weight, got sweaty, felt the burn, worked-it-out.

it's monday and i'm still burning! every step my thighs are full of prickly-pain. lifting my arms over my head? shoot. i almost needed help getting dressed this morning! ya see what i'm saying here? my muscles are sore. to the point that i'm getting funny looks while hobbling down the halls at work. when did i get so weak? my poor pitiful muscles.

welp, that little statement is on it's way out the door!

time to shape it up. thirty is not the age i pictured myself feeling old and frail (and i DO, feel old, feel frail). and if i'm being completely honest dusting off the "fat" jeans + eating my most favorite junk food dish - NACHOS! one to two times a week isn't really doing anything beneficial for my figure or self esteem. nor is spending 6 straight hours in bed watching the vampire diaries, but i'm not exactly ready to toss that one out the window ;). i have a vampire fetish that needs quenching, judge me, i've come to terms with it. closet sci-fi junkie.

fat jeans? i refuse to dust you off!

nachos? maybe not so often.

working out? i don't see it as a choice anymore... i can't. no really! if i do, i can sooo very easily talk myself into a nacho-couch-vampire-fat jeans kinda day.

plus! i have this hot husband spotting me on the weight bench. how's that for motivation? *rawr*

so, here's to 20 minutes a day (i'm a slow starter), spent doing a little something special for my bod.

SMILE! it's picture day!

i will laugh SO hard if this is the face he shoots the camera man today.